【さて本日参院選投開票。2025/7月ニッポンの民意はいかに？】

　写真は今回の旅の最終立ち寄り地の富良野・六花亭のお店から東大雪の山並みを見晴らすデッキ。
　この直前に訪れていたカミさんお気に入りの「富田ファーム」では、まったく「ごった返し」とでも言えるような海外旅客の殺到ぶりで、ほぼ日本語が聞こえないような状況。かねてから富田ファームのような「お花畑」景観はあんまり「いいなぁ」とは感じていない（笑）わたしは、カミさんの喜ぶ笑顔に「お相伴」一択。花ならば気候風土のなか、ひっそりと野に咲く可憐な花をこそ愛でたい。しかし、海外客の集中ぶりは凄い。これからの時代、このような光景が日本社会に一般化するのだろうかと、雑念にかられていた。
　構造的な円安ということがこういった光景の背景にあるのでしょう。観光業にとっては喜ばしいことでしょうし、労働力市場でも日本人比率は低下して推移していく趨勢にあるのでしょう。否応なく変化して行く国際経済社会のなかで今後の日本社会は柔軟に、どのように対応して行くべきなのか。
　わたしのような昭和中期・戦後早々に青春期を過ごしていた人間からすると、違うニッポンの光景のようにも思える。第２次世界大戦の惨劇から立ち直ることに必死だった時代相のなかで、ベビーブームのちょっと後の世代であるわたしなどとは、孫子たちの暮らしていくこの社会はあまりにも変容してきている。
　今回の参院選は、そういった世界情勢の中で日本社会がどのように対応して行くのか、という底流的なことへの「民意」判断機会と言えるでしょう。もうすでに「期日前投票」を済ませているわたしですが、多くの同胞のみなさんの賢明な判断に注目したいと思っています。できるだけ多数のみなさんの「民意」であるように祈っています。
　東大雪の山並みを望む北海道らしい景観美。先人たちが築き上げてきたこの美しい国土に、永続的な平安があることを祈っていたいと思います。
　
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English version⬇

Today's Upper House Election: What will be the will of the people of Japan in 2025/July?
Modern society is confronted with a variety of transforming factors. How will we be able to pass on our beautiful land to our grandchildren who will inherit it? The people's will is the choice. ...

The photo shows the deck overlooking the Higashidaisetsu mountains from the store at Rokkatei in Furano, the final stop on this trip.
　At Tomita Farm, a favorite of my wife's that we had visited just prior to this trip, there was such a rush of international passengers that it was almost impossible to hear a word of Japanese. I have never been a fan of the “flower garden” scenery of Tomita Farm (laugh), so I was happy to see my wife's smiling face and chose to “go along” with her. When it comes to flowers, I prefer to admire the lovely flowers that bloom quietly in the wild in the climate. However, the concentration of foreign visitors is amazing. I wondered if this kind of scene would become common in Japanese society in the future.
　The structural depreciation of the yen is probably behind this kind of scene. This is probably a good thing for the tourism industry, and the percentage of Japanese in the labor market is likely to continue to decline. How should Japanese society respond flexibly in an international economic society that is changing uncontrollably?
　For someone like me, who spent my youth in the mid-Showa period and early postwar period, this seems like a different view of Japan. In an era that was struggling to recover from the tragedy of World War II, the society in which my grandchildren and grandchildren will live has been transformed too much compared to my generation, which is a little after the baby boom.
　This election for the upper house of the Diet can be said to be an opportunity to judge the “will of the people” on the underlying question of how Japanese society will respond to such a global situation. I have already cast my ballot in advance, but I would like to pay attention to the wise judgment of many of my fellow citizens. I pray that it will be the “will of the people” of as many people as possible.
　The beauty of Hokkaido's landscape, with a view of the Higashidaisetsu Mountains. I hope that there will be lasting peace in this beautiful land that our predecessors have built.
　
●Notice
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