ItalianoGACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
I thought that I woke up at quite an early timing but
bright sunlight was streaming in through the windows.
Since I’ll be departing in the afternoon today,
I didn’t have to wake up early but
I woke up earlier than planned so I decided to drive around the city.
Since I arrived in London, the weather has been alternating between cloudy skies and rain but
on my last day,
it was this clear and I could see the beautiful sky for the first time.
To think that I’m able to see such a beautiful sky in London too… I thought,
oddly moved by the small things.
Maybe it’s still early in the morning,
but there weren’t that many people in the streets yet
making it the ideal environment for driving.
While wandering around the streets,
I instinctively took a second glance at the name of a bar that suddenly caught my eye.
【COCK AND LION】
『What on earth is that name??
It’s embarrassing to even translate…』
There are a few bars with punchy names where
you won’t know if something like this considered as cool? in London,
or if it’s a dirty joke, or that’s what they call wit.
Anyway, it’s a hilarious name in the daytime.
I’ll go have a look the next time I come to England.
Anyway, it’s a really picturesque city.
Of course,
London isn’t only made up of such streets.
This is a part of the scenery of the area that’s protected by law,
and for the areas that have been modernised,
honestly, you won’t even know if it’s London or not.
I’m not talking about whether it’s good or bad.
It’s simply that no matter which county it is,
the streets that have been modernised will all look similar.
Not that there are people who come to London to see that.
It’s a sight that can be found anywhere.
Be it Japan, or America, or the different countries in Asia,
The streets that have been modernised for easy living
don’t have any big characteristics, and look similar to other such places.
That’s why,
the countries in Europe will definitely regulate
things that can make you feel the history,
and things that have historical value.
Like the blocks can’t be broken for the building’s exterior,
or if the exterior’s block will get broken when rebuilding the building,
the building themselves can’t be constructed.
Of course,
construction takes time and effort, and it’s exceptionally troublesome.
It’ll cost extra money too.
However,
even so, those are things that have to be protected.
Paris, London, Rome,
and many other European cities regulate this by law
and are able to still maintain the history from long ago.
Thinking about it normally,
with regards to driving the car,
driving on roads with cobble stones and such is difficult often cause slipping,
and if you’re only considering the comfort and ease for driving, you’ll decide that it’s better to have asphalt roads.
Cobblestones and blocks can’t be driven on when it snows.
Even so, they decided to not make this area into asphalt.
It’s sometimes eliminates what’s convenient and keeps things inefficient and wasteful to protect history.
I believe that that’s fine.
If the world only pursues what’s convenient,
it’ll honestly become something that’s got as much charm as nose pickings.
It feels like that, taking that for example.
You can boast, “It’s troublesome to go and get something in the first place!
If you’re only considering functionality, then the smaller the better!”,
and make a space the size of 2 and a half tatami mats your home,
remove everything else like your kitchen, and put everything you want within your reach.
Since there’s a convenience store outside your home,
whenever you want to eat or drink
you don’t even need to purposely change your clothes to head out.
You can feel great joy from that, and replace that with the word convenient, and say
『Such a functional room is just what I was looking for!!』
and be a person who cuts all waste and lives efficiently
and feel happy with it.
I think that for humans, it is very important for us to figure out how to live meaningfully
in an inefficient environment with wasted time, and how to elegantly use that time.
At work, we indeed tend to pursue efficiency but
if we pursue only【efficiency】,
then a future where human-to-human communication is eliminated awaits.
If we end up considering that wasteful, it would be an extreme case of getting our priorities wrong.
It is good, precisely because it is【unnecessary】.
If you can change the【unnecessary】into【refinement】, beauty will exist in your heart.
The scenery from my window is beautiful.
While thinking about these, I got into the plane,
and in the blink of an eye, I arrived in Germany.
Another long day has begun.
What kind of happenings await me?
I’ll lie down for a little since I’m tired.
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA