Friday 15/7/2005
比喩で言ってもどうしようもないのだけれど、登山でもピーク近くが一番苦しいのではないのだろうか。あと少しと言うところ。でも、おそらく「頂上だ」と思ったら次の峰が見晴らせるところへ出ただけだったということもあるのではないか。そんな感じの今日この頃。弱音を吐いている暇もなく。カメラの電池を入れるふたが壊れて、いざというときに写真が撮れなかった。残念。直るだろうか。本日の更新は、何もなし、です。ごめんなさい。上記のような理由にて。先ずは目の前のピークを越えましょう。
It's useless to talk in metaphors, but I imagine the stage right before attacking the peak might be the hardest part of climbing mountains. One more effort will bring you up to the top of the mountain! However, perhaps on the moment when you say to yourself, "I'm on the summit!" you are only to find next peaks, aren't you? I'm living in such a feeling recently. I've got no time to grumble. A cover on the battery of my digital camera is broken, so that I coudn't take a photo when I wanted. Alas! I wonder if it'll be repaired all right. Today's update: sorry, nothing. Next time, please.
Thursday 14/7/2005
学期も終わりに近付いたので、英語のリスニングクラスではナチュラルな英語を聞こうと音楽クリップなど楽しむ。イギリスでのテロを偲びながら、John Lennonの"Give Peace a Chance"と"Imagine"を。昔日のJohnとYokoの仲睦まじい映像。ついでに"A Tribute to John Lennon Live"からMichael Jacksonが歌う"Come Together"も。こちらは15年前の映像で、Michaelもまだ本来の容姿を保ち実にエネルギッシュ。昨今の、帽子を目深にかぶって人目を避けるように歩く痛々しい姿とは全く違う。それからBritney Spearsの近作"TOXIC"と"Making of TOXIC"を両方見る。Britneyの自己主張・自己表現・自己実現への飽くなき挑戦はめざましい。Madonnaもおとなしく見えるほど。たまには教室でもテキストを離れて、爆発するような英語のサウンドを全身に浴びたい。ことばの底にある焼けつくような熱を感じて。本日の更新は授業用サイトの手直しを少々。移植作業に取りかからなくては。不得意なExcelシートと格闘中です。
As we've ccme close to the end of this semester, we enjoyed watching/listening to some music crips by DVDs in order to expose ourselves to the natural rhythm and the sound of English. Thinking of the recent terrorist attacks in England, we listened to John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine." In both crips, John and Yoko are lovely and sweet. We also saw Michael Jackson singing and dancing Beatles' "Come Together" in 1990; it's a part of "A Tribute to John Lennon Live." Michael 15 years ago looks quite different from him today: not the one hidden under the brim of a hat, but an energetic and supple young man indeed. Then we watched Britney Spears in her "TOXIC" and "The making of TOXIC." Wow, she is eloquent! Look at her assertiveness! Even Madonna looks queit with her.It's good to have the shower of explosive sound and the rhythm of lively English. We felt the scorching energy of the language. Today's update: a little bit of the pages for my work. I need to transplant them into the server in my office as soon as possible. I'm also struggling with an Excel sheet, which I'm not good at working with.
Saturday 9/7/2005
滅多にTVを見ないのでロンドンでの多発テロを知ったのは、翌朝の通勤途上だった。駅売り新聞の見出しはいつも何気なくチェックしている。ひときわ大きな件の文字が飛び込んできた。すぐさま購入して電車に揺られながら記事を読む。地下鉄での爆破が最も衝撃的だった。勤め先にはロンドンに縁の深い人々が多いので、あちこちで話が始まる。例外なくロンドンオリンピックと抱き合わせで。夕刊になるとロンドン市民の冷静さが特筆されていた。似ているようで9.11とはどこかが違う。テロに過剰反応はせず、むしろ醒めた目で眺めているところ。成熟の証しか、それとも諦観か。さて、本日の更新は「翻訳読書ノート 23」に「母性をめぐる知の饗宴」です。サラ・ブラファー・ハーディー著『マザー・ネイチャー』<「母親」はいかにヒトを進化させたか>を取り上げた。配信上の手違いで表示を失敗したとの連絡が出版社から届く。確かにいただけない。ここでの原稿には少し手を入れて、改訂版としました。
Because I seldom watch TV, I learned about the simultaneous terrorist attacks in London the morning after on my way to office. I usually check the headlines of newspapers at kiosk, remarkable letters caught my eyes. I bought a copy of a major newspaper and started reading articles on the crowded train. The most shocking part of the report was the bomb explosion underground. In my office there are people who know very well about London, they were talking of the issue here and there. Without exception, they also refered to the Olympics which would be held in 2012. In spite of the similarity of the terrorist attacks on 9.11, something is quite different. Peole in London seem to have not shown any signs of overreaction; rather, they are looking at the case quietly. Is it an evidence of the matured mentality of Londoners, or their resignation? Today's update: Reviews in Translation. I wrote a short essay on Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's Mother Nature, A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection. It's written only in Japanese, sorry!
Thursday 7/7/2005
ハッと気づけば今日は七夕だ。雨が降り、曇天続きのこの空模様では天の川デートも無理だろう。それでも☆に願いを。（ほしと書いたら勝手に☆になった！これは機種依存文字だと思う。誰にも見えるわけではないホシ。←意味不明な方ごめんなさいませ。）本日の更新はArchivesにリンクを付けたこと。これは「業務用」なので、一時的に。いずれ職場のサイトに移すつもりのものを。手持ちの素材を加工しただけなので既にこのサイトにあったコンテンツの「組み合わせ」変更です。自習用にインタラクティブな練習帳ページが作ってみたい。（そういう環境のネットでないとダメだが。）いずれにせよ勉強しなくては。
I realized now it is "Vega (Star) Festival" today! Unfortunately, however, the annual date over the Milkyway won't be possible because of the rainy and the cloudy sky. Still let us make a wish on a star! Today's update is Archives linked (temporalily). It's a page for my work. Mainly just a new combination of old contents existing in this site. I want to make interactive pages for students to practice English. (Cetainly we need a certain condition of the network for that purpose.) Anyway I need to study hard.
Sunday 3/7/2005
七月の幕開け。思うような表紙の写真がなくて、暫定的に定家葛の垣根の陰で涼を取ることにした。晴れ上がった夏空を拝めるのはいつだろう。同僚の女性が「学会でイタリアに行って、それからイギリスのブライトンに出張なので十日間ほど留守にします」と言うのを聞いて、思わず「オーソレミーヨ！」（謎）と叫びたくなった。雲の上を行く感覚から遠ざかって久しい。理屈抜きに、空の旅への憧れが募る。母でさえ、今月は九州へ飛ぶと言っていた。一頃は「行ってきます」を繰り返していたが、この頃はどうも「行っていらっしゃい」の方が断然多い。多様なライフステージをくぐり抜けていくのさと強がってみても、多分私は羨ましそうな顔をしているのだと思う。ま、気を取り直して今月もファイト！月末まで気が抜けません。本日の更新は表紙の写真（暫定版）とこのページの写真（これまた暫定版）です。前向きに参りましょう。
July has started. I haven't got any photo suitable for the cover page of this month yet. Let me resort in the shade of "teika-kazura" for a while. I wonder when I can look up at the real summer sky totally cleared up. When one of my colleagues said, "I'll be away for ten days, 'cause I'm going to Italy for an international conference and then to Brighton in England, you know, for business," I almost cried, "Oh Sole Mio!" I've been away from the feeling of flying over clouds for such a long time. I long for going somewhere by airplane. Even my mother said she is flying to Kyushu this month. Once I used to say, "I'm going!" But recently I'm only saying, "Have a nice trip" to others. Although I say to myself, "I'm going thorugh the various stages of a woman's life," I'm sure I look envious. Well, let me do whatever I can now and here. I have a lot to do by the end of July. Today's update: the photo of the index page (temporary) and the one up here (also temporary). OK, let me be positive.
Thursday 30/6/2005
夕刻「後楽園駅」から地下鉄丸ノ内線に乗ろうとすると、東京ドームへ行く人たちの群れとすれ違う。場外の出店では弁当、ビール、ハンバーガーなど景気よく売っている。屋内球場になってから、雨天中止はあり得ない。そうなると神宮球場の素朴さが良いような気がする。数年前、熱い夜風に吹かれてヤクルトを応援したっけ。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。名前がのど元まで出かかって、結局分からないまま見切り発車。水無月の終わりに免じてご容赦を。分かったらすぐに書き加えます。
On my way back, I come across with crowds of people going to Tokyo Dome at Korakuen Station of Marunouchi Subway Line. There are stalls outside of the dome, selling box meal, beer, hamburgers, and so on with noisy calling. Since the stadium was housed in the dorm, there has been no cancellation of baseball games for rain. Now outdoor stadiums look more thrilling to me. I remember we cheered Yakurt at Jingu Stadium in the warm night breeze a few years ago. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. Sorry, I couldn't find names of today's flowers. Let me add the information as soon as I find it.
Wednesday 29/6/2005
昨日の関東地方、6月としては記録破りの日中最高気温36度Cだった。厳しい夏が待っているような気配がある。連日通勤電車は事故に見舞われ遅延が続く。立っていても座っていても今読んでいる本から目が離せないので、何が起きてもあまり気にならないのだけれど。夏の満員電車の中で正気を保つには意識をどこかに飛ばしているに限る。異常だろうか。夏には誰でも少しは狂う。アブナイ・・・。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。おまけもあります。「ギャラリー余白」の「静物」にaoのデザインを一点。文化祭用パンフレットのイラストです。一転して今日は朝から雨。中越地方では避難民の出る豪雨とのこと。
In Kanto District, the temperature was at its highest yesterday, 36.5 degrees centigrade, which was quite irregular for June. We anticipate that the summer this year will be very harsh. Recently we have train accidents during rush-hours. Whether standing or sitting, I'm not very much distacted by anything happening around me because I'm absorbed in a book which I've been reading recently. The best way to keep sane in the jam-packed trains in summer is to send away our consciousness somewhere else. Is it abnormal? Well, anybody becomes crazy a bit in summer anyway. Dangerous.... Today's update: Musashino Sketch. One more, a bonus, ao's illustration in 「静物」. It's raining since early morning; reportedly they have the heavy rain to cause people fleeing form their residence in Chuetsu District.
Monday 27/6/2005
雑木林の中はもう夏だった。草が生い茂り、なんとミズヒキソウが出始めている。夏の中に秋が潜むということか。梅雨も明けないうちに次の季節が寄せてくる。先週は休みなく次から次だったので切り替えができない。せめてここに一文。短信だけで更新がなく、お許しを。
In the woods it was already summer. Grasses grow, and even "mizuhiki" was there! Does it mean autumn is hiding in summer? Even before the end of the rainy season, the next one is coming. Last week I was so busy that I cannot switch my mind for the new week yet. Let me write a few lines here. Sorry I have nothing new to upload today. Just a short note.
Saturday 25/6/2005
アジサイの萼ではなくて、花が開いている。小さな小さな花だ。花が開くと萼は色あせてくる。もうそろそろ六月も終わりだもの、当たり前かもしれない。忙しさに潰されないよう、倒れないよう、荒まぬよう、花を見ている。本日の更新は「ギャラリー余白」の「静物」にaoの石膏デッサンを一つ。ブルータスだそうだ。「量感が足りない」と批評されてきたらしい。
Flowers, not cups (calyxes), of Hydrangea are in bloom; such tiny flowers! When they are in bloom, calyxes are start to fade. It's quite natural now that June is coming to an end. In order not to get crushed, collaps, nor get desolate, I'm watching flowers. Today's update: ao's recent work, a drawing of Brutus in "Still Life etc." in Gallery in Margines. She said it was severely criticized as as not being voluminous enough.
Wednesday 22/6/2005
授業の残り時間15分というところで突然「外に出よう」と言うことになり、担任クラスの学生たちと近隣にある樹齢600年のクスノキを見に行った。大樹は低い垣根に囲まれ、全方位に根を張っている。樹皮は苔生し、うろがあり、仰け反って見上げると逞しい枝を存分に張っている。一帯が何とも涼しい。豊かな自然に恵まれた土地から来た学生も、「こんなところになぁ」と感に堪えない声を出している。「うちの方にはこれくらいの樹はいくらでもある」と呟いた学生も、眩しそうに見上げている。「東京には木が少なすぎるよな」と大きな声を出す学生もいる。しばらく付近を散策して教室に戻ったが、どの学生も戸外では開放感に満ち笑顔がきれいだ。樹の精に引き寄せられた瞬間だった。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。既に夏至を過ぎ、湿度も気温も上昇中。今週は猛烈に忙しい。
15 minutes before the end of the class, one of the students suggested we should go out to see the 600 year-old camphor tree in our neighborhood. Everyone agreed and we went out. The tree was surrounded by a low bamboo fence with its thick root spreading to all directions. The bark was mossed, hollowed here and there. When we looked up, the branches were growing with abundant leaves. It was comfortably cool under the tree. A student from a district of rich natural enviroments was impressed to say, "In such a place!" Another student who said, "We have a lot more of this kind of old trees at home," was gladly looking up at the camphor tree. Another student grumbled in a loud voice, "We really have few trees in Tokyo!" We strolled around for a while and came back. How sparkling their smiles were in the outdoors! We were truly chamed by the spirit of the tree. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. We have already passed the summer solstice. Both of the humidity and the temperature are rasing. I'm so busy this week.
Sunday 19/6/2005
先週学生たちに初習外国語選択履修希望の調査をしたら、フランス語を抜いて中国語が一位だった。ついでハングル。参考までにそれ以外の言語にはスペイン語とイタリア語が上がっている。（おそらくそれはサッカーへの興味から来るのだろうとは同僚の弁。それにしては次回のワールドカップ開催地ドイツの名は出てこない。）英語は必修科目として調査外に置かれているが、英語も含めてということになるとまた様子が違うかもしれない。「海外へ行ってみたい」という焼け付くような思いが身近な学生たちからは立ち上ってこないことにも気づく。だが、同級の中国人留学生が「僕は中国語も韓国語もしゃべれます」と日本語で言い、一緒に英語を学んでいる事実を前にして「おーっ」というため息が日本人学生たちから漏れたのも事実だ。彼が更に別の外国語に手を染めたら、五カ国語目だということに思いが及んだのだろう。私自身もこころの中で「おぉ！」と思った。「ではもし中国語や韓国語のクラスで話をしてみて下さいとお願いしたら、来てくれますか」という問いかけに、涼しい瞳で真面目に「はい」と応えた彼に、圧倒されたクラスメートたちから今度は感嘆の声すら上がらなかった。アメリカの教室で英語以外の言語を解さないクラスメートたちに私がほのかに抱いた思いに近いものを彼は感じていたかもしれない。嘗て日本の学生たちはアメリカに対する抗議行動で結束していたこともあった。今の中国の若者たちとどこか通じるところがありはしないか。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。溜まっていたものをまとめて。季節は待ってくれない。
Last week we made a survey of students' interest in taking the elective forein language classes. The most popular language was Chinese, exceeding French. The thrid was Korean. Just for your information, Spanish and Italian followed. (One of my colleagues guessed the last two Eropean languages come from students' interest in soccer. But why then, is there no hint of German, for the next World Cup?) English was not in the list, for it is settled as an obligatory subject. If English was one of the electives, the result might be different. Recently I don't feel the enthusiasm of students willing to go abroad by all means. However, when one of the students in class, a student from Chinasaid in Japanese, "I can speak both Chinese and Korean," everybody uttered a small cry of surprise, "Oh, ..." If he takes another forein language, it will be his fifth; thus I believe Japanese students thought. I said to myself, "Oh!" to myself as well. To my question, "Would you come to Chinese and Korean classes in the future as a guest speaker?" the student agreed sincerely. Perhaps he might be feeling the same thing as I was feeling among my classmates in the U.S. who understood only English. Once many Japanese students were very active in anti-US movements. Today's young Chinese people against Japan seem to have something common with them. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. Let me upload what I've been saving at hand for weeks. Seasons don't wait for human beings.
Friday 17/6/2005
昨日は"Bloom's Day"だった。Joyceの小説Ulyssesの舞台に設定された一日に因み、世界中でJoyceフリークがこの「いつに変わらぬ特別な日」を祝う。意識すると一日のうちに多様な出来事、生活の些事、千変万化する想念、持続する気分などというものがそれぞれ脈絡もなく起こっては消え、いずれもどこかで呼応しあっているように思えてくる。如何なる運命か、よりあって生きる者たち、集って働く者たち、縁に繋がる者たちと言葉を交わし沈黙ですれ違い、群衆の中に紛れて一日は過ぎていく。そしてまた新たないつに変わらぬ特別な日の訪れ。私の雑多な読書は続き、一冊の集中から抜け出したあとの虚脱感にもかかわらずまたぞろつぎの一冊に手が伸びる。流石に曇天続きで少々気が滅入る。本日の更新は「ギャラリー余白」の「静物」にaoの近作をいくつか。彼女も泣いたり笑ったり。
Yesterday was "Bloom's Day." Because June 16 is the day when James Joyce chose for his novel Ulysses, many of his readers (Joyce freaks) celebrate this "special ordinary day" all over the world. Once I become conscious of various things happening one after another, details of miscellaneous events, transforming ideas, and continuing moods of a day, I find them happening and vanishing irrevarently, and still they seem to be connected to each other in some ways. I wonder what sort of fate brings us together but I live with my family, work with my colleagues, talk to my relatives, and I pass by strangers to be lost in crowds. Thus begins another "special ordinary day." I keep on reading miscellaneous books; when I fisnih one, I feel I'm lost in vacancy, yet I start reading another. Everyday it's cloudy. I'm a little depressed. Today's update: ao's recent works of "Still Life etc." in Gallery in Margines. She's crying and laughing as usual.
Sunday 12/6/2005
10日間ぶりの更新です。先週の日曜日に見に行った北山公園の花菖蒲は、まだ一分咲きにも満たなかった。しかし緑の菖蒲田でたっぷりと草の息吹を吸い込むことができて爽快だった。今日あたりがが花の見頃に違いない。負け惜しみを言えば、「人出」もピークにつき、今頃行ってもおそらく押すな押すなで花どころではあるまい。（一昨年の平日早朝に自転車をこいで見に行った時の画像で想像を逞しくしている。）気が付けば、北山公園の写真ばかりもう4ページもできている。う〜ん、地元にへばりついて暮らしているなぁと思う。なかなか自由に動けない。だから余計に定点観測じみた行為に及ぶのだろう。同じ季節に同じ花が咲く。そして幾度も繰り返す。でも開くたびに花は新しい命を謳歌し、見るたびに人も生まれ変わっているのかもしれない。そんなわけで本日の更新は「東京散歩」中、「緑の幻視」一分咲き未満北山公園花菖蒲です。「花盛り」も良いが、あとさきの風情にも心ひかれる。いよいよ入梅。雨に紫陽花がうつくしい。
I have been unable to update this site for nearly 10 days. When I went to Kitayama Park, flowers of iris were not yet in bloom last Sunday. (Less than 10%!) Nevertheless, I enjoyed breathing the fresh air in the green field. Perhaps iris flowers are in their prime now; however, there must be crowds of people visiting the park! If you go there today, you will see more people than flowers for sure. (It's sour grapes on my part!) I remember I went to the park by bicycle early in the morning two years ago, when iris was in full bloom. I've already made four pages of Kitayama Park so far. Well, it seems I seldom go out of my local territory in my daily life. I'm watching same things in same places all the time, alas! Same flowers bloom in same seasons in repetition. But I believe they are living anew whenever they bloom. So are people, aren't they? Today's update: The Green Illusion--Iris Starting to Bloo in Kitayama Park in Walking in Tokyo. Full-bloom is good, but I'm attracted to the time before and after the peak. Rainy season has come. Hydrangea is beautiful.
Friday 3/6/2005
美術予備校に通い始めた17歳は針金造形作品制作の最中。気の毒なのはモデルのアヒル。そういえば公園にもいた。動物たちには迷惑なことだろうが、人は動物に限りなく惹きつけられる。本日の更新は「いのちのすがお」です。六月の声を聞いたとたん雨ばかり降る。花菖蒲見物の計画を立てた。楽しみだ。
A seventeen-year-old is now making a craft object of a duck with wire at an art-school. I'm sorry for the duck modeling for them. I rememer ducks in a Japanese garden. Sorry for animals, but they attract people so much. Today's update: "Lives Around". Since the beginning of June, it has been raining. I made a plan to visit an irise garden with friends. Wow!
Wednesday 1/6/2005
水無月の始まり。関東地方、本日の最高気温は28度の予想。先ずは表紙の写真を一新して新しい季節に備えましょう。東京ドームシティー「ラクーア」から眺めるメタリックな夏空です。上の写真は同じく「ラクーア」の広場。何となく夏らしい開放的な雰囲気が街に漂い始めた。各地から若い人たちが沢山集まってくる場所。香港から来たという女性グループにカメラのシャッターを押してくれと頼まれたこともある。通り過ぎるだけでもワクワクする。いつかきっとここの温泉に入ってみよう、と思っている。
June begins. In Kanto District today's forecast high is 28 degrees centigrade. Let me renew the photo of the cover page for the new season. It's the metalic summer sky viewd from "Laqua" in Tokyo Dome City, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. The photo above is another scene in "Laqua," where numerous young people come from everywhere. I've been asked to take photos by a young women's group visiting from Hong Kong. I always feel excited just to walk through the town. I'm looking forward to trying the spa here someday for sure.
Monday 30/5/2005
特急に乗って家路を急ぐ。ぐっすり眠り込んだ指定席でふと気づくと、なにやら見慣れぬ景色。さては寝過ごしてとんでもないところまで来てしまったかと慌てたが、目の前の電光掲示は次が私の下車駅であることを示している。「そんなことがあろうか」とまだ半信半疑でよく目を凝らしてみるが、列車はやはり覚えのない場所を走っている様な気がする。深い茂み、広い野原、真っ直ぐに流れる川、飛んでいく街。私はどこにいるのだろうとボンヤリしていたら、いつもの駅に着いた。ホームにて、半ば狐につままれた気分でいたが、おそらくこれは「黄昏マジック」だったのだろう。「誰そ彼」の語源通り、暮れていく光は万物を別の次元の色に染める。なにやら頼りない気分でいる人の目に、陰りの差した風景は変化した姿を示す。かすかな恐怖と僅かな魅力をたたえて、黄昏の世界は人の心を幻惑する。それに、急速に茂った緑は枯れ野や若葉にはない陰影を生み出す。もうそんな季節かと、雨の街に傘を差して踏み出した。五月晴れから一転、紫陽花がほころび始めている。本日の更新は特にありません。この短信のみにて失礼。画像には捉えられないこと、ことばでしか捉えられないこともあるのを、久しく忘れていたような私です。
I came home taking a super express train. I came to my mind suddenly after sleeping fast for a while in the train seat to find the landscape out of the window which I felt was quite strange to me. I was shocked to think I might have gone past the station where I should have got off. However, the electric signboard in front of me was telling that the next station would be the one. "It can't be!" I said to myself and watched out again. But I still felt the train was going thgouth the place far away from my home. Woods, a huge green field, a river runningh throught it, flying twons, all looked something I had never seen. I was wondering where I was, when the train actually stopped at the usaual station. On the platform, I was still puzzled. I guess it was a sort of "the twilight magic." The word "twilight" in Japanese originally meant "who is he?" In twilight we can't see anything clearly. The setting sun gives the weakening light over everything to change the appearance. The strange appearance terrifies us a little and allures us as well. Moreover, the thickness of the green plants, which have grown very quickly recently, has changed the scens with deep shades. The dried leaves of winter and the soft green leaves of spring never had this kind of deapth. It's already such a season. I stepped out of the station building with my umbrella open. Right after the clear beautiful May, the rainy season brings hydrangea. Today's update: nothing particular but this note. Sorry, Friends! It seems I've forgotten that there are senses and emotions that I can hardly catch by a camera but by words. I know I am such a fool, always.
Saturday 28/5/2005
早急に必要なソフトがあり、秋葉原へ。余裕があれば片道でもブラブラ歩くところ、流石に無理だったのでタクシーを拾う。以前に何度も行ったことのある大型店舗の場所を説明しようとするのだが、自分で運転していないとナビゲーションはうまくいかない。見当を付けて降ろしてもらい、記憶を頼りに迷路を歩く。このごろアキバも変わったと聞いていたが、パソコン関連ショップはまだまだいっぱいある。目指す品物をゲットして再びタクシー。時間も買っているなと思う。車を降りて歩きたい街路をずんずん進み、瞬く間に職場に戻った。会議はもう沢山！と叫びたい。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。昨日の記載は間違いだらけだったので、こっそり直しておきました。（まだいろいろあるかも。）
I needed a piece of software for the computer in my office, I went to Akihabara. If I had had time, I would have walked to the town, but I caught a taxi instead. I tried hard to explain to the driver the way to the building of a big shop where I had been before repeatedly but I was helpless. As I don't drive myself, I have no sense of navigation. I asked him to let me get off at a corner and I started looking for the shop on foot. Although people say Akiba has changed greatly recently, there are still a lot of small shops selling various kinds of computer goods in back alleys. As soon as I got the item I wanted, I took another taxi on my way back. It went swiftly through the lanes I really wanted to enjoy walking. I felt I was buying time, too. I came back to my office in an hour. I want to cry out, "No more meetings!" Today's update: Musashino Sketch.I found I made several mistakes in the previous note. I corrected them secretly. (There might be more of them!)
Friday 27/5/2005
一年中こんな日だと良いのにと思うほど爽やかな気候、既に初夏。季節のめぐりは驚くほど早い。人の歩みは哀しくなるほどのろいのに。いや一般論ではなく、「自分の」と限定しなくては。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。ようやく捕らえたセンダンの花(上の写真)。一瞬の饗宴に驚嘆しつつ。
I wish the whole year to be like today; we're enjoying the cool and dry weather. It's already early summer. How fast seasons go round. People go so slowly. I shouldn't say "poeople" anonymously. I am slow. Can't be helped though. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. Eventually I caught the satinwood in bloom (The photo above). I know how soon flowers wither but I'm filled with awe under the flowering tree.
Tuesday 24/5/2005
二ヶ月半ぶりに髪を切りに行ったら、美容師さんが「愛知万博」を見てきたとかでいたく感激している。是非行ってご覧なさいと勧められた。何が面白かったと言って一番はロボットとのこと。男性が求めるロボットは面倒なことは言わずに「あれ、どこにあったっけ？」と聞くと「いつもの、あそこですよ」と応えてくれるようなのが良いのだそうだ。女性が求めるロボットは面倒を見てやれるような「ほらほら、ダメでしょ」タイプがよいのだとか。「だって男が60、70過ぎてこれから育てようとか込み入った話をしようとか思いますか」ときた。「女性は幾つになっても相手を構いたいんでしょうけれど」とも。そうかなぁ。年を取っても男も女もいくらでも話すことはあるような気がするけれど、それは幻想か。敢えて反論はしなかったが。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。早く、花をつけ始めたセンダンを撮りに行きたい。
I hadn't been to a beauty salon for over two months. When I could go there eventually, a hairdresser talked to me about "Expo 2005 Aichi" where he went and was very impressed, particularly by robots. According to him, men want to have a robot which can talk with the owner in this way: "I wonder where that is. Do you have any idea?" "Certainly, it's in there as usaul." Whereas, wemen want to have one with which they can talk this way: "Oh, don't do that, my dear!" The hairdresser, a man, says: "Men over 60 or 70 would never like to raise something, or to have a complicated conversation with their robot. They just want to have a relaxing dialogue. Maybe women would like to take care of whatever is near them for ever." Really? I believe people of any age and sex would wish to talk about various things as much as they like. Is it an illusion? I dared not refute the man anyway. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. I'm really willing go to take photos of sendan (Melia azedarach) which is now flowering.
Sunday 22/5/2005
近頃よくマンガを読む。『上京物語』（西原理恵子）、『失踪日記』（吾妻ひでお）、『ダーリンの頭ン中』（小栗佐多里）、『Death Note/ デスノート』（小畑 健)、『のだめカンタービレ』（二ノ宮 知子）等々その他いろいろ。絵と文字と曰く言い難い雰囲気が魅力。どこでも読む。電車の中でも平気。以前は「公衆の面前でよくマンガなんか読むねぇ」と偉そうに構えていたものだが、そんな偏見は消えた。あの表現力は半端じゃない。テレビを見る暇はないが、マンガならまだまだいける。手元には未読の岡崎京子が二冊。きっと滅入るだろうが。文体も変わる。笑いと泣きが入り交じる。チープ？結構じゃない。雑駁な本で足の踏み場もない部屋。そこにマンガが加わった日には、どうなるのでしょう。今日もまた押入の整理で一日が暮れるのかしらん。本日の更新は「東京散歩」のコーナー中、「旧古河庭園--五月の薔薇と森の誘い」です。駄目だ、私は五月の呪縛を逃れられない。じっとしていられないのです。
I often read comic books recently. For example, Jokyo Monogatari by Saibara Rieko, Shisso Nikki by Aduma Hideo, My Darling is Ambidextrous by Oguri Saori, Death Note by Obata Ken, Nodame Cantabile by Ninomiya Tomoko and so on and many more. Drawing and writing create wonderful effects. I read them anywhere. I'm all right to read comic books in trains. Once I was too aloof to do so saying to myself, "How can people read comic books in public? Aren't they ashamed of themselves?" This kind of prejudice has gone out of my mind. The power of creative expressions in Japanese comic books should be marked. I have no time for watching TV programs but I have spare time for comics. I have two works of Okazaki Kyouko at hand. I guess I'll be depressed after reading them for a while; so what? My writing style will change as well. Laughter and tears mix. Is it a cheap entertainment? Good, isnt't it? What will become of my room which is already crowded with various kinds of books if comic books are to be added? Let them come! I'm afraid I'll have to spend another day for clearing the closet of my room, alas! Today's update: Roses in May and the Woods Inviting--Kyu Furukawa Gardens in Walking in Tokyo. I cannot get away from the charm of May. I can hardly stay quiet in this season.
Friday 20/5/2005
僅かな空き時間を捕らえて旧友と出会い東京北区の古河庭園を散策する。本郷通り沿いにはJR山手線駒込駅を挟んで北に古河庭園、南に六義園がある。ツツジの後はバラの季節。西洋庭園はバラを見に来た人々でいっぱいだった。東西の庭が同居する古河庭園の日本庭園は六義園ほど大規模なものではないけれど、凝った作りで大泉水の周囲に鬱そうと木が茂る。本郷台地の高度差を利用したという大瀧が涼しい水音をたてていた。若葉を吹き出している木々に一瞬深山幽谷の幻を見る。楠の大樹やバラを見つめながら、私はどこか手の届かない遠い風景を夢想していたように思う。憧れは、甲斐ないものと知りながら。（いや、憧れは何より心を鼓舞する。）本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。写実を超えて。
I caught a moment of freedom and went for a walk with an old friend of mine to Furukawa Gardens in Kita-ku, Tokyo. With Komagome Station of JR Yamanote Line in the middle, Furukawa Gardens exist in the north and Rikugien Gardens in the south along Hongo-dori Avenue. After azareas, it's the season of roses. There are so many visitors who came to see roses. The Japanese garden of Furukawa Gardens is not so large as that of Rikugien; however, it is a fruit of the exquisit workmanship with the deep forest surrounding the large pond. The garden architect made use of the altitude difference of Hongo tableland to make a wonderful waterfall, where the cool sound of the water splash was heard. I got the vision of the high mountains and deep valleys in young leaves of trees. While watching huge camphor trees and colorful roses, I seem to have been seeing the view far away which is completely out of my reach. I know longing won't bring me anywhere. (Yes, longing inspires our heart more than anything else!) Today's update: Musashino Sketch. Beyond the realism.
Monday 16/5/2005
関東地方はここのところずっと肌寒い。漸くのぞいた晴れ間に喜んだとたん天気雨に降り込められた。雨宿りしていたマーケットを出ると草木はますますみずみずしい。いろいろな課題を抱えたまま、もう新しい週が始まる。解消できなかった疲労をためないようにしなくては。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。よく見る花なのに名前の特定できないものがいくつもある。図鑑の見方がうまくないようだ。どこにポイントを置いて調べたらよいのだろう。中途半端で不本意ながら、季節を追いかけるように写真を加えている。いずれ名前が分かったら加筆・修正することにいたします。
It has abeen quite chilly in Kanto District. When I was happy to find the sunny sky for a while, I was stopped in a market by a shower. After the shower, the grasses and flowers looked tremendously fresh. With a lot of requirements, I have to start the new week already. I need to heal my tiredness before it accumulates too much. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. There are a number of plants which I cannot identify although I see them often here and there. Perhaps I am not good at checking botanical reference books. I wonder how I can solve my questions. I am not satisfied with my inability of research, I add photos in chase of seasons. Let me correct and add information when I know the answers.
Saturday 14/5/2005
昨日の原稿、配信後に誤植発見。「PSTDではなく、PTSD」とご指摘をいただき、まことにその通り。お詫びして訂正いたします。これまで本郷菊坂界隈を好んで歩き、写真を撮り、文章を書いてきた者として、地域の記録を残しておきたい欲求に駆られる。同僚の誰彼に話しても、興味を持つ人は殆どいない。こんな場所にいることを何とも感じないのが普通なのだろうか。特に思い入れがなければ変哲もない東京の街の一つに過ぎないのだろう。憤慨する方がおかしい。逆に「余計なお世話」と叱られそうだ。壱岐坂から炭団坂までは歩いて五分あまり。間に春日通りを挟むとはいえ、同じ筋にある。右京山の桜伐採もそうだったが、記録したからといって何がどうなるわけでもないのだけれど、谷の底から響いてくる声を聴かないではいられない。曖昧な記憶よりは単純な記録の方がよい場合もある。という次第で、本日の更新は「ギャラリー余白」に「本郷・炭団坂の変」です。心安らかな日々の短いこと。
Yesterday I misspelled "PSTD" instead of "PTSD." I am very sorry for the mitake. Let me correct it in my short review. Well, as a person who has been wandring in, taking photos of, and writing about Hongo Area, I cannot help recording the present facts of the town. Few of my colleagues pay specail attention to the town whenever I talk to them about it. Maybe it's normal to feel nothing particular about this old town. Unless they have some personal attachment, Hongo is just one of numerous ordinary towns in Tokyo. There is nothing to be upset about it. On the contrary, residents of this town would feel annoyed if I think too much of it in a biased way. It's a five-minute-walk straight from Iki-zaka to Tadon-zaka although we have go go across Kasuga Avenue. Exactly like in the case of Ukyou-zan where many old cherry trees were cut down for the construction of a condominium, nothing would change by an individual record of it; however, I canot help leaving a record of the present situation of Tadon-zaka. Listen to the voice coming up from the bottom of the valley. A simple record might be better than the ambiguous memory. Today's update: A Protest Movement of Tadon-zaka in Gallery in Margines. Peaceful days are short.
Friday 13/5/2005
いつの間にか執筆者数が増え、配信回数が減ったので、メルマガに原稿の掲載されることが間遠くなった。それでも入稿前には集中的に読書し、あれこれ想を練り、ギリギリまで推敲を重ねる。メルマガ記事は短いのが身上とはいえ、一冊の本について書くのに800字（原稿用紙だと四百字詰めでたったの二枚）はいかにも少ない。だが雑誌や新聞の小さなコラムだと思えば、短く書くのも技のうちと、思い切り縮める。また、どの本を取り上げるか迷うのも毎度のプロセスの一つだ。最初張り切って長大な書籍を選んでみたものの、どうも気乗りせず徒に原稿締め切り日が迫ることもある。そんなときは直前でも別の本に乗り換える。以前から気になってはいたけれど、あまりにポピュラーだと敬遠していたものを何気なく手にとったところ一気に引き込まれてしまうことも。今回のはそのような一冊。本日の更新は「翻訳読書ノート22 / 霧のなかへ、私も」です。トリイ・ヘイデンを取り上げました。昨日書いた本郷の炭団坂の反対運動の幟の脇に、今日は手作りのビラが置いてあった。炭団坂上に13階建てのマンションでは、坂下からの高度差60メートルという。菊坂界隈の人々は「階高を下げよ」と要求している。壱岐坂でも似たような状況になるのではないかと案じられる。
Because there are more writers than before and the frequency of the mail magazine is less, my short review on translated works is published only once every other month. Still now before sending the review I read intensively, think of the contents repeatedly, and rewrite it several times. The shorter, the better, is a column of a mail magazine; however, 800 letters in Japanese is actually too short for writing about a book. I've been observing this shortness is a restriction given to me for training. Usually I tend to write too long in a distracted way. Also I sometimes change the target book in the middle of the writing process: I find myself not so attracted to the book I chose first and transfer to another. In fact, I gave up a very heavy gorgeous book and took up an author of whom I had had a sort of prejudice for her popularity. But unexpectedly her book captured me all at once. Thus I wrote on Torey Hayden this time. Sorry only in Japanese. BTW, I found handbills protesting the construction of the tall condominium building beside Tadon-zqka on which I worte yesterday. The altitude difference between the top of the condominium and the house down under the slope will be 60 meters. People there are claiming the constructors to lower the hight of the building. I'm afraid the same thing might happen in Iki-zaka.
Thursday 12/5/2005
東京・本郷の炭団坂に紫色の幟がずらりと並んで翻る。菊坂を見下ろす崖上に巨大なマンションの建築が進みつつある。「一葉と住民を泣かすな○○不動産」と扇情的な文句が踊る。もう何ヶ月も前からクレーンが唸りを上げていた。よりによって炭団坂の真横に高層建築が建つとは、もう景観も歴史的町並みもあったものではない。明治がそのまま残った路地が影の中に沈んでゆくのか。そしていずれ消えてゆくのか。あの幟はいつまでもつだろう。だが、壱岐坂にも新しい建物を建てようとしている我々がいる。まだ地元の了承は得られていない。壱岐坂にもし幟が立ったら私は理想と現実の狭間で立ち往生するのだろうか。大きくて新しくて強いものが勝つか、それとも小さくて古い美しさが生き残るか。我々は大きくも強くも新しくもないのだが。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。街にも花が咲くので、まだ元気でいられる。（上の写真はセンダンの若葉。）
Purple banners are flying along the steps of Tadon-zaka of Hongo, Tokyo. An enormous condominium building is being constructed on the top of the cliff above Kiku-zaka. "Don't make Ms Ichiyou and residents cry, XX Real Estate" say the banners. I've been watching the cranes working for months. Of all places, why they've decided to build such a big building beside Tadon-zaka? It will surely destroy the charm of the historical landscapes. Back alleys which keep the remnants of Meiji Era will sink in the shadow of the tall condominium building . They will soon vanish completely. I wonder how long the banners will be kept. However, I have to admit that our university is also planning to construct a new tall building in Iki-zaka. We've not got the conscent of neighbors yet. What if they unfurl banners to protest our construction plan? Where would I stand between the ideal and the reality? will the big, new, strong party win or the small, old, beauty survive? We are not big, strong, nor new. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. I can live in town because we have a lot of trees and flowers here yet.
Saturday 7/5/2005
記憶なんてあてにならない。「思い出」は自分に都合よく仕立て上げた物語だ。煩雑な枝葉は捨て、幹さえも撓めて心に容れられる形に直してある。だから思いがけない記録に出会うと自分で書いた文字にたじろぐ。如何にして記憶を消してきたのか、歪めてきたのか、その心の働きを思い出すことの方が辛いかもしれない。そのまま忘れていれば物語の中に安住していられたものを。だが、いくら歴史から目を背けても忘れてはいけないこともある。未来は過去の上にしか築けないとしたら。いや、時間をそんな風に連続するものと捉えてよいのだろうか。・・・というようなことをつらつらと考えていた。本日の更新は、「むさしのスケッチ」です。1ページに画像が多くなりすぎたようなので今回から2ページ目に。前のページにも飛べるリンクを付けた。とてもカレンダーのようには行かず、不定期アップになってしまっている。でも、見慣れた風景の中にも次々に現れる草花の前で立ち止まる習慣は、捨てられない。いつからこんな花追い人になったやら。
I can hardly believe in my poor memory. Memory is a story I made up in a convenient way. I've cut off all the complicated details and deformed the tough facts so that I can accept the whole experiences. Thus I'm embarrassed to find the written record of what really happened. It's a hard job to remember how I tried to delete and change parts of my memory. Forgetfullness is forgiveness. But there are things that we must not forget by all means. Future can only be built on the past. However, can we percieve the concept of time in such a linial style? Is time something to continue? That's what I've been pondering recently. Today's update Musashino Sketch Page 2. You can jump to Page 1 as well. This year the photo pages can never be like a calendar, but it's a record of unperiodical plant/flower watching. I can hardly give up the custom of stopping in front of grasses and flowers with a camera. I wonder how I've become a flower-chaser.
Friday 6/5/2005
既に「立夏」。早すぎないだろうか。うろうろしているとあっという間に。「連休」だったはず。何をしていたのか。そうだ、多摩動物公園へ行った。動物のスケッチをするというヒトにくっついて。あとは、日頃やれない家の中の片付けをした。半間の押入・天袋から数十年分の「とりあえず」を全部引っ張り出し、「突っ張り棒」を二本付けてワードローブに「リフォーム」し、出てきたものを仕分けして今度は物置へ。その大移動で休みはお終い。もしも、出てきた夥しい本やノートに途中で読みふけったりしていなければ、連休はもっと長かったはずなのに。後の祭り。いやはやよくこれだけ書き散らしたと思うほど沢山のノートが出てきた。嘗ては何でもかんでも手で書いていたのだ。パソコンなんかなくても書く情熱に変わりなかったらしい。呆れた。本日の更新は、「むさしのスケッチ」です。あちこちに穴あきで恐縮ですが。また、「いのちのすがお」/"Lives Around--Looking for Nature"です。こちらもぶっきらぼうでごめんなさい。
It's already summer in calendar. Isn't it too fast? Time passes quickly while I'm hanging around. We had holidays consequently in fact. What was I doing actually? Well, I went to the zoo, following my daughter who wanted to sketch animals. Then I did what I usually cannot do: I cleaned (?) the house. I pulled out all the goods I temporarily stored in the closet for decades. We settled to pipes across the closet to reform it into a wardrobe. I sorted out all the things I dug out of the closet and put most of them into a back shed "temporarily." (I don't know what will become of them from now on.) If I had not wasted time reading books and notebooks I found, holidays might have been longer. Too late to repent. However, I was impressed with the amount of the notebooks in which I left the incessant passion for writing. Impressive because I was writing everying by hand in the past when there was no computers. Well, well. Today's update: "Musashino Sketch". Sorry, it's not perfect. Also, "Lives Around--Looking for Nature". Not very descriptive, this time. I wonder if I can go back to my work all right.
Sunday 1/5/2005
風光る五月。蘇った命が延び盛る五月。けれど、四月の最後一週間は痛ましい時となった。JR西日本福知山線脱線事故で亡くなった人の多くが若者だった。通学途上の惨事。帰らない命を惜しむ。運転手も僅か23歳ということがさらに辛い。みんなまだまだこれからだったのに。見えない戦の犠牲者たち。ところで、村上龍『半島を出よ』の書評が出始めた。描かれたビジョンを外さずに読んで見せよと挑戦的な気分になる。自分でも書けと呟きながら。本日の更新は表紙の写真です。卒後30年目の同窓会にて。東京都杉並区善福寺の大学キャンパス。この美しい庭から飛び出したくて足掻いていた日々のことを痛く思い出す。「30年」はマジックナンバー。
It's May when the wind is blowing with light. It's May when lives revived grow and flourish. However, The last week of April turned out to be the most devastating: the derailment of Fukuchiyama Line, JR Nishi-nippon, killed many young people. Most of them were on their way to school. I deeply deplore their death. Moreover, the motorman was also a young man of 23 years old. They had future of indefinite possiblities. They are all the victims of an invisible battle. BTW, revies of Ryu Murakami's Out of Peninsula have started coming on papers. I feel like challenging and say, "Don't miss the vision described in the work!" I tell myself to write by myself. Today's update: the photo of the cover page. I took it on the day of our class reunion at the 30th anniversary since our graduation in 1975. In the university campus of Zempukuji, Suginami, Tokyo. I remember with a sort of pain the days when I was struggling to get out of the beautiful garden as soon as possible. "30 years" is a magic number.
Monday 25/4/2005
桜の後、ハナミズキが満開。サイクリングロードを走ると、道の両側にピンクと白とが咲き競っている。少し遅いけれど、菜の花畑も春色に。本日の更新は、このページの写真（↑）を菜の花に掛け替えました。朧月夜にでもまた見に行こうかな。新入生たちの熱気に気圧され、毎日崖っぷちでやっとこ踏みとどまっている感じです。
After the cherry blossoms, dogwood is now in full bloom. Along the cycling road, trees of dogwood, both white and pink, are competing with each other. Field mastard is also in full bloom and colors the field all soft yellow. Today's update is the photo of this page. I would like to go to see the field at night to see the hazy moon over the flowers. The pressure of energetic freshman students are so great that I am barely holding my stance!
Thursday 21/4/2005
バチカンでは新ローマ教皇が決まったとのこと。カトリック世界に絶大な影響力を持つ人とか。「国境」だけが人を仕切るものではないことをあらためて知る。ふとした折りに寺院の存在が急に意識されることもある。本郷一丁目の勤め先から非常勤先の向丘まで行くのに、今週は回り道をして春日通りを少し歩いた。春日通りは「春日局」ゆかりの土地。菩提寺「麟祥院」には八重桜が満開だった。本日の更新は「ギャラリー余白」のうち、「本郷界隈 春日通りから」です。それから、写真家・映画監督の川崎けいこさんから届いたお知らせがあります。是非ご覧下さい。
From Vatican, the news of the new Pope has come. Pope is said to be more influential to the Catholic world than anty other people. I learn afresh that "national borders" are not the only one that defines people. Sometimes, suddenly we are conscious of the existence of a certain temple. This week I went out of my way to walk along Kasuga Avenue when I went from my workplace in Hongo 1-chome to a school in Mukogaoka. Kasuga Avenu was named after Kasuga-no-Tsubone, a historically significant woman in Tokugawa Era. Her grave is in Rinshouin, where cherry blossom was in full bloom. Today's update: Kasuga Avenue, Hongo in Gallery in Margines. There is a message from a film director/ a photo journalist Ms Keiko Kawasaki. In Japanese only but click the page, please!
Monday 18/4/2005
雨の後には待ちかねたように一斉に花が開く。木々の若葉も草も瑞々しい色で世界を染める。まだ木々の葉が茂る前のほんの僅かな時期に、光を受けて一瞬花を咲かせる植物のことを"ephemerals"と呼ぶのだと知った。（何と美しいことばだろう。）高い山には里では見たことも聞いたこともない植物が束の間の饗宴を繰り広げるらしい。武蔵野の雑木林は今、新芽が吹き出して初々しい。ここにも、ほんの僅かな時を生きる植物が見られる。ありふれた小さな花だけれど、自生する強さを持つスミレを"Ephemerals"の仲間と呼ぶのはおこがましいだろうか。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。それから、友人が送ってくれた吉野山の桜の絶景も。Ms Mに感謝。
After the rain, flowers start to bloom all at once. Young leaves of trees color the world vividly. While the leaves of trees are still scarece, some flowers bloom with the abundant light just for a very short period of time. I've learned recently they are called "ephemerals." What a beautiful word! It seems very rare flowers are blooming in this season momentarily in high mountains now. Also in Musashino Plain, woods are dressed in fresh grass green. We can find flowers living just for a short period of time. Although they are common and ordinary, I wonder if we can call violet as one of the ephemerals. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. Also please check the page of Sakura in Yoshino Mountains, which my friend sent me. Thanks, Ms M!
Wednesday 13/4/2005
関東地方を桜が一気に通り過ぎていった。遅い満開は週末と重なり至る所で花見ができたようだが、週明けと共に菜種梅雨。三日降り続いている。晴れれば気温は20度を超え、雨の日の朝は10度もないというギャップ。半袖シャツで平気な日とセーターを着込んでもまだ寒い日が交差する。通勤途上読み続けている村上龍の最新作『半島を出よ』は驚愕すべき近未来小説。上巻を読了し、下巻に入ったところだ。まだ一つも書評は見かけない。韓国・中国での反日感情の高まりを聞くに付け、危機感が募る。このままでいいのかいけないのか、それが問題だ。本日の更新は「東京散歩」中、サクラ咲く川辺「玉川上水羽村の堰」と多摩川です。広いところへ出てみたくなり。
Cherry blossoms have swiftly passed across Kanto District. Later than usual years, we could enjoy the trees in full bllom last weekend. It has been raining this week for three days. When it's fine the temperature goes up to over 20 degree centigrade and when it rains it goes down to under 10 in the morning. After days of half-sleave-Tshirs, we have days of coats and sweaters. I am reading the latest novel by Ryu Murakami entitled Out of Peninsula. It is an amazing near future ficition. I've just finished the first volume and started the second. I haven't seen any review of this work yet. Hearing of anti-Japan movements in Korea and China recently, I cannot help feeling the possible crisis. To be or not to be; that is the question. Today's update: The Riverside under Cherry Blossoms :Tamagawa-Jousui at Hamura Intake Weir and Tama River in Walking in Tokyo. I wanted to go OUT into a huge open space.
Saturday 9/4/2005
目の回る二週間が過ぎ、爛漫の春。桜の花の満開の下で新入生歓迎大バーベキュー大会。前回と同じアングルで撮った写真も華やかに変身。よろしければ比べてみてください。武蔵野線沿線に生彩が戻った。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。久々の休日だ。
Hectic 2 week are over. Now spring is in its full bloom. We had a big BBQ party in the campus athletic field with cherry trees to welcome freshmen. Photos taken in the same angle are very colorful this time. If you please, won't you compare them? Landscapes along Musashino Railway has become lively again. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. I'm having the first day off in 2 weeks.
Saturday 2/4/2005
年度末から新年度へドドッとなだれ込んでしまった。ようやく関東地方にも開花宣言。けれども蕾はまだ硬い。大波に飲まれて次から次とこなさなくてはならないことが相次ぐ。ポカも多い。本日の更新は、僅かに表紙の写真とこのページの写真です。いずれも来年から本格的に移ることになる新しい窓辺から望む春景色。千葉県流山市、酒川の流れと田園。あぁ、関東平野は何て平らなんだろう！
I've been so busy at the end of the previous semester and the new one. Finally there was the announcement of the cherry blossoms in bloom in Kanot Area but the buds are still very hard. Gulped in big waves, I have to cope with numerous requirements one after another. I'm making a lot of mistakes too. Today's update: phots of the index page and the one above in this page. They are both scenes I have out of the window of my new office where I will move in 2006, in Nagareyama City, Chiba Prefecture. Oh, how flat Kanto Plain is!
Saturday 26/3/2005
ロードショウも終わり近くに滑り込みで見に行った映画『オペラ座の怪人』の音楽がまだ耳の底に鳴り響いている。「音楽の天使」と言うよりは「音楽の悪魔」の物語なのだが、悪魔のような怪人に惹かれていく女（主演女優が弱冠18歳とは驚く）の恍惚の表情。理不尽な独占欲の敗北と、しかしついに消えない情念。ロマンティシズムは何度でも蘇る。さて、本日の更新は「ギャラリー余白」、「日本の面影」中『弥生の風景』です。今回も友人から貴重な写真の提供を受けた。憧れるばかりで一向行けずにいた夢幻の里。我ら花の国の住人。
The sound of a musical film "The Phantom of the Opera," which I nearly missed seeing while it's showing in major theaters in Tokyo, still echoing in my head. It's a sotry of "the angel of music," more precicely "the devil of music." Unforgettable is the fascinated expression of the young heroine who is irresitibly attracted by the devil, the phantom. (Amazingly, the actress is just 18 years old now.) The absurd passion for possession is defeated; yet, it is the ever-lasting passion too. Romanticism never dies. Well, today's update: The Image of March--Village of Plum Trees" in the series of "The Image of Japan," in Gallery in Margines . The photos are offered by a friend of mine; she took the photos of January in the same series. Thanks to her kindness and generosity. We are both inhabitants of a country of flowers.
Thursday 24/3/2005
新学期まであと僅か。あれもこれもと欲張るよりは少し休息、ともいかないか。本日の更新は「ギャラリー余白」に、「のはら 弥生」です。定型を離れてひらがなで。たまには野原で遊びましょう。
A few days more and the new semester will start. I would rather relax than to make haste doting this and that; am I too lazy? Today's update: "In the Field of March" in "Gallery in Margines."
Wednesday 23/3/2005
三寒四温が繰り返す定まらない天候。晴れ間をとらえて野原に出てみる。初夏には数万株の花菖蒲が咲き誇る地元の北山公園へ自転車で一っ走り。まだまだ眠っているような丘はふんわりとやさしい色に変わり始め、地面には青草が湧きだしてきた。水辺でしきりに網を使っている人がいるので、きっと何かいるのだろうがオタマジャクシか。私の目には何も見えない。池の畔にカメラの三脚を据えた老人はじっと動かない。しばらくするとコサギが舞い降りてきた。でも彼は直ぐにはファインダーをのぞかず鳥を見ている。別の老人が寄ってきて話しかけ、二人はこのあたりの鳥のことをしきりに語り合っている。昔はオオサギもきたとか。本日の更新はこのページの写真と、「むさしのスケッチ」です。昨日までリンクの付け方がヘンで、新しい写真が見えないことがあったかもしれません。ごめんなさい。直しました。
The weather is unstable, with coldness and warmth change in turn. When it is sunny, we went out by bicycle to the field of Kitayama Park where ten thousands of sweet calamuses will bloom in early summer. The hill still looks very sleepy but is changing into soft pastel colors; the land is thinly covered with green grasses. Beside the water, there was a man handling a white net, catching something. I wondered if he was capturing tadpoles. I couldn't find anything. There was an old man standing quietly by a pond with his camera tripod firmly settled. A while later, an egret flew down in the water. He did not move immediately but was just watching the bird. There came another old man and talked to him. They started discussing birds in the area. According to them, once there often came bigger ones. Today's update: The photo of this page and Musashino Sketch. Sorry I was linking the page in a wrong way so that you could not jump to the right file. I corrected it. I hope you'll find the photos all right this time.
Monday 21/3/2005
中越大地震の傷跡も癒えないうちに、またしても今度は福岡西方沖地震発生。地震らしい地震のなかった地域だけに意外の念に打たれもするが、地中深い断層はいつ溜まったエネルギーを吹き出すか分からない。日本の国土には「地震無縁地帯」など無いらしい。大都市の繁華街で高いビルからガラス窓が降ってきたり、地下鉄がストップしたり、高速道路が閉鎖されたりという状況は、自然災害と人工災害が複合するだけに恐ろしい。阪神大震災から10年。そして地下鉄サリン事件からも10年が経過した。通勤にいつも乗る地下鉄丸ノ内線でも（しかも下車駅の「本郷三丁目」でも）、死傷者が出たのだった。あの日は春休みで家にいた。父が心臓の大手術を受けたばかりで関心が内側に集中していた。ここ数年よく利用する築地駅も沢山の被害者を出している。（後から村上春樹の『アンダーグラウンド』を読んで戦慄した。）日常過ごす場所が事件・事故の「現場」となり、たまたま居合わせた人が当事者となる偶然。不条理というべきか。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。束の間の静けさの中で。
Before the disaster of Chuetsu Great Earthquake is pacified, another big earthquake attacked the western part of
Fukuoka. Although people are shocked with thebig earthquake in the district where no remarkable ones have ever
occured, none can tell when the energy accumulated in the active faults deep in the
earth is to be released. There seem to be no areas "free-from-earthquakes"in Japan. The terror is enormous
in the city center of a megalopolis where a natural disaster is mixed with man-made ones in such a way as
windowpanes fall from tall buildings, subways stop, highways are closed and so on. It reminds me of the fact
that it has been 10 years exactly since Hanshin-Awaji Great Earthquake, and the Sarin Gas Attack in 1995. On the
subway-line which I always take for commuting, sarin was released. (At "Hongo-3-Chome Station," one of the
workers was killed and some passengers were injured.) On that day I was home enjoying a biref spring break. Also
my interest was in my father suffring from a serious heart desease. I learned that Tsukiji Subway Station, which
I go through often recently, was also marked for having many people injured by the attack. (I read about it in
Haruki Murakami's Underground afterwards and shivered.) We can be victims anytime in the territories of
our daily activities. Should I call it absurdity? Today's update: Musashino Sketch.
I'm in a moment of peace.
Sunday 20/3/2005
珍しく何の予定もない週末。ぽかぽかと良い陽気。ようやくサイトのメンテナンスに取りかかる。リフォームというほどでもないけれど表紙にカウンターが戻り、掲示板が復活した。春の大掃除。本日の更新はエッセイ「徒歩記 2 本郷の四季--Hongo Wonderland--」です。印刷物を収録したものですが、関連の写真を付録としてまとめてみました（最後のページから飛べます）。その他あちこち細かいところを手直し。いよいよ辛夷の花が開き始めた。
To my joy, I have a lot of free time this weekend. Eventually I've started working with this website for renual. Thanks, a visitors' counter is back on the index page, and so is BBS! It's a sort of spring clearing. Today's update: an essay in Japanese entitled "Hongo Wonderland" with a supplimentary photo page (available from the last page of the essay). Several more small changes here and there. Magnolias are starting to bloom.
Saturday 19/3/2005
Sorry, under construction./ ただ今準備中。
Thursday 17/3/2005
彼岸の入。義母の郷里、青森から供え物の菓子・果物が届く。伝統行事に篤い人々の習いに従っている。既に墓参を済ませた。「慣習を守るからあなたは仏教徒だと自覚しているのですか」という遠来の友人の問いかけに一瞬ひるんだ。季節信者などというものがあるだろうか。いつまでも枯れ色の景色だと思っていたのに、急速に草花が生彩を取り戻しつつある。「暑さ寒さも」の喩えは生きている。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。繰り返す季節の営みが嬉しいような、速すぎて哀しいような、心ざわめく日々がきた。
The day ofthe spring equinox is approaching. It's the time to clerebrate the dead of the family in Japan. A arelative in Aomori Prefecture, my mother-in-law's native land, sent her a box of food to offer in the family altar. I'm following the pious people around me. I've already visited the family graveyard. "Do you call yourself a Buddhist because your are following the Buddhist customs?" asked a friend who came from a foreign country recently and I was a little embarrassed. Am I one of "the seasonal Buddhists?" The dead brwon landscape has been rapidly getting back the fresh colors. "Summer heat or winter cold doesn't last after the equinox," as they say, seems to be very true. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. On one hand, I'm happy with the repetition of yearly changes of seasons; on the other hand, I feel a slight depression with the rapidness of time. Days of disturbance have come.
Saturday 12/3/2005
春の雨が降り始めた。これで一気に芽吹きが促されるのだろう。コロラドから来た新しい友人と街を歩きながらさまざま語り合う。眩しい若さの中に深い陰影もたたえて、仏教に関心を寄せる彼女はあまり異国の人という気がしない。嘗てはひたすら外へ向かっていた私の関心も内側へと転じた。ことばは外側をなぞるためのものではなく、内にたたえた水脈を導き出すためのものかと思うようになっている。本日の更新は翻訳読書ノート「直喩としての活火山」です。スーザン・ソンタグについて。配信元との連絡手違いにより、だいぶ間が空いてしまったレビューではありますが、今年も細々と書き継いでいきたいと思っています。
The spring rain has started falling. Plants will begin sprouting all together. I walked talking with a new friend who came from Colorado. In her brilliant youth she has deep shadows as well; she is interested in Buddhism. I didn't feel I was talking to someone from aborad. Recently I've come to think of words not for describing outside phenomena but for leading the water inside out. Today's update: Review of Works Translated. I wrote on books by Suzan Sontag. Sorry, only in Japanese.
Thursday 10/3/2005
光陰は（当然）矢よりも早く、少年ならずとも老いやすし。と、分かっているのにうかうかと。サーバアタック(?)により、CGIを外しました。しばらくカウンターとBBSはお休みします。どんな空隙も見逃さないアタッカー。外へ向かって窓を開けば、嬉しい便りも届くしまたその逆も。だからといって黙ってしまうこと、全ての窓を閉ざしてしまうことはないでしょう。しなやかにしたたかに。再建を目指します。というわけで、本日の更新は一歩下がってリンクを外したり、表紙を書き換えたりいたしました。でも光は確実に春、ですね。ご訪問に感謝。
Time flies (naturally) faster than an arrow, and the youth grow old immediately. In spite of the plain knowledge, I easily waste time. Due to attacks to the web-server, I deleted the counter and BBS. Attackers find any holes. If we open the window, not only friendly visitors pass by but also enemies do. However, we should not close all the windows and doors open to the world. Let me be flexible and brave. Waiting for another chance to come for the recontruction. So today's update: I rewrote index pages, deleting links. The light tells us it's really spring. Thanks for YOUR visit!
Sunday 6/3/2005
どんな花に出会えるかと多摩自転車道をゆっくりサイクリングしたが、まだまだ冬景色だった。しかし、心なしサクラの枝には赤みが差しているし、山吹の枝は緑色になっている。いずれ花見に行こうという誘いもきた。じき到着予定の若いアメリカ人女性と無事会えるだろうかと案じている。本当はいろいろな場所に案内したいのに、そんなときに限って予定が詰まっている。でも若者の柔軟性と適応能力の高さはきっと困難を冒険に変え、充実した東京滞在となることだろう。せめて天気の良い日が続くようにと祈る。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。花をたどって掲示板に足跡を残していってくださったご訪問者に感謝。
Expecting to see flowers, I went along Tama Cycling Road; but all I could see was the bleak field of winter. However, somewhat branches of cherry trees were slightly colerd in red hue and bushes of kerria in green. A call to go and see cherry blossoms at the beginning of April has come already. Soon an American young woman is visiting Tokyo. I wish to show her abound in Tokyo, but my schedule is tight this week. I hope the great capacity for flexibility and adaptability will make difficulties into adventure and make her days here wonderful. May the weather be good while she's in Tokyo. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. Thanks to the visitor who was interested in flower photos and left a message in BBS.
Saturday 5/3/2005
昨日は父の命日。約束していたわけではないのに妹も実家に駆けつけて、亡き人を偲んだ。阪神・淡路大震災の翌年、雛祭りの翌朝だった。「去る者日々に疎し」が全てに当てはまる諺ではないのを感じる。不在は必ずしも忘却とは限らない。父のことから、亡くなったあの人この人に話が及ぶ。いずれ私たちもという軽口が妙に真実みを帯びて響いた。妹は五十代の義姉を見送ったばかりなのだ。関東地方には珍しい大雪の日だったが、気が付けばさまざまな花が開いている。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。一気に何枚も花の写真を追加しました。
Yesterday was the anniversary of my father's death. We had never promised it but my sister also visited our mother's house to remember him together. It was the following year of Hanshin Awaji Great Earthquake and the follwoing day of Doll's Festival. "Out of sight, out of mind" is not always true. Absence does not mean to froget. Starting with Father, we talked of the dead one after another. When we said,"Someday we'll follow them," it didn't sound like a joke. My sister's sister-in-law had just passed away in her fifties. We had a lot of snow, unusual for Kanto Area, but I realized various flowers were starting to bloom already! Today's update: Musashino Sketch. I added several photos this time.
Thursday 3/3/2005
雛の節句。年々狭くなる（ような気がする）部屋の中、どこに人形を飾ったらいいのか迷う。もちろん段飾りなどあるわけもなく、木目込みの立ち雛一対に金屏風と雪洞、それにガラスケースに入ったミニチュアのひな壇がひとつ程度なのだけれども、年に一度の場所を確保するのが難しい。今年は考えあぐねてついに箪笥の上にお出ましいただくことにした。神棚よろしく見上げる格好になる。箱からそっと取り出して並べるとのどかなお顔。衣装はそれなりに古びてきているのだが、何となく風格も出て。同居25年目にして今年は義母が「お雛様のちらし寿司は頼むわ」と。義母は間もなく83歳になる。本日の更新は「いのちのすがお」/"Lives Around--Looking for Nature"です。鳥は難しい。
This is the day of Doll's Festival, one of the most beloved Japanese customs for girls. The biggest trouble for us is to find the space for dolls to be placed. Rooms of our house seem to become smaller and smaller year by year. I've decided to put the couple of dolls (a prince and a princess) on the chest of drawers this year! We have to look up to see them just likethe way we pray under the household altar of the Shinto deiety. Dolls' faces are very peaceful while their kimono is getting old and have the feeling of dignity. In the 25th year of our life together, my mother-in-law asked me to cook the decorative sushi for the day, which is the first time she declared she won't cook it by herself. She's going to be 83 very soon. Today's update:"Lives Around--Looking for Nature". It's difficult to take photos of birds really!
Tuesday 1/3/2005
関東地方に雪が降るのはせいぜい2回か3回のこと。寒い寒いと騒ぐほどのこともないのだが、ものみな枯れ色に沈む平野の風景はもうたくさん。春を待つ気持ちには西も東も北も南もないのかもしれない。だから暦が弥生に変わっただけで、気持ちが弾む。再生の期待が満ちてくる。本日の更新は表紙の写真と、この「更新短信」ページの写真です。いずれも週末に東京の郊外、国分寺駅の近くにある崖の上のバラ園で撮影しました。それから、「むさしのスケッチ」です。ささやかな春。
As we have only a couple of times of snowing in Kanto District, there is no reason to complain of the coldness of the winter so much here. Yet I'm already fed up with the monotonous, dreary winter colors of Kanto Plain. I imagine people everywhere, whether they are in east, west, north or south, are eagerly waiting for spring to come. I feel quite refreshed only because the calendar shows it's March now! I feel the tide of expectations for the new season rising up gradually in myself. Today's update: the phtos of the index page and here in The Latest Notes. Both were taken in a rose garden in Kokubunji, Tokyo. And Musashino Sketch. Small signs of spring.
Monday 28/2/2005
嵐のような如月だった。でも時折差し込む春の光に励まされ、ようやく一息ついている。のどかな春よ、来い！本日の更新は、「いのちのすがお」/"Lives Around--Looking for Nature"です。こんなに行儀良くカメラに収まってくれる動物は、彼らくらいだろう。が、もしかすると彼らにも「肖像権」があるのかもしれない。だとしたら権利侵害。ごめんなさい。
February was a stormy month for me. Occasional spring light encouraged me greatly and I am feeling much better these days than before. May peaceful spring come! Today's update:"Lives Around--Looking for Nature". No animals stay as quiet as they do in front of a camera. Perhaps they have the right of publicity. Then, sorry, I'm violating their rights!
Saturday 26/2/2005
強風の翌日は春の雪。車中で声高に語り合う受験生たちがいる。経営学部の教員たちは新参の投資家への興味津々。六本木ヒルズの強者どもへ驚嘆と羨望の論評しきり。人間界を遠く離れたらどんなものだろうと、ふと思う。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。 春は名のみの。
After the gale, snow fell. In the train was a loud-voiced studnets talking of entrance examinations. Faculty members of business administration were talking excitedly about the young investors with arrogant manners who are the occupant of The Roppongi Hills. Their comments included amazement and cynicism. Well, how about leaving the worldly society for a while? Today's update: Musashino Sketch. It's just the nominal spring.
Thursday 24/2/2005
春一番が吹き荒れる。囂々と梢の鳴る雑木林の中、枯葉の下には命の息吹。南半球先端の友より便りと物語が届く。世界は遠く、また近い。本日の更新は「むさしのスケッチ」です。少しずつゆっくりと、書いていきます。
The first spring gale roared. Under the trees whose tops were crying, I found the messengers of the new season. Life is there under the dried leaves. I received a mail from a country at the southern tip of the southern hemisphere. And her true story too! Thanks, Marie! The world is wide but close. Today's update: Musashino Sketch. I'll start writing it slowly.
Wednesday 23/2/2005
どうやら風邪から生還した。光がとても明るい。あちらこちらから春の便りが聞こえてくる。いくら何でももう布団をかぶって冬眠を決め込んでいる時でもあるまい。さて、懸案のサイト整理にかかりました。取り立てて中身が新しくなったわけではないのですが、少しずつ改造を心がけようと思います。時々どこかが変わる、はずです。本日の更新は表紙、それからサイトマップ、そして「このサイトについて」。書き始めたら長くなったので、そのうち短く削ろうと思います。写真のないページは面白くありません。あぁ、カメラを持ってどこかへ行きたいものです。
It seems I've survived the severe cold after all. The light is very bright. I can hear from the spring. It's high time for me to get out of the bed and the winter sleep. Finally I've started reforming this website. There are no very new contents, but I am planning to renew here and there little by litttle. Please be patient with me and find something new somewhere. Today's update: the index page, The Site Map、and On this Website, an Introduction.I wrote too long. I would like to cut it much shorter soon. Pages with no photos are monotonous. I wish I could go somewhere with my camera!
Saturday 19/2/2005
昨日、三年間過ごした個人研究室を引き払った。学園の校舎立て替えのため、これからしばらくは共同研究室住まいとなる。千変万化、流れゆくのがこの世の習い。風邪などひいていたせいで作業は期限ギリギリの夜までかかった。ようやく部屋のドアに鍵をかけた時には構内は深閑として誰の姿もない。通用口から外に出たら、東京ドームのライトがきれいだった。たまにはと、まばゆい光の方向へ歩き出し、地下鉄「後楽園」駅から帰ることにした。こんな時刻に光の渦の中をふらふらしていることは滅多にないので、知らない土地へ来たような感じがした。思いがけないところへ出るのだろうかなどとボンヤリ考えていると、頭上を駆け抜けるジェットコースターの轟音で我に返った。本日の更新は、「いのちのすがお」/"Lives Around--Looking for Nature"です。練習中の鳥の写真を数枚貼ってみました。
Yesterday, I cleared out the office I had stayed in for three years. Due to the construction of the new school buildings, we are all going to share rooms with colleagues for a while. Everything is changing just like life itself. The cold I caught prevented me from packing efficiently in time, and I kept worikng to the late evening of the deadline. When I locked the room, I found I was left (perhaps) alone in the quiet building. I went out of a small exit into the town where my eyes were struck by the gorgeous illumination of Tokyo Dome. I decided to walki in the flood of light for a while to go to Korakeun Station of Marunouchi Subway Line, which is the route I seldome take on my way back. I felt as if I had been traveling in a strange place. Walking absent-mindedly, I was astonished by the roar of the roller coaster overhead! Today's update: Lives Around--Looking for Nature, my excercise of taking birds' photos.
Thursday 17/2/2005
風邪にやられて5日間もダウンしていた。一度会議に出て行ったら余計悪化し、未だに朦朧とした状態が続いている。しかし、本日は千葉県某所の高校へ訪問授業の予定。寝床を這い出すべし。あまり悲観的なことばかり呟いているのを見かねた友人が、これでも見て元気を出すようにと送ってくれたピカイチの写真を載せてみましょう。そういえば、先月も旧友から初詣の貴重な写真をお送りいただいたし、応援してくださるご訪問者に助けられることしきり。感謝感激です。なにか山の写真というのは霊気を吹き込んでくれるようです。高校生相手に、発憤して参ります。本日の更新は如月の風景「銀嶺」です。是非ご覧下さい。
I've been staying in bed for more than 5 days because of the cold. Once I went out to a meeting and the cold got worse. I'm still feeling dizzy. But I have to visit a high school in Chiba Prefecture today and teach a class. Get out of bed now! While I was grumbling pessimistic things, a friend of mine sent me a brilliant photo of Mt. Fuji to cheer me up. I remember in January another friend of mind sent me several photos she took when she visited a temple in Kyoto at the beginning of the year. How encouraging the visitors are! I really appreciate their friendship. Photos of mountains inspire me greatly. All right, I'll do my best with high school studnets. Today's update: The Image of February--the Silver Peak. Please enjoy the photo. Thank you!
Monday 14/2/2005
立春を過ぎたとたんに光が明るい（ような気がする）。だのにまあ、風邪を引いて二日間も伏せっていた。少し気を取り直して本日は明るい写真をアップいたしました。久々に東京散歩です。但し、撮影したのは先月の初め。あれから猛烈多忙な渦に巻き込まれ、今日に至ります。気持ちの余裕は失いたくないと思いながら。よろしければどうぞ短い船の旅へ。本日の更新は
