Canon's Diary

Tuesday, June 17. Thanks to the overcast sky, the temperature feels lower than yesterday.
Even so, I woke up feeling extremely thirsty and chugged a bottle of sparkling water straight from the fridge.
I warmed up the cabbage soup I made yesterday and had it with a bowl of rice topped with raw egg.
When I turned on the TV, the news was covering the G7 summit currently being held in Canada.
Trump’s face filled the screen. Once again, he’s the center of attention.
Honestly, I’m getting tired of seeing that face—it’s overwhelming how aggressive the man is.

It was reported that he had his first face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Ishiba, where they discussed trade issues.
Apparently, Japan pushed for a review of tariff measures, but no final agreement was reached.
Trump seems to be trying to reshape the global structure itself.
I hope Japan can somehow benefit during this time of upheaval, but as a small country without natural resources,
do we really have enough cards to play in negotiations?

The aging population and declining birthrate are pressing issues as well.
Japan’s once world-renowned manufacturing prowess, the backbone of its high-growth era, has undeniably lost some of its shine.
Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that the era of “make something good and it will definitely sell” is simply over.
Information processing, environmental issues, politics—
it all feels even more tangled and complex than it used to be.

Japan supposedly has rare earth minerals in its nearby waters,
yet concerns about environmental impact and tensions with China have kept commercial development from progressing.
Both natural resources and national strength—
we have to be cautious in how we use them.
Sometimes, I can’t help but envy Trump’s boldness.

I took out the burnable trash to the collection point and headed to work.
It was cooler than yesterday, but the humidity was quite high.
It wasn’t raining heavily enough to require an umbrella,
but a light drizzle occasionally left droplets on my cheeks.
The morning at work was calm—I spent the time reviewing technical documents and preparing for meetings.

Then, an article from the Nikkei Digital caught my eye:
Trump, who had been attending the G7 in Canada, was reportedly returning to Washington ahead of schedule to deal with escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Tough guy. And he’s 79.
I wonder if I’ll be that active when I’m 79.
Handling multiple public duties at once, leading those around him—
even though I doubt I’d get along with him at all if we met,
there’s something strangely impressive about the man.

After finishing work, I headed home.
I ran into a colleague with whom I recently shared dinner at an oyster restaurant and had a brief chat.
I stopped by the supermarket to buy some milk.
Since I’m planning to return to Tokyo on Friday the 20th,
I need to use up what’s in the fridge.
There was still a lot of cabbage left,
so I made a creamy pasta with cabbage, pork, and onions.
The garlic flavor came through nicely—
it was delicious, though I was a bit heavy-handed with the pepper.