Opinion Trashing the heart of Japan By John Gathright	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
日本の「心」にゴミを捨てる 筆者が住むのは緑豊かな田舎の町。 だが、都会人がゴミを捨てていくので、 次々と困った事態が起きている。

I really enjoy the fresh air, the lush, green forest and the mellow, relaxed lifestyle of living in the country, but it can have its drawbacks too. Sometimes, living in rural Japan is not all that it is cracked up to be, especially when many urban people consider your neighborhood to be their garbage can.

There are days when I could swear that we were living in a dump. Our back roads are littered with old TV sets, stoves, refrigerators, beds and abandoned cars.

Our small village is home to hundreds of discarded household pets, which run wild and invade our homes. This past year, packs of wild dogs killed our chickens, attacked my wife and woke us many times with their howling and their late-night racket.

Homeless cats run wild in our fields and gardens, and some of the more aggressive cats have learned how to tear open a hole in a screen door and invite themselves into people's homes to feast off their tables and in their kitchens. Rumor has it that the elderly villagers are setting out poison bait for the cats. I can understand the people's frustration but can't help feeling that there must be a more humane way of controlling the population of cats than by poisoning them.

A few months ago our boys found a huge tortoise left for dead in a huge cardboard box. Unfortunately, we found it too late. It was so big that it took all my strength to lift it out of the box and carry it into the car to transport it to the village police box. The police were very surprised but helpful. After investigating, they learned that it was from Africa and 30 years old. Its back was 70 cm across, and it weighed about 40 kg. They believed that it had been healthy before being put in the box and that in a pet shop it would have been very expensive.

Homeless pets are not our only problem. We recently found a fridge and freezer dumped outside our driveway. Not only was it an eyesore but a danger for young children who might want to play inside. We called the police to have it taken away, only to learn that it was the responsibility of us, the property owners, to pay to have it removed. What a slap in the face! The culprits who broke the law and dumped it on our property got off scot-free, and we were left with the bill for the disposal.

To add insult to injury, just a couple of weeks ago, some thieves put all of our lives in peril. They stole a car, stripped the tires off, and put it on fire right in a temple parking lot close to the forest edge. Fortunately, the fire was contained and the temple and surrounding homes were not damaged.

I know that most urbanites are law-abiding citizens, who for the most part are concerned about the environment and considerate of others. Unfortunately, a small number of inconsiderate and selfish people are making our country paradise into their private dump. It is said that Japanese cities are the face of Japan and the country villages the heart. I sure hope the heart of Japan does not become full of trash and garbage.

Shukan ST: Sept. 20, 2002

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