ぴったり合う

わたしの気持ちに

was going to highlight some of the lines that especially captured my emotions - just to realize the whole song has written it all.

the style, the melody and just about everything about this song is awesome too.



生きてゆく力が　その手にあるうちは
笑わせてて　いつも　いつも
うたっていて　欲しいよ

きっとこの恋は　口に出すこともなく
伝わることもなく　叶うこともなくて
終わることもないでしょう
ただ小さい小さい光になって
あたしのこの胸の温度は下がらないでしょう

欲を言えばキリがないので
望みは言わないけれど
きっと今のあたしには　あなた以上はいないでしょう

※生きてゆく力が　その手にあるうちは
笑わせてて　いつも　いつも
側にいて　欲しいよ※

きっとあなたには　急に恋しくなったり
焼きもちを焼いたり　愛をたくさんくれて
愛をあげたい人がいるから
ただ小さい小さい光のような
私の恋心には気づかないでしょう

でもそんなあなただからこそ
輝いて見えるのだから
きっと今のあたしには　あなた以上はいないでしょう

教えてください神様
あの人は何を見てる?
何を考え　誰を愛し
誰のために傷付くの?

As long as you hold the strength to live in your hands
Be there always, always to make me smile
I want you to keep on singing
I’m sure that I’ll never speak about this love of mine
It will never be confessed or ever come true
I know it will never end either
It’ll just become a tiny, tiny ray of light
The temperature of my heart will never cool down
There’s no end to what I want
So I won’t say what I wish for
But for me now, there’s no one else but you
*As long as you hold the strength to live in your hands
Be there always, always to make me smile
I want you to stay with me
I’m sure that you have someone who you suddenly need to see
Who you get jealous over and who gives you all her love
Someone who you want to give your love to
So you’ll probably never even notice
My love for you which is just a tiny, tiny ray of light
But that’s the very reason
Why you shine in my eyes
So for me now, there can’t be anyone else but you
Please god, tell me
What does he see?
What does he think?  Who does he love?
For whom does he wound his heart?
(Repeat*)
La la la…..

漸入佳境

凌晨12時。一天裡我最清醒的時分。

稍稍清理腦袋內尚未化作記憶的知識，騰空了位置去反思這兩個半月的生活。人家說初到異地的興奮會抵埗月後磨蝕，外來者在這段時期開始對生活上的諸多不便感到煩厭，寂寞與無助感亦逐漸滋生。這是所謂的「談判期」，初來報到的要與陌生環境妥協，過份堅持自己的步伐與習慣只會讓矛盾更加尖銳。過了談判期便來到真正的調整適應期，生活開始「正常化」，顧慮的東西由短期的，生活上必須考慮的事情升格至較長期，更深層的期望例如對將來的展望。

我不知道我是否跳過了談判期還是我的蜜月期廷長了，我發覺自己愈來愈喜歡亦滿足於現在的生活模式。每天有需要處理的事但可以按自己的時間表作息，在學校裡可作有思想衝擊的交流，見識增長了意見亦被聆聽尊重。住的部屋雖不大但清潔舒適。日文程度還不夠生活需要，但急不來而且也不是不懂日文就生活不了。獎學金定時傳入户口，有節制的使用的話金錢上亦暫時沒有擔心的必要。人際網絡比剛來的時候擴展了不少，當然要找到如在大學時期般交心的朋友不容易，但投契的，談得兩嘴的還是有的。在學的我不像以前上班時般自我封閉，那種職場上特有的交流﹣在酒吧上摸著酒杯底漫不經心的胡吹亂謅對我而言實在十分吃力，害得當時的我還懷疑自己的社交能力真的出了問題，現在想來大概只是不對嘴型吧。對我來說，生活上所有重要的元素現在的生活都滿足了，進步的空間當然有，但當然不可同時苛求奢華的物質生活和豐盛的精神狀態。現在的幸福感應該同時功勞於日本社會文化予我的認同和脫離工作的枯燥呆板後被刺激活化的腦筋。

god knows what will happen in 2 years，但這一刻，我只是想好好享受這裡清新的空氣。

気持ちを伝えられなくてつらいです

K2,

I've been staring at the same paragraph for the last hour but nothing comes through my brain. The next thing I knew I was checking sidestep.com for a plane ticket to San Francisco. You came and left like a tornado, shattering my usual cool. After you took off, it has occurred to me that your mere presence resembles some kind of powerful shockwaves that always leaves me unsettled for days, but I must say that my uneasiness also stems from the realization that such meetings would not happen again soon and not without difficulty.  How I wish I was able to spell out everything that was on my mind for you. Even as I am writing this, I struggle with my word choice so the passage does not appear overly explicit, nor is it so vague that you won't know I am talking about you. You made an effort to meet me. Two times in three days. I certainly hope it is not my wishful thinking that you might feel the same way about me as I am to you. I like to think that we are both playing pretend, given the huge external difficulties we would have to overcome otherwise if the mutual feelings are acknowledged. Yes, I am some years younger and we may be couple hours apart. What puzzles me, however, is that people tend to magnify on differences and dismiss the chemistry as mere sparks, which leaves as easily as they come. Risk-averse. I must confess that I am one of those skeptical people but the emotions within me has ballooned into something so disruptive that I have to confide it to you. That's why I am here.

O.

Related Music:

My 2 yen: the road ahead for Japan

This is actually my submission to the Economist essay competition:

Please select and discuss one of the following statements.

1. Because living standards are so high, Japan's economy no longer needs to grow

Walking on the streets in downtown Ginza, one can hardly find traits of an economy that has suffered from two decades of economic stagnation.Long lines await outside exquisite sushi restaurants and high-end department stores attract big crowds like always. Yet, talking to college graduates who are about to enter the workforce paints a different picture of the Japanese economy. Graduates’ employment rate hits record-low this year with only 57% have secured employment. More unsettling is perhaps the popularity of terms such as “NEET” (Not in Education, Employment or Training) and “Freeter” (Young people who take low skilled and low paid jobs), which has not only suggested the bleak employment scene but other related social issues.

The argument that Japan’s economy needs not to grow anymore due to the high living standard it has attained should be contested in different ways. In Japan’s high growth era, the fruits of astonishing economic development was shared by the population with an extraordinary degree of equality. In contrast, the last two decades of almost zero growth has left the Japanese society diverging into two polars with a growing portion of low-income population and a group of highly skilled or specialized workers flying above the rest. Growth has always been the magic word in the Japanese model to bring about a general, across-the-broad raise in living standard. However, the growth-oriented strategy is handicapped by the decling workforce in today's Japan. With the population expected to shrink to just 100 millions by 2050, unless Japan’s productivity rises faster than its workforce declines, the Japanese economy is bound to shrink. Japan’s young will suffer the most in this trend with diminishing economic opportunities and a huge burden to support the pensions of the retired. The question then becomes, how can Japan maintain and potentially lift the average living standard that is already decaying with a smaller economy? I would argue that as an extremely developed country, there is no reason for Japan to chase after organic growth if it has come to see the limit of its resources. Rather than trying to boost the overall GDP, GDP per capita at purchasing power parity should be emphasized to maintain and improve the living standard of the future generations.

The seemingly high living standard in Japan, as measured by average income, is marred by the high cost of living. With the agriculture industry closely guarded by the politically powerful interest groups, consumers are forced to pay a high premium for the local grown products while being limited to a meagre selection. Japanese policy making has traditionally focused on the benefits of producers rather than that of the consumers. What is good for Toyota, the old saying goes, is good for Japan. Average disposable income of Japanese citizens, a more direct indicator of how wealthy consumers perceive themselves, was only ⅔ of that of United States in 2005[1]. Moreover, the still relatively high nominal income is a result of substantial economic development in the 60s and 70s but income has not risen in real terms the last two decades.

To increase the GDP per capita at purchasing power parity and thereby raise the living standard, the government can work on lowering the cost of living and thereby makes its citizens feel wealthier, or to increase the nominal income following the long-term growth trajectory. Japanese government has hitherto adopted the latter. Numerous fiscal stimulus packages have been rolled out to fill in the gap left by the retreat of private investment. Yet, the result was far from promising. Public debt soared to an alarming level and sent the public mood to south. Fiscal expansion readily funded by savings of the older generations is unsustainable, and the economy needs investment from the private sector to engine growth. Investment from the private sector, however, is endogenous to growth. The Japanese population alone is no longer big enough to support perpetual growth, and local businesses including the agricultural sector should reorient themselves and look outside of the borders for growth opportunities, particularly in the emerging Asian markets. What Japan also needs is innovations. Most Japanese innovations till now have been developed in large electronic and manufacturing corporations, which is one reason why Japan has been lagging its western counterparts in the software, Internet and other value-added service industry. To facilitate a higher GDP per capita, Japan needs entrepreneurs and start-up companies to open unexplored market.

The irony of Japanese economy is that its strong social and industrial foundation has been working to its disadvantage in an era of globalization. Globalization is a two-blade sword and Japanese economy has been hurt from it so far. Large corporations face intensified competitions and are struggling to keep their cost low, resulting in sluggish income growth and lackluster hiring activities domestically. On the other hand, the semi-closed nature of Japanese market makes it difficult to bring in cheaper and potentially better alternatives from overseas. As a result, both producers and consumers are hurt in the tide of globalization. Some argue that Japan's markets are fairly open. Aside from agricultural goods, the tariff rates are about the same as those of other industrial countries and there are only few import quotas established. But this is only on paper. It is no secret that foreign companies find it extremely hard to penetrate into the Japanese market. Statistics also shows that Japan spends less than half as much as of its income on imports of manufactured goods as any advanced nation[2]. Caught in the middle of globalization and a declining workforce, Japan should further deepen its trade dependence on both exports and imports to utilize its human resources more efficiently.

Japan’s economic strength will recede, but that does not translate to a decline in living standard. Small countries like Luxembourg and Switzerland manage to prosper by achieving a high GDP per capita. Japan will have to go through some soul searching to adopt to this unfamiliar position in the world but it simply cannot afford another rudderless decade.