The Happiness of Never Appearing Online— The Freedom of Being a Writer, as Described by Ayako Sono —
This essay reflects on Ayako Sono’s column in the October issue of VOICE magazine,
contrasting the freedom enjoyed by established writers who never needed the internet
with the harsh reality faced by those forced to enter the online world later in life.
It explores the nature of evil, deception, and resilience in the digital age.
October 1, 2016
When I read the serialized column by Ayako Sono in the October issue of VOICE,
I even thought that she might have written this essay knowing my own circumstances.
She had absolutely no need to appear on the internet.
She is a woman who became a public figure as a writer in the world of discourse.
She succinctly wrote about the happiness of that fact.
In other words, for the sake of Japan and for the sake of the world,
I was forced, due to circumstances well known to my readers,
to appear on the internet in the latter half of my life.
As a result, I was targeted by the evil that exists in this world as roughly two percent of the population,
and I experienced things that are hard to believe.
The persistence of the nation of evil—of “bottomless malice” and “plausible lies”—
is something that everyone who read the November issue of WiLL must have recognized anew.
I will return to this point later.
As you know, I am still continuing to be subjected to attacks by evil.
Emphasis in the text is mine.
Earlier passages omitted.
This does not concern me, but
LINE, which provides a fifteen-day free messaging application,
listed its shares simultaneously in Japan and the United States.
It is said that there are now 218 million users worldwide,
but before long people will say, “Was it really only that many back then?”
One of the successes of the latter half of my life was that
I never touched such services as LINE at all.
It would be more accurate to say that I got by without them.
What was best of all was that
I could use that time for other, far more beneficial pursuits.
Above all, I was able to meet people.
I was able to work for my family as well.
Later passages omitted.
To be continued.