「僕らはもう、独りじゃない！」※ "We Are No Longer Alone!"

この頃、日本で人気がある世界の終わりというバンドの歌がほとんどどこでも聞こえます。とくに「RPG」という歌は大人気です。
歌詞はこんな言葉です：
「そらは青く澄み渡り、海を目指して歩く、
怖いものなんてない、僕らはもう、独りじゃない。」
ということです。ただのポップ音楽だけあって、深い意味があるかどうかは僕にとってわかりにくいです。そして、とにかくポップよりクラシックとかの方が好きなタイプですが、この歌を日本に来て以来何度も聞いています。
日本に来てからほとんど４ヶ月が立っているので、経験が少しつんだのではないかと思うんです。まず、日本の山と海と田舎と町に行きました。そして、美術館も工場も教会も神社もお寺も学校を見学しました。それに東京で二回も「クール・ジャパン」を経験して、逆に京都で二回も伝統的な日本を味わいました。日本料理や芸術や伝統について学べて、日本文化が少しわかるようになってきたと思います。もちろん、まだ日本でたくさんの所に行きたいです。そして、５月の終わりに帰国したくないほどこの国が大好きになってきました。
でも、RPGを聞くたびに、そのような歌詞を聴いたら思い出すのは、旅行や観光より日本で出会った友達です。僕が日本で友達になった人は、面白くて、楽しくて、いい人です。
この友達と、もっとも素晴らしい一学期を今まで楽しみました。
明るい性格と勤勉さは、みんながあります。みんなは未来の夢を持っていて、これからも色々な素晴らしいことをするような気がします。まだ「さようなら」ではないですが、この大事な留学経験は、もうすぐおわります。このブログで今まであまり友達についてかいていませんが、今回ちょっと書きたいとおもいました。　
RPGは、夢と冒険と人生に関する歌なんです。この留学の冒険で、日本に来れれて、絶対に夢みたいです。この夢の冒険で一番よかったのは、ずっと他のいい人たちと過ごしたことです。アメリカに帰っても、RPGを聞いて、「僕は日本とこの世界で一人じゃない」と思い出します。

These days, there is a very popular band in Japan called "世界の終わり/Sekai no
Owari" which means "The End of the World". Their hit song is entitled RPG, and chorus goes something like this: [translated]

"The sky is filled with a beautiful blue,
So we'll fix our eyes on the sea and walk forward,
For we've nothing to fear, since we're no longer alone."

It's simply a pop song, and I don't know if there is a very deep meaning in the lyrics. I'm not so much of a pop music listener, but this song is simply everywhere, and I've been hearing it ever since I arrived in Japan.
Speaking of which, almost four months have passed since I've come here, and I've had some very lovely times. I've seen the towering green mountains and the sparkling ocean. I've visited museums, factories, churches, shrines, temples, and schools here. I've witnessed "Cool Japan" in Tokyo and tasted traditional Japan in Kyoto two times each. I've discovered and quickly been taken with Japanese art, food, and tradition through these months, somehow becoming a little bit more adept in Japanese culture (perhaps). And I've come to love this place altogether, such that I truly won't be ready to leave in May (except for all my dear family and friends in NC)!

But when I hear this song RPG, I don't recall so much my own travels and touring as much as I recall all the wonderful people I have met here. The friends I've made are funny, fun, and good people who work hard and care about each other. I've enjoyed the most fun semester of university thanks to these people, who come from Japan, America, and many other places in between.
Everyone has a bright personality, a work ethic, and a dream for the future. I have a feeling that we will all go on to do very different things after we part ways in a month, so maybe we won't meet up so much anymore. Of course, it's not "Good-bye" just yet, but I really wanted to write a post in recognition of these wonderful people I've met from here and there.

"RPG" is a hokey pop song about dreams and adventures- I've heard it so many times, I've just had to surrender to it. Through my own study abroad adventure, I've lived the dream of coming to Japan, though it's been sometimes more difficult and sometimes more lovely than I thought before. The best thing about this dream, though, is that I have never once felt alone, and have spent it alongside good friends. Even when I return to America, and somehow hear "RPG"again, I'll remember that! :)

確かにこの歌は今学期のテーマソングになってしまいました。僕が決めませんでしたけれど、いつも聞こえるからなんとなく決まったと思います。(^_^) The theme song for this semester (it was not my choice; it just happened this way). You can find English subtitles in this version, if you select for them in the "settings" : 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi9uNu35Gmk

桜は咲いたらすぐ落ちます ※ How Quickly the Blossoms Flower and Fall

この頃、初めて日本の桜を経験しています。桜の少しピンクで白い花がほとんどどこでも見えます。公園にも歩道にも学校にも、どこにも咲いています。冬の時には、たくさんの所景色は灰色がたくさんあって、ちょっと暗いと思いました。でも、桜が咲いたおかげでその所も綺麗になってきました。繊細で、揺れている花の美しさはみんなに愛されています。先日、僕が鶴舞公園で歩いた時に、日本人と様々な国の人たちは桜の木の下で一緒に景色を見ながら楽しそうにピクニックをしていました。その仲間意識の人々をみて、心に嬉しかったです。確かに春が来ましたね。
咲いている木の下に入ると、何も考えられないほど美しいです。晴れの日にも雨の日にも素晴らしいです。でも、しばらくすると、雪みたいに涼しい風で地面に落ちます。桜が普通の花と違って、神聖な雰囲気があるのではないかと思います。静かに咲いて、すぐ落ちますから見るとちょっと嬉しくて、切ない気持ちがあります。この考えは間違えているかもしれませんが、桜の神聖な雰囲気の理由が分かったと思います。
人生の事も、少し桜の咲くことみたいと考えています。色々な経験が始まって、早すぎて終わります。経験だけじゃなくて、子供の頃や学生の頃や誰かの親しい人と過ごす時間などがすぐ始まって、桜の花のように地面に落ちて、自然になくなります。残念ながら何も出来ず、ただ生活を続けなければいけません。でも、その大事な経験と人をいつまでも思い出のうちに入れておくといいです。将来に静かの時に思い出して、もう一度頭の中でその大事なことに戻れるかもしれません。桜も毎年二週間しかに咲いていませんが、日本人は一年中桜の景色を覚えて、わくわくしながら次の桜の咲く日を待ちます。僕は桜を見る時に、もちろん「春が来てよかったなー」と言う嬉しい考えもあります。それに少し切なくて、平和の気持ちもなんだか感じます。

     These days, I have been enjoying the Japanese cherry blossoms for the first time. The delicate little pale-pink flowers have burst out of every corner, spreading over the grey city landscapes, verdant countryside, and steep mountainsides alike. They really are everywhere. Strolling through a gorgeously cherry-tree laden park a few days back, I watched all sorts of people enjoying one of Japan's most endearing traditions: the flower viewing. Flower viewings are simple and really lovely. People go to parks and rivers in groups of close friends, family, or otherwise sports teams and corporations. They typically bring a huge picnic basket, and set up camp next to or beneath a canopy of brilliant cherry trees. There, they will usually consume massive amounts of food (including but not limited to cherry-blossom flavored Haagen-Dazs), and often alcohol (picture cherry-blossom pink beer and wine- I've heard it exists) in the case of grown-ups. On that bright Saturday afternoon beneath a cloudless blue sky, I heard the most laughter and saw the most smiles in one single time so far in Japan. The Japanese are not especially stern people in general, but this cold, damp winter weather has held everyone beneath dark parkas and drab mufflers for so long that it was a real treat to welcome spring in such a joyful way. In entering in underneath the cherry tree groves, one really tends to forget oneself and the cold of winter. The blossoms are a light and high-spirited pink on sunny days, and display a melancholy paleness in the rain.
       The cherry tree is viewed as an almost sacred symbol of the human life in Japan, and I think I know why that is. In a short while, the immaculate little blossoms will drift from the trees on a cool April wind, down to the dirty gutters and streets to disintegrate. Every year the flowers silently bloom and whither away like this. In life, all sorts of wonderful experiences begin and suddenly end. Childhood, years in school, and even time spent with a dear friend abruptly begin, and quietly fade away just as cherry blossoms fall to the ground. The only choice we have is to store those dear times and people in our mind, so that while we may never again have those experiences or meet those good people, we can perhaps manage to go back to them once more in memory. Frankly, I'm awful at writing about poetic things (the problems of a science major), and I don't usually consider such topics. To help explain, there is a rather appropriate adjective that I'll borrow from the Japanese: 切ない/setsunai, which literally means "painful", but is often used to mean "sweet painfulness" in an emotional sense. This "sweet pain" is not a tragic sadness, but rather a deep longing for something that is lovely but perhaps indescribable or out of reach. Maybe parents might feel a sweet painfulness when they send their five-year-old to the first day of school. I think some students feel a sweet painfulness on the last day of final exams, for the sense of accomplishment is accompanied with the fact that all the camaraderie with classmates and professors fades away into the silent, stifling summer air.
Anyway, the Japanese treasure their cherry trees, and look forward all throughout the year to just under two weeks of blossoms. When the flowers finally arrive, it really is a joyful time to celebrate the arrival of spring with flower viewings. Of course there is the sweet painfulness of past memories, both recent and distant, but there is the hope for future experiences as well! I am really glad to have seen the cherry blossoms over here :)