電車に手を振る坊や A Little Boy Waving His Arms at a Train

電車に手を振る坊や

テレビの「クールジャパン」という番組で、ほろっとさせられる動画を見た。５歳ぐらいの少年が線路わきに立って、近づいてくる電車に両手を大きく振っていると、電車が少年のそばを通過する瞬間に警笛とか、電車によってはミュージックホーンを鳴らしていく。少年は「やったぁ！」と喜ぶ動画だ。少年は遥か遠くから近づいてくる小さな小さな電車に大きく両手を振っている。
番組によると、少年は三歳のときから同じ線路わきに立って手を振っていた(写真参照）。その坊やを父親が撮影したものだ。また、運転手さんたちは少年に気がついており、職場でも運転手仲間が少年のことを話題にしているとか。彼らは少年から力をもらっているとのこと。坊やが一生懸命に両手を振っている熱意に運転手さんも警笛で応えたのだ。
いい話ではないか。

A Little Boy Waving His Arms at a Train

I watched a heart-warming video during a TV program “Cool Japan” the other day. About a five-year-old boy standing near a railway track is waving his arms hard at an approaching train. The moment the train passes by him, it sounds a horn or music melody (depending on the train type) for him. Hearing the sound, he shouts with delight, “Hooray!” The boy starts waving his arms enthusiastically when he sees a  tiny tiny train far in the distance.

   According to the program, the boy began to wave at the trains three years ago when he was three years old (see photo). His father videotaped him. The train drivers are aware of him and sometimes talk about him when they get together in the station they work for. They say he gives source of energy to them. They respond to the boy’s enthusiastic waving by sounding horns.

What a nice episode!

歩くゴミ箱 A Walking Garbage Box

歩くゴミ箱

ある新聞の投書欄に次のような投書が載った。（要旨のみ）

私は８０歳の老人であるが、近所の遊歩道や公園をウオーキングするときにトングをもって空き缶や弁当の空箱を拾っている。この９年間やっている。ところが、通りすがりの人やベンチに座っている人が、私を歩くゴミ箱扱いして、「おじさん、ほら、そこにゴミ」とか「お父さん、そこにもあるわよ」と指図がましいことを言う。彼らはなぜ自分でゴミを拾ってゴミ箱に捨てずに、人に指図するのか。私は自主的にゴミを拾っているのに、「ゴミを拾うのはあんたの役目でしょ」と言わんばかりだ。私は「自分でやったらどうや。失礼と思わんか」と言ってやる。最近はこういう得手勝手な人が多い。腹が立つ。

　私もこの投書を読んで腹が立った。最近の若者は老人に席を譲らない。韓国に行ったとき、私と女房がバスに乗ると、座っていた二人の若者が即座に起立し、席を譲ってくれた。そういえば、つい先日も私が地下鉄の老人席に座っていると（私は白髪の後期高齢者）、杖を突いた老女が乗ってきて私の前に立った。電車が動くと、よろけないように杖で体を支えている。老人席に座っていた若者（複数）が誰も席を譲ろうとしない。私は老女を見上げて、（この席に座りませんか）とジェスチャで老女にサインを送った。老女は首を縦に振り、私は老女に席を譲った。

　老人席に座っていた若者たちはスマホを相変わらずいじっていた。腹が立った。日本の将来は暗い。

A Walking Garbage Box

A letter to the Letters to the Editor Column in the newspaper I subscribe said: (the following is the summary.) 

------------------------------

　 I am an 80-year-old man. I make it a rule to take a walk along the walkway or in the park near my house with tongs in my hand. While I am walking, I pick up garbage like empty cans and discarded lunch boxes. I have been doing this for the past nine years. To my irritation, however, the people passing by or sitting on the bench regard me as a walking garbage box and give me directions:

     “Hey, old man, some garbage over there,” or “Look, more garbage here.”

Why don’t they pick up the garbage and throw it into the garbage box? I am voluntarily picking up garbage, but they sound like saying, “It’s your duty to pick up garbage.” I want to say to them, “Why don’t you do it yourselves. You are very rude.” I deplore that there are too many selfish people today.

------------------------------

I became angry to read his letter. Recently many young people do not give up their seats to aged people. When my wife and I went to Korea a few years ago, two young people gave up their seats immediately after we got on a bus. The other day, when I was sitting in a priority seat in a subway train (I am 76 years old and deserve a priority seat), an old woman with a stick got on the subway train and stood in front of me. When the train started, she tried to stand firmly with the support of her stick, but she was staggering. None of the young people sitting in the propriety seats gave up their seats. Therefore, I looked up at her eyes and said to her by means of gestures, “Do you want to sit here?” She nodded an affirmative. I gave up my seat to her.

The young people were operating their smartphones. I got angry. The future of Japan is doomed.

辻井さんのピアノ妨害 Noise during Tsujii's Piano Performance

辻井さんのピアノ妨害雑音

昨日、女房と豊田市コンサートホールで世界的に有名なピアニスト、辻井伸行さんのピアノを聴いてきた。彼のピアノは二回目で、一回目は2年ほど前に岐阜のサラマンカホールで聴いている。今回も期待にたがわず、素晴らしい演奏であったが、一つ怒れてきたことがあった。

コンサートホールの照明が暗くなると、辻井さんが拍手喝采を浴びて登場し、ピアノの前に着席した。ドビュッシーのアラベスクの曲が流れ始めた。うっとりとして聞いていると、鈍い雑音が近くから聞こえてきた。見ると、私の席のすぐ左斜め前の通路で録画技術者と思われる人が三脚足の大型録画機で辻井さんのピアノを録画している。録画の電源のモーターの音がするのである。ピアノが静かな旋律になるたびに、ジーという鈍い音が聞こえてくるのだ。次のベルガマスク組曲の「前奏曲」「メヌエット」「月の光」「パスピエ」も、それに続くすべての曲の演奏中に、録画中の雑音が聞こえてくる。また、会場の薄暗がりのなかで録画中の赤い豆ランプがピカピカ光っており、ピアノを楽しむどころではなかった。8500円も払って、わざわざ名古屋から来ているのにコンサート中いらいらしていた。やっと第一部が終わり、休憩時間になった。

   私は怒れてきて、会場案内の女性に文句を言い、カメラマンに「録画の音がやかましい」と抗議した。カメラマンは「ええっ、気がつきませんでした」という。私は、「カメラの位置を二階にあげるか、一番後ろに移動してほしい。コンサートが台無しだ」と強く抗議した。女房も加わり、会場係も来て、ようやくカメラを撤去することになった。第二部が始まる前に、会場責任者が来て謝ったが、全く無神経であきれた。スマホをマナーモードではなく電源を切れと言っておいて、主催者はコンサート中、雑音を流していた。

第二部が始まっても初めのうちは怒りがおさまらず、やっとアンコールに入るころに辻井さんのピアノを聞くことができた。

疲れた。

Noise during Tsujii's Piano Performance

I went to Toyota City Concert Hall with my wife to listen to a world-famous pianist, Nobuyuki Tsujii’s performance. That was the second time for me to listen to his piano, since I had been to his concert held in the Salamanca Hall in Gifu City about two years ago. This time I hardly enjoyed his piano,because I  was irritated all during the first half of his performance.

When the lights of the concert hall became dim, Tsujii appeared on the stage in the midst of loud applause, sat in front of the piano, and began to play Arabesque No.1 composed by Debussy. I was instantly charmed by the sound of his piano and was listening to the music enchantedly, when I heard a faint noise coming from somewhere nearby. I looked around in the dark and saw a cameraman recording the piano performance with a huge camera on the tripod in the aisle diagonally forward left from my seat. The recording machine was making a low continuous noise. The noise sounded louder especially when the pianist was playing a soft and quiet piece of melody.

The noise lasted all the while when Tsujii was playing “Prelude” “Menuet” “Clair De Lune” and  “Passepied” in his Suite Bergamasque and the following pieces of music. Moreover, I noticed a tiny red lamp blinking constantly at the bottom of the camera tripod in the dark. What with the noise and what with the red flashing lamp, I was so irritated that I failed to enjoy his piano. I came all the way from Nagoya to Toyota paying as much as 8,500 yen for the concert; the noise and red light damaged the concert. After an hour’s performance the first part at last ended and the intermission began.

Immediately I went to the nearest usher to complain about the noise. I also told the cameraman that he had been making a terrible noise all during the first half of the performance. He said, “Oh, I wasn’t aware of the noise.” Furious, I protested against him saying, “I insist you move the camera to the second floor or to the rear of the concert hall. Otherwise, the concert would be disastrous.” My wife also joined me. Soon the woman in charge of the concert hall came and in the end, she said she would remove the camera. She  apologized to me before the second part started. I told her that she was irresponsible because the audience were requested to switch off the smartphones so that they would not make any noise while the cameraman was making an irritating noise all during the concert.

My anger did not abate for 30 minutes or so even when the second part had started. The piano performance I really enjoyed at all was the encore.

I was exhausted.

Noise during Tsujii's Piano Performance