磨灭不了的常州情缘——菊池亮二工作照

　　“江南好,风景旧曾谙。日出江花红胜火,春来江水绿如蓝,能不忆江南?”龙城常州,江南大地上的一颗明珠,记忆中熟悉的地方,依然是那么亲切、自然。一切只因“缘”。

　　江苏水运大动脉的京杭大运河贯穿整个江苏南北。据悉,京杭大运河在隋朝时期大兴修筑完成,可谓是世界上最长一条古运河。原本就以水路运输为主的江苏,因为京杭大运河的贯穿,使得河道、湖泊等水系的连接变得更加自然。江南也正因为这流淌的河水而成为“鱼米之乡”。“江苏”二字中“苏”的繁写字“蘇”,正是这“鱼米之乡”的代名词。

　　乘坐北京飞往常州的飞机,透过窗户俯瞰大地,你会欣赏到别具一格的风光,由褐红色土地和光秃秃山峦的北部开始,越往南面,大片大片的绿色越来越多。飞机越过长江飞到江南的上空,犹如绿色毛毯一般的景象映入眼帘。

　　1994年7月,我第一次踏上常州这片土地。从上海乘4个小时的火车来到常州,首先映入眼帘的是一片漆黑的站台。车站前没有铺路,路边孤零零地树立着一盏昏暗的路灯,拉长了我孤独的身影。我被接站人员带走,直接送到了迎宾馆,一幢没有电梯的三层楼建筑,开始了一段每天开会谈判,整理纪要的日子。

2010中国常州科技经贸洽谈会上受邀发言

　　会议前,我轻轻地问领导:“会议纪要我就只记录重点好吧?”领导回答道:“不仅如此,还要把每位参会人员谈判发言的内容字字记录。”好在双方讲话的过程都要通过翻译传达,可以有一定的时间让我做记录。一天下来,到了晚上就是聚餐。领导要求我参加完聚餐后再回去整理纪要。饭桌上,觥斛交错,谈笑风生。

　　回到房间,稍事休息,我便开始整理字迹潦草的笔记。当时没有电脑,全靠手工书写纪要,直到深夜。第二天一大早,我会把整理好的纪要递交给每个工作组成员,让他们在开会前领会领导前一天会议的内容和精神,有效地进一步开展分组讨论并落实各项工作。

　　虽然这段日子每天要工作到深夜,疲惫不堪,但是我只要走进会场,仍然精神奕奕。在我看来,这是对双方的尊重。谈判的过程就是双方理解和让步的过程。对我而言,确是意义非凡,因为这是东芝公司与常州结缘的开始。

　　二十多年过去了,曾经的车站、宾馆已然不在,从上海乘高铁到常州,1个小时以内即可到达。春天时,原本沿途的大片大片的油菜花田已难再见,唯有高楼大厦、工厂车间鳞次栉比。常州火车站,宽敞明亮,灯光耀眼,变化之大令人惊叹。原先市内的建筑大多都是七八层,现在处处是高楼林立,过去的痕迹只能到记忆中去追寻了。兜兜转转,郊外农田建成了开发区、体育馆、会议中心、公园和高层住宅小区,市内那座千年古刹天宁寺,香火鼎盛,近160米的世界第一高佛塔天宁宝塔已是顶礼膜拜的观光胜地。原先随处可见的脚踏三轮车再也没有了踪影,取而代之的小轿车、快速公交成为出行的新选择。又因市内道路交通的压力过大,两条地铁线路已经开建,不久之后我又能乘上常州地铁外出兜兜转转了。那种期待的感觉,或许就是因为我已把常州当成了自己的家乡吧。

　　更加令人欣慰的是,1995年历经波折谈判成功而成立的常州东芝变压器有限公司,是当时国内首家生产500kV变压器的外商投资企业,从第一台500kV变压器到后来的国内首创的现地分解运输式变压器、国内首创的气体绝缘变压器、国内最高容量的220kV气体绝缘变压器,以及更高电压等级的+500kV换流变、1000kV特高压变压器成功研制,常州东芝一路乘风破浪,一往直前,一代又一代常州东芝人不忘初心、专注投入、坚持不懈,不断创造新的辉煌,攀登新的高度,一路熠熠生辉,成为了国内乃至全球的知名企业,在科技创新的引领下飞速发展,高超的技术与强大的研制能力深受用户好评。身为亲身参与企业谈判筹建、助力企业发展的一员,我倍感荣幸。

　　从1994年第一次到访常州到2016年退休,这22年里,我在这座城市里认识了很多优秀的朋友和同事,有很多难忘的回忆。看到从早到晚可以在公园里打麻将、拿着话筒放声高歌的常州老年朋友们,再想想退休后的自己,今后自己也可以享受这种悠然自得的生活了。我想,今后回常州的机会也许不会多了,不过我还是期待常州地铁开通后再回常州看看,亲眼看看常州新一轮焕然一新的面貌。

　　记忆像是倒在掌心的水,不论你摊开还是紧握,终究还是会从指缝中一滴一滴流逝,但我与龙城常州的那份情缘,已是磨灭不了。或许,这就是“缘”吧。

　　祝福常州!

　　作者：菊地亮二(日本)

　　译文

Changzhou –a Place ofDestiny

菊地亮二(Japan)

As a famous poet in ancient China wrote: "The south of the Yangtze River is a good place, with a beautiful landscape I have known for long. When the sun comes out, the blossoms along the river look fierier than flames; when spring sets in, the river water turns bluish green with life. How could I ever stop missing this great place?" Changzhou, also called Dragon City in ancient times, is a pearl in the southern area of the Yangtze River. Every time the name comes into my mind, I feel so familiar and so close. I know that it is my destiny to come and live here.

As the water transport lifeline of Jiangsu Province, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal passes through Jiangsu from the south to the north. It is known that the Grand Canal was constructed and completed during the Sui Dynasty. It is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. Thanks to the Grand Canal, the rivers, lakes, and other waterways within Jiangsu are connected in a much better and efficient way to serve the waterway transport in Jiangsu. Because of this, this region has become the well-known "land of fish and rice," which can also be perfectly illustrated by the traditional Chinese character "su" in the word "Jiangsu."

It is an amazing experience if you take a plane from Beijing to Changzhou and overlook the land underneath through the window. You will enjoy a unique scenery starting from maroon soils and bare hills to an increasing number of greens. When the plane flies across the Yangtze River to the south, what jumps into your eyes is a vast land blanketed by green plants.

I set foot on this land for the first time in July 1994. I took a train from Shanghai to Changzhou for four hours. When I got off, all I saw was the platform with little light. There was no paving in front of the railway station, and a dimly lit street lamp stood on the curb, lonely as I was. I was then picked up and took to the hotel. It was a three-storey building with no elevators, where I was about to start a couple of days having negotiation meetings and dealing with meeting minutes.

Before the meeting, I asked the official in charge if it was OK to record only the keynotes of the meeting. "That is far from enough. You need to record what each participant will say in the negotiation to the letter," he said. Fortunately, the conversations on both sides were conveyed through interpretation, which bought me some time to record all the content. At the end of the day, I was asked to join the dinner with all other attendees. During the dinner, we proposed toasts to each other and everyone had a great time.

After going back to the hotel room, I took a short break and began to prepare meeting minutes from the notes I myself could hardly make out. That was before we had computers. I wrote down the minutes until late at night. The next morning, I handed out the minutes to each working group member. With the minutes, they could understand the details and the instructions of the leadership on the previous meeting, to effectively conduct panel discussions and arrange tasks.

I had to work very late every night in those days. This worn me out, but I still kept myself look refreshed the moment I stepped in the conference hall. As for me, it is a matter of respect for both sides. Negotiation is a process of mutual understanding and concession, which is of great importance to me because this was right the beginning of Toshiba in Changzhou.

It has been over 20 years since then. The railway station and hotel are no longer there. It takes only less than one hour to Changzhou from Shanghai by high-speed rail. In early spring, you can hardly find boundless rape blossoms along the railway, which, however, were everywhere in the past. Instead, they are replaced by high-rises and factories. Changzhou now has a brand new railway station, stunningly bright and spacious. Previously, most of the buildings in the city were low-rises only seven or eight-storey tall, which are long gone. Looking around, skyscrapers, development zones, stadiums, conference centers, parks, and high-rise residential areas have been or are being built on farmlands. The thousand-year-old Tianning Temple sitting in the downtown enjoys a busy and crowded place of worship. Its giant wooden pagoda, the nearly-160-meter-tall Tianning Pagoda that is the tallest pagoda in the world, has become a famous and worshiped tourist destination. Nowadays, people choose to go out by car or bus instead of cycle rickshaw, which is never seen again. Two subway lines are under construction to reduce traffic jams in many parts of the city. If you know that I have seen Changzhou as a second home, you will understand how I look forward to the day when I can take the subway to go around the city!

More gratifyingly, Changzhou TOSHIBA Transformer Co., Ltd. was established in 1995 after the twists and turns of the negotiation. It was thefirst joint venture in China to manufacture 500 kV power transformers at the time. Since then, the company has successively become the first in China to produce Advanced Site Assembly transformers, 110 kV gas insulated transformers, 220 kV gas insulated transformers, +500 kV converters of a higher voltage level, and large power transformers under 1000 kV. By always adhering to the company’s business philosophy, all TOSHIBA staff devote themselves to introducing new products with high technologies, high quality, and high performance. Having made many new breakthroughs in the industry, the company is now a nationally and globally well-known brand that is highly recognized by customers for its technological innovation, first-class technologies, and strong R&D capabilities. I feel honored and delighted to be one of the pioneers in the negotiation, preparation, and development of the company!

I first came here in 1994 and retired in 2016. Over the past 22 years, I have worked with many excellent people and made quite a few friends in this city, whom I will never forget. I have seen seniors playing mahjong and singing songs with microphones in the park all day long. Now I myself finally have plenty of time to relax and enjoy life. Perhaps I will not have too many chances to be back, but I still look forward to visiting this city again when the subway lines come into service, to witness a new Changzhou.

Just like water in hand, whether you clench or spread out your hand, it will flow away slowly throughyour fingers. So is my memory of Changzhou. However, my love for this city remains forever.

Please accept my sincere wish for a better and more prosperous Changzhou !