Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Successful EP Renewal

This morning, I received an e-mail from MOM to inform me that my EP renewal application had been approved. As I expected, I found the renewal was only for another 12 months until early September 2020.

Miss fraudster, I still remember you. Are you in Hong Kong now?

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

My Identity as Japanese and Minor Roles Played by Japanese Journalists in Saigon

On the first of May, my country had a new Emperor. I would have become very emotional if this had happened years before. Now, I’m not feeling anything special. In a practical sense, my identity as a Japanese seems to have been thinner and more obscure. This may be because I’ve never had a solid family ground and also because I do not have to be and behave as a Japanese person here or anywhere else. The only reason I am still holding back from giving up my Japanese passport may be because of administrative processes in my “home” country. In short, this is only inertia.. I feel really strange or even nauseate when I hear someone emphasizing his or her being Japanese.

それにしても不思議なのは、ベトナム戦争当時、サイゴンにいたアメリカ人ジャーナリストたちが、特にPham Xuan Anから情報を得る場所として,必ずと言っていいほど言及している「Givral」(あるいは「Brodard」)に、近藤紘一(サンケイ新聞)、牧久(日本経済新聞)、開高健などの日本人がまったく触れていないことだ。この人たちの情報源は誰だったのだろう。ベトナム戦争後にバンコクに赴任した近藤紘一が「(バンコクの)日本人社会に“所属”してその気楽さにかまけ、しぜん気苦労な一匹狼的生き方を避けている私自身」と『妻と娘の国に行った特派員』で書いているように、サイゴンでも所詮は傍観者としての日本人同士の情報交換が主な情報源だったのだろうか。近藤をはじめとして、また近藤より長くサイゴン陥落後もそこに留まった日本人記者はいたが、ベトナム戦争とその後始まったカンボジア内戦で取材に関わった日本人について触れられているのは、行方不明になった「Tomoharu Ishii(石井誠春、CBSカメラマン)」「Yashihiko” Waku(和久吉彦、NBCサウンドマン)」ぐらいだ。