With my departure for London just a day away, I’m all set. Though when I say “set,” all I really did was pack my bike into its travel bag.
As I finished writing letters to Mr. C and my former colleagues who sent me messages, as well as to K, who rode with me from Detroit, and as I wrote postcards to the people in Japan and those I met and was helped by in the U.S., a thought suddenly crossed my mind… I’ve written about the many acts of kindness I received in America, but there were still so many more kind people I haven’t mentioned.
The elderly couple who gave me money to buy a cup of coffee. The young girl who picked flowers by the roadside and gave them to me, wishing me a safe journey. The woman who called out to me as I passed by and gave me a large bunch of peaches, saying they were for dessert.
The elderly man and his young Mexican wife who, in the middle of a storm, offered me a shower, a meal, and even a place to stay in their barn. And the many others I met along the way who gave me their addresses, inviting me to visit their homes…
In the early 1980s, due to the imbalance in the value of the yen and the dollar that had persisted since the 1960s, Japan’s trade surplus continued to grow, while the U.S. reached the peak of its trade deficit with Japan, and “Japan-bashing” (anti-Japanese campaigns) had begun.
ロンドン行きを翌日にひかえ、準備は整いました。準備といっても、自転車を輪行袋に入れただけですが。
Ｃさんをはじめ、手紙をくれた元同僚、デトロイトから一緒に走ったＫ君、日本向けの手紙や絵ハガキを書き終えて、アメリカでお世話になった人や知り合った人宛に絵ハガキを書きながら、ふと思い出しました……アメリカでいろいろと親切にされたことを書いてきましたが、まだまだ多くいた親切な人たちのことを。
コーヒーでも飲むようにとお金をくれた老夫婦。旅の無事を祈って道端の花を摘んでくれた少女。すれ違いざまに声をかけ、デザートにと言って、たくさんの桃をくれた婦人。
嵐のなか、シャワーと食事、そのうえ納屋まで提供してくれたお爺ちゃんと若いメキシカンの奥さん。他にも、旅先で知り合い、我が家に寄れとアドレスをくれた数多くの人たち……
1980年代初め、60年代から続く円・ドル貨幣価値のインバランスにより、増え続ける日本の貿易収支の黒字に対して、アメリカは対日赤字のピークを迎え、ジャパンバッシング(反日キャンペーン)が始まっていました。
Even in those circumstances, the market was flooded with Japanese products—Toyota, Honda, Sony, Panasonic. Naturally, this came up in conversation many times during my trip.
However, while people acknowledged the high quality, almost no one had anything negative to say. Furthermore, I never once felt uncomfortable because I was Japanese.
Where does this American tolerance and friendliness toward travelers come from? Is it perhaps in the genes of their ancestors, the pioneers, from just a few generations ago? Of course, I believe it is underpinned by America’s wealth.
Traveling east of Niagara Falls through the eastern United States, one has more opportunities to feel history up close. In a word, it is the history of war.
British and French immigrants who crossed over to North America clashed over the expansion of their respective colonies. The colonists also fought against the British homeland for independence. There was the Civil War, in which Americans fought against each other, and the wars of conquest that stripped Native Americans of their right to survive under the call to exterminate them, and so on.
Were all these conflicts simply because the North American continent was such a rich and alluring land…? Before I knew it, the conversation had taken an unexpected turn.
After finishing my letters and postcards, I headed to a nearby post office to mail them.
Next → Goodbye, New York
そんな状況のなかでも、市場にはトヨタ・ホンダ・ソニー・パナソニックと日本製品が溢れていました。当然のように、私の旅行中に何度も話題になりました。
しかし、品質の良さを認めても非難する人はほとんどいませんでした。また、私が日本人だということで嫌な思いをしたことも一度もありませんでした。
旅人に対するアメリカ人の寛容さとフレンドリネスはどこからくるのでしょうか。ほんの数世代前の彼らの先祖、開拓者としての遺伝子なのでしょうか。もちろん、アメリカの豊かさの裏付けがあってのことだと思います。
ナイアガラより東、アメリカ東部を走ると身近に歴史を感じる機会が増えます。それはひとことで言うと戦争の歴史です。
北米に渡ったイギリスとフランスの移民者たちは双方の植民地拡大のために衝突しました。植民者はまた、独立のためにイギリス本国とも戦いました。米国民同士が争った南北戦争、皆殺しの号令のもと先住民の生存権を奪った開拓戦争などなど。
すべては北米大陸が魅力に溢れる豊かな大地だった故の争いでしょうか……いつの間にか、話があらぬ方向に進んでしまいました。
手紙と絵ハガキを書き終えると、投函するため、私は近くの郵便局へ向かいました。
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