Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

近年、日本やアジアの大都会で歩き回ると、所々で外国人の存在を見かける。見た目で明らかに地元の人ではないことはすぐわかるが、彼らは頑張って現地の言葉でコミュニケーションをとっている。世界はグローバル化によってこのような国際移民の数が増加している。2020年世界経済フォーラムの 統計データ によると、同年において出身国以外に住む人口は2.72億人に達し、1995年の1.74億人を遥かに上回っている。新型コロナヴィルスによって海外移住は一旦困難となったものの、今後の世界状況をみると、母国を離れ、他国で常住し、仕事や学習に励む人々が増える傾向は止まらないと思われる。

As the war in Ukraine enters its second month, the damage being suffered by Russia is expanding from the battlefield and economic numbers to the daily lives of individual citizens. Media reports in Japan, at least, are speaking about Russian residents of the country being hurled abuses and asked to leave, while Russian-owned restaurants seeing downturns in clientele unless they put up high-profile campaigns in support of Ukrainians. The issue is grave enough that the Japanese foreign minister had to release a public statement calling on Japanese citizens to not abuse Russians in the country just because they are Russians.

For the UN to become an independent force capable of devising and implementing its own agendas, the organization needs to step above national interests. To do so, it must aggressively push for compromises that align with the interests of all sides in any particular conflict. Only with such initiative-taking can the UN not succumb to one-sidedness when conveying international legitimacy. The task of the UN is not to offer moral high ground to any particular side, but to establish objective forums to discuss how conflicts can be halted in a positive-sum fashion.

I am happy to announce that after several months of dating and living together, I have recently decided to submit the required documentation to officially register my marriage to my wife in Japan. Given my previous jealousy toward the same woman's professional success, for us to come this long way so quickly was as surprising to our parents, relatives, and friends, as it was, in some ways, to ourselves. With COVID still raging on, the decidedly low-key affair, without an elaborate proposal, wedding, or honeymoon, is markedly by an unremarkable sense of smoothness and nonchalance among all parties involved.