VOX POPULI: Reflections on beauty and hard, cold reality

Astronaut Naoko Yamazaki penned this haiku during her recent mission in space: "The sapphire Earth and flowers/ Are all children of the universe." Only someone who has been to outer space could have come up with this lovely image of our world.

Below are a selection of comments made during the month of April, when freak weather delayed the blossoming of flowers and spring chills had the political community shivering.

"Nankurunaisaa" in Okinawan dialect means something like "things will somehow work out, so let's not worry."

"The phrase reflects a good attitude. But you can't win a tournament with this attitude alone," said Masaru Gakiya, the manager of Okinawa's Konan Senior High School baseball team that won this spring's National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament at Koshien Stadium. "Kids have infinite possibilities. The boys on my team are reborn every day."

Some 90,000 people gathered for a rally to protest the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to elsewhere in the prefecture.

"It's frightening when you cease to recognize a danger for what it is," said Kana Okamoto, a 17-year-old student at Futenma Senior High School. "I've become used to living in constant danger, and my senses have become blunted. Are the fences out there meant to keep the base penned, or are they meant to keep us penned?"

On this issue, nankurunaisaa is the last word we want to hear from our prime minister.

A tributary of the Shibuyagawa river in central Tokyo was the model of the popular school song "Haru no Ogawa" (Brook in spring). The river has since been covered over and become a culvert.

Hideaki Oda, 68, is leading a campaign to revive the river and restore it to its former glory. "It's been more than 50 years since it was covered over. We must start with jogging our memories of the town itself," he said.

Miyuki Toyoshima, who has co-authored a book on onomatopoeic expressions peculiar to the Kansai region, noted: "In this consensus-driven age of ours, we expect one another to be precise when communicating our thoughts. But onomatopoeic expressions (used in Kansai) leave room for free interpretation of what they mean. This shows the kindness of Kansai people."

A 77-year-old man, known by his nickname of Kin-chan, has been shining shoes in a corner of the basement of Tokyo's Imperial Hotel for more than 40 years. With the skill he learned from U.S. military officers, Kin-chan has shined the shoes of many famous movie stars. "If I shine my customers' shoes with all my heart, the shoes always respond," he said. "During each 10-minute session, I own the world's top celebrities." Way to go, Kin-chan.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 30

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.