Last weekend, it was really cold but sunny, so I took an
hour walk to Mejiro-teien, which is a small Japanese garden.
Since I got started on Instagram last year, I have been
enjoying taking photos. The sunny day was good for taking clear photos with my
iPhone 4S.
When I arrived at Mejiro-teien, I couldn’t find anything to
take a photo with. There were no flowers blooming and no leaves on the trees.
After I looked carefully at some details, I found a bunch of small buds
on branches. I zoomed in on the buds as closely as possible to capture the vitality,
which was condensed in them.
I’m writing this entry while listening to the rain late at night. As I wrote in yesterday’s entry “Don't Forget about Global Warming,” this is the hottest summer of my life. If I left the air conditioner on all night long, I would get out of shape, but it was too hot for me to sleep this summer. Since yesterday, it has been much cooler. Autumn is coming to Tokyo, now. This summer, heavy downpour frequently struck Tokyo, but the rain falling now isn’t a tropic downpour but a drizzling autumn rain. Summer downpours are wild. They start suddenlywith lightning and thunders, and then suddenly stop. On the other hand autumn rains are calm. The sounds make me settle down. These last two months it was hard for me to think about anything, and I hardly wrote this weblog. A long and silent autumn night is perfect for reading and writing something. I saw a light in the window next door. I’m wondering what they are doing in this deep autumn night. 秋深き隣は何をする人ぞ 松尾芭蕉
Finally, I read through the article “Jahar's World” on Rolling Stone magazine. It reminded me of the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway by the cult "Aum Shinrikyo" in 1995 and Haruki Murakami’s book “Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche.” In 1995, I was living in Higashi-Koenji, and commute to my office in Otemachi, Tokyo by Marunouchi subway line, which was one of the subwaylines that Aum Shinrikyo attacked by the Sarin gas. Fortunately, I felt sick and took a day off at my work on the morning of the Sarin gas attack. It was possible for me to be a victim of this attack, so I couldn’t think that this was someone else’s affair. Just after this attack, there were full of reports about Aum Shinrikyo in every media, but most of them were based on the stereotypical views. The book “Underground” is a series of interviews with the people that affected by this attack and the members of Aum Shinrikyo. Only “Underground” presented these people as individuals. Everyone in the world is special, but at the same time it is difficult for us to avoid stereotypical views. In fact there is no one who is completely evil or right, even including Shoko Asahara, the cult founder, or Jahar, the the bomber of Boston Marathon. After September 11 attack, Bush Jr. started to use the words "war on terrorism." Now, every government that wants to suppress its opponent uses these words. The Egyptian army calls the Muslim Brotherhood "terrorist." Of course, I don't have any intention of justify the Sarin gas attack, September 11 attack, and the bombing Boston Marathon, and we should care about every victim of these affairs individually, but I want to know exactly why they caused such affairs. When you read "Underground" or his essay about the bombing Boston Marathon "Boston, from One Citizen of the World Who Calls Himself a Runner," you would understand how deeply he cares about the victims of these affairs. At the same time, he didn't write a founder of the cult as just an evil person in his novel "1Q84." I got a little knowledge about him from the article “Jahar's World.” Although I can't say that I completely understand why he did so, it's much better to read it.
This morning, my wife and I had pancakes and coffee for breakfast. Recently, Hawaiian style pancakes are becoming more popular in Tokyo. One of the famous Hawaiian pancake shops, Egg ‘n Things, opened a new branch in Harajuku, Tokyo, which has customers lined up. Basically, I love almost everything about Hawaii, but I have some question about Hawaiian style pancakes, which are full of fresh cream and fruits. I prefer the burnt pancakes and weak coffee that can be found in any ordinary American diner. Don’t you think that Hawaiian style pancakes are too much for breakfast? American diner pancakes are enough for me. I love drinking espresso in an Italian bar. It really wakes me up. But I don’t want to have it with pancakes for breakfast in an American diner. Weak “American” coffee doesn’t taste great, but it does the trick. The Master said, “The virtue embodied in the doctrine of the Mean is of the highest order. But it has long been rare among people.” 子曰、中庸之爲徳也、其至矣乎、民鮮久矣。
Ben Folds, one of my favorite rock singers, sang in his song “Rockin’ the Suburbs” as follows:
Let me tell y'all what it's likeBeing male, middle-class and whiteIt's a bitch, if you don't believeListen up to my new CD
I perfectly understand what he meant. I grew up in an ordinary uptown in Tokyo in an ordinary middle-class family. I was almost happy, because my family wasn’t poor and I wasn’t discriminated. But nothing special ever happened in my childhood. I was a male, middle-class and Japanese child in Tokyo. And now, I become a male, middle-class and Japanese "salaryman” in Tokyo. I don’t have any special complaints about my life, but sometimes I feel, “it’s a bitch, if you don’t believe.” Last weekend, I watched the movie “Fight Club.”
The main character, who was played by Edward Norton, is young, single, male, middle-class, and white-color, enjoying his urban life. His life seems to be perfect, but he suffers from insomnia. He begins to dream another life. This movie reminded me of the movie “American Beauty,” which I really love.
It is about a typical “happy” American family somewhere in an urban area. People in the family begin to do what they want in their heart, and the family is getting broken down. I think that nobody can be just ordinary. At this time, I don’t get violent like “Fight Club” and quit my job like “American Beauty,” but I can’t be just an ordinary Japanese “salaryman.” When I “look closer” at my heart, I also would find something in it. I write my weblog in English very eagerly. In order to be an ordinary Japanese “salaryman,” it is completely useless to do it, but I can’t stop it. My colleagues can’t understand why I keep doing such a thing. I don’t want to fight someone with bare knuckles in the Fight Club, but I also want to do something unordinary. I might be lucky for me that what I want to do incidentally isn’t antisocial. It might be possible for me to fall down (rise up?) from my ordinary “salaryman’s” life to “the Fight Club,” someday.
Before an MLB game, the national anthem is performed. After a game at Yankee Stadium, Frank Sinatra’s song “New York, New York” was played. When I went to Yankee Stadium to see a Yankee’s game, I was heard “New York, New York” while leaving the stadium. For Yankee’s fans, “New York, New York” is the anthem of New York.
But “New York, New York” seemed to be out of date. I heard Spike Lee say that “Empire State of Mind” was the anthem of New York, and I realized that this song was the anthem of New York after September 11.
I’m wondering if we have the anthem of Tokyo. Although I don’t know if people living in Tokyo would agree with me, for me, Happy End’s“Gathering Winds” (「風をあつめて」はっぴいえんど) is the anthem of Tokyo. I translated the lyrics of “Gathering Winds” into English in this entry.
In 1949 Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto. His father was a high school teacher and moved to a high school in Kobe, so Haruki Murakami was brought up in Kobe. In 1968 he entered Waseda University and moved to Tokyo. Although his novel “Norwegian Wood” isn’t an autobiography, in it he described the student lives in Tokyo at that time. In 1950 Hideo Levy was born in Berkeley, California. His father was a diplomat, and he was brought up in Denver, Taichung, Hong Kong, Washington D.C., and Yokohama. In 1967 he began to study Japanese at Waseda University, and then he ran away from his home in Yokohama, and moved into his friend’s room and worked at a coffee shop in Shinjuku. He described Waseda University and Shinjuku from the standpoint of a foreigner in his first novel “A Room Where The Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard.” In the late 1960s student movements escalated throughout the world, May Event in France, anti-Vietnam movement in the U.S., the Cultural Revolution in China, and Zenkyoto movement in Japan. Waseda University and Shinjuku were in the midst of Zenkyoto movement, and Haruki Murakami and Hideo Levy were deeply influenced by it but both of them couldn’t fully get into it. Haruki Murakami felt something different from Japanese society. In fact he wanted to run away from his parents, so he chose Waseda University in order to move to Tokyo and to live alone. But in Tokyo he still felt something different from students especially who took part in Zenkyoto movement. All of the characters in the novel “Norwegian Wood”more or less couldn’t fit in Japanese society. Hideo Levy also felt something different from his father and wanted to run away from him and get into Japanese society, but he, as a foreigner, was rejected by Japanese society and people. Of course he couldn’t get into Zenkyoto movement, because he couldn’t speak Japanese and he was a “Gaijin”, which means “foreigner” in Japanese. “Norwegian Wood” and “A Room Where The Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard” are both sides of the same coin. After that, Haruki Murakami became a world-famous novelist and he got out of Japanese literary society into the world. Hideo Levy began to write novels in Japanese, and got into Japanese literary society, if not fully. If you like the novel or movie “Norwegian Wood,” I strongly recommend that you read Hideo Levy’s “A Room Where The Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard.” If you have learned Japanese, I suggest you try the original Japanese version of this novel, but you can read it in English translation as well.
When I hear replaying my own voice, it sounds really strange. I don't believe that my voice is so funny and the other people hear such a strange voice. Sofia Coppola felt Tokyo was exotic and described Tokyo as exotic. Although I'm living in Tokyo and Tokyo in her film is real, Tokyo seems to be quite exotic to me, when I see Tokyo in her film through her eyes. In this film, Bob Harris, who was a Hollywood movie star and visited Tokyo to appear a commercial film of Japanese whisky, saw his movie dubbed in Japanese on TV. Of course he felt it strange. In the similar way, watching Tokyo through this film was a strange experience for me. It is typical defamiliarization. Incidentally Tommy Lee Jones has been appearing the series of caned coffee called "BOSS" as an alien for several years.
I always keep a dream to get out of Tokyo, while I'm working in my office. Sometimes I make a trip to a foreign country, and I feel relieved, but in the end I returned to Tokyo, so Bob returned to America. I was trapped by Tokyo so firmly that I can't run away from Tokyo. Intimacy with Tokyo makes it much harder for me to live in Tokyo. I hate Tokyo, because it is so intimate. When I felt Tokyo strange like a stranger in Tokyo, I could love Tokyo. P.S. The swimming pool on the top floor in Park Hyatt Tokyo is my favorite.
Last December I saw the film "Woody Allen Documentary" in a small movie theater in Hibiya, Tokyo.
I watched the great scenes of Woody's films, and I became to want to see his films. So I saw "Annie Hall" and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" on DVD during the recent New Year's holidays.
I think that Woody's films that were shot in Europe aren't bad, but I love his films that were shot in New York; The ones that he himself and Diane Keaton appeared in. Although all the actresses in his films have been really attractive, I believe that Diane is the most charming of all the actresses who appeared in his films. I feel a sense of intimacy with these films, because I think that Bronx, New York is similar to Yamanote (Uptown Tokyo is called "Yamanote"), Tokyo, and Woody who was born and raised in the Bronx similar to me who was born and raised in Yamanote. Both the Bronx and Yamanote are old enough to be unique, but they don't have a long history like Rome or Kyoto. Woody loves the Bronx as his hometown, but he knows that Bronx isn't the most glamorous town. I also love Yamanote, but I agree that Kyoto is the most sophisticated city in Japan. Woody is argumentative and ironic in his films, but at the same time sentimental. There might be this kind of "pseudo-intelligentsia" in big cities in the world, and I am a member of this tribe. Now he shoots films mainly in Europe, and he seems to be happy. But I'm looking forward to his new film shot in New York.
Sometimes I read the articles on the website
"GaijinPot" (Gaijin means foreigners in Japanese),
which is interesting, because the standpoint of this website is from that of foreign people and it is new for me, although sometimes it is ridiculous.
I found the article "Why Japanese People AreComfortable With Nakedness" on this website. It is true that we have
many chances to see naked Japanese men especially at festivals, and the
festivals called "裸祭 Hadaka Matsuri" (naked
festival)" were held all over Japan. But I don't know if this phenomenon is
related to onsen, Shinto, or prostitution, as this article pointed out.
Off course Japanese men don't get be naked at just anytime,
anywhere. We have a strict rule on when and where we can be naked. I'm living near
Ikebukuro Station, which is one of the biggest terminal stations in Tokyo, and during a festival I see many naked Japanese men walking on the street just in
front of Ikebukuro Station and foreigner people watch them with curiosity and take photos. But we never see naked men on an ordinary day.
In every culture there is a rule about the costume that
participants of festivals should wear. Nakedness is the costume of the male participants
of Hadaka Matsuri (naked festival) just like the female participants of Rio's
Carnival. The article said, "While sexuality is not encouraged in most
Western religions, Japan’s native Shinto religion is more open-minded,"
but the main religion in Brazil is Christianity.
It is common that things that aren't allowed in everyday are
allowed in festival time. The participants of Hadaka Matsuri (naked festival)
and Rio's Carnival turn to be naked, because they aren't allowed to be naked in
everyday. Japanese folklore scholars call this phenomenon "ハレとケ (hare and ke)". "Hare" means
festival time, and "ke" means everyday life.
We also turn to be naked in a public bath and onsen. It is not
that we are allowed to be naked in the public bath but we SHOULD be naked in the
public bath. Off course it is rude to watch other's naked bodies. In the
hinterlands there are mixed bathing onsens, which aren't sexual at all. You can
see just old naked men and women.
It's true that sometimes we, Japanese, turn to
be naked in public, but it isn't preference but custom.
Recently I read Eric Jay Dolin's
"Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America."
I've been interested in whaling for a long
time, partly because I love the novel "Moby Dick" and partly because
whaling deeply influenced to Japanese modernization. I have many other reasons
why I've been interested in it, but I don't have enough time to write about all
of them.
I've been to Nantucket Island, which is
famous for the resort for celebrities living in the East Coast of the U.S. and
the Nantucket basket. But for me Nantucket Island is the place where Ishmael got on the whale ship Pequod in Moby Dick.
Before I read the book
"Leviathan," I knew about the history of American whaling in
fragments, but I got a better overall knowledge about it from this book. I could now understand how Nantucket became the center of American whaling.
According to "Leviathan" the
golden age of American whaling was from the 1820s to the 1850s, which is just when Japanese
modernization began. From the 17th century to the early 19th century, the Edo
Bakuhu, samurai's regime, which strictly closed the country, ruled Japan. In
1868 Edo Bakuhu was overturned, and the new government accelerated Japanese
modernization.
The main reason why Edo Bakuhu was
overturned was that it couldn't handle the threat of Western countries. In 1853
the fleet of the U.S. navy led by Matthew Perry arrived at the Tokyo bay to
demand to open the country. Because of this affair Edo Bakuhu opened the country and
many Japanese realized that Japan should be modernized to avoid being colonized
by Western countries.
In the background of this affair there was American
whaling. After the war of 1812, American whaling made great progress. Before
that, its main fishing places were in the Atlantic, and then they expanded to
the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. In the 1820s a fishing place off the coast
of Japan was discovered and many whale ships from America appeared around
Japan.
Edo Bakuhu wanted to close the country, but
the foreign whale ships arriving off the coast of Japan resulted in contacts
between Japanese people and foreign whalers. Sometimes American whale ships
saved Japanese drifters, and some of them were taken to America and got an
education there. Sometimes American whale ships shipwrecked off the coast of
Japan and Japanese coastal people saved them.
One of the most famous Japanese drifters is
John Mung. He was helped by American whale ship and taken to America. He leaned
English and became a whaler. And then he smuggled himself back into Japan. When
the fleet leaded by Matthew Perry arrived at Japan, there were only two English
interpreters in Japan including him.
One of the main reasons why the U.S.
government sent the fleet to Japan was to secure supply bases for American
whale ships, but ironically at that time the golden age of American whaling was
ending. Although the main use of whale oil was for lights, in the 1850s oil
fields was discovered and developed in America and whale oil was replaced by
kerosene.
I learned from the history of whaling that globalism
wasn't just a recent phenomenon and an unexpected side of Japanese
modernization. I think that you can find another unexpected side of American
and world history from the book "Leviathan: The History of Whaling in
America."
When I go to work, I wear a business suit. It's a kind of "cosplay" for me. In the morning I change into a business suit, and I can feel my role as a "salaryman".
I used to buy Paul Stuart's suits, shirts and ties. Paul Stuart, which was founded in New York, is a traditional American wear store.
Although I don't know why, I don't look nice in Italian suits, and I think that British suits are too traditional for me. So I liked Paul Stuart's suits and when I wear them, I feel as if I were a businessman working in Manhattan. (It's New Yorker "cosplay" for me.)
I was one of the regulars at the Paul Stuart store in Ginza, Tokyo. I also loved the atmosphere and the staff members of this store. It was really nice and cozy to talk with familiar staffs and to choose new suits, shirts and ties.
But Paul Stuart Japan was bought by a Japanese apparel maker, Sanyo Shokai, and everything had changed. Paul Stuart Japan was "Japanized" and lost its New York flavor. I couldn't do New Yorker's "cosplay" wearing Paul Stuart's suits any more. I have great regrets about it, but I won't visit Paul Stuart store in Ginza, Tokyo.
Last summer I made a journey to the East coast of the U.S. and I visited the Paul Stuart store near Grand Central Terminal in New York. I enjoyed buying a shirt with broad blue stripes, which was very popular among New Yorkers.
But I can't visit the Paul Stuart store in New York very often, so I've changed the store where I buy business suits. Now I wear Paul Smith business suits. Paul Smith is a British designer but the suits aren't too conservative and look smart.
Now I go to the office wearing a Paul Smith business suit "cosplaying" a snob "saralyman".
A fun part about a journey is watching people walking on streets.
When I made a trip to New York this summer with my wife, we ate breakfast at Dean and Deluca and saw people walking to their offices. We found fashion in New York were far more various than in Tokyo. The varieties of colors of their hair, skins and eyes, their height and weight, and their cultural background make their fashion so various. On the other hand we, people living in Tokyo, wear all kinds of uniform. I wear "salary man" outfit and young girls playing at Shibuya wear young girl outfits playing at Shibuya.
New Yorkers' fashion was quite various and well-ordered at the same time. I had a dinner at Union Square Café in New York, which wasn't an expensive restaurant but a cozy restraint where we saw an old couple celebrate the anniversary of their marriage. All customers there wore nice and cozy outfits, which were adequate for the atmosphere of Union Square Café. I thought that New Yorkers kept "the grammar of fashion," which defined the outfits to wear at particular places, times and occasions.
My wife said that university students in Japan are more fashionable (at least care about their fashion more) than students in the US, who always wear hoodies with the logo of their own university or GAP and backpacks, like Zuckerberg in the movie "Social Network" (it might be my stereotype for about them.)
On the other hand, students in Japan (of course including male students) always care about their own hairstyle (although in my school days, most male students didn't care about their fashion at all, so I'm not fashionable now.)
But Japanese people didn't import the grammar of Western fashion but the elements of Western clothing. Sometimes Japanese people wear inadequate outfits, because we don't know the grammar of fashion. For example, some university students bring Louis Vuitton's bags to their class.
(see Kyary Pamyu Pamyu)
When I'm in Europe, I feel the presence of the class. The class, which they belong to, defines their fashion. Only the members of the particular class are implicitly entitled to have Louis Vuitton's bags. Of course there are rich people and poor people in Japan, but the difference between them is quantitative. In Europe the difference between classes is qualitative.
Some Western fashion designers give great attention to Japanese street fashion. As I mentioned, people on Japanese street coordinate their clothing without the grammar of Western fashion, so Western fashion designers see Japanese street fashion as new and fresh.
Inamoto, an old friend of mine, gave a comment to my weblog as follows.
People could try many different ways freely without "dregs" about the things which are imported from other cultures, such as Jazz in Japan, R&B, Rock and Hip Hop in Jamaica and Rock in the UK.
In the process of spreading cultural elements overseas they would be put in all new contexts and given new meanings.
When I wrote about "Salaryman" ("English Words" Made in Japan ), I got a comment "I do hope you'll survive!" I've survived as an ordinary "Salaryman" in Japan for twenty years.
I have to keep many laws, which seem to be quite ridiculous for the people who aren't in the Japanese companies' culture, to survive as a "Salaryman".
Today I'll write about "Cool Biz".
It's quite hot in the summer season of Tokyo, but, as I wrote in the previous journal, a typical "Salaryman" always wears a dark business suit and tie, no matter how hot it is.
The ministry of Environment started a campaign called "Cool Biz". They insisted that "Salaryman" should take off their jackets and ties in order to save the environment. Do you understand the relationship between "Salaryman's" suits and the environment? They said that companies should raise the temperature in their offices to save electricity and "Salaryman" should take off their jackets and ties to stand high temperature. Poor "Salaryman"!
Anyway "Cool Biz" has spread over "Salaryman" and they have taken off their jackets and ties in the summer season. And of course it has been hotter in their office.
Japanese government has been worried about shortage of electricity because of the accident of Fukushima dai-ichi nuclear plants, so they started the campaign "Super Cool Biz". They are recommending that "Salaryman" should dress down more.
My company is very Japanese, so they obey the policy of the government. In my company's website I found an announcement as below.
Announcement: Light Closing in the Summer Season
We will relax the dress code in the summer season in order to meet the request power saving by the government.
1. Light Closing in the Summer Season
1) Implementation period: June 20th (the date of closing period will depend on the supply of electricity)
2) Dress code:
Both of men and women basically should wear "clean and moderate" clothing.
The purpose of the light clothing is to promote ease comfort to work in the office, but we show the example of "inappropriate clothing" in order to keep the minimum manner and working environment. Please keep the dress code.
This dress code is applied to only in the office. Please consider and wear appropriate clothing with your common sense when you visit your clients and keep confidence of them.
For male
The present dress code
tops & bottoms
Basically wear a business suit and tie, or clothing corresponding to them, and be allowed to take off a jacket and tie in the working time.
The new dress code
tops
Be allowed to wear a polo shirt and an open-necked shirt. bottoms
Be allowed to wear chinos and cotton pants
The inappropriate clothing
tops
Flamboyant shirts
Putting a shirt out of pants bottoms
Half pants, cropped pants, pants without press, gym pants, jeans and so on
Sandals
For female
The present dress code
tops & bottoms
Wear clean and moderate clothing corresponding to a suit or a jacket
The new dress code
tops & bottoms
We don't show a concrete guide, but don't wear inappropriate clothing as below
The inappropriate clothing
tops
A sleeveless dress without a jacket, a T-shirt, scanty clothing (a camisole, halter-neck and so on) and clothing with a slogan or logo bottoms
A too short or too long skirt, a skirt with long slit, casual pants (short pants, jeans and so on), jersey pants and skirt, leggings and gym pants
When I read it, I literary laughed out loudly.
Why did they prohibit "putting a shirt out of pants" or "clothing with a slogan"? Women in the office are prohibited to wear shirts with the slogan "save the earth" in order to save the earth. That's the low of "Salaryman".
I tried to break this ridiculous low and put my polo shirt out of my chinos in the office.
Three days after I started a tiny revolt against the low of "Salaryman", the person in charge of risk management said to me in whispers that the president didn't like "putting a shirts out of pants".
Our president might think that "putting a shirt out of pants" would be a huge risk of our company. I'm living in such a ridiculous world.
I was born in Tokyo and I've been living in Tokyo until now.
I love Tokyo, and I'm always looking for the flavor of Tokyo in literature and music.
In modern Japanese literature there are two types of authors. The first are the ones that came to Tokyo from rural areas, and the second are the ones that were born in Tokyo.
The authors that came from rural to Tokyo wrote novels about the conflicts between their families back in the rural parts of Japan, and their new lives in Tokyo. But I'm not interested in such conflicts.
Haruomi Hosono, who were also born in Tokyo, made music that smelled very Tokyo. He sung that "It smells of the earth and the paint" and "It smells of the rain and the mold" in his song "The Love Is Rosy". I'm quite sure that was very reminiscent of Tokyo.
Where am I? I don't care. Can I forget how to arrive here? It smells of the earth and the paint. The walls are the color of ivory and the skies are the color of glass.
Since I've arrived in the night, Blowing cheerful songs out, a fired car is going into darkness, and playing tag with the red moon.
I've walked on this road along the river before. I find the town that I've been to through the breaks in the clouds. Trutururu, trutururu, truturururu.
When it rains in your body, Can I get wet closing my umbrella? It smells of the rain and the mold. The skies are gray and the love is rosy.
I've walked on this road along the river before. I find the town that I've been to through the breaks in the clouds. Trutururu, trutururu, truturururu.
I heard from my father that it was very hot and bright on the day that Japanese Emperor Hirohito surrendered to United Nations. There was nothing in Tokyo at that time.
Most of the people living in Tokyo believe that, someday, a huge earthquake will hit Tokyo again.
I can imagine a Tokyo that has been destroyed.
I'm looking up at the blue open sky, which used to be blocked out by skyscrapers befor they collapsed to the ground. I sing the song "Gathering Winds", remembering my old good Tokyo.
When I took a walk
along a stretching alley on the edge of a town,
I found a street car just waking up
and going across the sea
through a messy haze.
And I'm also
gathering winds, gathering winds and gathering winds
to fly in the azure sky,
in the azure sky.
When I walked through
the really lovely and bracing time,
I found a city hoisting a green sail
and anchoring
over an empty seawall
And I'm also
gathering winds, gathering winds and gathering winds
to fly in the azure sky,
in the azure sky.
When I passed time
in an empty morning coffee shop,
I found the rustle of skyscrapers
spreading over pavement
through cracked crystal.
And I'm also
gathering winds, gathering winds and gathering winds
to fly in the azure sky,
in the azure sky.
P.S.
Buddhism tell us everything in this world isn't eternal (諸行無常) and we should look straight at and accept this fact (諦念).
Most of Japanese, including me, aren't eager Buddhists, but they have this thought (諦念) in the back of their minds.
At this earthquake and tsunami one of the reasons why afflicted people could keep order might be that they share this thought (諦念) that they should accept whatever happens to them.
Usually I have a positive way of thinking for my life. At the same time I have to accept the fact that anything will be gone.
