日本心得帖

2060年日本65歲以上老人占4成

2012-01-31T04:12:00.001-08:00

2060年日65歲以上老人占四成

高齡、少子化社會災難

〔編譯管淑平／綜合報導〕日本政府三十日公布的報告指出，由於人口加速老化以及出生率持續低檔，預期到二○六○年日本人口將較目前大減三十％，即從目前的一億兩千多萬人減至八千六百多萬人，六十五歲以上老人比例將增加到將近四成，成為「超老年化社會」。

屆時人口將大減30％

根據日本厚生勞動省附屬全國人口和社會安全研究所的這份報告，如果人口老化和出生率等條件沒有改變，預期二○六○年日本人口將從現有的一億兩千七百七十萬人，縮減為八千六百七十四萬人，到二一一○年更將減少三分之二、到四千兩百九十萬人。報告預期日本生育率將持續降低，五十年內平均每名婦女生育數將從目前的一．三九減少到一．三五個小孩，遠低於人口替代率。報告指出，若出生率能提高到二．○七，將能減緩人口衰減。

人口與社會安全研究所每五年發布一次五十年期人口預測報告。今年的報告指出，由於去年日本發生強震、海嘯，日本人平均壽命略減，但不影響平均壽命增加的長期趨勢；預期到了二○六○ 年，女性平均壽命將達到九十．九三歲、男性為八十四．一九歲，屆時六十五歲以上老人將占全部人口的三十九．九％，而十五到六十四歲人口比例將占五十．九％。

目前日本六十五歲以上人口比例逾二十％，百歲人瑞有四萬七千七百名，平均每十萬人就有三十七人，其中八十七％為女性；二○一○年日本有三千三百多人年紀達百歲以上，去年九月，日本政府公布百歲以上人口數連續第四十一年創新高。

人口少卻老化社福負擔更重

分析家指出，人口規模較小本身並不是問題，但是人口老化就會引發許多問題，尤其是對歷經二十年經濟停滯的日本政府財政而言，在國債已達國內生產總值（GDP）的兩倍之際，人口老化將加重社會福利負擔。

日圓高漲的製造業破壞力道強/ 日本鈽政策太恐怖

2012-01-30T17:19:00.000-08:00

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）

2012-01-30T16:23:00.000-08:00

日本農業150年（1850-2000年）

作者：（日）暉峻眾三
出版社：中國農業大學出版社
出版日期：2011年05月01日
語言：簡體中文

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

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

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

2012-01-26T15:04:00.000-08:00

Big Tokyo earthquake likely 'within the next few years'

The 2011 quake caused massive destruction on Japan's north-eastern coastline

Japan quake

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.

What chance of a 'big one' in Tokyo?

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.

京都寺院的「大根焚き」/城南宮的『曲水の宴』

2012-01-25T19:48:00.000-08:00

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... 　

日本人送禮禮數

2012-01-25T01:58:00.000-08:00

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》

Bean-sprout hot pot

2012-01-24T19:21:00.000-08:00

JAPANESE HOME COOKING: Bean-sprout hot pot

2012/01/25

Bean-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.

Japan task force kept no records of nuclear crisis response 了不起的核災官商會議紀錄隨風飄去

2012-01-24T04:22:00.000-08:00

TOKYO | Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:20am EST

(Reuters) - Japan's energy minister admitted on Tuesday that no records were kept of top level discussions in the critical early days on how to respond to the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years.

The admission, and apology, by Trade Minister Yukio Edano comes in the face of widespread debate over the government's response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami last March.

"It is inconceivable that there were no records kept. It may have been difficult to keep official logs during the extreme confusion after the crisis, but they could have taken simple memos," said Kenji Sumita, an emeritus professor at Osaka University who specializes in nuclear engineering.

"Perhaps there were some goings on that the participants did not feel comfortable being made public," he said.

A government task force was set up by then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan to deal with the nuclear disaster. Its failure to keep records emerged after public broadcaster NHK sought details of its discussions.

NHK said it found only one-page logs that listed the agenda items discussed at each meeting.

Several panels are investigating how the government handled the crisis.

Trade Minister Edano, who was the top government spokesman when the Fukushima disaster struck and now holds the energy portfolio, apologized for the lapse and said officials would try to cobble together a record of the meetings.

"It is truly regrettable that records of the task force's meetings were not consistently kept," he told reporters.

"Given the social impact of the disaster and public interest towards it, the records should have been compiled promptly."

More than 80,000 people have been evacuated since the Fukushima plant was struck and there are still concerns about leaking radiation.

A lack of preparation and poor communication at top levels after the disaster struck were among the failures that turned the Fukushima accident into the worst atomic crisis in 25 years, one investigation panel formed by government said in an interim report last month.

Japan, in middle of its largest reconstruction effort since the end of World War Two, has said that the catastrophe at Fukushima's Daiichi plant could take four decades to clean up.

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota and Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

東大改開學月的利與害

2012-01-23T19:28:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-23T04:47:00.000-08:00

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."

A Sauce Worth Slaving Over

2012-01-22T16:59:00.001-08:00

Eat

A Sauce Worth Slaving Over

John Von Pamer for The New York Times

By MARK BITTMAN

Published: January 19, 2012

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

Vegan Worcestershire Sauce, Two Ways (January 22, 2012)
Panko-Fried Vegetables (January 22, 2012)
Flash-Cooked Cabbage (January 22, 2012)

Enlarge This Image

John Von Pamer for The New York Times

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

Readers’ Comments

Share your thoughts.

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

2012-01-22T05:15:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-22T04:00:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-22T01:52:00.000-08:00

霧に浮かぶ合掌の光　白川郷でライトアップ

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

2012-01-22T01:49:00.001-08:00

富士山と鎌倉の世界遺産推薦を内定　文化審議会

日本此舉表示其地鐵管理當局過於保守?

2012-01-22T01:38:00.001-08:00

Cellphone service coming to subway tunnels

BY JUNICHIRO NAGASAKI STAFF WRITER

2012/01/22

Subway 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.

Rural returnee brings enterprise to sleepy mountain town

2012-01-20T22:05:00.000-08:00

Rural returnee brings enterprise to sleepy mountain town

BY LOUIS TEMPLADO STAFF WRITER

2012/01/21

Nature 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)The 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?

靖國神社Yasukuni Shrine 的國家黑手

2012-01-20T21:56:00.000-08:00

The document folder that contained the summary of program operations that describes the process for enshrinement of war criminals at Yasukuni Shrine (The Asahi Shimbun)

Documents show state led move to enshrine war criminals at Yasukuni

January 21, 2012

By JUN SATO / Staff Writer

Documents contradicting the government's claim that it had nothing to do with the 1978 enshrinement of 14 Class-A war criminals have recently emerged from national archives.

The presence of the war criminals has made Yasukuni a controversial site for visits by Japanese prime ministers as Asian nations such as China and South Korea have criticized the role Yasukuni played in Japan during World War II.

Government officials have long insisted that the enshrinement of the 14 Class-A war criminals, including Hideki Tojo, who was prime minister when Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into the war, was initiated and conducted solely by Yasukuni officials. The same government officials claimed that because the government was not involved and the enshrinement was a religious act conducted on the part of Yasukuni, there was no violation of constitutional provisions separating religion from the state.

However, the documents show that former Health and Welfare Ministry officials had already decided in 1953, one year after Japan regained its independence, on a process by which war criminals would eventually be included among the war dead honored at Yasukuni.

Some passages in the documents call on prefectural governments to ask local shrines for the war dead to enshrine the war criminals first, thereby setting a precedent that would allow Yasukuni officials to also enshrine those individuals.

The role of government officials in the decision harks back to the days before the end of World War II, when the government was in charge of matters relating to enshrinement at Yasukuni.

The documents, retrieved from the National Archives of Japan, include the "Summary for Program Operations" for fiscal 1954, which outlined programs to provide support to war returnees under the jurisdiction of the Health and Welfare Ministry. It was compiled by ministry officials who had previously worked in the Army and Navy ministries.

One document focused on the early resolution of the war criminal issue.

Considerations of what to include in the program summary started soon after the San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed in September 1951. The summaries were compiled every year between fiscal 1952 and 1954.

In the 1952 document, a passage calls for efforts to have "the executed" also enshrined at local ceremonies.

After the peace treaty went into effect in April 1952, the 1953 document went even further, saying "enshrinement will be undertaken at the proper opportunity" for the executed war criminals.

A document compiled in December 1953 clearly states that "the ultimate objective is 'enshrinement at Yasukuni Shrine.'" It adds that the move would be made based on public opinion as well as progress made in the provision of condolence money and pensions to the bereaved families of war criminals, the same as was given to all families of the war dead.

Based on the policies laid out in the summaries, the Health and Welfare Ministry in March 1954 issued a directive to prefectural governments to have those not yet enshrined to be included at local "gokoku jinja" that had been established to honor the war dead from that prefecture. That enshrinement was seen as a precondition for eventually enshrining the war criminals at Yasukuni.

The gokoku jinja in Fukuoka, Okayama and Kumamoto prefectures did, in fact, enshrine three Class-A war criminals before their enshrinement at Yasukuni. The three were Koki Hirota, a former prime minister who was the only civilian among those executed, and two former army generals, Kenji Doihara and Akira Muto.

The gokoku jinja in Osaka, Sapporo and Kobe enshrined Class-B and Class-C war criminals before they were enshrined at Yasukuni.

Before enshrinement, government officials ensured that bereaved family members of the war criminals also were given the benefits of bereaved families of the war dead. The similar level of support provided by the government provided the rationale for also moving forward on the enshrinement, which was also provided all war dead.

The expansion of the government support was implemented through legal revisions after 1953, which led to the enshrinement of Class-B and Class-C war criminals at Yasukuni between 1959 and 1966.

A former high-ranking official of the Health and Welfare Ministry said, "If I had known about this document, the responses in the Diet would have been completely different."

Yasukuni Shrine officials refused to comment.

国内最古「いろは」土器　三重の国史跡で出土

2012-01-20T05:36:00.000-08:00

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

墨で「ぬるをわか」と書かれた土師器（はじき）

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。

Antinuclear Protesters Disrupt Panel in Japan

2012-01-19T05:52:00.000-08:00

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 ...

BY MITSURU OBE

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 ..

Classic manga taking off in digital market

2012-01-13T23:22:00.001-08:00

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)

The Nakagin Capsule Tower donated to Saitama

2012-01-13T04:08:00.000-08:00

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.

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

2012-01-11T21:37:00.000-08:00

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的 PREMIUM 台

“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。
インドの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。

約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 有

「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。

Olympus Sues Executives/Ford Challenges Japan

2012-01-11T01:51:00.000-08:00

Olympus Sues Present, Past Executives Over Cover-Up, Nikkei Says
BusinessWeek
The Japanese camera maker submitted the claim yesterday, according the Nikkei and Yomiuri newspapers. It wasn't possible to confirm the lawsuits because today is a holiday in Japan. While Olympus spokesmen weren't available to comment, the Tokyo- based ...
See all stories on this topic »

Ford Turns to the Midsize Car to Challenge Japan
New York Times
The new look is just one aspect of Ford's all-out bid to gain share in the competitive midsize car segment dominated in recent decades by the Japanese automakers. To further differentiate the Fusion, the company will offer four engine options, ...
See all stories on this topic »

New York Times

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

2012-01-11T01:48:00.001-08:00

January 08, 2012

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

VOA News

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.

Taiwan man sought in slayings

2012-01-08T19:44:00.000-08:00

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.

日本核災的官方欺騙

2012-01-08T03:57:00.000-08:00

Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012

SUNDAY TIMEOUT

Fukushima lays bare Japanese media's ties to top

By DAVID MCNEILL

Special to The Japan Times

Is the ongoing crisis surrounding the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant being accurately reported in the Japanese media?

Official lines: Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano on April 17, 2011, during his first visit to Fukushima after the disasters triggered by March 11's Great East Japan Earthquake. KYODO PHOTO

No, says independent journalist Shigeo Abe, who claims the authorities, and many journalists, have done a poor job of informing people about nuclear power in Japan both before and during the crisis — and that the clean-up costs are now being massively underestimated and underreported.

"The government says that as long as the radioactive leak can be dammed from the sides it can be stopped, but that's wrong," Abe insists. "They're going to have to build a huge trench underneath the plant to contain the radiation — a giant diaper. That is a huge-scale construction and will cost a fortune. The government knows that but won't reveal it."

The disaster at the Fukushima plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) again revealed one of the major fault lines of Japanese journalism — that between the mainstream media and the mass-selling weeklies and their ranks of freelancers.

The mainstream media has long been part of the press-club system, which funnels information from official Japan to the public. Critics say the system locks the country's most influential journalists into a symbiotic relationship with their sources, and discourages them from investigation or independent lines of analysis.

Once the crisis began, it was weekly Japanese magazines that sank their teeth into the guardians of the so-called nuclear village — the cozy ranks of polititicians, bureaucrats, academics, corporate players and the media who promote nuclear power in this country.

Shukan Shincho dubbed Tepco's management "war criminals." Shukan Gendai named and shamed the most culpable of Japan's goyō gakusha (unquestioning pronuclear scientists; aka academic flunkies).

Meanwhile, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper's well-respected weekly magazine AERA revealed that local governments manipulated public opinion in support of reopening nuclear plants. The same magazine's now-famous March 19, 2011, cover story showing a masked nuclear worker and the headline "Radiation is coming to Tokyo" was controversial enough to force an apology and the resignation of at least one columnist (though the headline was in fact correct).

Others explored claims of structural bias in the mainstream press.

Japan's power-supply industry, collectively, is Japan's biggest advertiser, spending ¥88 billion (more than $1 billion) a year, according to the Nikkei Advertising Research Institute. Tepco's ¥24.4 billion alone is roughly half what a global firm as large as Toyota spends in a year.

Many journalists were tied to the industry in complex ways. A Yomiuri Shimbun science writer was cited in "Daishinsai Genpatsu Jiko to Media" ("The Media and the Nuclear Disaster"; Otsuki Shoten, 2011) as working simultaneously for nuclear-industry watchdogs, including the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (sic). Journalists from the Nikkei and Mainichi Shimbun newspapers have also reportedly gone on to work for pronuclear organizations and publications.

Before the Fukushima crisis began, Tepco's advertising largesse may have helped silence even the most liberal of potential critics. According to Shukan Gendai, the utility spent roughly $26 million on advertising with the Asahi Shimbun. Tepco's quarterly magazine, Sola, was edited by former Asahi writers.

The financial clout of the power-supply industry, combined with the press-club system, surely helped discourage investigative reporting and keep concerns about nuclear power and critics of plants such as the aging Fukushima complex and Chubu Electric Power Co.'s Hamaoka facility in Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, which sits astride numerous faults, well below the media radar.

Throughout the Fukushima crisis, the mainstream media has relied heavily on pronuclear scientists' and Tepco's analyses of what was occurring. After the first hydrogen blast of March 12, the government's top spokesman, Yukio Edano, told a press conference: "Even though the reactor No. 1 building is damaged, the containment vessel is undamaged. ... On the contrary, the outside monitors show that the (radiation) dose rate is declining, so the cooling of the reactor is proceeding."

Any suggestion that the accident would reach Chernobyl level was, he said, "out of the question."

Author and nuclear critic Takashi Hirose noted afterward: "Most of the media believed this. It makes no logical sense to say, as Edano did, that the safety of the containment vessel could be determined by monitoring the radiation dose rate. All he did was repeat the lecture given him by Tepco."

As media critic Toru Takeda later wrote, the overwhelming strategy throughout the crisis, by both the authorities and big media, seems to be to reassure people, not alert them to possible dangers.

By late March, the war in Libya had knocked Japan from the front pages of the world's newspapers, but there was still one story that was very sought after: life inside the 20-km evacuation zone around the Fukushima atomic plant.

Thousands of people had fled and left behind homes, pets and farm animals that would eventually die. A small number of mainly elderly people stayed behind, refusing to leave homes that often had been in their families for generations. Not surprisingly, there was enormous global interest in their story and its disturbing echoes of the Chernobyl catastrophe 25 years earlier.

Yet not a single reporter from Japan's big media filed from inside the evacuation zone — despite the fact that it was not yet illegal to be there. Some would begin reporting from the area much later after receiving government clearance — the Asahi Shimbun newspaper sent its first dispatch on April 25, when its reporters accompanied the commissioner-general of the National Police Agency. Later, they would explain why they stayed away and — with the exception of government-approved excursions — why they continue to stay away.

Smoke signals: The leaking Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on March 20, 2011. Critics accuse Japan's mainstream media of failing to properly report the ongoing crisis. KYODO PHOTO

"Journalists are employees and their companies have to protect them from dangers," explained Keiichi Sato, a deputy editor with the News Division of Nippon TV.

"Reporters like myself might want to go into that zone and get the story, and there was internal debate about it, but there isn't much personal freedom inside big media companies. We were told by our superiors that it was dangerous, so going in by ourselves would mean breaking that rule. It would mean nothing less than quitting the company."

The cartel-like behavior of the leading Japanese media companies meant they did not have to fear being trumped by rivals. In particularly dangerous situations, managers of TV networks and newspapers will form agreements (known as hōdō kyōtei) in effect to collectively keep their reporters out of harm's way.

Teddy Jimbo, founder of the pioneering Internet broadcaster Video News Network, explains: "Once the five or six big firms come to an agreement that their competitors will not do anything, they don't have to be worried about being scooped or challenged."

Frustrated by the lack of information from around the plant, Jimbo took his camera and dosimeters into the 20-km zone on April 2 and uploaded a report on YouTube that scored almost 1 million views. He was the first Japanese reporter to present TV images from Futaba and other abandoned towns (though images from the zone, shot during government-approved incursions, later appeared on mainstream TV news programs).

"For freelance journalists, it's not hard to beat the big companies because you quickly learn where their line is," Jimbo said. "As a journalist I needed to go in and find out what was happening. Any real journalist would want to do that." He later sold some of his footage to three of the big Japanese TV networks: NHK, NTV and TBS.

Says Abe: "The government's whole strategy for bringing the plant under control will have to be revised. The evacuees will never be able to return. They can't clean up the radiation. Will the media report this? I'm waiting for that."

Japan tuna sale smashes record

2012-01-05T03:21:00.000-08:00

5 January 2012 Last updated at 07:53 GMT

Japan tuna sale smashes record

Mr Kiyoshi Kimura made the record bid for the 269kg bluefin tuna

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.

Karuta (かるた )

2012-01-05T00:51:00.000-08:00

Kyoto welcomes new year with traditional card game

BY TAKUMI OKADA STAFF WRITER

2012/01/05

People wearing traditional dress from the Heian Period play the Karuta card game on Jan. 3 at Yasakajinja shrine in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward. (Kazunori Takahashi)Players pay close attention to the cards on Jan. 3 at Yasakajinja shrine in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward. (Kazunori Takahashi)

Kimono-clad kids and young people gathered on Jan. 3 at Kyoto's Yasakajinja shrine to ring in the Year of the Dragon by playing "Karutahajime," the traditional Japanese New Year's card game.

Karuta (かるた Karuta^?, loaned from the Portuguese word meaning "card", carta)^[1] is a Japanese card game.

Ogura Hyakunin Isshu karuta

The basic idea of any karuta game is to be able to quickly determine which card out of an array of cards is required and then to grab the card before it is grabbed by an opponent. There are various types of cards which can be used to play karuta. It is also possible to play this game using two standard decks of playing cards.

There are two kinds of cards used in karuta. One kind is yomifuda (読札) or "reading cards", and the other is torifuda (取り札) or "grabbing cards." As they were denoted, the words in the yomifuda are read and players will have to find its associated torifuda before anybody else does.

The two types of karuta cards that are most often seen are the "uta-garuta" and "iroha-garuta".

In "uta-garuta", players try to find the last two lines of a tanka given the first three lines. It is often possible to identify a poem by its first one or two syllables. The poems for this game are taken from the Hyakunin Isshu and are traditionally played on New Year's Day.

Anyone who can read hiragana can play "iroha-garuta" (いろはがるた). In this type, a typical torifuda features a drawing with a kana at one corner of the card. Its corresponding yomifuda features a proverb connected to the picture with the first syllable being the kana displayed on the torifuda.

Karuta is often played by children at elementary school and junior high-school level during class, as an educational exercise. Although several kinds of Karuta games are described below, in reality any kind of information that can be represented in card form can be used including shapes, colours, words in English, small pictures and the like.

福袋New Year's lucky bags offer usual to offbeat goodies

2012-01-03T05:01:00.000-08:00

Shoppers converge on Fujisaki Department Store in Miyagi Prefecture's Sendai to purchase lucky bags on Jan. 2. (Hiroki Endo)

ふく‐ぶくろ【福袋】

前もってその中に種々のものを入れて口を閉じ、各人に選び取らせる袋。余興や商店の正月の売り出しなどに出す。

New Year's lucky bags offer usual to offbeat goodies

January 03, 2012

Shoppers descended on department stores and shopping areas in droves nationwide on Jan. 2, to take advantage of sales and purchase New Year's lucky bags, or "fukubukuro."

This year's lucky bags reflected the recent trend of togetherness with family and friends after the Great East Japan Earthquake. While many of the bags contained warm clothing to help conserve electricity, others were more of a luxury or practical-use item.

At Fujisaki Department Store in the quake-hit city of Sendai, people started lining up before 6 a.m., and the crowd reached about 10,000 when the store opened at 7:45 a.m. The number was about 20 percent higher than in previous years.

"I believe (the larger number of customers) signifies their hope that this year will be a great year for them, bringing them luck," said a store official who was glad to see the large crowds.

Among the more unusual items for lucky bags at Fujisaki Department Store was a trailer home. The mobile structure was offered in two models: a Japanese-made one for 6 million yen ($78,000) and an American-made one for 4 million yen. Both models were about 1.5 million yen cheaper than their regular prices.

A 61-year-old owner of a restaurant in disaster-hit Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, used his warehouse to open a sporting goods store after the March 11 earthquake. He had placed an order for the trailer home lucky bag because, "I have not been allowed to build a building for my shop due to construction restrictions, (but) with the mobile trailer house, I should not have a problem."

At Seibu Ikebukuro department store in Tokyo's Toshima Ward, about 20,000 shoppers formed a line. Among the top selling lucky bags at the store was one with candy and other items, which sold for 1,000 to 3,000 yen.

Hankyu Men's Tokyo in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, a menswear store, offered a Mercedes-Benz sports car lucky bag, along with the privilege to drive the car on a racetrack, for 24.9 million yen. About 10 people applied for the special lucky bag, which was available to just one person.

日本人的抽煙積習Japanese Smoking Culture Proves Hard To Snuff Out

2012-01-03T04:52:00.000-08:00

Japanese Smoking Culture Proves Hard To Snuff Out
NPR
by Lucy Craft Mina Abe (center) and Kota Osabe (right) are trying to promote blowing bubbles as an alternative to cigarette smoking in Japan. Mina Abe (center) and Kota Osabe (right) are trying to promote blowing bubbles as an alternative to cigarette ...

Japanese Smoking Culture Proves Hard To Snuff Out

by Lucy Craft

Listen to the Story

Morning Edition

[3 min 50 sec]

Enlarge Courtesy of Tokyo Shabon-dama Club

Mina Abe (center) and Kota Osabe (right) are trying to promote blowing bubbles as an alternative to cigarette smoking in Japan.

text size A A A

January 2, 2012

For generations of Japanese, smoking has been all but synonymous with manhood and hard work. During Japan's high-growth period in the 1960s, the smoking rate for males topped 80 percent, twice as high as the rate during America's smoking heyday.

In a country that's so tobacco friendly, it's no wonder anti-smoking initiatives have trouble gaining traction. That's despite the estimated $90 billion being spent on cigarette-related health costs and damages every year, three times what cigarette sales bring in annually, according to the Japan Health Economics Association.

Anti-smoking activist Bungaku Watanabe says Japan has been dragging its feet on the kind of smoking regulations that are now common in other advanced countries.

"It's not that Japanese love smoking so much," he says, "it's that tobacco has been a pillar of Japanese national policy."

It's no accident that the national headquarters of Japan Tobacco, the world's third-largest tobacco company, is located near the seat of government in Tokyo.

Japan Tobacco is a majority government-owned company and Japan's tobacco lobby has used that proximity to successfully fend off several anti-smoking initiatives.

So while only about a quarter of American men smoke, the rate for Japanese males remains stuck at about one-third. Activists say most Japanese smokers want to quit, and would if prices were in line with other first-world countries.

But with lung cancer rates spiking, there finally seem to be changes afoot. On the main streets of Tokyo, where pedestrians once slung their lit cigarettes with abandon, smokers have now been banished to segregated areas of buildings and train stations.

Bubbles Instead of Ashes

It's not that Japanese love smoking so much, it's that tobacco has been a pillar of Japanese national policy.

- Anti-smoking activist Bungaku Watanabe

And then there's the quirky alternative that Mina Abe, an executive assistant in her 20s, and Kota Osabe, a 30-something I.T. engineer, are promoting. They stand in what was once the smoking area of a Tokyo restaurant wielding green plastic pipes that they hold like cigarettes. The pair contentedly fills the air not with smoke, but with bubbles.

"This used to be an ashtray and we filled it with soap that we can blow bubbles with," Abe says.

"Everyone thinks we're crazy," Kota adds. "When I demonstrated this for a TV show, people stared and one guy tried to drop ashes in my bubbles."

Abe and Kota say they weren't looking for a way to wean smokers off their addiction. They were just looking for an alternative to a social ritual so deeply ingrained in Japanese culture that it's hard to imagine society functioning well without it.

"You have to be in that community of smoking people to be able to reach out to important people," Abe says. "It's really a tool to get to the people you want to talk to. So you don't really want to smoke, but you feel like you have to be smoking in order to be a member of that kind of community."

Restaurant owner Hima Furuta agrees that without their nicotine props, shy Japanese often have a hard time breaking the ice.

"The smoking area is a kind of a communication space for the Japanese people because usually they can't communicate with different types of people," Furuta says, "especially the higher class of the company."

It's not exactly a movement yet, but Abe and Kota are taking their quiet bubble crusade to shopping centers, festivals and eateries in hopes of showing this stubbornly tobacco-friendly nation an alternative to one of their preferred social pastimes.

武家茶用茶室「再現」

2012-01-02T01:32:00.000-08:00

松屋銀座で武将茶人・上田宗箇の世界展－武家茶用茶室「再現」ブースも

（2011年12月30日）

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写真を拡大

大海茶入　銘「上田大海」　上田宗箇所用　広島・上田流和風堂蔵

　松屋銀座（中央区銀座3、TEL 03-3567-1211）で12月30日、武将で茶人、作陶も手がけた上田宗箇（そうこ）生誕450年を記念した特別展「上田宗箇武将茶人の世界展」が始まった。

　1563（永禄6）年、尾張・星崎に生まれた上田宗箇は、本能寺の変、九州の島津攻略、小田原の陣、大阪夏の陣で戦利を上げた武将。交戦の口火を切る「一番槍」として知られ、豊臣秀吉や徳川家康などの権力者から認められた。

　戦利で豊臣姓を受け広島に1万7000石の領地を受領すると、当時「天下一」の文化人ともいわれた古田織部に弟子入り。利休の一切をそぎ落とした「わび」と、織部の多様な「へうげ」の世界を融合させ、自身の茶道具の美意識を「ウツクシキ」という言葉で表現。「武家にふさわしい新たな茶の湯」の創造に尽力した。

　宗箇を流祖とする「上田宗箇流」は、江戸時代に「茶事預り」制度を設けるなど桃山慶長時代の茶の湯の伝統を受け継ぐ。広島を中心に、中国地方、関東、関西、ドイツ、アメリカ、オーストラリアなど国内外に門下がある。

　宗箇生誕450年を記念した同展では、宗箇の武将、茶人の両面に及ぶ活躍を紹介する。「武将」としては上田家に伝わる文書や歴史資料を並べ、「茶人」としては、武家茶人の特徴でもある手作り茶碗・銘「さても」や織部肩衝（かたつき）茶入など、宗箇ゆかりの文化財を展示する。

　上田流和風堂（広島市）では2008年、江戸初期の上屋敷の図面に基づいた再現事業が完成。会場では織部や宗箇による江戸初期の武家茶の構成を伝える同茶室をブースで「再現」する。

　入場料は、一般＝1,000円、高大生＝700円、中学生以下無料など。開催時間は10時～20時（12月31日は18時まで、1月2日は9時30分～19時30分まで、1月3日は19時30分まで）。1月1日休業。1月16日まで。

熊本の焼肉屋 ‐ 孫三郎/福島核電場/ A powerful earthquake

2012-01-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

A powerful earthquake struck Japan on New Year's Day, shaking buildings in Tokyo and startling a nation still recovering from last year's quake-triggered tsunami.

日本NHK放一熊本的孫三郎和牛燒烤店，同時在香港、新加坡、上海開分店的奮鬥的故事。BBC播去年最家紀錄影片，主題是日本某市受海嘯災難，十分之九建築物被吞噬，養老院的主持人如何奮力往山上疏散，以及某影片中每一位驚慌失措地逃難的災民之下落…….。復習此片，還是百感交集。

之前的新聞中說，福島核電場成功地進入他們40年計畫中的第二步……。

熊本の焼肉屋 ‐ 炭火焼肉 孫三郎

炭火焼肉孫三郎は高級黒毛和牛A5ランクの黒樺牛を職人が厳選し一頭買。焼肉はもちろんの事、各種ホルモンも、低価格でおいしい熊本の焼肉屋それが炭火焼肉孫三郎 。

初日の出、年賀はがきの配達スタート、紅白

2011-12-31T20:05:00.000-08:00

年賀はがきの配達スタート　震災影響し枚数減る見込み

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

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

2011-12-31T05:26:00.001-08:00

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

The "teleco-soup" exhibit by Tabaimo at the Venezia Biennale's Japanese Pavilion (Wakato Onishi)Takahiro Iwasaki's exhibited work at Yokohama Triennale. The modest tower is crafted from hair and dust. (Wakato Onishi)Chim Pom exhibit at the Maruki Gallery (Wakato Onishi)"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

2011-12-31T05:17:00.000-08:00

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.

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.

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.

日本放寬武器出口禁令

2011-12-30T01:31:00.000-08:00

日本放寬武器出口禁令

日

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。）

感謝有您邁向2012

2011-12-29T17:28:00.001-08:00

感謝有您 邁向2012

hc的”剪貼簿”在2011年約有25萬人次造訪

戴明圈: A Taiwanese Deming Circle

"交情千千" 電子連絡簿(日報)

胡適的世界 The World of Hu Shih

管理學新生

 Books Birdviews 書海

 People 人物

 品質世界 quality world

教育人

 英文人行道 et cetera, et cetera .

漢語人行道：演變風貌

 譯藝

 英國風

 日本心得帖

 亞洲

 SHE健康一生

Sori Yanagi dies at 96; pioneer of Japanese industrial design

2011-12-28T21:23:00.000-08:00

柳宗理さん= Sori Yanagi

Photo: Sori Yanagi's "butterfly stool"

Images for Sori Yanagi
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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.

Sori Yanagi dies at 96; pioneer of Japanese industrial design

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

Sori Yanagi | Industrial designer, 96 | Philadelphia Inquirer ...‎ - Philadelphia Inquirer

Japanese pioneer designer of arty stools and kitchenware Sori ...‎ - Washington Post

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

By Associated Press, Published: December 26

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.

Report slams response to nuclear crisis

2011-12-28T16:33:00.000-08:00

2011年12月28日 13:48 PM
日本公佈福島核事故調查中期報告
Report slams response to nuclear crisis
英國《金融時報》中本美智代東京報導

The operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant and its regulators all failed in their duty to adequately prepare for and respond promptly to a major emergency, contributing to the worst nuclear accident in a quarter century, according to a committee investigating the disaster.

調查日本核事故的委員會表示，福島第一核電站(Fukushima Daiichi)運營商及其監管機構均未能履行自己的職責，沒有為重大突發事件做好充足準備並迅速作出回應，從而導致了25年來最嚴重的核事故。

Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the Fukushima plant, and its regulators were so unprepared for a major nuclear emergency that they lacked even the basic safety measures to respond to a disaster of the scale that hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the wake of the March 11 tsunami, the committee states in an interim report of its findings.

該委員會在其發布的中期調查報告中表示，福島第一核電站運營商東京電力公司(Tokyo Electric Power)及其監管機構完全沒有為應對一場突發的重大核事故做好準備，以致於在今年3月11日海嘯之後，他們甚至沒有對福島第一核電站發生的巨大災難採取基本的安全措施。

Tepco's off-site emergency response headquarters for example, was housed in a building that “was not designed to withstand elevated radiation levels, although it was intended for use in nuclear emergencies”, and did not even have air cleaning filters, it says.

該委員會稱，例如，東京電力公司的遠程應急總部所在的大樓“在最初設計時沒有考慮抵禦增強的輻射水平，儘管他們打算在發生核事故時啟用這些設施”，他們甚至沒有空氣淨化過濾器。

“Tepco did not take precautionary measures in anticipation that a severe accident could be caused by tsunami such as the one (that hit Fukushima Daiichi) … Neither did the regulatory authorities,” the committee states in its report.

委員會在報告中表示：“東電沒有預計到（重創第一核電站的）海嘯可能造成嚴重事故，因此沒有採取預防措施……監管機構也是如此。”

The committee of 10 independent experts, which was commissioned by the government, also cites insufficient information gathering and poor communication among those in the government, the regulators and at Tepco as major factors that worsened the situation.

由10位獨立專家組成的委員會是接受政府委託進行調查的。該委員會還認為信息收集不充分，政府、監管機構和東電內部溝通不暢是造成局勢惡化的主要因素。

The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan's northeastern coast, led to explosions at three reactors and the release of high levels of radioactivity into the atmosphere and ocean.

今年3月11日，日本東北海岸地區發生了地震和海嘯，此後發生的福島第一核電站的核事故導致三座核反應堆發生爆炸，並向大氣和海洋釋放了高濃度的核輻射。

An area of up to 20km from the site has been closed off, more than 110,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes and concerns about radioactive contamination plague farmers, fishermen and consumers alike.

距事故發生地至多20公里的區域被封鎖，逾11萬人被迫撤離家園，農民、漁民和消費者擔心受到核輻射的污染。

It comes as the utility faces the prospect of nationalisation, to prevent bankruptcy, as the costs of compensating victims and decommissioning the damaged power plants threaten to increase liabilities in excess of assets.

委員會發布調查報告之際，東電為補償受害者和停運受損核電站而發生的成本有可能導致負債超過資產。為防止破產，該公司正面臨被國有化的前景。

The committee, which is set to continue its investigation until next summer, concludes that Japan's nuclear disaster prevention programme “had serious shortfalls” and calls for a “paradigm shift” in the country's approach to disaster prevention.

委員會將在明年夏季完成最終調查。它得出結論稱，日本的預防核災難方案“存在嚴重缺陷”，該國應“根本轉變”其預防災難的方式。

譯者/何黎

日本的快樂頌狂熱

2011-12-27T04:11:00.000-08:00

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.

琵琶湖

2011-12-26T21:23:00.000-08:00

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
琵琶湖
流入	野州川、日野川、愛知川、安曇川等
流出	瀨田川、宇治川、淀川等
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

關於其它同名地名，詳見「琵琶湖 (消歧義)」。

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。

[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之自來水以及灌溉、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。

1890年供應京都市用水的琵琶湖疎水開通。
1950年7月24日成立琵琶湖國家公園。
1964年9月琵琶湖大橋開通。
1980年制訂琵琶湖條例。
1993年列入濕地公約國際重要濕地名錄中。
2003年琵琶湖觀光利用條例施行。

[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。

煙雨－比叡的樹林
夕陽－瀨田石川的清流
涼風－雄松崎的白汀
曉霧－海津大崎的岩礁
新雪－賤岳的大觀
明月－彥根的古城
深綠－竹生島的倒影
春色－八幡的水鄉。

[编辑] 外部連結

[编辑] 注釋

Tokyo Sky Tree lights up for holiday nights

2011-12-25T22:21:00.000-08:00

2011/12/25

An aerial view of Tokyo Sky Tree lit up on Dec. 23. (Eiji Hori)The illuminated Tokyo Sky Tree is seen from a tour boat in Sumidagawa river in Tokyo. (Chisato Matsumoto)Many people flock to Genmoribashi bridge, about 600 meters west of Tokyo Sky Tree, to take pictures of the lit tower on Dec. 23. (Kazuhisa Kurokawa)Tokyo Sky Tree stands in a white glow on Dec. 23. (Toshiyuki Takeya)

Tokyo Sky Tree, a new broadcast tower under construction in Tokyo's Sumida Ward, was aglow in white lights on Dec. 23 to celebrate the holiday season.

In Japan, Radiation Fears Reshape Lives

2011-12-24T03:52:00.001-08:00

In Japan, Radiation Fears Reshape Lives

by Lucy Craft

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

Transcript

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.

- Japanese citizen Yoko Okazaki

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.

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.

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art of Japan: The Architects Other Passion See larger image Share your own customer images I own the rights to this ti

2011-12-24T01:29:00.001-08:00

See larger image

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art of Japan: The Architects Other Passion

Julia Meech (Author)

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

〈釣便圖〉池大雅（いけたいが1723年―1776年）

2011-12-23T19:58:00.000-08:00

〈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1723.6.6—1776.5.30）

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》為池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年―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

７０年代ブームの幸福駅、Artful sayonara for building facing destruction

2011-12-22T19:08:00.000-08:00

--
Artful sayonara for building facing destruction

BY HIROYUKI OTA STAFF WRITER

2011/12/22

The artist Nobuyuki Ohnishi displays some of his works at his studio in the Kudanshita Building. (Kengo Hiyoshi)A sign for the building at the entrance (Kengo Hiyoshi)Netting covers the Kudanshita Building that is in the process of being torn down. (Kengo Hiyoshi)

Artists are converging on a 85-year-old Tokyo building in the process of being torn down to give it a colorful sayonara.

７０年代ブームの幸福駅、人気再燃　外国人観光客に好評

国内外から観光客が訪れる幸福駅。廃線後に設置された「こうふくの鐘」は記念撮影スポットだ＝北海道帯広市幸福町

幸福駅

［

　１９７０年代に大ブームとなった「幸福駅」（北海道帯広市）が再び注目を集めている。幸せを呼びそうな文字が外国人観光客に好評で、高速道路の新区間も開通し、国内からの観光客増加も見込まれる。「幸福度１位」に輝いた福井県から移り住んだ人々の地でもある。地元にとってもハッピーなブームが再燃しそうな気配だ。

　「私にも彼氏ができますように」「手術が成功しますように」

　８７年に廃線になって使われなくなった幸福駅の待合室には、観光客が書いた願い事や名刺、幸せそうな写真などがびっしり貼り付けられている。７回来たという釧路市のパソコン修理業山田秀人さん（４２）は「ここに来ると、いやなことがあってもリセットされる。ちょっと幸福になれるパワーをもらった気もします」。

　「幸福開拓８０年史」などによると、１９０２（明治３５）年ごろから、大水害に襲われて田畑や家屋を失った福井県などの農家が駅周辺に移住。もともと付近一帯の地名は「幸震」だったが、１９１０年代ごろから「幸震」の「幸」と福井の「福」を取った「幸福」に変わったとされる。

日本核災: 等40年的努力之後再說

2011-12-22T03:55:00.000-08:00

Japan releases ambitious 40-year roadmap to fully close crippled Fukushima nuclear plant

By Associated Press,

TOKYO — Japan’s government said Wednesday that it could take 40 years to clean up and fully decommission a nuclear plant that went into meltdown after it was struck by a huge tsunami.

Nuclear crisis minister Goshi Hosono suggested that the timetable was ambitious, acknowledging that decommissioning three reactors with severely melted fuel plus spent fuel rods at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant was an “unprecedented project,” and that the process was not “totally foreseeable.”

Comments

“But we must do it even though we may face difficulties along the way,” Hosono told a news conference.

Under a detailed roadmap approved earlier Wednesday following consultation with experts and nuclear regulators, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. will start removing spent fuel rods within two to three years from their pools located on the top floor of each of their reactor buildings.

After that is completed, TEPCO will start removing the melted fuel, most of which is believed to have fallen to the bottom of the core or even down to the bottom of the larger, beaker-shaped containment vessel, a process that is expected to begin in 10 years and completed 25 years from now. The location and conditions of the melted fuel is not exactly known.

That’s more than twice as long as it took to remove the fuel from the Unit 2 reactor at Three Mile Island that suffered a partial meltdown in 1979.

Trade Minister Yukio Edano promised that authorities would ensure safety at the plant. He also vowed to pay attention to the concerns of tens of thousands of residents displaced when the plant was knocked out by Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami, spawning the world’s worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

“We must not allow the work toward decommissioning to cause any new risks or delay the return of the residents to their homes,” he said.

Completely decommissioning the plant would require five to 10 more years after the fuel debris removal, making the entire process up to 40 years, according to the roadmap.

The roadmap for Fukushima is twice as long the time set aside to decommission the Tokai Power Station, the country’s first commercial reactor that stopped operation in 1998.

The process still requires the development of robots and technology that can do much of the work remotely because of extremely high radiation levels inside the reactor buildings. Officials say they are aiming to have such robots by 2013 and start decontaminating the reactor buildings in 2014.

The operator and the government would also have to ensure a stable supply of workers and save them from exceeding exposure limits while keeping the long process going.

They also have to figure out ways to access each containment vessel and assess the extent of damage, as well as locate holes and cracks through which cooling water is leaking and flooding the area.

The decades-long process also would place an enormous financial burden on TEPCO. The ministers said that the total cost estimate cannot be provided immediately, but promised that there will be no delay because of financial reasons.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced last Friday that the plant has achieved “cold shutdown conditions,” meaning the plant had been brought to stability in the nine months since the accident.

The announcement officially paves the way for a new phase that will eventually allow some evacuees back to less-contaminated areas currently off limits.

Experts say the plant 140 miles (230 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo is running with makeshift equipment and remains vulnerable to cold weather and earthquakes.

Another problem is huge volume of radioactive waste and debris that will come out of the plant during its dismantling process. Officials said they have not decided what to do with them and that part is not covered by the 40-year roadmap.

“We still need to discuss what to do with the waste, including development of such technology,” said Koichi Noda, a trade ministry official in charge of nuclear accident cleanup.

The two ministers acknowledged that they may not be even around to see the decommissioning process through the end.

“I will take responsibility as a person and get involved in this as long as I live,” Edano said.

絆

2011-12-20T16:54:00.001-08:00

1.　絆　　部首　糸　部首外筆畫　5　總筆畫　11

注音一式　ㄅㄢˋ

漢語拼音　ｂｎ

注音二式　ｂｎ


		勒馬的繩子。北史˙卷二十六˙宋隱傳：「軍人有盜馬絆者，斬而循，於是三軍震懼，莫敢犯法。」

		行動時，被東西給纏住或擋住。如：「絆倒」。水滸傳˙第六十九回：「那馬卻待回頭，背後絆馬索齊起，將馬絆倒。」
		引申為約束﹑纏累的意思。如：「羈絆」。唐˙杜甫˙曲江詩二首之一：「細推物理須行樂，何用浮名絆此身。」宋˙蘇軾˙送春詩：「夢裡青春可得追，欲將詩句絆餘暉。」

はん【^×絆】

［人名用漢字］　［音］ハン（呉）（漢）　バン（慣）　［訓］きずな　ほだし　ほだす

〈ハン〉つなぎとめるひも。束縛するもの。きずな。「羈絆(きはん)・脚絆(きゃはん)」

〈バン〉つなぎとめる。「絆創膏(ばんそうこう)」

當大多數人對於明（2012）年都抱持著悲觀的預期之際，筆者願以這幾個漢字，與廣大讀者共同勉勵：唯有人與人之間的互相幫助，才能夠渡過險惡的難關；而從小處著手，並且從最細微處開始關心旁人及外界的變化，才有可能安渡各項來自於氣候、經濟與金融的挑戰。

12月12日，日本漢字能力檢定協會當天公佈了最能代表2011年的年度漢字－「絆」（50萬票中獲得了6萬多票）。在日文中，「絆」字有「牽掛」、「人與人之間無法切斷的聯繫」之意。在「絆」之後，排名第二和第三的漢字分別是「災」和「震」。

據日本京都報導指出，今年「絆」會字出線的理由是：自311日本大地震之後，「絆」這個字幾乎成為人們嘴裏最常出現的字眼。不少日本人在大地震之後，才真正感到身邊的家人和朋友，對自己人生的意義無比重大，每個人與其他人都是不可分離的，就像有紐帶相連一樣。

從1995年起，日本漢字檢定協會每年都會公佈年度漢字，這些漢字由民眾投票產生，票數最多者隨即當選。每一個漢字都是日本一年來，世態民情的縮影。這項活動17年來從未有重覆字眼出現－震、食、倒、毒、末、金、戰、歸、虎、災、愛、命、偽、變、新、暑、絆。

在此之前的3天，由旺報、廈門商報、新浪網主辦的「2011海峽兩岸年度漢字評選」，由兩岸名人與網友共同推薦出42個年度代表漢字，經過近1個月的網路評選，最後在12月9日，「微」字以40多萬票的支持，當選今年海峽兩岸年度漢字。

新幹線の停電、「２ミリ」が原因　ＪＲ東海

2011-12-20T03:47:00.000-08:00

新幹線の停電、「２ミリ」が原因　ＪＲ東海

　東海道新幹線の三島―静岡間上り線で１７日深夜に起き、新幹線が最大約５時間遅れた停電について、ＪＲ東海は２０日、送電設備の工事で、規格と２ミリ異なる部品を使ったことが原因と発表した。

　同社によると、新幹線の送電線はボルトとナット、ボルトに押し入れてナットを支えるピンで固定する。ピンとボルトの穴は直径４ミリに統一しているが、１９９０年の工事で業者が同６ミリの部品を使った。９９年にピンのみ同４ミリに交換し、緩んでショートしたという。

　この停電では、計約１１００人が乗った新幹線２本が立ち往生した。

燕子花図尾形光琳 Ogata Kōrin

2011-12-20T03:39:00.000-08:00

20 多年前我買一個復製的小燕子花図
幾年前出乎意外為雨水所浸濕
非常可惜

燕子花図尾形光琳 Ogata Kōrin

Ogata Kōrin (尾形光琳^?, 1658 - June 2, 1716) was a Japanese painter of the Rinpa school.^[1]

Ogata Korin's "Red and White Plum Blossoms," a folding screen w

National treasure's silver waves recreated via computer

BY KAZUMASA NISHIOKA STAFF WRITER

2011/12/20

Silver-colored waves were reproduced through computer graphics after an analysis of crystals on the painting. (Provided by Izumi Nakai, professor of analytical chemistry at the Tokyo University of Science)

Ogata Korin's "Red and White Plum Blossoms," a folding screen with a painting from the 18th century (MOA Museum of Art)

After fading over time, the dazzling silvery waves of a dark river originally depicted in a national treasure screen painting from the 18th century have been reproduced via computer by a team of researchers, giving testament to the brilliance of the original masterpiece.

尾形光琳

燕子花図

尾形光琳（おがたこうりん、万治元年（1658年） - 享保元年6月2日（1716年 7月20日））は、江戸時代の画家。工芸家。

尾形光琳は、後代に「琳派」と呼ばれる装飾的大画面を得意とした画派を生み出した始祖であり、江戸時代中期を代表する画家のひとりである。主に京都の富裕な町衆を顧客とし、王朝時代の古典を学びつつ、明快で装飾的な作品を残した。その非凡な意匠感覚は「光琳模様」という言葉を生み、現代に至るまで日本の絵画、工芸、意匠などに与えた影響は大きい。画風は大和絵風を基調にしつつ、晩年には水墨画の作品もある。大画面の屏風のほか、香包、扇面、団扇などの小品も手掛け、手描きの小袖、蒔絵などの作品もある。また、実弟の尾形乾山の作った陶器に光琳が絵付けをするなど、その制作活動は多岐にわたっている。

来歴・人物 [編集]

風神雷神図

尾形家と呉服商雁金屋 [編集]

光琳は万治元年 (1658)、京都の呉服商「雁金屋」の当主・尾形宗謙の次男として生まれた。光琳30歳の時、父宗謙が死去し、光琳の兄が家督を継いだ。その頃、雁金屋の経営は破綻していたが、生来遊び人であった光琳は遊興三昧の日々を送って、相続した莫大な財産を湯水のように使い果たし、弟の尾形乾山からも借金するようなありさまであった。40代になって画業に身を入れ始めたのもこうした経済的困窮が一因であった。大画面の装飾的な屏風絵から、水墨画まで作風は多彩だが、どの作品にも都市的な感覚と意匠があふれている。弟の乾山との合作による陶器の絵付け、手描き小袖の絵付け、漆工芸品の意匠に至るまで、幅広くその才能を発揮している。

尾形家の祖先伊春は、足利義昭に仕える上級武士であったといわれるが、正確なところはわからない。伊春の子・尾形道柏（光琳の曽祖父）の代に染色業を始めたという。道柏の夫人は本阿弥光悦の姉であり、光悦と光琳は遠い姻戚関係にあることになる。道柏の子・宗柏は光悦流の書をよくする風流人であった。呉服商雁金屋は慶長年間には高台院、淀殿、徳川家康、徳川秀忠および同夫人江など当代一流の人物を顧客としていたが、宗柏の時代には東福門院（徳川秀忠娘、後水尾天皇中宮）の用を務めるようになった。宗柏の末子で、雁金屋の後継ぎとなったのが光琳・乾山兄弟の父である尾形宗謙 (1621–87) だった。この宗謙も光悦流の書をよくし、絵も描くという多趣味な人物だった。光琳は宗謙の次男として万治元年（1658年）生まれた。宗謙の38歳の時の子である。初名を惟富（これとみ）、通称を市之丞といった。5歳下の弟・権平が後に画家、陶芸家として知られるようになる乾山である。当時のファッションの先端だった呉服商に生まれた光琳は、少年時代から能楽、茶道、書道などに親しんだ。こうした環境が後の彼の画風に大きく影響したと思われる。絵は狩野派の流れをくむ山本素軒に師事したとされるが、その時期等はくわしくわかっていない。

雁金屋の経営は、年間5千両以上も発注し最大の得意先だった東福門院の崩御（延宝6年・1678年）を期に傾きつつあった。また、米を担保に大名に金子を融資する「大名貸し」を行って、その多くが貸し倒れになったことも雁金屋の経営悪化に拍車をかけた。こうした中で光琳30歳の貞享4年（1687年）宗謙が死去し雁金屋は兄藤三郎が継いだが、光琳が画業に傾注したのはこのような家業の経営難で激減した収入を絵で補うという面が大きかった。

画業の開始 [編集]

光琳は30歳台前半に浩臨と改名。「光琳」の名が史料上確認できるのは35歳の（1692年）が初見である。44歳の元禄14年（1701年）には法橋の位を得ている（「法橋」は本来は高僧に与えられる僧位のひとつだが、後に絵師、仏師などにも与えられるようになった）。光琳の作品には制作年代を確定できるものは少ないが、多くの作品に「法橋光琳」の落款が見られることから、彼が本格的な絵画を制作したのは法橋位を得た44歳以後、59歳で没するまでの十数年間だと推定されている。光琳の代表作のひとつ『燕子花図』（かきつばたず）屏風は、彼の作品中、比較的初期ものとされている。この屏風には「法橋光琳」の落款があるが、「法橋」の2字は別人による書き入れとする説が有力で、この説にしたがえば、『燕子花図』は光琳の法橋位受領以前の作品となる。

光琳は公家、大名、役人など、多くのパトロンをもっていた。五摂家のひとつ、二条家の当主で摂政・関白を務めた二条綱平の屋敷にはたびたび出入りしていることが記録からわかり、前述の法橋位が与えられたのも、綱平の推挙によるところが大きかったと推測されている。また、京都の銀座（貨幣鋳造所）の役人で裕福であった中村内蔵助 (1669–1730) とも親交があり、光琳は内蔵助の肖像画（現存、大和文華館収蔵）を描いている。光琳は中村内蔵助の娘を引き取って数年間養育し、その娘は後に光琳の息子と結婚するなど、光琳と内蔵助の関係は単なるパトロン、援助者という以上のものがあったようである。小林太市郎は、「光琳と乾山」（『世界の人間像』第7巻、角川書店）の中で、「内蔵助が光琳の愛人たることは毫もうたがう余地がない」と断定した。

江戸下向と帰洛 [編集]

躑躅図

光琳は江戸詰となった中村内蔵助を頼り、宝永元年 (1704) 頃、江戸へ下った。この頃の光琳は相変わらず経済的には貧窮していたようである。江戸では姫路藩主酒井家から扶持を得、また、津軽家や豪商の三井家、住友家、冬木家（江戸深川の豪商）などともつながりがあった。現存する「冬木小袖」（東京国立博物館収蔵）は、光琳が手描きで秋草文様を描いた小袖で、冬木家に伝来したものであり、『紅白梅図』屏風（MOA美術館収蔵）は津軽家に伝来したものである。

光琳は5年ほど江戸に滞在した後、宝永6年 (1709) に京都へ戻っている。正徳元年 (1711) には京都の新町通り二条下ル（二条城の東方）に新居を構え、ここで制作した。この屋敷については建築当時の図面等の資料が残されており、静岡県熱海市のMOA美術館構内に「光琳屋敷」として復元されている。光琳の代表作のひとつである『紅白梅図』屏風は晩年の作とされ、この屋敷の2階の画室で描かれたと推定される。

死の3年前の正徳3年 (1713) には、長男の寿市郎に宛てて今日の遺言書に相当する書を書いているが、その文中に光琳は「相究タル家業モ之レ無ク」と書いている。このことから、光琳が画業を「家業」と見なしておらず、しっかりした家業がないため、息子の寿市郎を他家へ養子に出す決心をしたことがわかる。

小西家資料 [編集]

光琳の長男・寿市郎の養子先の小西家には、光琳および雁金屋に関する文書・史料がまとまって保管されていた。これらは「尾形光琳関係資料」として重要文化財に指定されている（大阪市立美術館と京都国立博物館に分かれて所蔵）。この中には光琳の父・宗謙の遺書、光琳本人の遺書などの文書類のほか、『鳥獣写生帖』などの光琳の写生帖、画稿、意匠図案集などが多数含まれており、光琳の生涯および作品を研究するうえで貴重な資料である。画稿の中には光琳の作品としては唯一のものとされる美人図が含まれる。

代表作 [編集]

『八橋図』六曲屏風二隻

光琳の作品には、制作年代のはっきりわかる作品は少なく、画風や、画面に捺されている印章などから制作年が推定されている。

光琳と並び称される俵屋宗達は、生没年未詳の人物で、直接的な師弟関係はない。しかし、光琳の絵には『風神雷神図』『槙楓図』のように宗達の原画に基づいて描かれたものがあることから、光琳が宗達に学ぶ意識のあったことは間違いない。ただ、光琳の作品には、宗達工房や宗雪工房など宗達亜流の作品からの影響が強いことは留意する必要がある。また、江戸下向時代は雪村の絵に感銘を受けたらしく、模写した作品が何点か残っている。

絵画 [編集]

紅白梅図屏風（紅梅図）

紅白梅図屏風（白梅図）

『燕子花図』（かきつばたず）、六曲屏風、根津美術館、国宝
『中村内蔵助像』　大和文華館、宝永元年 (1704)、重文
『太公望図』　京都国立博物館、重文
『四季草花図巻』、個人所有、宝永年 (1705)
『八橋図』、六曲屏風二隻、ニューヨークメトロポリタン美術館
『波涛図』、二曲屏風一隻、ニューヨークメトロポリタン美術館
『風神雷神図』、二曲屏風、東京国立博物館、重文（俵屋宗達の作品を模したもの）
『夏草図』、二曲屏風、根津美術館
『孔雀葵花図』（くじゃくきかず）、二曲屏風、個人所有、重文
『槙楓図』（まきかえでず）六曲屏風一隻、東京藝術大学大学美術館、重文
『群鶴図』六曲屏風、ワシントンフリーア美術館
『躑躅図』（つつじず）畠山記念館、重文
『竹梅図』二曲屏風一隻墨画東京国立博物館、重文
『維摩図』（ゆいまず）、墨画、個人所有、重文
『秋好中宮図』、MOA美術館
『紅白梅図』、ニ曲一双屏風、MOA美術館、国宝

『紅白梅図』屏風の金地（金色の背景）について、2003年から翌年にかけての東京文化財研究所の蛍光X線による調査の結果、金箔を貼ったものではなく、金泥（金粉を膠で溶いた絵具）を使って描き、金箔の継ぎ目（箔足）をわざわざ描き出していた可能性が指摘された。一方、2010年のMOA美術館の発表によれば、X線回折法による再調査により、やはり金箔を貼ったものという調査結果が出たとしており、本屏風の制作技法については、なお議論が続いている。^[1]

工芸品 [編集]

八橋蒔絵螺鈿硯箱

『八橋蒔絵螺鈿硯箱』（やつはしまきえらでんすずりばこ）東京国立博物館、国宝
『白地秋草模様描絵小袖』（冬木小袖）、東京国立博物館、重文
『寿老図六角皿』、尾形乾山作陶・光琳絵付け、大倉集古館、重文
『銹絵松鶴図六角皿』尾形乾山作陶・光琳絵付け、個人蔵、宝永7年（1710年）、重文
『銹絵観鴎図角皿』尾形乾山作陶・光琳絵付け、東京国立博物館、重文

脚注 [編集]

^ 2010年2月15日付『読売新聞』社会面

参考資料 [編集]

平山郁夫他『水墨画の巨匠6 宗達・光琳』講談社、1994年 ISBN 4-06-253926-8
『新潮日本美術文庫8 尾形光琳』新潮社、1996年 ISBN 4-10-601528-5
仲町啓子『もっと知りたい尾形光琳生涯と作品』東京美術、2008年 ISBN 978-4-8087-0850-4

Japan less likely to trust officials, main media, since disaster 災後日本人不信官員媒體

2011-12-18T03:55:00.000-08:00

Japan less likely to trust officials, main media, since disaster

For many older Japanese, the government remains a trusted, paternal overseer. But younger Japanese are now consulting the Internet and other information sources, rather than depending on major media.

Physicist Ryugo Hayano of Tokyo University tweeted about foreign news reports of radioactive fallout after the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown. His Twitter following soared to 150,000 from 3,000. (Tom Miyagawa Coulton, For The Times / December 17, 2011)

By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times

December 18, 2011

Reporting from Tokyo—

Hajime Shiraishi's moment of truth came when her online video news show, at the time relatively unknown, decided to buck the government line and call a story as it saw it.

On March 11, after an earthquake-driven tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the world waited anxiously to see how its fragile reactors would fare.

Later that day, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, announced on national TV that all was well: The utility was on top of the accident. No radiation had been released into the atmosphere. Return to regular programming.

Mainstream media dutifully reported that story. But not Shiraishi's "Our Planet TV," which soon broadcast a live interview with five Japanese reporters in Futaba City, a community near the stricken plant. The reporters, who had covered the Chernobyl disaster, told a very different tale.

"They held up Geiger counters showing the level of radiation was almost beyond calculation," said Shiraishi, a former network TV journalist who co-founded the Internet venture in 2001, hosts the show and reports many of its stories. "They'd never seen anything like it."

For Shiraishi and others, that broadcast was a turning point, a moment many see as marking a profound shift in the trust younger Japanese place in government and media. Since that show, "Our Planet TV" viewership has shot up from about 1,000 to more than 100,000 as people have begun to seek alternative sources of information.

The change appears to be largely generational. For many older Japanese, the government remains a trusted, paternal overseer. But younger Japanese are now consulting the Internet and other information sources, rather than depending on major media.

Many people also have become more vocal in their criticism of how Tokyo bureaucrats — many with ties to the nation's powerful nuclear power industry — withheld information in the early days of the disaster. Officials now say they did so to avoid a public panic.

One Internet site has featured 600,000 comments by people describing how they no longer believe the reassurances issued by either the central government or Tepco about nuclear safety.

Such skepticism is considered rare in a nation where citizens from an early age are taught to respect authority. As a rule, Japanese don't wage noisy public protests like their South Korean neighbors. Most people observe rules and expect others to do so as well: They don't jaywalk, preferring to obediently wait — often in large groups — for the traffic light to change even on an empty street. They carefully line up for public transportation and rarely talk on their cellphones while riding buses or trains.

But when it comes to radiation, residents have decided to take matters into their own hands. In what has become known as the "measurement movement," young families in this nation long known for safety and hygiene have acquired their own Geiger counters and dosimeters to gauge radiation exposure. Many of the devices can be purchased at DVD rental stories, where they are stocked next to the latest blockbuster movies.

Others check the Internet for daily radiation updates.

As the central government has relaxed radiation limits for food, nuclear workers and even school playgrounds, residents have established community groups to take collective action to ensure that the levels remain safe.

The Radiation Defense Project, for instance, which grew out of a Facebook discussion page, has taken steps such as collecting money to take soil samples on school grounds in Tokyo and elsewhere and have them analyzed at private testing facilities.

Even after the Tokyo city government tried to reassure residents, announcing that it would conduct radiation tests on samples of store-bought food, consumers remain doubtful. Some independent groups have established free, on-the-spot analysis of radioactive isotopes in food products at stores in Fukushima prefecture, where the nuclear meltdown took place.

Once nearly ignored by the public, nuclear physicist Ryugo Hayano is amazed by the attention he's been receiving. Since 2008, the 59-year-old Tokyo-based scholar has made regular Twitter posts about his research, attracting about 3,000 followers before the March disaster.

But after the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, Hayano took an interest in radioactive fallout. He tweeted that foreign news reports of the isotope cesium spilling into the atmosphere were a dangerous sign for public health. Within three days, his following soared to more than 150,000.

Hayano explains his sudden popularity by noting that many Japanese, including himself, believe they're not being told the whole story by the nation's traditional information outlets.

"Whether TV news or the government, people are now criticizing authority in fundamental ways they didn't before," said Hayano, a graying, dapper man with a white handkerchief in the breast pocket of his maroon blazer. "They're making accusations about ministers hiding information, or not releasing it quickly enough. They've come to learn that they cannot trust the government like they did before March 11."

Hayano said he doesn't know how far the distrust will reach, or whether Japanese, young and old, will return to their conformist ways once the radiation danger has passed. But for now he's working hard to fill the information gap.

These days he regularly posts links on Twitter to interpretive charts that break down statistics released by the government and utilities. "It's analysis they're not getting anywhere else," he said.

Shiraishi's "Our Planet TV" also strives to keep independent information flowing. The weekly broadcast features stories on Japanese conducting their own radiation tests on breast milk, food and even the piles of rubble that still remain across northeastern Japan.

Viewer response has been overwhelming. Many send notes of praise, along with unsolicited donations, explaining that they want to help keep this information source open. Since March, "Our Planet TV," which relies solely on viewer contributions, has seen such support increase tenfold.

In one recent show, Shiraishi interviewed officials at a charity that has set up free medical consultations for mothers and schoolchildren in the Fukushima area.

Another guest was a cancer researcher who emphasized that no matter what assurances the government has made about public safety, children were showing up with "new clinical symptoms of low-dose radiation exposure."

That show brought the highest-ever number of viewers.

"As soon as we broadcast anything about radiation, viewership just goes through the roof," Shiraishi said. "People tell us that they're now just learning that what the government has been telling them all along might just be a fairy tale."

日本年齡層/日本3月的震災垃圾抵加拿大溫哥華島/Fukushima Plant Stable

2011-12-17T05:03:00.000-08:00

日本3月的震災垃圾抵加拿大溫哥華島
Debris apparently from Japan tsunami wash up on Canada beach
Washington Post
Debris apparently from the tsunami that hit Japan in March are washing up on beaches on Vancouver Island. Much greater amounts of debris could reach the US And Canada in the next year. (Dec. 16) (/The Associated Press) Correction: Clarification: ...

Japan's Prime Minister Declares Fukushima Plant Stable
New York Times
By HIROKO TABUCHI TOKYO — Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan has declared an end to the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl, saying technicians have regained control of reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. ...

Fleeing from Malthus

Dec 16th 2011, 15:17 by The Economist Online

Will Africa's population boom end in dividend or disaster?

AFRICAN demography is unique. It is the only continent that will double in size, reaching 2 billion people by 2045 at current rates. Some countries, such as Liberia and Niger, are growing faster still. They are due to double in size in less than 20 years—an increase that is causing forecasts of Malthusian disaster for countries that cannot feed themselves. Yet Africa is also showing signs of embarking on the same transition towards smaller families that has occurred everywhere else, thus avoiding the Malthusian trap. When fertility started to fall in Asia after 1960 and Latin America after 1970 it did so quickly, ineluctably and universally. The number of children a woman could expect in her lifetime fell from six to two in a generation. Evidence of lower fertility is raising hopes that Africa can reap a “demographic dividend”, the economic benefit countries get when the share of the working-age population rises relative to children and old people.

いろはにほへと

2011-12-15T23:20:00.001-08:00

在五十音順以外偶爾會使用伊呂波順（いろは順，iroha-jun）。其來自於日本平安時代的《伊呂波歌》。這首詩歌最早見於1079年，是一種字母歌的型式，將每個音節各自使用一次：

片假名
（除去濁點）

漢字
與假名

翻譯

イロハニホヘト

チリヌルヲ

ワカヨタレソ

ツネナラム

ウヰノオクヤマ

ケフコエテ

アサキユメミシ

ヱヒモセス

色は匂へど

散りぬるを

我が世誰ぞ

常ならむ

有為の奥山

今日越えて

浅き夢見じ

酔ひもせず

花朵艷麗終散落

誰人世間能長久

今日攀越高山嶺

醉生夢死不再有

いろはにほへと　ちりぬるを
わかよたれそ　　つねならむ
うゐのおくやま　けふこえて
あさきゆめみし　ゑひもせすん

色は匂へど　散りぬるを
我が世誰そ　常ならむ
有為の奥山　今日越えて
浅き夢見じ　酔ひもせず

平安時代末期に流行。
『涅槃経（ねはんきょう）』の
「諸行無常　是正滅法　生滅滅己　寂滅為楽」を表すと言われる。

色は匂へど　散りぬるを
香りよく色美しく咲き誇っている花も、やがては散ってしまう。
諸行無常（しょぎょうむじょう）

我が世誰そ　常ならむ
この世に生きる私たちとて、いつまでも生き続けられるものではない。
是生滅法（ぜしょうめっぽう）

有為の奥山　今日越えて
この無常の、有為転変の迷いの奥山を今乗り越えて
生滅滅己（しょうめつめつい）

浅き夢見じ　酔ひもせず
悟りの世界に至れば、もはや儚い夢を見ることなく、現象の仮相の世界に酔いしれることもない安らかな心境である。
寂滅為楽（じゃくめついらく）

「今様」という形式（七五を四回繰り返す）を守り、その上、全ての仮名を１回ずつ使うという制約のもとで、これだけの意味のある歌が作られたことは、奇跡と呼んでも過言ではないでしょう。そう思いませんか？

いろはうたの他にも、同じ条件で書かれた詩があります。

あめつちうた（平安時代初期）
あめつちほしそら（天地星空）
やまかはみねたに（山川峰谷）
くもきりむろこけ（雲霧室苔）
ひといぬうへすゑ（人犬上末）
ゆわさるおふせよ（硫黄猿生ふせよ）
えのえをなれゐて（榎の枝を馴れ居て）

あめつちのうた（本居宣長作）
あめふれは　ゐせきをこゆる（雨降れば　井堰を越ゆる）
みつわけて　やすくもろひと（水分けて安く諸）
おりたちうゑし　むらなへ（下り立ち植ゑし　群苗）
そのいねよ　まほにさかえぬ（その稲よ　真穂に栄えぬ）

ひふみうた
（うたとして、祝詞として、祓詞として読む場合、それぞれに、区切る箇所が違う。以下は祝詞の場合の三五七区切り）
ひふみ　よいむなや　こともちろらね
しきる　ゆゐつわぬ　そをたはくめか
うおえ　にさりへて　のますあせゑほ
れーけー

今回色々調べてみまして、この「ひふみうた」に興味を持ちました。
冒頭の「ひふみよいむなやこともち」は「一二三四五六七八九十百千」のこと。
この最初の十文字が、日（火という説も）、風、水、世、井草、虫、岩魚、鳥、獣、人を表していて、暗に進化の過程を表しているのだとか、いやいや実は最初の十文字を古代ヘブライ語で読むと、天照大神を岩戸から呼び出すことばなのだとか、数々の興味深い事例に遭遇しました。ああ、日本語は、奥が深くて楽しい。
上記３つのうたの他にも、一文字ずつ使った歌が十以上ありました。

にほんごであそぼふぁんさいと

九州電力(Kyushu Electric Power Co.)的玄海核電站泄漏了大約1.8噸放射性污水

2011-12-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

日

本政府周六表示，日本西南部的一座核電站泄漏了大約1.8噸放射性污水，但并未進入外部環境，未對安全構成威脅。

就在日本努力穩定福島第一核電站之際，九州電力(Kyushu Electric Power Co.)的玄海核電站又發生了上述泄漏問題。

日本原子力保安院(Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency)官員Toshiyuki Koganeya表示，泄漏未引發安全風險，3號反應堆的污水已經移至存儲區。

Yoree Koh

Sumo : Where Giants Dance and Crash in Japan

2011-12-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

Journeys

Where Giants Dance and Crash in Japan

Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

Sumo wrestlers performing the opening ceremony on Jan. 11 at a tournament at the Kokugikan, Japan’s national sumo stadium in Tokyo. More Photos »

By ALIDA BECKER

Published: January 20, 2010

AT the edge of the balcony, a tiny woman was screaming. The elderly couple in the next row were jumping up and down. Below us, all around the ring at the Kokugikan, Japan’s national sumo stadium in Tokyo, a roaring crowd hurled seat cushions into the air. My husband and I looked at each other in amazement. After two weeks of travel among the intently well-behaved, rigorously unflappable Japanese, were we about to have a peek behind that decorous facade?

Tokyo Travel Guide

Go to the Tokyo Travel Guide »

Multimedia

Slide Show

Where Sumo Wrestlers Square Off in Japan

Well, yes and no.

Certainly the huge, nearly naked wrestlers had little to hide. But even in their diaper-like loincloths, they maintained a dignified swagger. And while the crowd erupted in spontaneous shouts and demonstrations, the competition was carefully choreographed, full of rituals and pageantry. Nobody argued with the referee, not even the loud fan in the back who had brought an ample supply of beer. As for the apparently no-holds-barred wrestling — a flurry of pushing and grappling, like a skirmish between the schoolyard’s two biggest bullies — it was preceded and concluded by courtly bowing.

Like so much we’d already encountered in Japan, sumo turned out to be a mix of the seemingly approachable and the utterly confounding. It’s hard, after all, to let your hair down when it’s arranged in a topknot whose traditional shape hasn’t changed for centuries.

If cricket is a slow-moving mystery to most Americans, then sumo — in which bouts are usually over in a matter of seconds — is a puzzlement of a whole different order. The basic goal is simple: force your opponent to be the first either to step out of the roughly 15-foot-diameter ring or touch the ground with anything but the soles of his feet. The sport has been based in the Ryogoku neighborhood of Tokyo, on the east bank of the Sumida River, since the 17th century, although the 1980s-era stadium, which seats 11,000, looks as if it might have been teleported from Cleveland or Omaha. Except, of course, for the drum tower out front, a flimsy box on stilts where men bang out a fierce rhythm high above the crowds.

Inside, past the women handing out souvenir fans and the concessions selling hot dogs, a first glimpse of the ring brings back memories of the old Spectrum in Philadelphia. But unlike Mike Tyson or Marvin Hagler, these gigantic brawlers retreat to their corners not to be toweled off and patched up but to toss around handfuls of purifying salt and sip water from a bamboo ladle, then delicately pat their mouths on a folded cloth. The referee, dressed in a brilliantly colored kimono complete with a tall black headdress and a ceremonial fan, might have wandered in from the set of a Kabuki play. Up above him, where a Jumbotron might be, is the stylized roof of a Shinto shrine.

And that’s where the real explanations begin: sumo’s roots lie far back in Japanese history, as a performance to entertain and appease the spirits of Shinto, the animistic native religion whose shrines are still tended throughout the country, often co-existing with Buddhist temples. Established as a court ritual in medieval Japan, sumo wrestling gradually became a means of employment for samurai warriors in times of peace and emerged as a professional sport in the early 20th century.

Even now, though, it can seem to the outsider like a highly stylized kind of performance art. There’s a strangely lulling rhythm to the parades of contestants, the marching displays of the sponsors’ banners, the solemn recitations, even the ferocious stomping and high sideways kicking before the individual wrestlers square off. Then, in an instant, the pace changes: there’s a flurry of movement, and one wrestler is hurriedly sent off in defeat. (To add insult to injury, the loser is called the shini-tai, or “dead body.”)

Sumo is both high-stakes and hierarchical. The wrestlers live in training stables near the stadium, each one run by a master who regulates everything from what they can eat to what they can wear. Junior members act as servants to more highly rated wrestlers and enter the sport at the lowest level of its six divisions. They can move up only by performing well in the half-dozen tournaments held throughout the year — and, in the same way, their superiors can be bumped down.

Each tournament lasts 15 days, with the lowest-ranking entrants beginning competition at 8:30 in the morning. The audience grows as the day progresses, with the top two divisions competing from midafternoon until around 6 in the evening. There are no weight classes, but finesse can sometimes foil sheer bulk: an agile smaller wrestler, if he’s sufficiently skilled, can catch a 400-pound behemoth off balance. Then again, that jelly-bellied guy who looks like Santa on steroids may have the arms and legs of a body builder. Good luck getting him to move even an inch.

Foreigners can be admitted to sumo stables, but the sport’s governing body has acted to limit their numbers. The two currently active yokozuna, or grand champions, are from Mongolia, and among their strongest challengers are wrestlers from Bulgaria and Georgia. In 1993, Chad Rowan, a Hawaiian fighting under the name Akebono, became the first foreign-born competitor to achieve grand-champion status.

And what about the tournament we attended in September? That pillow-throwing melee was caused by the upset of a Mongolian favorite, who on the final day ended up tied with his rival at 14 wins and 1 loss each. In a playoff, the baby-faced yokozuna called Asashoryu celebrated his 29th birthday by collecting his 24th championship cup, using what The Japan Times described as “an underhanded frontal belt grip” and a “beltless arm throw.”

I’m still not entirely sure what that involves. But I am sure it’s not the sort of thing you ought to try at home.

DRUMS, PAGEANTRY AND BOWS

Championship sumo tournaments are held six times a year, rotating among Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka. For the current Tokyo tournament, which ends Jan. 24, tickets ranged in price from 14,300 Japanese yen, or about $154 at a rate of 89 yen to the dollar, for ringside boxes with Japanese-style seating (on the floor) to 2,100 yen, or about $23, for general admission in the balcony, where the seating is Western style. The next tournament starts March 14 in Osaka.

The English-language Web site of the Grand Sumo Association (sumo.or.jp/eng/) has detailed — and somewhat mind-boggling — information on how and when tickets may be bought. The Lawson and FamilyMart convenience stores in Tokyo also sell tickets, as does the Japan Travel Bureau, a national tourist agency with offices throughout the country (jtbusa.com/en/default.asp). In addition, hotel concierges can usually arrange tickets for early tournament rounds on fairly short notice.

The Web site of The Japan Times, a daily English-language newspaper, provides useful background reporting as well as maps and directions to the sumo stadiums, at japantimes.co.jp/sports/sumo_schedule.html.

Nagoya Castle may double as wedding chapel

2011-12-07T23:39:00.001-08:00

A lit-up Nagoya Castle in November (Yuta Takahashi)

Nagoya Castle may double as wedding chapel

December 08, 2011

NAGOYA--Die-hard history buffs may scowl, and the samurai warlords may be rolling in their graves, but Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura seems to think opening Nagoya Castle to the public for use as a wedding hall may be a match made in heaven in a financial sense.

The proposal was made late last month by an assembly member as a means to rejuvenate the city.

"If we could hold weddings at such a symbolic structure of Nagoya, nothing could beat that in terms of catching attention. It would take on a new significance beyond simply being a tourist site," said Liberal Democratic Party assembly member Takayuki Nakazato on Nov. 25, the opening day of the assembly session.

Mayor Kawamura was quick to show interest in the opposition party assembly member's proposal.

"If we could get someone to do that, it would be a great benefit," Kawamura said, on the plan to convert the castle into a wedding hall.

Visiting historic sites, such as medieval castles, has become a popular pastime not only among young men, but also with young women, often referred to as “Rekijo” (history girls).

Many youths have acquired a taste for visiting such historic monuments because they frequently appear in history-themed manga and anime.

Nagoya Castle was built in 1612 as a strategic post to fend off attacks against the Tokugawa Shogunate from the west. Despite sustaining major damage in air raids during World War II, three corner towers and the walls remain intact.

Meanwhile, the Nagoya city government is struggling to come up with new sources of revenue, particularly as Kawamura has vowed to slash residential taxes by 10 percent.

Other ideas floated at the assembly include a plan to create a transportation system that would link the castle with Nagoya Port.

日本 心得帖

2060年 日本65歲以上老人占4成

日圓高漲的製造業破壞力道強/ 日本鈽政策太恐怖

日本農業150年（1850-2000年）

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詳細資料

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SUNTORY

Suntory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

原発崩壊

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感謝有您邁向2012

日本的快樂頌狂熱

７０年代ブームの幸福駅、人気再燃　外国人観光客に好評

はん【^×絆】

新幹線の停電、「２ミリ」が原因　ＪＲ東海

新幹線の停電、「２ミリ」が原因　ＪＲ東海

燕子花図尾形光琳 Ogata Kōrin