A Word That Shifts the Mood

The coronavirus spread throughout the world, and I too experienced, for the first time in my life, a state-of-emergency lifestyle. Though Japan cannot, by law, carry out a lockdown (a city closure), companies and individuals were compelled to guard against infection, and the state urged a lifestyle based on staying home and refraining as much as possible from acts carrying infection risk.

In the midst of this, I got a call from a respected mentor of the baby-boom generation.

“Kei-chan, doing well? I’ve got something to talk about—won’t you come by my office?”

In the thick of this situation, I replied, “Mr. So-and-so, I’d love to, but would after things settle down be too late?”

At which he said, brightly and in a spirited voice, “You’re scared of COVID, eh. Well, sure—a state of emergency’s been declared, after all. But you know, the only state of emergency for me is when women disappear from this world.”

I couldn’t help laughing.

Indeed, if that came to pass, there’d be no joy in living—a crisis for the survival of human life. It may have been unreasonable, but—”Understood. I’m coming now.” As expected of him, his spirit is grand. Arriving at his office, I was heartened by him all the more, and the feeling that had made me something of a mole was set free; on the drive home, in the fine blue sky and the unchanged green of the city, I painted a bright future.