2011年12月31日 星期六

初日の出、年賀はがきの配達スタート、紅白

年賀はがきの配達スタート 震災影響し枚数減る見込み

写真:出発式を終え、年賀はがきの配達へ向かう配達員ら=1日、東京都中央区拡大出発式を終え、年賀はがきの配達へ向かう配達員ら=1日、東京都中央区


 全国各地で1日、年賀はがきの配達が始まった。日本郵政グループの郵便事業会社によると、この日配達される年賀はがきは約19億2500万通で前年より 7.6%減る見込み。東日本大震災で被害が大きかった岩手、宮城、福島3県の減少が目立つ。郵便事業会社は、大震災で送付が自粛されている影響とみてい る。販売枚数は約32億4800万枚(11年12月28日現在)で前年同期より約3%減。

 東京都中央区の日本橋郵便局では午前8時から年賀はがき配達の出発式が開かれ、郵便制度が始まった明治時代の制服姿の配達員らが次々に出発した。

 日本郵政の斎藤次郎社長は出発式のあいさつで「今年は東日本大震災をへて一人ひとりの皆様が格別の思いを込めていると思う。出される方も受け取られる方も心が豊かになるような温かいコミュニケーションが広がることを期待している」と述べた。


スカイツリーの初日の出、雲の切れ間からうっすら

関連トピックス

【動画】スカイツリーの初日の出、雲の切れ間からうっすら

写真:今年開業する東京スカイツリー(手前)。雲が厚く垂れ込め、きれいな初日の出は見られなかった=1日午前7時8分、本社ヘリから、吉本美奈子撮影拡大今年開業する東京スカイツリー(手前)。雲が厚く垂れ込め、きれいな初日の出は見られなかった=1日午前7時8分、本社ヘリから、吉本美奈子撮影


 新年がスタートした1日、建設中の東京スカイツリー(東京都墨田区)の第1展望台(高さ350メートル)が初日の出の撮影のため、報道機関に公開された。

 第1展望台は東京タワー(333メートル)を上回る高さ。眼下に広がる街は午前6時20分ごろから次第に明るくなっていったが、東の空は、日の出の予定 時刻の6時50分ごろになっても厚い雲に覆われたまま。それでも、7時40分ごろから、雲の切れ間に時折うっすらと今年初めての太陽が姿を見せた。

 スカイツリーは昨年3月、東京近辺の旧国名「武蔵(むさし)」にちなんだ目標の高さ634メートルに到達。「世界一のタワー」となった。今年5月22日、併設する商業施設とともにオープンする。






昨完回去 還有機會看完:62屆『NHK紅白歌合戦』(
エヌエイチケイこうはくうたがっせん):陰勝陽衰
好兆頭
不過我更喜歡看接下去30分鐘報導全日本各地 (以佛寺為主)的新年平安祈福
想起川端康城小說中京都的火車上得孤獨對窗鏡回憶的愛人




日本日常生活的藝品/ 核災必然禍及三代 at least the next three generations

日本核災必然禍及三代 at least the next three generations



A real look at ordinary lives through works of art

BY WAKATO ONISHI STAFF WRITER

2011/12/31


photoThe "teleco-soup" exhibit by Tabaimo at the Venezia Biennale's Japanese Pavilion (Wakato Onishi)photoTakahiro Iwasaki's exhibited work at Yokohama Triennale. The modest tower is crafted from hair and dust. (Wakato Onishi)photoChim Pom exhibit at the Maruki Gallery (Wakato Onishi)photo"Kiso" exhibited at The Miyagi Museum of Art's Churyo Sato Gallery (Wakato Onishi)


Although they're ordinary and not pretty, they're still beautiful.

That's how art aficionados could describe the sculptures of men's and women's heads created by Churyo Sato in the 1950s, which were lined up at the Setagaya Art Museum in Tokyo.

Works by Sato, a prominent postwar sculptor, have been called simple and unrefined creations. He observed ordinary people--men and women we wouldn't think of as beautiful--and discovered a ubiquitous beauty underneath their dignified veil.

Five days after the exhibit closed, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck Sato's birthplace of Miyagi Prefecture. Nineteen days later, Sato died at the age of 98.

The March 11 earthquake forced a slew of temporary museum closures as well as canceled and postponed exhibitions. Artists attended workshops and other such activities in the disaster area to lend their help. Many art-related charity drives have also been organized.

Although they adopt the usual slogans like "Don't give up, Japan" and "Support disaster relief," culture, particularly art produced by individual creators, presents us with beauty and values that many are not so quick to recognize. Culture shows us the beauty and value to be found in the trivial, the non-mainstream and the voices of those who typically are not heard. We have rediscovered these elements, which are like those imbued in Sato's work.

Contemporary expressionists probably perceived early on that in an age when values are in flux, they can't make a living just by having a big story to tell. The "Ways of Worldmaking" exhibition at the National Museum of Art, Osaka may have a grandiose theme, but the collection of everyday objects by young artists such as Kengo Kito have developed a way to express the creation of new circumstances.

The "Artist File" exhibition by eight artists at The National Art Center, Tokyo also stood out for its pieces that seemed like a collection of odds and ends.

In an exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography by Naoya Hatakeyama, whose family home in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, was destroyed, his photos of the disaster area were displayed with inhibition--in a subdued manner that conversely made the significance of the disaster and the photos more potent.

Artists outside the core of the art world have also made deep impressions. The exhibition of work by Mokuma Kikuhata presented by the Fukuoka Art Museum and the Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum provided a complete view of his works spanning more than half a century, from his earliest pieces made with cheap materials that satirized Japan's rapid economic growth to his latest creations.

The Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts provided a surprise with the "Sekiya Fuki: Unknown Works" exhibition, presenting a newly discovered collection of abstract paintings by an unknown female painter who died more than 40 years ago. You could say it gives us a real look at ordinary people's lives through art.

Meanwhile a quite well-known artist, Taro Okamoto, has reached his 100th birthday. He's been the subject of a good number of projects. Perhaps our praise for his work has overshadowed calm and collected consideration.

There are also still plenty of active artists who have taken the path of not flattering society. Gyoji Nomiyama, 90, held an exhibition in Fukuoka and Tokyo that was inspired by the sight of the March 11 earthquake's devastation. A retrospective of work by Yayoi Kusama has toured the major museums of Europe. And Lee U-Fan has put on a personal exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Tabaimo, a younger artist who has contributed artwork for the Japanese Pavilion at the Venezia Biennale art exhibition, put on a solid exhibition that delved deep into her inner self.

Modern artists continue to remake the past. There is the "Flowers of Artistic Photography" exhibit at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography and the "Undressing Paintings" at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. One could also mention the book "Dozo Junan no Kindai" (The suffering of bronze statues in the modern era) by Reita Hirose. Meanwhile, Edo Period paintings, by artists such as Sakai Hoitsu, Kano Kazunobu, Sharaku and Kuniyoshi, have also greatly benefited from a re-examination.

Chim Pom has particularly stood out this year for organizing four exhibitions and for placing pictures invoking thoughts of the Fukushima nuclear accident on top of a mural by Taro Okamoto.

Although the works showing images that plunge into the area around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant may seem reckless, they displayed an intensity that went beyond mere superficial expression. The group's substantial exhibition at the Maruki Gallery, which ran until Dec. 18, allowed visitors to understand their awareness of the nuclear issue.

Modest, gentle works such as Takahiro Iwasaki's tower of hair and dust at Yokohama Triennale 2011 have also had an impact.

"We turn our ears toward those who are not the rulers of society," exhibiting artist Koki Tanaka said at a news conference. "Now, when we have lost faith in government and companies due to the earthquake and nuclear disaster, these opinions hold significant meaning."

By WAKATO ONISHI / Staff Writer

Steve Jobs' love affair with Japan

雖然是許多想當然爾的"親日" 不過或可參考

Steve Jobs' love affair with Japan
Apple Insider

Steve Jobs' love affair with Japan

By Mikey Campbell

Published: 04:43 PM EST (01:43 PM PST)


Late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs was somewhat well-known for being a Japanese Zen Buddhist, but few knew how deep his infatuation with Japan ran and how it helped shape who he was and the company he created.

An in-depth article published on Friday by Japanese news site Nippon.com illustrates how the country's culture, people and even food influenced Jobs, as seen in both his private and business lives.

Longtime Apple journalist Hayashi Nobuyuki sifted through years of reportage on Jobs and his tumultuous rise within the tech industry to find exactly how Japan affected the former Apple chief.

Nobuyuki writes that it all began when Jobs first discovered Zen Buddhism. After a long period of soul-searching, including a short stint to India, Jobs found the Japanese school of China's ancient religion at a temple close to his home in Los Altos, California. There he met Sōtō Zen monk Kōbun Otogawa, who Jobs saw as a life guide and teacher, eventually inviting him to be the spiritual leader at NeXT in 1985.

Zen continued to have a profound effect on Jobs, manifesting itself in his aesthetic sensibilities and sometimes ascetic lifestyle. Nobuyuki points out that the religion's call for spartanism, coupled with Germany's Bauhaus movement, found its way into the minimalist design of many Apple products. Although Jony Ive is and was the lead designer of the company's most iconic devices, Jobs always had the final say before any design hit the production floor.

Jobs didn't rely on austere external beauty alone and another Japanese influence played a part in creating the technologically progressive internals of products Apple would release. Sony co-founder Akio Morita was a noted friend of Jobs, and the Apple chief said that he was inspired by the excitement behind the Japanese firm's transistor radios and Trinitron TVs.

Steve Jobs


Another takeaway from Sony was Jobs' signature black mock turtleneck and jeans "uniform" that was inspired by Sony's requirement for an employee dress code. Japanese designer Issey Miyake was commissioned to produce hundreds of the shirts, which Jobs wore for the rest of his life.

Outside of business, Jobs simply enjoyed most everything Japan had to offer. From the culture to the food, he was enamored; often taking trips to the country's old capital of Kyoto to soak-in the surroundings and eat the food

Even though he lived on a vegan diet, Jobs often made exceptions for Japanese fare like sushi and soba noodles. The chef of Café Mac, Apple's cafeteria, was sent to the Tsukiji Soba Academy to learn the art of soba making. Jobs reportedly even created his own concoction called "sashimi soba," or raw fish with buckwheat noodles.

In the U.S., Jobs would frequent Japanese establishments, being a regular at Jinsho, a Silicon Valley sushi-ya and Keigetsu, a sushi and kaiseki restaurant. The eateries ultimately became the spots where he would bring close friends and family to say goodbye before he passed away on Oct. 5, 2011.

Two days following Jobs' death, Keigetsu shuttered its doors, but he had "one more thing," as Nobuyuki uses the phrase coined by the former CEO to introduce new products, in store for his company.

Steve Jobs


Earlier in the year, when he caught wind of the restaurant's impending closure, Jobs offered manager and chef Toshio Sakuma a job at Apple. Following the tech guru's death, Sakuma began serving Jobs' favorite dishes at the employee cafeteria; a fitting final farewell from Jobs to the company he created.

2011年12月30日 星期五

日本放寬武器出口禁令

日本放寬武器出口禁令

本內閣週二決定實際性放寬已實施了40年的武器輸出禁令。該禁令名義上禁止日本武器製造商與其它國家合作研發並出口軍事技術。

Associated Press
日本選擇購買洛克希德.馬丁公司生產的F-35閃電II聯合攻擊戰鬥機以取代已經老化的F-4戰機機群﹐並希望通過向F-35戰機的其它買家出口零部件來抵消採購和部分國產化該戰機的一些成本。
這一放寬冷戰時期禁令之舉正值日本設法降低在彈道導彈防御和噴氣式戰鬥機等先進技術領域的研發和製造成本。雖然過去也出現了很多例外情況﹐但放鬆禁令的決定是1967年頒佈以及1976年收緊該禁令以來的首次重大修改。

日本內閣官房長官籐村修(Osamu Fujimura)對記者說﹐以前的例外都是視具體情況而定﹐我們現在將把這些例外全面制度化。他還說﹐日本將繼續堅持在可能延長國際沖突或違反相關禁令的情況下避免武器出口的原則。

這一政策變化是日本首相野田佳彥(Yoshihiko Noda)主持召開的國家安全委員會會議得出的結果。較前兩任首相來說﹐野田佳彥在防務問題上的態度更加強硬。上兩任日本首相也曾考慮過放鬆武器出口禁令。

日 本主要的大企業遊說組織日本經濟團體聯合會(Keidanren)對政府此舉表示歡迎。這個聯合會是日本放寬武器出口禁令的最有力支持者之一。在日本內閣 宣佈這個決定後﹐聯合會會長米倉弘昌(Hiromasa Yonekura)發表聲明說﹐這是個具有突破意義的決定﹐值得高度讚揚。

日本 工業企業和國會鷹派成員長久以來一直試圖取消這個禁令﹐但由於二戰後日本致力於和平發展﹐這個問題顯得十分敏感。修改禁令一事去年在日本引發熱烈討論。外 界原以為政府會在一年前公佈新中期防務計劃時對禁令進行修改﹐但這個提議遭到當時的日本首相菅直人(Naoto Kan)領導下的聯合政府內少數派的強烈反對而擱置。

週二公佈這個決定之前﹐野田佳彥 於今年9月接替菅直人成為日本首相。此外﹐日本上週決定購買42架洛克希德•馬丁公司(Lockheed Martin Corp.)生產的價格不菲的F-35閃電II聯合攻擊戰鬥機(F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter)﹐替代日本航空自衛隊(Air Self Defense Force)上世紀60年代引進使用的已經老化的F-4戰機機群。

日 本說﹐計劃未來20年在這個項目上投資約1.6萬億日圓(208億美元)﹐並希望通過向F-35戰機的其它買家出口零部件來抵消採購和部分國產化該戰機的 一些成本。與生產武器裝備有關的成本上漲是推動日本重估其武器出口禁令的主要因素﹐這些裝備嚴格來說只能在日本國內使用。

目前並不清楚的 是﹐這款先進的隱形戰機有哪些部件會在日本生產﹐因為洛克希德•馬丁公司與日本防務省之間的談判預計明年才會舉行。但日本政府與東京行業人士已經暗示﹐他 們有望獲得F-35戰機全球性生產計劃中的部分合同。按照這項計劃﹐將最多生產3,000架F-35戰機。洛克希德•馬丁公司沒有立即回復記者的置評要 求。

日本防務省說﹐三菱重工業株式會社(Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.)、日本石川島播磨重工業株式會社(IHI Corp.)以及三菱電機(Mitsubishi Electric Corp.)都將參與F-35戰機的生產。

日 本承諾禁止武器出口﹐這是它所謂的三大原則之一﹐初衷是防止在冷戰高峰期向共產主義國家以及被聯合國列入武器禁運名單的國家和戰區銷售武器。通過展示其公 開宣稱的和平意圖﹐日本在一定程度上消除了外界對於它再度軍事化的擔心﹐不過日本自衛隊(Self Defense Forces)似乎對放棄使用武力的憲法規定存在意見分歧。

這個禁令如果嚴格執行起來﹐會阻止美國和日本的其它盟友出口含有日本研發的零部件的武器裝置。但是日本官員多年來一直在逐漸弱化這個政策﹐當禁令似乎有礙於日本和美國實施共同研發計劃等關鍵項目時﹐日本就會設置例外情況。

美國國防部去年向日本施壓﹐要求它破例允許美國向歐洲出售與日本共同研發的導彈攔截機。

Chester Dawson

(本文版權歸道瓊斯公司所有﹐未經許可不得翻譯或轉載。)

2011年12月28日 星期三

Sori Yanagi dies at 96; pioneer of Japanese industrial design

柳宗理さん= Sori Yanagi

  1. Images for Sori Yanagi

    - Report images
  2. designshop Japan - Sori Yanagi etc.

    designshop.jp-stores.com/ - Cached
    designshop sales in simple, modern goods and accessories mostly made by Japanese designers Sori Yanagi etc.

  3. Los Angeles Times - 1 day ago
    The lines and curves of Sori Yanagi's designs -- in teapots, ceramic cups, even the lowly whisk -- won a place in homes around the world. ...
    161 related articles

Japanese pioneer designer of arty stools and kitchenware Sori Yanagi dies at 96

TOKYO — Sori Yanagi, whose designs for stools and kitchen pots brought the simplicity and purity of Japanese decor into the everyday, has died. He was 96.

The pioneer of Japan’s industrial design died of pneumonia in a Tokyo hospital Sunday, Koichi Fujita of Yanagi Design Office said Monday.


(Kyodo News/Associated Press) - This photo taken in 2002 shows Sori Yanagi, a pioneer of Japan’s industrial design. Yanagi, whose stools and kitchen pots brought the simplicity and purity of Japanese design into the everyday, has died of pneumonia in a Tokyo hospital Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011, his Yanagi Design Office said Monday. He was 96.

Yanagi’s curvaceous “butterfly stool,” evocative of a Japanese shrine gate, won an award at La Triennale di Milano in 1957 and helped elevate him to international stature.

The work later joined the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Louvre museum in Paris.

Another typical Yanagi design was the stackable plastic stool, humorously called the “elephant stool,” because of its resemblance to the animal’s chunky feet.

The lines and curves of Yanagi designs were as distinctly Japanese as they were universal, winning him fans — and a place in homes not only in Japan but around the world — for his tea pots, ceramic cups and even the lowly whisk, which became artwork with his touch.

Yanagi chose design for his career after falling in love with the work of architect Le Corbusier while studying at a Tokyo fine art university.

Credited with paving the way on the international stage for younger Japanese designers, Yanagi also took up more monumental pieces, such as bridges and the Olympic torch, as well as a motorcycle and toys.

He supported Japanese traditional art throughout his life, and he served as head of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum in Tokyo, which his philosopher father founded.

Funeral arrangements were not being disclosed as the ceremony is for family and close friends. He is survived by his wife Fumiko and four children, Fujita said.

2011年12月27日 星期二

日本的快樂頌 狂熱

In Japan, no dispute about No. 1 holiday song

By
Lucy Craft


(CBS News)

We all have a favorite holiday song, and certainly no lack of choices. But in Japan, it seems, everyone has the same favorite holiday song. And this year, as Lucy Craft reports, it means more than ever.

In countries like Japan, where most people still identify with Buddhism and the native Shinto religion, the usual trappings of Christmas are a side note.

But there's nothing low-key about one Japanese holiday tradition. This time of year, Japan goes batty for Beethoven's masterpiece "Ode to Joy," the final movement of his famous Ninth Symphony.

December just wouldn't be the end of the year, without a stirring rendition of Beethoven's Ninth. The music is so beloved in Japan, it's known affectionately as "daiku" -- which literally means "number nine."

The Beethoven craze began, strangely enough, during World War I, when German soldiers being held as prisoners in Japan staged the very first performance of number nine here.

The Japanese liked what they heard, and by the mid-20th century, number nine had become a holiday hit.

Performed and sung all through the month, from concert halls to department stores, number nine is now a welcome, if predictable, gig for musicians, and conductors.

"I have done (this) more than 150 times," said conductor Yutaka Sado.

Some hard-core fans even try to sing it in German.

"I don't know all the words," said one 9-year-old. "I just fake it."

For sheer scale, nothing beats the 10,000-man "Number Nine Chorus," of Osaka. Talented and tone-deaf alike, all vie for the chance to stand on stage.

In the wake of the disaster last March, the lyrics have taken on deeper meaning for Osaka residents who lived through the tsunami.

"The disaster showed us we need to help one another," said one chorus member. "That's what this song evokes, for me." A healing note, for a shattered nation.

2011年12月26日 星期一

琵琶湖

在NHK 看"更好之旅" 介紹 琵琶湖 水質極好 所以 "奧琵琶湖觀光組合"大力宣傳

日本語

琵琶湖

维基百科,自由的百科全书
琵琶湖
Lake biwa.jpg
琵琶湖
流入 野州川日野川愛知川安曇川
流出 瀨田川宇治川淀川
集水區國家 日本
湖泊面積 670.33平方公里
平均深度 41.2公尺
最大深度 103.58公尺
湖岸線長度1 241公里
湖中島嶼 竹生島沖島多景島
湖邊城鎮 滋賀縣


1 由於湖岸線長度難以準確測量,
此條目內的湖岸線長度不能作準。
日語寫法
日語原文 琵琶湖
假名 びわこ
平文式羅馬字 Biwa Ko

琵琶湖位於日本滋賀縣,為日本最大的湖泊;日本湖沼水質保全特別措置法指定湖泊,也列入濕地公約國際重要濕地名錄中。

目錄

[隐藏]

[编辑] 地理

琵琶湖佔有滋賀縣六分之一的面積,總面積670.33km²,湖岸長241km,最深103.58m,平均水深41.2m 。

自琵琶湖流出的河流依上下游的不同依序稱為瀨田川宇治川淀川、最後流入大阪灣。此外為了供應京都市自來水以及灌溉、發電等種種目的,因而開闢有琵琶湖疎水這條人工水道。

在湖頸段的最狹處建有琵琶湖大橋,以北的部分稱為北湖,以南的部分稱為南湖,北湖面積約為南湖的11倍[1],最深處位於北湖。

湖水的來源主要為周圍的山地,湖水供應京阪神地方的居民用水,也因為經濟的高度成長,導致水質污濁與富養化,因此設有琵琶湖條例保護湖水的潔淨。

自古以來為重要的水上交通要道,在鐵路開通以前為日本東部與北陸地方運輸要道。

[编辑] 歷史

琵琶湖大約成形於400萬年前(也有一說為六百萬年前),因為地殼的變動在現今的三重縣上野地方形成。之後逐漸向北移動至現今的位置。在世界的湖泊中僅次於貝加爾湖坦干依喀湖是第三古老的湖泊。

[编辑] 生物

琵琶湖的生態體系相當的豐富化,有超過1000種動植物生長其中。魚類約有46種,貝類約40種,水草約70種,因而被稱日本淡水魚的寶庫。琵琶湖的淡水珍珠養殖也相當有名。

[编辑] 流入的主要河川

[编辑] 島嶼

竹生島沖島多景島

[编辑] 琵琶湖八景

1945年6月經由公開徵求選出。

[编辑] 外部連結

[编辑] 注釋

2011年12月24日 星期六

In Japan, Radiation Fears Reshape Lives

In Japan, Radiation Fears Reshape Lives

Audio for this story from Weekend Edition Saturday will be available at approx. 12:00 p.m. ET

Japanese shoppers remain concerned about radiation levels in food following the country's nuclear accident in March. Shoppers are shown here in a Tokyo supermarket.
Enlarge Lucy Craft/NPR

Japanese shoppers remain concerned about radiation levels in food following the country's nuclear accident in March. Shoppers are shown here in a Tokyo supermarket.


December 24, 2011

Nine months after Japan's nuclear accident, life in Tokyo seems to have snapped back to normal, with a vengeance. The talk shows are back to their usual mindless trivia about pop stars and baseball contracts. The date of the tsunami and nuclear accident, March 11 — known here as just 3/11 — has faded into the background.

But while the horror has receded, for many of us, particularly women with families, things will never be the same.

There's no getting past the fact that the nuclear accident dumped radioactive particles into the atmosphere, soil and sea.

While Fukushima Prefecture in the northeast was hardest hit, radiation "hot spots" keep turning up in neighborhoods far from the accident. The latest was at a school, minutes from where I live in Tokyo.

What's more, figuring out what's "safe" to consume has become all but impossible.

At my local supermarket, the familiar ritual of shopping has changed drastically. Instead of just tapping fruit or checking for spots, now I scrutinize the place of origin.

"Made in Japan" used to be the gold standard. But now domestic foods are suspect, as is anything on sale. I obsessively search for produce grown as far from Fukushima as possible.

For us, those people who have been living here for many, many years, we already have a job here, and then we establish our life here, in Tokyo or Japan — what can we do? We cannot really leave here, unless something really bad happens. Until then, we just have to lead a regular life.

There's a never-ending series of warnings about radioactive cesium in beef, tea, rice, even baby formula. There simply aren't enough radiation-detection machines to check every cargo of fish, every rice harvest, the contents of every school lunch.

Government Has Lost Credibility

By next spring, the government is supposed to tighten standards for radiation in food. But any credibility the Japanese government once had has been obliterated by its handling of 3/11.

And who in good conscience would feed babies and young children food with even trace amounts of contamination?

Some terrified moms now cook only with bottled water and ingredients sourced from distant regions of Japan or overseas.

While many are scared, some are downright paranoid. Kaori Umezu is a young white-collar worker. Since 3/11, she has become a virtual recluse, leaving her house only for work.

"Most of my friends or co-workers see me [as] kind of [a] strange person," Umezu said. "Some people apparently look down on me. Some said I'm [an] idiot, or I'm too sensitive."

Son's Reaction

As for my children, distracted by school, job and social lives, they don't talk about radiation much. But in their own ways, they are just as uneasy as I am.

My 18-year-old son has an especially stark perspective, shaped by his front-row seat on the disaster. When the biggest earthquake in Japanese history struck, Kohei was a mere 80 miles away, in his school gym. He and his classmates narrowly escaped as the walls began to collapse on them.

An official from the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (right), wearing a protective suit and mask, rides on a bus taking journalists by the crippled Fukushima nuclear power station in northeast Japan in November. Japanese officials say the plant is stable, but concerns about radioactivity remain a constant worry in many parts of Japan.
Enlarge David Guttenfelder/AP

An official from the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (right), wearing a protective suit and mask, rides on a bus taking journalists by the crippled Fukushima nuclear power station in northeast Japan in November. Japanese officials say the plant is stable, but concerns about radioactivity remain a constant worry in many parts of Japan.

My son says that when he confronted his own mortality that day, something in him changed, forever. He's become more fatalistic, more resigned. What would you suggest, he asks rhetorically — that the Japanese just pack up and leave their country?

My friend Yoko Okazaki, a translator in her 50s, has the same attitude.

"For us, those people who have been living here for many, many years, we already have a job here, and then we establish our life here, in Tokyo or Japan — what can we do?" Okazaki says. "We cannot really leave here, unless something really bad happens. Until then, we just have to lead a regular life."

The bottom line is that no one really knows how much this ongoing exposure is going to raise our risk of cancer. The true impact is still unknown, yet to be learned as the world watches. The legacy of 3/11 is to turn us all into a nation of guinea pigs.

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From The New Yorker

Wood-block prints by artists like Hiroshige and Hokusai exerted a palpable influence on Frank Lloyd Wright's design aesthetic, but Wright was able to profit materially from them as well. During his early years as an architect, he supplemented his income by dealing in Japanese art, earning tens of thousands of dollars from sales, often at highly inflated prices, to private collectors, museums, and clients for whom he had built homes. In this meticulously researched, lavishly illustrated account, Wright's mercenary impulse is laid alongside his genuine passion for Japonisme, culminating in a 1919 episode in which, duped by a Tokyo dealer, he wound up selling forged and retouched prints to his best customers. His reputation forever damaged, he responded by ignoring his mounting debts and buying Japanese art only for himself.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

About the Author

Julia Meech, a scholar and art historian, is a senior consultant in the Department of Japanese Art at Christie's in New York.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; First Edition edition (March 1, 2001)
  • Language: English

2011年12月23日 星期五

〈釣便圖〉池大雅(いけたいが1723年―1776年)

〈釣便圖〉(鄉村生活方便釣魚)

池 大雅

(享保8.5.4—安永5.4.13∕公元1723.6.61776.5.30

日本江戶時代中期的書畫家。師事柳澤淇園,遍遊天下名山,終成日本南畫(文人畫)派的翹楚。圖為他和另一位南畫宗師與謝蕪村合作的《十便十宜畫帖》(即鄉村生活的十種方便好處和十項趣味《十便圖》為 大雅所作 原圖的漢文不清楚 已更換 )中,最有名的一幅,已被列為國寶。現為川端康成紀念館的館藏。

池大雅(いけたいが1723―1776年)和与謝蕪村(よさぶそん1716-1783)被並稱為集日本南宗國畫大成者,是江戶中期的文人畫家。館內收藏了從池大雅少年時代到晚年的作品和相關資料等約140件。經常公開展覽收藏品約80件。

十便十宜図のうち、釣便図