February 24, 2024: Plum Blossoms, My Economic Life （梅の花、ボクの経済生活）

The plum trees are beginning to blossom in the Kanto area. The blossoms can be seen in a lot of temples, shrines, parks and gardens in the area. Among them is the Kairakuen, which is a garden in Ibaraki. The garden is one of the three great gardens in Japan and was built in 1842. I have been to the garden with my wife about five years ago. But it was a very long journey to get there from my home. It would have been only a one-hour journey if I had taken an express train. But it took us about two hours to get there because we had to use a local train. When we got to the station near my home, we missed an express train which had just left a few minutes before and had to wait another hour for the next one. So we had no choice but to take a local train which came into the station and arrived at the garden’s station before the next express. The journey was very boring and uncomfortable because the local train stopped at every station, and it had time to wait for another train to pass. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the garden. It was so large, with a lot of plum trees in bloom, that it gave me a good time.
Now then, how are the plum trees in the garden flowering this year? They must be confused about what they should do. This February, as has been often the case recently, we are faced with unusual weather. Mid-February saw the warmth of spring, and late February saw the cold of winter. The weather has been changing so much that the plum trees must be confused as to whether they may continue to bloom or had better put it off for a while.
The same is true of my economic life. As far as I see stock markets, everything seems to be going well, and it makes me expect our good life to come soon. However, in reality, the Japanese yen is so weak that it has been deteriorating my daily life. Prices keep going up, but my income remains the same. Like the plum trees, I am very confused about what to do with it.

関東では梅が咲き始めています。この地域では、多くの寺社、公園、庭園で梅が花をさかせています。茨城県にある偕楽園もそのひとつです。この庭園は1842年に建てられ、日本三名園のひとつに数えられています。5年ほど前に妻とこの庭園に行きました。この偕楽園までの旅は、とても長いものでした。特急に乗れば1時間ほどだったのですが、鈍行で行く羽目になり、2時間もかかりました。家の近くの駅に着いたときは、数分前に特急がいったばかりだったのです。次の特急がくるまで1時間も待たなければならなかったので、その前に来て、偕楽園駅に早く到着する鈍行に乗るしかなかったのです。鈍行は各駅に止まり、更に別の列車の通過待ち時間もあったので、とても退屈で乗り心地が悪かったです。それでも偕楽園は楽しめました。とても広く、たくさんの梅の木が花をさかせ、楽しい時間を過ごせました。
さて、今年の梅の花の咲き具合はどうでしょうか？きっと、梅の木たちは、どうしたらいいのか戸惑っているに違いありません。今年の2月は、ご多分にもれず、異常気象に見舞われています。2月中旬に春の暖かさが訪れたかとおもうと、2月下旬には冬の寒さが戻ってきました。 天気に変化が激しすぎて、梅の木も、このまま咲き続けていいのか、それともしばらく先延ばしにしたほうがいいのか、迷っているはずです。
ボクの経済生活も同様です。株式市場を見る限りでは、すべてが順調で、ボクの生活も良くなりそうに見えます。現実は、円安で生活が苦しくなっています。物価は上がり続けているのに、収入は変わりません。梅の木のように、どうしたらいいのか戸惑っています。