Despite it being Children's Day, a meeting at the Dictionary Club from morning. Still, it was a pleasant and enjoyable meeting, bathed in warm sunlight and feeling a gentle breeze. What's more, while savoring some subtly sweet apple juice left in the fridge. Well, another fine day has begun... when my phone rings.
Urgent contact. Driver needed immediately to a certain location. Hmm.
Are you in trouble? Understood. I'll leave the meeting midway and head out!
What? I don't know the destination? What's the station name?
Call the station, register on the car navigation, GO!
The highway is moving slower than expected. The air in the car is urgent, urgent, and hot, hot, windows wide open! Normally, the car navigation's voice is annoyingly loud, but what? Huh? I can't hear it? The navigation voice is drowned out by the sound of the car cutting through the wind. And a truck tailgating me, where are you going in such a hurry? Huh? Isn't the course strange? Police cars everywhere, has this car navigation gone crazy? Why are they here? And re-entering the highway again. Well, maybe this way is less crowded, so it might be better. What a miscalculation. It's crowded, you know. Huh? Huh? Which way? Can't hear you? A motorcycle going wild at a crucial moment! The navigation voice announces a sign I can't find? Isn't this wrong? Where are we going? Car navigation, huh? Are we getting off here? Is the road below faster? In the first place, where is this car heading? Adachi Ward? Huh? I've never been there... Huh? Have I seen this place before or not... Still, why are there so many people around here? Again, the voice in the car is hurry, hurry, hurry... But cars don't have wings, so they can't fly. The bus three cars ahead isn't moving. Too many people at the crosswalk, the light changes multiple times before they can move. But it's hot, right? Huh? 33 degrees? Summer, summer, summer, I don't like it, but I'll turn on the air conditioning.
It hit my throat in one go. Huh? Huh! Ah, that's the Skytree. Photo, photo, ah? The 'iphongrapher' has come off, it's just an iPhone now.





But I'll take it, take it... The screen is so bright I can't see anything, reflecting the sunlight, I can't see, can't see, can't take it! It's moving, finally moving, huh? Are we getting on the highway again? Where are we going?
Right? Left? Straight? Right? Left? Back? I can't go back, this is the highway, where are the cars going... Ah, maybe here, get off here, this is it, I'm sure it's here~ Huh? Why is there a police officer at this highway exit? Slow down, slow down, stop. "Driver, didn't you notice the temporary stop?" Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? I got lost, and, well, I'm late, and, do I have something to do with it? "It's a stop sign violation"? The exit? Where? The merging point? (I slowed down and came down carefully... What are you picking on me for, this young officer?)
"I'm issuing a ticket, so please cross to the right at the signal and wait." Huh? A pair? Both young. Huh? Are they on bicycles? I see, today is a day for earning points. Of all days, Children's Day, and despite us being lost sheep, we finally arrive, and this is what we get. I didn't do anything dangerous. Couldn't you at least wait until I drop off the child? Lost and wandering in an unfamiliar place, I finally got here. 'I cannot. I'm issuing a ticket.' This is why people don't trust you. 'If we weren't here, accidents wouldn't decrease.' You're really overstating it. You knew perfectly well that no one stops properly here, and you're picking on the weak. I'm speechless with disappointment. But they aren't human enough to understand people's feelings. Just repeating the manual, 'If we weren't here, accidents wouldn't decrease.' Sadly, this is the reality in Japan. If you really want to eliminate accidents, you're focusing on the wrong things. Who would trust a police force that extorts money from the public for points by doing such petty things?





I've lived and driven many times more than these young men and know the state of cars in this country. If we drove according to their instructions, this country would be a traffic jam hell, and economic efficiency would be disastrous. Smart drivers don't cause accidents because they drive with the flow of traffic. Truly smart police officers should understand that driving strictly by the police manual is actually impossible.
Then let me say this: for example, during the morning rush hour, convenience store delivery trucks are causing traffic jams everywhere. However, I have never once seen a police officer on a bicycle come to issue a ticket. If this isn't collusion, what is? If you say, 'If we weren't here, accidents wouldn't decrease,' then first, crack down on the convenience store delivery trucks every morning! These young officers, spewing arguments about earning points to meet quotas, might actually be victims of this country's gradual corruption. They can't even do the basic thing of judging based on the person, saying, 'We don't judge people; we judge violations.' This statement, which seems flawless at first glance, reveals how human society truly functions.
...How about it, shall we have a katsudon? Young, by-the-manual types have not a shred of the human empathy found in such manga-like situations.
Considering that the Road Traffic Act in this country cannot possibly be enforced completely, shouldn't we first crack down on the immediate sources of danger?





One more thing: convenience store owners, you should pay a hundred times more in automobile tax. That would be the least you could do as human beings. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but some companies that appear to be making a good profit in Japan are forcing sacrifices on society and turning a blind eye. Other companies are polluting the land with pesticides and herbicides, creating land where nothing can grow again, and in exchange, producing cheap goods, consuming humanity's future for profit. What kind of civilized nation is this? What kind of democracy? Are humans, are Japanese people, truly moving forward? Isn't this no different from the Sengoku period of the law of the jungle? They'll stop at nothing to gain power. 'If it doesn't sing, I'll make it sing.' 'If it doesn't sing, kill it.' Business leaders like these are praised as wise leaders in society. Money is everything. Truly, on Children's Day, we are shown the distortions of this country to an unbearable degree. We need to reconsider that the problem of nuclear power stems from these everyday distortions. We've been closing our eyes until now... you and I. Yes, Children's Day is not for children. What kind of wonderful future can we paint for children?
Isn't it rather a "Day for Adults" that questions this?
Thinking about it, it's probably for the best.

P.S. To be honest, I'm already saying it, but today's ticket too,
It feels like being extorted by yakuza, but I'll pay it properly. It's protection money, right? I'll also offer up two points.

After all, I am an adult with Japanese nationality.




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