Translator: Ai Tokimatsu Reviewer: Reiko Bovee
When I go to the library,
I see a lot of seniors there.
They look like they are reading newspapers,
but I can't tell whether they are actually reading them or sleeping.
(Laughter)
One day, I found a friend there,
so I asked him, "What are you doing here?"
"My wife treats me like a drag if I'm home."
(Laughter)
That means he's trying to run away from his reality.
Such a pity, isn't it?
Seniors like me could contribute to society more,
by doing something good for the community.
Our society now is so nice.
Seniors are being taken good care of.
There are care homes, and we have nothing to complain about.
But, I'm afraid we take such services that we receive, for granted.
Something taken for granted is hard to be appreciated.
So, we have to consciously think about how we can give back to our community.
When we receive those kinds of services,
we have to think about how we can pay back to society,
otherwise a bunch of seniors would end up
just gathering everywhere without doing anything.
I believe that there are a lot more things
that seniors can do for our community.
Among us, seniors, there are many who have experienced all kinds of things.
So, I always hope that seniors will contribute to society more
with their experiences.
However, some people who make a social contribution,
show off, saying, "Look, this is what I am doing for our society!"
It's a brag.
Too much bragging makes you look pitiful.
Just be yourself without boasting about it.
Without bragging around about how much I contribute to society,
I would like to continue my activities,
Now, I would like to tell you about myself a little bit.
I was born in Anjo in 1935, and raised in Anjo.
I am becoming 80 this year.
But, becoming 80 is not the end of my activities.
Thinking about what I can do for the rest of my life,
I would rather use my time and experiences for my community.
I experienced the Mikawa Earthquake when I was 10.
I don't think anyone here experienced it.
The huge earthquake occurred when I was 10 years old.
It was a cold and pitch-dark winter night.
There was not much electricity back then.
Upon hearing my father's shout, "Get out of here!" in that darkness,
I did try to get out of the house,
but I couldn't open the door because the doorsill was warped.
That was a scary experience.
Several months after the big earthquake,
World War II ended in August.
We had a hard time during the war,
yet our struggle still continued even after the war ended.
We didn't have much supplies.
We had neither things nor money.
I remember the poor and difficult days as a child.
After passing through those days,
I remember that when I was 14,
there was a factory on my way to school.
It was a small ironworks.
Have you seen a machine called "lathe"?
Yes, here it is.
While fixing and rotating a workpiece with it,
you grind the material with its blade.
You can shape things as you need.
I didn't know why, but I loved the machine.
I still remember that I kept peeking into the factory through the window.
What I couldn't understand, and was really fascinated by
was how iron could grind another iron materials.
And the workers looked so neat to me
that I was completely mesmerized by them.
When I was 14, I already decided to become a lathe worker
while watching them work.
After graduating from junior high school,
I was employed by a local electronic tool manufacturer.
I might have sounded a bit audacious; I said to the interviewer,
"I want to be in charge of the lathes."
A youngster who had just graduated from junior high school
told what he wanted to do
to his boss who was going to oversee him.
It was outrageous.
However, as a result,
I got a position at the lathes.
That was my first job.
After working 20 years there,
somehow, I became able to shape
anything as I tried to make.
Without any special training or education,
I learned the skills just by watching how senior workers made things,
and I mastered it.
Back then, the hierarchical relationship between superiors and subordinates
was so rigid
that the atmosphere at work wasn't too comfortable.
But I couldn't whine about it,
so, all I could do was to work hard.
And so I did.
It was so hard,
but at the same time I had so much fun there,
because I could make anything I needed to make.
That's how I worked there, and went through those days.
Then, I went back to my hometown after retirement.
If you do nothing, nothing happens.
In the meantime, one incident brought me a chance
to participate in disaster prevention activities.
Remembering the Mikawa earthquake that I experienced when I was 10,
I've worked to raise awareness for disaster preventions.
However, we've always ended up talking about the earthquakes in Tohoku, or Kobe,
because nobody worries about that Anjo is also at risk of having one.
Having said that, everyone here is fully aware
that the Tokai Earthquake is predicted to happen.
Even under these circumstances,
we couldn't take it seriously.
"We fuss about the prediction of a big earthquake,
but nothing seems to happen yet," is what they say.
But, it will be too late to drill after something happens.
Based on those points,
I keep myself active in raising awareness.
One day, one of my fellows said to me, out of blue,
"It will be helpful if we have something like this."
This is what he meant.
When he mentioned that to me, I said to him, "Sure, I can make one."
I always quickly give a positive response like this.
I'm such a nice guy.
(Laughter)
Most people regret making such a quick response afterwards,
(Laughter)
thinking,"I shouldn't have said that."
But, I don't regret at all.
Maybe something a bit wrong with this.
(Laughter)
But I was good enough
to embody the ideas
upon saying "Yes, I can."
I replied that I could do this under certain conditions.
So here it is,
this is the heart of the body.
We set steel balls at 4 points.
We roll the belt with the electric drill
that rotates the 2 eccentric pulleys.
These eccentric shafts are shifted 20mm from the centrers of the pulleys
and they are synchronized.
If we don't synchronize them, it will be stuck somewhere.
So I made them to be synced.
I had no second thought for this.
The reason we used the steel balls is
because most of the moving things have frictional resistance.
We have to make the frictional resistance as small as possible.
So, now,
we put the stand that a person can ride in.
This is how we make this thing shake.
To shake it, we have to think about the amplitude.
It's the distance that things shake in between.
When it shakes 3 times/second, at 40mm distance amplitude,
that's the seismic intensity 5 on the Japanese scale.
There are 2 earthquake simulation trucks in Aichi prefecture.
Only 2 earthquake simulation trucks are available in Aichi prefecture.
Our turn to use it doesn't come around when we want to borrow one.
So, we decided to make one on our own,
One truck costs 30 million yen to purchase,
but the machine that I invented costs
400,000 yen.
So, it's one hundredth of the purchasing price.
The function is by an arc,
so it is a bit different from the big machines
that work based on XY axis,
but this can generate up to the intensity 6 upper on the JP scale
as strong as the Mikawa earthquake recorded.
Having the embodied image of the ideas,
is how I've spent the past 45 years.
I've been so into making things,
and that gives me a solid foundation now.
And now I have a great amount of time after retirement.
Plenty of time but no money.
(Laughter)
A lot of time.
I've been volunteering all the time,
but spending money is not the only form of volunteering.
Even if we don't have enough money,
we can make things like this machine with a little ingenuity.
So, I'll show you how it works
by operating it.
Is there anyone who'd like to try?
You know, this machine prefers ladies.
(Laughter)
There you go.
Please try this.
(Applause)
(Starting simulator)
(Revving simulator)
Assistant: It's now the intensity 5 on the JP scale.
Assistant: "Now it's 6."
(Revving simulator)
You'll be shaken like this so long when the Nankai Trough Earthquake hits.
(Stopping simulator)
Assistant: It went up to the intensity 7.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
He reads the intensity level as if it were a speed meter.
(Laughter)
Thank you so much.
(Applause)
Let me ask her impression.
Was it fun or scary?
Lady: Both.
(Laughter)
Both.
Over 400 junior high school students have experienced this,
less than 10% of them got scared.
Most of them had fun.
If you were a junior high school student,
you have to put a 100 yen coin in the slot.
(Laughter)
So, having fun is important.
The experience that we offer you
is all about having fun.
Then, you can remember that you had fun with this experience.
Your body remembers it.
I hope the experience will lead you
to participating in the local disaster prevention activities.
So, the lady who has tried it said it was fun but scary.
The intensity 6 upper on the JP scale is massive.
When an earthquake of intensity 6 upper on the JP scale hits,
I want especially women who use gas stoves to be very careful.
I want you to consider those points
and pay attention to disaster prevention activities.
I'll be grateful for that.
I can do nothing special,
but I hope my experiences can help
the community even a little.
I've been in this awareness project,
and I hope I will go on.
You don't have to push yourself so hard.
Just relax.
If a senior contributes at one point
to our community,
then, Japan will save a lot of money,
instead of spending money on taking care of seniors at care homes.
That makes me think
that retirement was a turning point in my life.
That's what I think all the time.
You decide whether you relax in a padded kimono in the sun,
or you contribute to society at the turning point.
That's what I thought when I built this machine.
So, what I've told you so far
is to let you know
that there is an 80 years old man living like this in Anjo.
So, what do you say?
(Applause)
Thank you so much.
(Applause)
Youth is mighty and powerful, after all.
Your energy in this room have led me all the way to the end of my talk
by lifting my spirit.
Thank you so much.
(Applause)