Thursday, January 10, 2013

先進国?







13年前の1月に何をしていたかというと、妊娠8ヶ月で、イギリスにいた。

異文化のなかでいやなこともあったけど、いまとなってはいいことしかおもいだせない。

一番あの国がすばらしいと思ったのは、ベビーカーでどこまでもいけることだった。
アパートを出てから、電車に乗っても、お店も、図書館もトイレもどこまででも、ベビーカーをたたまずに移動できた。ベビーと、身体障害者がちゃんと人間として、扱われている国なんだと実感したものだった。
 それに、電車には、犬も乗れる。最初見たときの、わたしの感動はすごいものがあった。しつけられていて犬は、ほえたりせず、ちんとお座りをしたまま。横にベビーカーがひしめきあっていても、何のトラブルも起きず、静かに電車は走る。

先進国だーとおもったものだ。
日本は先進国とはいえ、車いすの人が電車に乗るとなると、大仕事。
大きな駅ではエレベーターがあるとはいえ、、小さな駅では駅員が総出で、抱え、階段を上っているのを何度も見た。ベビーカーは、おりたたまなければならない。それに比べて、イギリスってなんてすばらしい国だろうと思った。人に迷惑をかけず、静かにみんな生きているようにみえた。


Years ago, I lived in the UK for 8 months.
It was a very impressing country for me. The greatest part about the UK was the fact that I could go absolutely anywhere with the pushchair (buggy).
I could get onto trains and go into shops, libraries and so on.
I've never experienced any inconvenience with my pushchair in the UK.

There are no elevators or ramps in any of the small train stations in Japan. I thought that maybe disabled people wouldn't get out of the house because there were only flight after flight of stairs.

When I went back to Japan 13 years ago, my daughter was still only 7 months old. I put her into the pushchair and went to one of the subway stations in Osaka to meet a friend. There was an elevator, but the elevator didn’t go to the ground floor. So I had to carry it down a long set of stairs by myself. Before having my daughter, I hadn’t realised the many inconveniences in Japanese train stations.There are so many barriers in Japan. Japan is known to be a developed country. Yet there are still not enough facilities for disabled people.  

Thank you for visiting.
Have a wonderful weekend.(Friday and Saturday are weekend in UAE)

8 comments:

  1. Even for strollers the world is difficult! I realize again when I'm with my granddaughters ... Just a health problem or a child to carry and there are many barriers everywhere!
    Your watercolor is very nice, impressive contrast between the shiny metal and velvet roses.

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  2. Como siempre tu acuarela es de una calidad admirable, felicitaciones

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  3. That is a beautiful carafe with flowers, Midori.
    I am also perplexed. I would have assumed Japan would have all such amenities!

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  4. Hi Midori:) If you don't have to do with this kind of problems you won't notice it. Till the moment you struggle with it your self!
    Your painting is so beautiful. I love the color of the roses and you did such a great job on the old look of the carafe!

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  5. Hi Rita,

    I thought you don't have any inconvenience at all.When I traveled with my mum needed a wheelchair,we sometimes had hard time but I wanted to be a positive. My daughter learn a lot from grandma who needed a wheel chair about how we should make a barrier free environment.

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  6. Hi Beatriz,

    my blog name is watercolour diary,so as long as I say a diary, I should update everyday. I would be able to find something from my diary.

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  7. Hi Studio at the Farm,
    Unfortunately, Japan is very behind.Japan is really mountainous. The 67% is covered with mountains, 15% of the land is used for agriculture,3% for houses...so it is easy why there are so many steps and stairs in Japan.

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  8. Hi renate,

    actually, the roses are my imagination.I feel like
    The colour of the roses might be too strong.

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