Beach

Here's a small story that typifies my experience in Japan.

Went to the beach with my 9 year old and 2 of her friends this Sunday afternoon. It was a warm day and the beach wasn't crowded. No cops anywhere in sight; the lifeguard was there, but hidden from view and totally unobtrusive.

I drank a can of ice cold beer that I bought at the corner sakaya a block from the beach. Just one can. No one said a word about it.

The children went in the ocean and I kept an eye on them. Everyone was well behaved on the entire beach. No loud radios, drunks, bums, or slobs. No trash. No one allowing their dog to run around unleashed and harass people.

An 8ish year old girl shows up with a 2ish year old looking child, probably siblings. The 8 year old wraps the child up in towels just like a Japanese mother would do, to keep the sun off the child's skin. I looked closely to see, yet no parents are in sight. The older child places the younger child in an inner tube and they spend several hours floating around and enjoying themselves. Another Dad and I take turns keeping an eye on the nearby children, but they never need to be admonished, playing respectfully together and laughing. When I go in the water I leave my valuables in a waist pouch on the beach, with no fear at all that anyone would steal anything.

We all wash off at the public beach shower and walk home. Stopping for ice cream along the way. At 5PM, my 9 year old's friend rides her bike home, about a 15 minute ride to the other side of town.

Admittedly, it's not exciting and I hope you are still awake. If you read between the lines, you may understand how this vignette represents a very particular way of life in many respects. It would be easy to contrast this to my experiences in America, many of which were good as I lived in San Francisco, a most beautiful part of the world.

About America; it's bad karma to speak ill of the dead. Nonetheless, I keep getting drawn in because my relatives still live there, I have to pay taxes, and so many people there are in such absolute denial about reality in "the free-est country in the world" that I just can't keep from speaking out. There is something to be said for speaking the truth under a regime of lies, don't you think?