Learning from the Past
JHS Prefectural Speech Contest 2024
| Learning from the Past | |
|---|---|
| 温故知新 | |
| Details | |
| Word count | 575 |
| Speaker | Yamada Koshin |
| School | Akita Minami Chutobu J.H.S |
| Grade | 3 |
| Placing | 3rd |
Another snowy winter in Akita is done, green leaves bud from the melting snow; spring is finally here. It's time for people to go hiking, camping and foraging in the mountains. I once went bamboo shoot picking with my grandfather and experienced firsthand the beauty of Akita's nature. Yet, it is not only humans who have been waiting for spring. Wild black bears are awake and looking for food.
Last year, Akita residents suffered many casualties from bears. The total number of victims was 70, the highest number ever, and the highest in Japan. Meanwhile, there were only 18 cases of violent crime. Bears caused more damage than violent crimes by humans. Moreover, many of the bear's victims were attacked in the city. My home prefecture, where I've lived safely my whole life, is now under threat from urban bears.
There are two main causes for the appearance of so many urbans bears. The first is a bad harvest of nuts and foraging foods in their natural habitat. So, they come down to the city in search of food. The second reason is the shrinking area of human activity. The withdrawal of people from mountain villages and an increase in abandoned land has expanded the bears' habitat. In short, the living area of people and bears have become closed than ever.
While the threat of urban bears is a real danger and should be taken seriously. I don't believe this is all the fault of the bears. Urban bears are our responsibility. Just as we have changed in the last 10 years, the bears have changed too. Normally, bears are inactive during the winter months. Last year, there were 3 bear sightings from January to March. This year, there were 60 bear sightings. This is truly unbelievable. We know the causes of urban bears, but not the solution to this problem. How can we keep people safe while respecting the bears?
In my opinion, the easy solution would be to build fences and keep bears out of the city. But is this really a solution based on an understanding of bears? Probably not. Nor is it a realistic solution. We need to allow each other to live comfortably, safely and happily in our respective places.
But now we have far too little information. Not only information about bears, but updates on sightings. In fact, there was a bear on the road I usually walk to school, but I didn't hear about it until two days later. This means that people can be attacked just a lack of information.
Even to this day we don't know enough about bears. Public service announcements warn people to be careful of bears saying, "If you see a bear, keep your eyes open and back away slowly." This is despite the fact that many people who have been attacked were suddenly attacked from bushes or other places.
We all know that we need more information if we are to better coexist. So how do we get it? I think we can learn from our ancestors. They coexisted with bears for a long time, since about 10,000 years ago. We should borrow wisdom from them and learn more about bears. In other words, "learning from the past". So, we celebrate the arrival of spring, I hope we can all strive to better understand them. That, I believe, is the first step towards coexistence and harmony for everyone, bears and humans alike.
