In recent years, many foreign travelers have come to my small town that is a rural tourist resort. When I first moved to this remote town, it was rather a desolate place except for the skiing season. But soon, more and more people overseas were coming for skiing and now they flow in throughout the year as well as Japanese travelers.
I assume that Japan owes increased foreign tourists to its low prices and safety. Everything is sold at about half or one third of the price in the U.S. while the quality is good and the service is superb although there is no custom of tipping. The majority of travelers are from Asian countries and so many of them visit my town regularly as well. I’ve seen an Asian tourist shopping for a basketful of cosmetics at a drug store near the train station, which is one of recent trends nationwide. Instead, Japanese people have had a hard time for a trip abroad since prices in foreign countries are too high.
Why Japanese prices are so low is because of the weak currency. The Japanese Yen has decreased to almost half the value of the time when I often traveled overseas. That means the country’s economy has sharply declined. In addition to persistent gender discrimination, slow digitalization made Japan left behind in a rapid tidal stream of the world. It seems as if time moved slowly here in Japan. For instance, women are still forbidden to step in a ring of sumo wrestling for the reason that women are unclean and sumo is a sacred Shinto ritual offered to God. For the same reason, I was forced to carry a small paper parcel of salt when I visited a shrine back in my hometown. If a voice that says it’s awfully atrocious is raised, it will be silenced by a theory that is so called Japanese culture. People get meek when it comes to culture, thus it remains unchanged.
Quite a lot of those undesirable cultures exist in Japan. As a native who was born and grew up in Japan, I tend to overlook their oddity that is regarded as norm. Since I was an elementary student, teachers and students alike had tried to ignore me whenever I expressed my opinion that the Emperor system in Japan had to be abolished because only a man could be an emperor was a discrimination against women. Their attitude toward my strongly attached view had taught me how much taboo it was. People make a face at someone like me who constantly points out discrimination against women. Their expression says “Here it comes, somebody hysterical who complains about everything is bubbling something to disturb harmony.” They believe that Japanese should live in unity without complaining or being distinguished. That’s why people have been working in silence overtime at a low salary. As a result, a low-priced, safe Japan has been developed.
In the course of nature, I couldn’t find my place here in Japan as a constant complainer. I was expelled from Japanese society and became a singer-songwriter isolating myself in a remote rural town secluded by mountains, which I have willingly accepted because I believe I’ve been doing the right thing. As a crazy person claims their sanity, I’m not sure what other people think of me. Furthermore, I don’t care how I look to others now that I live only according to my conscience, not this nonsensical world. Even if I disrupt a well-ordered harmony, I choose to be myself, that is more important to me.
