I have been too busy to write here for a long time.
Now I rehabilitate myself.

Nori

Comments

I was reminded of this sentence in her letter while seeing reports
about MJ's life and death.

MJ(Michael Jackson) was, without doubt, an incarnation of
what one calls "American dream".
However, various reports about him and his family remind me of
the sentence above -- " the United States has many aspects ".

The abuse of propofol(Diprivan), for example, upset me with the
fact that THERE IS SUCH A DOCTOR IN AMERICA, whose moral is
thus low or whose knowledge about propofol is poor.

The reported confrontation between MJ and his father makes me sad
to find out there was such a family in America, which does not seem
to have been happy, regardless of the enormous wealth and fame MJ obtained.

It is sad to confront such " many aspects " of America in the flood of
reports about his life and death.

It is deja-vu of CITIZEN KANE-- "Rose Bud".

Comments

June 4th is the birthday of late Russian conductor Yevgeni Mravinsky (1903-1988).

(About Mravinsky (Wikipedia))
　　　　　　　↓
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Mravinsky

Due to a certain fortune, I, who was very young then,
could know him in person when he repeatedly visited Japan
with his Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1970s.

Every year, on June 4th, I recall him not only because it is his
birthday but also because I have a wonderful memory of a secret
birthday party in Japan in 1979, when he happened to be in
Japan on his birthday.

We held a small party for him in a hotel room of the Silk Hotel
in Yokohama. He was really pleased with the party and told us
of his memory in childhood.----He was a son of a Russian aristocrat
family before the Russian Revolution. He and his parents were persecuted
by the communists government after the Russian revolution.
Mravinsky told us how he had been celebrated on his birthdays in
his childhood by his parents, saying he had been an overprotected child.

He told us about God and told about Glazounov, the Russian
composer who influenced him in his childhood.

I recall the night he told us about his sweet memeory of
his childhood in pre-revolution Russia and Glazounov on
June 4th every year.

Happy Birthday

NOriNishioka

Youtube: Mravinsky conducting Tchaikovsky's 5th symphony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQhzfTwwMlU

Youtube: Mravinsky conducting Schostakovich's 5th symphony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5oZcDqDDF4

My book about Mravinsky ("Mravinsky: Gakuya no Sugao"(2003) in Japanese)
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%A0%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B9%E3%82%AD%E3%83%BC%E2%80%95%E6%A5%BD%E5%B1%8B%E3%81%AE%E7%B4%A0%E9%A1%94-%E8%A5%BF%E5%B2%A1-%E6%98%8C%E7%B4%80/dp/4947637854/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244087153&sr=1-3

Comments

I present you the English translation of an editorial published
by the Japanese newspaper YOMIURI SHIMBUN one year ago.(March 10th, 2008)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal. Fortunately we were on the winning side."

This remark, made years after World War II, is attributed to Gen. Curtis LeMay (1906-90), a U.S. Air Force commander who directed a massive incendiary attack on Tokyo in the predawn hours of March 10, 1945, scorching a good portion of the city's eastern shitamachi, a low-lying area with many small independent shops and factories.

The Great Tokyo Air Raid should be regarded as a genocidal attack that mainly targeted civilians in obvious violation of international law. The aerial bombing came after the U.S. Air Force had failed to achieve much in its intermittent pinpoint bombing of military-related facilities in Japan. The United States was shifting the focus of its military campaign against this country to firebombing and scorching urban areas as a means of sapping the people's will to continue fighting.

The air raid turned crowded blocks of wooden houses in Tokyo into a sea of fire, claiming about 100,000 lives. The figure exceeded the death toll from the bombing of Dresden, Germany, by the U.S. and British air forces in February 1945, one of the largest air raids carried out in Europe during World War II.
After successfully accomplishing its military aim in the Tokyo air raid, the United States expanded its list of indiscriminate bombing targets to launch an air attack on Nagoya on March 12 and Osaka on March 13-14. By the end of war, the United States had bombed about 150 Japanese cities, killing an estimated 500,000 people.

LeMay is not the only one to acknowledge the Great Tokyo Air Raid as a war crime. "LeMay said, 'If we'd lost the war, we'd all have been prosecuted as war criminals.' And I think he's right. He---and I'd say I--were behaving as war criminals," former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara said in "The Fog of War," a U.S. documentary movie produced in 2003 and released in Japan last year. McNamara was one of the U.S. officials who played a major role in the deepening military involvement of the United States in Vietnam.

During World War II, McNamara helped plan efficient bombing campaigns as a lieutenant colonel under Gen. LeMay's command.

In light of McNamara's remarks, what was the meaning of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, known as Tokyo Trial? McNamara's remarks can give anyone cause to rethink the significance of the Tokyo Trial, which tried Japanese political and military leaders as war criminals.

In 1992, the German government raised a strong objection when a bronze statue of Arthur Harris, a British general who had directed the Dresden bombing, was erected in central London.

This is in stark contrast to the attitude taken by the Japanese government toward LeMay after the war. In 1964, he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun for his "cooperation in the development of the Air Self-Defense Force." This symbolically showed how strongly the Japanese public's perception of the prewar and wartime history had been distorted by their own blind acceptance of incidents established as historical facts during the Tokyo Trial.

Immediately after the Tokyo air raid, Koyo Ishikawa, then a photographer of the Metropolitan Police Department, photographed the city's landscape. Although the GHQ ordered him to hand over rolls of film used to photograph the war-ravaged Tokyo, Ishikawa never surrendered the film, instead burying it in the garden of his house.

The Edo-Tokyo Museum exhibits some of his photos taken with the film, including one depicting the charred bodies of a mother and child, in a section featuring the 60th anniversary of the air raid.

Today, the Tokyo metropolitan government, which has designated March 10 as Peace Day, holds an annual ceremony marking the significance of peace. The Great Tokyo Air Raid should never fall into oblivion. The story of the bombing should be handed down from generation to generation.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/kyoiku/learning/editorial/20050318/index.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------

My mother is a surviror of this holocaust.

Nori

*

Comments

--Tragedy does not take place when the good fights against
the evil. Tragedy takes place when the good fights with
another good.--
(Andrezej Wajda)

It was many years ago that my mother told me of the memory.

It snowed heavily in Tokyo on the day.
My mother was 7 years ago at the time.

Although she was a little child, who attended her primary
school as usual on the day too, she remembered the day as
a very unusual day for two reasons: One was the heavy snow
on the morning and the other reason was that her family's
maid appeared at her primary school and told my mother
she must leave the school and come back to home. It was
very unusual to my mother because her family's maid had
never appeared at her school until then. That her family's
maid appeared at her school and told her to return home with
her was a surprise to my mother who was 7 years old then.
--My mother was escorted by her family's maid and returned
home in snow.

It was exactly 73 years ago that my mother expereienced
this heavy snow and unusual returning home with the
maid's escort. It was the day Japan was shaken by the
attempted coup d'etat in Tokyo on the February 26th,
1936.

It was a tragic event. The attempted coup in snow was
aborted when their assault on the cabinet members in Tokyo
in the early morning of February 26th(1936) triggered
anger of the Emperor Hirohito. The only way those young
army officers who joint the coup d'etat in the snowy
mornig was only to surrender or to commit suicide.

Those young army officers attempted the coup from their
indignation against the corrupt politics and awful
poverty of Japanese peasants which they believed to be
the consequence of the the then corrupt politics.
They expected Emperor Showa's support but their act
resulted only in the Emperor's anger.

Those young army officers who participated in the
aborted coup were without doubt patriots.
So, the consequence of the aborted coup, in which
they killed themselves or were executed after they
surrendered to the government and were tired in the
military courts was tragic enough.
But another aspect of the tragedy was that the
victims--the then cabinet members who were assassinated
by those army officers in the snowy morning--included
such respectable patriot as the then financial minister
TAKAHASHI Korekiyo. It was a tragedy because the good
claimed the life of other good, as Wajda called it
a tragedy concerning his movie “Ash and Diamond”.

（Click here to know about this history)
　　　　　　　　　　↓
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_26_Incident

The tragic event--the aborted coup is mentioned in the impressive conversation in the movie “MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR.LAWRENCE”, for example.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
(From“MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR.LAWRENCE”)

Yonoi :How wonderful it would have been, if it could
have been invited all of you to a gathering
under our cherry trees.
Lawrence:Yes. My fondest memory of Japan is the snow.
Trees covered with snow.
Yonoi :It was snowing on the day.
Lawrence:What day?
Yonoi on't you know? February 26th, 1936.
Lawrence:Ah, yes. I was in Tokyo on the day.You too?
Yonoi :No. I had been sent off to Manchuria 3 months
before. I was not there for the uprising.
Lawrence:You regret that?
Yonoi :My comrades were executed. I was left to die
after them.
Laerence:I see. So, you were one of the shining officers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

My mother was there too.
She was a little girl of 7 years old who went to her school
as usual on the snowy morning. But Japan was in a turmoil
while she attended her school in the heavy snow.

I have heard the TV weather forecasting say that it may
snow in Tokyo tonight, as it did 73 years ago.

Feb 26th, 2009

Nori

Comments

Obama is a small city in Fukui-prefecture in Japan.

（Click here to know about Obama-City)
　　　　　　　　　　↓
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama,_Fukui

It is a tiny quiet town facing the beautiful sea
of Wakasa-Bay and it has many beautiful Buddhism
temples as well as the beauty of nature. --It is
called “anoter NARA with the sea”.

The tiny city became famous since Mr.Barak Obama
appeared in US, for the simple reason the city has
the same name with him.
After Mr.Obama won the presidential election,
this quiet city facing the Sea of Japan excited
at the news their name has become the same with
the US president.

This morning, I watched the NHK news about the
inauguration of President Barak Obama in Wasshington D.C.

The long news showed us not only the scenes from
Washington D.C, but also people's voices about the
new president.

The news reported the voice of Japanese people
about President Obama from various parts of Japan.
For example, some Japanese in Osaka were rejoiced by
this inauguration, as usual.--Osakans like America.
But then, we were shown citizens of Obama city
who were interviewd by the TV crew on streets of
Obama-City.

They were rejoiced and said they were very glad with
the inauguration of a new president in the United
States whose name is same with their hometown.
However, two citizens who were interviewd by the
TV crew, in front of the TV camera, said they hope
President Obama will give supports to the efforts
for the Japanese abducted by North Korea will be
returned to Japan.

（Click here to know about North Korean abduction of Japanese)
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　↓
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_abductions_of_Japanese

Obama-City was a place where some Japanese were
abducted by North Koreans in the 1970s. They could
come back to Japan in 2002 after they were forced
to waste their valuable years of life in the
prison-state as instructors of Japanese for North
Korean soldiers, or spies, while their abduction
was kept secret. --It was after 2002 North Korean
dictator Kim Jong-Il acknowledged their crime--
abduction of multiple Japanese from Japan--and
apologized to the then Japanese prime minster Koizumi
who visited North Korea. There are, however, many
more Japanese who were abducted in Japan by Koreans
and missed after they were forced to live in North
Korea as instructors of Japanese for North Korean
soldiers and spies.

Bush administration was sympathetic to the family
of those kidnapped japanese and president Bush
expressed his anger to North Korea. Moreover,
president Bush even invited a mother of such
abducted Japanese, YOKOTA Megumi, who had been
abducted by North Korean operators on a street in
Japan in 1978, when she had been 13 years old.
President Bush, however, betrayed Japan after this
touching event. Under the treacherous dipolpmacy of
Rice and Hill, who conceded North Korea and ignored
the Japanese concern, Bush administration changed
US diplomacy to extremely pro-North Korean one
to obtain North Korean compromise in nuclear issue.

Under such diplomatic circumstance, the Japanese
are deeply concerned Obama administrarion may concede
more to North Korea than Bush administration did
and are wondering what policy Obama administration
start with North Korea.

I am one of them.
As well as the citizens of Obama-City who are concerned
about the American attitude towards North Korea, regardless
of the pleasure new president of the US has the same name
with their town, I am deeply concerned president Obama
may take more pro-North Korean policy than Mr.Bush
who betrayed the Japanese mother waiting for her daughter
30 years in Japan.

Nori

Comments

Today is the 18th anniversary of the outbreak of
the GUlf War.

On the anniversary of this rather forgotten war
after the war of Iraq, I send you a part of a
thought-provoking article about the role of censor
in war, which is a memoir by a Japanese critic and
a historian.

It is a part of a memoir by late Mr.ETOH Jun, who was
a critic of modern Japanese literature and politics.

He was known for his unique research about the censorship
by the US Occupation in occupied Japan----He researched
extensively about the influence of American censorship in
occupied Japan on poetwar Japanese culture and politics.

With such unique viewpoint about the history of censorship
in Japan and the US, he reviewd the Gulf War from his proper
viewpoint on the role of censorship in war, right after the
Gulf War in 1991.

Following is a part of an article by a Japanese critic
who by chance heard an ex-official of the US government,
Dean Rusk, state his view on the role of censorship in
American wars.

You are urged to read this and think about the role of
censorship in American history.----America was not an
exceptinal state in its history of censorship.

-------------------------------------------------------------
(Memoir by late ETOH Jun)

Some may have recalled that there is censor in our world
during the Gulf War this year. Not a few young generation,
on the other hand, might have learnt that there is censor in
our world for the first time. Both the multinational(US) Army
and the Iraqis implemented very utter censor. As the result,
to our mystery, we are unaware exactly how many Iraqis this
war claimed. According to a certain faierly reliable source,
the war may have claimed 300 thousands Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait only.
On the other hand, the American casualities, which is supposed to be
hundreds officially, is uncertain, to tell the truth. Censor created such
image of clean war in which we cannot see the images of the dead.
The released images by the multinational Army, which we saw on
television, were made under the American control.
Seeing those images made by US, I was convinced that the US is doing
the war very seriously.

My memory is back to 11 years ago. In the spring of 1980, I was in America.
I was in America as a research fellow in the Wilson Center in Washington D.C.
I was sent there by the Japan Foundation to do research about the censor
US Occupation Army had done in Japan during the years US occupied Japan.
By chance, while I was staying there, a symposium on Vietnam War was held.
Neil Sheehan, an American journalist who had campaigned against the war
during the Vietnam War, was one of the research fellows who had been in the
Wilson Center at the time.
In contrast with the Gulf War this year, Vietnam War was a poignant war to
the United States. In addition, since the spring of 1980 was right after rescue
operation of the American hostages in Iran failed, the symposium was held in
the Wilson Center in a very depressing mood.

I must remind you of Dean Rusk here. Dean Rusk, the ex-secretary of the state
during the Vietnam War, had retired many years ago then.
He became a professor at Georgia University in Georgia State, which was his home.
He was invited to the symposium by the Wilson Center and came from Atlanta to
Washington D.C. by airplain to attend the symposium. He was not one of the
panelists nor speaker. I noticed an old man sitting silently in a corner of the floor.
When I noticed the man as being alike Dean Rusk, it was very Dean Rusk.
He was listening the panelers' debate silently.
As I am a foreigner, I was listening what Americans speak enthusiastically about
the Vietnam War silently as well, to learn about the issue.
Then, Mr.Rusk, the ex-secretary of the State, raised his arm at the end of the
symposium. He stated all who were there a very poignant comment.
“I could hear many valuable opinions here. I, however, think that we failed the war.
I guess you all agree to this point”.
The audience were silent. Mr.Rusk continued.
“Why did we fail the war? The reason was because we did not do censor even once
in the Vietnam War. In the past World War Ⅱ, we implemented a very hard censor
and won the war. But we did not do censor in the Vietnam War. As the result,
we could not get supports from the people in our own country. Imagine how the people,
who watch the images of their sons, boyfriends, or husbands, being murdered cruelly
by Vietcongs every day, would respond to our govenment's campaign to continue this war.
There's no reason people would accept it positively.
No government is capable to continue to fight and win the war under such midia
circumstances.”
When Mr.Rusk said as above, the audience were in complete silence. I was most
impressed by the sight Neil Sheehan, who was criticizing the war, did not rufute at all.
He was, on contrary, nodding with a solemn face to Mr.Rusk's words.

(from “A Personal Proposal of abolishing the Constitution 1946” by ETOH Jun:
SAPIO May.9, 1991, p.21
(translated by NISHIOKA Masanori--Note:The remark by Mr.Dean Rusk in this
translation above is my reverse translation from the original Japanese text.
As it is a reverse translation from what late Mr.Etoh recalled and wrote in Japanese,
Mr.Rusk's remark in my reverse translation above must differ from his original remark
there, which he spoke in English.)

------------------------------------------------------------------

It is dangerous many Americans are unaware that their
country has such history of censorship which was
invisible to the American public.

Jan. 17, 2009(Sat)

On the 18th anniversary of the
outbreak of the Gulf War

Nori

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War
(about the Gulf War)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Sheehan
（About Neil Sheehan)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Rusk
(About Dean Rusk)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Japan
(About the occupation of Japan including censorship by the
US occuapation)

http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/03/the-case-of-taiwa-shinron/
(About censorship in occupied Japan: Frog in a well)

http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Health/Censorship-of-medical-journals-in-occupied-Japan-Censorship-of-the-atomic-bomb-casualty-reports-in-o.html
(About Censorship of medical journals in Japan)

Comments

Today is the 18th anniversary of the outbreak of the Gulf War.

After the war of Iraq(2003), this war in 1991(the Gulf War)
seems to be rather forgotten. I recall the war, however, as a
more horrifying event I witnessed in my lofe, though I "witnessed"
the war through media--not as my real experience.

Among the many things I "witnessed" through media during the war,
I am most impressed by the image of the sea bird that was contaminated
by oil, whose image was at first explained as a victim of "Iraqi
environmental terrorism". It was told, at first, that the bird was
found at a certain sea shore of Saudi Arabia and that the bird was
standing in spilled oil after the Iraqi released oil to the Persian
Gulf.

It was found out, however, that the explanation was illogical
because the sea stream of Persian Gulf was not so fast as to
bring the spilled oil to Saudi Arabian sea shore if the oil had
been really released by the Iraqi in Kuwait. On contrary, it was
revealed later that the bird had been a victim of American air raid
that made oil flow into the sea.

I was appalled when I heard in a radio news that the report of the
sea bird outraged the public and there appeared even such opinion
as to say nuclear weapon may be used against Iraqi who commit such
environmental terrorism in the Western nations. It was appaling to
witness the public oipnion of "democratic" countires can be thus
easily misled to an emotional one to condone nuclear attack against
whatever nation, with a false caption given to a image of really
miserable bird.

Our democracy is always at the threat of propaganda with visual
propagandas. The Gulf War(1991) is a reminder "public opinion" in
democratic society can be misled with such fraud as the sea bird
standing in oil given a false comment--the Iraqis did it--to the
extent of supporting nuclear attack.

On the 18th anniversary of
the outbreak of the Gulf War

Nori

*

Comments

As in every December, I went to listen Beethoven's
9th symphony this year too.--I went to two concerts
this year.

And, as in every end of a year, I thought over
various matters about my life while listening
the symphony. To me, it is the moment to reflect
on my life in the music.

(I have been coming to at least two concerts of
Beethoven's 9th symphony in every December in the
last 10 years)

There is a part of the symphony--certain part of the
4th movement--where I am reminded of the German POWs
who performed this symphony for the first in Japan.
Whenever the performance comes to the part, I think
about those German POWs. I wonder what emotion those
Germen POWs held in their mind at the part when they
played this music. I imagine they thought about their
defeated homeland and their families and friends in
Germany, playing the part in front of many Japanese
who listened this symphony for the first time in
Japanese history.--And now, I am listening the same
music in this country.

This year was the 90th anniversary of the first
performance of Beethoven's 9th symphony in Japan.

Adiu 2008.

Nori

*

Comments

Concerning this tradition in Japan, I would like you
to know certain history. It is the history about the
first artists who performed this symphony--Beethoven's
9th symphony--in Japan.

They were German POWs of the World War I, who were
captured by the Japanese in Tsintao which was the
German territory in Shantao peninsula in Northern
China.

This may need explanation--Japan, who participated in
the World War I as the British ally, declared war
against Germany in W.W.I and occupied the small
German territory in Northern China, Tsintao.
There were Gernmans, and they were made Japanese
POWs of W.W.I. THen, they were taken to Japanese
southwestern island Shikoku and spent their years in
a camp there. And many of those POWs came to the
camp in Japan with instruments.

The relation between the German POWs and the Japanese
was quite good. And the friendship was even widened to
the local Japanese living around their camp.

In such human relationship, when the World War I ended,
those German POWs held a concert for the Japanese who
ran the camp in Bantoh POW camp in Shikoku on June 1st
of 1918. It was in this concert Beethoven's 9th symphony
was first performed in Japan.

There were no female singers, of course. And there were
no female choir group too. So, it was not a perfect
performance of the 9th symphony.
However, they performed Beethoven's 9th symphony in the
remote camp of Japan in 1918.
It is amazing those Germans could organize an orchestra
of whatever level and could manage to perform Beethoven's
9th symphony without female singers there in 1918.

This amazing history had been forgotten for many years.
It was in the mid-1970s that this amazing history of the
first performance of the Beethoven's 9th symphony was
told by a TV documentary in Japan and then many books
appeared about this history.

I was one of those who learnt this amazing history by
the TV documentary in 1970s and was deeply moved by
the figure of a few very old German ex-POWs who were
still alive and played part of the 9th symphony in the
TV documentary in the mid-1970s.--The 9th symphony in
Japan's December had such amazing history.

(To be continued)

Nori

(I am sorry I could not find a good English web-site
about this rather unknown history of the first performance
of the Beethoven's 9th symphony in Japan.
But here is a web-site about this history in German.
If you can read German, please click and read this web-site.)
↓
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriegsgefangenenlager_Band%C5%8D

*

Comments

Besides such reason Japanese orchestras found Beethoven's 9th
symphony as a remedy for their finance, that such many concerts
of Beethoven's 9th symphony are held in December every year
reflects that Japanese audience accepted Beethoven's 9th
symphony as a proper music for the end of year.

This must need explanation since Japanese sentiment for the
end of year is somehow diffirent with that of other nations.
The Japanese regard end of a year as something very serious.
If my understanding is correct, other nations, including the
neighbors of Japan as Koreans or the Chinese, or Europeans
and Americans do not have such sentiment as that the Japanese
have in the end of a year. The Japanese reflect the passing
one year quite seriously in the end of a year. They introspect
on what they did in the year or what happened in Japan and the
world in the end of a year. The Japanese think about life and
death in the final days of a year and think what they should
do in the coming next year in every December.

Such cultural tradition about the end of year must have been
another reason Beethoven's 9th symphony has become such a great
event in Japan's December. I love Japan for such culture.

(To be continued)

Nori

*

Comments

It may not be widely known out of Japan that Beethoven's
9th symphony is a seasonal event in Japan's December.

In December--the last month of the year--so many concerts
of Beethoven's 9th symphony are held in Japan.

In particular, in Tokyo, which is one of the major cities
of classical music in the world, Beethoven's 9th symphony
is performed somewhere almost every night. This is an annual
tradition. It is a very peculiar tradition in Japan.

The reason Beethoven's 9th symphony is performed so often
in Japan's December is not clearly known. It is said, however,
that this tradition is a postwar phenomenon and that this
tradition has its reason that Japanese orchestras began to
perform Beethoven's 9th symphony in December since they
needed money in December, when all Japanese need money to
prepare Nwe Years Days, after the war. There were not many
orchestras in Japan in late 1940s and 1950s. In the early
postwar era, there were not as many orchestras as there are
now. So, this tradition may have its origin in a particular
orchestra's tradition.

Anyway, it is December now.
So, I go to listen the 9th symphony too.

(To be continued)

Nori

*

Comments

A few days ago, I saw “Merry Christmas, Mr.Lawrence”
after many years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Christmas,_Mr._Lawrence
(Click to know the story of this film, cast, and staffs)

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=YwkuS9FlB7M
(Click and listen the wondeful music of this
movie)

“Merry Christmas, Mr.Lawrence”is a movie directed
by OSHIMA Nagisa, the Japanese film director who is
generally regarded as leftist in Japan.

The movie, which was shown first in 1983, is a
story of the British, Australian, NewZealander,
and Dutch POWs and Japanese soldiers in Java during
the W.W.Ⅱ. ---The movie is based on a novel by a
South-African novelist Sir Van der Post.

I have seen this movie many times since 1983,
when the movie was first shown in the world,
but it was indeed after many years that I saw
this movie by DVD. Seeing this movie again by DVD,
I was reminded of a certain remark Oshima made in
a press conference when he was to start making
of this film. He remarked that he wants to make
a movie like Jean Renoir's masterpiece “The Grand
Illusion(La Grande Illusion)”.

“The Grand Illusion(La Grande Illusion)”(1937),
which Oshima mentioned in the press conference,
is a story of French POWs in a German camp during
the W.W.I, in which two French POWs, who escaped
from the German camp, converse about the war.---
One of the two wonders whether the war would be the
final war in history and the ather answers it's
his iluusion.---The title reflects this conversation
in the end of the film.

Reading this remark of Oshima in newspaper, I was
thrilled by the news Oshima is to direct this movie
about British and other POWs in a Japanese camp in
W.W.Ⅱ. And, when the film was shown in 1983, I was
not disappointed.---I was deeply moved by this film.

However, after then, I began to wonder whether this
movie was really a masterpiece as “The Grand Illusion”.
Maybe, I became critical. However, seeing the DVD of
this movie a few days ago, I have come to think I was
too crirical.---I do think this movie is a masterpiece
as “The Grand Illusion” now.

There is a scene which I love very much in the early
part of this film. It is the scene Captain Yonoi
(SAKAMOTO Ryuichi) who controls the camp talks with
the British POW Lawrence(Tom Conti) walking slowly
in front of a white chapel.

The conversation is as follow.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Yonoi :How wonderful it would have been, if it could
have been invited all of you to a gathering
under our cherry trees.
Lawrence:Yes. My fondest memory of Japan is the snow.
Trees covered with snow.
Yonoi :It was snowing on the day.
Lawrence:What day?
Yonoi on't you know? February 26rh, 1936.
Lawrence:Ah, yes. I was in Tokyo on the day.You too?
Yonoi :No. I had been sent off to Manchuria 3 months
before. I was not there for the uprising.
Lawrence:You regret that?
Yonoi :My comrades were executed. I was left to die
after them.
Laerence:I see. So, you were one of the shining officers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Since when I saw this film first, I have been
deeply impressed by this conversation. It is
so profound and touching. I have been wondering
which of the two scenario authors of this film,
OSHIMA Nagisa and Paul Matersberg, wrote this
conversation. I guess it was not Oshima. I imagine
this part was written by Meyersberg because such
deep affection to Japan is, in my experience,
rather of Westerners who love Japan than of the
Japanese. I was, anyway, deeply touched by this
scene of poetic conversation about cherry blossoms,
snow, and the tragic attempted coup of Febryary 26th,
1936, of Japan.

Also, I was impressed by the poignant irony of the
grim scene a Korean young man commits forced suicide
by Seppuku(Harakiri), which is an irony Japanese let
a Korean a “Japanese”. I was reminded that Oshima
was a film director who has been sympathetic to
Koreans and have been conscious about the relation
of the Japanese and Koreans.

However, above all, all may agree that it was
Takeshi(KITANO Takeshi), who appeared as sergent
HARA in this film, who contributed most to this
film. To me he looked as a “prewar Japanese”.
His face, words, manner, and so on, look to me
exactly an image of a Japanese of the prewar Japan.

So, when I saw the last scene of this film, in which
Hara(Takeshi), who will be executed on the next day,
repeats saying
“Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Mr.Lawrence!”
to Lawrence who visited him in the prison, as his
words of etarnal farewell, I felt his words of
“Merry Christmas”as if like a message from the
prewar Japanese to the postwar Japanese including
myself.

In this sense, Oshima, who is a leftist, might have
made a film whichi is not like “The Grand Illusion”
but a film like “Ash and Diamond” for the Japanese.

Dec 23rd, 2008

(On the 60th obit of the 7　Japanese “A-class war criminals”)

NISHIOKA Masanori

http://nishikamasanori.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/

*

Comments

Among those 3 Nobel prizers was Prof.NAMBU
Yoichiro, professor of physics at the University of
Chicago, whose theory of spontaneous broken symmetry
is now regarded as a milestone in physics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoichiro_Nambu
(URL about prof.Nambu)

While other 2 Japanese physicists and chemist who
were awarded Nobel Prizes 2008 attended the award
ceremony at Stockholm with their families, Prof Nambu,
the eldest of these 4 Japanese Nobel Prizers 2008,
did not attend the ceremony in Stockholm due to
the health problem of his wife and received the
Nobel Prize in Chicago, where he lives with his wife.

Hearing the news about Prof.Nambu, who is now one of
the deans of the world's physics, I could not help
but be reminded of a certain person.

It was Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Oppenheimer
(URL about Oppenheimer)

His name--Robert Oppenheimer--is a name the Japanese
cannot forget since he, Oppenheimer, was, as everyone
knows, very the physicist who developed the two atomic
bombs released over the citizens of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.

The reason why I was reminded of him--Oppenheimer,
however, must be told here since most of you may be
unaware of the relation between Oppenheimer and
this years's Nobel Prizes.

The reason I must explain is that Oppenheimer was
very the man who wisely noticed the importance of the
theory of the spontaneous broken asymmetry by prof.Nambu
in his young days in Japan and invited prof.Nambu to
the United States with the advice of late Japanese
physicist prof.TOMONAGA Shin'ichiiro.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-Itiro_Tomonaga
(URL about prof.Tomonaga)

When Nambu advocated his theory of spontaneous broken
symmetry in Japan, his idea did not attract other
physicists' attention both in Japan and the world.
However, to his geniousness, Oppenheimer noticed
the importance of this theory by a young Japanese
physicist and invited Nambu to the US to offer the
place of research.

So, we must remind ourselves that it was Oppenheimer
who understood the talent of the young Japanese
physicist and offered him chance to do researches in
the US which Nambu could hardly get in Japan and
that Oppenheimer was a hidden player behind this
year's Nobel Prize awarded to Nambu in a sense.

To remind ourselves what Oppenheimer's attitude
towards Japanese scientists after the war was,
I quote a very interesting memoir by a Japanese
scientist here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

After the war(after 1947), Oppenheimer became the director of the
Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and stayed in the position
even after his purge. During the years he was the director of the
institute, Oppenheimer invited Dr.YUKAWA Hideki as a visiting professor
in the summer of 1948, and then Dr.TOMONAGA Shin'ichiro also as a
visiting professor in the next year, to his institute. Also from 1950
to 1952, Oppenheimer invited Dr.Yano Kentaro, who was famous for his
“nonholonomic principle of relativity”. Oppenheimer invited more
other Japanese scientists to his institute to offer them opportunities
of research. As the result, there were 7 Japanese mathmaticians and
3 other Japanese physicists studying at the Institute for Advanced
Study at Princeton around 1955.
Dr.TANNAKA Tadarou (professor of mathmatics at TOHOKU University then,
professor at TOHOKU-GAKUIN University today(1977)) has visited
Oppenheimer, when he arrived the institute to do reseach, in the
director room to say his greeting of arrival.
When he said
“Dr.Oppenheimer. I am Dr.TANNAKA from Japan”to him,
Oppenheimer replied“Dr.Tannaka, this institute is occupied by an elite
troop of Japanese army.”with his smile. Oppenheimer was thus deeply
pro-Japanese to say such joke at the time and supported invitation of
Japanese scientists. In addition, Oppenheimer contributed a lot to
the awards of Nobel Prizes of physics to Drs.Yukawa and Tomonaga.
--Oppenheimer payed attention to Dr.Yukawa's theory of meson and
pointed out that the meson had been detected in the observetion of
the cloud chamber of Dr.C･･Anderson. He also supported Dr.Tomonaga's
paper to be published on the Physical Review to enable Dr.Tomonaga's
theory of so-called “renormalization”, which was a method to deal with
the difficulties of “quantum field theory”, to obtain international
attention by writing an introduction of Dr.Tomonaga. Wasn't Oppenheimer's
extraordinary favor to the Japanese scientists as such a reflection of
his regret of his role in the atomic bombing on Japan, about which he
blamed himself?

(from “Oppenheimer:Between Science and Demon”(Openheimer:Kagaku to
Demon no aida) by MURAYAMA Iwao, 1977, published by Taihei-shuppansha,
pp250-251, translated from Japanese by NISHIOKA Masanori)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I read this part of this book repeatedly.

Is this really Oppenheimer?--I wondered.
It was difficult for me to reconcile the image of him
who took the leadership of the totally unnecessary
atomic bombing on civiliands in the last phase of the
war with this memoir. I could even imagine the
face of him smiling to the newly arrived Japanese
mathmatician--Dr.Tannaka in the memoir above.

Scientist is a man. And a man is a paradox in
itself. A man has a demon and angel in itself.
Oppenheimer was not exceptional.
He did play a role of demon but he was a man of
warmth on the other hand as well.

While it remains a question what emotion
Oppenheimer had about the atomic bombing in
his mind after the war, there are many who
believe the reason Oppenheimer assisted many
Japanese scientists after the war, offering
them opportunities of research in the US
or supporting Japanese physicists to get
Nobel Prizes and so on, was at least partly
because he regretted his role in atomic bombing
on Japanese civilians.

I am one who shares this view.

Whatever the truth of this question is, I must
acknowledge Oppenheimer was a great scientist in
his foreseeing the importance of prof.Nambu's
new theory about half a century ago, which is in
contrast with the Nobel Prize Commission who needed
the same years--about half a century--to acknowledge
the importance of prof.Nambu's theory.

Nori

--------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081212dy01.htm

Nobel winners enjoy ceremony
Tetsuro Yamada and Akemi Ari / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

STOCKHOLM--For the first time, three Japanese scientists participated in the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony.

At the ceremony, held Wednesday at Stockholm Concert Hall, 10 winners of the Nobel prize this year, including Makoto Kobayashi, 64, Toshihide Masukawa, 68, and Osamu Shimomura, 80, appeared from the center of the stage to a musical accompaniment from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

A speech acknowledging the Japanese winners was given in Japanese for the first time in the Nobel Prize's history. The three received their shining medals and looked very emotional.

After the awards ceremony, Kobayashi, Masukawa and Shimomura moved to Stockholm City Hall to participate in the Nobel Banquet. About 1,300 people, including the prizewinners and the Swedish royal family, attended the banquet.

The three Japanese entered the Blue Hall of the building with King Carl XVI Gustaf, and took seats at the center of the main table. The hall was decorated with red flowers.

Queen Silvia sat next to Kobayashi, while Shimomura sat in the seat across from him. The three enjoyed a lively conversation. Crown Princess Victoria sat in front of Masukawa, who shies away from speaking English, and the conversation between the two did appear to be somewhat low-key.

The menu of the banquet is kept strictly secret every year until the day of the event. Participants were ultimately delighted by exquisite dishes of sole with local shellfish, veal fillet, dessert and carefully selected wines. A short dramatic performance featuring excerpts from a comic opera by Mozart took place during the meal.

The climax of the banquet came with the speeches given by the laureates. Kobayashi, representing the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics, made his speech on a stage set up on a staircase landing.

Kobayashi, speaking in English, said: "It's a pity that Prof. Yoichiro Nambu was not to attend this ceremony. I'm greatly honored to share the Nobel prize with him. When I entered graduate school, he was already an eminent scholar. I remember studying his theory most intently."

He then spoke about the violation of symmetry in particle physics (CP violation) that is his specialist field.

"CP violation is an intriguing subject. A fundamental question is why the universe is made of matter. CP violation holds the keys to solving this problem. In spite of more than 40 years of effort in theoretical and experimental studies, however, matter dominance of the universe still remains an open question. I hope to continue pursuing this subject with my colleagues," Kobayashi said.

The three declined to participate in the ball held after the dinner at the Golden Hall on the second floor of the building.

The three appeared relaxed after the events of the day. "Well, I'm relieved," Kobayashi said.

"It's all over," Masukawa said.

Family members of the three laureates also participated in the events. Masukawa's wife, Akiko, 65, gazed at her husband's Nobel Prize medal and diploma with a proud look on her face. The medals and diplomas were displayed in the Blue Hall so that all those attending could see them.

"I feel like a festival has just come to an end," she said.

(Dec. 12, 2008)

Comments

Here is an English translation of a short novel
I wrote 6 years ago.

I will be delighted if you read this
novel in my poor English translation.

Thank you.

Nori

http://nishiokamasanori.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/
(original Japanese text)

---------------------------------------------------------------

　　　　　　　　 For Elise

　　　　　　　　　　１

There was a little treasure in our house.
It was a little old music box. Long ago,
the music box came from a far country.
Then it has been asleep in the depth of
our closet for many years secretly.
Nobody has opened it for many years.
Today, I decided to open the old music
box. It is because today is a special day.

　　　　　　　　　　２

“Now, I'll open it.”said I. My daughter nodded
slightly. I, then, winded the music box in front
of her and opened the box. Then, the melancholic
melody slowly began to play from the wooden box.
the melody played as if it has waked up from its
long sleep, quietly and melancholy. And the
smallest ballerina in the world, with the melancholic
melody, began to rotate slowly on her stage of the
music box in front of me and my daughter.
My daughter didn't say anything. And being silent,
she was gazing the little doll of the music box.
The little ballerina, which is as small as the tip
of my daughter's little finger, continued to rotate
with the sad music being played by the old music
box. This music box has waken up from its long sleep
now in front of me and my daughter. And it was the
first time the little ballerina made her debut in
front of my daughter. My daughter gazed the doll
as if to see magic.

　　　　　　　　　　３

Today was my daughter's birthday. She became
3 years old today. I have told my daughter
about this music box before. She, then, said
she wants to see the music box. So, I promised
her to show the music box on her birthday,
and brought the music box out from the closet
today, on her birthday, as I promiesd her.
I opened the music box. Then, the little doll
ballerina began to rotate slowly, and quietly,
in front of my daughter. The doll danced with
the melancholic music from the music box.
This ballerina was waiting for this moment
for a long time in this box. She was waiting
for the day she would dance in front of my
daughter silently. And now, she began to dance
again with this melancholic music here.
Then, the music stopped suddenly. And the little
ballerina also stopped her dance at once.
The music box has stopped as if time has stopped
there. Silence reigned the room I and my daughter
were sitting. My daughter did not say anything.
In the deep silence, I stared my daughter who
does not say anything. And I waited for her to
say something. But she didn't say anything.
Then, after the long silence, my daughter said
in a little voice without seeing me.
“Once more.”
I smiled and said “All right.” to her.
Then I took the music box in my hand and wound
the music box again. And then I put the music box
in front of my daughter. The music box began to
play the melody again and the little ballerina
began to dance again there.
My daughter continued watching the dance there.

　　　　　　　　　　４

The music box was my mother's belonging.
I remember my mother has shown me this
music box one day.
My mother put this music box on the table on
the day. Then she opened the music box in front
of me who saw it for the first time on the day,
without saying anything.
When she opened it, the melancholic melody
began to play quietly and the little ballerina
began to rotate slowly on this box--as it does
today. I have kept the memory of the far day in
my mind. I was absorbed by the little doll that
rotates slowly. My mother was watching the doll
that rotates slowly beside me, without a word.
it was a wonderful stream of time in which I felt
as if I had been dreaming.

The tiny doll of the size of a tip of my
little finger rotated quietly and slowly.
And when the melancholic melody stopped
suddenly, the doll stopped quietly with
the melody. After the doll stopped, there
remained only silence. And my mother kept
silence too.

My mother winded the music box again.
She made the music box play the melody once
more. Then the little ballerina started to
rotate with the melody slowly again in front
of me.

The melody was beautiful and sad. To me,
the melody seemed to be the saddest music
in this world. I felt the stream of time,
which passes with the melody, sad being a
little child then.

　　　　　　　　　　５

The melody played by the music box was so
beautiful. And the stream of time in which
the music box played the melody was also
so beautiful too. When I heard the melody
of this music box, I felt very sad because
I feared the beautiful moment I am listening
the melody would vanish soon. Being a child,
I learnt the sadness time would run while I
listened the melody. I felt and learnt it
in the melody. That was the memory of the day
I saw this music box for the first time.
It has passed more than 20 years since the day.
Today, when I opened this music box, I was
reminded of the sad emotion I felt on the far
day. And I wondered why I felt so sad on the
day. To me, the sad emotion I felt on the far
day seemed like an enigma. Why did I feel
such deep sadness in this melody on the day?
My daughter was gazing the music box while
I wondered why.

　　　　　　　　　６

“Otohsan(Daddy).”said my daughter.
She was watching me.
“What's this song?”asked my daughter.
She said‘song’to put this melody.
I wondered if I may call it a‘song’, but then
answered her.
“This is a piece named‘For Elise’.”
My daughter thought something.
“Who is Elise?”asked my daughter.
I wondered what to answer. I was unaware
of the answer.
“It is someone who lived long ago.”
“Someone who lived long ago?”　　
“Yes, very long ago.”
My daughter didn't say anything.
Then I winded the music box again.
She is right. Who is Elise? I have been
unaware who she is until today.
Was it the Elise who listened this melody
first in this world?

　　　　　　　　　　７

Suddenly, I was reminded I had asked the same
question to my mother.　
On the day my mother showed me this music box,
I had asked her this same question my daughter
has asked me now.　
I have forgotten I had asked this question to
my mother until today, when my daughter has
suddenly asked me the question. And now, I was
reminded of the conversation with my mother.
My mother answered to me “She lived in mom's
country.”
I was reminded of my mother's answer when my
daughter asked me the same question.
This small music box had been brought from
Germany to this far Japan by my mother.
She came to this country with this music box.
She must have recalled her far homeland
when she opened this music box.

I answered my daughter .
“It is someone from a far country.”
My daughter nodded without words.
“Let me listen again.”said she.
I smiled to her and winded the music box
once more again, as she asked. Then, the
music box began to play the melody again
and the little ballerina began to rotate
again in front of my daughter.
“Elise.”I murmured her name in my mind.
Was she the first person who listened this
melody in this world?....
It is an eternal secret. And, this old music box
plays the melody again today with the secret.

　　　　　　　　　　　　(End)

-------------------------------------------------------------

Written in Japanese and translated into
English by NISHIOKA Masanori

Original Japanese verion of this novel is here.
http://nishiokamasanori.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/

All rights of this novel“For Elise” belong to its author
NISHIOKA Masanori.

（This novel is entirely a fiction and it has
no relation with real person nor event.
It goes without saying the narator of
this novel--I--is not the author at all.)

*

Comments

Japan is rejoiced that 4 japanese scientists were awarded Nobel Prizes in
physics and chemistry.

I am one who shares the pleasure.

However, on the other hand, I think it a problem many of Japanese Nobel
prizers were those who did their researches in the US.

This fact reflects how the Japanese government has been unwilling to
support their own scientists while they have been spending various other things.

Japanese government must spend more money to assist Japanese scientists.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Please click)
　　　　　　↓
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081208TDY02311.htm

3 Nobel winners speak in Stockholm
Tetsuro Yamada and Akemi Ari / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

From left, Osamu Shimomura, Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Masukawa attend a press conference held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on Sunday morning.STOCKHOLM--Three Japanese 2008 Nobel Prize-winners attended a joint press conference along with other winners at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on Sunday.

Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Masukawa, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics, and Osamu Shimomura, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, are currently visiting Sweden to attend the award ceremony to be held Wednesday.

Yoichiro Nambu, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Kobayashi and Masukawa, will skip the ceremony partly due to the poor health of his wife.

With slightly tense expressions on their faces, the three Japanese winners appeared on the speaker's platform together.

Masukawa, 68, a professor at Kyoto Sangyo University, told reporters in English that he was going to deliver his comments in Japanese, and then talked through an interpreter about his personal belief that the inspiration provided by great scientists together with curiosity can motivate young people to work in the sciences.

Regarding the environment necessary for producing excellent research, Kobayashi, 64, a director of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, pointed out the importance of trying a wide variety of research methods. Asked how he felt when finding jellyfish extracts he had dumped in a sink glowing, Shimomura, 80, professor emeritus at Boston University, gave a brief answer saying that he thought he had finally found success, evoking laughter from reporters.

(Dec. 8, 2008)

Comments

This captain is a true hero.

Please read

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JAPANESE

Home National Sports Business World Features Columns Editorial

Top Cabinet Lineup

Home>National
Weather

Ex-U.K. naval officer thanks Japanese savior
The Yomiuri Shimbun

SAITAMA--An 89-year-old former British Royal Navy lieutenant whose life was saved in World War II when he was plucked from the Java Sea by the crew of an Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer on Sunday visited the grave of the commander of the ship that rescued him in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture.

Sir Samuel Falle's ship and a U.S. Navy vessel were sunk during the Battle of the Java Sea off Surabaya in the then Dutch East Indies in March 1942, leaving 422 British and American sailors, including Falle, who was drifting on oil-slick ocean waters.

The destroyer Ikazuchi, captained by Cmdr. Shunsaku Kudo, rescued the men and gave them warm food and clothes.

After returning home, Falle, who later became a diplomat, talked about his experience in Britain and tried to track down Kudo through acquaintances.

He visited Japan in 2003, but was unable to find Kudo, who had never told anyone of his act of kindness.

After hearing the story, Japanese writer Ryunosuke Megumi and others searched for information about Kudo, visiting his hometown of Takahata, Yamagata Prefecture, and other places.

Through these efforts, they learned that Kudo died in January 1979 at the age of 77. Falle decided to visit Japan when he heard of Kudo's death.

Falle said he gave silent thanks as he stood in front of Kudo's grave. After the visit, he said that if he had not been taken aboard the Ikazuchi, he would have died, and that he had never forgotten this act of kindness.

On Sunday, relatives of Kudo and Kiyosumi Tanikawa, 92, the former navigating officer of the Ikazuchi, joined Falle during his visit to Kudo's tomb in Kawaguchi.

"Mr. Kudo was a man of few words, but a fine person who made decisions with composure. I'm really delighted to hear that our act was appreciated," Tanikawa said.

(Dec. 9, 2008)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Ikazuchi
(Please click and read about captain Kudo.)

Comments

I hear "Happy Christmas" again.

Comments

It seems many Americans have been more interested in
Mr.Obama's race, whatever his or her attitude toward
him was, in the past campaign period, than his policies.
(Sorry, if I am wrong.)

However, I, who had no right to vote for US president of course,
have not been interested in his race at all.

I have been most interested in his attitude towards
North Korea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokota_Megumi
(Click and know about the abduction of japanese
citizens by North Korea)

Reportedly, Mr.Obama is more pro-North Korean
than his defeated Republican opponent.

He is reportedly willing to dialogue with
North Korean government while he is indiffirent
to the problem of kidnapped Japanese by North Koreans.

I am deeply concerned that the US-Japanese alliance
may confront serious crisis in case Mr.Obama adopted
appesement policy for North Korea.

Nori

*

Comments

Prince of Wales is in Japan.

I like him.

*
-------------------------------------------------------

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081027TDY02304.htm

Prince Charles aiming to be thrifty on Japan trip
Keiichi Honma / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

LONDON--Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, will begin a five-day visit to Japan on Monday as part of celebrations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce.

During his official visit, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will dine with the Emperor and Empress and meet with Prime Minister Taro Aso.

The heir to the British throne last visited Japan 18 years ago in November 1990 as the representative of Queen Elizabeth II at the enthronement of the Emperor.

According to Clarence House, the prince's official residence, the couple will be bringing a smaller entourage than usual in consideration of the current global economic crisis. Only 16 people, not including bodyguards, will accompany the couple--six or seven fewer than usual.

Following his visit, the prince, 59, will go on to visit Brunei and Indonesia, but Camilla, 61, will fly home before the Indonesia visit.

The prince reportedly will pay for her return flight out of his own pocket.

Charles was heavily criticized in certain sections of the British media for what was said to be lavish spending of taxpayers' money, including the rental of a luxury yacht, on a trip to the Caribbean in March.

The prince reportedly hopes to demonstrate that he is trying to cut back on travel expenses.

(Oct. 27, 2008)

-------------------------------------------------------

Comments

Condolences to the families of the victims
of the September 11th, 2001.

On the 7th anniversary of the horrible event
in New York, I would like to present you a
part of a novel by a Czech novelist Milan Kundera,
as an inspiration for all who live in this world
after September 11th, 2001.

This is a part of his novel “The Book of Laughter
and Forgetting”, in which an old mother's tale is
mentioned: There is an old mother who is getting
old and losing her vision.

The tale about the old mother mentions the
Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968,
which the mother in this novel perceived
in a different way with other Czechs including
her children.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Karel shrugged his shoulder in resignation. Marketa
was right: Mama had really changed. She was pleased
with everything, grateful for everything. Karel had
been expecting in vain a quarrel over some little
thing.
On a walk a day or two before, she had gazed into
the distance and asked: “What is that pretty
little white village over there?”It wasn't a vill-
age, just boundary stones. Karel took pity on his
mother, whose sight was diminishing.
But her faulty vision seemed to express something
more basic: what appeared large to them, she found
small; what they took for boundary stones, for her
were distant houses.
To tell the truth, that was not an entirely new
trait of hers. The difference was that at one time
it had annoyed them. One night, for instance, their
country was invaded by the tanks of gigantic nei-
ghboring country. That had been such a shock and
brought such terror that for a long time no one
could think of anything else. It was August, and
the pears in their garden were ripe. A week earl-
ier, Mama had invited the pharmacist to come and
pick them. But the pharmacist neither came nor
even apologized. Mama was unable to forgive him,
which infuriated Karel and Marketa.
They reproached her; Everyone sles is thinking
about tanks, and you're thinking about pears.
Then they moved out, taking the memory of her
pettiness with them.
But are tanks really more important than pears?
As time went by, Karel realized that the answer
to this question was not as obvious as he had
always thought, and he began to feel a secret
sympathy for Mama's perspective, which had a
big pear tree in the foreground and somewhere
in the distance a tank no bigger than a ladybug,
ready at any moment to fly away out of sight.
Ah, yes! In reality it's Mama who is right:
tanks are perishable, pears are eternal.

(Milan Kundera “The Book of Laughter and
Forgetting(Kniha smichu a zapomneni)”
Translated from French to English by
Asron Asher(Perennial Classics)1999,
pp40-41)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This is the part of this novel I love very much.

Recently, I am reminded of this tale of this Czech
mother often.

One reason is that this year marks the 40th anniversary
of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and
the other reason is that my mother is a bit getting like
this Czech mother.

But the more important reason may be that I have
noticed this mother is normal and we are all like her
in many ways.

Yes, pears are eternal.

We, who live in this world after the September 11,
are exactly like this Czech mother.

NoriNishioka(Japan)

Comments

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/16/turkey.usforeignpolicy

I think this remark by the Turkish president
involves a lot about unspoken backgrounds of
this conflict between Russia and Georgia.

At this moment, I am skeptic to the view
that blames Russia unilaterally concerning
this conflict.

This conflict has very profound backgrounds
than we may be impressed by media report in
my opinion.

Comments

-----------------------------------------------------------

Among the many remaining puzzles surrounding the
decision to use the atomic bomb, perhaps the most
intriguing concern two of the nation's highest World
War II military leaders. A few years after Hiroshima
and Nagasaki were destroyed, Admiral William D. Leahy
went public with the following statement.

　 It is my opinion that the use of the barbarous
　 weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material
　 assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese
　 were already defeated and ready to surrender.....
　 My own feeling was that in being the first to
　 use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common
　 to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not
　 taught to make war in that fashion, and wars
　 cannot be won by destroying women and children.

Leahy was not what one might call a typical critic
of American policy. Not only had the five-star admiral
presided over the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff(and the
Combined American-British Chiefs of Staff), but he
had simultaneously been chief of staff to the commander-in-chief of
the army and navy, serving Roosevelt in that
capacity from 1942 to 1945 and Truman from 1945 to 1949.
Moreover, he was a good friend of Truman's and the two
men respected and liked each other; his public criticism
of the Hiroshima decision was hardly personal.

We can imagine what it would mean today if General
Colin Powell were to go public with a similar critique,
say, of the massive bombing he presided over as
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the Staff during the
1991 Persian Gulf War--and on decisions made by his
friend President George Bush.
A similar puzzle concerns Dwight D.Eisenhower, the
triumphant Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary
Force who directed British and American operations
against Hitler--and also, subsequently, of course,
president of the United States. In the midst of the
Cold War--shortly after his famous Farewell Address
criticizing the "military-industrial complex"--
Eisenhower also went public with a statement about the
Hiroshima decision.
Recalling the 1945 moment when Secretary of War Henry
L.Stimson informed him the atomic bomb would be used
against Japanese cities, Eisenhower stated:

　 During his recitation of the relevant facts,
　 I had been conscious of a feeling of depression
　 and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings,
　 first on the basis of my belief that Japan was
　 already defeated and that dropping the bomb was
　 completely unnecessary, and secondly because I
　 thought that our country should avoid shocking
　 world opinion by the use of a weapon whose
　 employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory
　 as a measure to save American lives. It was my
　 belief that Japan was, at that very moment,
　 seeking some way to surrender with a minimum
　 loss of "face".･････

Something clearly had caused Leahy and Eisenhower to
break the unwritten rule that requires high officials
to maintain a discreet silence in connection with
controversial matters about which they have special
knowledge. But as we shall see, Leahy and Eisenhower
were not the only military figures who broke the rule.
Moreover, less than a year after the bombings an
extensive official study by the U.S. Strategic Bombing
Survey published its conclusion that Japan would
likely have surrendered in 1945 without atomic bombing,
without a Soviet declaration of war, and without an
American invasion.
Again, it is not only the substance of the conclusion
reached by this official body, but the fact that it
was made public and received wide publicity, which
forces itself into awareness, now, nearly fifty years
after the fact.

GAR ALPEROVITZ: THE DECISION TO USE THE ATOMIC BOMB
(VINTAGE BOOKS A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, 1995)pp.3-4

------------------------------------------------------------------

Is Prof.Alperovitz wrong?

Aug 6, 2008(Wed)

NISHIOKA Masanori

Comments

Japanese schools teach young Japanese that the
French Revolution was a milestone for human freedom
and democracy.

By doing so, the Japanese schools impress the young
Japanese that the French Revolution was a glorious
page of world history.

So, many Japanese believe French Revolution was
a great step to freedom and democracy in human history.

But, is it true?

A French historian Rene Sedillot, for example, cast
doubt such view about the French Revolution writing
that the Revolution claimed approximately 2 million
human lives(!) after all in his book “Le cout de
la Revolution francaise”(1987).

2 million human lives!

Was such massacre really necessary for “freedom”
or “democracy”, as I have been taught in Japanese
schools?

Another historian as William Doyle argue that
so-called “ancient regime” had democratic aspects
actually.

Although I am not a historian, such arguments
lead me to a serious question--Was French Revolution
really necessary?

What do you think?

NISHIOKA Masanori

Comments

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　１００

The culprit stood up quietly. Then he descended the hill with
the monk in the light of spring.

(End)

Written in Japanese and translated
into English by NISHIOKA Masanori
http://norinishioka.blog.co.uk/

http://nishiokamasanori.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/
(Original Japanese version is on this web-page.)

All Rights Reserved
*
*
*
*
*
Thank you for reading.
*
*
*
*
*

Comments

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　９９

“You bloomed here.”said the culprit, gazing the little
cherry flower.

(To be continued)

*

Comments

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　９８

The culprit kneeled quietly there. The culprit, then, touched
the stump of the mercilessly cut cherry tree with his hands.　
The cherry flower was waving in the wind quietly in front of
the culprit's hands put on the stump.

(To be continued)

*

Comments

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　９７

Wind came from somewhere. A bird's voice was heard
afar in the wind. The monk felt he and the culprit
have met spring at last.

(To be continued)

*

Comments

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　９６

It was a small cherry flower that bloomed on the stump.
The flower bloomed on a stump of an old cherry tree cut
by the lord and bloomed there as the only flower of the
stump. It looked like a wild flower and it was moving
in the breeze.
The culprit stopped in front of the stump at the sight
of the little flower on it.
The monk noticed the culprit stopped and also stopped
with the culprit. The monk gazed the culprit but the
culprit did not pay attention to his eyes. The culprit
was only seeing the flower that bloomed on the stump.

(To be continued)

*

Comments