Red Spider Lily お彼岸だったのね

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Red spider lily

Autumn has come and flowers in my neighborhood have been changing. I found these red spider lilies a few days ago and was surprised by their English name. Unlike the Japanese name, "red spider lily" represents the shape and color.

Their Japanese name is manjushage (曼殊沙華) or higan bana (彼岸花), both of which are related to Buddhism. Manjushage means flowers of the heavens. I learned for the first time that in Buddhism, there are several heavens. Higan bana means flowers (bana or hana) blooming during the higan period, i.e., the spring or autumnal equinox and the three days before and after the equinoxes (i.e., the seven days each), and during that period we are supposed to visit the graveyard of our ancestors. I didn't go to my ancestors' or my husband's ancestors' graveyard, but the flower gave me power and a chance to think about and pray for us and our ancestors.

秋の訪れとともに近所のお花も秋の花へ｡｡。ということで彼岸花の写真を撮りました。英語だと red spider lily。名は体を表していますね。ただそれに加えて、お彼岸が春分・秋分の日とその前後3日間の計7日間だということ、曼殊沙華が天の花、英語では flowers of heavens ともいい、仏教では天が複数あることを初めて知りました。お恥ずかしい｡｡。お墓参りには行けませんでしたが、家でご先祖様に想いを馳せ、感謝しました。

Nara Cuisine - Narazuke Pickled Gourds 瓢箪の奈良漬

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Narazuke pickles of gourds 瓢箪の奈良漬け

Interpreters Don't Do Shorthand 通訳と速記

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Sachiko used to work as an interpreter. The most troubling thing at that time for her was that her clients thought that she could reproduce what the speaker said based on notes she took during the interpretation. Interpreters take notes, but these aren't shorthand notes, but are for their short memories for thirty seconds or so and include only key points, such as what increases or decreases by how much/many for how long period.

When I asked her to show me what notes she would write, Sachiko jotted down something in a piece of paper on the table and showed it to me. The scribble means, "The number of employees of the manufacturing division in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan has been increasing from 1,000 to 2,500 for the last ten years."

She was often asked by her clients to teach about how to take notes, but couldn't teach it. She’s never read or learned it from others. She still didn't know why and how she ended up writing such notes.

幸子さんが通訳をしていたころ一番困ったこと。それは通訳後に、メモを基に議事録を書いてくれと言われたことだ。速記と違って通訳のメモは要点しか書かないので、30秒間ぐらい記憶する助けにしかならない。どんなメモを取るのか見せてと頼んだら、写真のようなメモを書いてくれた。「神奈川県にある製造部門の従業員数はここ10年で1,000人から2,500人に増えた」という意味だそうだ。

メモの取り方を教えてくれと言われたことまであったらしいが、習ったわけでも本で読んだわけでもなく、気付いたらこんな風に書いていたので教えられないんですって。

Unconscious Bias Against Short Pants 私、差別してました

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

"Salaryman" with short pants

"Men wearing short suit pants are geeks," said my former coworker. She wasn't talking about male models wearing short pants, but ordinary Japanese male employees (salaryman in Japanese) wearing short suit pants like the man in the drawing.

First I found it funny and wrote a post about it. But a friend of mine, to whom I showed this picture before publishing it, told me, "That is your prejudice against men who like short suit pants."

I have taken "inclusive" seminars in which I learned that everyone had an unconscious bias. But I was literally unconscious that I myself had one. It's easy to notice and criticize others' prejudices and biases, whether conscious or not, but this incident made me realize again how difficult it is to look at myself objectively. 

同僚曰く「短いズボンをはく奴は絶対変人」とのこと。大笑いし、このブログのために記事まで書いた。ところかアップする前に友人に話したら「それって短いズボンを好きな人に対する偏見じゃない？」と言われてしまった。その通りです｡｡｡

会社でインクルーシブ研修を受け、無意識の偏見については知っていたはずなのにこのざま。人のことを批判するのは簡単だけど、自分を客観的に見ることの難しさを改めて痛感しました｡｡｡

Loneliness - Look Inside Myself Through Coloring 内面を見つめる

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I drew them and don't know why, but remember feeling relaxed and peaceful while drawing them. A friend of mine said that that was because I was looking inside myself. I don't know if it is true.

I have drawn more than ten pictures of this kind. Some were finished, i.e., every small square or oblong was colored, and others not.

Color is most important. When cheerful or extrovert, I choose warm colors while, when sad or introvert, cool colors. The second picture shows changes in my mood from the top left (i.e., pink) to the center and bottom (i.e., green and blue).


The second one isn't finished yet and may not be finished forever. I stopped describing my feelings in the form of drawing or color because I now write.

こんな絵を描いているとなんか落ち着きました。内面を見ているからだと言われたこともあります。なぜ描いていたかは自分でもわかりません。とにかく気持ちが安らぎました。

元気なときは暖色、落ち込んでいるときは寒色。下の絵を見ると最初左上の方を描いているときは元気なのに、段々沈んでいっているのが分かります。

最近は絵ではなく、文章で気持ちを表現するようになりました。

Like Father/Mother, Like Daughter? 無責任な両親、そして私

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I've been reading "Seven Mysteries about Monsters of the Showa Era" by Masayasu Hosaka. It's about seven mysteries related to six politicians and military officers who played crucial roles during and/or after the war, e.g., Hideki Tojo and Shigeru Yoshida. While reading the characteristics of military officers mentioned by the author, I was stunned by one of them. That "they (i.e., military officers) never tell what they really think, but always talk about others' opinions" is my parents' most distinctive characteristic.

Heisei Era will End 通訳の年号変換

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

As you may know, the Heisei Era will end on April 30 next year. For those who aren't familiar with the Japanese era system, we, the Japanese, have a specific name for a period during which an emperor reigns and so, when a new emperor accedes to the throne, the name of the period also changes. As the current 125th Emperor Akihito will abdicate on April 30 next year, the Heisei Era, reigned by him, will also end on that day. The names of the recent eras and their periods are as follows: 

Heisei era:  January 8, 1989 to April 30, 2019, reigned by Akihito
Showa era: December 25, 1926 to January 7, 1989, reigned by Hirohito
Taisho era: July 30, 1912 to December 24, 1926, reigned by Yoshihito
Meiji era: January 25, 1868 to July 29, 1912, reigned by Mutsuhito

Emperors don't have last names and we don't know why for sure. But it's said that as last names used to be given by the emperor of the period, they have had nobody giving one to them or that as male succession has continued in an unbroken line for 125 generations from the first reign, they haven't needed to have last names to differentiate themselves from others. 

I'm not interested in the reason for their not having last names, but in an issue for interpreters, i.e., they have to translate the Japanese year to the Gregorian calendar year in a second while interpreting! This happens because most Japanese use the Japanese calendar year, so when a speaker says "Heisei 30 (i.e., 2018)," the interpreter has to immediately translates the year to the Gregorian year by subtracting 12 (i.e., 30-12=18, meaning 2018). In other words, interpreters have to memorize how many years they need to add or subtract for each era, i.e., for Heisei add 88 or subtract 12, Showa add 25, Taisho add 11 and Meiji add 67 or subtract 33, and do such additions/subtractions while interpreting.

Whatever the name of the new era will be, interpreters/translators will have to remember one more formula, i.e., adding 18 to the Japanese year to convert it to the Gregorian year! 

来年元号が変わる。新元号のシステム対応が大変なことは知られているが、密かに大変なのは通訳の頭の中である。言語変換のみならず、元号を瞬時に西暦に変換するための足し引きをやっているのをご存じだろうか。つまり、平成は12引く、昭和は25足す｡｡｡といった具合。言葉だけでも大変なのに、算数もやるから大変なんです。メートルとフィート、セルシウスとファーレンハイトも同じで、6フィートと言われても大きいかどうかぴんとこないし、華氏100度と言われても暑いかどうかぴんとこないが、こちらは変換せずにそのまま言ってもまあ大丈夫。でも、元号だけはそうはいかないのです。新元号の場合は「18足したら西暦」。お疲れ様です！

Loneliness - Ohitorisama at a Nearby Cafe カフェのおひとり様

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

It was a holiday, so I went to a famous cafe restaurant in my neighborhood, Toyosu Tokyo. I often go to Piatto, an also nearby good Italian restaurant, when I take a day off, but that day I wanted to try a new place.

Why You Make It So Complicated なんでそうなるの？

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

People think when they have nothing else to do but sit and I'm not an exception. I found this sign in a ladies' room at Yaesu of the Tokyo Station. (Click here for a post about another sign on how to "flash" a toilet.)

Why did they put so much information in it? The three things the building manager wants to say are:
1. Sit on the toilet. Don't squat over the bowl.
2. Flush toilet paper down the toilet. Don't put it in the bin. 
3. Hold your hand over the sensor to activate the flush.

The shorter and the simpler, the better. This particularly holds true if it's read by non-native speakers, like me. And one more thing. What the hell happened to these three pictures, especially, the middle one? Without reading the instruction, I had no idea about what the middle drawing was trying to say...

東京駅八重地下の女子トイレで見つけました。英語、長すぎませんか。英語圏以外の人に伝えるのが目的なら、短く簡潔に書くべきではないでしょうか。（過去の記事「トイレを光らせろ」についてはこちら。）

それとこの絵｡｡。特に真ん中！「トイレットペーパーは流せ」ってことだけ描けばよかったのでは。絵で余計わかりにくくなっている気がしました。

Hide and Seek in Tokyo 東京のひょっこりはん

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Baby lizard in Tokyo

Can you find it? I saw this baby lizard in Tokyo. I wrote about baby lizards I had seen in Nara prefecture last month, but didn't expect to see one again in Tokyo.

I wanted to take a better picture of it, but it must have been looking for a place to hide from still strong sunshine. A few seconds after taking this photo, it was gone into the bush....

I've been intrigued by lizards, reptiles, amphibians and dinosaurs since my childhood, though I can't or haven't touched them...

どこにいるか分かりますか。東京で会いました。奈良でも見かけてブログに書きましたが、まさか東京でも会えるとは思っていなかった赤ちゃんトカゲです！もう少しいい写真を撮りたかったのですが、すぐに藪の中に消えてしまいました。残暑厳しいものね。触ったことはありませんが、子供の頃からなぜか、トカゲ、カエル、恐竜が好きです。

Loneliness - Ohitorisama Enjoy Solitude in Japan 生まれてくるのが早すぎたお一人様

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

We, Japanese, didn't differentiate between loneliness and solitude and, whether the person was lonely or enjoying solitude, had no positive perception for being alone. You can see this in the fact that the translation of loneliness and solitude is the same in Japanese, kodoku. This loneliness-solitude issue was also covered by the Japanese media last month as well. But it's been changing these days. Or so I think.

Pretz, Pocky and Mikado 百力滋と帝

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

A coworker of mine who went to China on business gave me Pretz he had bought at a Chinese airport. This may not look strange to you, but is strange to me, who is Japanese, because of no Japanese on the package. These Chinese characters (which sounds strange, too because they are also used in Japan) aren't Japanese, but Chinese. The product name (Pretz or 百力滋) and the company's name (Glico or 格力高) in Japanese are "プリッツ" and "グリコ" respectively. I have never imagined that daily Japanese snacks are called differently in other countries. I also found on the Internet that the company's another product, Pocky (ポッキー), was sold under the name of "Mikado" in Europe.

By the way, does anyone remember that Louis Litt on Suits fought a coworker over the ownership of a cat, named Mikado. Mikado, meaning Emperor, seems a favorite Japanese word in the U.S. and Europe. 

同僚から中国みやげでもらったプリッツの箱を見てびっくり。プリッツって百力滋、グリコって格力高っていうのね。しかもポッキーはヨーロッパでは Mikado っていう名前で売られているんですって。日本のお菓子が海外では違う名前で売られているなんて考えもしなかった。  ちなみに、米国ドラマの Suits で、ルイスがミカドという名前の猫の所有権をめぐって同僚と大喧嘩していたエピソードを思いだした。欧米人ってミカド好きなのね。

Friendship with Convenience Store Staff コンビニの店員さんに癒された話

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I like kanten milk puddings and often buy them on my way back home. When I was paying for two types of such puddings (i.e., the middle one in a round plastic cup and the bottom one in a oblong package) at a nearby convenience store the other day, a young female cashier with blond dyed hair smiled at me saying that she also liked them, so sometimes made them at home. I was so tired from working that the chat refreshed me and warmed my heart. And it also reminded me of what had occurred long time ago to Sachiko, a friend of mine.

One afternoon, Sachiko, then living with her parents, heard her mom screaming. When rushing into the kitchen, she found her pointing out to an egg and saying that it was boiled. Her mom said that she had bought a carton of eggs the previous day at a nearby convenience store and had found one of them boiled. I bet she must have misplaced a boiled egg in the carton and Sachiko, looking back now, also finds it so stupid of her believing her mom's "conspiracy theory" that some kind of mix up must have happened during the egg packing process. But at that time she was young and naive.... Her mom insisted that she should file a complaint and report to the store because the manager was her "friend."  For her, someone she talks with more than once a week is a friend. Surprisingly, the manager believed or pretended to believe her mom's story, apologized and thanked to her for letting him know about it and gave her another carton of eggs for free! He was too sweet to hurt the lovely elderly woman's feelings. This happened a long time ago, but it still sticks in my and Sachiko's memories!

牛乳寒天が好きでよく買うのだが、先日コンビニで茶髪の店員さんに「私も好きで家でも作ります」と言われ、とても癒されました。そしてなぜか幸子さんの昔話を思い出したので紹介します。

幸子さんがまだご両親と一緒に住んでいた頃、台所で叫び声が聞こえてきたのでいってみたら、お母様が卵を指さして「ゆで卵」と叫んでいたとのこと。前日に近所のコンビニで買ったパックにゆで卵が入っているというのだ。「卵のパック作業に問題があったはずだからクレームを付ける」と言い始め、幸子さんもそれを信じたというから驚き。若かったのね。でもお母様、「店長さんは友達だから報告しなくちゃ」とも言い始めたらしい。幸子さんのお母様って週に一回以上話したらもう友達だから要注意。でも実際にお店に行って事情を説明したら、何と店長さん、話を信じてくれて（信じたふりをしてくれて）謝り、新しい卵パックを無料でくれたんですって。きっと心優しい年配の女性の気持ちを傷つけまいとしたんでしょうね。もう二十年以上思前の話ですが、幸子さん、今でも忘れられないそうです。

We Need to Be Articulate 2018年芥川作曲賞

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I went to the Suntory Hall last month to see the 28th Competition of Akutagawa Award for Music Composition. This competition is for composers of contemporary classical music and was established in April 1990 to commemorate the achievements of Yasushi Akutagawa, a Japanese composer. (By the way, he's also known as a son of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the author of "Rashomon" and "In a Grove," the original two short stories of Akira Kurosawa's film, "Rashomon.")

I love usual classical music, such as Debussy and Elgar, but have no idea about what contemporary composers are trying to achieve. I've been to contemporary classical music concerts several times, but pieces performed there only sounded to me a series of dissonant chords and noises. (I know this is because I have no ear for this kind of music.) But my inability to understand what is good about something doesn't mean it's bad. So, I was looking forward very much to hearing from the three members of a jury for the competition, also contemporary composers, their interpretation of pieces to be played in the hall.

Three candidates' works had been chosen in the preliminary selection and were played by the New Japan Philharmonic in the hall. All the three pieces sounded as expected, i.e., dissonant, and the only difference I could tell was that the last played one was like more usual classical music than the other two and that I didn't fall asleep!

After that, a panel discussion was held on the stage, in which three jurors, former winners and professional composers, were supposed to discuss each piece to decide this year's winner. But I didn't hear any discussion. I only found them expressing their views on each piece but without responding to or arguing about the other jurors' opinions and based on this "one-way" discussion and a majority vote, the prize winner was decided. Two jurors voted for the winner while the other for the composer of the least sleepy piece to me.

On my way home, I couldn't help but feel disappointed that it didn't give me any clues that enable me to enjoy contemporary classical music. Neither were explanations made by each juror on their selection criteria nor was a real discussion done on the stage. It's like they were just reading scripts and I don't understand how come it was an "open selection process."

I also wondered what the responsibilities of professionals were. I had expected to hear from the three professionals who, as jurors, owed the audience explanations for their decisions. They talked, but weren't articulate enough for lay persons, like me, to understand their decision making process. But writing this post made me realize that I'm not articulate either and that is why I started this blog... 

第28回芥川作曲賞選考演奏会を聞きに行った。作曲家の芥川也寸志氏（芥川龍之介の息子）の功績をたたえるために設立された現代音楽作曲家のための賞だ。といっても私にとって現代音楽は不協和音の連続でしかなく、聞いていても寝てしまうだけ。でも「自分に理解できないものは悪いもの」ではないというつもりはない。私に見えない（聞こえない）ものが作曲家たちには見えている（聞こえている）に違いない。というわけで当日は、審査員の方々の解説を楽しみにしていた。

数十曲の中から最終候補として選ばれた3曲が、新日本フィルハーモニー交響楽団により演奏された。正直どれも難解（笑）だったが、最後の曲がそれでもまだ分かりやすかったかな。（つまり普通のクラシック音楽に近かった。）ただ、その後行われた3人の審査員による公開選考会では、2対1の多数決で別の曲が大賞に選ばれた。

帰り道、何かがっかりした。現代音楽を好きになれるような解説を期待していたのに。選考会で審査員が喧々諤々議論するのを期待していたのに｡｡。こちらが知識不足なのは分かっている。でもやはりあれでは「公開」審査とは言えないのでは｡｡。プロなら私のような素人にも分かるように説明してくれ～！と書いて気が付いた。そうです。そうなんです！私こそ相手に伝わるように説明するのが下手なんです。だからこのブログを始めたんでした。