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Today’s story is not from The NIKKEI, but from a free magazine called ‘TOKYO HEADLINE’ published in Tokyo periodically.

In the magazine, there was a column by a musician Koji Kikkawa regarding the Great Tohoku earthquake.

Let me introduce some of it.

First, he talks about the word, “Ganbare (means hang tough)”.

Especially after the earthquake disaster, you can see the word in all over the place such as advertisements in town and so forth and you can hear it on TV almost every single day.

Kikkawa says, “People who didn’t suffer in the disaster saying ‘Ganbare’ to the victims is wrong. The people who didn’t suffer should hang tough first.”

Not only disaster, but Kikkawa does not like people telling him to hang tough.

He thinks that the word should be used among people who are in the same circumstances. So the people who did not suffer should hang tough shuttering their ego.

As he says the earthquake disaster is not fire on the other side of the river, he preached about the need for changing the attitude. Because a challenging and historical battle has started.

In other words, he says that Japan is now facing a national crisis and enemies will increase (an economic competition and power struggle). Therefore, every person has to accept the change of changing values and stand against ‘the historical battle’.

Specifically, what you have to do is to start out with what you can do in areas close to you, such as saving on electricity, making a contribution, dispelling rumors and so forth.

Needless to say, there are a lot of people who are doing what they can do.  Kikkawa describes his own point of view.

He says, “You hear ‘let’s hold hands, let’s become one and help each other’ all over the place, but you have to examine yourself and improve self-confidence first. (snip) a lot of people recognize information and knowledge they hear as truth without asking questions to themselves these days. However, you have to try to develop your own view without fear of criticism.”

Finally he says that if you cannot do those things, then you will end up running about in confusion.

TOKYO HEADLINE 04/25/2011 by Koji Kikkawa (musician)

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