End of Period

MAEDA Izumi

1999... the 21st century is coming soon. In the 21st century, what sort of world will wait for us, and what will we be doing...?

Today, Japan is in a great chaos by a depression, and it's hard to find employment. The word "stabilization" which supported Japan until now is disappearing. To make matters worse, we live in luxury and are paralyzed by the peace.

Once all Japanese had the same sense of values. To enter a good college, to work for a big business, and to marry happily. But in this state of chaos, the sense of values hasn't been favored. The times have changed, so we have come to search for essential things we want.

However, because whole Japan has lost the aims, unnecessary things are oversupplied, and people can't find what they call for. So teenagers don't know what to do, and they are on the edge. As a result, boys commit manslaughter with knives, and politicians are arrested. I feel for real that Japan is on the brink which we can't escape from, through many media.

Now, the material civilization is over. The thing we must develop is nothing but "human mind". Even if the civilization makes progress, mind can't. And yet, everyone has meanings that we were born in this period, in this country, and has some roles for sure. Humans surely desreve existence, so provided that we can understand deeply how precious our own will is, it is not too much to say that Japan will be able to change in no time.

That's necessary for us to survive in the 21st century. Japan will be worse in the 21st century without fail if we leave as it is. And people also will be lost and hurt, and moreover, they will let go of their most precious things. The times change, so we should strive to change ourselves as well. Humans can be born again and again, and we can change ourselves as soon as we change our thinking. While we live, everywhere every time, something ends, something starts. If we hate to change, we can't meet "real ourselves". If we can enjoy changing, we can live positively.

I think that this chaos is like a "labor" which is for next century, in other words, the time which brings violent pains to give birth to something. To survive in the 21st century, we are to slip out of the pain. To do so, above all, we must believe ourselves. And we make out the circumstances around us, select what we really want to do, want to need, and move forward. Because there is no pain in the truth...

Until now, I have written about only today's Japan, but Japanese in the 21st century must think of the whole world.

It is said that in developing countries, pollution problems are getting more serious now. To take examples, the chimneys are belching out a lot of black smoke, chemicals are flowing from drains, and so on. But I hear people can do nothing to stop them because they don't know the results of them. I thought, only humans who know the bad side of civilization can solve real problems, only humans who know dirty and ugly things can solve these problems. In this case, Japanese people's knowledge is necessary for them. In Japan pollution occurred such as "Minamata Disease" and "Itai-Itai Disease". So that, maybe no people but Japanese can save such developing countries. It is the same case which nuclear problems. Last year, India and Pakistan carried out nuclear tests. But only the Japanese can tell them what will happen if they truly use nuclear weapons. Japan had a lot of trouble in the past, but the Japanese in the 21st century are bound to play such important roles.

In this composition, I requested many things of the Japanese in the 21st century. But It may merely be my dream. Even if it is true, this rotten PERIOD will soon come to an end, and in the 21st century the Japanese are sure to shine, I think... I believe.