Since I came to Aotearoa New Zealand three yeas ago, I have not been able to attend it. So I will be writing an apology again. There is a popular Japanese pops about that kind of situation - with a newcomer to the metropolitan Tokyo from a rural town - "Tooku tooku" by Noriyuki Makihara.
The protagonist of the song thinks about the hometown where he knows cannot be observed even from the highest tower in Japan. At that time it was Tokyo Tower which is 333 meters high. However it was now surpassed by the Tokyo Sky Tree which is now under construction towards staggering 634 meters high.
Although the tallest in Southern Hemisphere, the Sky Tower in Tamaki Makau Rau Auckland now familiar for me is not so tall as either of them - 328 meters high. Of course it is not tall enough to observe my hometown Osaka, Japan. So I would be writing an apology for my absence again.
Recently I sometimes feel that now I am more a Kiwi than a Kiji - the national bird of Japan. How they will find me in this regard when finally I ever make it one of the reunion meetings - that is what I am pondering now.
