“MORNING RELAY” – Shuntaro Tanikawa
While a young man in Kamchatka
Dreams of a giraffe
A young girl in Mexico
Waits for the bus in the morning haze
While a little girl in New York
Rolls over in her bed with a smile
A little boy in Rome
Winks at the morning sun that colors the column capital
On this Earth
Always, somewhere, morning is starting
We are relaying mornings
From longitude to longitude
Taking turns protecting Earth, as it were
Pick up your ears awhile before you go to sleep
And somewhere, far away, you’ll hear an alarm clock ringing
It’s proof that someone has firmly caught
The morning you’ve passed on
This is a famous Japanese poet Shuntaro Tanikawa’s poetry.
I first learned it in Japanese language class when I was an elementary school child. The gentle writing style and the expression which makes me fantasized the scenery of foreign countries were impressive and remembered in my mind. I imagined the world while looking at the terrestrial globe…
I love the poet because it focuses on the common time “Morning” due to the relationship between the rotation of the earth and the sun, and the expression of each children’s morning scenery. This poetry makes me feel the earth is one…
The reason why I introduce this poetry is this blog is a bilingual. I am a native Japanese speaker and also English learner.
There are three reasons why I write this blog in English too.
1. I would like to introduce my interests to more people. There’s no reason why I use this tool “English & Internet” that I can connect to more people so easily compare to only in Japanese.
I studied abroad for almost two years in New York 2007-2009, and the experience changed me a lot. I thought that English was a mother language of people who live in the United States before I lived in NY, but you know NY is The Big Apple. It is a melting pot city. You can hear various kinds of languages while walking around the city.
Common language in the international city is English. I learned about English is not only language but also it is a tool to communicate people who are from all around the world. I cared my grammar skill and my pronunciation too much in the beginning but I noticed that telling what I think is more important than techniques. Most of people didn’t care my English skills and they tried to understand what I wanted to tell! I also learned passion is more important to communicate to people in NY.
2. I would like to introduce Japanese culture to more people. I want to learn about Japanese culture more after I came back to Japan.
I think Japanese culture is interesting just as a art&culture lover. The history, the wide range fields and the background stories… It seems there is not enough time to learn about all… I am impressed by the beauties every time I learn new things. That’s is why I would like to share my stories to people all around the world.
3. I strongly feel that there is no border in design or making something fields. I have experience that I can communicate with people even though my English skills are not enough.
Design itself is kind of communication tool for me. My professors or classmates tried to understand what I mean, and they seemed they were interested in my design assignments more than my explanations in English. Maybe I gave up studying in NY if my major was required speaking skill.
Of course it is ideal to speak English beautiful but I deeply felt I was luck that my major was design at school!
Also, I realized that mind set of design or making something is in common in the world. The interests of designers are similar and their mind-set or behavior are similar as well. It would be interesting that there are flags categorized by occupations not nations.
— these reasons are why I write this blog in English and ways of participation in the world.
Finally I introduce my “Morning Relay” story.
Facebook was getting popular when I came back to Japan from NY, it is fun to communicate people who are around the world. Also it is interesting to see their posts from different countries, especially on New Year’s Day.
First, people who are in Japan or Oceania posts their celebrations on the feed, and the place where people post the celebrations move as longitude moves to the west. The last posts (for me) are people who are in West Coast in the United States. We spend New Year’s traditional time in Japan at that time but it is fun experience. I feel my “Morning Relay” with facebook.
*The picture of today’s blog was taken on New Yea’s Day in Kamakura, Japan.
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