Reality Is Cruel: An Impression of Super Bowl XLVII

The football season is over.

I had believed that this season must have been Peyton Manning’s one, but in the end that didn’t happened.

Seattle Seahawks completely beat Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. Seattle Seahawks didn’t allow Peyton Manning and the other members of Denver Broncos do what they planned at all. Everybody, including Seattle Seahawks themselves, didn’t expect this big win over Broncos.

Peyton Manning is one of the legendary quarterbacks. He used to play as a member of Indianapolis Colts and he won Super Bowl in 2007. But in 2011, he got neck surgeries, and Colts believed that he couldn’t play as well as before, so they kicked him out.

In 2012, he got signed on with Denver Broncos and he brought his team to the playoffs. This season, the 37-year-old Peyton Manning achieved the best performance in his life and got the regular season MVP.

I dreamed that Peyton Manning would win the Super Bowl title at the end of this season and it make his big comeback perfect.

But reality is cruel.

Seattle Seahawks literary destroyed Denver Broncos and my dream.

It is really painful for me to imagine how this defeat hurt Peyton Manning’s heart.

I Found Spring Coming in Cold Winter

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.

Spring was coming even in cold winter.

"If winter come, can spring be far behind."

Three Photographs of Yellow Ginko Leaves

I had not been feeling well because of tonsillitis for two months. Now that I have gotten much better, I will try to write my first entry since October.

When I walked to the nearest subway station, I found that the morning sunlight was shining on the yellow leaves of a ginko tree. I tried to take a photograph of them with my iPhone.

I wanted to express the contrast between the yellow of the ginko leaves and the blue of the clear sky of early winter. The ginko tree was so big that it couldn't fit on the screen of my iPhone, and I was disappointed with the resulting photograph.

On another day, I went to Kishimojin shrine, which is a ten minutes walk from my house. There was a huge ginko tree full of bright yellow leaves. Of course, I could not take a photograph of its whole tree with my iPhone, so I wondered how I should crop it.

Just under the tree, yellow leaves were spread out like a yellow carpet. I shot a photograph of just the yellow leaves on the ground. I like the contrast between light and shadow on the yellow leaves and between the yellow of leaves and the red of the Shinto gate.



I looked up and I found the sunlight through yellow leaves, and I took a photograph that was full of the yellow.

In the end, I love this photograph best. I realized that when taking a photograph, how you crop an image is most important.

An Autumn Night in Tokyo

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 suddenly with 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

Don't Forget about Global Warming

It is extremely hot this summer in Tokyo.

From early July, the temperature has been over 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees ) almost everyday. In Japan we call the night when the lowest temprature is above 25 degrees Celsius “a tropical night (熱帯夜),” and almost every night in July and August has been “a tropical night.”

It isn't only that the temperature is high but also that the weather is tropical. Thunderstorms bring sudden heavy downpours and lightnining almost every two days. The weather this summer in Tokyo is similar to that of Bankok. Honestly, I used to be skeptical about global warming, but after I experiensed this summer in Tokyo, I couldn't deny it. 

Before March 11, 2011 Japanese mass media always discussed global warming, but they've rarely talked about global warming at all this summer. This phenomenon isn't limited to Japan either. President Obama also used to talk about green energy revolution, but he seems to have forgotten about it.

Now, just two nuclear plants in Japan are operating, and no one knows when the other plans will restart, so it's quite difficult to reduce green gas emissions in Japan. I'm guessing that this is the reason why Japanese mass media stopped talking about global warming.

Shale gas in the United States is rapidly increasing as a source of natural gas.  President Obama may think that the shale gas industry is more important that global warming in the United States.

However, it is clear that the overall global temperature is rising. We shouldn't escape from the reality.

Don't forget about global warming.

Misfortunes Never Come Singly: The Worst Season Opener of the New York Yankees in These Twenty Years

In this off-season, the Yankees didn’t actively acquire new players, because the owner of the Yankees, Hal Steinbrenner, decided to avoid pay luxury tax.

In MLB, teams whose amount of salary of their players exceeds a limit should pay luxury tax.  If a team wants to avoid luxury tax, it shall reduce the amount of salary.

Consequently, the member of the Yankees in this season was much worse than the previous season.

Furthermore, leading players got injured continuously. Now, there is no Jeter, Teixeira,  Granderson, or A-Rod in the Yankee’s bench.

At the opening game in this season, Sabathia, who is the ace pitcher of the Yankees, was in bad shape. In addition, Kuroda, who is the most reliable rotation pitcher, was hit at his right hand by a line drive at the next game.

Misfortunes never come singly. This is the worst season opener of the New York Yankees in these twenty years.

In other words, it is worst now. I hope that it will not be worse than now.

A Cat in Love on a Spring Night

Last night, some stray cats in my neighborhood were fighting and shouting at each other, and running around on the roof of the house next door.

Each haiku should have a seasonal word, which was called a "kigo" (季語).

"A cat in love" (恋猫) is one of the seasonal words of spring. In spring, tomcats fight over mates.

Shuson Kato, who is a famous modern haiku poet, wrote a haiku about a cat in love:

A cat in love

Licks a dish at once

And goes calling

恋猫の皿舐めてすぐ鳴きにゆく　加藤楸邨

I'm wondering if I will also hear cats in love calling tonight.

A cat in love is

Running through

The dark night

暗闇を駆け抜けてゆく恋の猫　山羊庵

The Wreath of Recalling Our Good Things 2012

Left Hand | Right Hand

I'd like to join Hiroshi Yuki's project "The Wreath of Recalling Our Good Things 2012."

He is one of my oldest friends on the Internet. When we knew each other, there weren't Facebook, twitter, and even blog services, so we had to write html to made our own website. We deeply know each other, but we have never met in the real world. (I haven't seen even his photo.)

The aim of this project is sharing good things that we experienced in this year. The participants of this project write good things in this year and have links to each other.

You'll find "Left Hand" and "Right Hand" on the top of this entry. If you click "Left Hand", you jump to the next "Good Things" page. And then you'll click "Left Hand" page by page, in the end you will be back to my page. The pages make " The Wreath of Recalling Our Good Things."

Now I'll write my good things in this year.

Fist of all, my family has been staying in good health. Last several years, someone of my family had trouble with their health, so we are happier about our health than anything.

The second is that I became able to express what I want to express in English. English has made my world really wider. I knew people who I would never know without the Internet and English.

I'm really thankful to people who read my weblog, and my family.

The Best Season for Gibier

This week it's getting much cooler in Tokyo. I like a wild duck with soba noodle in hot soup, which is called "Kamo Namban (鴨南蛮)" in Japanese, so I can't wait for the best season for gibier.

I'm reading the book "Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America", which is really interesting. Now, I read about Nantucket Island in the age of the American Revolutionary War. At the present day Nantucket Island is a resort for celebrities, but at that time it was the center of world's whaling industry, where Ishmael embarked captain Ahab's whale ship in Moby-Dick. While the American Revolutionary War, most Nantucketers were interested in continuation of their whaling and trying to keep neutrality in order to avoid attacks of English navy and pirates on their whale ships.

When I took a business trip to Deli, India, I was surprised with "stray cows" walking around the streets with their own will. Although I knew that the cow was a holy animal for Hindus, "seeing is believing." I was more surprised that I found MacDonald's in Deli. What was a hamburger shop in India? I rushed into MacDonald's, and I found that they sold croquettes with buns.

Please imagine that a band of Indian anti-beef activists crowds at the countryside in New Zealand and let cattle free from livestock farmers. From my stand point of view, it's just the same as anti-whaling activists in Daichi, Japan, where dolphins traditionally have been caught and eaten.

If it isn't cruel that cattle is brought up to be killed and eaten, why it would be cruel that Daichi people kill and eat dolphins or whales? Because dolphins and whales are intellectual? How about cattle? Because they are wild? How about gibier?

We can't live without killing and eating living beings. Even vegans can't live without relying on the people who kill and eat living beings. I think that first of all we should look strait at this fact.

I like to eat gibier, simply because it tastes good. I couldn't wait for the best season for gibier, if "anti-kamo namban" activists said that it was cruel to kill and eat wild ducks.

The Perfect Climate for T-shirts

I visited Kauai Island, one of the Hawaiian islands for this summer vacation.

It's the fifth time to visit Hawaii, and the first time Kauai. I love to spend time on tropical islands, especially Okinawa, Japan, and Hawaii.

What I like most about Hawaii is its climate.

In Tokyo it's hot, moist, and, uncomfortable in summer. In daytime temperature rises over 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), and I pour sweat in the open. In nighttime it keeps over 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), and I can't sleep well. In doors it's too cool for me with air conditioners, but this coolness makes me feel no good.

On the other hand in Hawaii it's cooler and much dryer than in Tokyo. The sea breeze is always blowing, and it's really comfortable out in the open air.

There are many beer gardens in Tokyo during summer, but I don't feel like drinking beer in these beer gardens, because it's too hot and wet even in nighttime. On the contrary in Hawaii, it's weather is perfect for drinking beer or Pina Colada under an umbrella along the beach in either daytime or nighttime.

I also played golf in Kauai. In summer it's tough to play golf in Japan, because it's so hot that I get exhausted. I wasn't exhausted in Kauai after playing through 18 holes. I've never played golf more fun than this time.

I was always wearing a T-short and shorts in Hawaii. It's the perfect climate for T-shirts.

Playing with "Cool Biz"

Last year I wrote an entry about "Cool Biz".

I'd like to quote this entry to explain what "Cool Biz" is.

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 salarymen should take off their jackets and ties in order to save the environment. Do you understand the relationship between salarymen'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 be able to stand high temperatures. Poor "Salarymen"!

Anyway "Cool Biz" has spread over salarymen and they have taken off their jackets and ties in the summer season. And of course it has been hotter in their office.

"Cool Biz" started in the beginning of May. Now I don't have to wear my jacket and tie while working in my office.

As I wrote in the previous entry about "Cool Biz", my company's dress code is so ridiculous that I'm trying to resist it.

A few years ago, Kazuhiro Kokubo, who was a member of Japan's snowboarding team for the Vancouver Olympics, was criticized for wearing the Japanese team's uniform of Japan's team in a quite rough way.

How do you think of his sense of fashion?

It's cool, isn't it? I think that he is a professional snowboard player and his fashion as a snowboarder is a part of his profession. If he wore a uniform in the proper way, he wouldn't look like a snowboarder and his fans would feel disappointed.

I read a newspaper article about Zuckerberg's hoodie. He wore his trademark hoodie at the meeting with Wall Street bankers, and someone blamed him about his fashion.

What's the matter? Should Zuckerberg wear a well-tailored suit? Kokubo is Kokubo, and Zuck is Zuck.

Japanese high school girls are trying to wear their uniforms in a "kawaii " (cute) way. A game is more interesting, because it has rules. They enjoy their fashion under the rules of uniform.

Now I'm trying to enjoy fashion within the rule of "Cool Biz".

One day, I wore a jacket and a tie just for form, but the jacket made of linen was casual, and I undid the top button of my shirt and loosened a knit tie.

Another day, I didn't ware a jacket and a tie, but I wore a blue striped shirt and a dark grey pleated pants looking like a "salary man".

I'm playing with "Cool Biz".

House of Rising Sun

I get up at around 5:00 in the morning. At first I turn on my iMac and then check e-mails, facebook, twitter, and lang-8. My iMac stand in front of the east window, so I look at the morning glow every morning and tweet about it.

I'd like to pick up my tweets about the morning sky. I think that they are kinds of Haiku.

"In the morning sun a wisp of cloud is light crimson and very beautiful." 9 Jan.
"What wonderful morning glow! Recently morning glow has been beautiful everyday." 18 Jan.
"I'll have a meeting at 8:45, so I got out of bed earlier than usual. The sun hasn't risen yet. I hear dignified sound of a temple bell." 24 Jan.
"Morning glow is beautiful, but clouds in the morning sky today are also beautiful." 10 Feb.
"It's still cold, but sunrise is getting earlier steady." 4 Mar.
"Good early morning. It's dark and silent." 2 Apr.
"I looked up to morning blue sky, and took a deep breath. I'll go to work now." 5 Apr.
"Blue sky and clear sunshine gave me a lot of energy!" 6 Apr.
"It's a vermilion morning glow!" 7 Apr.
"It's "Vermilion Sands". No, no. It's the vermilion sun!" 7 Apr.
"There is a long and narrow cloud in the sky." 8 Apr.
"It's cloudy and warm morning. This is "花曇り(hagagumori)" a hazy sky in the cherry blossom season." 9 Apr.
"Cherry blossoms are scattering into the clean air." 13 Apr.
"An insomniac's morning is busy. I love loneliness in early morning and warmth of breakfast with my wife." 14 Apr.
"The vermilion sun is rising now." 14 Apr.
"The sun is rising just now. The great merit of early rising is to see beautiful morning glows." 15 Apr.
"Good day sunshine!" 17 Apr.
"It's dark and I can just hear the noise of raining." 19 Apr.
"I, an early bird, am listening to the songs of birds in the early morning." 21 Apr.
"I woke up very early, and fell asleep again. Sleeping again in the morning is sweet." 23 Apr.
"It's cloudy and cool morning. Life is going on." 7 Jun.
"It's rainy and cool morning. I can't see the sun." 8 Jun.
"Now I see the sun is rising in the early morning. It gives me energy to live today." 12 Jun.
"It's cool and rainy morning. I don't dislike such a morning." 13 Jun.
"It's bright morning!" 22 Jun.
"The sky is so blue and bright that it's beautiful but I can't see it well." 16 Jul.
"It's cloudy and cool morning." 19 Jul.
"It's raining heavily in the early morning. The sound of the rain makes me calm." 30 Jul.
"It's stopped raining and birds started singing." 30 Jul.
"It's cooool morning, TOKIO!" 31 Jul.
"It's also coooool morning, today!" 1 Aug.
"It's sunny morning in TOKIO!" 2 Aug.
"It's a hot and sunny morning in Tokyo." 9 Aug.
"It's a cool and rainy morning. When I arrived at Narita airport last Friday, I was surprised that it became autumn in Tokyo." 22 Aug.
"It's a cool morning. I'm hearing that semi (balm cricket) is stridulating. Summer is going now." 23 Aug.
"The morning sun is shining the under side of cloud in orange." 25 Aug.
"In the midnight a thunder storm hit at Zoshigaya, Tokyo, but now it stops raining. Anyway I decide to go playing golf today." 1 Sep.
"It's a tropical morning in Tokyo, so I'm listening to tropical music by Haruomi Hosono." 3 Sep.
"It's a clear and refreshing morning in Tokyo." 4 Sep.
"The sky is strips of blue sky and gray clouds in Tokyo." 6 Sep.
"The sky is stained with burgundy morning glow." 8 Sep.
"Morning glow makes gradations of colors on the sky and clouds from dark orange at the horizon to deep azure at the top of the sky." 9 Sep.
"A hot summer is coming back on September." 12 Sep.
"The colors of sky are turning rapidly in the early morning. Now the sun is shining in a yellow light." 17 Sep.
"I can hear nothing but the sound of rain." 21 Sep.
"The typhoon's passed by Tokyo bringing autumn winds." 21 Sep.
"Good morning, insomniacs, my friends." 24 Sep.
"It's (literally) cool this morning. When my wife found I wore a business suit, she said, "moe-ru (萌える)"." 27 Sep.
"The sun is rising again, today." 8 Oct.
"The sky is dyed faint rose pink in Tokyo, now." 11 Oct.
"I took a bath in the morning, because it's getting cooler." 11 Oct.
"It's a dark and rainy morning in Tokyo." 16 Oct.
"The downside of the clouds in autumn sky are shined in bright red purple by the sun setting in Tokyo." 19 Oct.
"It's dark, but the sun will rise soon in Tokyo." 20 Oct.
"It' a cool and cloudy Monday morning in Tokyo." 24 Oct.
"While watching the sun rising, I was listening to "What's Going on" by Marvin Gaye." 26 Oct.
"It's a Monday morning. Well, I have to go to the office and work as every Monday." 7 Nov.
"It's still dark and cold in the very early winter morning." 16 Nov.
"I see the sun under the horizon dyeing tangled clouds in the sky various colours. Awesome morning glow in Tokyo." 23 Nov.
"I see the beautiful color gradations changing from orange horizon to blue sky in the morning glow. 25 Nov.
It's burgundy sky just in a moment." 27 Nov.

「朝の太陽に照らされた細くたなびく薄紅色の雲がとても美しい。」1月9日
「とても朝焼けがきれいだ。最近、毎日朝焼けが美しい。」1月18日
「8:45から会議があるので、いつもより早く起きた。太陽はまだ出ていない。お寺の重々しい鐘の音が聞こえる。」1月24日
「朝焼けは美しい。しかし、今日の朝の雲は同じように美しい。」2月10日
「まだ寒いけれど、日の出は確実に早くなっている。」3月4日
「おはよう。暗いし静かだ。」4月2日
「朝の青空を見上げ、深呼吸をする。さて、仕事にいこう。」4月5日
「青空とまばゆい陽の光がエネルギーをくれる！」4月6日
「朱色の朝焼け」4月7日
「「ヴァーミリオン・サンズ」じゃなくて朱色の太陽。」4月7日
「空には細く長い雲。」4月8日
「ぐずついた暖かい朝。花曇り。」4月9日
「澄み切った空に桜の花びらが舞っている。」4月13日
「不眠症の朝は忙しい。早朝の孤独も、つれあいとの暖かな朝食も大好きだ。」4月14日
「朱色の太陽がでてきた。」4月14日
「ちょうど太陽がでてきた。早起きのいいところは美しい朝焼けが見れることだ。」4月15日
「おはよう、太陽！」4月17日
「暗い。雨の音しか聞こえない。」4月19日
「早起き鳥が、早朝の鳥の歌を聴いている。」4月21日
「早起きをして二度寝をした。二度寝はスィートだ。」4月23日
「曇りで寒い朝。そして人生は続く。」6月7日
「雨が降り、寒い朝。太陽が見えない。」6月8日
「早朝、太陽がでてきたのを見ている。今日一日生きのびるエネルギーを貰った。」6月12日
「寒い、雨の朝。こんな朝は嫌いだ。」6月13日
「まばゆい朝！」6月22日
「空が青く眩しいので、きれいだけどよく見ることができない。」7月16日
「曇って涼しい朝。」7月19日
「早朝に激しい雨が降っている。雨の音を聴いていると落ち着いてくる。」7月30日
「雨がやみ、鳥が鳴きだした。」7月30日
「すずしい〜朝、トキオ！」7月31日
「今日もすずしい〜朝！」8月1日
「夏の朝、トキオ！」8月2日
「暑い夏の朝の東京。」8月9日
「涼しい雨の朝。この前の金曜日に成田空港についた時、東京が明になっていて驚いた。」8月22日
「涼しい朝。セミの鳴き声が聞こえる。夏の終わり。」8月23日
「朝の太陽が雲の下側をオレンジ色に照らしている。」8月25日
「深夜、東京雑司が谷に嵐がやってきた。今はもう雨はやんだ。ともかく、ゴルフに行くことにした。」9月1日
「東京は熱帯の朝。だから細野晴臣のトロピカル・ミュージックを聴いている。」9月3日
「東京は、澄み切った気持ちのいい朝。」9月4日
「東京の空は、青い空と雲がストライプになっている。」9月6日
「朝焼けで空が赤紫色に染まっている。」9月8日
「朝焼けが、空と雲を地平線のオレンジから天頂の濃紺までのグラデーションにしている。」9月12日
「9月に暑い夏が戻ってきた。」9月12日
「早朝の空の色はあっという間に変わっていく。今、太陽は黄色に輝いている。」9月17日
「雨の音しか聞こえない。」9月21日
「台風が通りすぎて、秋の風を連れてきた。」9月21日
「不眠症のみなさん、おはようございます。」9月24日
「文字通り寒い朝。スーツ姿を見て、つれあいが「萌える」と言った。」9月27日
「今日もまた日は昇る。」10月8日
「東京の空は薄紅色に染まっている。」10月11日
「寒くなってきたので、朝風呂に入った。」10月11日
「東京は暗い雨の朝。」10月16日
「東京の秋の空の雲の下側が、夕暮れの太陽に赤紫色に照らされている。」10月20日
「東京は暗いけれど、もうすぐ太陽が出てくる。」10月20日
「東京は寒くて曇った月曜の朝。」10月24日
「日の出を眺めながら、マーヴィン・ゲイ「ホワッツ・ゴーイング・オン」を聴いている。」10月26日
「月曜日の朝。さて、いつもの月曜日のように会社に行って働かなければ。」11月7日
「冬の早朝、まだ暗く寒い。」11月16日
「地平線の下の太陽が雲をいろいろな色に染めているのを見ている。なんという朝焼けだろう。」11月23日
「朝焼けのなか、オレンジ色の地平線から青の空までの美しいグラデーションを見ている。」11月25日
「一瞬の朱色の空。」11月27日