Along with “Discoveries in the Hutongs” was a photo： In a narrowhutong， people walk amid dense willow catkin-floss hovering ina gentle breeze， a really charming scene. A reader even called to askthe best time to see the willow floss. No one would have imaginedthat this most common willow floss， a regular annoyance for Beijingresidents， could become so charming and poetic in her articles. Manyreaders wrote to the magazine requesting to know the exact time whenwillow floss would come out， as they planned to come to Beijing especiallyto see it. “It’s not that life lacks beauty，” the great artist AugusteRodin said. “It is because our eyes cannot discover the beauty.” I amagain amazed at her talent for keen observation. Haraguchi is indeed aperson with artistic vision.
Haraguchi prefers the Beijing she saw more than ten years ago to the Beijing of today. “Do you think Beijing is getting Europeanized？ once she asked us. Yes， indeed Beijing is changing fast， looking morelike a metropolis and starting to lose many of its charming elements.
She is shifting her sight to other cities while still keeping an eye on thechanges in Beijing. She started a new column called “China’s RefinedTastes” with her interesting discoveries. However， she has found thatChinese cities are becoming more and more identical， causing a senseof déjà vu， all with wide thoroughfares like Changan Avenue， impressiveoffice buildings and CBD areas.
Of course， Haraguchi still admires the great changes that havetaken place in China. “America is very much developed but changesslowly； the same is true of Japan. China changes so rapidly that youcan’t catch up with it. It is quite challenging to work as a journalist inChina. The Dual—Responsibility of a People-to-People AmbassadorShe believes that， as a worker in mass media， she represents hercountry with what she says or does. She has interviewed Chinesepeople from all walks of life. She respects their opinions and tries toexchange views in hope they might change their negative attitudes towardJapan.
Not long ago， Haraguchi went to cover a remote village. A surprisedvillager asked her if “Japanese ladies need to work”。 She realizedthat she was the first Japanese woman they had seen. While shewas in the village， she was the representative of Japan and was responsiblefor conveying the friendship of her people to the locals.
When Japanese friends come to visit， she shows them around.
Her friends are always content with the sightseeing. “Likewise， if Iwere to tell them all the many shortcomings of Beijing， they wouldcome away feeling that Beijing was a terrible place. I feel at the bottomof my heart that I have a dual responsibility to convey good willbetween both groups of people. Her husband Ari Haraguchi has taken on the same responsibility.
206 In 1989， Ari， a businessman， was transferred to China by his company.
Later on， he set up a cyber school in his Alma Mater， Beijing NormalUniversity. Japanese people can now access Chinese learning coursesvia the Internet. Mr. Haraguchi spends half of his time in China whileMrs. Haraguchi stays in Beijing most of the time.
There is a funny story behind the name “Ari”。 Mr. Haraguchi’
s father was an idealist and gave a lot of thought to Japanese socialclasses. Deeply influenced by Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s ideology， thesenior Haraguchi had long dreamed of becoming a socialist. But “unfortunately he was from a “landlord” family. He named his two sons“Kou” （Public） and “Yu” （Owned） respectively， in hope that he would“rectify” his social class status through the younger generation. Thisrespectable old gentleman has nourished deep and positive feelingstoward China. Today he continues learning Chinese even though he isalready in his mid-seventies.
The Sino-Japanese relationship has been advanced mainly bynon-governmental sectors. There would be greater harmony and fewerdisputes in the world if there were more people-to-people ambassadorslike Junko Haraguchi. I really have a strong urge to say to her， loudly：“comrade Haraguchi， you have done a great job！” I guess she wouldprobably reply with “Serve the people！ By Zhang Chunxia
Translated by Yang Yaohua
