Essay Part Eight — History, is it worth it? By Garry Bassin	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
歴史それ自体の価値とは？ 筆者は最近、かつて東ドイツであった地を旅した。 その間に感銘を受けたのは、ベルリンやドレスデンといった都市が、歴史の保存に力を注いでいることだ。 歴史の理解は、未来を築く礎になる。 日本はどうだろうか。

While traveling through what used to be Eastern Germany recently, I was amazed at the attempt to preserve history. Walking through Berlin or Dresden, every corner is either a memory of the past or a testament to the modern architecture and futuristic thinking of the present.

The German people do not try to cover up or forget their dark past, but instead almost make a point to keep it in the forefront of their minds. In the old part of Dresden, next to structures constructed in the past century stand buildings from the 1500s. In Berlin there are museums that hold permanent collections devoted to centuries past. The Pergamon Museum had entire structures re-built from the 2nd and 1st century B.C. This constant recognition of history mixed with the most modern of the present gave me the impression that we are simply beings floating in time. That by seeing the past we could better see the present, appreciate where we came from and where we are attempting to go.

Luis Bunuel, the famous film director of the 1920s said in the introduction to his autobiography, the only thing that makes humans different from animals is memory. Without the ability to remember a past and plot a future, we are simply animals gathering food and looking for shelter, without a purpose or a road map.

I remembered this as I walked through these cities. Even in the United States, which is far younger than Europe, there is an underlying knowledge of where we came from, and where we as individuals and as a country would like to go. It is the basis of Barack Obama's presidency and his message to the American people.

During all this I couldn't help but think of Japan. There is a wonderful history beginning with the Jomon Era, vibrant with trade and sea travel, and a migration of people from other Asian countries that would become the Japanese race. There was the refinement of what would become the Japanese aesthetic, then the dark period of imperialist domination and defeat, and then the modern rebirth of a peaceful nation from the rubble. It is an amazing story that seemingly very few Japanese young people actually understand.

Walking through what was East Berlin, it seemed to me that the young people had but one collective mission in mind: to never go back to where they had been and instead push forward into a more positive and better world. I thought of Luis Bunuel and the difference between human and animal. Looking at the scene in front of me, I could understand what he meant. I wonder if, without fully understanding the past, Japan will ever be able to establish a collective dream for the future. I wondered if just going to work and raising a family is enough to propel a nation. And I wondered, by not evoking the past, how one could look to a brighter and more positive future.

Shukan ST: October 9, 2009

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