Joe Biden made a victory speech as the President-elect today after mysterious ballot-counting processes. However, the Supreme Court of the United States will decide who the real winner is because President Donald Trump is filing cases to courts of several States on the results. No matter which will be the next President of the United States, his policies will affect Japan a great deal because the Fifth Air Force Commander, the head of the US-Japan Joint Committee, actually controls Japan’s politics.
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Hong Kong Is Dead
Visiting Hong Kong has been one of my favorites since I first visited in 2004. I’ve done it eight times so far. I loved to stroll on Sai Yeung Choi Street South, where people were very cheerful and energetic, to enjoy wonton noodles, steamed duck, and gwilinggao at restaurants, to get Nokia’s brand new and second-hand smartphones and accessories at mobile phone shops of the Sincere Podium building in Mong Kok, and to open and use a bank account of HSBC Hong Kong. I saw the Big Buddha at Ngong Ping, visited a prison museum at Stanley, stayed at a hotel in Chungking Mansions, worshipped at Che Kung Temple, had a fortune-telling session at Wong Tai Sin Temple, and extended my journey as far as Macau and Shenzhen. All the memories of those places were impeccable.
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Prelude to WWIII
The second year of the Reiwa period began with a nightmare. More precisely, at the beginning of the year, nobody could predict what would be going on just two months later. I am talking about what the entire world is fighting against—COVID-19.
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Visiting Hong Kong
A few weeks ago, I visited Hong Kong to deposit part of my fixed amount savings, deposited in Japan’s post office and matured last month, in HSBC Hong Kong, where I’ve had my bank account for 13 years, and to buy some gold, which was a bit less expensive than what you buy in Japan. Since nobody can predict what will happen to Japan and its economy in the future, I think it is reasonable to diversify assets both nationally and internationally to reduce the risk of loss due to possible economic uncertainty.
I found out two notable things through this trip. One is that Kagoshima is, in fact, one of the important gateways to Japan for some foreign travelers. From a Tokyoite’s point of view, Kagoshima looks like the southernmost far end of Japan, but for some people, it is not. I heard that a sales clerk at Chow Sang Sang’s Central store was selling me a gold necklace, saying she had been to Japan for leisure, entering Japan at Kagoshima Airport, then traveling east to Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo, where she departed. She also said that it was a golden route for travelers from China and Hong Kong. Those facts suggest that cities like Kagoshima, Nagasaki, and Fukuoka should look at Asian countries rather than Tokyo to survive in the future.
The other thing is my lack of ability in English conversation. When I talked to the sales clerk or any other people in Hong Kong, all I could say to those people was one-to-two-word sentences like “Yeah,” “No,” “Thank you,” “Oh really?” or something like that. Response speed in English was apparently slower than it was a few years ago. Clearly, it was because I hadn’t used English so much for years, as it is now irrelevant to me in the workplace. All I can do (and need to do) is to at least have my home Englishized to get accustomed to the English environment and to help me live in an English way.