A FRIEND of mine recently visited Japan on a business trip, and stayed with his Japanese host who lived with his wife and a four-year-old son in Tokyo. During his week-long stay, the host used to take him around the city along with his son. They preferred taking walks through the parks that were full of seasonal plants and fruit trees. During one such walk, which was through an apple garden, they came across a fallen apple. The Japanese picked it up and put it in his pocket to enjoy it later.

After they had left the park and were heading home in the car, the son told his father that he was feeling uneasy as the latter had done the wrong thing by picking up the apple without making the payment to, or seeking the consent of its owner. The father told him that he would have surely paid the owner had he been available on site or anywhere near. Even then, he promised that he would find out the owner and pay him the cost, and that he would do that first thing the next morning.

On reaching home, the boy narrated the whole episode to his mother, who also tried to calm him down while assuring him that his father would definitely make the payment in the morning. The boy stopped grumbling, but it was quite obvious that he was far from being satisfied.

Later in the night, the boy felt sick. He was running high fever and was muttering incessantly about the need to pay the cost of the apple to the owner straightaway. It was past midnight when they decided to revisit the park along with the ‘stolen’ apple and look for its owner.

After some effort they were able to locate the house of the caretaker of the park, who was shocked to see the strangers at his house in the middle of the night. After knowing the purpose of the visit, he was overwhelmed. He not only gifted that apple, but also supple- mented it with a basket of apples for the child. As they were leaving, the elderly man said something that is worth pondering. He said that, as a Japanese, he felt happy and assured that the future of the country was in safe hands.

Though the story relates to a small household of Japan, it amply illustrates the sense of morality of the Japanese nation. Nations are built on sound moral foundations and those without regard or respect for the same, should never expect to rise on their feet or make any worthwhile progress. Unfortunately, what we see happening around us in the moral context is enough to scare us about the kind of future that is awaiting us.

Pervaiz Sarwar
Lahore

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2024