Japanese forget anything so soon.

After the world war II, just because Japan was
defeated by Allied Powers, we were shouldered
with lots of great difficulties, and we were
forced to go through many hardships.

In all and every field of such as food, clothing
and shelter, the circumstances compelled us
Japanese to endure violent poverty. All men
and women of all ages got to be short of even
daily poor meal and malnutrition got widespread
in our entire country. It has been now a story
of long time ago.

To those who were born in the good time of postwar
when sudden growth could have been attained, it has
been no more than a simple story on the past history.

Those who were born soon after the world war who are
called as "baby boomer" now reaching the time of
retirement and they are just about to commence
the pension life. The elapse of time has an
inclination to work to get the past facts faded
out. Those facts that we were given the bad taste
bread with skim milk at school when we were just
elementary school boys and girls cannot come back
to our recollection unless we have some chance
to remind of them. Because of the bad nutrition,
boys were often making their sleeves shining
with a runny nose. But, such a story cannot be
reminded in our usual daily life.

We Japanese are too soon to become hot and
too soon to forget about it. On something we get
excited temporarily but its passion will be soon
lost in just a little while. We don't keep it
alive in our memory for a long time, but we
will be absorbed in next something very soon.
The fashion of "dakkochan" doll and the
enthusiasm for a "furafupu" - a plastic pipe ring
to make it roll around the waist - they are the
very old things of indeed many years ago.

On the other hand, among the visitors from abroad
on business, although the number of persons I made
company with was not so many, I find not a few of
them very good at keeping old things in memory.

Perhaps it might have been something so unusual
to them - that might be one of the causes for
that he could be keeping it in his memory for
such a real long time. But, I couldn't recall
what we had shared together in the distant past.
They remember well that I had taken them, for
example, to Osaka castle when they last visited
Osaka. They keep them in their memory which I
had completely forgotten. I don't believe
that they were much superior in the ability of
memorizing something, but they certainly
remember even such small things which do not
remain in our memory because they're just
nothing special to us Japanese.

Perhaps the difference whether to have or not
to have an impact which will work to retain
them in memory will be causing the difference
to keep or not to keep in memory. Just as they
were, we will be also remembering what gave us
some strong impression. In other words, suppose
we're in daily strong impression, if such
intensity will be something normal to us in
our daily life, its degree of intensity will
drop by being habitual to it, and it will be
no longer something rare or uncommon.

Namely, unless it could be something more
intense in its degree, they won't be kept
in the memory. To most of the people living
in the urban area where its life is always
full of stimulation or excitement, such
factor will not work as something stimulating,
when compared with the life in countryside.
So, if the visitors from the country short of
such stimulation come to Japan where filled
with such exciting something, it is natural
that they would find Japan very exciting.
As a result, such irregular experience could
be printed firmly in their memory.

Our case being filled with daily too many
surprises to happen one after another,
most of them won't remain in our memory.
That might be one of the reasons we remain
look younger on the appearance ?
I mean - abundance of excitement will work
to make you look young.

Have a wonderful day full of excitement !