＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
Have you ever seen the BS Nippon Television program “Tales of Small Villages in Italy” (every Saturday from 6:00 PM to 6:54 PM, with an encore broadcast every Sunday from 10:00 AM to 10:54 AM)?
It’s a wonderful, heartwarming program, so for those of you who haven’t seen it, I’d like to introduce it to you. The program’s concept is as follows:
Living beautifully… Living in harmony with the climate and natural features, rather than resisting them. Living with pride in the traditions and culture built and preserved by our ancestors. Small villages, where the true essence of human life thrives, are currently attracting attention. A small fishing village overlooking the sea, a village clinging to the mountainside, a desolate village in the snow-covered mountains…
In Italy, a country rich in ancient history and fertile land, people live rich lives. What does it mean to “live a rich life, live beautifully”? A wonderful story that we have forgotten is quietly thriving in a small village. The program follows the flow of time as it is, depicting the daily lives of the villagers in their everyday clothes.
I started watching this show casually because my wife used to watch it a lot. The narration flows quietly and calmly, without any overly emotional or assertiveness. You can feel the warm gaze of the people who were born in a small village in Italy and, although they were by no means financially well-off, lived their lives to the fullest, happily and with a rich heart, and then died.
And that’s no surprise, as the narrator is the unique actor Mikami Hiroshi, who has a deep love for Italy.
The opening and closing songs, “L’APPUNTAMENTO,” have a slightly mournful tone, but they match the theme of “A Story of a Small Village in Italy” perfectly.
Following the development and prosperity of Greek civilization, Italy began as a city-state in ancient times. Its territory expanded to become the Roman Empire, a global empire that dominated the entire Mediterranean world. It boasted a culture of painting, sculpture, philosophy, literature, history, and law, as well as an advanced urban civilization complete with water supply and sewage systems such as the Colosseum (amphitheater), the Baths of Caracalla, the Arch of Constantine, and aqueducts.
However, like Greece, Italy is now struggling financially, and the economic crisis has rendered it a burden on the EU.
Meanwhile, in small Italian villages, people are living the “ideal, happy life” described above.
This seems to be in line with Laozi’s idea of ”contentment” (those who know enough are rich). “Know your duties and limitations, and live accordingly,” “never be greedy, but live within your means. That is the happiest life.”
Politically and economically, Italy may have fallen into the “losing group.” However, in the “small villages” featured in the program, people lead “spiritually rich, human lives,” even if it may be “small happiness.” They seem to point to something important we’ve almost forgotten.
I previously wrote an article titled “Commoners in the Edo Period Were Surprisingly Happy,” and I feel the lives of the residents of Italy’s small villages share some similarities with those of commoners in the Edo period.
Right now, Italy is in a difficult situation due to the raging global pandemic of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19). As new filming on-site is currently difficult, the program is rebroadcasting programs originally aired in 2019.
What is happening in the “small villages” featured in the program? It’s a worrying situation.
If you’re feeling “coronavirus fatigue,” I encourage you to turn off the tedious coronavirus information and find peace of mind with this program.