How About A Walk in Tokyo with River View? 夜散歩で屋形船とクレーン

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

I often enjoy a one-hour walk after having soba noodle dinner (not only soba, but also tempura and sake) at my favorite, but not fancy Japanese restaurant in the central Tokyo. On my way home from the restaurant, I have to go across three bridges, which are all over the Sumida River, and that day, the contrast between the darkness and the light was so beautiful, so I took several pictures. The boat in the photo below is yakatabune, a traditional Japanese boat, going down the river.

From Tsukuda Ohashi bridge
Traditional boat going down Sumida River

Clouds Taking A Walk 雲とお散歩

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

Walking is good. It works for me. So, I left the office a bit early to walk home.

I was tired and lost confidence that day. I'd had a one-on-one meeting with a native English speaker in a higher position and at the meeting I was treated badly. Usually I handle situations nicely or don’t care, but the American guy was pretty aggressive. I tried to persuade him to accept something which I was correct, but he wouldn't listen...

Having people of diverse cultures usually make meetings more productive and effective as the attendees discuss things in a more straight forward manner. I prefer such an open atmosphere to a typical meeting of Japanese people of a "lecture type" where staff can't say a thing without approval from their superiors.

At the meeting, however, I felt like a second citizen, discriminated for not being an native English speaker. I like learning English, so usually enjoy speaking with English speakers, but his way of treating me as a second citizen hurt and angered me. What made matters worse is that I can't talk about this with anyone. I teach English. Who would want to learn from a teacher hurt when indicated that she doesn't speak English as fluently as native speakers do...?

So, I decided to walk, resulting in encountering these clouds which were also taking a walk. Just being together with them cheered me up, filling me with a sense of warmth and calmness...

落ち込むことがありました。1対1のミーティングがあって相手の方が自分より職位が上の米国人。理不尽なことを言われたのですが、うまく言い返せませんでした。嫌だったのは、英語ネイティブでないことを非難されている、もっと言うと二流市民として扱われている気がしたことです。実力不足と言われればそれまでですが｡｡｡ まだ立ち直っていません｡｡｡

というわけでその日少し早めに会社を出て歩いていて見つけたのが、写真の「お散歩雲」です。会社で打たれて、雲で癒されて、また頑張る｡｡｡ 最近の私です！

In Solitude Before Dawn 夜明け前 一人

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

I sometimes get up early like at four a.m. I try to sleep again, but often in vain. I took these photos on one such day.

One hour before dawn

Thirty minutes before dawn

The time of dawn that day was at around six a.m. The sky and clouds, and their colors filled me with a sense of solitude.

Dawn

One hour after dawn

Japanese has no word meaning solitude, so uses "孤独 (kodoku)," the same term for loneliness to mean "solitude." Language shapes how we think, so if you are by yourself in Japan, people would find it to be sad and lonely. What I appreciate most about learning English is that that makes me aware of things that exist but are not verbalized in Japanese, expanding my channels to communicate with the world.

Looking at myself deep down alone in solitude, I ask myself what I am to rediscover myself with a little excitement....

朝4時ごろ目が覚めて、もう一度寝ようと思ったけどダメだった｡｡｡ そんな日に撮った写真です。朝焼けを見ていると痛烈に「一人」を感じますが「寂しい」わけではなく、「一人、空と直接つながっている」ように感じます。

大人になってから、英語に「lonely」の他に「solitude」という概念があるのを知りました。日本語では「ひとりぼっち」とか「独居」とか訳されているようですが、どちらかというと「本来の自分に戻るための静謐な時間」というのが私にはぴったりきます。日本にない概念を日本語にするのは難しいですね｡｡｡ Anthony Storr の「Solitude: a Return to the Self」という本。好きで時々読み返しています。

Proposal for Japan's "Work Style Reform" 働き方改革への提言

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

December 23 will no longer be a national holiday from 2019 in Japan because the date is no longer the emperor's birthday. Upon Naruhito's enthronement, the emperor's birthday is February 23.

So, here is my proposal to promote Japan's so-called "work style reform"; Why don't we make the birthdays of all the emperors (as well as empresses) so far national holidays?😜

Jinglish - Rugby vs. Baseball 和製英語の観点からのラグビーと野球の比較考察

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

The 2019 Rugby World Cup is over. What surprised me most was that in rugby so many English terms are used as they are in the form of katakana with heavy Japanese accents, such as "nokku on (ノックオン)" for "knock on" and "mo-l (モール)" for "maul." They have no translated Japanese words.

Celadon in 16 Forms いろんな青磁

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

I always wondered why there are so many celadon colors, so looked it up. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, "Celadon is greenish ceramic glaze that is used on stoneware. Celadon is used both for the glaze itself and for the article so glazed. It is particularly valued in China, Korea, Thailand, and Japan."

I still didn't understand why the green or blue* colors of celadon porcelain vary between articles. So, I went to the Asian Gallery (Toyokan) of Tokyo National Museum to compare celadon ware there. (I say "blue" because in Japanese, celadon glaze is "青磁," meaning "blue porcelain.")

1. Large vase with carved peony design,  China, 14th century

Sky and Clouds Reduce Loneliness 空と雲は孤独を減らす

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

The beginning of autumn always makes me feel lonely. And that makes me always look up to see the blue, azure or pitch dark sky and white clouds drifting in it, to look for my friends up above there, i.e., the sky and clouds.

St. Luke International Hospital, Tokyo 聖路加病院

Japanese "Serendipity" - A Pony From A Gourd? セレンディピティは「瓢箪から駒」？

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

This is an example of serendipity or "a pony coming from a gourd (瓢箪から駒; Hyotan kara koma)," a Japanese saying!

------------------------------
Last Saturday I went to a hospital early morning for a regular health check up. As the hospital is a university hospital, it’s always crowded and so the test usually takes about two hours, one and half of which are waiting time. That day, I put my laptop into a backpack, planning to write blog posts at a coffee shop after the check up. The test finished at around 10:30 a.m. and it was at about 11:00 a.m. I arrived at my favorite coffee shop, finding that the wifi service there was unavailable, which meant I couldn't write there.

Having got up early, taken blood and other tests, and carried my laptop around in the rain only to find the destination useless, exhausted me. I even went to another coffee shop, asking if I could use their wifi service for free, but just found again that they only give free wifi service to a specified carrier's users. I trudged home and took a nap.

It was 3 p.m. I was woken up by my husband and asked where we would have dinner. Fully recharged, I was starving and wanted to eat something good, like tapas-style small dishes with wine! So we went to Kirin City at the Tokyo Station.

Kirin City is a Japanese restaurant chain of the Kirin Brewery group. So, it's natural for them to serve a variety of tasty beer, but they have nice wine, too. As a non-beer drinker because it's bitter, at the restaurant, I always enjoy wine and their monthly changing dishes ranging from pickles, nuts and salad to sausages, grilled beef, ajillo, pasta and pizza!

At around 6 p.m., we finished a bottle of red wine, making me feel so good and happy, but at the same time feel something was missing, something that fills not my stomach, but my heart... Yes, art! And luckily, Tokyo National Museum, usually closed at 5 p.m., was still open until 9 p.m. that day!!! (For how much I enjoyed the night museum, read this!)

---------------------------------
This means:
(1) If I hadn't bring my laptop to the hospital, I would've written and had dinner at home. I wouldn't have gone to the museum;
(2) If wifi at the coffee shop had been available, I would've been there for at least three hours, had dinner at a nearby restaurant, and walked back home; or
(3) If the museum had been closed, needless to say we would have gone straight back home.

Because I'd carried my laptop around with me, taken a health check up and been exhausted, and wifi connection had been unavailable, I ended up taking rest at home, fully recharged, eating dinner near the Tokyo Station, visiting a nearby museum, and ultimately encountering beautiful Chinese lute and mirror and other treasures. (Click here for the lute and here for the mirror!)

It's like "a pony coming from a gourd (瓢箪から駒; Hyotan kara koma)" or the occurrence of an unplanned fortunate discovery or SERENDIPITY!!

東京駅八重地下で夕飯食べて上野公園と東京国立博物館を楽しんだことは先日書いた通りですが、実はその日は大変でした｡｡｡

朝から病院で検査検査。しかもカフェでブログ書こうと思って雨の中PC持って出たのに、肝心のカフェがWifiトラブルで結局帰宅するはめに｡｡｡ もうへとへとでいつの間にかお昼寝してました。でもそのおかげで回復し、東京駅八重地下キリンシティで飲んで食べて、急に「芸術の秋」に目覚め、東京国立博物館の正倉院展を楽しもうってことに！

瓢箪から駒？ Serendipity? うん、そういうことにしとこ～（笑）。単語しっかり覚えました。

Netsuke - Japanese Lovelorn Ghost Puts a Curse Saying "Urameshiya.." うらめしや～

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

What do you think it is? It's not a field horsetail. It's a Japanese female GHOST.

Shosoin Exhibition at Night Museum 夜の正倉院展

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

Japanese say that autumn is the best season for art. That may be true because I felt an urge to see something beautiful when finishing dinner near the Tokyo Station last Saturday. I checked the website of Tokyo National Museum and found the facility in Ueno, which is usually open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., was open through 9 p.m. on the day. So, I said to my husband, "Let's go to Tokyo National Museum!"

Entrance of Tokyo National Museum (正門入口)

Symbol of Peace? - Netsuke & Halloween 平和の象徴？「根付とハロウィン」

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

Netsuke titled “Halloween,” carved from macadamia nut and amber
「ハロウィン」宍戸濤雲作