Community Saijiki literary calendar
Prelúdio
坂井和貴(Kazuki Sakai)
When I opened the door of the birdcage, two paddy birds slowly appeared and flew into the room.
The two birds, which until a few moments ago had been watching the six of us eating and talking with each other from inside the cage, tilting their heads from time to time, and responding with faint chirps, have now joined our circle of friends.
For some reason, Antje seems to be their favorite, and they keep jumping onto her hands, shoulders, and head, chatting in German together.
"They are both boys," Teruko said.
Diego tries to draw the birds toward him by calling out and reaching out, but their attention seems to be solely on Antje and Alex, who are next to her, and not on what Diego wants them to do.
"What's up with that classical guitar, Motoyama-san?"
Diego asks, pointing to the guitar hanging on the living room wall.
"Takuya said he doesn't use it, so I got it from him. Do you want to play it, Diego?"
So saying, Motoyama-san puts the guitar in Diego's hand.
"Okay! Let's play. Maybe the sound of the guitar will lure them toward me!"
"Can you play Aitor Villa-Lobos' Prelude No. 1?"
Diego nodded lightly as he tuned the strings to this sudden request from Mr. Motoyama.
The concert began.
I had never heard of Villa-Lobos, but when Diego's fingertips plucked a delicate note, my brain instantly responded that I had heard this piece somewhere before.
"When I was in the eighth grade, my cousin, who is a college student, played this song for me. I was totally taken by it."
Motoyama's eyes lit up. Lobos was born in Brazil and was one of the leading composers of the 20th century, incorporating classical techniques with a uniquely Brazilian style.
Alex, a French horn virtuoso, Antje, who had grown up with the violin, and the birds had stopped singing for a while and were listening, watching Diego's fingertips dancing lightly.
And in my mind's eye, five years of Diego's life quietly flowed by.
This spring, Diego stepped on Brazilian soil for the first time in five years, which I wrote about briefly in the April issue of Saijiki lierary calender, and then he came back to Japan to continue his training and living here.
He and I were also in charge of hosting Alex and Antje, who came from Switzerland for training in September, and we have been together for the past three months. For Diego, this is the day he will embark on the next stage of his life.
There are many things that come to mind, such as "Diego's 5 years," such and such a thing, a word from a person at a certain moment, a time when he could not hold back his tears, being accepted by such and such people, being blessed with such and such an opportunity.... But I don't think I could possibly describe the past five years if I put them all on the table in my head.
How much has been poured into Diego?
From the people around us, from things, from society, from nature, from the visible and the invisible...
In truth, I feel as if I don't know anything at all.
However, the totality of those five years is in Diego, in me, and in everyone who lives with us. So when Diego says he is going to Brazil, I don't feel like I am leaving him at all. I have a strange feeling as if a part of me is leaving, as if I am being taken along with him.
There is no "goodbye" anywhere.
Geum-chan is a 3-month trainee from Korea.
She and her partner, Dong Ha, and their 2-year-old son, Seomg Yeol, would like to continue their training in the Suzuka community for a longer period of time.
However, there are various restrictions due to visa issues, and she is pondering what to do.
One of the ideas that came up was to have someone take care of Seomg Yeol in Korea while Geum and Dong Ha come to Japan. But Geum-chan said, "I have a very close friend in Korea.
I don't know why, but I think it would feel at ease to leave Seomg Yeol with the Suzuka community and have us travel back and forth between Korea and Japan. There is no one in Japan that I am very close to like my Korean friend. Why is that?"
She said again, "I don't know why."
What does it really mean that Geum-chan's inner mind is becoming like that?
When this came up in a meeting between Alex and Antje, Antje said something like this.
Antje said, "Even now, there are scenes where Seomg Yeol lives apart from his parents, but none of the people here ever think and say to Seomg Yeol, "Are you okay without your mother and father? " But people in the public eye don't. "Are you okay without your mom? Poor Seomg Yeol! " People around you look at you like that and say things like that.
Momo-chan of Waseda University, who has participated in Gaia Youth and other events, is about to write her graduation thesis on "Chapter 4: A Case Study of a Community that Nurtures the Richness of 'Tsunagari' (Connection)," and she is planning to pick up As One as a topic for her thesis.
Not only Momo-chan, but for the past few years, there have been an endless number of university students (all women so far!) who have come to us for advice on how to write about As One Community in their thesis.
In my correspondence with Momo-chan, I heard a word for the first time. It is.
"Social Capital."
When Momo-chan told her professor that she would like to write a case study on As One for her graduation thesis, he replied, "That's a case study on Social Capital, isn't it? You should write it from the perspective of "social capital."
It was refreshing to know that there is a way of looking at social and human relations as capital, rather than money or goods.
The deadline is December 15 or so, and we have been exchanging correspondence over the past few issues, but Momo-chan herself has been writing to try to represent the reality of the As One Community through what she has experienced here.
『No matter how good the rough stones and materials may be, if the design and construction are not correct, even a building that looks magnificent will collapse and look ugly even if there is no wind.』
I have seen a sentence to this effect.
This is not only about buildings.
It is the "social atmosphere and social system" that design and construct the abundance of good materials called "human resources".
No matter how great a person is, he or she cannot design and construct himself or herself.
There are more than 8 billion people on the earth today, and there is an abundance of human resources.
Good raw stones and materials will continue to be born one after another.
It would be a pity if the good materials are not fully utilized because the social atmosphere and systems have not caught up with them.
Human society has come this far.
I hope that the "5 years of Diego" and the "22 years of Suzuka Community" will be studied and used by the brains of the world as a beginning to perfect the atmosphere and system of our society.
The paddy birds were listening to Diego's guitar, but as usual, they were not separated from Antje and Alex.
Diego seemed to have given up trying to attract the birds to him, and began to talk with Alex and the others. Then, on the contrary, the birds started to visit Diego from time to time.
Soon Alex and Antje will also leave for Switzerland.
They are also planning to stay here for a long time to learn more about Suzuka and to become people who can really melt with anyone, not just theoretically. They can also clearly see the faces of the young people who are coming from Europe to follow in their footsteps.
Diego could see them as his " self of 5 years ago".
Alex and Antje see "themselves in 5 years" in Diego's current image.
My ears continue to echo the sounds and rhythms of Villa-Lobos that Diego used to play.
Prelúdio means prelude. A precursor, an omen. Its first number.
The casual choice of this piece for this scene, Mr. Motoyama, was brilliant! I have no other choice but to say.
Around noon today, I received a phone call from Diego, who was supposed to be on his way to Brazil.
He said, "Mr. Sakai, my name on the airline ticket is different from the one on my passport. The domestic flight from Nagoya Centrair to Narita is fine, but the international flight from Narita, the airline is not sure if they will take me. What should I do?"
He went out with great enthusiasm, but he seemed to be a little scared... "It's not easy to buy a new ticket now, so let's just go to Narita and ask them to take you."
He said, "Okay, I'll go to Narita and ask them. If not, I'll go back to Suzuka."
Diego would have liked to leave smartly, but you never know what will happen until the very end.
He's not the only one who doesn't know what's going to happen, and neither do I... or anyone else... .
Still, a few hours later, did Diego get a ride? Is he coming back? Just as the buzz in this neighborhood was building, I received a text message.
"Checked in, everything is fine, see you!"
The accompanying photo showed a snow-capped Mt. Fuji floating faintly between the main wing and the sea of clouds.
I guess Diego really took off this time.
Now let's go to the next stage!
