People do not live by bread alone... "A Boy in Africa"

Long... white with Mapo Tofu

The cheapest and yet most delicious food at a Chinese restaurant in Djibouti
Such a shop is in the Heron district (around the Japanese Embassy).
[Great Wall Restaurant] is a small shop run by a Chinese couple.
The couple is from Sichuan Province, and their Sichuan-style Mapo Tofu is exquisite.

The spiciness is, as the name suggests, Sichuan cuisine...
Even though the Mapo Tofu is cheap,
it balances out... with the large consumption of beer.
The price of Ethiopian beer is one-fifth
of the Kempinski (400 yen per bottle). It is the cheapest alcohol in this country.
The fact that the cost of Mapo Tofu and four beers is the same as one beer at the hotel...
What is the standard for prices? I hold my head in my hands.

I have eaten Chinese food in various Middle Eastern countries, but the spiciness of the Mapo Tofu
at Great Wall Restaurant is the best.
With the added numbing sensation, it is the ultimate Mapo Tofu.

A dish that makes you sweat so much that the heat blows away
is perfect for Djibouti during the scorching season
when the temperature does not drop even in the evening.

With portions as generous as a local Chinese restaurant in Japan,
a dish that satisfies both heart and stomach can definitely...
cool the body more healthily than cooling it with air conditioning.
However, it is Sichuan cuisine.

The actual spiciness is more intense than what the tongue feels,
and it definitely takes a toll on the end of the digestive system.
If you are thinking about preserving your body, it would be wise
to stop at just one plate of Mapo Tofu.

I drank too much water with beer,
and I was feeling quite tipsy,
so to bring my consciousness back to sobriety,
I took a walk through the residential area around the hotel.

In this country, there is no such eccentric hobby as cooling off in the evening during the hot season.
There is no one walking outdoors without business in Djibouti.

A 30-minute stroll in Djibouti

Thinking, "It's about time to go back to the hotel and cool off in the pool,"
as I started to head back through the residential area, at a KIOSK along the road,
a pair of boys who appeared to be in the lower grades of elementary school
were buying a baguette.
Judging by their appearance, the children did not seem that poor.
However, even with a favorable view, they were not rich children.
They were wearing washed-out T-shirts and shorts.

I was idly looking at the products, which could not be called abundant,
inside the store, which was about the size of a convenience store.
Then they spoke to me in Japanese,
"Good evening."
For some reason, they seemed to know I was Japanese.
In some elementary schools in Djibouti,
there are teachers dispatched by JICA.
It is not that rare to occasionally run into elementary or junior high school students
who speak broken Japanese.

Then, the elementary school boy
slowly held out a piece of bread.
In English,
he said,
"You must be hungry, I'll give you one."

I had just finished dinner, so unfortunately, I was full.
However, hoping it might help them earn some pocket money,
I offered 200 DJF (about 150 yen) in small change.
But they said,
"We don't need money, just eat one,"
and with gestures, they refused to accept the change.

They were sharing their own important dinner
with a Japanese person passing by.
I worried unnecessarily
that they might be scolded by their parents later.

My colleague who was with me at first
could not grasp what was happening.
When he learned the fact that the children were offering bread to him,
he was stunned by the unexpected situation and gradually became teary-eyed.

[Man shall not live by bread alone]

I politely declined the bread.
In my poor French,
I said, "I've already had dinner, so I'm full,"
and I tried to hand them at least the small change many times,
but in the end, they would not accept it.

In Djibouti, where there is no custom of taking a walk after a meal,
those seen gazing at bread in a KIOSK in the evening
must be hungry, poor people.

We, who had declined their kind offer,

felt that the boys, who were kinder than anyone,
were better people.
The boys looked back many times, smiling and
waving as they disappeared into the dimly lit residential area.
The encounter with them sobered me up instantly, but...
a feeling of intoxication more intense than alcohol enveloped my whole body,
becoming a pleasant dream for several days.

"My heart felt soft and light."

I have never received such a thoughtful gift
since then.
Even if I were given a new Mercedes,
the thrill would likely be less than it was then.

To think I would never experience such an exhilarating feeling again,
"If I had accepted and eaten that French bread,
how delicious would it have tasted?"

Since then, I have
"dreamed of delicious French bread" several times.

If I don't share this feeling with someone,
I feel sorry for the boys.

[Man shall not live by bread alone]

Is this what that refers to?

There are many beggars in Africa, too.
European tourists
completely look down on the begging boys and girls.

The reason they were forced to become beggars
is the consequence of the ancestors of France and England
colonizing this country...

It is we who are truly greedy.
Travelers who only post on their blogs
about the points where their culture and otherness stand out
do not see the essence.

I am that kind of person, too.
I am a sad person who lacks understanding of the most important humanity,
looking down on them as [boys trying to make pocket money].
Being kind to someone
is based on respecting each other.
Helping someone in need
has absolutely nothing to do with cultural differences or the degree of poverty.

[The haves give to the have-nots]

Islam is not unique.
It is not limited to the Islamic culture of almsgiving;
volunteering is done all over the world.

Those who have the means help the poor.
It is a human virtue, regardless of East or West.

[Sharing one's own bread with someone who is hungry]
Have I ever treated someone with that kind of feeling
in my past?
Since then, it has remained a nagging feeling in the corner of my heart.

It is an experience where I first encountered the primitive, communist-like spirit of mutual aid inherent in humanity.

In Japan, such situations might only occur in harsh circumstances like disaster relief.

In Djibouti, my colleagues and JICA members
have had similar experiences.
I feel like I have come to understand the essence of this country a little better.

There are many Self-Defense Forces personnel who have experienced Djibouti.
Because we dispatch ships and aircraft every year,
it is a rare organization in Japan that
has over 5,000 personnel with experience working in Africa.

After returning home,
there were personnel who [received candy from children], or
[were invited to homes for meals], and even
[shared bread together].
It seems no one ever asked for money.

Living safely in Japan,
where food is always available,
can I really assert that I am
'happier than them'?

I lead a more comfortable life
than former nomads living in deserts where food and safety are unstable.
However, within Japan,
I have almost no experience of [sharing what little food I have with others] or
[giving my own portion to someone else].
My only experience is
'just one rice ball I gave to a young couple with children in a passageway under the Tokyo Station platform on the day of the Great East Japan Earthquake.'

Why is it that Japanese people, who are materially better off than the people of Djibouti,
'cannot feel happiness'?
Is it perhaps because the scale of happiness and unhappiness varies greatly from person to person?

Conflict, Poverty, and Suicide

There is not much conflict within Djibouti.
The economic situation has been improving year by year.
However, it is not the case that zero citizens die from poverty.
Although civil war has subsided,
one cannot definitively say that the danger of terrorism has been eradicated.

As it is the hottest country in the world, there are occasionally people who collapse on the street.
However, statistically, there are almost no suicides.

Humans sought a convenient and comfortable life
and altered the natural landscape for their own convenience.
They created a convenient cultural landscape on the earth.

However, a faction of that human-made culture
[modern, complex, and highly civilized society]
is now rejecting itself and criticizing that excessive comfort is evil

Camping in inconvenient outdoor settings
is gaining more popularity than convenient, safe, and comfortable indoors.
Perhaps people feel an attraction to returning to the wild nature of humanity
that was lost through settlement.

Djiboutian elementary school students walking to and from school in the morning and afternoon
look brighter and more radiant than Japanese children.
The reason for this
is likely because [adults are anxious about the future of Japanese children].

For the future of Japan

We are a sad nation, misled by media reports that [only harp on about anxiety].
The majority of Japanese people lead lives that are materially and economically better off
than those in developing countries like Djibouti.

Will the future of Japan be happy?
Only that anxiety keeps coming to mind.
However, that will likely end up being an unfounded fear.
Japanese children are becoming brazenly resilient.
That is because they are being forged by the internet society.
They are not as pessimistic about the future as adults think.
Unhappiness begins when we view children through the lens of our own anxieties.

It is only a matter of time before adults who watch YouTube more than television
become the majority.
Young households do not even have televisions to begin with.

It is none other than the adults whose perspectives are distorted.
If young people who are not poisoned by mass media become the majority,
the essence of media will likely change.
Or will mass media disappear entirely?
The answer will not be long in coming.