Red Fruits

Pyracantha

As the end of 2021 is coming, Hachi feels she has got the last thing which she hesitated to talk about, and looks back 2021.
(Thanks to the encouraging post, which Hachi happened to see and kept nudging her to write this article in her mind.)

What helps people to overcome a helpless feeling?

Raddum, F. 2017. Trans ī re [Online]. [Accessed 30 November 2021]. Available from: https://www.fredrikraddum.no/work/WTAD9yUAACcAYHkA/trans-i-re
For more information about Trans ī re “The Passage” sculpture;
Q&A with Norwegian artist Fredrik Raddum on art and refugees | Al Arabiya English

What Hachi has hesitated to talk about is the abduction issue and helpless feelings of torn-apart families by abduction.
(cf. NHK World. 2021. UN members urge N.Korea to repatriate abductees. Accessed 19th December, 2021. Available from: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211216_09/)

On 14th November, 2021, when Hachi was like the sculpture above, because of lack of heat and sustainable organizational structures, she heard the news that 44 years have passed since Ms.Megumi Yokota was abducted.

While she was watching the news, she thought like this:

Hachi feels sorry for objectivity in the sentences to the families of abductees, yet the feeling has been in her mind for a month.

Old custom to New custom

An abduction issue is often labeled as human rights.

That is undoubtedly true.

When Hachi thinks of the issue, she somehow sees from the different viewpoint lately.

It is said that the national leaders in North Korea executed people at their own discretions.

Hachi was often scared to hear that.

However, she somehow felt their viewpoint lately while she was watching a Chinese drama: she realized that an execution was not unusual at least in 1700s in China.

If the national leaders in North Korea are following the custom, they might be the ones who are surprised by the reaction of people in other countries, which is raising their eyebrows, about execution in North Korea.
(Hachi feels sorry again for the objectivity in the sentence.)

This might be Hachi’s naive assumption, but she cannot feel the national leader in North Korea is completely a “bad” person when she sees his latest atmosphere somehow.

Is she misunderstanding?

The national leader in North Korea is perhaps almost same age as Hachi.

He probably has great national resources, and Hachi is just a Japanese citizen.

If Hachi were in his position, she imagines that it is hard for Hachi to negotiate with other national leaders in parents’ generation (he might not).

Hachi guesses that, when the abduction issue happened, the national leader in North Korea was a child or might not be born yet.

Therefore, it could caused by the national leaders in his father’s generation or grandfather’s generation.

Hachi does not know how the national leader in North Korea take this issue.

However, a few possibilities can be imagined.

First, he ignores this issue; yet he is the only person on the earth, who can make a decision to look into where the abductees are or repatriate them to their families.

Hachi feels that solving the issue would be not only for the abductees’ families and Japan but also for his country as well.

Why?

It is because Hachi feels (and her feedback note shows) that the “new lambda” (the weakest but inevitable force)* for the new era would be a sense of home.

Another reason is that a problem sometimes arises to solve variety of other problems, including ones which do not seem to be connected.

Hachi basically does not like this kind of perspective, but solving this issue could be a gateway to international society for North Korea.

Second, the national leader in North Korea wants to believe that his father or grandfather did nothing wrong.

Yes, from the viewpoint of the benefits of his own country, and NO from the viewpoint of cruelness of tearing apart of families suddenly for many years.

If people in North Korea wanted to learn Japanese, they could say that directly.

Third, the national leader in North Korea might hide but have a nowadays and future-oriented viewpoint, trying to break his parents’ or grandparents’ customs, which takes courage.

If that is true and he makes a decision to repatriate abductees, Hachi would be on his side.

Why?

If abductees are repatriated, many people would say variety of things from variety of viewpoints.

Changing the situation causes some confusion first.

Doing the ‘right’ thing is not rewarded immediately: people would be still suspicious about him or his country, or that might make him feel lost, weak or angry.

Then, Hachi hopes him to remember the image below and she would like to be on his side (even though she is just a Japanese citizen).

Each piece of Japanese Taro become a trajectory of the moon.
(“Sounds and Movement of Love“, “Struggles in the transition period“, “Proud Corazón“)

Each piece of Japanese taro can be “a best step”.

Each best step becomes a trajectory of the moon with continuous efforts.

Whenever Hachi hears the news of a best step, she will think of him and his effort.

And she will imagine that the beautiful trajectory of the moon appears above Asia while she is drinking a cup of tea to find next step, giving him an encouragement in her mind like this; “let’s put the best steps forward together because we never know who is watching”.

(Actually, the advice was the one Hachi was given when she faced a conflict of interest, and she followed.)

(She also remember that “what you can give to other people shows what you were given by other people.” (from the Japanese song “Kaerou (Go Home)” on You tube (3:25)))

TIME

Some people were abducted when they were little as Peiji was little at that time.

That means some of abductees’ lives have been going on in North Korea (without parents’ love), so that it will take time to talk smoothly with their families in their home country even if they could meet their family again.

Some of abductees’ parents were same age as Ito.

Yesterday, one of abductees’ family passed away, without meeting his younger sister again.

Hachi personally believes that death is not the end of time, and what people did will not be erased in the dead world*.

However, what really matters about the abduction issue now is TIME.

Once again, it often happens that what looks like a problem is a chance to solve other problems.

Hachi hopes the national leader in North Korea to think about that, and hopefully take an action.

Red Fruits in 2021

Well, those are what Hachi hesitated to say, and she hoped to write before 2022 comes.

As looking back 2021, Hachi remembers that she heard the word of Public Service many times.

The difficult moments were in the series of events in May to August. (“Crack“, “Heat“, and “Following Twinkling Lights“).

In the series of events, she learned that the mood of “howling dog” works at some extent, but cannot reach to the essential part.

One of the most fearful things was innocent (irresponsible and illogical) unconscious collective mood. (As a result, many Japanese COVID-19 patients died at home without being hospitalized).

After the turbulence, Hachi slightly felt that the attitude of watching inside and outside at the same time equally was helpful in order to walk through the turbulence.

When the situation becomes tense, the most difficult but important thing is loosening our mind.

The attitude of cherishing things, which does not seem to be connected, becomes quite important, even if people see those kind of attitude weird. 

(Hachi, as a person in the field of psychology, wants to say interwork(a mistake, again! “inner work” is correct) is one of “the perfect solution”, but tea time* was also helpful for her, and it seems to be more general.

Hachi is a little bit familiar with Chinese tea and Taiwanese tea, and loves ginger cookies with ginger chunks and dunks them into English tea.
In North and South Korea, what kind of tea is famous? She sometimes bought Yuja(Yuzu) tea. Is there brewed tea, or other tea?
How about in Russia and countries in southeast Asia? How about in Myanmar?
How about in your country and around you?)

Hachi hopes that those experience in 2021 will be red fruits.

Well, as the last year, Hachi peeled Japanese Taro this year, 

Japanese Taro 003

Japanese Taro 002

Japanese Taro 001

Peeled Japanese Taro in 2021!

listened to the Luciamorgon, and embroidered Angle is watching us in our room! 

“TIDINGS FROM ABOVE*” embroidered by Ito
Angle reminds Hachi of the song of “NEO UNIVERSE“

Wherever you are on the planet, we hope you to have lovely holidays!

Added on 10 February, 2022

The rational part of Hachi wonders a lot that now is the appropriate time to write this, but let her express what is in her mind.

Hachi watched the news which North Korean soldiers were cracking bricks by their hands (she is not sure they are willing to do that, though) and the leader of North Korea was riding a horse.

Even though Hachi feels that this kind of viewpoint would be rare, she liked the wild atmosphere in those movements.
(She cannot crack bricks by hands and does not want to try that, yet she feels that the wild atmosphere might be somehow needed to activate proprioception and a somatic feeling to find the way.)

She also happened to watch the news that the US offered COVID-19 vaccines but North Korea did not answer yet.

Then, while she was having a bath, she thought like this.

A lot of wonder is in Hachi’s mind.
(What does she thinking in a bathtub….????)