The following is from a book I subscribed to on the strong recommendation of a good friend who is one of the best readers in the world.
It is a must-read not only for the people of Japan but also for the people of the world.
Introduction - The Serious Game of "Once in a Lifetime
For the past several years, I have been living a quiet life at home.
Due to Parkinson's disease, which is considered intractable, I can no longer freely type on a word processor and write manuscripts by myself.
He is also deaf and cannot hear when he attends press conferences.
Therefore, he has published a series of books by dictation, in which he responds to questions asked in writing.
He also suffered from pneumonia on several occasions.
I was once hospitalized for nearly two months due to an infection.
Nevertheless, as long as I am alive, I would like to share my experiences and thoughts.
At that time, something terrible happened in the world.
It is a worldwide epidemic of infectious diseases.
The disease, caused by a new coronavirus, quickly spread worldwide, killing and infecting many people.
In my home country, England, even the Prime Minister was infected.
In the U.S., the president was infected, and the death toll exceeded 230,000.
It is a severe pandemic.
Fortunately, the infection in Japan seems to have been milder than in Western countries.
Japanese people do not hug and kiss as much as Westerners do, nor do they shake hands as much.
They take a bath every day and take off their shoes before entering their homes.
Considering the highly hygienic nature of Japanese culture, the miraculous situation in Japan does not seem so strange.
Even so, we have become more vigilant about infectious diseases.
At the nursing home for the elderly, where I am sometimes taken care of, no visitors are allowed.
It is not easy to see even family members.
It seems that the way people live and the way society works are changing drastically.
This new coronavirus has spread from Wuhan to the rest of the world.
It is said to have leaked from a chemical weapons laboratory in Wuhan.
I wonder if this is a wake-up call that signals the beginning of a highly frightening future.
I am now approaching everything with a "once in a lifetime" attitude in the midst of all this.
Human life is a finite thing, and one day we will have to leave this world.
We don't know when that will be.
Some people have been suddenly struck by this new virus and have lost their lives.
They did not expect this to happen.
Martin Luther, the founder of the Protestant Church, said, "Even if tomorrow the world will be destroyed, today I will plant an apple tree.
He probably meant that no matter how difficult the situation is, in the end, all we can do is to take one step at a time steadily.
In this sense, publishing this book is like planting an apple tree for me.
November 2020, Henry Stokes
This book is a lead-in from "Only Japan Repelled the 'Evil Chinese Ideology' - The World Increasingly Suffers from the 'Chinese Peril'" published by Goku Shuppan in September 2018.
The Goku Shuppan book came with an obi.
The book, published by Goku Shuppan, had an obi that read, "The culmination of the Stokes view of history," and "What is the path that 'Japan, a moral nation,' should take amid the beginning of the struggle for supremacy between the United States and China?
In the two years since then, Corona, China's domination of Hong Kong, and the clash between the U.S. and China ...... have drastically changed the world.
This newly published book is based on Mr. Stokes' thoughts and appeals up to now, while I, who translated and composed the book, have incorporated the most current situation from 2019 to 2020 based on Mr. Stokes' approval.
I hope you will read it in conjunction with the Goku Shuppan book.
Hiroyuki Fujita (Translator, Compositor)
