Early September 2026, twelve contributors—including five from South Korea—arrived in Karatsu by train from Hakata for the Japan-Korea Edit-a-thon in Karatsu. It was my first time setting foot in Saga Prefecture.
First, I took a photograph of the monument in the station plaza honoring individuals who made significant contributions to the development of railways in Saga Prefecture. The monument features relief portraits of four figures, one of whom was Kotaro Oshima. Oshima was a businessman from Karatsu who dedicated himself to local development by launching various enterprises—spanning not only railways but also banking and electric power companies. I learned about him while preparing for this edit-a-thon; having long held an interest in Meiji-era entrepreneurs, I had already drafted an article about him in advance. On the day of the event, we visited the former Karatsu Bank building—where he had served as president—and then moved to Oshima’s former residence, the venue for the afternoon’s edit-a-thon, where I published the article on Kotaro Oshima.
I didn’t know much about Karatsu, so while preparing, I searched the Wikipedia article on “Karatsu City.” It was very comprehensive, but in the section listing music from works set in Karatsu, there were some entries marked in red. Among them was the song “Hatsukoi no Hito wa” (My First Love Was…) performed by Duke Aces; although I was familiar with Duke Aces from my younger days, I had never heard this song. So, I borrowed a CD containing it from a nearby library.
To my surprise, this song was sung by a Japanese man remembering his love with a Korean woman. And the setting was exactly where we could see South Korea across the sea from Karatsu. It seemed like a topic for this edit-a-thon, so I quickly gathered all the information, put it together on a draft page, and published “Hatsukoi no Hito wa” on the edit-a-thon day. I was happy that the contributors from Korea were also very happy.
The next day, we toured the Nagoya Castle ruins, so I looked out towards Korea from the main castle ruins. There was an arrow pointing towards Tsushima Island on the observation plaque, and although it was hazy, Iki and Tsushima could be faintly seen. And just beyond that, at a similar distance, is South Korea. I paused for a while, thinking about the fruitful exchanges between our two countries since ancient times, and feeling like the protagonist of the song.
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