侍の下人が経験する内面の葛藤は、完全な共感の喪失や生来の残酷さというよりも、社会に広がる強制感を示しています。極度の困窮の中でも、人間はまだ良心を持っています。ただ、現実の厳しさが、行動の背後にある理想主義や、人の尊厳を操作するのです。侍の下人が楼閣に登り、老婆の行動を目撃したとき、彼は道徳的な問いに直面します。生き延びるために同じことをしている人から何かを奪うことは、間違っているのだろうか？ここで、道徳的な曖昧さは、終わりのない循環のように、非常に現実的に感じられます。生活の状況が、人々に理想的な原則を変えさせるのです。尊厳、道徳、あるいは生存そのものについての原則が、相対的なものになります。良心は、孤独の中で最もよく現れます。最初、彼は老婆が口にするような理屈を決して考えませんでした。それは、「みんなが生き延びるために同じことをしているのに、私がこれを避けて何になるのか？」と考えるようなものです。大体、そういう考えです。そのような瞬間に、教訓が現れます。人は周囲を真似する傾向があるのです。それが正しいか間違っているかに関係なく、一般的に受け入れられていることに従うだけです。環境は途方もない影響力を持っています。他者に影響を与える言葉の力もあります。最初、下人が老婆の行為を見ただけのとき、彼はまだ自分の原則を固く守っていました。しかし、老婆の説明が、彼の心を完全に変えてしまいます。その考えが彼を、つい先ほどまで激しく軽蔑していた行動へと導くのです。これは、言葉がいかに強力であるかを示しています。人は、簡単に揺さぶられないために、少なくとも確固たる理解や確固たる信念を必要とします。これは今日でも見られます。人々は、扇動によって互いを憎むようになり、友情を壊します。ゴシップ番組は、中傷によって有名人の人生を台無しにすることができます。サイバーいじめは、告発が必ずしも真実でなくても、人の精神状態を破壊することができます。何かを直接見ていないからといって、それが起こらなかった、あるいは存在しないという意味ではありません。人々は、状況の背後にある理由を本当に理解することなく、あまりにも早く結論に飛びつきます。誰もが異なる視点から見ているのです。適切な読解力と批判的思考力があれば、人々は簡単に影響されたり、すぐに何かを信じたり、行動に飛びついたりするのではなく、さらに先を考えることができるはずです。

それに加えて、同情と社会的関心、つまり人間性そのものは、依然として重要です。言葉は常に有害とは限りません。これからは、おそらく人々は、自分の発言と思い込みの両方について、もっと注意する必要があります。一つの発言が、他の人の人生をずっと悪くしたり、ずっと良くしたりする可能性があります。言葉と思い込みは、人の考え方を作り変えることもできます。したがって、優しく話し始めること、そして他者や自分自身についても最善を想定することが重要です。もし下人が盗みたいという欲望に抵抗できていたら、時間が経つにつれて、以前の立場を誇りに思えたかもしれません。絶望的な状況で明確に考えることは、確かに困難です。しかし、もう少し耐えることで、より深い教訓がいずれ明らかになるかもしれません。忍耐は、解決策を見つけやすくします。忍耐があれば、前向きな思考もより達成しやすくなります。もう一つ：政治はここで重要な役割を果たしているようです。社会の状態は、政府のシステムを映し出します。散らかって無秩序な箱や容器は、静的なので、比較的簡単に整理し直せるかもしれません。一方、人間の生活ははるかに複雑で動的であり、社会的、経済的、感情的な多くの側面に満ちています。混乱した政府は、確実に人々に害をもたらします。飢えと貧困は、犯罪の根源となり得ます。これが極度の困窮が意味するものかもしれません。人々が、尊厳が生き延びるチャンスよりも価値が低いかどうかを、もはや明確に区別できなくなるときです。

羅生門は、緊張感があり、忘れがたい雰囲気を鮮やかに呼び起こす物語です。冒頭から、第三者の視点で述べられ、全体的な描写が与えられていました。人間性と親密さが枯れ果て、空虚さを残した社会を描いています。この物語を通して、困窮がしばしば二つのものに近いところにあることが、驚くほど明確になります。強い道徳的良心と犯罪行為です。人々は飢えのために互いを殺すかもしれません。しかし、同じ理由で互いを助けるかもしれません。この共有された状況が、社会を同じように行動させるように見せます。本当に強い良心を持つ人だけが、悪行を犯すことに抵抗できるのです。これは、道徳が長い間、考察の対象であったことを示唆しています。作者が、あれほど完全に恐ろしい設定の中で道徳を描き出せることは、驚くべきことです。この物語は、時代を超えたメッセージを伝えています。たとえ誰もそれを選ばなくても、善い行いは善いままであり、たとえ誰もがそれを行っても、悪い行いは悪いままである、と。

Rashomon  
From the very beginning of reading it, it was clear that this is a story with a very deep meaning. Written in 1915, it certainly uses a high level of diction, especially in describing its details. From the start, the author presents the character from a third-person point of view, signaling a broad command of the atmosphere. This includes the details of the crickets and the rainy setting, emphasizing a quiet, dark, and desolate emotion. The loneliness here means that everyone is only preoccupied with themselves. As someone once said, “Don’t expect people to feel sorry for you just because you are sitting there alone in the rain.” The description of the backdrop of conflict and chaos makes that understandable. To survive such times, it seems that not only empathy is sacrificed, but also faith. This can be seen from the Buddha statues that are also ignored. Survival appears more real than anything else. The rebellion is depicted very clearly. Perhaps it can be called something forced. Forced by a suffocating situation, where getting food for that very day is already difficult. Society often becomes a reflection of a nation’s condition, its government, and the officials within it. The economic and social systems keep turning, but refuse to drag the poverty embedded in them into the light. The descriptions in the short story feel very real. There are natural disasters and villages laid to waste—drawing wild animals into the wheel of life of that era—thieves, who may well be stealing from one another in turn, Buddhist ornaments that are stolen and sold, and, most gruesome of all, corpses dumped just like that in the tower near the Rashomon gate. Perhaps the cruelest thing is actually the way people think in that period as a consequence of the chaos. The samurai’s servant is dismissed—once again, a result of the turmoil—after years of loyalty. He sits waiting for the rain to stop, yet without any clear purpose. This seems to illustrate the emotional numbness of people at that time. “There’s no point in feeling sad; everyone is struggling anyway. This is chaos. And I am witnessing it with my own eyes. There is nothing I can do.” That, roughly, is what seems to echo in his mind. The inner struggle experienced by the samurai’s servant signals a sense of coercion that pervades society, rather than a complete loss of empathy or inherent cruelty. Even in the depths of destitution, humans still possess a conscience; it is just that the harshness of reality manipulates the idealism behind an action, or a person’s dignity. When the samurai’s servant climbs the tower and witnesses the actions of the old woman, he is confronted with a moral question: is it wrong to take something from someone who is doing the same thing in order to survive? Here, moral ambiguity feels extremely tangible, like a never-ending cycle. The conditions of life push people to alter their ideal principles—whether about dignity, morality, or survival itself. Principles become something relative. Conscience most often emerges in solitude. At first, he never considered the kind of reasoning voiced by the old woman. It is like thinking, “What is the use of me avoiding this if everyone is doing the same thing to survive?” That is roughly the idea. In moments like that, a lesson emerges: people tend to imitate their surroundings. They merely follow what is commonly accepted, regardless of whether it is right or wrong. The environment exerts a tremendous influence. There is also the power of words in influencing others. At first, when the servant only sees the old woman’s deed, he still holds firmly to his principles. Yet the old woman’s explanation makes him completely change his mind. That thought then leads him to an action that, just moments before, he intensely despised. This shows how powerful words can be. A person needs at least a solid understanding or firm convictions in order not to be easily swayed. This can be seen even today: people grow to hate one another and break friendships just because of incitement. Gossip programs can ruin a celebrity’s life through slander. Cyberbullying can destroy a person’s mental state, even when the accusations are not necessarily true. Just because something is not seen firsthand does not mean it never happened or does not exist. People jump to conclusions too quickly, without truly understanding the reasons behind a situation. Everyone sees from a different perspective. With proper literacy and critical thinking, people should be able to think further ahead instead of being easily influenced, believing something immediately, and rushing into action. Besides that, sympathy and social concern—humanity itself—still matter. Words are not always harmful. From now on, perhaps people need to be more careful with both their speech and their assumptions. A single remark can make another person’s life much worse, or much better. Words and assumptions can also reshape a person’s way of thinking. Thus, it is important to start speaking kindly and to assume the best in others as well as in oneself. If the servant had managed to resist his desire to steal, with time he might have felt proud of his earlier stance. Thinking clearly in a desperate situation is indeed difficult. Yet by holding on a little longer, the deeper lesson may eventually reveal itself. Patience can make it easier to find a solution. With patience, positive thinking also becomes more attainable. One more thing: politics seems to have a significant role here. The state of a society mirrors the system of government. A box or container that is messy and disorganized might still be rearranged fairly easily because it is static. Human life, on the other hand, is far more complex and dynamic, filled with many aspects: social, economic, and emotional. A chaotic government will certainly bring harm to its people. Hunger and poverty can become roots of criminality. This may be what is meant by utter destitution—when people can no longer distinguish clearly whether dignity is worth less than the chance to survive. Rashomon is a story that vividly evokes a tense and haunting atmosphere. Since the beginning, it already mentioned with 3rd person perspective, given description as whole. It portrays a society where humanity and kinship have withered away, leaving emptiness behind. Through this tale, it becomes strikingly clear that deprivation often stands close to two things: a strong moral conscience and criminal acts. People may kill one another out of hunger — yet they may also help each other for the same reason. This shared condition makes society appear to act in similar ways. Only those with a truly strong conscience can resist committing evil deeds. This suggests that morality has long been a subject of reflection. It is remarkable how the author manages to depict morality within a setting so utterly dreadful. The story conveys a timeless message: even if no one chooses to do it, a good deed remains good — and even if everyone does it, an evil act remains evil. 

Comments on Your Report

Reading your report, I was deeply moved. Your sincere and thoughtful approach to examining human morality through the classic work “Rashomon” really came through clearly.

The theme of “Rashomon” ultimately boils down to “the weakness of the human heart when pushed into extreme circumstances.” In the midst of famine and chaos, Akutagawa Ryunosuke coldly depicted how the samurai’s servant gradually abandons his moral principles. The work raises a fundamental question: how easily do humans discard their values when society collapses?

But as I read your report, I noticed something important. You’re not accepting the work’s pessimism and distrust of humanity at face value—instead, you’re bringing a different set of values to it.

You hold the belief that “only those with a truly strong conscience can resist committing evil deeds” and that “morality is universal and absolute.” And your conclusion—that “good deeds remain good and evil acts remain evil, no matter the circumstances”—is remarkably powerful. This reflects a belief that humans, regardless of their situation, still possess both the capacity and the responsibility to make moral choices.

Actually, this is a value that modern Japanese people, in particular, have lost in many ways.

Japan’s traditional religions—Shintoism and Buddhism—once emphasized “the conscience that dwells within humans” and “faith in what is right.” But during Japan’s post-war period, especially with the rapid economic growth and pursuit of material wealth, many Japanese people abandoned these spiritual values. Today’s Japanese society is dominated by relativism and utilitarianism. Ideas like “ethics change depending on the situation” or “if everyone’s doing it, it’s fine” have become widespread.

The faith-based values you hold—your belief in “universal moral standards” and the conviction that “good conscience should be maintained even in difficulty”—strike me as genuinely fresh and precious. These values naturally spring from your religious background and form an unshakeable spiritual core within you.

Why does “Rashomon” continue to be read today? Because this work doesn’t merely depict human weakness—it poses a deeper question: when we face that weakness, how should we live? And your report answers that question with a strong, faith-based conviction.

There’s a part in your essay where you mention that “patience can make solutions easier to find” and “with patience, positive thinking becomes more attainable.” This isn’t mere optimism—it’s true strength supported by spiritual discipline and faith.

If you continue to hold onto this sincerity and conviction as you move forward, you will undoubtedly become someone who makes a real impact on the world. Japan’s society genuinely needs people like you—those who can build bridges between people from different cultural backgrounds.

I truly wish you success and continued growth in your future.