Idiomatic words that symbolize “disaster and scary things” used to be “earthquake, thunder, fire and father”. But the image of recent “father” as “a scary presence” has faded, whether or not that is “a good thing” is another matter. And instead of “father”, “typhoon, flood disaster, snow damage, volcanic eruption and radioactivity” are added, and furthermore, “road collapse” and “wildfire” have been added recently. Among these, there are also man-made disasters, but it seems to me that climate change due to global warming is indeed having a significant impact directly or indirectly.
By the way, 10 days have passed since a wildfire occurred in Ofunato City, Iwate on February 26. The fire seems to be under control now due to the long-awaited rain, but the situation remains unpredictable. The burned area as of March 6 has reached 2,100 hectares (about 449 times the size of Tokyo Dome”. A wildfire is not unusual in countries with vast forests like the United States, but I never thought that such a large-scale wildfire could occur in Japan. I visited the said city for inspection in July 2013, two years and four months after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Ofunato is a fishing port located between looming mountains and the sea.
Therefore, the wildfire has spread to the coastline, and a serious situation has arisen, requiring evacuation even to fishing boats essential for the fishing industry.
We must not forget that we are living with such various risks on a daily basis and “it could happen to any one of us”, and it is necessary to always maintain disaster prevention awareness.

■■What I have recently thought and focused on:
■The U.S.-Ukraine summit has broken down:
The summit meeting between President Trump of the United States and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine that captured worldwide attention was held in Washington on February 28 in local time. The result led to the worst-case scenario of “a breakdown”. Various factors can be cited as the background, but I think the lack of prior preparation on the Ukrainian side had a significant impact.
The Japan-U.S. summit held on February 7 in local time was different in terms of severity and urgency compared to this meeting, but Japanese side prioritized “finishing safely” and it can be said that thoroughly devising countermeasures against Trump, from what we learned from the late Prime Minister Abe to the selection of an interpreter, were effective. On the other hand, President Zelenskyy directly communicated with President Trump in English regarding the sensitive issue concerning the survival of the nation, without using an interpreter. Indeed, President Zelenskyy speaks very fluent English. However, in the case of a meeting between national leaders where failure is not an option, unless both parties are native speakers, it is generally considered common practice to use an interpreter even if they feel confident about their language ability. By doing so, it allows for a more paced and thoughtful conversation. Even in private companies, it is customary to do so during important business discussions and contract negotiations.
On the other hand, President Trump has a strong admiration for dictators like Putin, and he is self-absorbed and too proud of himself. Therefore, in order to get along with him, having good chemistry is important. For this meeting, Mr. Trump must have expected Mr. Zelenskyy to “beg down on his knees and express his gratitude”. However, Mr. Zelenskyy asserted his own theory, and touched upon a sensitive issue that reopens old wounds for the United States government, namely, Crimean issue, and different evaluation of Putin. He seemed to feel that his pride had been hurt in a public setting. In addition to this, it is an unusual occurrence, but Vice President Vance aged 40 standing by intervened and added fuel to the fire.
And President Trump is deeply attached to his own statements that “I would end the war within 24 hours” during his election campaign (in January, he corrected it within 6 months).
There is a noticeable feeling of impatience for success that to put it bluntly, by all means, as long as a ceasefire and peace are achieved, “nothing else matters”. Even in the digital age, after all, deciding factor seems to be analog mentality lurking in the bottom of the human heart.
By the way, regarding the breakdown of this meeting, European countries announced continued support for Ukraine one after another. But it is impossible to compensate for the U.S. contribution that accounts for about 49 % (about 10.2 trillion yen) of military support. Therefore, major European countries including Ukraine are making earnest efforts to improve relations with the United States. As a result, the United States and Ukraine are expected to resume discussions soon, aiming for peace negotiations. I hope “after rain comes fair weather”.
Incidentally, in countries that share land borders with multiple other countries such as China, Russia, India and Ukraine, geopolitical “resilience” is cultivated by nature, and this leads to diplomatic power. In this regard, Japan that is an island country encircled by the ocean tends to see things “in black and white”, and it can be said that there are few opportunities to develop “negotiation skills in the gray areas” that are important in diplomacy.
By the way, recently, “friction” has arisen between the United States and Europe. In Europe, originally, there is a tendency to look down on the United States that, while it possesses wealth and power, it lacks history and culture. For instance, the United States is a country built by immigrants who left their homelands, and France has a history of over 1,000 years but the United States will finally celebrate its 250th anniversary of founding next year. European countries also have a strong aversion to Elon Musk and Vice President Vance.
And Europe has a history marked by warfare. On the other hand, the American people have never experienced bombs being dropped from the sky or missiles being launched at them or invasion by a foreign country. Therefore, they may not fully understand the pain of the people in Europe including Ukraine. Incidentally, in the United States, being able to speak French seems to be held in high regard. Similarly, the American people often appear deeply interested in their ancestral origin. The above statements were written based on my personal judgement and bias including what I learned while in the United States.

■ “All professions are equally honorable”:
During the Edo period in Japan, there was a hierarchy system known as “shi-no-ko-sho” (It categorized people into four classes: warriors, farmers, artisans and merchants.), but it has now disappeared from textbooks, because it is inappropriate. And even today, different professions are associated with various single kanji characters. For instance, professions with “家“ are farmer, commentator, artist, politician and so on. Professions with “士,師,司” are lawyer, tax accountant, registered customs specialist, firefighter, sumo wrestler, doctor, teacher, lecturer, probation officer, chief priest, and so on. Among public officers, professions with “官” are police officer, self-defense official and so on. Looking up these, there are certain occupations that require national qualifications, but it seems that there is no clear distinction under the law.
On the other hand, professions with “屋” as common name are transportation industry that I had been involved in for many years known as “carrier”, construction company known as “builder” and there are more. Generally, these are being replaced by professions with “業”, and “屋” seems to be used in a friendly manner. But depending on the time and situation, it has a condescending or belittling tone. Incidentally, there are a lot of small and medium-sized enterprises in professions with “屋”, and it includes so-called 3K workplaces (kitsui-kitanai-kiken, in English, demanding, dirty and dangerous). However, supporting our daily life is people called “essential workers” working at such workplaces. And now, in addition to the image of 3K, due to declining birthrate and aging population and population decline, the shortage of personnel in this field has exceeded 20 %. To secure talent, it is essential to improve working conditions and the work environment. Otherwise, it will have a significant impact on our daily life in the near future.
For your information, when I notice essential workers including truck drivers, I make sure to call out “thank you for your hard work as always”. These words will encourage them. I hope you will keep this in mind.