幼稚園の子供：あっ、おじいさん、立っていると疲れるでしょう。どうぞ僕の席に座ってください。
おじいさん：それは、どうもありがとう。
そばにいた人：まあ、思いやりのある子供ね。感心だわ。
Omoiyari no Aru
(Densha no naka de)
Yoochien no kodomo: Aa, ojiisan, tatte-iru to tsukareru desho. Dozo boku no seki ni suwatte kudasai.
Ojiisan: Sore wa, doomo arigato.
Sobaniitahito; Maa, omoiyari no aru kodomo ne. Kanshin da wa.
(In a train)
A kindergarten student: Hey, mister. You'll get tired standing. Here, have my seat.
An old man: Well, thank you.
A person nearby: My! What a considerate child. I'm impressed.
Omoiyari no aru means to be considerate. The opposite, omoiyari no nai means to be inconsiderate. The words are often used in expressions such as omoiyari no aru hito (a considerate person) and omoiyari no nai koi (inconsiderate behavior).
I recently heard a rather interesting story about a junior high school in Tokyo's Harumi area. I guess it's because of the high cost of land the school is located inside a high-rise building. It's not a small school either.
There are 400 students. There's even an indoor heated pool and gymnasium. What's most unique, though, is that along with the junior high there's also a child day-care center and a home for the elderly. When the junior high has its sports festival, the students go to the home for the elderly and put up posters. In the morning, some of the older folks confined to wheelchairs go outside and 'play' alongside the kids from the day-care center.
Homes for the elderly are usually imagined to be places where old people can be separated from the rest of society. But when you think about it, what could be sadder than such a life? Up until now, we haven't been very considerate toward the elderly (Roo- jin ni taishite, amari omoiyari ga nakatta). Compared to the norm, how wonderful what goes on in that high-rise in Harumi.
Nuclear families continue to increase in number in Tokyo; fewer and fewer people live together with their elderly parents. The people at the day-care center say that by being near older people the children have become more considerate toward the elderly (roojin ni taisuru omoiyari ga detekita).
One of the young teachers: "The other day we went on a field trip and had to take the train. When an older person got on the train, 3- and 4-year-olds were getting up and offering their seats. Yowai hitotachi ni taisuru omoiyari wa, chikaku ni ite fudan sesshite-ite koso detekuru no desu ne. (That kind of considerateness toward people less able develops precisely because the children at our center are around older people so much)." A home for the elderly, though, is still a home for the elderly. No matter that junior high and elementary school students are near by. They can't replace one's own family. They don't compare with one's own flesh and blood.
Many people are building new homes with enough room for 'two generations.' This desire to live with one's elderly parents is certainly a result of people's feelings of consideration toward their parents (ryoshin ni taisuru omoiyari).