人、人、人の香嵐渓 Packed like Sardines

人、人、人の香嵐渓

２４日（日）、女房と香嵐渓に団体バスで行きましたが、驚きました。モミジの木は大きくなり、葉っぱは真っ赤に染まり綺麗でしたが、驚いたのは人の多さです。ひところは香嵐渓は地方の紅葉狩りの場所でしたのに、いつの間にやら全国区になり、駐車場からナントカ川に出るまでの通路には露店がひしめき、人混みで大混雑。やっと川に出て、ナントカ橋までも人、人、人で橋にたどり着けない。橋の上は帰ってくる人、これから行く人で大渋滞。身動きが取れない状態で、高度成長期の東京のプラットホームに「押し屋」がいましたが、あのようなpacked like sardinesで鰯のようにぎゅうぎゅう詰めの状態で、一インチずつ橋を、前進しました。疲れた。モミジを人混みの中で見て、駐車場に帰ったら、練馬ナンバーの西武バスや奈良交通のバスが停まっていました。奈良からワザワザ！　２０年か３０年前の香嵐渓は風流だったのに。今は中国語が飛び交い、露店がひしめき、恐ろしいところになり果てました。（写真の橋の上の人混みを見てください）

Packed like Sardines

My wife and I went on a group tour to Korankei to view the colorful red leaves by bus on Sunday, 24 in November. The maple trees were larger and the red leaves were more beautiful than I had expected. To my surprise, I saw an enormous number of tourists. Decades ago, Korankei used to be a local maple-viewing spot, but today it has become one of the most famous such spots in Japan.

There were too many stalls alongside too narrow a road from the parking lot to the river (I don’t know its name). The road was too crowded to walk smoothly. I pushed and elbowed my way to the river but again I had a hard time to reach the red bridge (I don’t know its name) because the road along the river was too congested. After struggle, I reached the bridge, but it was the most crowded. Those who were coming back from the other side of the river crashed with those who were going there. The maple-viewers were packed like sardines. That reminded me of the crowd in a Tokyo station platform amid the high-growth period of the Japanese economy (from the mid-fifties through the sixties) where the station employees used to push the passengers into the crowded train so that they could get on it.

I advanced inch by inch on the bridge. I did not have time to enjoy the red-leaf scenery from the bridge. I was exhausted. After seeing the red leaves among the sardines, I returned to the parking lot.

I was surprised again to see a Seibu Bus from Tokyo with Nerima number and a Nara Tourist Bus in the parking lot. Why did it come all the way from Nara?

About 20 or 30 years ago, Korankei was a place to enjoy the quiet and

aesthetic nature, but nowadays it is an unpleasant place full of people, stalls, and Chinese people.
    (Look at the people on the bridge in the photograph.)

スマホのない光景 A Scene without Smartphones

昨日正午ごろ、地下鉄に乗って気がついたことだが、わたしの対面のベンチ式座席に座っていた七人と、私の左隣に座っていた女性の二人と、右隣の男性の二人がスマホを使っていなかった。周りを見たが誰も使っていない。いつもなら、乗客は全員と言っていいほどスマホをいじっているのに。なぜか。

乗客が全員老人だったから。彼らは（私も）たった今、名古屋市民大学講座（災害と歴史）が終わり、地下鉄の伝馬町駅で一斉に地下鉄に乗ったのだ。講座の出席者は800人以上いて、どの車両も老人だらけと言うわけだ。

　黙々とスマホに熱中している若者の光景と違って、地下鉄の中は老人が仲良くがやがや話しており、久しぶりにスマホのない光景を味わった。

Around noon yesterday, I got on a subway train, sat on a seat, and looked around. I noticed that all the seven people sitting on the bench seat in front of me, two women on my left side and two men on my right side were not using smartphones. I looked around again. Nobody was operating smartphones in the car. Usually almost all the passengers are absorbed in the gadgets. Why?

Because the passengers were all aged people. They (including me) attended The Nagoya Citizen University Class (Disasters in History). The number of the participants in the class was more than 800. After the class was over at 11:30, most of them went to Tenmacho Subway Station and got on the train. That was why the train was full of aged people.

Unlike the usual scene in the train where young people are handling smartphones, I saw people talking with each other friendly and loudly after a long absence.

日本人の若者と温泉旅館 Young Japanese and a hot-spring hotel

日本人の若者と温泉旅館

女房と10月31日から一泊二日で下呂と郡上八幡へ行ってきた。旅行中で驚いたこと三つ。

１．名古屋から高山行特急に乗ったが、私の乗っている車両の乗客は日本人より外国人（白人、中国人）が多くて、彼らは大きなスーツケースを列車の棚に上げていたが、棚にはスーツケースがずらりと並んでいた。まるで外国旅行に来ているみたいだった。

2．旅館の夕食の時にテーブルに食事を次々に運んできたのは二人の若い中国人であった。受付の女性も中国人であった。聞けば、旅館には20人ほど中国人の従業員がいるとのことであった。日本人の若者は旅館で働かないのか。

３．その日は木曜日で、休日ではないのに、平成生まれと思われる若い日本人（男女とも）が15人ぐらい宿泊していた。週日であるのに温泉に泊まりに来るとは、彼らは働いているのだろうか。それにしても、彼らは高級温泉旅館に泊まりに来るだけの金を稼いでいるのだろうか。中国人が一生懸命働いているのに。

Young Japanese and a hot-spring hotel

I went on a trip to Gero and Gujyo-hachiman with my wife from October 31 and November 1. Three things surprised me during the trip.

1.    There were a lot of foreign passengers, both European and Chinese, in the express train bound for Takayama from Nagoya. The number of the foreigners was larger than that of the Japanese. I saw an array of their huge baggage on the shelf. I felt as if I were in a foreign country.

2.    Two young Chinese were waiting us at the dinner table. The woman at the check-in desk was also a Chinese. I heard that there were more than 20 Chinese people working in the hotel. Young Japanese were not working in the hotel.

3.    We went to Gero on a weekday (Thursday), not on a holiday. However, I saw about 15 young Japanese men and women staying in the hotel. How can they afford to stay at a luxurious hotel in a hot-spring resort on a weekday? What are their occupations? Are they earning enough money to stay in an expensive hotel where Chinese people are working?

西の正倉院文学賞 Nishi no Shosoin Literary Contest

西の正倉院文学賞

西の正倉院文学賞に応募した。昨年応募した「月よ、高く昇れ」は佳作であったから、今年こそは優秀賞以上をと念願し、「月夜の竪琴」を応募した。百済の摩耶王妃の息子が王妃（母）とともに、新羅の追っ手を逃れて、九州、宮崎県、美郷村に逃れる話である。昨年よりは、エンディングは心を打つものを書いたつもりだ。
来年の三月に結果が発表される。待ち遠しい。　

Nishi no Shosoin Literary Contest

　　I submitted my story to the Nishi no Shosoin Literary Contest. The one I submitted last year titled “Tsuki yo Takaku Nobore” (The Moon, Rise High up in the Sky) got an honorable mention. This year I again submitted my work titled “Tsukiyo no Tatekoto” (The Harp in the Moonlight). The prince of Kudara Kingdom escapes the palace with his mother and reaches Misato Village in Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu. I believe the ending will move the readers.

　　I am looking forward to the announcement of the winners next March.