1. 大英3A16 Haruna Shirakawa
The Baton of Cultures
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the average life span of the Japanese women is
now over 86. As a woman, I asked myself, “What should we do during these 86 years?” Today, I am going
to discuss the responsibilities of our life in terms of keeping our precious Japanese cultures sustainable.
Japan is a country where we enjoy a variety of cultures with history. These traditional cultures, such as
the kimono, the tea ceremony, and the world-renowned Japanese food are special gifts from our ancestors.
Our ancestors formulated and developed our cultures, which have been passed down to us. In other words,
every one of us is holding an important baton of cultures, which should be passed on to the next generations.
It seems to me, however, there are few people who try to learn and practice our traditional cultures. In fact,
how many of us know how to make traditional green tea? How many of us know how to dress up in a
kimono? A survey conducted by the Nikkei Newspaper in 2013 reported that 70% of the people cannot
make traditional green tea and that 87% of the people cannot dress up in a kimono by themselves. To be
honest, I was one of those people who did not know much about Japanese cultures.
When I was studying in America two years ago, I met an American friend who asked me many basic
questions about Japanese cultures. Unfortunately, I was not able to give any profound answers. Finally, she
pointed at me and said, “Are you really a Japanese?” I was so shocked to hear that. Then, I made up my
mind to become a real Japanese by learning more about our cultures. Now that I have learned to make green
tea and to dress up Kimono myself. I can be more confident to say that I’m really a Japanese.
It is important to recognize the Japanese cultures around us and realize how they are irreplaceable. In
addition to the tea ceremony and kimono, for example, we enjoy the beautiful Japanese food every day.
Unless we appreciate the traditional cultures in our everyday life, I’m afraid, our beautiful cultures will be
fading away.
My friends, please remember that we are all holding the baton of our traditional cultures in our hands. It
is our responsibility to pass the baton on to our next generations. If we drop the baton, the development of
our cultures will never get back on track.