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冬至を過ぎこれから少しずつ、少しずつ日が長くなっていくと思うだけで嬉しい。昨日と変わりない今日のように見えて、何かが違う。実際はここから厳寒の季節へと突き進むわけだが、暦のマジックは希望を語る。冬の底の底に縮こまっているようでいて、銀世界を自由に駆け回っているような清々しさもある。続けざまにDVDを見た。『ラベンダーの咲く庭で』、『日の名残り』、『初恋の来た道』、いずれも人の一生を視野に入れたゆったりと心にしみる佳作だった。他にすることはいくらでもあるのに、こんな贅沢な過ごし方をしていていいのかな。たまには、許されよ。本日の更新は、短信のみにて。

We've passed the winter solstice. I'm happy just to think that the sunshine duration is going to be longer little by little every day. Nothing seems to be different today from yesterday, but something is surely different. In fact we are going into the severely cold season from now on; however, the calendar gives us hope. Although we're in the very bottom of the winter, we can be encouraged to have a certain fresh image of running freely in the silver world. I've seen three DVDs in a few days: Ladies in Lavender, The Remains of the Day, and The Road Home. They are all presenting a life long history of people. They are very quiet and very impressive works. I've got to do a lot of things; and yet, I indulge myself watching movies at home. Am I forgivable? I hope so just once in a while. Today's update: only this note.

ポッカリと天恵のような時を手に入れ、乱読の日々。手当たり次第読んでいる。漫画も。西原理恵子を一気に四冊読んだ。自分を笑いのめすというのは才能でもあり覚悟でもある。私小説ならぬ「私生活漫画」だが、過激なギャグの中に悲哀と慈愛がこもる。作者は「嘘ばかり描いてきた」と自嘲的に語るが、リアルをひっくり返すトリックが彼女の芸だ。描き続けて生きることの辛さもまた自分の夢の実現だという潔さ。西原の後で読んだ人気小説家の最新作が嘘くさくていただけなかった。こんな手前勝手な状況設定とストーリーがあるか、とサイバラ流に突っ込みたくなることしきり。次は長年手を出せずにいた犯罪小説を。先日作者の社会時評を読んで強く惹きつけられた。しばらく仕事を離れてトリップだ。本日の更新は表紙（ライトアップされた東京ドームシティー）とこのページの写真（雑木林の落葉）です。一年が暮れていく。

I've got a vacant time like a gift from the heaven; and so, I'm reading books at random. I'm reading comics too. I read a series of 4 books by Rieko Saibara at a stretch. She has the talent and the resolution to satirize herself in her books. She picks up scenes of her private life for her works and she has the art to turn them over for laughter. She is decisive to say she's happy to be a cartoonist. In spite of the hardship she has to endure for writing, After Saibara, I couldn't be impressed with the latest work of a popular novelist. I wanted to criticize her convenient story and idealistic characters. Next, I'll launch a criminal novel written by another female novelist. I was quite impressed with her essay on society very recently. I'll keep going on an imaginary trip for a while. Today's update: the photo in the index page (Tokyo Dome City lighted up) and the photo above (fallen leaves in the woods). 2007 is coming to the very end.

ゼミの学生達が体育館でスポーツをするというので混ぜて貰った。12階建ての新校舎最上階二階分を使った空中体育館である。先ずはポールを立てネットを張ってバレーボール。およそ10年ぶり。「あれ〜、ごめ〜ん」の連発だったが、ドンマイドンマイと許してくれた。「いくらなんでもバスケは無理だと思う」と辞退したのだが、みんなでやる方が楽しいし、センセイのリアクションが面白いから入るようにと言われて、これまた図々しく。なんと40年ぶり。ワンゲーム5分間で3チームが交互に3ゲームという簡易版だったので助かる。最後に私もまさかのゴールを決めたのだった。おまけに卓球。みんなそれぞれ特技を披露。どのゲームでも世話役の女性陣は男子の中でまったく遜色なし。久しぶりに思い切り身体を動かし、集団でゲームする快感にひたった。明日か明後日、身体がミシミシ痛むであろうことは考えないでおこう。謝謝。本日の更新は短信のみにて。

My seminar students made a plan to play sports in a gym. They were kindly let me join them. The gym is in the 11th and the 12th floor of the new building. First we set poles and a net to play volleyball. It has been 10 years since I played last. "Oh, sorry! Oh, No!" I kept apologizing but students kept saying, "Don't mind!" I said I should not join them when they were playing basketball, but they insisted me to play with them saying, "Your reaction is just funny. It will be more fun for us to play with you." In three teams we played in turn. One game lasted only for 5 minutes, so I could manage to follow them. At the last moment, I made a goal miraculously! Lastly we played ping-pong. Everybody demonstrated his/her skills. In every game, girls were as active as boys. I just enjoyed playing sports with young people. I remembered the joy of playing physical games after such a long interval. Maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow my body will ache, but let's not think about it for now. A lot of thanks to my students! Today's update: this note only.

冬には冬の美しさがある。絶え間なく散る落ち葉を浴びながら、休日の午後ゆっくりと散歩をした。思いがけず寒桜を見たり、まだ青々としたセンダンを見上げたり、そして深く枯れ葉の散り敷く雑木林の中を奥へ奥へと。楽天的であることが、どんなときにも光を充分に味わうことを可能にする。(^_^)/ 本日の更新は表紙の写真（冬枯れ寸前の輝きに包まれた東村山中央公園）とこのページの写真（野火止用水縁のセンダンの実と葉）です。

Winter has its own beauty. In the incessant shower of falling leaves, we took a walk in a sunny afternoon. We happened to find a tree of "winter cherry" in bloom and a tree of still green chinaberry (Melia azedarach). We walked deep into the woods, stepping on the soft thick fallen leaves. Optimism helps you to appreciate the light of the world fully enough. ;-) Today's update: a photo in the index page (golden trees in Higashimurayama Central Park, Tokyo) and leaves and berries of chinaberry (Melia azedarach) by the stream of Nobidome Waterway, Higashimurayama, Tokyo.

義母の故郷青森から、この季節になると続々と林檎がやってくる。ピンポーンとチャイムが鳴って出てみると、大きな段ボール箱に「青森りんご」の赤い文字。送って下さるのは一軒ならず、二箱、三箱と続く。だから束の間我が家は「林檎大尽」。林檎といえば青森産、しかも故郷の町のものが最高だと義母は信じて疑わない。自慢するだけのことはあり、透き通った蜜がたっぷり芯の周りを囲み、得も言われぬ甘みがある。囓る音もシャキシャキと涼しげで、酸味が食後に爽快だ。ここまでの味にするにはどれほどの品種改良と栽培の努力があったことだろう。台風の被害や旱魃、長雨など年によっては作柄が案じられることもある。師走にまるまるとした林檎が届くとそれだけで幸福な気持ちになる。義母は数を数えながらご近所に、知り合いに、林檎を配って喜ばれている。遠く離れていても故郷の産物ほど懐かしく誇らしいものはないのだろう。さて、私には何がある？ここは「お一つどうぞ」と差し出すもののなにもない土地かと思いきや、転居してきて16年の今、義母は近隣名物「狭山茶」を仲良くなったお茶屋から季節ごとに仕入れてはせっせと各地に届けている。要は「いいもの」を見つける目と贈る気持ちだろう。まだまだ義母にはかなわない。本日の更新は「翻訳読書ノート36」に最近読んだ傑作『築地』を。これが文化人類学の専門書とはにわかに信じがたかった。面白い。あの町の神髄を描く一冊の本。癪に障る町（？）でもあるが何とも魅力的であることは間違いない。

In this season boxes of apples arrive from Aomori Prefecture, home of my mother-in-law. (We are living with her in Tokyo.) Hearing the chime at the door, I open it and find a large box on which red letters "Aomori APPLES" are printed. Not only a box but also two and three boxes are sent from several relatives. Consequently for a while we are prosperous with gorgeous apples. My mother-in-law believes that the best apples come from Aomori, especially from her hometown. True to her pride, her apples taste delicately sweet with transparent honey surrounding their cores. When we eat them, they sound crisp and cool. Their fresh sourness leave us real satisfaction after eating. I wonder how much efforts have been made to accomplish this taste by farmers. Sometimes typhoon attack apple trees before harvest, sometimes dry weather or too much rain spoil the taste of apples. So we are happy to see big round red apples in December every year, My mother-in-law give some of the apples to her friends, neighbors, and acquaintances nearby. (They are much appreciated.) . I guess nothing gives her more pride and happiness than apples from her hometown. Well, do I have something like her apples? Nothing! But wait, look at her now. She has been living in this town for 16 years and has discovered the famous product of this area; green tea from Sayama! She buys lots of tea packets from her favorite shop and send them out to her relatives and friends in a distance in every season. The important thing is to have eyes to find something good and heart to care. Well, I can hardly be like her yet!

師走である。時は駆けていく。紅葉も黄葉も散ってこれからしばらく枯れた梢を風が騒がすばかり。常緑樹はくすんだ深い色でじっと寒い季節をやり過ごす。町には人工的な色彩が溢れ、夜をイルミネーションが彩る。クリスマスから正月へと眠るのを忘れてはしゃぎ続ける人々。でも、喧噪の彼方で街の灯を疎ましく眺める目もあることだろう。若者たちに幸いをと願い、年配者に平安をと祈る。この頃になると私も少しは殊勝な気を起し、来し方行く末を思ってみたりする。（一年に一度くらいのものですが。）そうやってぽーんと一つ、新しい年へ入っていこうとするわけだ。あと幾度この扉をくぐり抜けられるのか分からないけれど。バタバタと原稿を書き続けてちょっと一息。本日の更新は短信のみにて。

it's December now. Red leaves and yellow leaves are almost fallen. For a few months from now on, bare branches and twigs will keep crying in the wind. Evergreen trees pass winter quietly in darker colors. Artificial colors decorate towns, and the colorful illuminations brighten them up at night. Some people will forget to sleep and make fun all night but others will look at the light of towns in a distance in dismay. I wish happiness for young people and peace for seniors. Once a year, I become humble to think of such a thing! Thus, I try to go into a new year although I don't know how many more times I'll be able to go through the door of time. I've finished writing several essays in a rush. Good grief! Today's update: this note only.

空は鈍色となり、いよいよ冷え込んで、コート無しでは外を歩けなくなってきた。忙中閑。晩秋の残り香を求めて池の畔に立つ。落ち葉は深く、水面に落ちる一葉が静かな波紋を描く。これから始まる季節にどう向かおうか。なるように、なんとか、淡々と。本日の更新は表紙の写真（東京本郷・東大構内・三四郎池）です。

The sky is dark and it's getting colder everyday. It's hard to walk outside without an overcoat. In a moment of quietness in my busy life, I went to a pond to watch the last colors of passing autumn. Fallen leaves are thick on lanes and one leaf fell in the pond to made ripples in circles on the surface of the quiet water. I was wondering how to face the coming harsh season. I'll manage it somehow. Let it be. Today's update: the photo on the index page (Sanshiro-Ike, a pond in the campus of the University of Tokyo, in Hongo, Tokyo).

いよいよ霜月も最終コーナーとなる。月末の締め切りが二つ、三つ。約束の課題が一つ、二つ。間に合うだろうか。いや、どうあっても仕上げなくてははならない。「時は、時は、過ぎてゆく〜♪」という歌詞を思い出しながら書く。書いても書いても終わらない。ずっとこうだったなぁと苦笑い。成長のない人生だ。（感心している場合か！）本日の更新は河原の枯れススキ（表紙）とコムラサキ（上）です。いずれも東村山市にて。この頃の色彩もなかなか風情がある。

Now we are at the last corner of November. I've got a few deadlines by the end of this month. And there are a couple of requirements, too. I wonder if I can complete them all. It's not the matter to "wonder," but I "must" finish them. "Time passes by," says a song. I remember the melody repeatedly. Although I'm writing all the time, still I can't see the goal. I've been always like this since my youth. My life hasn't changed a bit! (It's nothing to be impressed with by myself.) Today's update; drying Japanese silver grass (in the index page) and Callicarpa dichotoma (above).. Both of the photos were taken in Higashimuryama City in Tokyo. I like the colors in this season.

今日は菊の花束を買った。色とりどりの小菊ばかり集めて、野菜と一緒に農家の人が道ばたで売っている。バケツいっぱいの菊の花はみずみずしく薫り高く、秋を寿いでいるようだった。「ちょっと小屋を離れた隙にクルマで来た人に全部持ち逃げされたこともあるがね」と、お百姓さんは苦笑する。本体より遙かに長い葉っぱ付きダイコン、濃い緑のブロッコリー、袋いっぱい一ダース以上詰め込まれたキウイ、そしていびつな柿。取れたて野菜を自転車に積んで走る。肉も野菜もあるもので済ませよう。スーパーに寄る気は失せた。空は高く風は冷たい。秋たけなわ。この日を境にいつも冬が始まるような気がする。どうかお元気で。

I bought two bunches of chrysanthemum, A farmer was selling small flowers of all colors along with vegetables at a stall beside the field. A bucketful of chrysanthemums was fresh and fragrant, seemingly celebrating autumn. "Someone who came by a car once taken away the whole flowers without paying," the farmer said with a bitter grin. I also bought a huge radish with leaves longer than the white root, a dark green ball of broccoli, a bagful of kiwi fruit and a few of shapeless Japanese persimmons. I rode on a bike with baskets filled with products freshly from the land. I had no intention to drop by a supermarket on the way home. I'll cook vegetables with a bit of meat and fish in stock tonight. it was sunny and the sky was high. It was the summit of autumn. Every year I feel November 20 is the turning point of the season. I wish you good health and happiness.

晴天が続く。武蔵野線からも冠雪の富士山がくっきりと見えた。関東の人間は遠景でも富士が見えると心ときめくのが常で、「今日は見えますよ」「見えますね」と互いに言葉を交わす。山のことなどてんで頭にないとばかり思っていた人からそういわれると意外の感に打たれ、その人の隠れた面を見たような気がする。東京西郊では富士は西の方角に見える。千葉県流山あたりからだと富士は南側に見える。武蔵野線を東に進むと富士は遠ざかる。こんな当たり前のことでも珍しく、寒くなってくると姿を現す遠い山影を私は追いかける。北窓からは筑波山が見えたような気がするのだが、「ほら、あそこ」と言っても「え、どこ？」とはかばかしい反応が得られず残念。本日の更新は表紙の写真（流山市にて、紅葉した桜の木）です。ささやかな錦秋。

We are gifted with sunny days. Mt. Fuji was observed out of the windows of JR Musashino Line. People in Kanto District get excited when the find Mt. Fuji covered with snow. They talk to each other; "We can get the view of Mt. Fuji today!" "Yes, there it is!" When someone I have never imagined to be interested in mountains at all talks to me like that, I'm just astonished and feel I've found a hidden aspect of the person. BTW, in the western suburbs of Tokyo, we see Mt. Fuji in the west; at Nagareyama, Chiba, we see it out of the southern windows. While we are gong eastbound by Musashino LIne, Mt. Fuji is going away. I'm very curious about these things and keep looking for mountains in a distance when the air gets cool. Yesterday I felt I saw Mt. Tsukuba too. But when I talked to one of my colleagues, "Look at Mt. Tsukuba over there!", she was not so interested saying, "Where? I can't see anything." Today's update: a photo in the index page (a cherry tree with colorful leaves in Nagareyama, Chiba). It is a tiny scene of "golden autumn."

秋の終わりに咲き誇る菊。今年もまた。道ばたで見かけた鮮やかな一群れに思わず足が止まる。朝から降り続いた雨が止み、夕刻にもかかわらず何とも活き活きしている。この花の枯れる頃、街にも本格的な冬が訪れるのだろう。いろいろなことがあるけれど、うち萎れてばかりもいられない。どんなときにも美しいものは美しい。本日の更新は表紙（西東京市農園の木立）とこのページの写真（東村山市）です。

At the end of autumn chrysanthemums bloom proudly. I was stopped by the flowers on the roadside. It kept raining since morning but it stopped before sunset; flowers looked so fresh. When these chrysanthemums get dry, sinter will come in town. In spite of all the things, good and bad, happening every day, they can't always get me down. Beautiful things are beautiful anytime. Today's update: photos on the index page (trees in a fam in Nishi-Tokyo Cty) and the one there (chrysanthemums in Higashimurayama City).

大きな仕事がドカンとあるわけではないのに次から次へと課題が押し寄せ、一つ一つをクリアーしていくだけで（時にはやり損なって困惑したり）精一杯の日々が続く。何処も同じ秋の夕暮れとやら、あの手この手の入試も続く。ただ、今週は一つだけコンサートへ行くことができた。心身のストレスが消え、内側から活性化される体験だった。仕事を済ませ、電車を乗り継いで有楽町の東京国際フォーラムへ。人の波がホールに向かって押し寄せていく様から圧倒的だった。音と光とことばが共鳴して凄まじいパワーとなり聴き手を包む。心が解放される心地よさ。よしっ、生きていこうではないかと。疲れ果てる日々の中に白く輝く時もある。久々だというのに、本日は短信のみにて。

Demanding days continue although there are no extremely big events. I am just trying to clear each obstacle coming up in front of me. Sometimes I fail and get defeated even if I make all the efforts I can manage. Wherever you are, now all you can see is lonely late autumn evening sight. Entrance exams keep going. But I went to a concert this week! It was fantastic. All my stresses went away and I was refreshed from the innermost of myself. After work, I took trains and arrived at Yurakucho-Station. I saw big waves of people were going to a big concert hall. Sound, light, and words crushed to each other and created a mysterious harmony. The power of music overwhelmed me. I was liberated in ecstasy. All right, I said to myself, I'll go on living. In the days of exhaustion, there comes a sparkling time. All I could do today was just to write this note. Sorry for my long silence.

ついに11月。何故？ということもないが、待っていたような、遠ざけておきたかったような11月。身の回りの些事の山はちょっと脇へどけて、萩の花でもじっと見よう。ポプラの梢を見上げていよう。抵抗出来ないこと、なるようになにること、人智を越えたところにあるもの、みなひとしくエイヤッと越えていこうではないか。（なんだかわけがわかりませんね。）本日の更新は表紙写真（西東京市の農園のポプラ並木）とこのページの写真（萩山の萩）です。11月が幸福なときとなりますように。

Finally it's November. I can't tell why but I was waiting for it to come and at the same time I was willing to keep it in distance. I set all routine works aside and keep watching flowers of Japanese bush clover, or keep looking up at the tops of poplars. Let me jump over what I can't resist, what to be settled eventually, what's beyond our power and all other things. (I know you don't understand what I mean. Nor can I myself, Alas!) Today's update: a photo in the index page (poplars in a farm in West Tokyo City) and the one above in this page (Japanese bush clover in Hagiyama, Higashimurayama, TOKYO). Let November be a happy time for everybody!

懐かしい街を歩いた。私が目白界隈に通っていたのは、中学生の頃、1960年代後半である。オリンピックの前後から、街は急速に変化しつつあった。けれど学校より他に世界を持たない子どもの私にはそのことの意味も分からなかった。あのあたりを何も見ていなかったことが今漸く分かる。失われたものは多いのだけれど、辛うじて残るものが未だある。この度は二人の同行者がいた。六つの瞳は関心の幅を各段に拡げる。午後の僅か数時間ではあったが、思いがけないタイムスリップをした。次の世代に受け渡すべきものは何だろう。本日の更新は「散策」ページに秋日散策--目白界隈から神田川縁へです。仕事に忙殺されるなと呟きながら。

I walked in a district which reminded me of my adolescent days. I was going to a junior high school in Mejiro in late 1960s. Since Olympic Games in Tokyo, the city was changing drastically. But as an ignorant child, I was unconscious of the world yet. I know now I had paid no attention to the places around our school. I went for a walk with 2 of my friends this time. Thanks to them, I learned much more than I could have by myself. In the afternoon for a few hours though, I made a time-slip with them. I wonder what we could pass over to next generations. Today's update: Walking in Autumn--from Mejiro to the River Kanda. I'm saying to myself, "Don't be killed by busyness."

本当に、散歩によい季節になった。私はさまよう、街を野原を。やらなくてはいけないこと、読まなくてはならないものはたくさんある。授業もあるし、会議もある。けれど、この時期を逃す手があるだろうか。私は散歩に出かける。昨日も歩いた。今日も歩く。明日も、夢の中でさえ。本日の更新は表紙の写真（東村山中央公園のコスモス）とこのページの写真(西東京市の農園にて、ハナミズキの葉と実)です。ノンビリしていると後から慌てるぞ、という内なる声を聞き流しつつ。ま、何とかなるでしょう！

It's really a good season for taking a walk. I wander in town and in the field. I have a lot of things to do and a lot of materials to read. I have classes to teach and meetings to attend. However, how can I miss this season? I go out for a walk. I walked yesterday, I walk today and I'll walk tomorrow even in dreams. Today's update: photos in the index page (cosmos in Higashimurayama Central Park) and the one above, leaves and nuts of dogwood (Cornus florida) in autumn color (in a farm in West Tokyo City), I won't hear my inner voice warning, "You'll surely be in a panic if you are idling so much!) Let it be.

久しぶりに出た学会で知り合いになった女性たちと一緒に食事をした。うち一人は私と同い年で、ミャンマーの出身。両親に連れられてイギリスへ移住し、結婚後はシンガポールに暮らしたこともあるとか。ミャンマーと聞いて、目下の情勢が頭を過ぎったが、自分の浅い認識では無礼なことを口走るかも知れず何も触れず終いになった。もしご縁があればまた出会うこともあろう。深い眼差しがとても印象的な人だった。思えばこれまでいろいろな人とめぐりあってきた。もう二度と会わない人の方が多い。時々の記憶を鮮やかに彩る人々の影。私が誰かの記憶に残ることもあるのだろうか。ミャンマーの彼女と同日にメールで交わした「連絡を取り合いましょう」ということばが呪文のように胸に響く。そう言い合いながらそれきりになった人が如何に多いか。でも、一期一会のご縁は尊い。出会いは一つの種だろう。思いがけないところで芽吹くこともある。形も様々に。だから、知り合うことは楽しみだ。本日は短信のみにて。

I attended a conference which I had been away for years. I went out for lunch with some women whom I met there. One of them was originally from Myanmar. She immigrated to England with her parents when she was a child. After she got married to an English, they went to live in Singapore. When I heard of Myanmar, I nearly asked her how she's worried about what's going on now in her native land; however, I hesitated to utter a word about politics for fear of being rude to her because my recognition of the complicated situation of the country was very superficial. I didn't dare to mention anything about it. If we happen to have another occasion to meet, perhaps I'll be able to ask her delicate questions sincerely. She was a charming woman with impressive eyes. We exchanged mails writing to each other, "Let's keep in touch." I've met many people before saying the same words without meeting again. The shadow of people is still fresh in my memory. I wonder if I'm in someone's memory. Whatever the situation is, encounters are precious. Only sometimes, they develop unexpectedly in surprising ways. So I always expect to meet someone. Today's update: this note only.

私が住んでいる市には何カ所か森がある。それは本当にささやかな、うっかりするとすぐに消えてしまいそうな森だ。 つい最近もその一つが開発業者の手に渡り、危うく宅地になるところだった。それを市民が資金を集め、市に公共の場所として保存してくれるよう陳情し、どうやら市が業者から買い取ることで森は守られる可能性が高まってきた。但し、周辺はどんどん開けているため、森の端を流れている川岸は余程気を付けて手入れしていかないと自然の状態を保てなくなりかけている。先日勤め帰りにちょっとだけ寄り道して森に行ってみた。聞いていた通り、静寂の空間が保たれていた。カンパが2346万円も集まったそうだ。「淵の森」のトトロが力を貸してくれたのかな。（市民のリーダーは宮崎駿氏らである。）本日の更新は表紙の写真（東京都東村山市と埼玉県所沢市の境目にある「淵の森」を流れる柳瀬川）とこのページの写真（同所付近、枝先にドングリが実るコナラの木）です。【追記】ここの保存運動の方法をめぐってはいくつかの考え方があることを知った。引き続き注目しよう。

There are several woods in the city where I live. They are so tiny that they will disappear anytime unless we watch them carefully. Recently one of them was nearly turned to residential areas by a developer. Citizens stood up to protest that by collecting money and trusting it to the city to keep the forest as a public space. The movement is likely to end up successfully with an agreement between the developer and the city that the latter will buy the space from the former to preserve it. However, because the area around the woods is rapidly developed, we need to take care of the banks of the river running around the edge of the woods. Otherwise, the natural environment will be lost very easily. A few days ago, I visited the woods on my way back from work. In the woods, it was darker in the evening; yet, as I had heard before often, it was a wonderful space in a natural atmosphere of quietness. I learned the amount of money citizens collected by donation amounted to 23,450.000 yen! I imagine Totoro in "Woods of Gulf" helped them. (The leader of citizens is Miyazaki Hayao, a worldly famous animation film producer.) Today's update: the photo in the index page (the River Yanase running by "Woods of Gulf" located between Higashimurayama City, Tokyo and Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture) and the one in this page (acorns of quercus serrata in the woods).[P.S.]I've heard there are disputations over the reservation of the woods there. Let me continue watching how they go.

ピンボケも甚だしい自分で撮った写真を眺めていると、これが窓の外の風景のような気がしてくる。この頃そこら中によく見かける花なのだけれど（手元の本を何冊も繰ってみたものの）未だ名前を知らない。同じ方向へうち寄せる波のように伸びている。一日に幾つもしなければならないことが重なると、周りを眺める余裕が消えていく。だが、秋は豊かな花の季節でもある。味わわずに通りすぎるには惜しい。枯れていく前の武蔵野の風景はことさら胸にしみる。あれこれの課題を脇に押しのけて、今日もふらりと表に出たい。あてどもなく歩いていると、本の中にある静謐よりももっと静かな虚空に踏み込むような気持ちになる。後から課題の帳尻を合わせなくてはならないこともすっかり忘れて。花の名前が分かり次第、メモしておこう。まったく「情報のためのサイト」からはほど遠く、面目ない。【追記】花の名は、「アメジストセージ」Salvia leucantha（またの名を「メキシカン・ブッシュ・セージ」といい、サルビアの仲間とのこと）だった。花屋の店先に並んでいたので尋ねて、二株買った。増えると良いな！

Watching a blurred photo I took, I feel as if I'm looking out of a window. I often see the flower above here and there recently but I don't know its name yet. (I've checked several books at had in vain.) Like coming waves, they reach to one direction. I have too many things to do to forget watching around. It's autumn when flowers are in bloom before drying up. How can I miss them!? I wish I could go out of the door to enjoy seeing them. Autumnal scenes in Musashino are extremely impressive. I feel like going out for a walk, putting aside all the work I have to finish. While wandering, I feel I can go into the world of quietness, where it's quieter than in books. I forget that I have to work harder to tie up all the loose ends later. When I find the flower's name, I'll write it down here. Sorry, my website is far from providing any useful information.[p.s. The flower is called "Amethyst Sage" or "Mexican bush sage" (Salvia leucantha). It's a kind of salvia. I found the name at a flower shop. I bought two pots of the grass with flowers. I hope it will grow.

久しぶりに雑木林に入ったら地面の上はドングリでいっぱいだった。細長いの丸いの、座布団がついたのはがれたの。拾ってポケットの中で弄ぶ。今も机の上に。結構重い。生命の素がみっちり詰め込まれているのだろう。新緑の日々、暑い最中の木漏れ陽の日々、少しくすんだ落ち葉の季節。毎年毎年律儀に変化を繰りす雑木林は生きている。夏の「朝ごはんの木」はかなり乾いてきた。夕刻だったが木の周りをぐるっと歩くと、あのスズメバチの猛者が一匹武装した姿で仕事中。一対一で向き合うと恐ろしい。私も一匹の働きバチだ。羽もなく針もなく華もなく。だが、歩き回りながら世界をじっと見ることは出来る。そしてことばを刻むことも。本日の更新は、このページの写真です。青空が眩しくて。僅かな連休がありがたい。

For a few weeks, I have been away from the small forest where I was taking a walk every day duinrg summer. I found the ground was covered with acrons, big ones, small ones, slim ones, ball-like ones, ones with cushions and without and so on. I put them in my pocket to play with. They are on my dsk now. They are heavy with secrets of life. The forest is alive in fresh green leaves in spring, in the shower of light in summer, and with in darkening colors now. Seasons of turn year after year. I went to see the "Breakfast Tree." It's getting somehow drier than before. I walked around the trunk and found a fierce-looking yellow-hornet working in arms. I'm scared to meet with it face to face. I am also a worker bee with no wings, no stings, nor with any glamors. All I can do is to walk about and watch the world. I also can write! Today's update: the photo in this page (above). The blue sky was extremely striking. Thanks, a short holiday starts!

関東地方も一気に肌寒くなってきた。慌ててウールのスーツを引っ張り出した。朝晩はこれで丁度いいが、日中動き回るとさすがに暑い。よって薄手のジャケットも持って出て、適宜着替えるという面倒なことに。「乙女心かしら」と空を仰ぐ。タイトスケジュールに突入して以来散歩もままならず、広々した風景にもご無沙汰している。せめて、晴れ間ののぞいた平野を流山の研究室から見晴らす。（表紙の写真です。）何はなくとも7階からの展望はとてもよい。ガスが晴れて本当の秋空になればきっと筑波山が見えるに違いないと期待している。本日の更新は表紙の写真とこのページの写真（東京メトロ「後楽園駅」に出入りする高架線上の地下鉄）です。また、「掲載写真帖」に彼岸の頃の写真を収めました。秋物の洋服でもショッピングに行けたらよいのにと思いつつ。

It has become quite cool suddenly in Kanto District. I decided to put on a woolen suit, It was OK in the morning and evening, but too hot for working during the daytime in it. I needed to bring another light jacket for a change. Quite handful. The weather is as unstable as "a girl's mind." Now that I'm involved in the usual tight schedule, I can hardly go out for a walk nor go out into the open space, both of which I really miss. All I can do now is to look out of the window of my office on the 7th floor at Nagareyama campus when the sky clears up. (The photo in the index page.) Thanks, I love the view. I'm expecting to have a view of Mt. Tsukuba when the haze is all gone in a real autumn day. Today's update: photos in the index page and the one here: subways going on the elevated tracks in and out of "Korakuen Station" of Tokyo Metro. I put a pair of photos at equinox in "Cover Photos." I wish I go out for shopping to find some clothes for autumn, really!

オーストラリアのゴールドコーストから帰国したばかりの人が、「寒かったです。連日横殴りの激しい雨で、すっかり風邪を引きました」と言っていた。南半球は逆さまの気候とすると、春のお彼岸くらいだろうか。関東地方はしぶとい暑さが続いている。日中は優に30度を超える。ところが一転して夜半は涼しい。今宵は中秋の名月というので、外へ出てみた。街の明かりが邪魔をしてお月様の光だけを愛でることはできないが、それでも建物の少ない空間に見上げる月は、金色とも銀色とも見える光を惜しげなく放つ。太古の人も、異国の人も、皆こうして畏怖の念に打たれながら月を見上げたのろうか。人などいかにも小さく思えるひと時の恍惚。悩みも憂いも洗い流してしまうような光の雨。本日の更新は短信のみにて。

A person who has just come back from Gold Coast of Australia said, "It was so cold over there. It rained heavily day after day and I caught a cold!" Well, if the weather is opposite from that of Japan in Australia, are they at the spring equinox? In Kanto Area, it is still very hot during the daytime. The temperature is well over 30 centigrade degrees. Whereas, at night it gets very cool. Tonight we can see the full moon in autumn. I went out for a while just to watch the moon. Due to the light in town, the sky is not perfectly dark but I found an open space between buildings, where I could appreciate the moon light. The moon was scattering rich light of gold and silver. I imagine ancient people and people in foreign countries watched the moon with awe as I do. I got a moment of ecstasy, feeling the smallness of human beings. It was the rain of moon light washing away all troubles and misery. Today's update; this note only.

「千の風になって」が大ヒットして以来（といっても原詩はずっと前からあった）、亡くなった人の魂は墓にはいないという考え方が好んで受け入れられているらしい。にもかかわらず、彼岸に墓参する人は引きも切らず、高尾の幹線道路など大渋滞が続く。実父の墓へは法事以外とんと行かぬ親不孝者の私だが、義父の墓へは春夏の彼岸に必ず詣でる。ここにいずれ自分も入るのかと殊勝なことをいつも考えているわけではないけれど、既にそこは通い慣れた場所になっている。あたりには火を噴くような彼岸花が咲き、周囲の山々は熱の残る空気に霞む。いやまだ遠分入る気はございませんが、いつかはねと山を下りてくる。墓参の慣習は年に二度、奢れる生者を戒める古人の知恵であったかと思いつつ。本日の更新は表紙とこのページの写真です。それぞれJR横浜線「相原」駅付近のススキと彼岸花。暑さもここまでと思いたい。

Since the song of "Thousand Winds" is widely known to people in Japan, seemingly the idea that the dead (or I should say "the spirit of them") are (is) not in the grave is also widely accepted. However, I see so many people visit family graves on equinoxes in spring and autumn. For example, main roads to and from Takao, which is one of the most "grave-populated" areas in Kanoto are heavily crowded at these times of the year. I am not a good daughter to visit my father's grave regularly but I do visit my father-in-law's grave twice a year without fail. I do not always think that I will be interred there someday in the future, but the grave is already a very familiar place to me. There are red spider lilies like burning fire and surrounding mountains are in haze by the heated air. I climb down from the grave yard thinking vaguely I don't want to be in it very soon but I'll be there in the future surely. Grave-visiting once a year may be a habit which ancient people settled to remind the living of their mortality. Today's update: photos in the index page and in this page. Both are the scenes near Aihara Station of JR Yokohama Line. (Japanese silver glass and red spider lilies)

初めて娘の通う美大を訪問した。絵画科の展覧会があるというので。多摩丘陵の山の中。ちっちゃいバスが運んでくれる。こぢんまりしているけれど個性的なデザインの校舎が並ぶ。彫刻作品捨て場なんていうのもあって、無造作に放置された石像がゴロゴロしていたりする。展示会場はカマボコ型のプレハブアトリエだった。「ん？」「はぁ？」「へぇ？」「ほぅっ？」というような作品がいっぱい。なかには「ひぇ〜っ！」というようなのもあった。四年間好きなものを好きなように制作して過ごすのだろうということは分かった。その先のことは未だ問うまい。ミューズにヨロシク。本日の更新は「翻訳読書ノート」にレビューです。原作の壮大さにも翻訳の精緻さにも圧倒された。『ピースメイカーズ』という。ご高覧感謝。

I visited the art college where my daughter is going. There was an exhibition of the fine art department. The college is in Tama Hills. A small school bus took us to the campus. There were uniquely designed buildings. I was surprised to see a lot where various works of sculpture were thrown away. The exhibition was held in barrack ateliers. I saw variety of unnamable works. I could say only "What is it?" "Well!" "Hmm!" "I see!" I also felt like screaming, "Ooooh!" All I could understand was that students will spend 4 years, creating whatever they want to. Good. I won't ask what they will be after they graduate now. Best wishes to the muse of art! Today's update: a review on a work of translation, Peace Makers originally written by Margaret MacMillan. Only in Japanese.

「タマアートショップ」という店に入ったら看板猫のタマちゃんがいた。いやはや見事な恰幅である。ちょっと失礼しますよと断って一枚撮ろうとすると鷹揚な態度でこちらを向いてくれた。表紙は近所を走る新青梅街道のメタセコイア並木です。新学期がフル回転となり、広々した場所に出ることが難しい。彼岸の入りだというのに残暑が続く。せめて墓参時に高尾の山を見晴らすのが楽しみだ。

When I stepped into an art shop named "Tama," a big fat cat greeted me. I asked her (him?) to let me take a photo of her (him?), s/he turned to me with a generous posture. The photo in the index page shows the trees of Metasequoia along Shin-Oume Highway in my neighborhood. Now that the new semester is in full swing, I can hardly go out of town to an open space. It's still very hot at fall equinox this year. Perhaps When I visit our family grave in Takao, I hope I'll get a chance to see a view of mountains.

フィンランドの伝統楽器カンテレの演奏を聴く機会を得た。といっても生演奏ではなくフィンランドと日本の文化交流コンサートの録画を見せてもらってのこと。民族衣装に身を包んだ演奏者、はざたさんはこの楽器に魅せられて6年半もフィンランドに暮らして音楽を学んだという。コンサートホールでは敢えて電気的に音を拡大せず、楽器の出すそのままの音を聞かせている。だから録画版では本当に小さな微かな音になってしまうのだが、耳をすますと澄んだ繊細で霊妙な音が聞こえる。新旧様々な曲の中で特に胸を打たれたのは、ロシアとの戦に負けてフィンランドが失ったカレリア地方の曲「カレリアの丘」。それからシベリウスの「フィンランディア賛歌」。森の国、白夜と極夜の国、何百年間もの他国の支配にくじけず独自の文化風土を保持する国、フィンランド。「かもめ食堂」に続いて、カンテレはフィンランドへの興味をかきたてる。慌ただしい日々の中で聴いたカンテレの音色は心を落ち着かせ、平安を蘇らせてくれた。カンテレは人を森に誘う。本日の更新は短信のみにて。

I've got a chance to listen to kantele, a traditional musical instrument of Finland. It doesn't mean I listened to it directly but through a DVD of Finland-Japan Music Concert. A kantele player Ms Hazata clad in the Finnish costume decorated with embroidery was fascinated with this instrument and lived in Finland for 6 and a half years. She plays kantele in a concert hall without amplifying the sound electrically so the natural sound of the instrument, so subtle and ethereal, can be heard as it is. The most impressive numbers were "The Hill in Kaleria," and "Finlandia Hymn" by Sibelius. Kaleria is a district Finland lost by a war against Russia. Thanks to the movie "Kamome-shokudou" and kantele, I've been much more interested in Finland--the country of forests, of nights under the midnight sun, of polar nights, and the country which maintained its identity throughout the days and years of government by other nations/people. In my busy life, the kantele sound soothed me and filled me with peaceful spirit. Kantele invites us to forests. Today's update: this note only.

先日の台風後に海辺の友人から届いたメールの一節。「目の前の海の景色が、砂地の穏やかな海岸から、岩の突き出た荒海の風景へと一夜にして変わってしまいました。上陸したすさまじい台風のために、海岸の砂がすべて押し流され、何列にも並んでいたテトラポットもどこかに消え去り、岩がむき出しになってしまったのです。我が家の目の前を走っているバイパスも波の力で道路の下側が削り取られて、ガードレールと下り車線の道路が崩れてしまいました。自然の力のすさまじさに、あらためて驚愕の念を抱いているところです。」一方、娘がKansasで撮ってきた動画は視界360度ひたすらに平らな草原が拡がる。いずれも都市の周辺にへばり付いていては永遠にお目にかかることのできない風景だ。しかし、想像してみる自由は私にもある。関東地方には前線の影響で雨が降りしきる。本日の更新は上の写真（Kansasの平原）です。

Here is a passage from a mail a friend of mine wrote: "The landscape before me has drastically changed from a quiet and peaceful sandy beach to a wild rocky one after one night. Due to the extremely powerful typhoon which landed that night, all the sand of the beach was taken away and tetra-pots placed in rows along it all disappeared to expose rocks underneath. Waves scraped the foundation of the bypass in front of our apartment; accordingly, guardrails and one line of the highway were destructed. I am astonished to see the threat of the natural power." On the other hand, my daughter brought back a short movie taken by her digital camera. It shows the flat plain expanding to all directions with a 360-degree field of vision free from any kinds of barriers. Both of them are inaccessible to those who live sticking to a megalopolis. However, I have the freedom for imagination at least. It has been raining heavily in Kanto District, which is the influence of the autumn rain front. Today's update: a photo above (the plain in Kansas--taken by ao).

台風一過の強烈な熱暑が関東地方を覆う。雨台風で、荒川や多摩川が大増水したと報道されていた。都心に近いところにある河川も、荒天にあっては普段の穏やかさをかなぐり捨てて牙をむく。再びいくつもの川を渡って武蔵野線で平野を横断する日々が戻ってきた。人の作り出す洪水に飲み込まれて溺れないよう、気を付けて暮らしたい。（これがなかなか難しい！）本日の更新は、「朝ごはんの木に集まる虫たち」の虫の名前を修正しました。

After the typhoon, the Kanto Plain was extremely hot. By the heavy rain the typhoon brought, big rivers such as the River Ara and the River Tama were reportedly nearly flooding at several points. Rivers near metropolis disclose their real nature at drastic weather changes. Again I'm coming back to the daily journey across the Kanto Plain by Musashino Line, crossing several rivers. I want to live avoiding being caught in man-made floods. (It's quite difficult in fact!) Today's update: I changed several names of insects in "A Breakfast Tree."

いよいよ関東地方は暴風雨圏内に入ってきた。羽田空港発着の国内便は悉く欠航が報じられている。明日の成田はどうなるのだろう。気を揉んでもいたしかたないのだが。本日の更新は「朝ごはんの木に集まる虫たち」の写真ページです。久しぶりに「いのちのすがお」でどうぞ。私の早朝ウォーキングはひとまず終了。虫たちの朝食会はいつまで続くやら。

Now Kanto District is in the storm zone. Reportedly most of the domestic flights arriving at and departing Haneda Airport were cancelled. I wonder what will become of international flights at Narita tomorrow. I know I can do nothing right now. Just wait and see! Today's update: photos of "A Breakfast Tree." in Lives Around. My early morning walk has come to the end. I wonder how long insects' breakfast meeting will last.

台風が関東地方に近付いている。今度のは九州から関西経由ではなく、小笠原諸島、伊豆七島経由で太平洋から直接上陸してきそうな案配だ。今朝から既に時折激しい雨が降っている。明日、明後日と大荒れだろう。空路が案じられる。空堀川が増水を始めていた。早朝川沿いの道を歩いていたら見慣れぬ鳥を発見。いつものコサギではなく、灰色で少し大形。彼らはつがいなのだろうか。でも、どうもそれほど仲がよいようにも見えない。二羽は距離を保ちつつ一緒にいる。灰色の方が堂々と威張った感じ。白い方は少しオドオドと遠巻きに灰色の動きを見ている。我が町の新住民だとしたら歓迎だ。本日の更新は表紙とこのページの写真です。秋の色が拡がる。

A typhoon is approaching Kanto District. This time it is not coming through Kyushu and Kansai District but is coming directly from the Pacific Ocean to Tokyo via Ogasawara Islands and Izu Islands. It started raining hard sporadically since this morning. It will be extremely stormy tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. I hope it won't influence aircrafts badly. Water of he River Karabori (in my neighborhood) has started increasing. While I was walking along the river this morning, I found an unfamiliar bird. Different from the white little egret that I often see, it was a bigger gray one. I wonder if they made a pair. But they did not seem very close to each other. Although they were together they kept a distance. The gray one looked dignified. The white one looked somewhat awkward and was watching the movement of the bigger one. Anyway, if they are the new residents of our town, they are most welcome! today's update: the photo of two birds in the index page, and the one above here. Colors of autumn are spreading in the field.

（承前 2）そういえばネット上で話をするにはSkypeという手もあるのだった。最近日本で働き始めた新しい友人が、故郷の人たちといつでもSkypeで話ができるからホームシックにはならないと言っていた。別の友人も海外に出ているときは家族との会話はSkypeだと言う。私もSkypeできるようにしてあるけれど、殆ど使っていない。この頃「家電」も余りかけない不精者なので、相手を捕まえて（あるいは捕まって）話し込む習慣がなくなっているなぁと、あらためて思う。カメラまで付けて「テレビ電話」プラス文字チャットって、やり始めたらきっと面白いだろう。ホントはそういうの好きなのだけれど、ちょっとコワイ。果てなくしゃべり続けるのではないかと。

(Continued 2) I remember there is also Skype for online communication. A new friend of mine told me that she doesn't miss home because she can talk to her people at home anytime via Skype. Another friend of mine said that when she's abroad, she talks to her family via Skype as well. Yes, I've set up Skype in my PC; however, I seldom use it. Recently I am lazy enough not to use telephone at home very often. I seem to have lost the habit of holding people by telephone even! Certainly I can imagine it will be a lot of fun to talk to someone via Skype (with a camera while chatting as well), but I'm a little scared with the system. I'm afraid I'll go on talking once I'm involved in it.

（承前 1）携帯電話は国際仕様のものを使えばカンザス州のLakinと普通に通話出来るが、ケータイメールは届かない。車で三時間西よりのコロラド州PuebloやColorado Springsだとケータイメールも届く。やはりよく考えたらいつでもどこでも交信可能というわけでもなかった。なまじ離れて最小のメッセージだと逆に心配させることもあるが、現代の通信の様々な形を体験するよい機会でもある。面識のないホストマザーと、PC上で一気にメールを書き合えるのも面白い。彼女もたくさん写真を撮る人だった！本日の更新は表紙ページに初秋の田圃を。カスミ網に覆われて、実りの時を待つ稲穂です。

(Continued 1) With an international model of a cell phone, you can make phone calls between Lakin, Kansas and Tokyo, but you can't exchange mails. It's OK with Pueblo or Colorado Springs, where you reach driving for three hours westward from Lakin. I see now cell phone mail isn't available everywhere. Very brief messages from far away make me worried sometimes, but it's a good occasion to experience various styles of communication today. I am excited to exchange mails with host-mother who I have never met before! I've found out she also likes taking lots of photos! Today's update: a photo in the index page, an early morning scene of rice field covered with a hazy net to protect harvest from birds.

娘は目下アメリカ合衆国カンザス州に滞在している。上はホストファーザーの見事なバイク。ホストマザーがメールで送ってくれた。日本から行った若いお客へのもてなしに、感謝の気持ちでいっぱいだ。今時の海外旅行が昔と違うのは、ケータイで国際通話ができることと、家族同士が直接パソコンでメール交信出来ること。かつては旅の便りと言えば絵ハガキだった。それから航空書簡というのもよく使った。何十通という航空便が行き交ったこともあった。これからファミリーで出かけるという隣のコロラド州プエブロのフェスティバルも、一足先にウェッブサイトで訪問してみた。居ながらにして応援出来るのはよいが、遥か地球の向こう側にいるという実感が今ひとつ湧かない。無事を祈る気持ちに変わりはないけれど。本日の更新は「夏読書」です。といっても今回は映画『かもめ食堂』の感想です。

My daughter is now home-staying in Kansas, U.S.A. Look at the gorgeous motorbike of her host-father. The photo above was sent to me via e-mail from her host-mother. I'm filled with gratitude for the hospitality they exted to a Japanese young visitor. The biggest difference (from old days) today about going abroad is that you can use a mobile phone and that families can communicate with each other via e-mails. Once upon a time, all we could do was to write postcards. There was also something called "an aerogram." Certainly we used to write hundreds of letters to and from abroad. I've visited the website of Colorado State Fair in Pueblo where they are all going tomorrow. It's certainly wonderful to be able to make contact with those who are abroad, being at home; however, we tend to forget about the reality of our distance. Certainly I 'm invariably praying for the safety of my daughter wherever she may be. Today's update: a note in Summer Reading. (This time, it's a review of a movie. It's written in Japanese only.)

夏の終わりは溜息と共に。後悔先に立つわけも無し。旧交の復活、新たな出会い、日々の語らいをのせて、光陰は飛ぶ。コンニチハ、サヨウナラ、マタオアイシマシタネ、ドウゾヨロシクと。こちらでも、あちらでも。こんな小さなサイトでも、窓の役には立つようだ。どうもありがとう。

At the end of summer, as usual, I give nothing but sighs. It's impossible for me to be well prepared for the new season. There were reunions, new encounters, and a lot of daily conversations. With them all, time flies. "Hello," "Good by," "Nice to see you again," "I'm glad we can meet." We exchange greetings here and there. Such a humble website as it is seems to work as a window. I would love to thank all my visitors.

上の写真は毎朝散歩するときに寄る林の中の、「あさごはんの木」と名付けたコナラの樹皮。今朝もいろんな虫や蝶が集まっていた。樹液を外に滴らせる木はそう多くない。恵みの木なのかそれともたかられている哀れな木なのか。表紙の写真は、昨日の記載にあるアキバのヨドバシカメラの外観。何とも暑苦しいメタリックなビルだが、街に聳える電気製品の山。昨日までの写真は「掲載写真帖」に移動しました。ああ、夏がゆく。

This photo above shows the bark of quercus serrata in a small forest I always visit on my way during my early morning walk. I named it "a breakfast tree." Various kinds of insects and butterflies come to feed themselves. Not all the trees dribble sap as this one. Is this a tree of blessing or a plundered tree? The photo on the top page is the exterior of Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara of which I wrote yesterday. It looks rather suffocating and metallic; covering mountainous electric appliances. Previous photos are now in Cover Photos. Alas, it's already the end of summer!

何年かぶりで秋葉原へ行った。噂に違わず、アキバはかなり変貌していた。つくばエクスプレスの始発駅となって、駅舎が大改造されたため、かつてアキバ詣での人々がたむろしていたJR総武線側駅ビル（秋葉原デパート）一階の下駄履き食堂群が消え、スケートボードの少年たちが気勢を上げていた広場もなくなり、代わって「秋葉原クロスフィールド」が出現。その周辺にはにょきにょきと高層ビル。聞くところによると、全国から大学のサテライトキャンパスが集うようだ。ITジャンルの産学協同基地か。幸いなことに西口駅前に固まっていたパーツ屋は健在だった。（あれがなくなったらアキバじゃなくなる。）宣伝係か、メードさんもコスチュームで普通に歩いていたし。お馴染みのラオックスコンコンピュータ館は来月で閉店するという。「やっぱりヨドバシカメラの影響は大きいですか」と店員に聞くと、「ものすごく大きいです」と即答された。戦場のような街だ。たしかに、ヨドバシカメラは巨大なデパート以上の規模だった。館内アナウンスも日・中・韓・英・仏と五カ国語放送。国際電気市場といったところ。唸るほど積み上げられた商品の中から私が選んだものは、バケツみたいな形のシュレッダー。紙をポイポイ捨てるわけにはいかない時代になりました。本日の更新は短信のみにて。

Yesterday we went to Akihabara, where we hadn't been for shopping for years. True to rumors, the town has greatly changed here and there. Now that Akihabara (or just "Akiba" in short) is the terminal station of TX (Tukuba Express Railway Line), the station building has been reconstructed drastically. Small, cheap diners, shoppers' favorite, at the foot of the old station building and the open space where skateboarders were enjoying themselves yelling, were all gone. Instead, a fashionable plaza called "Cross-field" has appeared. Skyscrapers are surrounding it. I've heard "satellite campuses" of universities from all over Japan are gathering there and cooperating with private companies; Akiba is challenging to be a center of academic-industrial cooperation in IT field. Fortunately, however, old quarters with tiny electric parts shops were still in corners of the town. (Akiba won't be Akiba anymore without them.) We saw a girl in the costume of a maid (of "a maid cafe") walking perhaps for demonstration. It's a shame our favorite LAOX Computer-Building is going to be closed in September. We asked one of the sales clerks if it was caused by the enormous electric appliance shop like Yodoashi Camera, and he responded "Yes, certainly," immediately. Akiba is a sort of battle field. Truly, Yodobashi Camera in Akiba is so huge, larger than an ordinary department store. Announcements inside the shop were made in 5 languages; Japanese, Chinese, Korean, English and French. It's an international electric market. From the mountainous electric goods, we picked up a bucket-like paper-shredder. We're living in an age where we can hardly slow away printed matters carelessly. Sigh! Today's update: this note only.

時には40度Cに迫った猛暑にようやく陰りが出てきた。昨日は久しぶりに雨が降り、今日も曇天。気温は30度Cを少し出るくらい。力尽きた蝉が落ちてきたり、網戸にへばり付いていたり、ころんと路上で固くなっていたりする。蝉は地下で過ごす長い日々（3-17年！）と地上での一夏を生きて命を終えるとやら。草むらにススキの穂がスイーッと伸びてきた。毎朝約一時間の行程で、全方向に少しずつルートを変えながら歩いている。徒歩圏内にもいろいろな朝の表情があり、飽きることがない。休暇も残り僅か。そろそろ始動準備に入らなくては。昨夜はDVDで『カモメ食堂』を鑑賞した。日本人女性がヘルシンキで食堂を開く物語。メインメニューのおにぎりは、「ジャパニーズ・ソウルフード」なんだそうだ。淡々として味わい深い作品だった。本日は散漫な短信のみにて。

Finally the extremely hot weather seems to have come close to the end. Some days, the temperature of Tokyo area rose as high as 40 degrees centigrade. However, it rained yesterday and it is cloudy today. It is slightly higher than 30 degrees C. All of a sudden a cicada falls down, hangs on a net window, or stays stiff on a pavement. I've heard cicadas live for a long time underground (3 to 17 years) and live only for one summer above ground. In the bush Japanese silver grass is growing higher and higher. I've been taking a walk for about one hour every morning to all directions in my neighborhood. In a walking distance, my hometown shows variety of aspects. I never get tired of them. The remain of the summer break is very short now. I need to start preparing for the new semester. BTW, I enjoyed a DVD entitled Kamome Shokudo, a story about a small diner run by a Japanese woman in Helsinki. Its specialty is onigiri, riceballs, which are called "Japanese soul food." It is really a tranquil, spiritually tasty movie. You're sure to feel happy seeing it. Today's update is this unfocused note only.

やはり8月は駆け足で過ぎてゆく。お盆の後、更にスピードが増した（ような気がする）。ほんのひとときの静けさも既に遠く、都心には再び人の渦。人混みをかき分けながら池袋に『VEXILLE』という全遍CG制作のアニメ映画を見に行った。ハイテク鎖国をした日本がどうなっているのかアメリカの特殊部隊が見に来るSF。凄惨で希望のない話だった。手描きアニメとは異なるテイスト。ちょうど『鉄コン筋クリート』と対称的かも知れない。描き方は主題にも大いに関わる。比較してみるのも面白い。さて、本日の更新は「散策」の郊外散歩に写真ページ「筑波山行」です。山歩きの余韻を味わいながら。

August goes on rapidly. After Obon holidays, (it seems to me) the speed was increased. Only for a while Tokyo area was quiet; however soon after that, crowds of people rushed to return from their home towns to Tokyo. I elbowed my way through people in Ikebukuro to go to a movie theater. I saw VEXILLE, which is an animation all produced by computer graphics. It's a SF about future Japan which is highly technologically sealed off to the outer world. There comes a US special operations team to research and finally destroy the menace. It's a hopeless and dreary story, It has a taste completely different from hand drawn animations. Techniques influence greatly over themes. It must be interesting to compare VEXILLE and, say, Tekkon Kinkurito, Now, today's update is a photo page, Climbing Mt. Tsukuba. I'm still enjoying the rest of the sensation of the mountain.

ようやく山登りによる筋肉痛が消えてきた。よほど日頃使わない部分を酷使したらしく、自宅の階段を下りるのもヨッコラサだった。いくら毎朝一時間ウォーキングしていても、傾斜のない地形なので、ふくらはぎや腿の筋肉は怠けている。一転して昨日は日比谷でアメリカ映画を見た。カリフォルニア州ロングビーチの公立高校で、生徒たちが作文を通じて人種間の対立と貧困を越え成長していく物語、『フリーダム・ライターズ』。当然「できすぎ」との批判もあるけれど、これはノンフィクションの映画化だ。引用される文章はすべて高校生たちの作文から採られている。戦場さながらの対立抗争を繰り返すギャングたちは教室でも反目し合っていた。それを若い女性教師が、作文させることで内省に導き、建設的で社会性のある活動へと発展させていく。銃より強いペンの物語。ことばを叩き付けるラップミュージックが全編に流れ、甘くない現実をうたう。書くことが救いでもあり指針ともなる手応えをよく表す作品だった。

Eventually muscle pains I got from mountain climbing are almost gone. It seemed I used muscles which I seldom use so much that I had a hard time even going downstairs at home. Although I walk every morning, paths here are all flat; so muscles of my legs and thighs are quite lazy, not trained at all. By the way, I went to see an American movie to Hibiya yesterday. The movie, Freedom Writers is a story about high school students in Long Beach, California, USA. They learn how to survive live peacefully through writing of themselves, conquering hatred and antagonism between races. Certainly there are those who criticize the movie for being too optimistic, or too well made; however, it is based on a non-fiction. All the quotations are taken from students' writings. Young gangsters repeatedly confront with each other on the street, as well as at school. There came a young teacher, who let students write freely about themselves to think of their lives. Students learn from history and develop their lives to social activities in cooperation with their classmates. The young female teacher helps them find pen is mightier than guns to support them. Rap music covers the whole movie in which words express the hardship of young people's life. Writing helps and empowers them really.

念願の筑波山登山をした。20代, 30代, 40代, 50代各一人ずつ、女ばかり4人のパーティー。TX（つくばエクスプレス）の終点駅からシャトルバスで筑波山口へ。先ずは筑波神社に参拝し、女体山中腹のロープウェイ「つつじヶ丘駅」まで2.2kmを1時間20分ほどかけて歩く。久しぶりの登山なので、かなりゆっくりと。「つつじヶ丘駅」から女体山山頂まではロープウェイで移動。そこから筑波山最高地点の屏風岩へ。どこまでも緑豊かな関東平野の田園が拡がる。雄大さにことばもない。女体山のピーク(877m)から男体山のピーク(871m)へ、峰を縦走。ここは約1kmで、30分足らず。頂上の周囲約1kmにわたって設けられた「筑波山自然研究路」をめぐる。途中で昼食。南側斜面の奇岩絶壁から眺める関東平野の広いこと。景色はもやっていたのだが、東の方に霞ヶ浦が見えた。冬の晴れた日なら、どこまで見えることかと想像する。きっと西方の富士山と向かい合っているのだろう。再び女体山に戻り、今度は一気に麓まで山を下りる。岩の多い急傾斜を慎重に歩いたので、一時間半はかかった。出発から帰宅まで丁度12時間の行程。登山ができた嬉しさは疲れを遙かに凌駕している。だが、歩きながら山野草の写真を撮るのは難しかった。同行者に遅れずに、しかもピントを外さずに撮れるようになるには相当修練がいるのだろう。（ヤマホトトギスやギボウシなど、またトンボ、クモ、蝶など、いずれもピンボケで失敗。）本日の更新は、表紙ページの写真です。男体山より関東平野と霞ヶ浦方面を見晴らす。確実にこの夏のハイライト！

I had a chance to climb Mt. Tsukuiba. Our party consisted of 4 women: one in her 20's, one in her 30's, one in her 40's, and me in 50's. At the terminal station of TX (Tsukuba Express Railway Line), we took a shuttle bus to the foot of Mt. Tsukuba. First we payee our respect to Tsukubasan Shrine and started climbing bound for a ropeway station in the middle of the mountain. Our pace was quite slow and steady. It took us about 1 hour and 20 minutes to cover 2.2 km. We took the ropeway up to the summit of Jotai-san. There were enormous rocks at the top of the mountain from which we had an unbelievably grand view of the Kanto Plain. The view was beyond words. From the peak of Jotai-san to that of Nantai-san, we walked in 30 minutes. Around the summit of Nantai-san is a walking route named "Mt. Tsukuba Nature Research Trail." We had lunch, finding a good table and chairs while we were walking the trail. From the south side cliff with curious rocks, we had a hazy view of Lake Kasumigaura, In a fine day in winter, you may get a much clearer view with Mt. Fuji in the west. After we left the trail, we went back to Nantai-san and started climbing down strait to the foot of the mountain. The trail was rocky and very steep. I walked carefully in my pace. Thus it took me almost 12 hours from the time when I left home early in the morning to when I came home. Happiness of the experience was greater than fatigue. I also found how difficult it is to take photos while walking, particularly those of flowers and insects. In order not to be left behind by others of the party nor to loose focus, you have to be well trained. All the photos of plants today were failures. Today's update; the cover photo (a view with Lake Kasumigaura from the summit of Nantai-san). Mt. Tsukuba is really a highlight of this summer. Thanks!

日中は熱暑が続く。直射日光とアスファルトの照り返しのため、オーブンの中で焼かれるようだ。一昨日、築地へ行った帰りに浜離宮の船着き場から水上バスに乗り、日の出桟橋経由で浅草吾妻橋まで隅田川クルーズを楽しんだ。東京湾は、海とはいっても巨大な河口に過ぎないのだが、水面の煌めきに心が弾む。（逆光の東京タワーも見えた！）船の後部デッキにへばり付き、時にはしぶきを浴びながら街を眺め、川を溯る。川に沿って遊歩道「隅田川テラス」がよく整備されているのが分かったが、さすがにこの季節に歩くのは難しそうだ。いくつもの橋をくぐり浅草に近付くに連れ、青いビニールシートハウスも散見される。僅か一時間程度の行程ながら、見上げる街の表情は多彩だった。船を下りてから浅草の街を抜け、カッパ橋刃物問屋街を通って、結局上野まで歩き通してしまった。いや暑かったの何の。本日の更新は表紙の写真（浜離宮公園のオレンジコスモス畑）とこのページの写真（サルスベリの花）です。そして「夏読書」です。

Everyday, it's horribly hot. Due to the direct sunshine and the reflected heat of the sun, I feel I'm roasted in an oven. The day before yesterday, on my way back from Tsukiji, I got bot on a boat at a small pier in Hamarikyu Park bound for Asakusa. It's a cruise going up the Sumida River. Tokyo Bay is a large river mouth which is far from the ocean, but still I feel thrilled to see the shining water. (I had a glance at Tokyo Tower in back light!) At the rear deck of the boat, I kept watching the ever-changing scenes of Tokyo towns. I found Sumidagawa Terrace (a neat promenade) is well equipped along the river, but I thought it's impossible to walk there in the heat. We passed under many bridges. When we came close to Asakusa, there were blue sheet hutches (of homeless people) along the riverside. Although it was a cruise within an hour, I had a chance to see various phases of Tokyo. After I got off the boat, I walked through the town of Asakusa, Kappa-bashi streets, to Ueno Station. How hot it was actually! Today's update: a photo of the orange cosmos field in Hamarikyu Park in the index page; flowers of crape myrtle in my neighborhood.Also Summer Reading, (only in Japanese) is updated.

個人ホームページを開設してから、今年の夏で丁度10年目になる。昨日思い立ってgoogle earthでUniversity of Virginiaを検索してみた。懐かしい街が航空写真で眺められる。初めてUVAの図書館でサイト作成方法を習った時、まだ個人サイトはそう一般的ではなかった。ウェッブ検索機能などあるはずもなくウェッブリソースは玉石混淆の、「未整理のまま図書館の床にぶちまけられた資料」のようなものに過ぎなかった。それが今ではどうだろう。信頼出来る資料を探し出し、組み立てるのは探索者の腕次第。他者からの検索を受けて思いがけない照会を受けることもある。今のところごくごく細い経路を除いて一方的発信に見えるサイト公開しかしていないが、徐々に双方向性のあるものへと変化させていくべき時かもしれない。本日の更新は「夏読書」のページです。なるべく間口の広いものにしたい。

Exactly ten years have passed since I started this personal website in summer 1997. Yesterday I decided to "revisit" Charlottesville by google earth, which showed me the campus of University of Virginia and its environs by an air photo. When I learned how to create a website at a library workshop at UVA, it was not so common to have a personal site yet. Web search function was beyond our imagination at that time but web resources were nothing more than the heap of unclassified materials all scattered on the floor of a library. However, look at them today! It is totally up to our individual competence to devise how to look for reliable data and information and how to organize them in significant shapes. Sometimes we are searched by strangers and asked for further information regarding the materials we upload in our websites. For the moment, my website is rather closed only with a very tiny path for the instant correspondence. I think it's high time for me to resume communication of both ways online based on my website. Today's update: Summer Reading, only in Japanese. I'm willing to make it a wide ranged essay page.

猛暑である。しばらく通勤から解放され、先ずは手当たり次第乱読の季節に入った。放っておくと片端から忘れるので、夏休み読書日記でも付けようか。（小学生並み！）本だけではなく、読んだマンガ、見た映画（ビデオ）なども併せて書いておくとことにしよう。（ブログみたい！）これから丁度一ヶ月、貴重な休暇はスローに暮らそう。昨日から早朝ウォーキングを始めた。（いつまで続くかな?）何だかとっても夏休みらしくなってきたのでこのページの写真も向日葵に変えてみた。表紙は引き続き江戸川シリーズです。

It's extremely hot. I've been released from commuter's train and started the season of reading at random. Let me write a reading diary (like a school child) to prevent my forgetfulness. That will include not only books but also comics, movies and so on. Hopefully it will be something like a blog. I have one month ahead of me! I hope I'll be able to live slowly. Yesterday, I began walking early in the morning. To mark my summer holiday, I put a photo of sunflower in this page. The cover photo is one from the Edo River series.

凄まじい雷雨が一瞬のうちに駆け抜けていった。遂に関東も梅雨明けか。そろそろ参院選挙の開票が始まる頃。何かが変わるのか変わらないのか。熱い眼差し、冷めた眼差しが見守る。おや遠雷がまだゴロゴロいってる。本日の更新は、先日の土手の写真を少し、「江戸川夏日和」と題して。隅田川の花火は昨日だったとか。

We had a heavy rain with thunders. It's gone immediately. Hopefully it will mark the end of the rainy season eventually in Kanto District. It's almost the time for vote counting (we had the Upper House election today in Japan) to start. Hot eyes and cool eyes are watching it. I wonder if anything significant will change or not. Well, I can hear thunders crushing in the distance. Today's update: photos of the river bank entitled "A Summer Day by the River Edo." I heard they had fireworks at the River Sumida yesterday.

午前6時。窓を開けると、スカッと晴れていた。さては梅雨明けかと心がはやるが、どうも今日一日の晴天らしい。光はこんなに美しいものだったかと目が覚める。久々に地平線を眺めたくなって帰路、江戸川土手に上ってみた。（本当は武蔵野線を反対方向に走って東京湾を眺めに行きたかったかったのだけれど...。）川辺では、空の青さがそのまま水面の深い青となり、草はしたたる緑に輝く。強烈な陽光を浴びて、上半身裸の若者が草地のベンチに寝転がって文庫本を読んでいる。鉄橋が煌めく。悠然たる流れ。目眩く夏の昼下がりだった。本日の更新は表紙とこのページの写真です。野にはオニユリが満開だ。

At 6 in the morning, I opened a window to find a perfect sunny sky. I wondered if it is the end of the rainy season but it seemed today was an exceptional day. I got fully awake at the beauty of the light. I wanted to see the horizon somewhere; therefore, I climbed up a bank of River Edo. (Really I wanted to go by Musashino Line all the way to Tokyo Bay!) By the river, I could see the blue sky in the stream and the fresh grass shining. There was a young man stripped of his shirts lying on a bench in grasses, reading a paperback. An iron bridge was shining nearby. Look at the slowly going river! It was a mesmerizing summer afternoon. Today's update: a photo in the index page and one in this page. In the filed tiger-lilies are in full bloom.

授業は終わったものの、ワーキングスケジュールは続く。重労働だった昨日の後、今日は一日オフだと思うと気が緩み、目が覚めたのは何と正午だった。かくて一日は半分となり、あっという間に日が暮れた。散歩にも出ず終い。夜半、おもむろに手帳を広げ、これからやりたいことを書き込む。あれとこれと、それからあれも・・・。実現するかどうかは別だ。夏の始めは夢一杯なのが楽しい。空は一向晴れないが。何ということもない短信のみにて。

Although classes have finished, my working schedule is full. After the heavy duty of yesterday, as it was a day off today, I relaxed too much; when I woke up, it was already noon. Alas! I had only half a day today. What a shame! A precious Sunday was gone immediately. All I could do was just writing what I want to do in summer in my notebook. It doesn't matter if I can really accomplish it or not. The beginning of summer is nice because it lets me dream. The sky won't clear up. Thanks for reading my silly note!

九州では梅雨明けらしいが、関東地方はまだまだ厚雲に覆われている。夏休みなど遙か彼方。次々と課題が待っている。でも、7月も半ば。うかうかしていると秋草が出てくる。ハゲイトウが伸びているのを見た時には焦った。（待ってよ、冗談じゃない！）いつもこの季節には「さぁこれからだわ、何でもこい！」とオメデタイ万能感（？）に一瞬酔っぱらうのだが、ハッと気付くと新学期の前日ということのくり返し。ゆっくり行こう、鈍行列車に乗って。本日の更新は、先日の「武蔵小金井八重垣神社」の写真を少々。草ぼうぼうのところが気に入っています。

Reportedly the rainy season has gone in Kyushu. Not yet in Kanto. We're still under thick clouds. Summer holiday seems far away. Millions of tasks are waiting before that. However, it's already the middle of July. Every year at this time of the year, I am usually filled with a feeling that anything is possible: "Come on, summer is yet to start!" But in truth I always find myself at a loss on the last day of holidays. Anyway, Let me take time. Let me take a stopping local train wherever I may go. Today's update: photos of Koganei Yaegaki Inari Shrine. I like its grassy gardens.

July 17, 2007

乗り継いで40分以上費やすより、25分余り歩いていつもの電車に乗れればと雨の中をひたすら歩いた。残念ながら後一歩というところで目指す電車には届かなかったが、一本遅れただけだからまあよしとしよう。雨の朝は迷う。どの河川も増水していた。低く垂れ込めた雲を眺めながら被災地のことを考える。数年の間隔を置いただけで、同じ地域が襲われるとは。もし関東地方が直撃されたらどんなことになるだろう。本日の更新は表紙とこのページの写真です。雨天・曇天続きでさえないが、あの虹を。そして露を帯びたホタルブクロを。ささやかな美に希望を託して。

It was raining this morning. I couldn't go to the train station by bicycle as usual. I preferred walking for 25 minutes in rain than spending more than 40 minutes transferring several times. Unfortunately, I couldn't catch the train I wanted. but I should be satisfied to be in time for the next one. A rainy morning always puzzles me. I could see the water of rivers rising. Under the heavy clouds, I thought of the quake-hit area. Why were the same area attacked by earthquakes after an interval of only a few years? What if Kanto District were to be hit by great earthquakes? Today's update: photos in the index page and in this page. In spite of the darkness for the bad weather, I like that rainbow. I also like this tiny Campanula punctata wearing dews. I pray for hope in small beauty,

今日は「海の日」。台風一過、街は穏やかに見えるがおそらく海は未だ大荒れだろう。昨日油壺からのTV中継では、大波の打ち寄せる荒磯で、「観光客の姿は見えません」と当たり前のことをレポーターが叫んでいた。幸い関東地方はそれほどの被害もなく、夕方には雨も止んだ。外に出てみるといつもは頼りない空堀川に結構な量の水が瀬音をたてて流れていた。鈍色の雲間に大きな虹が見えた。暮色に包まれる前のほんのひとときの饗宴。本日は短信のみにて。どうぞよい休日を。・・・と書いて間もなく、上越地方で震度6の地震が発生した。TV画面には黒煙を上げる柏崎原発の変電施設が映し出されている。放射能漏れはない、といわれているが煙の色が禍々しい。津波警報も出た。昨年訪れた新潟の海岸線が思い出される。

It is Marine Day today. A day after the typhoon, instead of the seeming calmness in town, the sea must be still extremely rough. When I saw a real time report from Aburatsubo Beach yesterday, a TV crew was crying, "No tourists can be seen around here today!" with the outrageous waves hitting the rocks behind him. No wonder. Fortunately we didn't have any major harm from the typhoon this time in Kanto District. It stopped raining in the evening. I went out to see the River Karabori in my neighborhood. Unlike its usual modest stream, the river was running with abundant water with sound. I saw a big rainbow in clouds. It was a momentary feast before darkness. Today's update: this note only. Enjoy your holiday, Friends! ...Soon after I finished writing above, an earthquake of Magnitude 6 happened in Niigata Prefecture. TV news is showing the black smoke rising from a nuclear power station in Kashiwazaki. They say it's from a building of substation facilities. No radiation leakage is reported. The color of the smoke looks ominous. Tsunami warning is issued. I'm recalling the scenes of the beautiful shoreline of Niigata I visited last year.

数週間前は「降らない、降らない」と訝しがっていたものだが、今度は台風が大雨を連れてきた。西の方から徐々に関東地方に迫っている。台風は同じ国土内の「時差」を実感させる。激しい風雨や荒れ狂う波浪のTV映像に、常日頃街中だけで無防備に過ごす身はひたすら驚嘆するのみ。もちろん都市水害も増えているし、近郊の大河川の氾濫もあり得る。この連休は引き籠もっているしかなさそうだ。本日の更新は表紙ページの写真（東京都小金井市の「八重垣稲荷神社」）とこのページの写真（同所竹藪）です。所用の折りにふらりと立ち寄った。一見荒れた風情ながら、80, 90種が生い茂る『普段顔の野草園』を標榜している。まさに、「名もない雑草など存在しない」ことを思い知る。武蔵野の至る所がかつてはこのような草に深く覆われた平野だったのだろう。夏には武蔵野が歩いてみたくなってきた。

For months we were talking of the smallness of rainfall since spring: however, an enormous typhoon (the 14th of this year) has brought heavy rain to Japan. Gradually from the west, it is progressing to the east and the north. When a typhoon comes we can't help being conscious of "time-lag" in this country. At the terribly dynamic scenes on TV of winds, rain, rivers,, and waves, I am just astounded. I'm a feeble city dweller. Of course we have to be cautious about the increasing floods of waterways in crowded towns and those of big rivers in the suburbs. Anyway, I think I should keep home until the typhoon is gone. Today's update: photos of the index page (Yaegaki-Inari Shrine in Koganei-Shi, Tokyo) and this page (its bamboo bush). In the shrine, there are more than 80 to 90 kinds of wild grasses. They are "ordinary grasses you see anywhere." I believe Musashino Area used to be all covered with those grasses everywhere. I feel like walking around in Musashino in summer.

曇天の下、蒸し暑さの中で、カンナの赤と黄色が強烈な光を放つ。畑の直販小屋に自転車を止め、私はトウモロコシとドジョウインゲンを買う。畑の向こうの街道沿いに見える屋敷森は、もっともっとこんもりしていたのだがだいぶまばらになった。JR武蔵野線脇の自転車置き場付近にあったケヤキの大木は次々に切り倒され、この半年うちにとうとう一本もなくなってしまった。ついこの間、涼しげな枝を伸ばしていた最後の二本が見事に消えた。あとには真新しい切り株が残されている。根っこまで撤去するのはよほどたいへんな作業にちがいない。木の下を流れる疎水はいつまで枯れずにいるだろう。本日の更新は、「翻訳読書ノート」に、「34. メディカル・サイエンスの揺籃期」をアップしました。18世紀ロンドンの奇才、ジョン・ハンターの伝記を巡るミニエッセイです。結局そのほとんど全てを車中で読んだ。走る読書室にして仮眠室。そのうち通勤電車について何か書こう。

Under the gloomy clouds in the extreme humidity, red and yellow colors of canna are striking. I stop my bicycle by a stall beside the farm to buy kidney beans and some ears of corn. Beyond the farm is a wall of trees along the heavy traffic road. Once there were so many rich trees to protect farms and farm houses but recently trees are getting scarce. Huge zelcova trees which were near bicycle parking beside the station of JR Musashino Line were all cut down within half a year. Very recently the last two trees were lost. The new stumps are left. Probably it requires too much work to get rid of thier roots out of the earth. I wonder how long the stream beside them will last. Today's update: a very short review of a book about John Hunter, "The Knife Man," of 18 century London. (Only in Japanese.) It's a remarkable biography of an anatomist and surgeon. I read most of the book on the train, which is a reading room and a sleeping room for me. I would like to write something about it. I don't want the commuting time to be just a waste of my life.

七月となり関東地方、本日は小雨だった。舌禍事件を引き起こした「ショウガナイ」という表現、以前から気になっていた。アメリカ人の同僚が理の通じない組織上の問題にぶつかると、そこだけ日本語で「シカタガナイね」という。日本語にしかない独特の言い回しということか。今回の事件の英語ニュースではやはり"It couldn't be helped."と表現されている。手元の辞書でチェックすると"There is nothing you can do to change a bad situation"とある。「悪い状況を変えるためにあなたにできることは何もない」と。できることは何もなかった、だから甘受せよというのか。言霊が立ち上がって「否」といったように思えてならない。本日の更新は表紙の写真（台東区にある東京都立「旧岩崎邸庭園」洋館）とこのページの写真（同庭園内のアカンサス）です。

It's July. In Kanto District, it was raining quietly all day today. "Shouganai" is a Japanese expression which caused a political problem very recently. I've been concerned about it for a long time. I occasionally hear one of my colleagues from the US say in Japanese, "Shikataganai-ne!" She says this when she is stuck by some institutionalized problems. Probably she's feeling she can express her feeling only in this idiom. The statement of the politician is quoted in English as "It couldn't be helped.." According to a dictionary at hand the expression is defined as "There is nothing you can do to change a bad situation." So did the victims of A-bomb have to endure the disaster? I feel the spirit of words stand up to say "No!" Today's update; a photo in the index page (Kyu Iwasaki Gardens in Taito Ward, Tokyo) and acanthus in the garden.

June 28, 2007

久しぶりで近所を少し歩いた。空堀川沿いに繁り始めた夏草を眺めながら。今は未だ背の丈程度だが、草は間もなく猛烈な勢いで河原を埋め尽くすことだろう。 空梅雨の影響は如実に表れている。いつもなら水面に浮かんでいるカモが、細い足で歩き回りながら藻の繁殖した浅い水溜まりを突いている。酷暑が来るのだろうか。人の間で摩擦を繰り返しているばかりでは焼き切れてしまいそうになる。散策に適した気候とは言いがたいが、黙々と歩くだけで屈託が汗とともに蒸発していくような気がしてならない。短信のみにて。

I took a walk in my neighborhood. I haven't been out recently. I walked watching the summer grasses growing. At this moment, grasses are as tall as myself, but very soon, they will overgrow and cover the banks along the river. Due to the dry rainy season of this year, the amount of the water running in the River Karabori was so small. Ducks were not floating on the stream but they were walking on their thin feet pecking for food in the shallow water in which green moss-like plant was growing thickly. The water didn't look very good. I wonder if an extremely hot summer will come. I'm likely to be burned out if I keep working with various frictions among people. I need walking sometimes in spite of the weather. While I walk in silence, I feel all the stresses are going out of me with perspiration. Today's update: this note only.

ここしばらく忙しさにかまけて美容院から足が遠のいていたが、(植木屋の剪定のように）ようやく髪の毛をカットしてきた。バッサリという感じで実に軽くなった。「先生、失恋でもしたの？」と週明けの教室でめざとく指摘する学生。「いいですね、似合ってますよ」と誉めてくれる学生。今までよほどひどかったらしい。いくつになっても、おだてられると単純に嬉しい。ささいなことで人はハッピーになるものだ。本日は短信のみにて。

I had been away from a beauty salon because of my constant busyness. Eventually I sent to have my hair cut. Just like a gardener prunes overgrown branches and twigs, my hair was cut short drastically. After the haircut, I feel my head extremely lighter than before. On Monday morning one of my students talked to me, "Wow, did you lose love?" and another said, "How nice! Your new hairstyle suits you!" I see how horrible I was before. However old you grow, you feel good at compliment. Every little thing makes you happy. Today's update: this note only. Thanks!

「パラソルの分だけ日陰連れ歩く」などと呟きながら暑がっていたら、本日は一転して雨の日曜日だった。慈雨、というべきか。晴天の昨日、バラの花が抱いていた光に引き寄せられてシャッターを押す。バラ園の大輪ではなく、路傍の枯れかけの一輪。さてまた大車輪の一週間。さすのは日傘か雨傘か。「空と君との間には」いずれにしても仕切が入る。幸運なら余得もあろう。（うふ。）本日の更新はかの薔薇一輪。

"I walk with a shade as large as my parasol." It was so hot last week that I was walking grumbling such a phrase. It was a rainy Sunday. I should say it's the rain of heavenly gift. Yestereay (a sunny day) I was attracted by the light a rose was holding. I took a photo. It was not a large flower in a rose garden but rather a shabby one at a roadside. Well, a new week of extremely busy days are going to start again. I wonder which will come between me and the sky, an umbrella or a parasol? I wish for a good luck with one. Today's update: the rose.

確かに梅雨には見放されている。関東地方では連日カンカン照りが続く。お台場海浜公園に設営された「ノマディック美術館」へ『グレゴリー・コルベール ashes and snow』を見に行ってきた。会期終了一週間前の週末とあって混雑を予想していたが、さほどのこともなく異空間に入ることができた。未だ寒い頃、初めて電車の中吊り広告で象と向かい合って座る少年の写真を見た時から心そそられるものがあった。動物の記録写真展覧会ではなく、エコロジカルな提言でもなく、デジタル合成写真でもない、と周囲から聞こえる数々の解説もかまびすしく、如何なるものが展示されているのかと好奇心は募るばかりだった。ノマディック（遊牧民の、放浪する）という名称が示唆する通り、現地調達のコンテナと紙筒の柱・梁で組み立てられた移動可能な美術館は、解体を前提としている。

埋め立て地の広場で、その美術館が何よりサーカスのテントを連想させたと言ったら顰蹙を買うだろうか。サーカスの動物たちは調教されて人と共存する。だが、コルベールの動物たちはヒトの指示を受けて演技するのではなく、ヒトが動物にどこまで近寄ることが可能かをコルベールは示す。彼自身の鯨との遊泳、女性ダンサーの象とのコラボレーション、チータに寄り添う少女、類人猿とヒト(♀)のふれあい等々、いずれも驚異的でありながら決して不自然な作為を感じさせるものではない。見ているうちに、そのゆったりとしたリズムにこちらが同調していく。瞬間を焼き付けた写真には題名も解説もないので、ただ見入るしかない。エンドレスで流れる映像には緩やかな音楽とことばが被さるが、むろん解説ではなく、詩の朗読に近い。一度見ただけで把握出来るとも思えない。

この展覧会が見る者に与えるのは解釈でも解説でもなく、動物との共存体験といった方がいいだろう。少なくともあのコンテナと紙と布が囲った空間の中で、来場者はコルベールの差し出す世界に身体ごと入り込んでいく。ashes and snowは卓抜なウエッブサイトで概要を辿ることもできる。但し、小さなモニター上で得た予備知識を全て吹き飛ばすほどのパワーがノマディック美術館の中に充満していたことも事実だ。人を寄せる企画が成功を収めるには「真実」だけあってもダメだろう。些かの怪しさ、危うさ、不思議さも誘因となる。写真芸術がインスタレーションというパフォーマンスの要素を含み、ハコと共に壮大な興業に打って出た、そんな印象を持つ。見てきた夜は、夢うつつのうちに私も鯨と泳いでいる感覚がいつまでも続いていた。

本日の更新は表紙写真（ノマディック美術館と東京お台場の大観覧車）とこのページの写真（ザクロの花）です。少し長くなりすぎた短信も。ご容赦を。

We've been desperately cut out from the rain. It has been shining for weeks in Kanto District. I went to the nomadic museum set up at a seaside park in Odaiba to see gregory collbert's "ashes and snow." Although I had expected crowd of visitors on the weekend one week before the finale, I didn't have to wait long before I was admitted into the magical space. When I saw a photo of a boy with a book sitting in front of a crouching elephant for the first time by a poster in a train in March, I was strongly impressed by its incomparable uniqueness. They were saying ashes and snow is not an exhibition of natural animal photography, ecological campaign, nor digitally treated feat; so I was more than curious to know what it would really be. As it is nomadic, the museum is portable with containers which were colleted in the place of exhibition, poles and beams made of paper. It will be deconstructed after the exhibition in Tokyo to move to the next place.

Is it offensive to say I had an impression that the nomadic museum reminded me of a tent of a circus when I found it in a landfill? The big difference is, however, in that animals of a circus are tamed and trained but in collbert human beings go as close as possible to animals; they are not ordered to act for humans. collbert swims with whales, a female dancer collaborate with elephants, a girl sits close to cheetahs, a chimpanzee and a woman touch each other, and so on are all astounding but don't look artificial. While watching them, I felt like being synchronized with their slow movements. Still photos which capture moments of life have no comments in words, and so audience can only keep watching them. Videos were endlessly projected on screens, where subtle music and words were inserted but they were like poetry rather than explanation. I doubt anyone can grasp the whole work immediately.

This exhibition won't give us any interpretation or explanation but the chance to experience the world where animals (including human beings) coexist. At least in the space surrounded by containers, paper and clothes, visitors are admitted body and soul to go into the world which collbert presents. Of course you can visit the excellent website of ashes and snow: however, it is true that inside of the museum was the overwhelming power which blows away simulation of all kinds. In order to collect a huge number of audiences, "truth" cannot be the only factor necessary; you need dubious, risky, and mysterious factors as well. In ashes and snow, the art of photography is combined with performances in installation most effectively in the space of the nomadic museum. At night after I saw the exhibition, I kept dreaming I was swimming with whales myself. Today's update: the photo in the index page (the nomadic museum and the Ferris wheel at Odaiba) and the one here in this page (flowers of pomegranate). Also this note (sorry for being lengthy)!

ようやく本格的な入梅かと思いきや、本日は見事な夏日。夜半の雨のあと、朝方の雲は瞬く間に消え、 目眩く青空が拡がった。西には未だ頂上に雪の残る富士山、東には筑波山を望み、関東平野を囲む青い山脈が美しかった。本日の更新はこのひとことだけ。

When the real rainy season was about to start, we had a perfect summer day.. After the rain at night, early morning clouds were gone immediately and the brilliant blue sky appeared. In the west was Mt. Fuji whose top was still covered with the snow, and in the east was Mt. Tsukuba. The Kanto Plain was surrounded with purple mountain ranges. Today's update: nothing but this memo.

学生の自習用語学サイトをあちこち検索していて、最近は実に多彩なものがオンラインでしかもフリーで提供されていることに改めて驚いた。とりわけ本日の発見は（といっても今まで私が知らなかっただけです）BBC Learning English。数行で説明するのが不可能なほど多岐に亘るページで構成されているのだが、例えば「語彙チェック」はただの「単語クイズ」ではなく、あくまでも文脈付きで推測させつつスペルアウトさせるのが巧みだ。時間制限が付いていて、タイムアウト前に勝負しなくてはならない。おまけに完成した文を「聴いてみる」という機能があり、いかにもな英国アクセントで短文が読み上げられる。文法クイズは四択でチャレンジしたい項目がリストの中から選べる。リスニングに特化したい場合はキーワードの解説付きのページからおもむろに。たまたまアップされていた前首相ジョン・メージャー氏のクリケットに対する熱い話が聞けた。玉石混淆のYouTubeのような「投稿サイト」でコピーライトも何のその、生の英語を聞くのも楽しいがBBCでお勉強するのも悪くない。外国語学習は生涯続く楽しみ。

While I was searching e-learning (self study) websites for students, I was really astonished to find various language learning sites are provided online recently for free. Today's special discovery for me was BBC Learning English. It's hard to explain what it is like in a few words. The site is full of exercises, materials, files, and suggestions. For example, there is a page for vocabulary check entitled WARDMASTER. It's not merely a simple word for word quiz but let learners to guess a word in context and spell out. You have to finish within the limited time. In addition, when you find the right word to fill in, you can click the "Listen" button by which you are able to listen to the completed sentence read with real British accent. At Quizes & Exams, you can choose what you want from long lists. If you are interested in learning listening, you can open specialized page for that purpose. Today I happened to find a material on cricket, where the former British Prime Minister Mr. John Major is talking with enthusiasm. It's good to listen to YouTube where high quality things and rubbish coexist for real English alive; however, it's better to "study" with BBC online sometimes. The joy of learning a foreign language last as long as we live.

朝から雷が鳴っている。これからいかほど降ることか。更新した表紙とこのページの写真は義母を伴って先週見に行った東京都東村山市北山公園の菖蒲田です。当日は未だ一、二分咲きだった。今週はさぞ賑やかに咲き競っていることだろう。曇天や雨空の似合う花だ。スイレンも開いていたけれど、スイレンは明るい日射しの中でも水面に映えて涼しげだからやはり梅雨時の主役は花菖蒲と思う。紫陽花は別格。（今週あたり白山神社へ寄れたらいいな。）庭の紫陽花も咲き始めのおずおずとした桃色から、もう妖艶な青紫にまで花の色は移りつつある。徒に、とは言うまい。降ろうが降るまいが、花には花の時計が仕組まれている。都会の公園は貧弱な自然の模倣だと毒づきたくなる日も多々あるが、逞しく咲いては散る花を見ている限りそんな戯れ言も萎れてしまう。6月は案外厳しい直線コース。照っても降っても、湿度を振り払いながら爽やかに振る舞えるしたたかさの要る時期である。

Since early in the morning, thunders have been heard. I wonder how much it would rain today. Photos I uploaded on the index page and here are both those I took last week at Kitayama Park, Higashimurayama, Tokyo. I took my mother-in-law to enjoy iris; however, only 10 % of the whole iris garden was in bloom. Perhaps you can see more than a half this week. Iris suits cloudy sky and rain more than any other flowers. Water lily is all right too, but because it suits sunshine and blue sky reflecting on the water, iris should be the queen of the rainy season. Hydrangea is an exception. (I hope I'll be able to go to Hakusan Shrine to see hydrangea this week!) Starting with the naive pink, hydrangea in my garden has grown into glamorous purple already. Flowers of hydrangea change their colors not in vain. Rain or shine, they live with their own clock inside. Sometimes I feel like cursing parks in the megalopolis calling them as the poor imitation of the grand nature, my words wither at the vitality of flowers. June is actually a hard season going straight without any special holidays. We are required to behave with cool appearance, shaking off the persistent humidity.

雨月といいながら本格的な梅雨はまだ来ない。各地の貯水池の水位が下がり、夏場の渇水が懸念されている。そういえば時折驟雨に見舞われるものの、しとしと降り続くこの季節特有の雨にはご無沙汰だ。学生たちが「このまま夏にならないかな」といっているのが聞こえた。天気の話など滅多にしない彼らであるのに。降れば鬱陶しがるくせに降らなければまたそれで気に掛かる。天然自然は人間の思惑と関係ないところで千変万化する。武蔵野線でボンヤリ外を眺めていたら、川に釣り人が見えた。何を釣っているのだろう。「趣味は釣りです。」という学生も何人かいる。荒川、江戸川、利根川などへ休みになると出かけていくらしい。川面を見つめている人々には今年の水量に何か変化が感じられるのだろうか。本日の更新は、「翻訳読書ノート」のページに出版社の新ブログへのリンクを付けたことです。私のささやかな読書エッセイもまとめて外部でアクセス出来るようになったとのこと。よろしければ、こちら【TranRadar電子辞書Shop blog】です。

The real rainy season has yet to come. Reportedly water reservoirs everywhere mark low level of pondage and there are serious drought worries in coming summer. To our astonishment, we haven't had the typical Japanese persistent rain characteristic to this season. I overheard students say that they wish summer to come skipping the rainy season. I was a little surprised because they seldom talk about the weather. If it rains, we are sure to complain, but if it does not rain we are easily worried. The great nature changes regardless of human beings. When I was looking out of the window on Musashino Railway Line, I found some people angling in a river. I wondered what they were fishing. I know some students who like to go fishing. They go to the River Ara, Edo, and Tone on holidays. Have those anglers been aware of some changes in water recently? Today's update; a new link to a blog provided by a publisher. My short book reviews on translated books are also collected there. The blog is all in Japanese, but if you please, here it is!

雨月到来。紫陽花が咲き初める。各地で夏祭り。本郷大横丁も地元の三河稲荷神社御遷座400年の大祭があった。祭り当日はいけなかったけれど、先週末の宵宮には御輿について歩いた。担ぎ手の軽妙なステップとかけ声に魅了される。さすが下町、路地裏は瞬く間に祝宴場となる。若者もお年寄りもいなせな法被で決めると、一体に。見物も端っこで興奮のお裾分けに与る。聞けば湯島から駆けつけた長老は、祭りになるとじっとしていられないのだとか。ハレとケがくっきり分かれる初夏の日射しに、そろそろ梅雨雲が近付く。花菖蒲は未だ一分咲き。時よ駆けていくなと願うだけ。本日の更新は「本郷三河神社御遷座大祭宵宮御輿」です。表紙とこのページの紫陽花は東村山市萩山の遊歩道にて。

June, the rainy month has come. Hydrangea has started blooming. At Oyokocho, Hongo, Tokyo, Mikawa Shrine celebrated the 400th anniversary of its relocation and had a festival. I observed the eve of the festival, when a gorgeous portable shrine was carried on shoulder by local people. I followed the small shrine along the main street and back alleys. Steps of the delegation, their festive cries were so exciting that I was affected by the fever of the festival so easily. At the downtown, a back alley turned out to be a good place for a party. The young and the old got together and enjoyed the festival. Even I was invited to have a cup of beer! One of the elder mikoshi-carriers said he came to help from Yushima, another famous town not far from Hongo, He becomes impatient when festival season starts. He said he could never remain quiet once he heard of festivals. Every week, he goes to a festival of somewhere to carry mikoshi (small portable shrine). Meanwhile, the rain is approaching. Iris is not in full bloom yet. Both photos on the cover page and here, are hydrangea growing in the promenade of Hagiyama, Higashimurayama, Tokyo. Today's update: Mikoshi at the eve of the 400th year of Mikawa Shrine Festival,

毎日「ノウリンスイサン」ということばを見聞きする。農・林・水・産。一文字ずつ眺めていると雄大な風景が躍動するようだ。だが、今ノウリンスイサンはピンチらしい。一介のシュフがマーケットへ行ってもよくそう感じる。例えばショウガを手に取る。一つは\100（中国から）。もう一つは\250（高知県から）。さてどちらを買う？一介の読者が毎晩少しずつ読んでいる本のタイトルは『オオカミを放つ』。増えすぎた鹿の害から山林、農産物を守るために絶滅したオオカミを導入して自然の食物連鎖を復活させられないかと提案している。比喩ではない、本物のオオカミだ。捕鯨を巡る各国の思惑はすれ違い続ける。子どもの頃給食に出た鯨の竜田揚げはうまかった。天然の資源は不尽ではないし、ノウリンスイサン業は科学技術の力でどうにかなるものではない。確かなのはここをおざなりにしたら「食えなくなる」ということ。今すぐにではないにしても、いずれは。食べ物を巡って争いが起きる。国と国の間にだけではなくもっとローカルに、また生き物同士の間に。毎日台所に立っていると、ノウリンスイサンは余所事ではない。ノウリンスイサンを食い物にすまじ。畏敬の念をこそ。本日の更新は短信のみにて。

"The agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry" attracts our attention every day. When I watch each of the names, they evoke grand views in my imagination. However, the industry is considered to be in a risky situation. I feel that as a housekeeper. For example, pick up a ginger block: one imported from China costs \100; whereas, another produced in Kochi, Japan costs \250. Which one would you choose? The title of a book which I read slowly every night is entitled Release Wolves: they discuss in this book the possibility of letting wolves (which were extinguished a century ago in Japan) live in the forest again to revive the natural food chain and reduce the number of increased deer which destroy the vegetation of forests and farms. Wolves are not in a metaphor. Over whale hunting, opinions of numerous countries never reach a peaceful agreement. I remember the delicious taste of fried whale which were served at school lunch in my childhood. Natural resources are boundless and no technology can save them. Surely we will starve if we neglect this industry if not today but in the future. Food can be the cause of battles; not only between nations but also between more local groups, and between species. To a cook at home, "the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry" is not a far away issue. Never exploit them. Respect them. Today's update: this notes only.

前回の写真は小石川後楽園大泉水の情景（表紙ページ）と同園内庭のスイレン（更新・短信ページ）だった。後ほど短信を書き込むといいながら、何も書かずに今日まできてしまった。（失礼いたしました！）本日取り替えた写真もまた、表紙は小石川後楽園の田圃です。（このページは今花盛りの近所のセンダン。）都心を抜け出せば田植えの終わった水田があっちにもこっちにも拡がっているのに違いないが、先週は都会の森の中でこんな田園風景を楽しませてもらった。武蔵野線沿線には田圃の景色が殆どない。こんなに広い関東平野なのに耕作地はどんどん減っている。ついこの前まで休耕地となって草ぼうぼうだったところにシャベルカーやブルドーザーが走り回り、猛烈な勢いで宅地造成が進む。こんな風にバリバリやっていってよいのだろうか、日本は。

Previous photos were taken at Koishikawa Gardens: the lake (of the index page) and lotus in the inner garden (of this page). Although I promised I would write some message later, I could not.. Sorry! Today's photos in the index page shows the rice field where young rice leaves had been just planted in Koishikawa Gardens, and the one here shows flowers of satinwood (Melia azedarach) in my neighborhood. When you go out of the megalopolis, you may see boundless rice fields everywhere. I enjoyed the scenery of fresh rice fields in an urban garden. Recently less and less rice fields are seen along Musahino Line. In spite of the huge plain, farming land is decreasing rapidly. Where there used to be land out of cultivation, houses are being constructed with bulldozers running around. Is it really the way we should go here in Japan?

緑したたる五月。喩えようもない。取りあえず表紙とこのページの写真だけ差し替えて、短信はまた後ほど。

Green overwhelms the world in May. Nothing can be compared to it. Let me just put photos in the index page and here. I'll write some notes lates. See you!

五月晴れより雨・風・嵐の方が多いこの頃、そろそろ梅雨に近付いてきたようだ。学生たちとの街歩きが続いている。今週はショートコースで本郷大横丁地元の三河神社、本郷給水所公苑、東京都水道歴史館、本郷元町公園を回った。いずれも小振りな施設ながら、この街には思いがけない奥行きがあることを知って学生たちは驚いている。私自身、20年余りの本郷通いの間に土地の魅力に気付いたのは、ついこの5、6年のことである。人々は「都心にキャンパスのある地の利」を唱えるが、通学と就活に交通至便であること以上の意味が認識されているだろうか。もっとも私も声高に言い立てるつもりはない。知る人ぞ知る、というのもいいものだ。若者たちは目の当たりにする建物・施設が取り壊しや転用の対象となっていることを知ると、「もったいない。残して欲しい」と言う。しかし、保存にかかる経費、転用の産む新たな価値のことにはまだ想像が及ばない。余所者の目で見て「魅力」であるものが、必ずしも住民にとっての「メリット」にならない場合もある。街はテーマパークではない。街を観察するだけなのか、街で生きるのか、それが問題だ。雑誌のグラビアや街歩き系の本には載らない本郷を今しばし探索し続けようと思う。学生たちはすぐに飽きてしまうだろうか。本日の更新は表紙（本郷給水所公苑バラ園）とこのページの写真の写真（本郷給水所公苑石樋脇のアカツメクサ）です。昨日までの写真は「掲載写真帖」に移動しました。

We have more rainy days, windy days, and stormy days even than beautiful May days recently. I guess the real rainy season is around the corner. I've been going out into the town of Hongo with students. This week, we went to several spots close to our campus: Mikawa Shrine, Hongo Water Station Park, the Museum of Tokyo Water Supplies, Hongo Motomachi Park. They are all comparatively small facilities but students were quite amazed to find these places existing in the area they thought they had known. It has been for 5 or 6 years since I realized the charm of this town although I've been working in Hongo for more than 21 years. People often talk about "the privilege of being in Hongo": however, does it mean more than the accessibility for commuting and for business purposes? Certainly I have no intention to start a campaign for Hongo, but I just enjoy being there in my way. Young students say, "Mottainai (It's a pity) to break down the old buildings and construct new ones or divert the place for other purposes." They are in a sense reasonable but they still don't see the other side of the town. To preserve something old often costs much more than to construct something new for diverse purposes. Something attractive to visitors are not always profitable for residents of the town. A town is not a theme park. To observe a place is one thing and to live there is another. I would like to go on exploring Hongo with its attractions which no gravure pages or tourists books display. I wonder how long students' interest will continue. Today's update: the photo in the index page (the rose garden of Hongo Water Station Park) and the one in this page (Trifolium pratense) . Old photos are in "Cover Photos."

母を訪ねたら庭に楚々とした白い花が一輪、二輪咲いていた。おや、どこかで見たようなと近付いてみるとヤマシャクヤクだった。「どうしたの？」と問うと、「この前大國魂神社の植木市で見つけてきたのよ」と。父の存命中にはよく二人で行っていた市だ。私も付いていったことがある。小一時間一緒にお茶を飲んで「じゃ、またね」。花を愛でる母の気質を少しずつ受け継いで私も年を重ねていく。こんな花を山路に見つけたら、さぞ喜ばしいことだろう。思いがけず里で母が見せてくれた嬉しさ。今の時期、関東平野に山影はない。本日の更新は上の写真を一枚です。

When I visited my mother, I saw a few lovely white flowers in her garden. I went close o them and found they were "yamashakuyaku" (Brachyta bifasciata japonica or Paeonia japonica?). "Why do you have this plant here?" I asked. She said, "I went to the plant fair at Okunitama Shrine and bought it." That's a holiday fair to which my parents used to go together while my father was alive. I had been there with them too. I had tea with my mother and said, "See you soon" after only an hour. It seems I'm inheriting the mentality of my mother who loves plants gradually. She grows older, and so do I. If you happen to find these flowers in mountains, how blissful you may feel! I'm happy to see them in my mother's garden. We can hardly see mountains living in the middle of the Kanto Plain in this season. Today's update: the photo above.

各地に強風が吹き荒れた一日、関東平野は都心で風速26kmを記録したとのこと。自転車をこいで駅に向かう途中も木々のざわめき、向かい風の抵抗などいつもと違うと感じていた。果たして、武蔵野線は大幅な遅れ。十分余裕を見て出たつもりだったが、そのまま駅で待機し続けるのも惜しいような気がして別の経路をとる決心をした。通常新小平から南流山まで座りっぱなしで53分のところ、新小平からタクシーでJR西国分寺まで行きそこから中央線・総武線と取り次いで秋葉原からつくばエクスプレスで南流山へ向かうことに。新小平から西国分寺までは電車でたった一駅なのに、朝の道路は込んでいて25分もかかってしまった。（判断を誤ったかと早くも後悔。）ようやく乗った中央線もノロノロ運転が続く。（まずい、と益々後悔。）秋葉原に着いたのは8:50頃。ホームから教務課に電話して学生に待っているよう指示してもらう。（この段階で40分の遅刻を覚悟。）秋葉原での乗り換えは延々と構内を移動する。（汗）南流山駅に着いて驚く。ホームは乗客で溢れ階段まで歩くのもままならない。（武蔵野線から流れてきた人たちがホームを埋めていたらしい。）武蔵野線の改札口では駅員と集まった乗客が押し問答をしている。（何処も同じだったらしいと妙に納得。）そういえば何度も車内アナウンスで止まっている路線の案内があった。さすがに今日は居眠りする暇も読書する余裕もなくぴったり40分遅れで教室にたどり着いた。扉を開けると、学生たちが「やっと着きましたね」と笑っている。彼らも三々五々集まってきたらしい。一時間足らずの授業でできたことは余りないのだが、二時間半でたどり着いただけでも慶賀の至りだった。それに耐える体力を回復出来ていたことを感謝したい気分だ。早くもゴールデンウィークに蓄えたエネルギーを使い果たしてしまった気がするけれど。ああ、青嵐。

Reportedly it was blowing hard all over Japan today. In Kanto Plain, even in the middle of Tokyo, it blew with a wind speed of 26 km/h. While I was riding on a bicycle from home to the railway station, I was feeling something unusual in the noisy rustling of leaves and the difficulty of going against the headwind. At Shinkodaira Station, I found Musashino Line was extremely delayed. I made up my mind to take a different route to my work place. (Usually I take JR Musashino line from Shinkodaira to Minaminagareyama: it takes me 53 minutes.) Today I decided to go to Nishikokubujni by taxi, catch JR Chuo Line to Ochyanomizu, change for Soubu Line to Akihabara, and take Tsukuba Express to Minaminagareyama. Unexpectedly, however, the road was crowded and it took me more than 25 just to go from Shinkodaira to Nishikokubunji. (I was already repentant to my decision!). Chuo Line went irritatingly slowly. (I was more repentant.) I arrived at Akihabara at 8:50, where I made a phone call to the school office and asked to make students wait until I go. (I knew I would be at least 40 minutes late then.) I almost ran in Akihabara Station to change for Tskuba Express. (It really is a long way!) On my arrival, I was surprised to find so many passengers on the platform of Minaminagareyama Station. I had a hard time just to approach the escalator. It seemed passengers transferring from Musashino Line to Tsukuba Express were waiting for the train. At the entrance of Musashino Line passengers and station staff were arguing. (I understood the line was confusing everywhere.) Eventually I arrived at Nagareyama Campus and opened the door of the classroom. Students were there smiling and said, "Here you are at last!" It seemed many of them were late too. We could do very little within less than an hour; however, I was glad we could have a class anyway. It took me 2 hours and 30 minutes from home to school. I was glad because I was healthy enough to endure the early morning ordeal in this way. I feel I've spent all the energy I charged during the Golden Week already! Oh, what a spring storm we had today!

雨上がりの朝、オオムラサキツユクサがみずみずしい。武蔵野線沿線もみどり、みどり。僅かに残る水田に水が張られて。いよいよ田植えだろうか。本日の更新は表紙の写真（五月初めの「三四郎池」）と線路端に咲くオオムラサキツユクサです。心まで洗われる。以前の写真は「掲載写真帖」に収めました。

After the rain, Oomurasaki-tsuyukusa (Tradescantia virginiana) above looks very fresh. Along Musashino Line, landscape is colored with rich green everywhere. There still remain rice fields, in which water is filled. They are waiting for rice planting. Today's update: photos on the index page (Sanshiro Pond in the campus of the University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo) and the one above. I feel my heart is purified with them all. Old photos are stored in the page of "Cover Photos."

ようやく復調する頃には連休も終わり、いつもの慌ただしい生活に戻っている。おかげで（？）例年になく静かなゴールデンウィークを過ごした。（と、負け惜しみを言っておこう。）休み明けの今日、15人の学生たちと大学の地元本郷界隈を散策した。四年間通学して、何も見ず、何も知らずに通り過ぎてしまうのではもったいない。一時間半で、炭団坂、菊坂下、一葉の井戸、鐙坂、長泉寺、徳田秋声旧居、本郷館、東大正門、三四郎池、赤門、本郷三丁目と一回り。最後はスターバックスでお茶にする。もう少し風情のある店に行ければ良かったが、なにせ一気にこの人数では門前払いされてしまう。それでも、「僕スタバに入るの初めてです」という人もいたし、「ホントにいいんですか」と心配してくれる人もいた。三四郎池の端を歩きながら、「百年前からこうですかね」といつもは寡黙な青年が呟いていたのが印象的だった。「あれが安田講堂？ちちゃくねぇ？」という声も聞こえてきたけれど。何でも直に見ることが尊いのだろう。この頃街についての本が気になる。その一方、目下最も興味をかきたてられているのは『オオカミを放つ』という本だ。回をあらためて感想を書いておこうと思う。両極を行き来しながら、現代についてあれこれ考えている。本日は短信のみにて。

When I recovered from cold, the Golden Week break was over. My bustling life has started again. Thanks to my illness (?), I spent rather a quiet week. On the first day of my ordinary working life, I took a walk in Hongo area with 15 students. I thought it would be a shame for them not to know anything about where they are spending their precious days at college. We went to Tadon-zaka, Kikuzaka, Ichiyou's well, Abumi-zaka, Chousen-ji Temple, home of Tokuda Shusei, Hongokan Apartment, the main gate of the University of Tokyo, Sanshiro-ike, The Red Gate of the university, and came back to Hongo 3-chome Crossing.Finally we had coffee at Starbucks. There are not many coffee shops where 16 people can find seats altogether. Anyway it was good. One of the students said, "It's my first time to have coffee at Starbucks," and another said, "Are you sure you can treat us all?" They are nice young people. I was impressed with one of the quietest students who came close to me and uttered while we were walking beside Sanshiro-ike, "I wonder if this pond has been always like this for 100 years." I also heard another saying aloud, "Is that Yasuda Auditorium? It looks much smaller than I imagined." To see firsthand is important. I've started reading books in city theories. On the other hand, I'm reading a very exciting book entitled, "Releasing Wolves." I'll write about this book later again. Between two extremes, I'm thinking of the contemporary world. Today's update: this note only.

治るようで治りきらない風邪にジリジリしながら、静養に勤めている。もうじたばたしないで、時を待とうという心境だ。幸いなことにストレートナインの休日に恵まれたのだから、ノンビリしなくては。このところネット上では動画が増え、スチル写真もスマートなスライドにして見せたり、ポッドキャスティングも多彩だ。このサイトは旧態依然で恐縮だが、いずれまた色々な実験に取りかかりたい。外を飛び歩かないで家にずっといると、関心の向きが変化して来る。友人が言う通り、「神様がくれた休日」なのかもしれない。どこの神様？なんて聞かないで。本日の更新は、久しぶりに「休憩雑記帳」へ一文追加です。（自分でもこんなページがあったこと、忘れかけていた。）

Staying at home, I've been impatient with my lingering cold. I can do nothing but keep quiet. I've decided to wait for the time to cure my body. Fortunately, I am gifted with straight nine holidays this year. I persuade myself to relax and enjoy this peaceful occasion. Recently I've seen many of cool websites with movies, still photos in a smart sliding device, and variety of podcasting. I'm ashamed of the old-fashioned style of this website of mine: however, let me go into some experiments very soon. While I'm staying home quietly, my interests seem to have changed their directions. As one of my friends says, illness is a gift of holidays from the Heaven. Oh, please don't ask me what kind of heven it is.Today's update: a new essay in A Short Break. Keiko's Scribbling Block. This time only in Japanese, sorry! (I've nearly forgotten the existence of this page.)

ようやく初夏の日射しに緑が眩しい見事な天候となった。こんな日は、野へ山へ海へ街へ、誰でも出かけたくなるだろう。もちろん私だって出かけたいのだが、依然不調が続く。医者へ行こうにも連休で休診。ひたすら眠り、漢方薬とうがいでしのいでいる。恨めしく窓の外を眺めつつ。隣の部屋からはたどたどしいベースの音が響いている。熱心な独習は続く。（本人はヘッドホーンで好きなバンドのCDを聞きながらそれに合わせて弾いてるつもり。）ま、気を取り直して本日の更新は「翻訳読書ノート 33 人類であることの孤独」です。長年いつかはと思ってきたガルシア=マルケスを読んだ。70年代に大学院生だった頃、教授陣も院生たちも絶賛していたものだ。あの頃健筆を振るい、南米作家の底知れぬ創作力を解読して見せていた評論家S氏の巨大な体躯を思い出す。怯まずテキストを読んで楽しめるようになるまでに、私は30年もかかったかと情けなくもあり可笑しくもあり。

Eventually the perfect weather with sunshine over fresh green leaves has come. I guess anybody wants to go out for fields, mountains, beaches, and towns on such a day. I want to go myself, but I'm not well enough. Because of the Golden Week holidays, doctors' offices are all closed. I stay home, sleeping, taking medicine, and gargling. I look out of the window with envious eyes. From the next room, the halting beat of electric bass sounds. A beginner is playing the brand new instrument with a headphone listening to her favorite band by CD. She must be happy to practice by herself. OK, let me do what I can. Today's update: a brief review on Cien anos de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Japanese translation. (Sorry,review is only in Japanese.) In 1970s, I remember many of professors and graduate students were praising South American authors. Particularly one of the professors, an eminent critic of the age, was leading the trend. He was a big guy. I remember how he boasted and laughed with joy and pride in class. It's a pity (but funny) it took me more than 30 years until I can read a book by Garcia Marquez without fear or prejudice.

「ゴールデンウィーク」が始まった。本日は「みどりの日」改め「昭和の日」というそうな。古くは「（昭和）天皇誕生日」だった。かねてより由来はともかく、休日であることだけがありがたかった。四月の新学期開始から、一ヶ月は遮二無二突っ走るものの、この辺りでようやく一息つける。今年は我にもなく執拗な風邪に悩まされているので、回復の余暇をもらえるのは何より嬉しい。昨日の関東地方は春嵐に見舞われ、突風が被害をもたらした。何処ものどかな春とはほど遠い。先日荒天の合間を縫って、たまたま陽光に恵まれた昼時に（昨日アップした）根津神社へ束の間の散策を楽しんだ。長年通う街でもなかなかゆっくり歩く機会がないため、ついでに「いつかは」と思っていた「おばけ階段」を探してみた。たまたま根津神社前で作品展示即売会を開いていた、敬愛するペン画の杉山画伯とお会いすることができたのも幸いだった。神社境内では人波の続くつつじ苑は遠巻きに鑑賞するだけにして、「かるめ焼き」の露店の前で菓子ができる行程をじっくり見せてもらった。下町の祭りならではである。（というか、文字通り花より団子。）いつ歩いても本郷・根津界隈では、緑の空間の豊かさに驚かされる。いよいよ「本郷館」（木造三階建ての下宿屋）取り壊しかというニュースが報じられ、とても気になるところではある。本日の更新は表紙写真（つつじ祭りの根津神社）とこのページ上の写真（弥生町で見かけたサクランボ）です。以前の表紙写真は「掲載写真帖」へ移動しました。

"The Golden Week" has started. Today is one of the Japanese national holidays named "Showa Day." It was being called "Green Day" by last year. Before that 'while Emperor Hirohito was alive, it was called "Emperor's Birthday." Showa is the name of the Era Hirohito (if nominally) reigned. No matter what it is called, I appreciate having a holiday. Since the beginning of a new semester, I've been so busy that I am glad to be able to take a break. Particularly because I've been suffering from insistent cold, I need to take a rest to recover my health. Yesterday it was blowing and raining hard in Kanto District; there were several harms caused by the bad weather. Late spring is not a peaceful season in fact. However, a few days ago I had a chance to take a walk to Nezu Shrine before going to work. Eventually I found "Ghosts' Stairs" near the shrine! I also had an opportunity to meet Mr. Sugiyama, a wonderful artist who draws scenes of downtown Tokyo delicately in pen, while he was selling his works in front of Nezu Shrine. In addition, I watched Japanese traditional sugar cake (karume yaki) being made at a vendor's stall in the shrine market. Thanks to Azalea at Nezu, I enjoyed the popular attraction of the town very much. In Hongo and Nezu areas, I am always impressed with the rich green space. BTW, I've read a news informing there is the talk of "teardown" of Hongo-kan (a huge three-story-wooden boarding house in Hongo). We need to keep attention to the news.Today's update: the phto on the index page (azalea at Nezu Shrine) and the one on this page (cherries found in Yayoi-cho, Hongo, Tokyo). Old ones are in "Cover Photos."

本日の更新は根津神社2007年つつじ祭りと「おばけ階段」です。短信はまたあらためまして。

Today's update: "Azalea at Nezu Shrine, 2007" and "Ghost's Stairs." . Let me write a message later.Thank you.

ようやく通常の声に近付いてきた。（またまたうるさくなります、ごめんなさい。）不調を託つうち、色々な「締め切り」を思い切り忘れたり引き延ばしたりしていた。今頃「ツケを払う」のにアタフタしている。引き籠もりをしていたお陰ではかどったこともある。前から読みたかった本を読んだこととか、ノートを整理したこととか、授業用のサイトを整備したこととか。この勢いで机に向かっていたら、別の人生がスタートするかもなどと夢想してみる。いいかもしれない。だが、雨が止んで気温が上がってきたら、きっとまたソワソワし始めるのだろうな。（なんて単純！）一方、このところ姪たちからのメールが頻繁に届き、就職活動に精を出したり、夏の海外語学研修行きを準備したり、それぞれ進境著しい。少女時代に別れを告げて、いよいよ彼女たちも一人前に。新緑の季節の到来だ。本日の更新は、またしても短信のみです。

I've been getting back my ordinary voice. (People around me will be annoyed by my loud voice again, sorry!) While I was feeling weak, I was postponing my schedule and forgetting deadlines. Now I'm a helter-skelter. Being confined at home for so many days, I was able to do what I usually cannot: I read books which I had been willing to start; I took care of my notebooks; I revised my website for education, and so on. If I go on with this style, my life will drastically change. It won't be bad. However, when the sunshine comes back and it starts getting warmer, I'm not sure I can maintain such a quiet/peaceful life for ever. (How simple minded I am!) Meanwhile, I have been corresponding with some of my nieces frequently by email recently. One of them is active in her job hunting and another is preparing for her study abroad in coming summer. They have been making a great progress! Gradually leaving their girlhood, they are growing up to be young women. It's really a beautiful season of young leaves. Today's update: this note only, again!

寒いほどの気温が続く。風邪も今ひとつ完治せず。市長・市議会議員選挙が終了し、地元では旧知の団塊世代代表（？）が市議に当選した。（娘の友人の父。）おかげで市政が大変身近に感じられた。ところで、届いたばかりのTIME誌はバージニア工科大での事件を「虐殺の意味を理解しようとして」と特集している。意味なく命を奪われた人々の写真が並ぶ表紙はその笑顔故に益々痛ましい。これから多種多様な解説・謎解きが氾濫することだろう。戦時下の市井の写真も同様に悲惨なのだが。意味ある死などどこにあるのか。本日も短信のみにて。

I should say it is "cold" every day. I haven't recovered perfectly from the terrible cold yet. Yesterday was the elections of city mayors and city council members. One of our acquaintances, father of my daughter's friend, was elected. He claimed himself to be a representative of the baby boomers. Thanks to him, I felt very close to the municipal government. BTW, Today I received the latest issue of TIME, which features the tragedy at Virginia Tech with "Trying to Make Sense of a Massacre." There are the portraits of the victims all over the cover. It's devastating to see those who were killed for nothing. I feel the same way when I see photos of people under war. Where in the world can be "meaningful death" anyway? Today's update: again this note only.

April 19, 2007

バージニア工科大学(Virginia Tech)で起きた銃乱射事件に胸が痛む。10年前に半年間滞在していたのは別の大学(UVA in Charlottesville)だったけれど、バージニアにはずっと親しみを感じてきた。今頃は穏やかで美しい春の真っ最中だろうに、構内で起きた惨劇は凄まじい。学生・教員含めて32人が無差別に射殺され、犯人も自殺。組織的テロではなく、精神的に追いつめられた個人の犯罪であるところが事件をさらに不可解なものにしている。たまたま時を同じくして起こった長崎市長射殺事件も私憤であったらしい。しかも市長個人への恨みではなく、市当局に対する鬱憤を市長に向けて至近距離からの銃撃という形で爆発させたところに、些かの類似性を感じる。銃弾は「問答無用」な点が最も恐ろしい。不条理にも突然命を奪われた若者たち、教職員、そして此岸では市長。折しもバグダッドからは爆弾テロで170人以上が死亡とのニュースが届く。ひとつひとつの事件にはそれぞれの背景があり、原因があろう。だが、「問答無用」の凶弾が奪う人の命に、「またか」というような無関心を決め込むまい。通底する狂気をわれらの時代は共有している。本日は短信のみにて。

I deeply deplore the murder at Virginia Tech on April 16. Although it was not in Blacksburg where we stayed for half a year in 1997 but at UVA in Charlottesville, I've always been feeling a special attachment to Virginia. It must be in a warm beautiful spring in Virginia at this moment, when 32 people including students and faculty members were shot to death and 15 were but by an individual criminal who had been mentally isolated in the college community (or in a larger community in society).　It's more puzzling than a collective terrorism. On the same day in Nagasaki, Japan, the mayor of the city was also murdered by a gun. Reportedly this case was also caused by an individual person who was dissatisfied by the city administration in general. He even had no personal connection/relationship with the murdered. His anger exploded by shooting the mayor within the distance of 1 meter from him. The terror of the gun is it gives no moment of excuse/argument at all. Absurdly those students, faculty, and the mayor were all killed for no reason. Also a news from Baghdad said over 170 were killed by terrorist explosions. I believe each case has its own background and history. Let me not be indifferent to terrorism by getting used to it just because so many cases are happening everywhere in the world. It's necessary for us to realize we share the age of the craze common to them all.

「風邪は辿るべき道筋を通れば、治った時には蛇がからを抜け出たようにスッキリと新鮮な身体になっている」という文章を読んで、それは日頃から自分のからだをよく知り精進している人にだけ当てはまることだろうなぁと思いながらも、かくありたいと願う。力任せに多忙を切り抜けようとしていたが、それは無茶なことだったようだ。新学期早々、まるまる一週間も開店休業。（ホントに飛び込んだとたん溺れた。）さて気分を変えて、本日の更新は表紙とこのページの写真(諸葛菜もしくは花大根)です。いずれも東京都東村山市内を流れる野火止用水縁にて。それから、aoの習作ページ「静物」と「毎日卵」をリンクから外しました。「ギャラリー」の目次を整理し、「散策」に「郊外散歩」としてこれまでの東京散歩に収まらなかったものを移動。昨日までの表紙・短信ページの写真は、「掲載写真帖-2-」に収めました。少しずつまたサイト内改築をして参ります。

"When you recover from cold, your body will be as fresh as a snake which has just got out of its old shell." I read this sentence and wished to be fresh as it says; however, I guess you have to be constantly in exercises and healthy habit of life. I was trying to go through the busy days with the tightest schedule, but I know now it was out of question. At the very beginning of a new semester, I was obliged to take a full week off. (As I wrote before, I got drowned right after I plunged!) Well, well, today's update: photos in the index page and here in this page (Orychophragmus violaceus): both were taken by Nobidome Waterway, Higashimurayama, Tokyo.) I deleted the pages for ao's study works and eggs.　Walking page is renewed. Old photos are now stored in "Cover Photos -2-" Let me remodel the interior of this website little by little.

ただの風邪と侮れない重症になってきた。先ず声が出ない。家族とは筆談だ。（この期に及んでまだ言いたいことがそんなにあるかと呆れられ。）水を飲み込むのも辛いくらいに喉が痛む。咳をするのもままならない。日頃の饒舌多弁に対する天罰としか思えない有り様だ。新学期早々休講の連絡をする不甲斐なさ。（必死でかけた電話に教務係も呆れ声。）いろいろやらなくてはならないことがあったのに。もちろん私などいなくても地球は回るのだが、声が出ない辛さは何だか存在そのものが一挙に希薄になったようで頼りない。「このところの余りの多忙さに体が反乱を起こしたのでは？」という同僚からのメールに「さもありなん」とうなずきつつ、半醒半睡のうちに今はただこの状態を甘受している。本日の更新はこの短信のみにて。皆様くれぐれもご自愛のほど。

My condition (of cold) has grown serious. First of all, I cannot speak. I write and show whatever I want to say to my family. (They say, "You have so much to say in such a condition? Can't you keep quiet?") I can hardly drink water because of the pain in my throat. I want to cough but can't; my throat hurts so much. I can't help guessing it is the punishment of the Heaven to my usual talkativeness. It's a shame to call the office to tell there will be none of my class tomorrow at the very beginning of the new semester. (I did my best to talk on the telephone and just embarrassed the office people.) In fact I had a lot to do tomorrow. Of course the world goes on without me, but I feel I'm lost with the loss of my voice. One of my colleagues wrote to me by email, "You've been too busy recently; your body must be revolting." I agree. I just have to take my condition as it is. Today's update: sorry, my grumbling only. Please take care, dear friends!

新学期が本格的に始まり、初っぱなから課題が目白押し状態。そんな折りに不覚にも風邪を引いた。目下声が出ない。いつも喋りまくって暮らしている人間が声を失うと、本当にどうしようもない。医者へ行って症状を訴えても即効薬があるわけもなく、「声を使う仕事ですか？営業？」と聞かれ、「いえ、教員なのですが」と答えたはずが医者の耳には届かず、重ねて「会社で風邪引いている人いますか」と尋ねられた。授業ではいつものようなことは何もできず、黒板に漫画の吹き出しのような文字を書いてしのぐ。時々ムリに声を出すと学生が笑う。日頃如何に声の大きさと言葉の多さでブルドーザーのような振る舞いをしていたのかと、あらためて知り愕然としている。店のレジでも無言で支払いをするのは変だ。店員のマニュアル通りのセリフがいよいよ空しく響く。あれでもこちらが「ありがとう」とか「どうも」「ハイ、これで」などと短い合いの手を入れることでリズムができていたのだなぁと。笑顔と会釈だけで切り抜けていくのは実に難しい。本日の更新は、前回の写真のうち、「マムシ草」と「ウラシマソウ」は違うということに気付いたので、その訂正をいたしました。ヒゲ一本で別の草。

The new semester has gone into full swing immediately. To my shame, I caught a cold. I can hardly speak. Usually I live to talk and I talk to live. Now that I lost my voice, I'm completely helpless. A doctor cannot do anything effective for me at once. He asked me "When you work, do you speak a lot? Are you in the sales department?" Although I said, "My job is teaching," he didn't hear me and asked again, "Are there anybody who caught cold recently in your company?" In class, I couldn't do what I'm usually doing. Instead, I wrote what I want to say on the blackboard just like the words in comics. Students laughed when I uttered words in voiceless sound. I know now how I've been surviving with my big voice and numerous words like a bulldozer! It's very strange to go silent at the cashier of a store. It's as if only the shop clerk is talking to himself. The casual words like "Thanks!" "Please" "Here you are!" makes the rhythm in conversation. Smiles and bows cannot speak all for me. Today's update: a small correction in the photo explanation: mamushi-gusa and urashima-sou in "To the Sea--Walking in Ubara Risou-kyou, Boso Peninsula." Amazingly a thin tail coming out of the plant makes a big difference.

本日の更新は「海を見に行く-房総半島鵜原理想郷散策」に写真を四枚追加した。ほぼ同時期に同地を訪れていた友人とその仲間が撮った写真を送ってくれたので、更にクローズアップで。山野草を楽しむ余裕のなかった私に何よりの贈り物。彼女たちのグループはもう何度も鵜原で静養しているとのこと。あの静かな海辺での休暇は命の洗濯になるに違いない。感謝です！

Today's update: I added four more photos to "To the Sea--Walking in Ubara Risou-kyou, Boso Peninsula." A friend of mine and her friends, who were staying at Ubara almost at the same time we went there, sent them to me. Please find some scenes of the place more closely. The photos are a wonderful gift to me because I didn't have time and chance to watch plants in that area well. The group has been there occasionally to relax. I believe they can enjoy the quiet seaside resort for a real refreshment. Thanks to them all!

人前で喋るのは自分の仕事ではあるけれど、いつまで経っても「うまくいった」と思うことはない。足りなかったり余計だったり、冗長だったり意味不明瞭だったり、声量がなかったり喧しかったり。大勢に向かって声を発するのは難しい。相手に届いていると感じる瞬間と、まったく滑ってしまって何も伝わっていないと感じる時と。後から忸怩たる思いにとらわれることが多い。あ〜ぁ、明日もまたきっと似たようなことを繰り返す。どこまで行っても縁の下の力持ち。そういう人も必要なのさと呟きながら。本日の更新も短信のみにて。aoも明日からは大学生だ。ありがたい。

Yes, it is my job to talk in front of many people but I never feel my speaking skill has improved. I speak too much or too little; I talk too long and sometimes what I say doesn't make sense very clearly. It's difficult to talk to a big audience. Sometimes I feel I make myself understood; sometimes I feel nothing is received by my audience. When I think back what I said afterwards, I often feel embarrassed. Sigh. Perhaps I'll repeat the same thing again tomorrow. Mostly I work behind the scenes. I say to myself, "Someone like me, who is just working hard day after day, may be necessary." What a self justification! Well, take it easy! Today's update; again this note only. My daughter will be a college student tomorrow. Thanks!

ひと思いに飛び込んだのは良いけれど、早くも溺れそう。（新学期の喧噪のことです。）桜に雨が降りしきる。今年の桜は曇天下に白々している。日曜日、近所の名所「小金井公園」に自転車で行ってみたら、狂ったように豪奢な満開の下で大勢の花見客が凍えていた。今頃は水溜まりが花びらでいっぱいになっていることだろう。初っぱなから居残り仕事が続き、最初の登り坂で息の上がりかけているランナーのよう。「試合を楽しみたいです」とにこやかに語るアスリートのように格好良く決めてみたいけれど。（ムリ。）軌道に乗るまで、ヒーヒー言いながら目の前のハードルだけ見て走るのだろう、私は。まったく進歩のないことで。締め切りだけはハッキリしている。春眠に溺れていないで、読めや書け〜！本日は短信のみにて。

Although I jumped in the new semester bravely, I'm almost drowning already. It's raining over the cherry blossoms. They look pale under the cloudy sky. On Sunday, I went cycling to a famous cherry-blossom spot Koganei Park in my neighborhood; I saw fanatically gorgeous blossoms and people intoxicated in flowers under the trees--they were all freezing in the coldness. I imagine puddles are all covered with fallen flower petals. BTW, I've been extremely occupied with various jobs from the very beginning of this semester. I'm like a marathon runner who is breathless at the first uphill. How I wish I could say, "I'd like to enjoy the race." like a cool athlete! (Impossible!) Until I get used to the routines again, I'll run just watching hurdles in front of me. It seems I've made no progress for decades. Don't forget deadlines at least. I should keep reading and writing without indulging myself in spring sleepiness. Today's update: this note only.

四月になった。新年度の始まりだ。束の間の休暇を終えキャンパスに戻る数日前に、思い立って房総の海辺へ日帰りの旅に出た。大海原を眺めるために。行き詰まった時、振り返る風景があるのは心強い。久々に散策記録をアップしてみた。「海を見に行く-房総半島鵜原理想郷散策」です。ひとつ願いが叶った。本日の更新は散策ページと表紙、またこのページの写真です。いずれも房総にて。もうグスグズ言っていないで新学期に飛び込むべし。

Now it's April, the beginning of a new semester. During a short break right before I go back to the campus, I made a short day-trip to Boso Peninsula to see the ocean. It's encouraging to have scenes to look back when I'm stuck. I've uploaded a page of "walking." It's entitled "To the Sea--Walking in Ubara Risou-kyou, Boso Peninsula." One of my dreams has come true. Today's update; the record of my walking trip; photos of the index page and in this page. They were all taken in Boso. It's time to start the new semester. Enough of grumbling!

娘の受験から解放されたと思っていたら、第二ラウンドがあった。 先日「六戦一勝四敗一引き分け」と書いた「一引き分け」が、持久戦（？）のあげくシロに変わった。「大学より専攻で選ぶ」と本人は言い、版画で新境地を開くつもりだったのが再び絵画に返り咲きすることになった。急遽先の大学に納入金返還を願い出、新しいところへ入学手続きをする等々と仕切直し。今度こそ行き先が確定した。紆余曲折の末にたどり着いた学舎だ、四年間存分に創作に没頭して欲しい。その後のことはまた時機が来たら考えることとして。そんなふうにジュニア世代と付き合ううち春は進み、いよいよ関東地方にもサクラサク。昨日は娘と神保町から駿河台を歩いた。古書店巡りとはいえ、まったく趣味が異なるので、まさにワンダーランド。御茶ノ水付近の楽器屋で彼女はベースを物色。店員から「高校生？」と聞かれて赤面していた。（あんな時代もあったねと、いつか笑って話せるわ〜。）本日の更新は表紙の写真（寒緋桜）とこのページの写真（馬酔木）です。以前の写真は「掲載写真帖」に移動しました。ソメイヨシノや山桜の下を歩くのが楽しみだ。

Although I thought we had been released from the entrance exams of our daughter, there was the second round in fact.. Se was finally admitted to a university whose waiting list she was in. She had decided to start studying printing at another university, but now she can come back to painting. She says that's what she really wants to do. All right, go ahead then! Thus, we started asking for the refund of the tuition which we had paid to the former university and restarted all the admission procedure to this one. Now she has found where she will spend 4 years. I hope she will do her best and devote herself in creative activities there. Let her think of what she'll do in the future taking time. While we were involved in this entrance-exam fuss, cherry trees are starting to bloom in Kanto District. Yesterday, I took a walk in Jinbou-cho, the world's largest second-hand book market, with my daughter. From her point of view, which is completely different from mine, the area looked a total wonderland to my eyes. In Surugadai, she stopped by a guitar shop where a clerk said to her, "Are you a high school student?" She just blushed. (You'll soon smile at such a time of youthfulness.) Today's update: cover photo (Prunus cerasoides var. campanulata) and the photo above (Pieris japonica) in this page. Previous photos are now stocked in Cover Photos. I'm looking forward to walking under sakura in full bloom.

久しぶりに海を見た。それは一瞬の海。車窓に拡がる夕暮れの太平洋。いつも乗っている武蔵野線をずんずん先まで行けば、線路は海浜に至り、海が開ける。ただこの眺めのために一年間せっせと通勤していたのかと思うほど、突然に存分に海は目の前にあった。夜も更けて帰路、ディズニーランド前では、花火が何発も高く上がった。もう夜景を楽しむ季節になったのか。晴天の今朝は、西に富士の銀嶺を見ながら平野を走ったのだった。武蔵野線で関東平野をぐるりと一周した一日。卒業式と記念パーティーの余得。若さが眩しい。本日は短信のみにて。

I saw the sea. It was a momentary grand view. of the Pacific in the evening. Take JR Musashino Line on and on, and you will come close to the seashore. I felt perhaps I worked all year round just to obtain this moment The sea opened in front of me out of the train windows. On my way back at night, I saw fireworks soaring up above the sky at the station close to Tokyo Disney Land. It's already the season people enjoy night view in the park! I remember this morning I watched Mt. Fuji covered with snow far in the west out of the commuter train. Indeed I traveled widely round the Kanto Plain by Musashino Line today. Thanks to the commencement ceremony and the party after that! Today's update: this note only.

こんな平野にいても、休みの日には散歩がてら花を見て歩く。寒の戻りとやらで風は冷たいが、そんなことは何のその。とりとめのないことを考えながら、喋りながら、ゆっくりとのんびりと。あちこちでの心配事や面倒ごとはしばし封印！弥生ともなれば様々な花が野を彩る。でも、ここのところしばらく花の観察から遠ざかっていたので益々名前が分からない。ただ、「きれい！」「かわいい！」などといって歩くのでは面白くない。今日一番のあの白い花の木は、桜だったのだろうか、それとも梅だったのだろうか--なんてひどいな。せめて新学期が始まるまで、せいぜい歩き回ろう。本日の更新は、「いのちのすがお」にメジロとハトを。「樹木」にその白い花を。（表紙の写真もこの木です。）それから、このページの写真は我が庭に咲いたヒアシンス。どうと言うことのない花でも、自分で植えた球根が花開くのはとても嬉しい。昨日まで表紙とここにあった写真は「掲載写真帳」に移動しました。春の彼岸の墓参も済ませて。

Living in a plain, I go out for a walk to watch flowers. They say the coldness has returned but I don't mind. I walk slowly, thinking this and chatting this and that. I seal up all my worries for a while. Because it's March, various kinds of flowers color fields and towns. Recently I was away from flower-watching, so I cannot remember the names of flowers. I saw a gorgeous tree with white flowers in full bloom. I wondered if it was a plum tree or a cherry tree. (It's a shame I couldn't see the difference!) Well, I'll continue walking before the stat of the new semester. Today's update: birds in Lives Around; the tree in white blossoms in Trees; and the photos in the index page (the white blooming tree) and the one above--hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) in my garden. I'm happy to see the flower bulb I planted grow to bloom in my garden! Old photos are in Cover Photos. We've visited our family grave for the spring equinox, which is a Japanese Buddhists' cusotm in this season.

荒川、江戸川、中川などの鉄橋を渡る時、川面の色が力強い。明るい空の色を映して、関東平野を悠然と南に向かって流れてゆく。茫々たる枯れ野がそろそろ青みを帯び、いよいよ爛漫の春を準備している。どこかへ行きたいという気持ちが、またぞろ沸き上がってくる。あれやこれやの要請にピンで留められた虫のように、へばり付いてはいるけれど。そのうちきっと！本日の更新は、aoの習作、これがおそらく最後の一枚「あり得ない瓶」を「静物」に掲載しました。無念のケヤキの切り株を「樹木」ページに。何故あれだけ駐輪場の真ん中に残したのか、とても不可解だ。

When I go across the River Arakawa, Edogawa, and Nakagawa over the iron bridge by the train, I see the rivers run dynamically in the powerful color of the sky. They run through Kanto Plain slowly. The plain is still covered with dried glasses, but a little bit of young green is mixed. Plants and trees are preparing the full spring. I want to go out. Let me go somewhere away from my routine works! It's the season of departure. I will certainly go very soon. Today's update: ao's latest (and probably her last) work of oil painting in Still Life. There is a photo of a stump of one of the Zelcova trees which were cut down, in Trees. I wonder why they left the stump in the middle of the bike parking lot.

娘の受験がようやく終了した。六戦一勝四敗一引き分け、とでも言おうか。辛うじて一美術大学の版画専攻学科に入学を許可された。この間、当サイトギャラリーに「静物」と称してaoの習作コーナーを設けたり、「毎日たまご」という練習帳を公開したり、私本人とは関係ないページの更新ばかりが続き、ステージママならぬギャラリーママを演じてしまった。美術は私にとって未知の領域で、実作がどのような行為なのか見当も付かなかった。油絵が木枠から画布だけ外せるものだということすら知らなかった。aoは油絵を画布だけにして持ち帰り、また鉛筆・木炭デッサンを次々にアトリエから持ち帰る。いずれも拙いものではあるが、写実から自由な発想へ、モチーフの変形へと徐々に表現が変化していくのが分かった。当初は油絵を専門に学びたいと思っていたようだが、版画という表現形態を専攻することになり、今後はまた変化していくのだろう。これまでの「静物」と「毎日卵」のページは三月で閉鎖する。「卵」を毎日描きなさいとアドバイスしてくれた旧友にはあらためて心から感謝したい。仕事上のルーティーンとなりかけていた新学期が、今年は娘の入学で、私自身の新スタートにもなりそうだ。学びたいことのために最善の努力をして大学の門を叩く若者の実態も、高額の学費を払う親の立場もよく分かった。ここからまた新たな挑戦が始まる。本日の更新は表紙写真です。東京本郷の東洋学園大学新校舎より、東京ドーム方面を望む。彼方にうっすらと秩父連山の影も見える。ものみなあらたまる春だ。

My daughter has finished her ordeal of taking college entrance exams. Eventually she was admitted to a private art college, where she will major in "print art." For a couple of years, I've been uploading ao's study works to this website; in "Still Life" and "an egg a day." I played the role of "a gallery mama" (a variety of "stage mama.") In fact, fine art was totally "a foreign world" to me. I even didn't know the canvas for oil painting can be detached from the wooden frame. My daughter "ao" brought back canvases and drawing sheets (for pencil and carbon drawing) day after day. Although they were all quite unrefined, I could see her works change gradually from pure realism to more liberal ones in ideas and techniques. There was an evident transformation in her artistic behaviors. Originally she wanted to study oil painting at college, but now she will start studying print art. She will change more and more.

I will close the pages of Still Life and eggs by the end of March. I am grateful to my old friend who advised ao to draw an egg every day. She learned a lot from this habit. For me, too, coming April will be a start of a new season. I think I won't consider the new semester as a beginning of a routine work: instead, I will be more conscious now that I know how hard young people can make efforts for getting the chance to study what they want and how hard parents work to pay the expensive tuition for their children. This is the beginning of new challenges. Today's update: the cover photo (Tokyo Dome and Chichibu Mountains far beyond, viewed from the new building of Toyo Gakuen University, Hongo, Tokyo). Things look all new in spring.

　整理整頓の苦手な私は時々「何をか言わん」的な失敗をする。先週の土曜日はある仕事の順番が当たっていると思いこんでいて、遅刻してはならじと朝、本郷に駆けつけた。着いてみると様子が変。職場はひっそりしている。これはキャンパスを間違えたかと恐る恐る尋ねてみたら、「本日は何の予定もありません」。えぇーっ、一週間間違えていた。しかも、私はスタッフに入っていなかった。どこでどう掛け違えたのか、手帳には確かに・・・。かと思えば今週は、一日に三箇所を飛び歩く予定が入り、アクロバットだった。そんなに忙しがっちゃダメダメと自分に言い聞かせながら、「ここさえくぐり抜けられたらきっとゆっくりできる」といつも信じているからオメデタイ。

　そうこうするうちにモモの花が満開となり、ボケが咲き始めた。娘の高校卒業式があり、保護者と先生方との「卒業を祝う会」も済んだ。長らく準備を重ねてきたことだったので、盛会だったのは嬉しい。仕事ではないプロジェクトに携わるのは楽しかった。卒業はしたけれど、娘の受験生活はまだ続行中。泣いても笑ってもあと一息。本日の更新はaoのたまご6ページ目です。それから「静物」にaoのデッサンと油絵を一枚ずつ。さらに、久々に「翻訳読書ノート」にミニエッセイを。表紙写真とこのページの写真も一新です。以前のものは「掲載写真帖」に移動しました。久しぶりなのでちょっと欲張ったかな。

I make various mistakes living every day. Last Saturday I went to work, believing I was supposed to work as one of the members of a special mission. However, when I arrived at office, nobody looked ready for it. I wondered if I came to a wrong place. I asked what the matter was and office people said to me, "We have no special event today." What? Besides, I found I was not a member of the work after all. Why in the world I wrote a memo in my notebook? There must have been some misunderstanding in my part. On the other hand, I had three special tasks in one day this week. I went to three different places for various purposes. It was acrobatic. I know I must not keep myself so busy. I always say to myself, "Once you get through this schedule, you'll get a full break." Is it true?

Meanwhile, peach trees (Prunus persica) are in full bloom. Japanese quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) too. My daughter graduated from a high school. We had a party for teachers and parents to celebrate children's graduation. It was very enjoyable to participate in the working group for the party. The party was quite successful. BTW my daughter has been still taking entrance exams. Today's update: ao's eggs and her latest works in Still Life. She will go into a new stage very soon, hopefully. I also uploaded my shot book review (sorry only in Japanese in "Translated Works." This time I wrote about Reading Lolita in Teheran by Azar Nafisi.) I renewed the photos on the index page and this page. Old ones are now in Cover Photos.

約40年前の友人から連絡があり、共通の知人をめぐる情報の交換をした。私は古いノートをひっくり返し、インクのにじむ書簡を発見。そう、かつてはよく手紙を書き合ったものだった。同じところにいるのかどうか分からないけれどと言う但し書きを添えて、半信半疑で友人に住所と電話番号をメールしたら、友人はすぐさまその人へ連絡したらしい。半日後にはもう消息を知らせる返信が届いた。知人は既に亡くなり、その方の伴侶と二時間も電話で話し込んだとのこと。空白の時を埋める過去への旅だったようだ。電話の続きは直接会ってとの約束もできたらしい。よかった。私は自分がご無沙汰していたことを棚に上げ、遠い友人たちの再開を喜ぶ。彼女は、35年前に日本を出て、アメリカでビジネスをしている。ようやく昔を振り返る余裕が出てきたのかも知れない。いずれ、私たち自身にも再会の時が来るだろう。春は、そんなことがまんざらあり得なくもないと感じさせる。別れと再開の、春。本日は短信のみにて。

An old friend of mine called me after 40 years. We talked about our mutual acquaintance. I searched and found in an extremely old notebook a letter from him. Blurred handwriting read his address and phone number. Yes, we used to correspond via sneaker mails those days. I gave my friend the info, telling her I was not sure if he still lives there holding the same phone number. She made contact with him immediately: sadly, she found he had passed away 5 years before but she could talked to his wife on the phone for 2 hours. It seems she made a time travel to fill in a blank period of her past. She said they promised to meet in person. Good for them! I am glad to know about their reunion in spite of my long silence. My friend departed Japan 35 years ago. She worked hard in the United States and now has a business of her own. I guess she sits and look back the way she has come. Perhaps we'll be able to meet again ourselves. Spring makes us feel that way. It the season of farewell and Hello again! Today's update: this note only.

弥生が明けて既に雛祭りも過ぎてしまった。出すのが遅くなった内裏雛はまだ箪笥の上に鎮座している。「少しくらい行き遅れても」等と軽口を叩いたら、娘に「そもそも行くの？」とピシリ言い返された。まだ試験が終わらないのでピリピリしている。毎日一枚ずつ絵が増える。「6時間デッサン」という本番のシミュレーション。「おまえの世界観を描くんだ」と煽られている模様。世界観？いずれにせよ、奇態な絵ではある。本日の更新は「静物」にまとめて数点、aoの新作デッサン（部分拡大画像含めて）です。もうしばしお付き合い下さい。亡父の命日に。

"Doll's Festival" has already passed. March goes on. I was slow in taking the doll's royal couple for the festival this year. They are still placed on the chest of drawers. When I said jokingly, "Forgive me for delaying your wedding because I'm late in putting the dolls back into the boxes" my daughter replied sharply, "Who decides I'll get married?" She is sensitive since the days of entrance exams are still continuing. Everyday, she draws a piece of drawing. It is called "the 6-hour-drawing." Her teachers tell her to express her view of the world. Anyway, they are far from realism. Today's update: ao's drawings in Still Life. Enlarged parts are included. Thanks for your patience with her study works. Today is the anniversary of my father's death.

JR武蔵野線、新小平駅前に自転車を預けて南流山まで通うようになって約一年になる。自宅から15分ほどの疾走にも慣れた。流山で会合などあると、新小平に帰り着くのが夜半になることもしばしば。昨夜もようやく改札口をでた時は真っ暗だった。自分の自転車を探し当て、いざこぎ出そうとした時、異変に気付いた。あれはなんだろう？人の背の高さほどの見慣れぬ固まりがある。よく目を凝らすと、それは樹の切り株だった。慌てて辺りを見渡すといつもそこに聳えていた三本のケヤキはことごとく姿を消している。駐輪場の詰め所に行って「どうして木を切ったのですか」と尋ねると、「地主さんが昨日切ったんですよ。枝はらいなんかにお金がかかってたいへんだって。」「なんてもったいない！」と私。管理人の一人がポツリと、「みんなそう言いますよ」と小さい声で言った。20メートルはあろうかという立派な木だったのに。市の認識票は何だったのだろう。枯れ枝の美しさに魅せられて撮った写真をこのサイトの表紙に掲げていたのは僅か数週間前のことだった。せめて「樹木」のページに数枚足しておこう。あの木を見上げるのをどれほど楽しみのしていたかに今愕然と気付く。私は、無力、無力。本日の更新は「樹木」のページ、それからaoの「たまご」と「静物」に新作デッサン二枚です。東京の樹木は危うい。

It has been almost one year since I started commuting to Minaminagareyama by JR Musashino Railway Line, leaving my bicycle in front of Shinkodaira Station. I've got used to cycling in full speed for 15 minutes. When I have meetings at Nagareyama, I come back to the bicycle-parking lot late at night. Yesterday it was already dark when I arrived at my bicycle. I found something strange there. "What's that?" I said to myself. No! it was a huge stump, as tall as a human being. Startled, I looked around and realized all the three enormous Zelcova trees were gone. I rushed to the bike caretaker's hut and asked what had happened. A man said, "The landowner came yesterday and had them cut. It cost him a lot to maintain them." I said, "What a loss!" "Everybody says so." was his last comment. It was a tree over 20 meters high. What did that recognition number issued by Kodaira City mean? It was only a few weeks ago when I uploaded a photo of the bare tree, fascinated by its beauty in winter, on the index page of this website. Let me put a few more photos in the page of Trees. I know now how much joy I was getting from the trees. Powerless, powerless, am I. Today's update: in addition to the photos of Trees, ao's eggs and a couple of new pencil drawing in Still Life. Trees in Tokyo are in danger.

如月は短いのにいつも色々なことが詰まっている。目一杯課題を抱えながら、春の兆しに心も和んでくる。背の高い木ばかりでなく、低木にも可憐な花がつき始めた。灰色の小さな拳のように固まっていたミツマタの花は今が満開。日ごとに大きな黄色いボールになっていく。辺りに馥郁たる香りを放ち、ひらき始めた沈丁花と競い合う。悲喜こもごもの若者たちを見ていると、早春の花々と重なる。手出しはできない、けれど限りなく愛おしい。本日の更新は表紙ページの写真（単なる飛行機雲だが、ぐいぐいと空を横切っていくその航跡に目を奪われた）とこのページのミツマタです。試みとして「あれこれ」に実験的オープンチャットを付けてみた。出来たてのプログラムで開発者たちが工夫を重ねているところ。よろしければ試してみて下さい。（今のところ時折覗く私の独白しか書き込みがありませんが。）昨日までの表紙写真とこのページのサクラは「掲載写真帖」に移動しました。

February is a short month but it is always full of unexpected happenings. In fact I have so much to do but I'm feeling more and more comfortable with the bright light outside. Not only tall trees but also small ones are starting to bloom like mitsumata (Edgeworthia papyrifera). Its buds were like small grey fists hard and blunt. Now they are growing to be yellow large balls giving sweet scent competing with Daphne odora which are also starting to bloom. Looking at young people feeling happiness and sadness, they overlap with the image of early spring flowers. I can never touch them how lovely they look. Today's update: the photo in the index page (Although it's just a jet contrail, I was fascinated with the powerful movement of the airplane flying across the blue sky, leaving the white trail.), and the one in this page (Edgeworthia papyrifera). I've got an experimental chat board in etcetera page. It's a new program. Engineers who made this are still working on it everyday. Please enjoy trying it.(At present only my monologue is there.) Old phtos are saved in Cover Photos.

三寒四温と言うより、概ね暖かな日和が続く。ぽかぽかしているとつい休みの日には散歩に出たくなるのだけれど、流石に「積ん読」の山を整理せざるを得なくなった。山は一つではないから、掃除は端緒に付いたばかりと言うべきか。玉石混淆も良いところ。「選書」するところから始めなくてはならないので時間がかかる。右を左に、左を右にで一向はかどらない。けれど、家の中でウロウロしていられるのはありがたい。ほんの少し片付いただけでも進歩。これからはこざっぱり暮らそうと、ああ何度心に誓ったことだろう。本日の更新はaoのたまごと「静物」に新作二点です。待っているのは果てしなく遠い気がする。いや結局は一瞬のことなのだろうけれど。まだまだ続く、娘の受験の日々。ふぅーっ。

It has been quite warm these days. It's warmer than usual years. When I get a day off and it is sunny, I soon feel like going out for a walk; however, I've come to realize that I have to clean up the piles of books which I have left for months. There are several piles of good books and rubbish books mixed so that it tames me hours and hours; yet, I haven't finished even a half. (I do have to start with selecting which to keep and which to throw away.) I like to hang around at home. Simply I feel proud of myself when a single corner of a room is cleared. "All right, I will live cleanly," I've said to myself so often! Today's update: ao's eggs and her latest painting and drawing in Still Life. When we are waiting, time seem to pass very slowly. No, it will pass too soon eventually. ao goes on taking entrance exams. Sigh!

梅に目を奪われているうちに、早くもサクラ？葉と一緒に花が咲く「寒緋桜」ではないかと思うのだが、もしかすると「寒桜」かも知れない。オンライン図鑑で見ると、色味が前者に近いような気がする。家の近くの遊歩道にある若木で、道行く人は立ち止まって「おや、もう」と嬉しそうな驚きの声を上げる。年老いたご夫妻が手を携えてゆっくりと歩く朝の道に、華やぎを添えて早咲きのサクラは眩い。カメラを手にした私はしばらく立ち止まって木を見ている。先を急いでばかりの毎日を少し休んで。受験日も小休止。本日の更新はこのページの写真一枚と、aoのたまごです。「早春賦」が聞こえてくる。

While I was fascinated by plum flowers, early cherry blossom startled me. Is it Prunus cerasoides var. campanulata or Prunus × kanzakura ? The flower's clear scarlet color is very impressive in this season. The young tree is on the promenade in my neighborhood. People who are going along the road stop to look up the flowers and say with admiration, "Ah, already!" An elder couple walking slowly hand in hand looks happy under the tree. It gives vivid color over the lane they go. I also stop to watch the tree with my camera. I should take a break from the busy days rushing by. Even my daughter has got a few week break from the exam days. today's update: the photo above and ao's eggs. Early spring songs can be heard.

春一番が吹いたとか。ついこの前おずおずと咲き始めた梅はもう満開だ。枯れていた世界にうっすらと彩りが戻ってくる。人の身も心もかくあれと。これから街や郊外に咲く花から目が離せない。驚嘆すべき造形。明るい光に思わず空を振り仰いだら、雲の上を飛んだ時のことを強烈に思い出し、いても立ってもいられなくなった。春は心穏やかならざる季節。本日の更新はこのページの梅の写真です。

Reportedly the first spring gust has blown. Japanese plum flowers which started blooming only a few weeks ago are now in full bloom everywhere. Fresh colors have come back to tint the monotonous world. May human beings be colored and revived in body and mind too. I will enjoy watching flowers of various kinds again in town and in suburbs. They will show us the wonderful beauty of natural creation. Chasing flowers, I looked up at the bright sky and remembered the sensation I had when I flew over clouds. My heart couldn't keep quiet. Spring is a disturbing season indeed. Today's update: the photo of Japanese plum flowers.

関東地方、この冬は雪が降らない。本当に「暖冬」らしい。天の邪鬼は「このまま春になるんじゃつまらない」と呟く。コートのボタンを外して歩いていても平気な一日だった。だが、この安寧には裏があるのじゃないかとつい勘ぐる。ぽかぽかと明るい光の中を歩きながら今ひとつ心が晴れない。古い坂道を上りながら、見上げると聳える巨大新マンション。あの最上階に住む人の目に映るのはどんな街の姿だろう。そうだ、私も引っ越しの支度をしなくては。新校舎が建ったので、居場所が変わる。もっとも私は古い建物の一画なのだが。それで結構。天の邪鬼に新ピカビルは似合わない。本日の更新はaoのたまごと「静物」に新作油絵一点です。

Kanto District has not had any snow yet this winter. A devil's advocate is grumbling, "What's the charm of spring after a winter without snow?" I walked with my overcoat unbuttoned today but I'm afraid this peacefulness might have something evil behind it. I was not perfectly happy while walking under the sunshine. Climbing up an old slope, I looked up to find an enormous new apartment building rising overhead. Wow! What will the people living on the top room see below themselves? Oh, I have to start packing for move. Now that the new building of our college has constructed, we are supposed to move. Although my new office will be in an old building, I won't mind. I do love to be in an old corner like a devil's advocate! A brand new building won't suit me. Today's update: ao's eggs and her latest oil painting in Still Life.

「そっと見守る」というのが下手で、すぐにあれこれ口を出しては煙たがられてきたが、流石にもう出番はなくなった。弁当だけ作って、毎日受験生の娘を送り出している。実技各種に学科試験もあり、各大学とも個性を競うように様々な課題を出す。美大は今まで知っていたどの大学とも違う世界だ。受験生はカートに目一杯画材を詰め込んで引いていく。あるいはカルトンという画板を担いでいく。六時間集中で一作品仕上げるとか。複数の志望校・学科を転戦して歩くので、数日ずつの試験がまだまだ続く。持久戦というべきか。それでも好きなことをやっている本人は夢中である。疲れてはいるがへばってはいない。若さはそれだけでめざましい。自分にもあんな時代があったのかと苦笑しつつ。本日の更新はaoの「たまご」と「静物」に新作数点です。「なにこれ？」ではありますが。

I've not been good at just watching. Being impatient, I was apt to talk too much and was annoyed so far. Finally there is almost nothing I can do for my daughter but fix her lunch. I see her off going out to take entrance exams for art colleges every day. Applicants are required to challenge variety of tasks such as drawing, painting and taking paper tests on languages. Art colleges are characteristic and quite demanding. They belong to a different sphere from where I've been. Students pack all drawing/painting materials in bags and bring large drawing boards along with them. They are required to finish drawing/painting within 6 hours. Because they take plural colleges, hardships continue for weeks. Applicants have to be powerful and patient. My daughter is evidently tired but not exhausted because she is doing what she likes best of all. To be young is remarkable as it is. I feel a little shy to remember I had days like that myself once upon a time. Today's update is ao's eggs and her latest small works in Still Life. I said, "What?" looking at these pieces honestly.

あちこちの梅の里から花便りが聞かれる頃だろう。湯島を訪れたのは薄日の差す午後だった。梅見客、合格祈願の学生たち、祭好き、そして信心深い参拝客がわっさわっさと詰めかけて、門前も境内も人でいっぱい。梅は高いところにちらほら。年々歳々時は巡り、花はひらく。いつに変わらぬところが尊いのかも知れない。太宰府もきっと。本日の更新は「あれこれ」の「本郷大横丁界隈見たまま・歩いたまま」サイトに新しいページを。地図も何度か改訂を加えている。街角に大学の新校舎がそそり立ち、些か景観が変わってきた。お近くへお越しの節は、どうぞご覧下さい。表紙写真とこのページにあった水仙の写真は「掲載写真帖」に収めました。サクラの日々の近いことを祈りつつ。

I guess news of blooming plum flowers are arriving from various places. It was slightly cloudy with occasional sunshine on the day when I visited Yushima Shrine. There were so many visitors including plum-flower-watchers, students wishing for success in entrance exams, festival lovers, and the pious in the precinct yard and in along the stalls leading to the main shrine architecture. Plum flowers were up above. When time comes, in spite of human beings, flowers bloom. How amazing! It must be same in Dazaifu. Today's update: a new page at "Hongo Oyokocho Map Project" in etcetera. A test map has been revised several times. At a corner of Oyokocho, the new building of our college is almost completed now. It gives a new taste to the old avenue. Please have a look at it when you happen to come around. Photos which were previously in the index page and here are stored in Cover Photos. May the days of cherry blossoms come soon!

昨日の節分には湯島天神、神田明神、湯島聖堂と巡り歩いた。湯島の梅はまだ二分咲き程度。神田明神は年男・年女が欄干から大勢押しかけた参拝客に向かって豆まきの真最中。聖堂はあくまでもひっそりと。立春を迎え、これから三寒四温か。風は益々身を切るようだが。久しぶりに明るい光の中で街の表情を撮った。少しずつ掲載していこう。案ずるより...といきたいものだ。本日の更新は「静物」にaoの新作油彩画と5ページ目の「卵」です。いよいよ（春）本番！

I went walking ro Yushima Tenjin, Kandao Myojin, and Yushima Seidou yesterday, at Setsubun-the closing day of winter in our traditional calendar. Cherry blossom in Yushima Tenjin was just starting; bean-scattering ceremony was going on in Kanda Myoujin, and it was serenely quiet as usual in Yushima Seidou. Now that "spring" (in calendar) has come, hopefully it will become warmer day by day with occasional coldness although the wind is still freezing. I took photos of town in bright light. Please let me upload some of them soon. Today's upload: ao's latest oil paintings in Still Life, and "eggs" on the 5th page. Now it's time of her challenge.

嘘が大手を振って闊歩する今日この頃、まやかしに手を貸したくはないが奇妙な申し出を受けた。某テレビ局からのメール。このサイトに掲載された「イモムシ」の画像を使いたいという。（はぁ〜イモムシですと？！そんなものどこにあったっけ。）そういえば去年の夏、野尻湖畔を歩いていた時に草の葉陰にいたのを撮ったのだった。何やら芸能人の出る料理番組で「イモムシの説明をしている際に画像を情報説明として出したい」のだとか。こんなマイナーサイトの写真を使わなくても、いくらでもイモムシの写真くらい見つかりそうなものだが、はて。それともこれって、食べられるイモムシだったのか。できることなら番組を見てみたいものだが、どうやら東北地方限定の放映らしい。キーワード検索の時代とはいえ、全く文脈を外れたところで引用されることにどんな意味があるのだろう。何の関連もないもの同士がネットワーク上で偶然響き合う。一旦ネット上に公開したものは、いつ誰がどこで何にどういう関心を持つのか知りようもない。一寸の虫にも命がある。願わくばイモムシに災いのかからぬことを。

Recently information is easily used for wrong purposes. I don't want to help that kind of misapplication; however, I received a puzzling request today. A man of a TV station sent me an email to ask if they could use one of the photos I have in my website for their program. According to him, the photo will be used to explain "a caterpillar" I don't know why they chose it from the world wide web. There should be thousands of photos of caterpillars on the net. I took the photo last summer when I was taking a walk around Lake Nojiri. It seems they are making a cooking program. (Can we eat this kind of caterpillar?) I want to see the TV program directly but unfortunately it will be released only in Tohoku District. BTW, what does it mean to be quoted out of context? On the Internet, things completely unrelated are so easily connected to make sense irrelevant from the original contexts. Nobody knows when, where, how, the original source will be used. Even a caterpillar has life. I hope they won't be exploited.

爾来ただひたすら細々とした用事に追われ、断続的に読むこと以外楽しみも少なく、書くことからは遠ざかり、いよいよ堪忍袋の緒が切れかけていた。散策に出ることもままならず。遂に今日は身体がストライキを起こした。斯くて臨時休業となる。リフレッシュが必要だ。そろそろ光がとても明るくなってきた。木々の枝が光る。光の春に向かっている。それは希望。本日の更新は「静物」にaoの新作数枚と「卵」をまとめて。それからこのサイトの表紙とこのページの写真を刷新しました。以前の写真は「掲載写真帖」へ移動しました。再びキーを叩こう。

Ever since, I've been extremely busy doing this and that. The only pleasure in life is to read occasionally. Because I've been away from writing, I was really frustrated. I seldom had a chance to go for a walk. Eventually my body protested to work any more today. I had an extra day-off. I need to get refreshed. I feel the light is getting brighter recently very slowly. Branches are shining. We're bound for spring. It's a hope. Today's update: ao's new works in Still Life and "eggs." I renewed the photos on the index page and here in this page. Old ones are now stored in "Cover Photos." All right, I'll get back to typing now.

寒中お見舞い申し上げます。暖冬とはいえ、枯れ色の世界。今しばし。

Although they say it's warm for winter, the world is in the bottom of the cold season. Everything is tinted in the color of dry leaves.. Let us endure toils just a little longer. I'll be back soon.

二日続きのセンター入試業務は、毎年非常に神経をすり減らす激務だ。とりわけ英語のリスニング試験が導入されて以来、機械の不具合が出ないか、試験実施の段取りに手抜かりはないか、不測の事態に遭遇しないかと緊張を強いられる。ともかくも無事終了してほっと一息。夜遅く帰宅すれば今度は自宅の受験生が早速自己採点している。試験実施数時間後にはネット上に正解が出回る時代となった。とはいえ、センター入試は大学入試全体から見れば前哨戦に過ぎない。各大学の「本試験」が待ちかまえているのはこれから。高い倍率で受験生がしのぎを削る大学もあれば、その一方に定員割れの危惧される大学もある。いずれがいずれとは言うまい。うたかたの栄枯盛衰に一喜一憂する暇があったら、せいぜい本でも読もう。深い闇を照らす一条の光のような本を求めて。本日の更新は「静物」にaoのデッサン一点です。監督も受験生も疲労困憊。

National Center for University Entrance Examinations gave tests to 500,000 students for two days. We faculty members as well as office workers of colleges and universities (both private and national) worked 2 days for the exams. We were all under high pressure to carry on the long procedure. Particularly English listening test requires us to follow complicated directions. We had to pay careful attention to find any problems with the tiny electronic machine given to each student, never to skip any of the steps necessary, to be prepared to any emergency etc. Somehow, exams were safely over. When I came home late at night, my daughter was checking answers by the Internet. She could mark her score right away. So fast! However, "National Center Exams" were just the beginning of continuous entrance exams to come. There are highly competitive universities, and on the other hand there are others which can hardly collect students to the number of their authorized capacity. I won't say which is which. It's no use to be disturbed by the worldly reputation. Let me have time to read more. I'm looking for really enlightening books. Today's update: a drawing in Still Life. We got all tired with exams.

何気なく北窓を開けたら、向かいの庭に紅梅がほころんでいる。もうそんな季節か。湯島天神でもそろそろ気の早い枝に白梅がひらき始めているのだろう。この季節、神田明神、湯島聖堂、そして湯島天神を経巡る受験生が多い。近くまで行っていながら、今年はまだ拝んでいなかった。年が明けたらトントンと日が進む。明日はもうセンター入試だ。本日の更新は「静物」にaoの新作二点と「卵」です。嵐の前の静けさ。

I opened a north window to find a few red ume (Japanese pulm/ Prunus mume) flowers were starting to bloom in our neighbor's garden. I was amazed to know it's already in the season of ume. Perhaps ume at Yushima Shrine are starting too. Students who are going to take entrance exams visit Yushima Shrine, Yushima Seido, and Kanda Myojin to pray for their luck. I haven't visited these sacred places yet recently. Since the beginning of the new year, time has passed so swiftly. Tomorrow National Central Exams will start. Today's update: ao's latest works at Still Life, and her eggs. I'm in the quietness before Storms.

本郷菊坂下道に「まちのえき」（一時休息所、情報交換の場）を開いているNPO「雑歩庵」の方が勤務先の研究室をお訪ね下さった。町歩きの最中に何度か寄らせてもらい、このサイトにも写真を掲載しているご縁がある。「おやこんなところに」と、ある日その庵を見つけて以来もう三年たったようだ。本郷の街が好きで、路地が好きで、地元で何ができるか模索しながら多様な人々の拠り所をつくろうというこころざしの、緩やかな集まり。ただ古い町並みを保存しようといった単純明快な目的を持つわけではなく、ここの暮しにとって大切なことは何かをみんなで考えていこうと言うことらしい。シネマ上映会をしたり、季節行事をしたり、地元の清掃をしたり、公園のあり方を考えたり、ラジオ局の開設を目論んだり、多文化交流をしたり、とにかく「様々なこと」をしている。で、「ボランティアをしてみたい学生さん募集中」とのこと。インターンシップも受け付けているとか。長らく本郷界隈をさまよい歩くうち、どうやら地元とのご縁が具体的な形を取り始めたようだ。あと何年この街に通い続けられるのか分からないが、次の世代へ何らかのバトンタッチ準備をする時なのかも知れない。「まちのえきブログ」にこのサイトのリンクが張られているのを知って驚いた。もしかするとあちらからこのページへおいで下さっている訪問者もおありかも知れない。街は生きている。本日の更新は「卵」と「静物」にaoのデッサン二点です。「思うように描けない--」と悩みながら。

A lady from Zappo-an, an NPO working at Kiakuzaka, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku in Tokyo came to visit my office. I've visited their "Station of Town" several times before. I have photos of Zappo-an in this website. Three years have already passed since I found the small station while I was strolling in Hongo. People of Zappoan like Hongo town, its back alleys, and they want to make a place where people can get together and think of what to do to make Hongo a better place to live and visit. To preserve the old-fashioned streets is not their only goal but they want to think of what they can do together. They show movies, hold seasonal events, clean streets, discuss how to maintain parks, plan to start a local radio station, share cultural activities with people from abroad and more. The lady from Zappo-an said, "We are accepting students who wish to volunteer for activities with us. Interns for their NPO are welcome." Thanks for the invitation! Eventually I've come to know people of Hongo firsthand. Although I don't know how long I can keep going to Hongo, I feel it's time for me to think of giving baton to the next generation. To my amazement, there was a link to this website in "Station-of-Town Blog." There may be visitors to my website via the link. Yes, Hongo Town is alive. Today's update: ao's eggs and drawing in Still Life. She is in agony saying, "I can't draw as I wish."

仕事始めからあっという間に休暇モードが吹き飛んだ。早くも一月半ばである。「移動読書室」が戻ってきた。通勤途上にどのくらい本が読めるものか確かめてみたい気がする。ボンヤリ景色を眺めたり、眠り込んだりもしているので読書は実質全行程の半分程度かと思うが、それでも全部併せたら膨大な時間を私は車中で過ごしている。飛行機ならマイレージを溜めるとギフトチケットがもらえるらしい。最近新幹線にもマイレージ制度を設けたらどうかという議論があるけれど、通勤電車にこそマイレージ制度を！もしこのループを一直線に伸ばしたら、私は今頃どこまで行けただろう。せめて、車中で読む本の記録でも取ろうか。私が思いつくアイディアは何だか箱庭スケールのことばかりだが、「塵も積もれば」ではある。本日の更新は「静物」にaoのデッサン一枚とここ一週間分の「卵」です。「樹木」も一枚追加しました。それから表紙の写真（「動き始める朝の街」）とこのページの写真（「ソシンロウバイ」）です。

Since working days started, the holiday mode has vanished immediately. We're already in the middle of January. My "reading room" has returned: I spend a long time on commuting trains day by day. I wonder how much I can read during my commuting time beside looking out of windows and sleeping. If you use airplanes often, airline companies will give you the gift of plane tickets in reward for the mirage you save. They are talking about the possibility of the same system for Shinkansen (Japanese bullet trains). I would claim mileage for commuter trains! If I connected and extended the daily loops of my commuting, how far could I go? Shall I take notes of all the book titles I read while commuting? They say many small make a great. Well, well. Today's update: a drawing of ao in Still Life; eggs of this week; one photo in "Trees"; the photos here (Chimonanthus praecox f. concolor) and in the index page (a morning scene of a town).

いよいよ寒に入り、今日は朝から冷たい雨。雪にならないだけ暖かいということか。新しいオーディオセットでクラシック音楽を聴きながらあれこれする。この度のCDは「のだめオーケストラ」の演奏である（笑）。ご存じ『のだめカンタービレ』から派生した副産物の一つで、原作漫画やテレビドラマで奏でられた曲ばかりを集めたアルバム。モーツアルト、ベートーベン、ブラームス、ショパン、サラサーテ、ガーシュウイン、ストラビンスキーと、それだけ並べられても物語を知らないとどういう繋がりがあるのかサッパリ分からない選曲であるところが面白い。オーケストラとソロの二枚組でなかなか立派である。漫画の醍醐味はやはり笑い。昨日の『鉄コン筋クリート』でももちろん大いに笑った。ただ、その笑いの裏側に潜むものが作品ごとにだいぶ違う。最近の漫画は音楽など他ジャンルとのコラボレーションも多い。多角的視点で受け止めていかないと、面白みを逃す。骨太でガッチリした構造を持つ世界の提示が魅力となる。そして絵だ。創作・表現活動の背後にどれほどの労苦があるのかを完成作品は見せないが、私は遙かに想像するのを止めることができない。本日の更新は「静物」中新ページにaoの新作油彩二点とデッサン二点です。「講評はひどかった」とのこと。

Now we're in the coldest season of a year. It has been raining since morning today. It may be warmer than usual because it won't become snow. I'm enjoying classic music with the new audio device. Right now I'm listening to a CD by Nodame Orchestra ;-). As you know, this is one of the byproducts of the comics/TV drama of Nodame Cantabile. (It's already translated into English. I'm eager to get the English version on the earliest occasion.) In this album are collected the familiar numbers in the original work. There are Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Sarasate, Gershwin, and Strabinsky, etc. It's so interesting but hard to see why they are collected in one album unless you know the story of the manga. It consists of two disks: one of the orchestra and another of solo performances. Anyway, the best part of comics is they make you laugh. Yes, TEKKONKINKREET made me laugh a lot! However, the nature of laughter is different in each work. Also recent comics tend to collaborate with arts of other fields. We need to appreciate the whole entity; otherwise, we would easily lose the best part of comics. Attraction of comics exists often in their grand structure. They need to present a perspective of the world to readers. And of course they need attractive drawing. Completed works never show how hard authors made efforts but I cannot help imagining the toils of artists behind the works. Today's update: ao's lates oil paintings and drawings in a new page in Still Life.　"Oh, I got terrible comments," said ao.

吉祥寺のバウスシアターで映画を見た。構想十余年、制作に三年以上を費やしたというアニメーション『鉄コン筋クリート』。松本大洋原作の漫画も熟読したところだった。密集都市の俯瞰と街の深部の緩急自在な描写、神出鬼没のクロとシロの少年コンビ、奸計渦巻くヤクザの対立抗争など極限まで突き詰められたリアリティとファンタジーが交叉する。頑丈な全体構造を支える丹念に描き上げられた街のディテール。少年たちが生き延びていく「宝町」は架空の場所だとしても、東京というこの混沌の中で日々暮らす者には「まさにその通り！」と快哉せざるを得ない場面が次々に繰り出され、バイオレンスの向こうに都市の脈動を実感する。動画の豊かな表現力を再認識した。ネット上で公開されているマイケル・アリアス監督のインタビューにも驚いた。成人してから体得した日本語とはとても思えない流暢さ。言語も国境も越えていく漫画・アニメを「サブカルチャー」と呼ぶのはナンセンスだろう。目眩く映像を前にそう痛感した。本日は短信のみにて。

I went to Baus Theater in Kichijoji, TOKYO, to see an animation movie TEKKONKINKREET. It took more than ten years to launch the project and over three years for the actual production of the movie. Recently I read the original work of manga by Matsumoto Taiyo as well. In the movie the bird's view of an overcrowded megalopolis and description of the depth of a town switch speedily; boys Kuro (black) and Shiro (white) appear and disappear anywhere unexpectedly (they jump and fly on roofs of buildings just freely!); evil plots of gangs exploit the town drastically; overall reality and fantasy both extremely wrought coexist quite naturally. Details of the town are drawn so finely upon the tough grand design. "Takara-machi" (literally meaning "Treasure Town") where the boys survive is an imaginative creation; however, to those who live in such a chaotic city like Tokyo feel like crying, "Yes! That's where we are now!" very often. We feel the pulse of the city really. I was strongly impressed with the power of expressions realized by the art of animation. Another thing very impressive to me was the interview of the director Michael Arias in Japanese, which I watched on the Internet. He acquired the language after he became an adult but his command of Japanese is perfect. I believe we can hardly call the art of manga and animation as "subculture" any longer. I strongly felt that at this fabulous movie. Today's update: this note only.

パリッと真っ新なカレンダーを見上げる。今年は何ができるだろう。まず昨年末壊れたオーディオデッキを新調することにした。「初売り」の文字に誘われて、HDD付きDVDレコーダーにも手を伸ばす。今年は静止画像だけではなく、音声や動画にもチャレンジしてみよう。新しいCALL/PC教室でどんなことができるのか試したい。海外から来た若い女性教員たちは新しいテクノロジーをどんどん授業に取り入れていく。疲れを知らずに議論するし、色々なコラボレーションにも怯まない。今年も既に活発なオンラインディスカッションが始まっている。本日の更新はaoの「卵」三個です。若い女性たちはパワフルだ。

I'm looking up at a brand-new calendar. What can I do this year? I decided to purchase a new audio device. Tempted by the copy of "New Year's Sale," I bought a DVD recorder too. I would like to learn how to treat and edit audio/video files as well as still image files this year. Our new PC/CALL room is very inviting. Our young female olleagues from abroad are very active with the latest digital devices; they take in novel techniques, software, systems including podcasting very positively in their teaching. They devote themselves tirelessly in discussion over various issues and eager for collaborations. They are really stimulating. Our online discussion has already started again. Today's update: three eggs by ao. Young women are powerful.

年が明けて既に三日。恒例の新年会を済ませ、本日は地元の八坂神社に初詣をした。睦月、如月、弥生と入学試験が続く。仕事としては例年のことながら、我が家にも今年は大学受験生がいる。その昔、自分の時には不安より期待の方が大きかった。高校を抜け出して大学生になれば、何かが始まるような気がしていた。「此処じゃないどこかへ」というのは若者誰しもが感じる焦燥だろう。実は「此処」に徹することこそが大きな挑戦だと知るのはまだまだ先のこと。本日の更新は表紙（昨年撮ったオオヤマレンゲの写真をリサイクルした年賀状転載）とこのページ、そして「卵」の新ページと「掲載写真帳」への追加です。あらためてご訪問に感謝いたします。よい年となりますように！

Three days have already passed since the beginning of a new year. After new-year's reunions with family members as usual, we paid our first visit to a local shrine to make wishes for this year. January, February, and March are the time for entrance examinations, which is the annual schedule for me at work, but this year our daughter will take exams for colleges too. I remember when I was at her age; I was feeling something will sure to start only if I could leave a high school and become a college student. "Not here but somewhere else" is what young people eagerly long for. It will be years later when they find "to remain and fight where they are" is something more challenging quite often. Today's update: the cover page (recycling a photo of Magnolia sieboldii which I took last year for my new-year's greeting card), this page, and a new page for "eggs" and the page for "cover photos." I express my hearty gratitude to your visit to my website. I wish you a very happy new year!