Hello. I’m MoriKei.

I read “Exodus of the Land of Hope” by Ryu Murakami.

It was my first time reading a book by Ryu Murakami, and it made me think a lot.

“Exodus of the Land of Hope” was serialized in the magazine “Bungei Shunju” from 1998 to 2000 and published by Bungei Shunju in 2000.

The story is about middle school students who have lost hope in Japan’s future and use the internet to create their own economic zone.

What surprised me was that the more I read, the more I found that the content was exactly what was happening in 2023.

I was reminded of virtual currency when I read about “middle school students hiring adults using the internet” and “creating their own currency and economic zone”.

Also, I was amazed that the book described in detail the issues that Japanese people are facing right now, such as the weak yen and the stagnation of Japanese society, more than 20 years ago.

On the other hand, it might be the result of leaving the problems unresolved for more than 20 years.

In 2000, the book lamented that “middle school students became a hopeless country because adults had left the problems unresolved”.

Even after more than 20 years, the problems are still unresolved in 2023.

The book tells how middle school students buy a vast land in Hokkaido and migrate in groups of 300,000 people, creating their own city and economic zone, and achieving “de facto independence from Japan”.

It may not make sense to buy real land, but it is possible to create a virtual state using virtual currency and online communities.

The content was captivating, and I thought that reading it again might give me new insights.