2012年1月30日 星期一

日圓高漲的製造業破壞力道強/ 日本鈽政策太恐怖

Japan becomes land of the rising yen
Globe and Mail
As chairman and chief executive officer of one of Japan's signature companies, Fujio Mitarai knows a thing or two about how the soaring value of the yen is ravaging Japanese manufacturers. Mr. Mitarai, who heads camera and photocopier giant Canon Inc., ...

***
Japan's plutonium stockpile builds as nuke fuel cycle policy hits dead end
Mainichi Daily News
Japan's stockpile of plutonium had reached 45 metric tons by the end of 2010, inviting suspicion from the international community about what Japan intended to do with the fissile material. As a result, much hope has been pinned on a MOX fuel reactor ...

日本農業150年(1850-2000年)

日本農業150年(1850-2000年)

從 19世紀中葉(幕府末期‧明治維新時期)廢除封建制度、構建資本主義經濟結構開始,到“經濟大國化”的日本在市場原理和WTO體制下、以大型跨國企業為中 心進行經濟結構重組、進一步參與國際市場的2000年為止。在這期間,日本資本主義經濟是在怎樣的國際環境下,以怎樣的結構形成發展的?在這個背景下,農 業、糧食、農民、地主及村莊處于怎樣的狀態,實施了怎樣的農業、糧食政策,產生了怎樣的農業、農民、糧食、農村和環境問題?針對以上問題,暉峻眾三編著的 《日本農業150年(1850-2000年)》從歷史的角度、結合資本主義經濟結構特征和發展狀況進行了分析。

詳細資料

  • 規格:平裝 / 210頁 / 16 / 普級 / 單色 / 初版
  • 出版地:大陸

目錄

第1章 近代日本的起航——從幕藩體制的建立到明治維新
1 幕藩制社會的結構與變遷
2 幕藩制經濟的動搖與重建
3 明治維新與原始積累

第2章 日本資本主義的確立——從19世紀80年代末到第一次世界大戰
1 日本的產業革命
2 貿易結構與傳統產業
3 日本農業的生產結構——農業技術的變化
4 農村生活的變化
5 地主的土地所有與租佃關系
6 農業政策——資本與地主的矛盾的形成

第3章 走向壟斷——從第一次世界大戰到世界經濟危機
1 壟斷資本主義的確立
2 農業生產的變化
3 農戶經營和地主經營的動向
4 租佃糾紛與農民運動的展開
5 農業政策的展開及其特征

第4章 從世界性經濟危機到戰時體制——從世界性經濟危機開始直至戰敗
1 從世界性經濟危機到日本戰時資本主義
2 農業生產力的停滯與危機
3 危機下與戰時的農戶經營
4 從危機到戰時的租佃糾紛
5 農業管制政策的實施

第5章 被佔領期日本資本主義的重建與農地改革——從戰敗至20世紀50年代初
1 佔領與戰後改革
2 農地改革案的提出及實施
3 掠奪農民政策的展開

第6章 經濟高速增長期的農業——從20世紀50年代初至70年代初
1 “經濟自立”和向“戰後型”產業結構的轉型(第1階段)
2 經濟高速增長的起步與基本法農政(第Ⅱ階段)
3 經濟再度高速增長與“綜合農政”的出台(第Ⅲ階段)

第7章 向經濟大國下的農業小國過渡——從20世紀70年代初到2000年
1 向低成長的過渡與經濟結構調整(第1期)
2 GATT.UR、WTO與《新基本法》框架下的農業萎縮(第Ⅱ期)
參考文獻
譯者後記

2012年1月26日 星期四

東京地區近幾年很可能大地震 Big Tokyo earthquake likely 'within the next few years'

Big Tokyo earthquake likely 'within the next few years'

Beached boat from Japanese quake (April 2011) The 2011 quake caused massive destruction on Japan's north-eastern coastline

The chance of a big earthquake hitting the Japanese capital in the next few years is much greater than official predictions suggest, researchers say.

The team, from the University of Tokyo, said there was a 75% probability that a magnitude seven quake would strike the region in the next four years.

The government says the chances of such an event are 70% in the next 30 years.

The warning comes less than a year after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan's north-eastern coast.

The last time Tokyo was hit by a big earthquake was in 1923, when a 7.9 magnitude quake killed more than 100,000 people, many of them in fires.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo's earthquake research institute based their figures on data from the growing number of tremors in the capital since the 11 March 2011 quake.

They say that compared with normal years, there has been a five-fold increase in the number of quakes in the Tokyo metropolitan area since the March disaster.

Japan quake victim in 2011

They based their calculations on data from Japan's Meteorological Agency, They said their results show that seismic activity had increased in the area around the capital, which in turn leads to a higher probability of a major quake.

The researchers say that while it is "hard to predict" the casualty impact of a major quake on Tokyo, the government and individuals should be prepared for it.

Correspondents say that while the university calculations take account of greater seismic activity since March, government calculations may use different or less up-to-date data and different modelling techniques.

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake last year also crippled the cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear power station, causing meltdowns in some of its reactors.

Japan is located on a tectonic crossroads dubbed the "Pacific Ring of Fire" which is why its is commonly regarded as one of the world's most quake-prone countries, with Tokyo located in one of the most dangerous areas.

Tectonic plates (BBC)

2012年1月25日 星期三

京都寺院的「大根焚き」/城南宮的『曲水の宴』

www.deming.com.tw

京都寺院的「大根

焚き」


白蘿蔔的日文是大根﹙Daikon﹚﹐冬季也是大根的盛產時期。每逢十一十二月﹐京都寺院的「大根焚き」﹙白蘿蔔煮湯﹚﹐亦是京都著 名的傳統風尚節目。西陣的大報恩寺﹙千本釋迦寺﹚﹑鳴瀧的了德寺﹑宇多野的三寶寺等都各自舉辦「大根焚き」活動 more...    

Video

京都城南宮的『曲水の宴』


流觴曲水,是中國古代流傳的一種遊戲。夏曆的三月人們舉行祓禊儀式之後,大家坐在河渠兩旁,在上流放置酒杯,酒杯順流而下,停在誰的面前,誰就取杯飲酒。這種遊戲非常古老,逸詩有云:「羽觴隨波泛」。 more...  

 

Copyright(C) All RIGHTS RESERVED.

日本人送禮禮數

2年前的天下文章

多禮又細膩的日本人,從年頭到年尾都在送禮,更對「送禮」有一套縝密的哲學。該怎麼送禮給日籍長官或客戶?掌握這四大哲學,你也可以打中對方的心。

日本人多禮數,送禮是一門大學問。書店有專書教人如何送禮,財經雜誌甚至推出「送禮哲學」、「送禮聖經」之類的專題報導,建議商務人士與上班族以送禮目的、不同的百貨公司、受禮者的年紀與性別、不同地域的特產等,做到兼顧體面、適當、以及自己的荷包。

從年初送到年尾

日 本人的送禮時機,一年之中包括:一月的新年,二月的情人節,三月的女兒節與白色情人節,四月的入學式與入社式,五月的中元節,六月的夏季送禮問候(暑中見 舞),八月的中元節,一直到十二月的耶誕節、年終歲暮。其中最重要的送禮節日,就是中元節與年終歲暮,以感謝平日在各方面照顧自己的人。

除了上述固定節日之外,還有其他人情世故的送禮場合。例如結婚、生小孩、畢業、新居落成、開業誌慶、得獎、喪葬等,更是少不了。

日本送禮時機如此頻繁,所費不貲。以中元節這個送禮大節日為例,許多日本上班族在這時剛好領夏季紅利,錢還沒拿熱,就大多花在送禮上。

許多雜誌也趁機推出「讓重要的人驚喜的送禮策略」的專題,甚至跟業者合作,附上一本禮物目錄當作別冊,精美照片、價格、運費一目了然。繁忙的商務人士以線上刷卡就能選購禮物,並依指定地址宅配,不必特別花時間去逛百貨公司。

如此的確省時省力。但也有人感嘆「為重要的人選購貼心好禮」的那份用心,隨著時代進步而愈來愈淡。


日本人送禮,依對象而有不同考量。除了親友之外,職場與商場上的送禮哲學更是一大學問。

送禮哲學一:別送上司鞋、錶、腰部以下使用的東西

一般來說,日本人喜歡「用了就沒了,簡單俐落又方便」的禮物,因此,食品是個好選擇,例如高級肉品、地方特產、知名老鋪的精緻小點等。

如果獲贈的禮物是用品,而自己卻用不到,日本人就會轉送給其他朋友。而日本人也不在意收到的是轉送的禮物,因為大家都這麼做,只要把禮物上的賀卡或謝函換成自己的名字就行了。

然而,若是特殊場合與目的,就不適合送食物,而必須考量對方的身分、興趣與需求,來選購適合的禮物。在職場與商場上尤其如此。

例 如,升官、調到異鄉轉任高位,可以送鋼筆、行事曆筆記本、受禮者喜愛的運動用品、領帶、領帶夾、胸針、油畫、高級陶器、手提包等。若是到國外就職,致贈必 要的家具或現金最好,但避免送容易打破的東西。受禮者到達就任地點之後,可回贈當地特產。若是客戶的新店開幕式,可贈送酒類或花朵。

要注意的是,如果送禮對象是上司或長輩,應避免送鞋子、手錶、包包、貼身汗衫以及腰部以下使用的物品。因為,鞋子有「用力踩住」的壓制意味,送手錶意味提醒對方要守時,包包表示期許對方要勤勉(適合上對下,下對上則不宜),至於貼身汗衫與腰部以下使用的物品則有親密意味。

送禮哲學二:喜愛紅酒的人,就不要送他紅酒

一般人的送禮思維是:對方喜歡什麼,就送他什麼。

錯了。

日本財經媒體提醒商業人士,熱愛某項事物的人,通常對那個領域有很深入的研究,而且非常「識貨」。如果你送的禮物剛好是他熟悉的領域,他一眼就可看出品質與檔次,如果你不懂而隨便買,反而會讓對方在心裡笑話。

例如,對方很喜歡紅酒,除非你自己也很有研究,否則就不要送他紅酒。因為,他一看就知道送禮的人到底懂不懂紅酒。

送禮哲學三:依對方的個性,送「對」的禮

送禮要讓對方感到高興,重點不在價格高低或包裝精美,而是包在裡面的東西是否是打中對方的心。

關鍵字是「個性」。

不同的個性,對事物會有不同的喜好。雖然不可能知道得很細膩,但至少可以抓個大概,免得送錯禮物。

例如,對於注重環保的人,禮物要符合「自然」、「有機」、「保護環境」等原則。對於注重名聲與地位的人,就送高貴的名牌。對於威權主義的人,就送他「某某重要人士也愛用的」、「得到評鑑會金牌獎」的禮物。

色 彩心理學也是「個性送禮」的重點。例如,對於一位年長、保守、喜歡打高爾夫球的社長,就不要送他紅色的高爾夫球裝。因為,這樣的人通常都不喜歡大紅色,覺 得太招搖。即使你以「現在很流行」、「試試看不同的新感覺」來說明,而對方也很客氣地收下,那份禮物的命運通常是擺在儲藏室裡。

送禮哲學四:在「新」與「舊」之間折衷

那麼,如果不想老是送制式的禮物,希望有所創新,但又不願意造成對方不喜歡而被束之高閣,該怎麼做?

老字號的新產品

日本送禮專家建議,要在老派的收禮者與新派的送禮者之間取得平衡點,其實是有方法的。例如,到一家聲譽卓著的金字招牌老店,選購店裡具現代風的創新產品;有老字號的光環頂著,就比較能讓保守的人接受這樣的禮物。

「禮多人不怪」,做事謹慎而有計劃的日本人,雖然在台灣人眼中有點「龜毛」,但他們對於送禮所秉持縝密而細膩的思維,值得參考。

一分鐘記住!避免送錯禮的七大關鍵

1.依對方的個性是「保守派」或「革新派」,來決定選購何種禮物。

2.了解對方的興趣或喜好,但不要送他平常就很熱愛、有研究的東西,以免暴露你其實很不懂。

3.不要以為你自己喜歡的東西,對方也一定會喜歡。

4.到有商譽的老店選購創新產品,是不錯的做法。

5.想要給對方驚喜,最好要很有把握,否則寧願選擇日常會用到的物品當禮物。

6.注意彼此的上下關係與年齡差距。

7.注意禮物的金額。送太便宜的,不禮貌;太貴重,對方會覺得你有求於他。

有來有往始成禮

日本人送禮與答禮時機

事由:結婚
 送禮時機:婚禮前一週之內
 答禮時機:婚禮後一個月內

事由:生小孩
 送禮時機:寶寶出生後一個月內
 答禮時機:出生後一個月開始

事由:初節句
 送禮時機:小孩出生後第一個傳統節日,男女有別:女嬰是三月三日女兒節,男嬰則是五月五日端午節。送禮時機是該節日前一週內,主要目的是祝福小孩平安健康地長大。
 答禮時機:節日當天開始一到兩週之間

事由:入學
 送禮時機:四月上旬之前
 答禮時機:不用答禮,寫謝函或致電即可。由小朋友打電話、或寫短信附上開學典禮拍的照片都可以。

事由:畢業、就職
 送禮時機:從「畢業典禮」到「公司報到日」之間
 答禮時機:不用答禮,寫謝函即可

事由:職位榮升、到異地就職
 送禮時機:人事令發布之後到上任之前
 答禮時機:上任之後一段時間

事由:新建物落成
 送禮時機:公開落成典禮日期或典禮當天
 答禮時機:典禮當天致贈紀念品

事由:開店
 送禮時機:開幕前一天或當天
 答禮時機:開幕當天致贈紀念品

事由:得獎
 送禮時機:得獎公布當天或頒獎典禮當天
 答禮時機:頒獎典禮後兩週內

事由:葬禮
 送禮時機:守夜、告別式
 答禮時機:服喪期最後一天的法事之後

事由:法事
 送禮時機:當天
 答禮時機:當天致贈禮品
 資料來源:《冠婚葬祭百科》
哪些東西不能送
日本人的送禮禁忌

時機:一般送禮
 避免贈送的東西:茶、手帕、「四、九」數字相關的東西。
 原因:茶通常是奠儀的回贈品,手帕有「分手、斷絕關係」的意思,「四」類似「死」、「九」日文發音像「苦」。日本的吉利數字是:三、五、七等奇數,偶數的話是「八」比較好。

時機:婚禮
 避免贈送的東西:陶器、玻璃製品、剪刀、菜刀。
 原因:有「切割」、「分離」、「破碎」含意的東西,最好不要送。婚禮最好送偶數的東西,象徵「成雙成對」。

時機:送禮對象是上司或長輩時
 避免贈送的東西:鞋子、手錶、包包、貼身汗衫、腰部以下使用的物品
 原因:鞋子有「用力踩住」的壓制意味,送手錶意味要對方守時,包包表示期許對方要勤勉,至於貼身汗衫等物品則有親密意味,都不適合下對上的送禮場合。

時機:探病

避免贈送的東西:盆栽、菊花、山茶花、仙客來(又稱一品冠、兔仔花)
 原因:盆栽有根,表示根深蒂固,等於希望對方長期住院。菊花是葬禮用的,山茶花容易凋落,仙客來(Cyclamen)的讀音類似「死、苦」,都不適合做為探病禮物。

時機:新居落成
 避免贈送的東西:打火機、煙灰缸、任何紅色的東西
 原因:打火機、煙灰缸、任何紅色的東西 凡是跟「火」有關的都不要送,因為會聯想到火災。
 資料來源:《日經商業週刊》

回禮也是大學問 日本人的回禮哲學

場合:開業
 如何回禮:開業一段時間後,舉辦派對,邀請曾送禮慶賀的朋友參加。在派對上報告經營近況,不必寫回禮卡片。

場合:部下贈送生日禮物
 如何回禮:基本上不用回禮,但要估計禮物的價錢。下次對方生日時,若是年紀比你大,就送比那價錢稍微便宜一點的禮物,若是年紀比你小,就送稍貴的禮物。至於程度多寡的拿捏,大約是獲贈禮物價格的三分之一到一半左右。

場合:入學式、成人禮、就職
 如何回禮:寫道謝卡片或打電話致謝即可。

場合:喬遷、新居落成
 如何回禮:禮物或謝卡都可以,或是邀請對方到家裡來聚會。

場合:中元節、年終贈禮
 如何回禮:基本上不用回禮。

場合:個展、發表會
 如何回禮:寫致謝信。

場合:榮升、退休
 如何回禮:基本上不用回禮,但可寫謝函報告近況。

場合:不想有瓜葛的人卻來送禮

 如何回禮:故意忽視的話不太好,還是寫一封客套的道謝信。

資料來源:《日經商業週刊》

2012年1月24日 星期二

Bean-sprout hot pot

JAPANESE HOME COOKING: Bean-sprout hot pot

2012/01/25


photoBean-sprout hot pot (Photo by Katsumi Oyama)

Cooking expert Atsuko Matsumoto introduces simple hot pot dishes you can easily whip up to chase away the winter chill.

2012年1月23日 星期一

東大改開學月的利與害

大事/事大/惟仁者能以大事小,惟智者能以小事大

EDITORIAL: Students' needs must be paramount in university year decision

2012/01/22


The University of Tokyo has decided to consider starting its academic year in autumn, instead of spring, to fit in with the international norm. It may shift to a September or October enrollment for undergraduate students in five years, at the earliest.

日本數十年來的嚴厲移民管制

the gulag, fissures in the system, smooth sth over...



Japan's immigration control

Gulag for gaijin

Jan 18th 2012, 12:29 by K.N.C. | TOKYO

AN EXTRAORDINARY story is making the rounds among the hacks and other expats in Japan. A Canadian freelance journalist who has lived in Japan for years fell into the ugly whirlpool of Japan’s immigration-and-detention system. For years human-rights monitors have cited Japan’s responsible agencies for awful abuses; in their reports the system looks like something dark, chaotic and utterly incongruous with the country’s image of friendly lawfulness.

Still the case of Christopher Johnson beggars belief. Returning to Tokyo after a short trip on December 23rd he was ushered into an examination room, where his nightmare began. Over the next 24 hours he was imprisoned and harassed. Most of his requests to call a lawyer, the embassy or friends were denied, he says.

Officials falsified statements that he gave them and then insisted that he sign the erroneous testimony, he says. Guards tried to extort money from him and at one point even threatened to shoot him, he says—unless he purchased a wildly expensive ticket for his own deportation, including an overt kick-back for his tormentors. Once he was separated from his belongings, money was stolen from his wallet and other items removed from his baggage (as he has reported to the Tokyo police).

The problems to do with Japan’s immigration bureau have been known for years. Detainees regularly protest the poor conditions. They have staged hunger strikes and a few have committed suicide. A Ghanaian who overstayed his visa died in the custody of guards during a rough deportation in 2010. (In that case, the prosecutor has delayed deciding whether to press charges against the guards or to drop the case. A spokesperson refuses even to discuss the matter with media outlets that are not part of the prosecutor’s own “press club”.)

Mr Johnson’s ordeal closely matches the abuses exposed in a 22-page report by Amnesty International in 2002, “Welcome to Japan?”, suggesting that even the known problems have not been fixed. One reason why the practices may be tolerated is that the Japanese government apparently outsources its airport-detention operations to a private security firm.

It is a mystery to Mr Johnson why he was called aside for examination, but he suspects it is because of his critical coverage of Japan. (Mr Johnson’s visa status is unclear: in an interview, he said his lawyer advised him not to discuss it.)

Reached by The Economist, Japan’s immigration bureau said it cannot discuss individual cases, but that its detentions and deportations follow the law, records of hearings are archived and the cost of deportation is determined by the airline. The justice ministry declined to discuss the matter and referred all questions to the immigration bureau. Canada’s department of foreign affairs confirmed to The Economist that a citizen was detained and that it provided “consular assistance” and “liaised with local authorities”.

Mr Johnson’s own rambling account of his saga appeared on his blog, “Globalite Magazine”. It must be considered as unverified, despite The Economist’s attempts to check relevant facts with the Japanese and Canadian governments. As a result, we cannot endorse its accuracy. We present edited excerpts, below, because they are deeply troubling if true.

On my way home to Tokyo after a three-day trip to Seoul, I was planning to spend Christmas with my partner, our two dogs, and her Japanese family. I had flight and hotel reservations for ski trips to Hokkaido and Tohoku, and I was planning—with the help of regional government tourism agencies—to do feature stories to promote foreign tourism to Japan.

While taking my fingerprints, an immigration officer saw my name on a computer watch list. Without even looking through my passport, where he might find proper stamps for my travels, he marked a paper and gave it to another immigration officer. ”Come with me,” he said, and I did.

He led me to an open room. Tired after three hours’ sleep overnight in Seoul, I nodded off. Officers woke me up and insisted we do an “interview” in a private room, “for your privacy.” Sensing something amiss, I asked for a witness and a translator, to make sure they couldn’t confuse me with legal jargon in Japanese. An employee of Asiana Airlines came to witness the “interview.”

The immigration officers provided a translator—hired by immigration. She turned out to be the interpreter from hell. ”Hi, what’s your name?” I asked, introducing myself to her. “I don’t have to tell you anything,” she snapped at me. She was backed up by four uniformed immigration officials.

Q: “What are the names of the hotels where you stayed in April in the disaster zone? What are the names of people you met in Fukushima?”

A: “Well, I stayed at many places, I met hundreds of people.”

Q: “What are their names?”

A: “Well, there are so many.”

Q: “You are refusing to answer the question! You must say exactly, in detail.”

(Before I could answer, next question.)

Q: “What were you doing in May 2010? Who did you meet then?”

A: “That was a long time ago. Let me think for a moment.”

The interpreter butted in: “See, you are refusing to answer. You are lying.”

The “interpreter”, biased toward her colleagues in the immigration department, intentionally mistranslated my answers, and repeatedly accused me of making unclear statements. I understood enough of their conversation in Japanese to realise she totally got my story wrong.

Without hesitation, he wrote on a document: “No proof. Entry denied.”

“But I do have proof,” I said.

But he refused to acknowledge it. “You must sign here. You cannot refuse.”

For about four hours, I sat in limbo, unable to properly communicate with the outside world. Starving and tired, I couldn’t think clearly. Various people in various uniforms aggressively shoved various documents in my face for me to sign. I simply said “wait” to everything and zoned out into a world of denial that this nightmare wasn’t happening.

At about 4 pm, the security guards came to take me away. Two haggard old men probably in their 60s or 70s, were like dogs barking at my heels. They were constantly shaking me down for money. They demanded 28,000 yen as a “service fee” for taking me to buy rice balls and cold noodles at the convenience store.

What is going on here, I wondered. I started to get worried when they took me deep into a cold tunnel below the airport. Away from [ordinary travellers in the airport], they got more aggressive with demands of now 30,000 yen for a “hotel” fee. I was feeling threatened. (I would later find Amnesty International accounts of rogue guards working for the airlines beating up airline customers in the tunnel until they paid up.)

Well, at least I’m going to a hotel, I thought. I’ll make some phone calls there, go online, and get higher-ranking officials to help me out of this big misunderstanding.

* * *

The “hotel” was in fact a jail. A prison, a detention facility, a dungeon. ”The police just told me I could make a call from here,” I said in Japanese. A guard told me flat out in Japanese: “You have no rights here.”

A sign, in English, Japanese, and other languages, lists phone numbers for United Nations organisations dedicated to helping victims of state brutality.

“It says right here that I can call these numbers.”

“No you can’t.”

They led me into a locked off area with at least two sleeping cells. The room was cold, with no windows. Lying under thin blankets, using my parka (down jacket) as a pillow, I stared at the ceiling and walls.

Later that night, I was ordered into the common room. A man, probably in his 50s, was waiting to see me. His tie said “immigration.” He was warm and compassionate. He tried his best in English and Japanese to explain what was happening. He said, to my surprise, that the other officers were “idiots”. He said they had no business putting foreigners—tourists or expats—in jail like this. “It is a shame for Japan,” he said. “Embarrassing.”

After talking to me, he went out for a few minutes and came back to give me more documents to sign. One was titled “Waiving the Right to Appeal”, meaning, “We are kicking you out of the country.” The other was an “appeal form”. It said I had three days to appeal to “the Minister of Justice.” This at least gave me hope that someone would recognise their mistake, and let me go home

After he left, the guards granted me a privilege—the right to take a shower. My show of respect, and polite language toward them, was reciprocated. They let me make a phone call. They gave me a form to fill out—this is Japan, after all—listing the nationality, name, phone number and relation of that person.

I tried to milk it. While pretending to check my phone messages (technically not a phone call), I sent messages on Facebook. I wrote short, and sent quickly, in case they caught me: (In jail now … Narita … No rights … Innocent … Help me.)

I went back to my cell dejected. I lay under blankets in my winter clothes, tormented. I chased away dark thoughts—suicide, protest, escape—from my mind. I cried for myself, and for the tortured souls of the previous tenants.

* * *

I was so exhausted from the ordeal that I did fall asleep, shortly after they turned off the lights at 11pm. When I woke up at 10 am on Saturday morning, December 24, my cell was unlocked. [From] the jail’s common room, I was allowed to call my partner. “Don’t worry,” I said, “They’re going to let me go home soon. It’s all been a big mistake.”

The guards now let me make a second call, to my embassy representative. Though helpful and genuinely concerned, she said, “only Japan has authority. There’s nothing we can do.” She said my worried family and friends, who saw my messages on Facebook, had been calling her to offer assistance. She also had faxed a list of lawyers and legal assistance agencies in Japan to the immigration officers.

It was a smart move, because it showed them that powerful people in Canada—the department of foreign affairs, the Canadian embassy, media people—were indeed watching what they were doing with me, a human, with a name, family and supportive friends. It was a way to humanise me. [But] the papers were useless. How could I contact a legal website, if I wasn’t allowed internet? How could I call a lawyer, if I wasn’t allowed phone calls?

There was another call for me. This time from someone at Asiana Airlines. ”How are you doing this morning?” she asked, cheerfully. She said they had been calling my partner at home, asking her to pay 170,000 yen for my one-way ticket to Canada. I wasn’t pleased to hear that. “I’m not going home to Canada,” I scolded her. “My home is in Tokyo. I live here, in Japan.”

“This is a good offer, you should take it,” the airline employee insisted. “If you don’t, the price will go up. The normal price is 400,000 yen. If you wait, you will pay 400,000 yen.”

“That’s crazy,” I said. “I paid 25,000 yen for a round trip ticket to Seoul on your airline. And now you want me to pay 170,000 yen, or 400,000 yen? That’s $5,000, for a one-way ticket. That’s more than five times the normal rate, because I’m in jail.” The airline employee hung up.

I was worried. “This is a scam,” I thought. The airline guards are shaking us down for money, and now the airline is price gouging me, and even harassing my partner to pay.

But I was cheered about an hour later, when the guards told me, “Pack up your bags. Don’t leave anything behind.” It was good news. They were going to let me out of here. My appeal worked, I thought. They’re going to release me and let me go home.

A Special Inquiry Officer sat me down in his office, across from the Special Examination Room where everything had gone wrong a day earlier. He showed me a document from the Ministry of Justice. It was an “Exclusion Order”, with my name on it, next to the details of a flight leaving for Canada.

I was crestfallen. “No, that’s not right,” I said, confused.

“There is a plane leaving for Canada at 7pm. You must take that plane.”

“But I live in Tokyo. I have a life here.”

“If you do not take that plane, you could end up in jail for months, years. And you’ll never be allowed back into Japan.”

Next, the airline employees came around to hit me up for money. They now wanted 200,000 yen for a one-way ticket on Air Canada. I told them it was a rip-off. I knew that a round trip ticket at HIS travel agency in Tokyo was 50,000 yen plus tax. “OK. 170,000 yen, plus 30,000 for the hotel fee and the security guards,” they said. “This is outrageous,” I said.

I grabbed my phone from them, since they still had my passport and bags. I called a friend. “Quick, call the police. Tell them I’m in the immigration office, Narita terminal one.” The immigration officers derided me. “Police do not have jurisdiction to come in here,” they laughed. “Narita is a special legal area.”

* * *

The airline employee and the [private security guards] were alone with me in a room. ”You must hurry up and buy this ticket,” the Asiana employee said. “Can you pay 150,000 yen?” He went out to negotiate with another airline. When he came back, he said, “The best I can do is 130,000 yen, plus 30,000 yen for the [guards].”

“No,” I said. “This is wrong. This is a scam. You are just trying to profit off someone in a weak position, a victim of human rights abuses.”

Again, he went out, and came back with a new offer. ”I have asked for special prices. I can do it for 100,000 yen. Anything lower is absolutely impossible. I’m really trying to help you. Please get on this flight.”

It was already after 5 o’clock. People were checking in for the 7 pm flight. I was really sweating now.

This time, he came back with a young, stocky guy. He was wearing a blue uniform. “Do you see this gun?” he said in Japanese, turning around to show me a weapon in its holster. “I have the legal authority to use this if you refuse to get on that flight. Now are you going to buy that ticket?”

I was angry now. They are forcing me at gunpoint to buy an overpriced ticket.

The [guards] ushered me out of the room and through the airport. They still had my bag, my passport, my wallet, credit cards, everything. I had no choice. They whisked me through the airport like a criminal. I didn’t have to line-up for x-ray machines or immigration. [They] pushed me through VIP lines, ahead of pilots and flight attendants.

As we walked to the departure gate, they continued to badger me for money. I told them flat out, “This is wrong. Have some pride. I am a working man just like you.”

The older guys backed off. They sensed I wasn’t going to give in to their pressure. But a hideous older bulldog of a woman was much more relentless. Even the Asiana officers were taken aback by her uncultured onslaught. She raised the demand in increments—30,000 yen, 35,000 yen, 38,900 yen—the tactic of a third world market haggler, trying to pressure you to buy before the price goes higher.

Still holding my passport, she dogged me all the way to the gate. “I’m going to fly with him all the way to Canada,” she said to another [guard], in Japanese so that I could hear it.

At the departure gate, I sat down amongst ordinary people happy to be going home for Christmas or on a ski holiday to Canada. I made several last phone calls to loved ones in Japan. My partner cried so heavily, she made me cry. I told her to hug our dogs for me. At that point, I realised I might never see our 15-year-old dog ever again.

My heart burst open like a seawall against a tsunami. Flowing with tears, I ran to the bathroom—to hell with asking the guards. I returned to my seat near the gate. I didn’t even look at anyone. I just covered my face in my hands and cried.

Finally, the [female guard] gave up. The two male [guards] escorted me onto the plane, and finally gave me back my passport.

As the Pacific coastline came into view, I gazed perhaps one last time at the street lights and dark rice fields below. It was a feeling I had never considered before: what it would be like to leave Japan, and not return.

I could only notice that the vast majority of space below was filled with a deep and utter darkness. Somewhere out there, in the gulag of detention centres dotting the land like black holes in the heart of Japan, were the cries of innocent people who would not be heard."

2012年1月22日 星期日

A Sauce Worth Slaving Over

Eat

A Sauce Worth Slaving Over

John Von Pamer for The New York Times

A couple of years ago, a friend told me that a vegan Japanese restaurant called Kajitsu was doing “the best food in the city.” I ignored him. (Typical: I ignored him when he told me about Noma, and I at first ignored friends who told me about Momofuku, El Bulli and, in 1987, the young chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Thomas Keller. So much for the vision thing.) After this friend called me stupid once or twice, I made it over to the place, which is in the East Village, just down the block from the Good Beer Store. The word “best” should not be thrown around, but I will say that Kajitsu is distinctive, astonishing and wonderful.

Mark Bittman

Mark Bittman is The Times Magazine’s food columnist and an Opinion columnist. Visit Mark Bittman’s blog »

Related Recipes

John Von Pamer for The New York Times

Masato Nishihara, executive chef at Kajitsu, with panko-fried vegetables.

Readers’ Comments

Part of this is the nature of shojin cuisine, a kaiseki — that is, multicourse — style brought to Japan from China by Zen Buddhist monks in the 13th century. Simply put, it focuses on carefully prepared seasonal fruits and vegetables (an idea, you might say, whose time has come), along with tofu and other high-protein plant-based foods. It does so in a way that might take a few centuries of otherwise-unemployed monks to achieve: precise, imaginative, beautiful, deceptive, flavorful and labor-intensive beyond belief. I have some limited experience eating (and even cooking) shojin-style food, and I will say that in general it deserves more attention.

But the expression of that cuisine at Kajitsu, an unsurprisingly minimalist little place with stunning dishware (some of which has been repaired; traditionally, it’s almost never discarded) and a self-effacing chef named Masato Nishihara, is mind-boggling. I could name you dishes, but they’ll either sound ordinary (steamed rice with mushrooms) or confounding (“Autumn Vegetable Fukiyose”). To the palate, nothing is either.

I was originally curious about Kajitsu because of the word “vegan.” Although so many restaurants advertising themselves as such tend to be dull or even ridiculous, Kajitsu is lovable because the cooking makes that label irrelevant. The place is putting out delicious food that fascinates, not unlike whatever super-duper four-star place you care to name.

After two or three visits to Kajitsu, I was determined to cook with Nishihara. I introduced myself and we discussed a number of possible dishes for him to show me. We settled on fresh goma-dofu (essentially, tofu made from sesame seeds) with a simple but luxuriously creamy miso sauce and panko-fried vegetables (very close to tempura) with vegan Worcestershire sauce.

When I say labor-intensive, I’m not kidding. It took two of Nishihara’s assistants nearly 90 minutes of nonstop beating, stirring and pounding to make the goma-dofu; it took Nishihara himself, with me hanging over his shoulder, a few hours to make the “Worcestershire” sauce.

It was worth it, at least for the curious cook: the combination of 30-odd ingredients and several steps produces a sauce (two, actually) that you will want to drink. On top of the crisp-fried vegetables (and with a little flash-cooked cabbage), it gives you a hint — relatively quickly — of what it took those dedicated monks centuries to develop.

SUNTORY

Suntory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suntory - 頁庫存檔 - 翻譯這個網頁
In December 1924, Yamazaki Distillery, the first Japanese whisky distillery, began its production of malt whisky. Five years later Suntory Whisky Sirofuda (White ...


SUNTORY THE ART OF JAPANESE WHISKY
www.suntory.com/whisky/ - 頁庫存檔 - 翻譯這個網頁
SUNTORY THE ART OF JAPANESE WHISKY.Introducing the information on the Suntory's Japanese Whisky and its distilleries.

原発崩壊

原発崩壊/ 台灣廢核條件世界第一/ 我們經不起一次核災 :政府不回答,也不希望你知道的52件事

Report: Japan kept secret about scary nuclear scenario
msnbc.com
By msnbc.com staff The Japanese government kept secret for months a worst-case scenario report predicting a massive release of radioactive materials for a year at the earthquake-crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant, goverment sources told the Kyodo ...
See all stories on this topic »
Japanese Struggle to Protect Their Food Supply
New York Times
ONAMI, Japan — In the fall, as this valley's rice paddies ripened into a carpet of gold, inspectors came to check for radioactive contamination. Onami sits just 35 miles northwest of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which spewed ...
See all stories on this topic »

New York Times

霧に浮かぶ合掌の光 白川郷でライトアップ

霧に浮かぶ合掌の光 白川郷でライトアップ

写真:ライトアップに浮かび上がる世界遺産・白川郷の合掌造り集落=21日午後5時36分、岐阜県白川村、越田省吾撮影拡大ライトアップに浮かび上がる世界遺産・白川郷の合掌造り集落=21日午後5時36分、岐阜県白川村、越田省吾撮影


 世界遺産の白川郷(岐阜県白川村)で21日、合掌造り集落のライトアップが始まった。この時期には珍しく雨がぱらつき、うっすらとした霧が雪をかぶった集落を包みこんだ。

 今年で26回目。36棟の合掌造りを117個のハロゲンライトが照らし出し、集落を見下ろす展望台には大勢の人が訪れた。愛知県安城市から家族3人で訪 れた自営業稲垣英剛さん(30)は、「霧がかかった合掌造りは幻想的。登ってきたかいがあった」と何枚も写真を撮っていた。

 ライトアップは、2月18日までの毎週土曜と2月5、12日にある。マイクロバス以上の駐車場は完全予約制。問い合わせ先は、実行委員会事務局の白川郷観光協会(05769・6・1013)。

富士山と鎌倉

富士山と鎌倉の世界遺産推薦を内定 文化審議会

関連トピックス

写真:富士山拡大富士山

 「富士山」と「鎌倉」の世界遺産登録に向け、文化審議会は1日、日本政府として両候補地をユネスコ世界遺産委員会に推薦することを妥当と結論づけた。事 実上の推薦内定で、文化庁は2013年の登録を目指し、関係省庁と調整して9月末までに暫定版推薦書、来年1月末までに正式推薦書を委員会に提出する。

 文化審議会は、富士山については古くから民間信仰の対象となり浮世絵など芸術作品のモチーフとなってきたこと、鎌倉は武家文化が花開いた場所であることを重視し、推薦は妥当と判断。登録に向けて、地元自治体などが保全を強化する必要があるとした。

 富士山、鎌倉を除き、世界遺産候補として日本の「暫定一覧表」に載り、政府の推薦を待っているのは、「彦根城」「富岡製糸場と絹産業遺産群」「長崎の教会群とキリスト教関連遺産」など10件ある。

日本此舉表示其地鐵管理當局過於保守?

Cellphone service coming to subway tunnels

BY JUNICHIRO NAGASAKI STAFF WRITER

2012/01/22


photoSubway operators are considering allowing cellphone users to make and receive calls while in the tunnel. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Although cellphone service is available in almost all urban areas in Japan, it is "out of service" in trains in the underground subway tunnels in most major Japanese cities.

2012年1月20日 星期五

Rural returnee brings enterprise to sleepy mountain town

BY LOUIS TEMPLADO STAFF WRITER

2012/01/21


photoNature therapist Kazuaki Tsuchiya has taken a farmhouse in the Okutama area of Tokyo and turned it into a space for yoga classes and business meetings. (Louis Templado)photoThe farmhouse with its high roof was build about 150 years ago. (Louis Templado)

How do you bring life back to a 150-year-old farmhouse? How about opening it to yoga lessons, barbecues, computer classes and, while you're at it, some business conferences around glowing charcoal fire?

国内最古「いろは」土器 三重の国史跡で出土

はじ【土師】

    《「はにし」の音変化》
    上代、陵墓管理、土器や埴輪(はにわ)の製作などをした人。
    古代の氏族。土師部(はじべ)を統轄した伴造(とものみやつこ)で、のち、菅原・秋篠・大枝(おおえ)などの諸氏に分かれた。

はじ‐き【土師器】

    古墳時代から平安時代にかけて用いられた素焼きの土器。赤褐色か黄褐色で、文様がない。多くは轆轤(ろくろ)・窯(かま)を用いずに焼成。煮炊き用・食器として用いられ、5世紀以降は須恵器と併用。土師部(はじべ)が焼いたところからの名。

国内最古「いろは」土器 三重の国史跡で出土




写真:墨で「ぬるをわか」と書かれた土師器(はじき)拡大墨で「ぬるをわか」と書かれた土師器(はじき)

写真:裏にも「つねなら」の文字が書かれている拡大裏にも「つねなら」の文字が書かれている


 国の史跡・斎宮(さいくう)跡(三重県明和町)から、ひらがなで書かれたものとしては国内最古となる「いろは歌」が墨書された土器が出土した。同県立斎宮歴史博物館が発表した。

 見つかったのは、平安時代の11世紀末から12世紀前半にかけて作られたとみられる土師器(はじき)の破片。一辺約2センチで、復元すると直径約9セン チ、高さ約1センチになるという。土器の内側には、いろは歌の一部の「ぬるをわか」、裏には「つねなら」と、それぞれ墨で書かれていた。

 2010年10月に出土し、岐阜聖徳学園大の所京子名誉教授(国文学)や龍谷大の藤本孝一客員教授(日本史学)の指導の下でほかの出土例を検討。いろは 歌は平安時代中期に成立したとされているが、これまでいろは歌が書かれた平安時代の土器は見つかっておらず、ひらがなで書かれたいろは歌は岩手県平泉町の 志羅山(しらやま)遺跡で見つかった12世紀後半のものとみられる木簡が最も古かった。

2012年1月19日 星期四

Antinuclear Protesters Disrupt Panel in Japan

Antinuclear Protesters Disrupt Panel in Japan
Wall Street Journal
TOKYO—Protesters denouncing Japan's nuclear watchdog agency as having a pro-nuclear bias held up the initial approval of stress-test results for two idled reactors, as police were called in to break up the demonstration. More than a dozen ...

TOKYO—Protesters denouncing Japan's nuclear watchdog agency as having a pro-nuclear bias held up the initial approval of stress-test results for two idled reactors, as police were called in to break up the demonstration.

More than a dozen demonstrators, carrying antinuclear signs and shouting, "Shame on you," disrupted what was to be a closed meeting of government agency representatives, nuclear experts and energy officials gathered to review test results. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency was set to give its preliminary approval for the restart of the two plants ahead of the arrival next week of a mission from the International ..

2012年1月13日 星期五

Classic manga taking off in digital market

Classic manga taking off in digital market


January 13, 2012
Multi-volume manga masterpieces published decades ago are seeing a resurgence in popularity on the e-book market.
New hardware platforms, such as smartphones and tablet computers, are bringing new readers to older works of manga, which are easier to digitize because they are less likely to compete with paper editions.
eBook Initiative Japan Co., the Tokyo-based operator of eBookJapan, one of Japan's largest e-book shops, said manga accounts for 80 percent of its 52,000 available titles.
Last year's list of top sellers included long-running, middle-of-the-road manga that began to appear serially in magazines between the 1960s and the 1980s.
They included: "Oishinbo" (story by Tetsu Kariya, art by Akira Hanasaki), themed on gastronomy; "Shizukanaru Don" (The quiet Don) by Tatsuo Nitta, about a man who doubles as a company employee and the leader of a crime syndicate; and "Golgo 13" by Takao Saito, the story of a sniper.
Monthly sales of "Golgo 13" have quintupled over the last three years. Other multi-volume classics have also more than doubled their sales.
eBook Initiative Japan's corporate performance improved drastically after it began distributing e-books to Apple Inc.'s iPhones in 2008 and to Android-based devices and Apple's iPads in 2010.
The company topped the 5-million mark in accumulated number of copies sold in August 2008. That number doubled to 10 million by January 2011.
At eBookJapan, the combined number of e-books sold for smartphones and tablet computers in the second half of 2010 was 6.13 times the corresponding number in the first half of the year.
The main customers of eBookJapan are in their 30s and 40s.
"People of generations that are unfamiliar with onetime long-sellers and bestsellers are embracing those works as something totally new to them," said Akira Takashima, managing director at eBook Initiative Japan. "Works that have lost none of their sheen and allure over a decade or two, much like Shakespeare's and Beethoven's works, have started to take off."
The prices per volume are mostly set between 400 and 600 yen ($5.20 and $7.80), or 20 to 30 percent cheaper than paper editions. An increasing number of customers are making bulk purchases of multi-volume series, such as "Golgo 13."
The e-book editions are beneficial both to the customers and the publishers. For customers, the e-books take up no space and are available in bulk even after their paper counterparts have disappeared from storefronts. Some eBookJapan customers have told the online shop's operator that they are thrilled to be able to carry all volumes of a manga series with them on vacations.
For publishers, e-books allow them to secure a stable income from sales of established works without competing against their paper editions.
At Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha Ltd., a midmarket publishing house based in Tokyo, the long-running "Shizukanaru Don" series accounts for one-third of all proceeds from e-books. While the 100 existing volumes of the manga have sold 44 million copies in the paper edition, 3.3 million copies have been downloaded digitally, with women accounting for 60 percent of all readers.
The stream of female customers was small at the outset, but that readership expanded through the "recommendation" feature of the e-book store website, Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha officials said.
That illustrates how a publisher can tap into a new category of readers.
The takeoff of manga classics in the e-book market also reflects a change in readers' attitudes at a time when hardware platforms have evolved from cellphones to smartphones and to tablet computers.
The top seller at eBookJapan in 2011 was the "Grappler Baki" (Baki the Grappler) series by Keisuke Itagaki, themed on combative arts, which became available online in February 2011. Akita Publishing Co., the Tokyo-based publisher of the series, said 42,000 copies were downloaded by the end of the year.
"Baki," a sequel to the "Grappler Baki" series, sold more than 20,000 copies over a three-month period following its digital release in August. It was eighth in eBookJapan's annual sales ranking.
"The spread of smartphones came at a time when fans had long been waiting for digitized editions (of manga)," explained Hirokazu Takahashi, an executive producer at Akita Publishing. "The pictures drawn with a mighty touch are suited for digital editions because they look so real against the backlight."
While cellphones can only display one frame at a time, smartphones and tablet computers allow users to see entire pages, and at enhanced image resolutions.
According to the marketing firm Impress R&D, the e-book market in Japan was worth 65 billion yen in fiscal 2010, up a robust 13.2 percent year on year.
Growth of the e-book market has traditionally relied on manga for cellphones, and especially on pornographic material.
Adult manga have small numbers of frames per page and small numbers of pages, which have made them ideal for reading on cellphones.
In recent years, though, adult manga seldom make the list of top 30 annual sellers at the eBookJapan store. The increasing number of available classic titles is expected to accelerate the departure from dependence on adult manga.
NTT Solmare Corp., the Osaka-based operator of Comic C'Moa, Japan's largest online retailer of manga for cellphones, in June 2011 started distributing 35,000 titles for smartphones of KDDI Corp.'s au brand. Toward the end of last year, the company also began serving NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s smartphones.
NTT Solmare, which did not want to lose the clientele it won through the distribution of e-books to cellphones, designed the menu for smartphone screens in exactly the same way as the menu for cellphone screens.
The user does not need to do anything to continue using the website after upgrading his or her device from a cellphone to a smartphone.
"An e-book store will simply be ousted from the market if it fails to broaden the selection of available titles and image resolutions to cope with different types of user devices," said Hiroki Oohashi, the president and CEO of NTT Solmare.
(This article was written by Naoki Takehata and Shigeyori Miyamoto.)

A page of "Golgo 13," a manga series by Takao Saito, is displayed on Apple Inc.'s iPad tablet computer. (Copyright Takao Saito)
A page of "Golgo 13," a manga series by Takao Saito, is displayed on Apple Inc.'s iPad tablet computer. (Copyright Takao Saito)

The Nakagin Capsule Tower donated to Saitama



The Nakagin Capsule Tower is slated for demolition. One module has been donated to the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama. (Louis Templado)

The Nakagin Capsule Tower is slated for demolition. One module has been donated to the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama. (Louis Templado)


Icon of 'metabolism' donated to Saitama museum

January 12, 2012

LOUIS TEMPLADO / Staff Writer

The remarkable thing about Tokyo’s landmarks is how quickly they come and go.

Japan’s cutting edge architects of the 1960s and 1970s—living in what we can only now look back on as a golden age—likened the process to an organism feeding and growing on its own cells and called it “metabolism.” They actually welcomed it, but now it’s their turn to be swallowed.

Kisho Kurokawa (1934-2007) was perhaps the most recognizable name in the movement, but that has not been enough to stop the planned destruction of one of his most innovative works, the Nakagin Capsule Tower.

Located on the rim of Tokyo’s Ginza district and actually composed of two towers, the building is made up of 140 room cubes—removable and stackable in the blueprints—that earned it a place in history as an early example of capsule architecture. In real life, getting the plumbing and wiring connected properly proved difficult, and the condominium has been in disrepair for close to two decades.

One capsule module has been detached to serve in the exhibition "Metabolism: the City of the Future," a retrospective on the movement led by Kurokawa, Kiyonori Kikutake and Noboru Kawazoe, among other architects. It continues until Jan. 15 at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi.

After the exhibition, the six-square-meter module, crammed with a bed, a bath-toilet unit, a television, a radio and a telephone, will be trucked to a more permanent home: the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama. The Saitama museum is also a Kurokawa design.

The cell may be only one section of a masterpiece, says museum head Akira Tatehata, but it will still offer a more direct experience of the Nakagin Capsule Tower, once it’s gone, than a floor plan or film clip could. The museum has yet to announce when the module, measuring 2.5 meters wide, 4.1 meters long and 2.6 meters high and weighing 3.8 tons, will be put on show.

2012年1月11日 星期三

ISSEY MIYAKE“三宅一生 向東北行”送給遠藤夫人89歲生日禮的和紙衣

這是一月三日的日記片段

ISSEY MIYAKE(いっせいみやけ)

[固有名詞]
デザイナー・三宅一生が作り出したブランド。
現在、「ISSEY MIYAKE (women/men)」「PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE」「HaaT」「me ISSEY MIYAKE」の5ブランドを展開。
1971年、ニューヨークにて初めてコレクションを発表。1973年にパリ・コレクションに初参加。70年代には、伝統的技術を受け継ぐ職人から、失われつつある糸、染め、織りなどの技術を研究し、モダンなデザインとしてよみがえらせた。
服づくりのコンセプトは、「1枚の布」という考え方に貫かれている。身体とそれを覆う布、その間に生まれるゆとりや間の関係を追求。洋の東西を問わない世界服を提案し、1978年には「Issey Miyake East Meets West」を発表した。
糸の開発から織りの技術までこだわり抜いている服づくりで、日本のみならずアジア、ヨーロッパ、アメリカなど世界中の人から愛されている。
デザイナーは、三宅一生の30年にわたる服づくりの精神を継ぎ、2000年春夏から滝沢直己、2007年秋冬からは、藤原大が務めている。

8點到9點的NHK PREMIUM

三宅一生 向東北行 45分鐘

完全手工的羊毛織圍巾

更多的是送給遠藤夫人89歲生日禮的和紙衣 (紙是遠藤夫人自製的,她給他的謝函等也都是自製的和紙。)

要查三宅一生與遠藤忠雄的關係

(好玩的名字:皆川 魔鬼子みながわ まきこ)Makico

[固有名詞]
Haat
mayuのデザインを手がける京都生まれのデザイナー。京都市立美術大学染織科在学中から自らのアトリエを持ち、染織家として活動。1970年に三宅一生と出会い、翌年から三宅デザイン事務所にてISSEY MIYAKEブランドの素材作りに関わり、テキスタイル・ディレクターとして活躍。
1990
年には第8回毎日ファッション大賞・鯨岡阿美子賞を受賞。95年には英国TEXTILE INSTITUTEより、COMPANION MEMBERSHIPを授与されている。96年、毎日デザイン賞を受賞。
インドテキスタイルを紹介する活動も積極的に行っている。著書に『テクスチャー』(講談社刊)がある。

15分鐘日本吟詩(傳統藝能社 某園的水池旁正襟危站 )

以杜甫的《江畔獨步尋花七絕句》其六寫道:

“黃四娘家花滿蹊,千朵萬朵壓枝低。留連戲蝶時時舞,自在嬌鶯恰恰啼。

向東北行 45分鐘

完全手工的羊毛織圍巾

更多的是送給

沈金標兄的Facebook

來自「楊逵文教協會籌備處」執行長楊翠的祝福

謝謝過去一年來,鼎力相助「楊逵文學音樂節」的朋友們。……

最讓人想起2年前許達然老師說的許多相關故事。我可能將1971-73年的一些東海花園的印象,不包括楊翠博士5-6歲時的神情寫在2009年的書中。

'Two Hundred Selected Masterpieces from the Palace Museum, Beijing,'

January 08, 2012

Japanese Exhibit of China's Priceless Art Marks Anniversary of Relations


The exhibit,  'Two Hundred Selected Masterpieces from the Palace Museum, Beijing,' will be on display at the Tokyo National Museum  January 2- February 19, 2012
The exhibit, 'Two Hundred Selected Masterpieces from the Palace Museum, Beijing,' will be on display at the Tokyo National Museum January 2- February 19, 2012

An exhibition showing pricless cultural relics from China was unveiled Friday in Japan's Tokyo National Museum.

The exhibition titled Two Hundred Selected Masterpieces from the Palace Museum, Beijing is marking the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations. The exhibits are selected from almost two million pieces in Beijing's Palace Museum and will be on show in Japan until February 19.

Chinese ambassador to Japan, Cheng Yonghua, attended the ceremony Friday night. "I think this activity is very significant in that it unveils the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations," he said.

Many of the valuable paintings and calligraphic works on show in Tokyo had never left China before. A centerpiece of the exhibition is Riverside Scene at the Qingming Festival by Zhang Zeduan, a painter from the Northern Song Dynasty that reigned between 960 and 1127.

Visitors have to arrive early in the morning and stand in a long line to see the painting, and latecomers may have to leave the museum without getting to it.

On display are also many articles of daily use belonging to the imperial family of the Qing Dynasty that ruled China between mid-17th and early 20th centuries.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.

2012年1月8日 星期日

Taiwan man sought in slayings

Monday, Jan. 9, 2012

Taiwan man sought in slayings

Kyodo
A Taiwanese man is being sought in connection with the fatal stabbings of two female Taiwanese students in Taito Ward, Tokyo police said Sunday.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Chang Chih-yang, 30, who has been missing since Thursday after telling his roommate at around 10 a.m. that he was going to Osaka. Chang was a student at the same Japanese language school the slain women attended. Police suspect Chang of killing Lin Chih-ying, 22, and Chu Li-chieh, 24, at around 9 a.m. Thursday at an apartment rented by the school as a dorm, police said. The two women each had about 10 stab wounds, mostly around their necks, and the cause of death was apparently blood loss, police said. Chang is believed to have been fond of Lin as he recently complained that she had been giving him the cold shoulder since mid-December. He was spotted by security cameras near the crime scene at around the same time as the murders, police said. On the day they were killed, Lin promised to go on a trip with male friends from the school. They were to meet at a subway station at 9:30 a.m., but when Lin failed to show, her friends contacted a school official who used a duplicate key to enter the apartment where the women were found. Lin was found lying in the hallway in a jacket and boots, while Chu was found bleeding in the room's bottom bunk bed.

2012年1月5日 星期四

Japan tuna sale smashes record

Japan tuna sale smashes record

Sushi restaurant chain owner Kiyoshi Kimura poses next to a 269 kilogram blue fin tuna he purchased on the first trading day of the new year at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market on January 5, 2012 Mr Kiyoshi Kimura made the record bid for the 269kg bluefin tuna

Related Stories

A bluefin tuna has been sold for three quarters of a million dollars in Tokyo - a price almost double last year's record sale.

The bluefin tuna, prized for making the finest sushi, fetched 56.49m yen ($736,000, £472,125) at Tsukiji fish market's first auction of the year.

The winning bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, owner of a sushi restaurant chain.

Globally, there is great concern over the species and fishing quotas.

The 269kg (593lb) tuna also set a record for price by weight, market official Yutaka Hasegawa said. The total price translates to 210,000 yen ($2,737, £1,755) per kilogram.

The tuna was caught off Oma, in Aomori prefecture, north of the coast that was struck by the devastating tsunami last year.

Mr Kimura's bid, he told reporters, was an effort to ''liven up Japan'' and help it on the road to recovery.

He also wanted to keep the fish in Japan "rather than let it get taken overseas", he said on television.

Last year, a 342kg bluefin tuna caught off Japan's northern island of Hokkaido fetched 32.49m yen, or nearly $400,000 (£257,320), setting a record then.

The winning bid was a joint effort by a Hong Kong-based sushi chain and an upscale Japanese restaurant in Tokyo.

The first auction in January at the famous fish market in Tokyo is an important part of Japan's New Year celebrations, and record prices are often set.

Japan is the world's biggest consumer of seafood, eating about 80% of the Atlantic and Pacific bluefins caught.

However, restrictions on catches have been tightened in recent years because of concerns about overfishing.