I woke up this morning at a hotel in Tokyo. While I was going through article on the Web, a picture caught my eye, and I read the article associated with it. It was a picture of a young fisherman. He's wearing nothing but a pair of worn-out work pants, arm covers, and a towel around his head. His physique is reminiscent of a Greek sculpture, with his torso lean but ripped, the shoulders swelling like summer clouds gradually flowing into the bi-ceps which are equally well-developed through daily hard work. He is smiling at the camera, but without that self-consciousness characterizing modern young men doing selfies all the time.
His name is Mr. Toshio Murata. He is a former fisherman, now happily retired and living in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan. The photo was taken when he was 25 by a military doctor named Mr. George Butler hen belonging to the Matsushima Air Base of the US. He passed away years ago, but his son set up a Web site in order to find out the identity of the man in that picture, as well as those of people in many other photos that his late father had left him. One day Mr. Murata's eldest daughter who had that photo shared by her friend says, "This must be YOU, dad." as she shows the photo to him. This way the man in the photo was finally identified!
Mr. Murata, who is 91 years old now, is kicking and alive, "Thanks to all the hard work he did as a fisherman," as his daughter so put it. (https://goo.gl/ovHc6Q)
This clearly sheds light on the importance of physical hard work in youth. We live in the world where manual labor is often looked down on and intellectual work is regarded as sophisticated. As a result, more and more people engage in brain work. and less of physical work. But there is a price to pay. Many have become physically weaker. Perhaps mentally also, as some mental impairment is allegedly attributed to lack of physical activities. In order to deal with this situation, many modern people go to gyms and sweat their asses off by "paying". It's ironical. Mr. Murata is different. His labor directly lead to fitness and health. Nothing is more beautiful than that? I am somewhat envious of his way of living. Then what should I do? Be a fisherman? I'm afraid not. Though I have no answer to the question "What should each of us do?" it doesn't mean we all understand the beauty of the life where one's labor and health are directly connected. I would like to bring this short essay to a close by inviting my readers to think about your way of achieving that.
都内某所で朝を迎えた私は、目覚めと共にとあるWebニュースを目にした。私の目を引いたのは一枚の屈強な青年の写真だった。上半身諸肌さらけだした一人の青年が作業用のアームカバーを付けた腕を腰にあて、頭にタオルを巻いて、仁王立ちでカメラに微笑んでいる。そびやかす双肩には夏の強い日差しが降り注ぎ、入道雲のように隆起した三角筋が上腕に向かってなだらかに絞られて、ギリシャの彫刻のような陰影を映し出していた。青年は微笑んで見えるが、そこには作り笑顔になれた現代青年の過剰な自意識は見当たらず、あるのは未だ「他者から見られる自分」に気付いていない古代の純朴さだった。・・・・「これが青年の顔だ！」と私は思った。
写真の主は村田敏雄さん。石巻在住の元漁師さんで、御歳91歳。写真は66年前に当時米軍医だったGeorge Butlerさんが米軍松島キャンプに駐在していたころ、男鹿半島を訪ね歩いて際に撮影したものらしい。Georgeさんは既に他界され、息子のAlanさんが、被写体情報を集めるためにウェブサイトを開設。その後サイトを見た村田さんのご長女の友人が、ご長女に連絡。本人の特定につながったという。66年の時の隔たりを驟雨（しゅうう）の速さ結ぶネットの威力に改めて驚きを禁じえない。
さてご長女いわく、村田さんは91歳になる現在、病気一つせず極めて壮健。「若い頃の重労働で鍛えた体のおかげだ」と述べたそうだ。なるほど下のお写真を拝見しても、とても91歳には見えない。この調子なら孫の顔はおろか、ひ孫の顔も、さらにはやしゃ孫の顔も見れそうである。
現代社会は、額に汗する肉体労働を軽んじる傾向がある。椅子から体を起こす手間すら馬鹿にされ、指一本で済ませることを洗練と見なす傾向もある。社会の様々な局面において、それは真であることは否めない。しかし肉体労働の軽視によって多くの代償を払うことにもなった。生活習慣病がその一つである。その解決の為に、施設に通い、代金を払って汗を流すことが「洗練」と見なされるのだから皮肉だ。。しかし、青年の村田さんの屈強な体躯と、老いてなお生き生きとした笑顔を見て、労働が壮健に直結する生き方が究極の理想に見えたのである。
では現代人の私達はどうしたらよいのだろう？私にはわからない。一人ひとり答えが違うと思うので、今朝は問いかけでおしまいにする。まる。
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