Those over 30 years old -Murakami radio-

        When I was a university student, the phrase 'Don't trust over thirty' was often uttered. Don't trust over thirty, meaning you can't trust adults. But how could they seriously say such a self-damning thing? We'll be thirty in time, no doubt. When I turned 30, I jokingly said, "Don't trust anyone over 40". So when I turned forty ...... I'm not going to stop because there's no end to it. I am sure that when we were 20 years old, we firmly believed that when we passed 30, we would be a completely different kind of adult from the adults we are now. And we thought that the world was definitely going to get better. Because we are going to be such conscious, idealistic adults, the world can't get any worse. It is the adults there now who are to blame. In time, wars will disappear, the gap between rich and poor will narrow, and racism will disappear. That's what I seriously thought. John Lennon (probably) thought so seriously too. Che Guevara (probably) also seriously thought so.

But, of course, it did not actually bring utopia. War, poverty, and racism did not disappear, and we eventually turned 30 and most of us became boring, old-fashioned adults. 'It's ridiculous,' you might think. In hindsight, I think so too. I feel like an idiot. But when I was in that time and place, it wasn't silly at all. It was a lot more exciting. The Beatles were singing 'Love is Everything' and trumpets were blowing loudly. Unfortunately, I should say, the time for such optimism ended then. Finding young people who now believe that 'the world is going to get better and better' must be, to put it very mildly, quite a difficult task. From my point of view, the one thing that changed after I turned 30 was that I became a novelist which changed my life. I gave up smoking, went to bed early, got up early, and started running every day. Before that, I was a heavy smoker and a night owl, so it was quite an electrifying change. Since then, I have stayed that way. I have remained the same ever since.

And in a corner of your mind, you also think, "You can't trust yourself." In other words, in a sense, you are keeping the thesis you once submitted, "Don't trust people over 30 years old". What I don't trust about myself is that I used to have a vivid feeling that the world is going to get better, but where the hell did I go? Now I'm going about my daily life at my own pace, healthily, personally, and nonchalantly, with a face as if nothing has happened. It's about myself, but there's something about me that I don't trust anymore. The reason I bothered to write this is because the other day I saw a series of films about John Lennon and Che Guevara. That made me remember, "Oh, yes. I remembered that such a time actually existed," and I thought about it deeply in my own way. I wish I could say something like, "Still, love is everything."

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