Recently, I learned about the history of this area, Oita Prefecture, Japan, to which I moved this month. Knowing the history is interesting. It sometimes tells us why they are in their current state.
Today, I will talk about what I learned from this area’s history: this world is not equal to everyone. This awareness might allow us to decide our lives based on our own will.
How to decide our lives based on our will
Sometimes, we want to decide our lives by our own will, especially if we have individuality. We cannot feel happy even if we live like others. On the other hand, if we can decide things on our own, we can have fulfillment, even if we fail.
In other words, experiencing for ourselves may be the way of life for the person with individuality. Although it takes time, we can build a foundation for our lives. That allows us to take a big leap later.
However, we sometimes cannot decide by our own will due to the wish for equality. When we see the many successes around us, we want to be as well, equally. That misleads us in judgment.
Today, I will introduce one history of the area where I live. This case might allow us to decide our lives based on our own will. Although this includes my guess, this would be an example of failure in pursuing equality.
The mystery of the investment for rents in Kitsuki City
This month, I migrated to Kitsuki City, which has the lowest rent in this country.
There is a reason for the low rents. In the 2000s, several global companies decided to create factories in this city. People in this area were delighted and rushed to build rental properties one after another in the short term. It was like a gold rush.
However, in 2008, Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, and the economy suddenly declined. Those global companies retreated. That is why this city has so many vacant, inexpensive rents.
However, there is a mysterious point. Why did the investors in this area rush in so much? Usually, investors are careful. Why did they ignore the risk and invest so much?
Perhaps the pursuit of equality caused this. Let me explain below.
Why did they rush to build rents?
Imagine this situation: three children are playing in the park. They all look similar.
One day, one old gentleman walked by and said to one of the children, “Oh, you are playing here. I like this place, too. I will give you candies.”
The child got a lot of candies and was happy.
Several days later, another elder woman walked by and said to another child, “You look good. I give you this money. Buy something you like!”
The child got money and felt happy.
The two children were suddenly enriched by good fortune. Assume we are the only child who didn’t get such luck.
In this situation, we would think we deserve the same kind of luck. This causes the misunderstanding of equality. That makes us misjudge.
The feelings of someone left behind
The same thing happened in this city, Kitsuki City, in my opinion.
In this region, there are three cities along the same bay coast: Kitsuki City, Oita City, and Beppu City.
Until 50 years ago, they were all small towns in the countryside.
However, the two cities started to develop rapidly. Many companies created large factories in Oita City. It became an industrial city. The population grew 4 times larger in only 30 years.
Beppu City has developed as well. It had hot springs and became a big tourist city.
Believing that a similar fortune will happen
On the other hand, Kitsuki City remained undeveloped. They might have felt unfairness. Although those three cities are located in the same bay, the city was the only one that didn’t have luck.
Perhaps that caused the rush to the building properties for rent. At the time they learned that several global companies had decided to build large factories in the city, they might believe, “Now it is my turn!” That made them have lost sight of themselves.
However, this world is not fair. The recession happened, and the rent market in this area collapsed.
Now, the population of Kitsuki City is about 25,000. On the other hand, Oita City is about 500,000, and Beppu City is over 100,000 even though it is a small area.
We have differences
This tells us judging by ‘similar’ is meaningless. Even if the three children or cities may look alike, they are all different. If we look at them from an objective perspective, we can easily understand Oita City and Kitsuki City are different.
However, to him—the child who didn’t have luck—, it looks the same. That made him pursue equality and ignore risks. He believed he deserved similar good luck in development, although he might have another kind of attractiveness.
In addition, from a wider perspective, it turns out that few children can get such luck. Even if the two children next to us got lucky, we may change our minds when we look at it as a whole.
Perhaps it gives us a more proper perspective to judge based on our will.
Conclusion
That is the history of the area where I live.
Although this includes my guess, this would be an example of failure in pursuing equality.
This case might allow us to decide our lives based on our own will.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
