The Great Voyage Vol. 252: "The Baton of Love", by Maiko Seto.
I once read such an article "The national quality is super high, but what makes people feel most is indifference", I was impressed by Japan's advanced technology, clean streets, good public security, craftsman spirit, etc., and the Japanese people, meet each other warmly and greet each other, work efficiently, pay attention to etiquette, etc. But they strictly maintain a certain distance, meet and greet but mostly polite, very afraid of causing trouble, Japanese people have difficulty saying that they have really good friends, and when they encounter difficulties, they often do not think of asking their friends and family for help. If you can rely on technology to solve the problem, try to use technology such as various vending machines, in the face of many things, Japanese people are often cold-eyed, so Japanese people live very lonely. The previous suicide rate was very high, of course, from these aspects there is indeed a wave of "indifference".
However, I found that from Japanese literature, manga, film and television, games and other works in recent years, there are a large number of healing works, which are not as "indifferent" as imagined, and there are still many warm existences. A research report from Wang Yu, associate professor of the School of Foreign Chinese Culture of South China Normal University, entitled "Healing Culture in Japan's Heisei Period" brought me the answer. At present, Japan is facing economic recession, cult incidents, frequent natural disasters, environmental crises caused by nuclear leaks, as well as low births, unmarried and aging, which have led to people's spiritual panic and uneasiness. In the context of the Japanese people's need for spiritual comfort and humanistic care, a culture of healing came into being.
Oh, yes! This may not just be a problem for a Japanese national, but we all live in stressful, anxious, and even depressed situations or emotions today, and we all need to be cured. In recent years, there have been many masterpieces in Japanese literature such as "Deeper Than the Sea" and "Camellia Stationery Shop", especially the synchronous linkage of "Thief Family" movies and literary works, which has caused countless people to burst into tears. Recently, I found a masterpiece of Japanese healing literature, which focuses on the special family structure in the context of large social problems, with a hidden story behind it, and a work that won the Japanese Bookstore Grand Prix, "The Baton of Love".
"The Baton of Love" tells the story of a girl Youko, but I have no way to introduce her full name to everyone, because her surname has changed four times, and it is such a slightly magical story that focuses on a special family, seven times in the past seventeen years, seven times the family composition changes, Youko's biological mother unfortunately left due to a traffic accident, when Youko was still young and did not have much memory, only to be dependent on her father, and Youko did not become an "unfortunate" child or had an unfortunate childhood. A few years later, his father had remarried Tohwa, but was sent to Brazil for work. This work is very attractive to me here, jumping out of the previous story development, the father will give more choices to Youko, and stepmother life? Travelling to Brazil? The first baton was handed over to her stepmother, Pear Blossom.
Ms. Ewha is a very "imaginative" person, relying on the work of an insurance salesman to maintain the family, living a poor but still happy and happy life. Youko suddenly wanted a piano and a piano room in the middle of the day, although it was a dream, but the stepmother Ewha remembered in her heart, Ewha tried to help her realize, one day took Youko to the home of the "new father" Mr. Izumihara, is a president, the family is generous, so a new family was formed, and Ewha could not accept that she was older Than a lot of old-fashioned Mr. Izumihara, Ms. Ewha left this new family, even if it was outrageous, but in the story the baton was handed over again, Youko did not experience any abuse in this family, and even changed her name to Izumihara Yuko.
A few years later, Ms. Ewha reappears, comes to Izumihara's house and takes Youko with her, and comes to Mr. Morimiya's house, but Ms. Ewha disappears again. Only Mr. Moriya and this strange child Yuko are left, but Youko does not get Mr. Moriya's coldness, and Mr. Moriya, who graduated from Todai University, takes good care of Youko. Many people will think this is too absurd and bizarre, but the healing feeling of this book is to make us believe that "love" is there, and the book's extensive and meticulous description makes the story extremely wonderful and warm. After so many changes, even if it does not conform to reality and some logic, Youko is not unlucky at all. The language is simple and lovely, intertwining the touching bonds of family, friendship and love, making people feel as willing to believe in truth, goodness and beauty, and believe in all the tenderness in the world.
"The Baton of Love" is a work that makes me feel warm strongly, which can make me see more of the beauty of life, and after examining the present, it has the magic of making people regain their confidence and return to life. Author MaiKo Seto does have such magic, I have only seen her "Happy Table" before this work, from the perspective of a little girl to see through the Japanese family and social problems, with a warm eye to pay attention to the communication and exchange between family members, triggering the reader's perception of family affection, this is the magic of Mai Seto, with a fresh and pure way of writing and life language, description, let her warm story about family and love penetrate into the reader's heart. This work is also about to be filmed, and many big names will star, and I am looking forward to it.
If you are not satisfied with your life, please also look at the healing system, believing that warmth and love are still there.