The Meaning of Life

Chihiro Shiga
(Age 10, Japan)
Hino Dai-go Elementary School, Tokyo

I know of war only from books and pictures. But there are people close to me who have gone to war―the president and vice president of a Japanese folk song club that I belong to. Both of them are still happily singing songs, but I don't think they ever forget their experiences in the war. The president was badly injured on an assignment to check for land mines on foot. The vice president was supposed to crash his plane on purpose, but the war ended just in time, so he didn't have to do it. I couldn't believe that something so sad could really happen. I think that being forced to throw away your life at someone else's command is the same as not realizing that you have a life at all.

I thought about what we could do to eliminate war. Wars are fought between countries, but it is people who do the fighting. I remembered a time when I got into a fight with my friend at school. It started with some common, trivial thing, and turned into an argument. Both of us said things that we didn't mean to say, and we developed heavy feelings toward each other. Although I have decided not to practice violence, I have been kicked and punched at times. But I do not fight back because I know that if I can take it, even if I get hurt, it will heal. However, fighting with words is different, because when you hurt someone's feelings, it never heals. I don't want to get into either kind of fight. It is easier to be friends with someone than to fight with them. First, you find the other person's good points, and you tell him or her about them. I think that when you do this, both of you will feel better and get along better, and you can understand each other's feelings.

However, that is only when you and the other person speak the same language. With people in a foreign country, the language and culture are different, so it is harder to communicate, I think. We can express ourselves with gestures, but bowing and bringing our hands together to say 'thank you' like we do in Japan may not have the same meaning to the other person. I like being patted on the head, but I have heard that there are countries where that is not allowed. Different countries also have different foods and different rules around eating. And, the most difficult thing to understand is people's ways of thinking.

It is almost impossible to standardize everything. But, there is no need to make everything the same. This is because, if we make everything the same, countries will lose their individual cultures.

I am learning folk songs and kendo (Japanese fencing). They are both Japanese cultural traditions. Cultural traditions are handed down from a country's history, so I think they show a country's unique qualities. I am sure that people in all countries value their traditions. Therefore, I think that if we share the things we value with one another, we will become friends, and wars will not take place.

I think it would be great if people around the world could care for others, learning their languages, cultures, histories, gestures, and so on.

I would like to become friends with people from all over the world. And, I hope that together, we can discover that there is meaning to our precious life.