This summer was truly hot, wasn't it?
Scenes from around the world were broadcast on television, and Paris, London, and Italy alike were suffering from severe heat.
Recently, floods in Nepal caused rivers to overflow, resulting in extensive damage.
On television, I saw many tourists, cars, and buildings being swallowed up by the muddy torrents.
I expect that various measures will be devised to avoid this heat and these disasters, but I worry whether they can truly be avoided.

Comparing average annual incomes around the world, Japan's is 4.58 million yen, while neighboring South Korea's is 5.4 million yen, a gap of about 800,000 yen.
The United States has reached 10 million yen, and Japan ranks 25th out of 38 countries.
Unless we make an extraordinary effort, it may be difficult even to close the gap with our neighbor South Korea.
Why has Japan's strength declined like this?
Whenever I think about this, I feel that something must have gone wrong somewhere.
Having forgotten how to feel frustration, the Japanese people may simply keep sliding downhill.

What Japan needs now, I believe, is for an excellent leader to emerge, inspire the people, and work to lift the country up step by step.
Couldn't we do with fewer members of the Diet?
Doesn't Japan have too many public holidays each year?
Is it right for the population to be so concentrated in Tokyo and other major cities?
By rights, people should be able to live comfortable lives in the regions as well.
There should have been more thoroughly considered urban planning.
Urban planning carried out by a few people for the benefit of a few people was a major stumbling block, and as a result, money and everything else became costly.

The 800,000-yen gap with South Korea is extremely large.
While South Korea greatly developed its shipbuilding industry, Japan has done nothing but look on as its once-thriving shipbuilding industry declined.
Today, China accounts for about 70% of shipbuilding and South Korea for 15 to 30%, while Japan's share is probably around 10%.
I would like to consider which direction Japan should steer from here.
I believe that unless we entrust matters to people of outstanding ability and competence, nothing will lead to action.
Above all, however, nothing can be done unless Japan itself stands up.

This year was also a year of abnormal weather worldwide.
In Japan too, there were many typhoons and heavy rains, and flooding occurred in many areas.
Many cars were submerged and rendered unusable, and houses suffered under-floor flooding, creating a serious situation.
I believe this is not a problem for Japan alone, but a global phenomenon.
Typhoons have come to cause greater damage than in the past.
Earthquakes, too, are tending to grow larger, with some registering a seismic intensity of 5.
Someday, an earthquake directly beneath Tokyo may strike the city.
We should keep ourselves informed every day and take care not to be caught up in an earthquake.
The earthquake the other day was quite violent, and I too fled from my shop out into the street.

What is frightening about earthquakes is fire.
Looking back on Japanese history, I believe earthquakes, fires, tsunamis, lightning, and the like have caused great damage.
Seeing the disasters around the world in recent years, I would like us to avoid, as much as possible, the disasters that will eventually strike.
In Europe as well, the time has come to consider how to protect ourselves from disasters caused by this abnormal weather.

On a personal note, I was recently hospitalized due to diabetes.
As a result, other parts of my body also deteriorated.
I now eat less, and I felt somewhat pathetic finding even those small meals delicious.
I have since been discharged, and with my wife's help, I have reduced the amount and calories of my meals, and I am spending my days patiently making do with small portions.

I also have frequent long talks with an old friend.
He has moved to Vietnam and employs about a hundred people, but he seems to be having a very hard time cutting expenses.
He is now considering reducing his workforce by about 50% by introducing AI.
Thanks to AI, there is now enough leeway for the work to get done even with fewer staff.
Right now, there is a major debate around the world over whether to keep pushing AI forward.
I hear that in the United States, the number of homeless people around New York has increased and the streets have become rough.
Even small companies in Vietnam are in a situation where they must cut staff because of AI.
AI may be taking our jobs away from us.

Recently, self-driving cars are being put into practical use in Japan as well.
Eventually, taxis and other vehicles will likely run on autonomous driving.
The other day, this was shown on television.
If there are no accidents and trust is earned, it will likely become widely used for taxis as well.
Then drivers will no longer be needed, and all of those jobs will be lost.
Because self-driving cars keep running as long as they are fueled, they never say they are tired, nor do they complain.

The company president in Vietnam also seems to be struggling greatly over how to run his business going forward.
But this much can certainly be said.
Once a company introduces AI, the AI will never complain about the company.
Even if it works 24 hours a day, it will not voice a single complaint.
What is more, because AI even finds more efficient ways of working, companies will come to hire only truly capable people.
AI may even say, "Anyone who complains is fired."

From this summer into autumn, bad weather continued day after day.
In Nepal and China, thousands of people lost their lives.
Japan, too, continues to suffer great damage, and I imagine all of you are thinking about how disaster prevention should proceed from here.

Until just a short while ago, simply working in IT was enough to earn preferential treatment, but with the arrival of AI, we have entered an era in which people working in that field are being laid off in large numbers.
Overseas, students opposed to the spread of AI are now holding demonstrations in various places, and calls to curb its advance are growing louder.

I currently live with my wife, my daughter, and our dog.
The dog is a Japanese breed, and we named her "Sakura."
She is an old dog of 16, but the whole family dotes on her.
The beauty of her youth has completely faded, but now I simply hope she will live even one day longer.

I, too, have turned 86.
Today, I went with my relatives to visit our family grave, and we enjoyed a meal together while remembering my late father and mother.
Amid the swift passage of time, which accumulates like the rings of a tree, seeing myself tottering along, I cannot help but feel that the reality of death is gradually drawing nearer.
My younger brother has also turned 85, but being a cheerful fellow, he has made a considerable profit buying stocks and seems to be enjoying life lavishly.
I do not know what kind of life awaits us in the recession that will eventually come, but I intend to live while giving it careful thought.

To all the grandfathers and grandmothers: please take good care of your health and enjoy yourselves.

To all the wives and husbands: autumn has arrived.
Let us savor saury grilled until charred over a smoking shichirin charcoal grill, served with plenty of grated daikon radish.
And husbands, now and then, show your wives how much you cherish them by making them chestnut rice.
I'm sure it will be delicious.

Please raise your children to be kind and cheerful, and to lead a simple, frugal life.
Raise them to be second to none.
And please give them plenty of opportunities to be close to nature.

Kazunari Tsuruta