My Wife’s Mutterings and the Meaning of the Cage
So last night, my wife was reading “The Sad Elephants” to our first-grade daughter. It’s a story about how, during the war, zoo elephants had to be poisoned. My daughter’s eyes were red from crying. Of course they were—no child can understand why those magnificent elephants had to be killed.
But what was even stranger was what my wife said. “I’m so glad Japan is peaceful now,” she remarked. Fair enough, I thought—until five minutes later, she added, “You know, the car accidents caused by foreigners these days are just terrible.” I nearly choked on my coffee.
Turns out that a person’s sense of crisis—or peace—can flip on a dime depending on the scene. And so, listening to that story of the elephants, I couldn’t help but think about the existence of the “cage.”
A cage isn’t just a space for animals. It’s the boundary that separates human social order from the animal world.
Without the cage, those who can’t conform to social order might harm others.
In today’s Japan, I can’t help but feel that the government is trying to dismantle these boundaries altogether.
They talk about “diversity, freedom, and equality”—it sounds wonderful, sure. But without boundaries, the weakest are the first to be swallowed up.
The cage, you see, is the final stronghold of order. Although these days, everyone wants to call the cage itself “cruel,” don’t they?
Japan on the Brink of Losing Its Boundaries of Order
In “The Sad Elephants,” the zoo cages were broken by the air raids, and the animals were put down out of fear that they might run rampant in the city. The animals themselves were innocent.
That’s the harsh logic of self-defense—“if we don’t do it first, we’ll be in danger.” It’s the cold reality of war.
No matter how lofty the ideals, in the end, it comes down to survival instinct—“my own safety first.”
And that’s the real cruelty of war. Even so, it’s a reality where you must prioritize what you protect above all else.
My wife often says, “It’s because of Article 9 that we have peace.” But can that really hold up in a true crisis?
Here’s the crux of the matter.
In this story, the cage is the “boundary line that protects social order.”
Yet Japan today seems determined to tear down those very boundaries of social order.
We see it in the influx of inbound tourism, foreign labor, and now even welcoming foreign students rejected by America.
The dream of “freedom and diversity” is already exposed as an empty fantasy—just look at France and the EU, grappling with migrant issues.
Yet Japan, always a step behind, seems intent on diving headfirst into the same quagmire.
Have you heard about how Chinese firms are buying up land all over Japan? Forests in Hokkaido, hot spring resorts in Kyushu. Outwardly, it’s called “business,” but with no boundaries to hold them back, it’s too easy for them to get in.
My wife preaches “diversity is important,” yet in the same breath mutters, “It’s unsettling to have foreigners buying up the land next door.”
Maybe some sense of “cages are necessary for safety” still lingers in Japan. But are the boundaries of order really still standing?
Can Incompatible Orders Truly Coexist?
“Diversity, diversity”—these days it’s chanted like a Buddhist mantra.
My wife says, “LGBT people and foreigners—we should all get along.” Yet in the next breath: “When a bunch of foreigners gather at the station, it’s honestly pretty scary.”
Even if we share ideals, reality has a way of exposing the risks.
Japan’s social order was nurtured over centuries, protected by the sea as a natural barrier.
But now, with faster travel, global information networks, and the infiltration of a misguided “political correctness” that overvalues diversity, those boundaries are eroding.
When debate is stifled and anyone calling for the protection of order is dismissed as “backward” or “discriminatory,” what’s left is an exposed and irresponsible vulnerability.
When the boundaries of order vanish, the weak have no means to defend themselves. If bullies and the unscrupulous take over, Japanese social order will inevitably collapse.
In international affairs, too, Japan must show a strong resolve to maintain these boundaries.
The Senkaku and Takeshima territorial disputes are prime examples of this tension.
When a country blurs its own borders in the name of “getting along,” it’s only a matter of time before it’s undermined or outright taken over.
The same is true in society: if we erase the boundaries of order, we invite the same chaos that comes from losing sight of national borders.
My wife loves Korean culture, but she’ll also sigh, “But Korean dramas have too many shouting matches—it’s exhausting.”
In the end, people’s real feelings often boil down to: “If it doesn’t feel comfortable, I want to keep my distance.”
The True Purpose of the Cage and the Vagueness of Ideals
A cage isn’t meant to exclude—it’s meant to protect. “The Sad Elephants” isn’t just about the tragic fate of animals in war.
It’s a reminder that coexistence without boundaries is impossible. The animals’ deaths are a stark lesson in that.
When the cage is gone, it invites brutal slaughter. That’s the reality we must reckon with.
That’s why the cage must be preserved—certainly not torn down by our own hands.
We see it in China’s land grabs, in the creeping influence of foreign capital, in the blurred lines behind the name of “internationalization.” The brighter the sign for “diversity,” the more the shadows where the cages are being dismantled.
My wife’s contradictory comments ultimately reveal one simple wish: to live in safety. The cage isn’t about locking someone in—it’s about marking the lines that let us live in peace.
I can’t claim to have the answers. Diversity is certainly important—but it can’t mean “anything goes.” Without cages, zoos and nations alike devolve into a wilderness with no order at all.
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“Reading ‘The Sad Elephants’ to my daughter had me pondering the meaning of cages and the need for boundaries. A reflection on diversity and order in today’s Japan. – Trench Keibuho’s musings.”
#TrenchKeibuho #BoundariesOfOrder #ShadowOfDiversity #TerritorialIssues #TheSadElephants