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President George W. Bush of U.S.A. announced today that the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport which has been closed since the terrorists attack to New York and Washington on September 11 is reopened. The opening page of my travel diary's Japanese edition carries a picture of mine at a lobby of the airport (it was taken by Mr. Tadaoki Ishikawa of Toyota who stayed at that time in Washington D.C. on June 7, 1998.)
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At that time, the U.S. government was rebuilding the major airports throughout the country such as in Los Angeles, San Francisco or Boston. Among them, the Ronald Reagan airport was completed first. I thought this is one of the examples that the U.S. started to promote repletion of social capitals for preparing themselves for the 21st century. All major airports in Japan, such as Narita, Haneda, Osaka, Kansai or Fukuoka are narrow and poor. It is quite sure that they cannot sustain the growth of Japanese economy in the next century. I picked up this picture of extravagant Washington airport to tell Japanese in Japan that they are far behind the U.S.A.
As one of the conditions for reopening the airport, the tightening of security was said to be demanded. In Japan, the Shin Kansen, the super express train is playing the more important role than air flight as a transportation. The domestic flights in Japan have the severe security systems just like those in the states. But there is no check at all for the train. For the terrorists, it is easier and safer to attack trains than to attack airplanes by sacrificing their own lives. Japan is quite vulnerable to the terrorists attack, I am afraid.