ItalianoGACKT Official Blog update. Translation below:
I started today with training in the morning.
I woke up pretty quickly.
Angie, who sleeps next to me on my pillow as usual,
looked my way with a face that seemed to say
『You’re up already?』.
This extremely short amount of sleep time is the usual.
I don’t have sleep apnea… I think.
While preparing slowly, I had my tea time.
I then started organising the accumulated work.
Today, I’m going to 【JPJ】, a place similar to Japan’s transport authority,
to renew the car registration
with a car dealer friend.
Normally,
my friends handle these things for me but
this time, my passport is needed and I have to be there personally so
I have to go over.
Even so,
these few years, I’ve always been driving without car registration.
If this was done in Japan, it would become quite a problem but
it seems like here, it’s not something to panic about.
Well,
since I don’t feel good about driving without a car registration,
I decided to get it reissued…
Being bothered by something like this,
I feel that it’s my own Japanese temperament.
Since the area that the designated JPJ is in is one that I’ve never been to before,
I drove over with a feeling of excitement in me.
I drove for around 40 minutes.
According to the map, it seems like I’ve arrived at the destination but
because it was too disorganised, I couldn’t find it.
I went around and around the same place but I couldn’t find it after all.
Such a negative loop is something that is hard to get out of.
There have been many occasions when something is actually in front of me,
but just I can’t see it.
When I contacted my friend,
he said
『It’s close by!』 though.
Then,
what I finally found is a building
that is far smaller than what I expected.
『This is……… it……?』
I thought,
and parked the car, got off and headed over, then my partner came to meet me.
Why is it in such a local place? I asked him,
and it seems that if we went to the JPJ in the city, it’s a big building
but at the same time there are a lot of people, and if your luck is bad, you might even end up waiting for over 2 hours.
This was recently established, and it’s like a branch office so
the building is small, but there are apparently very few visitors.
『The actual matter itself can be done in 15 minutes anyway』
he told me.
In other words, it seems like it’s the knowledge of a local.
When we went in, indeed there were only a few people.
I thought that if this is the case then the work can be done smoothly, and took a look at the work.
However,
there are many such government offices that tend to only speak in Malay.
There are even times when they don’t understand English at all.
At such times, whether or not you have a local friend
makes a huge difference.
The work was smoothly settled in 15 minutes.
Then,
we headed to a nearby cafe to have tea.
We found a cheap place with a good atmosphere, and went in.
I opened the menu,
and the food is exceptionally cheap…
There was a whole array
that was priced between 200 to 300 Japanese yen.
Even my friend exclaimed in surprise,
『Cheap!!』
when he looked at he menu.
Then,
I ordered a cappuccino but when they brought it over,
no matter how I look at it, the appearance is weird…
When I smell it, it was exceptionally sweet, and had a unique aroma.
『Is this… a cappuccino??』
I asked my friend,
but he also shrugged and said
『Probably, it’s… not…』
and
we both gave it a sip.
『This is too sweet!!!』
the words unintentionally slipped out.
Well, in a local area, this does happen.
Such things often happen in local areas.
I re-looked at the menu, found Oolong tea, and asked the staff
『This isn’t sweet right?』
I confirmed with him over and over.
For around 2 hours,
we spoke about what I did in Japan for that while,
and complicated matters like how the world will turn out from here on,
and this and that.
Recently, there has been quite a lot of criticism about America’s Trump but
I feel that his way of thinking and his actions aren’t wrong.
Of course,
it probably often doesn’t look like a direct method of relief for everyone but
as a result, for America as a country,
there is finally a possibility that the things that conservative presidents
have been unable to achieve thus far can now be achieved.
Of course,
there has been a lot of tough talk against immigrants and foreigners but
I think that in the first place, the top priority of a country
is to first give preferance to the people who were born in that country
and after clearing that,
then should they think of the people who come from other countries.
A country should be thought of as a big ship.
It’s alright when it is being steered well.
However,when it seems like it’s going to capsize, and you think of bailing everyone out at once,
in the end,
whatever policy is implemented will become a half-hearted conservative thing,
and will only be unable of getting significant results,
or it is highly likely that everyone will sink with the ship.
It’s a sad thing but realistically speaking,
priorities exist when it comes to aid.
It must be so.
Especially in America,
many conservatives abruptly change sides halfway saying and
『That president is useless!』
about their leaders from start to end.
This is also despite that they badly want a conservative president too.
In the end, this is what happens.
This being so,
a leader who can proceed with huge changes even while getting beaten up since the start
has a far higher chance of achieving anything.
Either way, those who first start doing something, even if they would get beaten,
not only have a high chance of succeeding, but also will take much lesser time doing so.
Nothing will progress if you wait for everyone to give the okay.
When big changes come, that’s how it is.
After this, not only America, but the world will move too.
France, too, has produced the youngest president ever at age 39.
Be it the Philippines, America, or France,
the world has started looking for big changes.
To that,
a conventional conservative leader who decides by looking at the feelings of those around them will not be enough.
I want to have that hope that the world will be moving in that direction.
Well then, what will become of Japan…
Japan, the country where extremely conservative people are gathered.
Oh well, let’s observe carefully.
I think that it’s about time that people have to realise that
Japan too has already entered an era that needs change though.
Hm,
I wonder just how many people living in Japan
have realised this…
I drove home while thinking about those things.
I found a weird person at the side of the highway.
I wonder what this person is doing…
Strange people are
rapidly increasing in numbers recently…
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA