Everyone cannot be always perfect. Even though they know what an appropriate behaviour in terms of human relations is, they cannot do that in all the times. Sometimes they behave in not proper way. It's natural. But, I think that if they continue to do, or if they are lack of consciousness, they will lose the trust on themselves from people around them.
Recently, I was asked to introduce a person to my friends. The person is a kind of a junior of my university. Thankfully, my friend welcomed to talk to the person. So, I sent a message to my friend ccing the person. I hoped that the encounter between them would be fruitful.
Since connecting them, 3 weeks has passed. The person hasn't said anything to me. I don't know in other country, but in Japan it would be common that the person should show its gratitude with me in this case. It's because the person was able to talk with someone with whom the person was keen on having conversation.
Frankly speaking, I expected some message from the person because introducing someone to my network has a risk to lose a trust between people from my network and me. Moreover, if the person has some insight from my friend, it is great that the person thanks to me. But no message has got to me. From my perspective, I don't wanna force the person to appreciate my introduction.
But, yesterday, I met the person accidentally in a library. So, I asked "you did talk to my friend, didn't you? How was that?" The person responded like "that was nice and I felt sympathy with your friend because we have a same interest in social issue."
Okay, I was waiting for the next word - appreciation. But, unfortunately no. I gave a chance to the person to say it by starting talking about that. The response shows that the person doesn't have a different mind from me. Hmm...
Recently, I've experienced such a case twice. I think that if you get an insight, moreover, and an opportunity to do something from a person that you reached by your friend's network, you need to appreciate for your friends to connect you with his/her network.
Yesterday, I visited Liverpool known as a city where Beatles was born. This was a trip organised by Residential Association (RA) students. Unfortunately, it heavily rained, and sometimes it was like a storm.
Before I visited the place, I thought that Liverpool would look like similar to Manchester. However, it was totally different. Although some of local people at Manchester might have an opposite view to me, I reckoned Liverpool is more developed than my city. Since my first visit to Liverpool was in such a bad weather, you know I got the argument fairly.
We got off a bus at a dock, and went to some museums around the harbour. I think these were okay, neither more nor less. After these museums, we had a plan to go to a cathedral, which is one of a largest ones in UK. However, at the same time, it stormed. We gave up doing so. Despite of it, we decided to go to Beatles street. There is a bar/club named The Caveran Club. This is a place where Beatles started their performance. It charged the entrance fee when we arrived there. Nonetheless, many people were following a long queue.
Yup, we didn't stepped into it. Instead, there was a sister pub of The Cavern Club which lives on the opposite side of it. So, we looked at the inside of the sister's one. It was impressive because there was a token of the fact that not only Beatle but also other famous musicians had their performance. In Japan, it's quite tough to maintains such places because the natural disaster often occurs. We have to sometimes renew buildings to apply them to a new building standard law. Actually, the last time when the law was revised was around 20 years though as far as I know.
Anyway, we left the street, and started looking for a restaurant. I went around the city with some Indian friends. As they have something which is not edible due to their religious, we have to find out a religious-friendly restaurant. Usually, it's not hard to look for such a restaurant because UK is a melting pot. But, we had a trouble in this time which took a long time to find.
While some friends was being frustrated, I was thinking "if my these friends visit Japan, can I easily bring them to a restaurant? Certainly not." If Japan wants to be a good tourist site, a lack of diversity/religion would be a barrier to bring foreigners to Japan.
With thinking that, we finally found a good one. Had a late lunch and enjoyed a chat. After the lunch, raining stopped. So, we visited one more museum and then time came to go back to the dock where we got on the bus for Manchester.
When we touch upon topics about personality, psychology, and so forth. Everybody studies Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Although there has been tons of criticisms on this theory, it can be said that this is one of the masterpieces with regard to personality studies.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow)
Taking a subject about organisational psychology, the lecturer showed us one picture. She used the picture to make students laugh as a joke. But, for me, it's not joking. Maybe I think that many Japanese, who experienced the biggest earthquake and tsunami in 2011, can agree with me. The picture is below.
When this picture came out to us, many students laughed. But, I was entirely persuaded by the picture. Let me explain why in following. I remembered two things. First one is that the Internet access can be seen as one of human rights. Second is that social networking services through the Internet access can become a lifeline in an emergency. Looking at the first point, in May 2011, a special rapporteur submitted a report that accessibility of the Internet is one of the human rights. From the link of the report, you can see the following statement. This meansthat the broadband access should be seen as a human right. The Special
Rapporteur underscores the unique and transformative nature of the Internet not only to
enable individuals to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, but also a
range of other human rights, and to promote the progress of society as a whole.
Many media has taken this news, but it seems misreadings of this report. Although they reported that UN approved the Imternet access is a human right, I think it doesn't. When you search this topic on google, this report shared above is just submitted by the special rapporteur to UN human right council. After that, many organisations not only UN but also other institutions about the Internet have seriously discussed this topic though .
But, anyway, I personally think that we can say that the Internet access is a human right because it removes many asymmetries in terms of information. Moreover, it allow us to participate in social activity.
Before the access to the Internet, what do we need? Yes, charing a battery. Without the battery, any electronic devices such as a tablet device, a smartphone, a laptop, are not only useless but also taking places. We all know how important the battery of these devices is. Moving on to second point, readers of this blog maybe know the access of the Internet with the battery can help our lives because I shared a video by Mr. James Kondo, a head of Twitter Japan, in this blog twice. Yes, let me share the video once again here since this video shows these importances of the Internet access and the battery to help us practically with an example of Twitter under the biggest earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
In the video, he raised two questions: how to collect the critical information and how to map issues and find solutions. On to the first question, as he mentions in his talk, many TV which is widely used to get information was broken by the biggest earthquake in 2011. So, the government, local authorities and many medias send out real time information through Twitter because SNS was available even in this emergency. Next, people don't know how to reach you in order to rescue you when you are in danger. It's because we don't know where you are in an emergency. Mr. Kondo shared one amazing story to answer the second question. A lady, who was in a damaged area and an user of Twitter, tweeted "although I rushed into a building to escape from tsunami, it's approaching. Scary. Please help me." One guy in a safe area, who didn't follow the user, came out with an idea to integrate information about needs under the emergency. He made a hashtag "#j_j_helpme" - Japan Jishin (earthquake) help me. And then, the other user who followed both these users above spread out her situation with using this hashtag. These following actions allowed people to call a rescue centre. Next day... yes, she who was in danger of tsunami was rescued!
Through this example, you can realise how importance of charging a battery of your gadget which allows you to access to the Internet is. Do only people, who live in an area where the natural disaster often occur, have a sympathy with me. I hope that YOU can realise how vital these aspects are through this blog post. Thus, I reckon that it is worth adding these two facets on Maslow's hierarchy needs.
When we organised TEDxKeioSFC, how many organisers expected a collaboration between speakers? When I checked Facebook, one amazing news approached to me. The news is an announcement for a talk session by Shunji Yamanaka and Shiho Fukuhara.
Let me briefly introduce them. Mr. Yamanaka is an industrial designer and professor at Uni of Tokyo. He is very famous as a designer of IC card ticket machine called Suica/Pasmo. You can feel how generous his design of the machine is when you use a ticket machine gate in London. The interface of the device designed by him is very user-friendly.
Ms. Fukuhara is an bio artist. When I listened to her idea, my eyes were largely opening with the surprise. Her art is very philosophical. For instance, DNA of your grandparent who has passed away can be infused into a tree. From the moment, the tree can be seen as a monument of the grandparent. This is an art, but at the same time, allows us to recall the existence of the departed and memory with it.
These outstanding two people are in design and art field. But, I didn't expect that these line would cross. Around 4 years has passed since our TEDx event. The unexpected but exciting collaboration makes me thrilled in a good way. Looking forward to their activities.
You can watch their TEDx talks below.
and their event link is here.
Within this following 4 days, the weather in Manchester is perfect unusually. There is no reason to go out. So, I brought my camera explore the city on last Sunday. It was a Valentine's day. Unfortunately, there is no gossip news about me. So, I went around alone. But, it's alright.
At the corner of the Palace hotel, turning left. I knew when I step into a path behind a little bit big road, I can reach out a river. Walking alongside the river, I wasn't able to miss the reflection of blue sky on the river. It's just beautiful.
Plus, I would like to tell you there is a bar alongside with this river. On this Friday, I will click glasses with full of beer together with my friends. The drink gathering will be held in evening though. Anyway, this direction is for Deansgate, which is a stylish area of Manchester.
As I got thirsty after I got to the area, I dropped by a cafe and then ordered a hot chocolate. I think a hot chocolate here in UK, (I don't know other countries though), is like a cocoa in Japan. Taste is same. But only difference from Japanese one is that a cafe staff in UK put fluffy cream on the hot chocolate. It's like a cloud because the amount of cream is large for Japanese. I will miss this topping cream when I back to Japan.
While I was drinking it, I pondered why a camera makes me look for a tiny but a stunning moment around me. The reason is simple. It is because there was nothing to do apart from shooting photos. But I would like to mention a point that when everyone has a habit to give significance what I have or what surrounds around me. That's why I am forced to find capturing moments.
When I was passing through Oxford Road on my way home from the cafe, my camera angle stuck with a hundred of roses at a flower shop. Yes, although woman give a chocolate to a guy with whom the woman is in love on Valentine's day, here in UK, man give flowers to woman. There were bunch of guys who looked happy with a bouquet of rosese. Okay, I exposed what I felt at this moment - I felt envious of the situation where a person loves a particular one. Love is always difficult and complicated. Yes, it can entirely energise us.
While I was thinking such a thing, I left the flower shop after taking an above photo. That was a best timing to pass through the street in front of the business school building. You can see the stunning sunset below. Always it's cloudy and rainy in UK. But, that's why simple sky blue and a beautiful sunset make us happy. I love such a weekend.
Last Tuesday, I had a chance to watch a football match at Old Trafford finally - United vs. Stoke. When I wrote a post about the experience of watching a game at Etihad Stadium, I said that we watch games with sitting a seat. However, this time is different. It may be because the seat was just behind the goal.
When I stepped into the stadium, I got goose pimples. Beautiful grass field, red colour seats, and drunk supporters. I cannot forget saying that Rooney was a starting member. Okay, that's perfect. I was so excited even before the match. The situation where all the exam was over just the before the match also stimulated my emotion.
I immediately noticed that how well the players of United are compared with these of Stoke. Short pass and approaching to players of Stoke are very simple, but these motions let me know the 'level' of United. Frankly speaking, I didn't expect United because now the recent performance of the team has been not well. I know that it still has a tons of talents though.
Even though they have a good talent, it would be hard to keep the level of their performance and team working. That's very natural. Yet, United on last Friday went beyond my expectation. Yes, it's a good way for sure. Within the first half of the match, United got two goals.
I was convinced that United would win the match then. However, since the second half of it turned a goal that United approached, I was still excited for a chance to see a goal scene in front of me. And then, yes, the time came. Rooney scored a goal! Can you believe that the super star Rooney made a mark in front of me? So lucky to have the moment.
One of my dreams came true! I can go back to Japan without any regret lol
こんな感じのスケジュールですが、今日の Human Resource Management はかなり楽しい予感。ユーモアのあるオランダ人の先生で、なんと日本で研究をしていたのこと。声をかけたら、すごくいい笑顔で「どこの大学に行っていたの？」などと聞いてきてくれた。
一発目の授業からかなり良くて、Types of Capitalism and Employment というもの。アメリカとイギリスといった、非常に資本主義が発展していて、株主が非常に力を持つ世界。そして、日本やドイツといったような、stakeholders をもう少し取引銀行など広義の意味で捉えていて、相対的に株主の力がアメリカ・イギリスよりも弱い世界。
僕は比較的にコンペティティブな人間だと自覚している。成果を出すなら低い成果より高い成果を出したいし、常にどこかで負けたくないという思いを抱えながら物事に向かっている気がしてならない。こういう、コンペティティブな思考な人間を Type A というらしい。その逆が Type B 。
以下、教科書から抜粋してきたもの。日訳は面倒なので、そのままでいいですよね・・・
・Type A
competitive
high need for achievement
aggressive
works fast
impatient
restless
extremely alert
tense facial muscles
constant feeling of time pressure
・Type B
able to take time out to enjoy leisure
not preoccupied with achievement
easygoing
works at a steady pace
seldom impatient
not easily frustrated
relaxed
moves and speaks slowly
seldom lacks enough time
A は B に比べて、もちろんストレス関連の病気にかかりやすく、心臓病のなりやすさは3倍も違うらしい。僕の周りで Extreme Type A が数名いらっしゃるので、その人たちの健康を願います（違）。
こうやって書いてみると、自分が work fast かは議論の余地があるのだけれど、やっぱり 僕も Type A だ。自覚しておりますが確かにストレスはかかりやすい。だから、自分でも鬱にならないように気をつけるべきだと心に訴えかけるようにしている。
僕も含めて周りを見ていて、こんな大事な研究データが出ても自身の性格を変えるのなんて難しい。だけど、ちゃんと A から B に変われるんだね、これが！気づきと訓練でなんとかなるらしい。本当かいな。
Type A だと自覚するそこのあなた、以下のことを試しみましょう。
Keep reminding yourself that life is always full of unfinished business;
You only 'finish' when you die;
Learn how to delegate responsibility to others;
Limit your weekly working hours;
Schedule time for leisure and exercise;
Take a course in time management skills
これ面白いのが、B から A に変わることは全く書いていないこと。まあわざわざストレス抱える方に移行しなくてもいいか。
しかし、これを読んでいて昔友人に言われたある言葉を思い出した。その友人は、文句のつけようのない Type B 人間。ちなみに蛇足ですがA の人はわかると思うけれど、B の人が時たまストレスの原因になったりするんですよね。（Bの人ごめんなさい）
だけど、その友人は超越しすぎていてストレスすら感じない。なんならマイナスイオンが出ているのではないかというくらい癒しが得られる。その人みてると、自身の生き方を見つめ、幸せとは何かと自身に問うようになるわけです。こんな人は、まさしく B への移行の「気づき」を与えてくれる重要な存在なわけですね。
This post is English ver. of the last post. If you have read it, please spend your time in doing different things.
First of all, I would mention that I have hesitation to write what I am going to write below. I would appreciate if you understand and consider this state.
Within this one week, my friends, especially who have an experience to study abroad, shared a movie with strict comment on this. If you haven't watched the below movie, please take a look at it first.
This commercial message, or CM, is promoting a mobile device of interpretation, called ili. This device was invented by a Japanese company. In this movie, a white gay has invited Japanese ladies to kiss with him by using the device to translate his message into Japanese. When I had a look at this advertisement, I was so disappointed although I know that I recognise this is a just advertisement of the device.
If you are Japanese, you might remember a news about a white man had held lectures to tell participants that it is easy for white gays to hook up Japanese ladies, and tell them how. This advertisement of the interpretation device is the third movie that I have watched with regard to the fact that white gay hooks up Japanese girls.
The first one is the news I mentioned above. After that, many TV programs took the topic and commenters showed disgusting feeling on him. You might be frustrated to the fact that some foreigners have such an opinion on Japanese girls.
The second one is to be shared by my Taiwanese friend here in Manchester. It was the most terrible. Japanese girls kiss strangers from other country. In addition, they are taking a bath together. This was very much disgusting. According to her, the movie was taken in Taiwanese news. I was asked "Would it be easy for strangers to pick up Japanese? Her comment made me embarrassed as one of Japanese.
Finally, the CM taken above is the third one. I think there are ways to promote the device apart from kissing that makes us imagine kind of sexual things.
I really think (hope) that many Japanese ladies do reject such kind of thing. However, I would admit there are two types of people who cannot reject. Firstly, some feels scared to be required to kiss by strangers, especially foreigners and then permit them to kiss. Another type is get the wrong end of stick, I mean these strangers like us.
Touching upon the first type, we need to seriously share the solution because they could not show their feeling or express rejection caused by being scared. I would hope that you have some idea to fix the issue.
The problem is the second one. I would like this category people to recognise the foreigners who try kissing them looked down upon Japanese ladies. The strangers are thinking that they can be easily trapped. Plus the fact that, I would ask this type to understand your behaviour might make the first type people damaged further.
Some Japanese think that kiss is a common abroad. However, kiss is the way to show feeling love in certain meanings in my understanding. If this kind of advertisement has been made in different countries, the advertising agency and the company would be given a terrible and negative opinion because this shows just sexual harassment.
In the end, I would like to emphasise the fact that everything in this cyber network can spread out rapidly. World might judge negatively on Japanese ladies. Be careful. Without consideration, your behaviour would damage other people.
