facing the "low birthrate", everyone needs to take a compulsory course on love
2024-09-30
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the phenomenon of "low birthrate" is already a social consensus for japan. according to relevant media reports, japan’s birth population will be 758,000 in 2023, a 5.1% decrease compared to 2022. japanese prime minister fumio kishida said that the declining birth rate in recent years is japan's biggest problem.this problem is not only unique to japan. "falling birthrate" has become a common phenomenon that the three east asian countries must face.。
young people seem to be more open-minded about the phenomenon of "low birthrate" than the older generation. not getting married and having children has become the choice of more and more young people. in particular, the issue of family of origin is increasingly being discussed, and everyone is gradually realizing that many people's psychological trauma can be traced back to their family of origin. the happiness of the family environment largely determines a person's future life direction. this heavy discovery adds moral weight to the act of "birth" and becomes an unbearable weight in life.the "morning is coming" recently published by shanghai translation publishing house reveals the pain of "birth" that we east asians experience.
when seeing the title "morning is coming", many people will think of the 2020 movie of the same name directed by the well-known japanese director naomi kawase. the film once represented japanese films in the oscar competition for best international film. it was a new film not to be missed that year. it was adapted from the novel of the same name by naoki award winner tsujimura fukasuki. although this film is an adaptation, it still incorporates naomi kawase's personal style elements, such as her expertise in natural light and backlight photography, which infiltrates the characters' mood into the natural landscape, allowing rich personal emotions to be revealed as far as the eye can see. . the delicate light and shadow have a gentleness and a clear sting. all these visual expressions are very consistent with the emotional atmosphere revealed in the original work.
author tsujimura fukasuki
the story of "morning will come" is a tragedy composed of two sets of perspectives.one group is a middle-aged couple who cannot have children, and the other group is a teenage mother who is unable to raise a child. this information asymmetry in perspective sometimes produces a suspenseful effect.
at the beginning, the novel is told from the perspective of the kurihara couple. due to physical reasons, this middle-class family adopted a child through the adoption system six years ago and named it chaodu. although they are not related by blood, both husband and wife regard him as their biological son and love him deeply. the author, fukasuki tsujimura, uses an accident at the beginning to show the couple's love for their adopted son. in the kindergarten, a child accused chao dou of injuring himself during play, which later led to a claim from the parents of the injured child. when it seemed that all kinds of unfavorable accusations were pointed at chaodu, kurihara's mother, who was gentle by nature and unwilling to cause trouble, did not choose to use money to settle the matter, but chose to believe her adopted son chaodu's words "i didn't push him." although it was indeed not chaoto's fault that the truth finally came out, the rumors they suffered during this period were also a problem for the kurihara family. however, compared with these disturbances, the final result made the kurihara family feel happy - "i chose to believe in that child, and it was indeed right."at the same time, the author also wants to break the preconceived prejudices of many people through this accident, and show that children from adoptive families can also have sound personalities with loving education.
however, the days that seemed to have returned to peace were broken by a phone call one day. the woman who called claimed to be chao dou's biological mother, mitsuru katakura. she asked the kurihara couple to spend money to buy chao dou, otherwise, chao dou's body would be stolen. make your life known to the public. but when the biological mother and adoptive mother met, the kurihara couple did not think that the person in front of them was the katakura hikari they had met six years ago. they suspected that this person was a fake person who came to extort money. at this point in the story, the first suspense is thrown out. is the person in front of me, katakura hikaru, who claims to be chao dou's biological mother, really her? here the perspective begins to switch to hikaru katakura, which is also the truly tragic part of the book.
a girl who is in the rebellious stage becomes pregnant unexpectedly due to early love. from this heroine, we can see the shadow of film and television works such as "love in the sky", "juno" and "14-year-old mom". we are used to thinking that problematic girls come from troubled families, but it is somewhat surprising that katakura hikaru, who was born in a seemingly harmonious family, did such a thing. but the author also reveals the deep-seated depression in many seemingly harmonious east asian families. in the traditional and conservative family where katakura hikaru lives, "sex" is definitely a taboo topic, especially when it comes to raising daughters. there are more disciplines. katakura hikaru's original words are "living in a holy world." this seemingly meticulous advice is sometimes a kind of suppression of nature and a sense of control over the child's life according to norms. the book writes that after mitsuru katakura's unexpected pregnancy, her family attributed it to the fact that she did not go to a good school. after giving birth to the child, the parents' focus was on preparing for the final exam. their daughter should study hard and have a bright future. high school entrance examination. this method of handling is extremely rational and even cruel, in order to quickly bring the daughter who has deviated from the track back to the so-called right track. this seemingly normal family is actually riddled with holes. when readers criticize this character for having unrealistic fantasies about the man who caused her pregnancy, and accuse her of being a love brain, perhaps we should first realize that hikaru katakura has not actually been nourished by love.
compared with the movie, the original novel retains many descriptions of the characters' inner struggles. japan is a highly ordered society. due to its stability, it is obviously difficult to iterate many concepts. due to social pressure, the kurihara couple have been making various attempts to prepare for pregnancy. when the husband was diagnosed with azoospermia, the reality that the family was infertile was also announced. when a man is diagnosed with infertility, it seems to be a more serious problem, which means that the patriarchal status of a family is affected. in the book, most of the situations are actually the wife being considerate and tolerant of the husband, but occasionally there will be a few complaints in the wife's heart. for example, it is clear that raising children is a matter of two people, but it seems that the wife is worrying about everything, and the husband seems to be passively cooperate with your wife's arrangements. in a traditional patriarchal society, fathers seem to only need to provide material conditions in raising their children. but the psychological demands of wives and children are often ignored due to carelessness. the operation of a family depends on obligations and rights, but the absence of love can be ignored.
"morning is coming" explores the relationship between blood relatives and nurturing relatives, and also explores the original trauma and secondary trauma of a person's original family, and also explores the significance of having children for mothers.but overall, it is still a novel that explores love. for east asians who lack love, we all lack love education. although our society has increasingly advocated loving others first, love yourself first, but how easy is it? more people hope that through excessive giving, the other party will give back to them. in essence, this is a disguised form of request. loving yourself is very difficult. it requires understanding yourself, paying attention to yourself, recognizing yourself, and telling yourself that you are worthy of being loved. intimate relationships promoted by inner lack will ultimately suffer from gains and losses and imbalance.
"morning is coming" reminds everyone that each of us needs to make up a required lesson in love. the soul that is obscured by shadows and needs to be healed and soothed needs a touch of morning light to make it visible.
(the author is a media reporter)
source: beijing daily
author: tsujimura fukasuki
