[At a Library in Early Summer] 初夏の図書館にて

So it's early summer now. I am currently living in a small town in Saitama, Japan. I love this season the best of all. I was in a local library, waiting for my family to come back from a dentist. They had gone there for a checkup, and only I wasn't there with them. Around the library are rice fields and there are waterways too, where I enjoy crayfishing with my little girl. It's really a small town. Everything you could catch here is "American" crayfish. Not a single "Japanese" one is out there anymore, which used to be the majority a long time ago. It reminds me of foreign companies that come into a Japanese market to give some influence. That's what the globalization is all about. At least on the globalization of the humans, I personally want to welcome that phenomenon as new idea to come into being. That's what might give me opportunities, which brings me hope.

The temperature reached almost to 30 degrees C on that day and it was very humid, too. I was wearing my T-shirt and jeans, and I was sitting on a chair to read a book on computer networking. The windows are open and the humid air stays there restfully, when I started to fall into a sleep in the quiet library of the early summer. As I woke up, I found myself that I had been asleep. I then started to walk along the shelves slowly to pick up some books that interested me. I was very much impressed by the sunlight that came into the quiet public space out of the transparent window, showing an azure sky. The humid air and the lazy feelings of that place made me more nostalgic. I somehow have this special feeling toward the early summer in Japan. If you look at the mountains, you could see thick green leaves that cover up the whole mountains to give out a great vitality. I have a feeling sometimes that they are growing rapidly everywhere as I look closer to those thick green mountains under the bright and deep summer sky. I also love walking along an avenue, on either side of which are early summer trees, creating huge shades on the street, while the dazzling sunlight reflects here and there on the leaves, and it moves with the breeze of air, which gives me a great deal of enjoyment of life.

About 2 months and a half have passed since I have been out of CATIA work. I miss that so much. I am currently out of project, having nothing to do specifically except that I do some translations or teach myself about computer networking in order to pass an IT exam.

I am so thankful that I was given this opportunity to attend a meeting of CATIA project work on mold & die designing process. I am also grateful for the opportunity that was able to I attend that forum, JCF 2009 so I became knowledgeable about CATIA V6 and how different it is from V5. It seemed like it is not meant just to create 3D models but manage the whole process. From purchasing to CAM process. I might be wrong but this is what I could understand about V6 during the JCF 2009 sessions.


今は季節でいえば初夏です。私は現在埼玉県の田舎に暮らしているのですが、先週土曜日、図書館におりました。その近くの歯医者で家族が検診を受けるというので、そのあいだ私は図書館で待っていたわけです。（自分だけは歯科検診を受けないのだった。）まわりは田んぼで、そばには用水路。そこで私は毎年この時期、ザリガニ釣りをします。日本の田舎ですが、取れるザリガニはどれも「アメリカザリガニ」。もはや日本ザリガニというのは見ることはありません。ここでも外資の影響がみられるようなわけで、まさにグローバル化というものです。人間の世の中でいえば、新しい価値観の創生という点で、私は個人的には歓迎しています。それによって自分にもチャンスが与えられるかもしれない、という希望と共に。

さて、初夏といっても気温は30度ぐらいに達し、しかも蒸し暑いのです。Tシャツ一枚にジーパン姿の私は、座席で少しの読書をすると、開け放たれた窓の静かな空気に誘われるまま、居眠りをしたのでした。目を覚ました私は、棚から棚へゆっくりと歩いていたのでしたが、蒸し暑い空気やら無造作に開け放った窓のゆるやかな初夏の光が、なんとも昔っぽくて、私はしみじみとした風流を感じたのでした。私はどういうわけか、日本の初夏というものに対して特別な思いを抱いてしまうのです。クッキリと縁取られた濃厚な緑色の山。並木道の葉っぱからこぼれる光。涼しい影とまぶしい光が揺れながら地上に注ぐ様子は、それを見る私の感覚に喜びを与えます。

CATIAの仕事を離れもう2ヶ月半が過ぎました。現在の私は雑務的に翻訳等をしながら、ネットワークの学習をしています。資格試験の合格を目標に、日々参考書等と格闘しております。

JCF2009というフォーラムを通じて、CATIAの目指すものを学ぶことができましたのは、私にとってありがたい経験でした。CATIA V6という言葉があって、CATIAはCADに特化したものではなく、業務全体を管理するツールという印象を受けました。あまり正しくないかもしれないですが、そういった印象を受けてきたのでした。

[JCF 2009: Meeting with Great Japanese Engineers]

In case you don't know what JCF is, it's a biggest event for CATIA (3D CAD) users and anybody that's related to it, which takes two days. I joined the first day and the second day of this JCF 2009. On the first day I had a great opportunity that I could hear people's talks who are influential in the CATIA or designing field. Every speech was so inspiring I never felt bored or tired. On the second day was even more fun. I could see familiar people here and there. I had such a great time with the end user guys from Gumma-ken. They are great engineers that are working for a plastic molding designing. There's no doubt that they should be positioned to the most top for plastic engineering. I am very proud that I could work with them.

One of the biggest characteristics about Japanese engineers is their teamwork. From 2008 to 2009, I had a privilege to work with plastic molding designers at a major automobile parts manufacturer in Gunma, Japan; and it was such a great experience for me. What I found out there was a good old Japanese teamwork, which was not American at all. There's an old saying in Japan that goes something like "We all share a single jar of rice to eat" (onaji kama-no meshi o taberu), which makes the group be like a family. One you have that kind of team, there's no need to have a regulation sort of thing. Imagine there is a father and son who don't talk much but pretty much understand each other by sharing hardships of life. That's a typical good old Japanese teamwork that was seen everywhere in this country until maybe 1970s or so. And this still remains in those guys at Gunma-ken as far as I could see. It's really great.

I am pretty sure that this Japanese teamwork made Japanese manufacturers successful after the World War II. Lots of people would imagine that as far as you work for technology, you have to stand on reason all the time. It might be true but not always. On the personal level, this good old we-all-share-a-single-jar-of-rice culture must have been a major factor to bring them to the highest quality of their work. And I personally think it still works. I am so proud that I could work with the people who still have this wonderful culture. I truly believe they are first-rate engineers, and I really had a great time out there at JCF not only because I could learn about CATIA but also I could see those great plastic mold designers who had worked together in the last project.


JCFというのは2日かけて行なうCATIA(3D CAD)業界の大規模な催しです。今回私はこのJCF2009に2日間出席いたしました。1日目はCATIAや設計等の分野で活躍されている方々の話を聞くという内容で、私のような何でも学ばねばならない者にとっては大変有意義なものでした。非常に刺激的で、面白く、そのあいだ私は決して疲れたり退屈したりしませんでした。個人的には通訳の方々の仕事ぶりにとても興味を持った次第です。イヤホンを通じていかに優秀な方々かを窺うことができました。

二日目は、先日まで一緒に仕事をしていた群馬県のエンドユーザー様やプロジェクトで指導してくださった方と再会し、昼食等、時を共にいたしました。ところで、群馬の彼らは世界一流の樹脂金型設計者として位置づけられる人たちだと私は思っており、こういう方々と仕事できたことについて非常に誇りとしています。

日本の技術者の特徴をひとつ挙げるとすればそれは「チームワーク」です。2008年から2009年私は日本の樹脂金型メーカーの方々と仕事をする機会に恵まれましたが、これは私にとって決して忘れることのできない素晴らしい体験となりました。私がそこで見たものは、まったくアメリカ的でない、古き良き日本のチームワークです。「同じ釜の飯を食う」という古い言葉がありますが、つまりこれは他人であっても家族のように付き合うということです。そこには規制とか何とか、そういうものを持ってくる必要はないでしょう。無口な父親と息子の関係を想像してみると、なんとなく分かるのですが、人生の苦難を共有してきていることで、お互い無口でありながら理解しあっているような関係。そういうものが日本の技術者を一流にしたのだと思います。今はそういったものはもはやそんなに無いのかもしれませんが、1970年代ぐらいまでの日本だったら、きっとどこにでもあったのではないかと思います。しかし、私が見る限り、群馬県の彼らには今でもそういう古き良き日本のチームワークが残っている印象を私は受けました。とても稀な、素晴らしいことだと思います。

テクノロジーというと、どこまでも合理的にやっていくかのような印象を持ってしまいますが、個人レベルにおいては「同じ釜の飯を食べる」的なこの日本のカルチャーこそが彼らを最高レベルの成果へ導いた大きな要因ではなかったかと私は思います。この素晴らしいカルチャーをまだ持ち続ける世界的に一流の金型設計者の方々と一緒に仕事をできたことについて、私はとても誇りに感じております。JCFは純粋にCATIAを知るということもさることながら、こういう方々と再会できた点で、本当に楽しい催しでした。