"Thoughts in Spring: The People Who Arrived at Ueno Station" | Yasuo Takagi (Dean, Graduate School of Health Management)

2015.03.09

With the spring timetable revision on March 14, the Utsunomiya Line (Tohoku Main Line), Takasaki Line, and Joban Line will connect with the Tokaido Line at Tokyo Station. The Tohoku-Jukan Line will become the "Ueno-Tokyo Line," making it possible to travel on a single train from Maebashi, Kuroiso, Toride, and Narita in the north to Numazu and Ito in the south. It may not be the world of the enka song that begins, "From the moment I got off the night train from Ueno...," but the number of trains originating from Ueno Station, the gateway to northern Japan, will continue to dwindle, and I am surely not the only one concerned about its declining prominence.

A long time ago, a classmate of mine told me a story. After passing his university entrance exams, he arrived at Ueno Station, overjoyed, only to be mistaken for a runaway and questioned by a police officer. At the time, a system was in place at Ueno Station to watch for runaway boys and girls, as spring was not only the season for starting university or a new job but also for running away from home. He was wearing a school uniform and carrying his belongings in a furoshiki (a traditional wrapping cloth), so we all laughed, saying it was no wonder he was mistaken for a runaway from the countryside and that the police officer was right.

As is well known, Ueno Station was the arrival point for "group employment" and, for many, the starting point of their lives. As typified by Suzuki Motors, the auto repair shop in "Always: Sunset on Third Street," many young people came to Tokyo to start new lives. This has been the case since the time of the poet Takuboku. They became the driving force behind our country's period of high economic growth. However, some must have faced repeated setbacks, continually losing their battles for a second chance. Even if one cries, "We are Ashita no Joe," life does not always turn out that way. The recent increase in elderly households receiving public assistance tells this story.

That same classmate returned to his hometown, became a high school teacher, and is now retired. But even among those who arrived at the same Ueno Station, the difference in their starting lines—going to university versus group employment—extended throughout the rest of their lives. When I see a train bound for Kuroiso at Fujisawa Station, I think of my friends living in my hometown and reflect on my own youthful ambitions.