VOX POPULI: There's no simple way to learn to play it by ear

Masayoshi Murayama (1918-2006), who led the first Japanese expedition to the South Pole in 1968, told me this story: He loved mountains as a boy, and his junior high school teacher, a retired British explorer, took a personal interest in him. One day, the teacher invited him to his home and gave him a small box.

In the box were the hands and glass cover of a broken pocket watch. The teacher explained to a puzzled Murayama: "When you get lost, use the glass as a light-reflecting distress signal. When you are out of food, use the watch hands as fishhooks to catch fish."

The point his teacher was making, Murayama recalled, was that one must know how to "play it by ear" when dealing with Mother Nature.

This advice is certainly not only for when one has been caught in an accident or a life-threatening situation. It is more like an iron-clad rule to prevent a tragedy. There is no manual to tell one what to do in the face of nature's many changing faces. But someone apparently didn't get the point, and a tragedy occurred on June 18.

A junior high school girl drowned in Lake Hamanako in Shizuoka Prefecture when a rowboat carrying 18 students and two teachers capsized in high winds and heavy rains.

TV images of the accident site showed whitecaps on the lake. Given that a severe weather warning was out at the time, I must say it was plain madness in the first place to let the students go on their boating excursion.

In fact, some children were reportedly frightened of going out. What on earth was the point of teaching daredevilry to those youngsters?

Experiencing outdoor activities in childhood is said to be of benefit throughout a person's life. According to a survey published recently by the National Institution for Youth Education, the more such experiences people have had as children, the more likely they are to grow into adults with high education, broad interests and a generally positive attitude to life.

But these attributes don't mean a thing if one is dead.

I am reminded of these words of wisdom: "Have the courage to be called a coward." Was this not the sort of courage the students should have been taught on that stormy day at Lake Hamanako?

My heart aches for the girl whose life came to an abrupt end before she could even start exploring her future.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 20

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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.