The following are extracts taken from the journal of the first Martian visitor to Earth. He happened to arrive in Sakuradai in Tokyo and spent seven years there, making observations to bring back to his home planet. Since he also happened to live on the floor just beneath me, he sent me a copy of his journal, from which I have taken the following interesting observations:
“A Martian expert on the Earth said that since the invention of the radio, the planet Earth has almost no secrets left. However, he said, there is one last mystery. There is a large suburb on the Roof of Tokyo, where strange things happen. There are farmers who have the ability to separate white daikon radish from the ground, shamans and oracles who make government decisions, and a ruler who lives in a skyscraper-like palace in the Forbidden City called the ward office.”
“An English teacher in Sakuradai told me an ancient saying by which the people of Sakuradai seem to live: If a problem can be solved there is no use worrying about it. If it can't be solved, worrying will do no good.”
“Even after returning to Mars, I shall forever feel homesick for Sakuradai. I often think I can still hear the cries of wild crows picking at plastic bags on garbage collection morning, and construction workers and the beating of their hammers as they use up the last of the financial year’s budget on a clear, cold March day. My heartfelt wish is that my story may create some understanding for a people whose will to live in peace and freedom has won so little sympathy from an indifferent universe.”
“Sakuradai has not yet been infested by the worst disease of modern Earth life, the everlasting rush. Based on my observations of my English teaching neighbor, no one overworks here. Workers have an easy life. They start work late in the morning and open a bottle of wine early in the afternoon. Women know nothing about equal rights and are quite happy as they are.”
“One of the best characteristics of the Sakuradaian people is their complete tolerance of other religions. They buy Shinto charms, arrange Buddhist funerals, and eat fried chicken on the most important Christian festival of the year. I am sure that if we were to teach them about the great Martian god-king, they would worship him too, as long as we let them eat chocolate cake on his holy day.”
*
Thanks to Heinrich
Harrer for his help in selecting and translating these extracts. Heinrich Harrer is of course well regarded
for his own work, “Seven Years in Tibet”.
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