The Grim Reaper !Earth Switch“Turning nonsense into fun”Student profile: Yukie Tamagawa

Inspiring people to think, believe, and act. A unique organization run by Yukie Tamagawa, a.k.a “Miporin”, works to “jolt” people into awareness. Her motto is to “turn nonsense into fun”. She feels that there is a lot of nonsense in Japanese society. For her, “nonsense” is when people don’t care or don’t do anything to solve many of the world’s problems. What she wants to do is to jolt you into action . The event was held December 19th, 2010. There were nearly 50 people attending this event. This would be the last event for Yukie because she will be leaving for Tokyo for the next two years in search for better ways to change the world. Therefore, the event had a lot of meaning and significance for her. She and her team prepared an unforgettable event that took them 3 months of preparation. We entered a room with tables neatly set up in groups of 7. We were all assigned seat numbers. I was assigned to a seat with 5 other people all in their early 20’s. They were all friendly people starting out in their careers. They all had dreams other than their jobs like traveling around the world, making the best french fry store, and trying out skydiving. We chatted optimistically about things we wanted to do and places we wanted to see. After the discussion, we were made to write one goal that was the most important for us. A goal we would like to achieve no matter what. As soon as we wrote this goal out, the lights went out and a spooky haunted house like melody played in the background and out of nowhere 4 guys dressed as Reapers appeared.

They proclaimed, “We are here to take your lives. I’m sorry but you will have to give

up on that goal you desperately wanted to achieve”

Everyone’s optimism was taken away from us and we were all uncertain how this seminar’s going to end. We were given an envelope with 3 different colored paper. One was titled “thank you card” , the second was titled “I’m sorry card”, and the third one was kept a mystery. We were told to fill out the first 2 cards. As the participants filled these cards out, we were made to think about the most important things in our lives. All of us wrote to our parents, brothers, sisters and friends, thanking them for everything and apologizing for things that were unsettled. As we filled out our wills the Reaper told us there is one way you can cheat death. The reaper said, “If there’s anyone out there who is brave enough to read out your thank you card, and only if we are moved by your words, you may have a second chance at life” Participants raised their hands one after another. They were all heartfelt words of gratitude for their loved ones. Many people had tears in their eyes as we listened to these words. The reaper, touched by these words, dies right then and there. We were given a second chance at life! In the new life we were told to live without regrets. The “I’m sorry card” that we wrote was the thing of the past. We were told to rip it apart and write the third card which was how we are going to live out our new lease on life. On the new card I promised myself I will thank the people in my life every chance I get and say I’m sorry to those I did wrong. I will live my life to the fullest trying hard to serve others because I know that only thorough the service of others I can attain real happiness. This experience for me was a real eye opener. We get caught up in doing our daily things and we lose sight of what’s really important for us. Our lives are all interconnected and we can only live in this connected world and we can only feel real happiness through this connection to each other. The Switch team did a brilliant job at driving home this message into our hearts, awakening and reminding us the most important thing in our lives.

QuestionsHave you ever lived life as if today was the last day before you met the reaper?How do you think your life will change if you lived that way?What will you do if you only had a month to live?When you die, how do you want to be remembered?What kind of legacy will you leave behind?

aka (also known as) ～の別名でも知られる 【略】akajolt （人）を駆り立てるnonsense ばかげたこと、くだらなさsolve 解決するattending 参加significance 意味、需要生unforgettable いつまでも記憶に残るassigned 割り当てられたstarting out 〔事業・生活を〕始めるoptimistically 楽観的にno matter what たとえ何が～であろうともlights went out 電気が切れたspooky haunted house like melody 気味が悪いお化け屋敷の様なメロディーout of nowhere 知らないうちにReaper 死神proclaimed ～であることを明らかにするdesperately 喉から手が出るほど必死taken away 取り上げるuncertain 不確かなfill out 書き込むparticipants 参加者apologizing for 謝るunsettled 〔問題などが〕未解決のwills 遺言（状)cheat death 運よく死を免れるbrave 勇敢な人moved 心を動かされるsecond chance at life 人生で第2のチャンスをもらうheartfelt words 心からの言葉gratitude 感謝の気持ちtouched 心うたれるregret 後悔thing of the past 過去の事rip it apart 破るlive out 決まった時期を過ごすnew lease on life ～の寿命を伸ばす、

英語で死神のことをGrim Reaper またはReaper という。Grimとは気味の悪い、恐ろしいと言う意味がありReaperとは刈り取る人と言う意味がある。

Wikipedia大鎌を一度振り上げると、振り下ろされた鎌は必ず何者かの魂を獲ると言われる。基本的に、死神は悪い存在として扱われる事が多いが、死神には『最高神に仕える農夫』という異名もある

私達にとって死というものは免れない事実である。絶対的な力を持つGrim Reaperが私たちの命を刈り取りにくるため、命は本来自分のものではなく借りものであるという発想からlease on lifeという表現がある。しかし、このGrim Reaperは現れるが鎌を振り下ろさない場合がある。命拾いするということだ。このときcheat deathと言われる。cheat はごまかす、ずるをする、うまく逃れると言う意味で、cheat deathが死を免れると言う意味になる。

do wrong 悪い事をするserve （人）に仕える、（人）のために働く［奉公する・尽くす］

attain 得るeye opener 目を開かせるもの［体験］caught up ～に捕らわれる、～に巻き込まれるlose sight of ～を見失うinterconnected 相互関係connection to each other お互いのつながりbrilliant 素晴らしいdriving this message into our hearts メッセージを強調する