Wish to Meet

Bonsai artists at Shunkaen Bonsai Museum

Cutlery craftsmen in Tsubame, Niigata

Leek growers in Fukushima and Edamame farmers in Hokkaido.

I'm just in awe with them.　改めて。

Shrimps, Japanese, and Quakes

On and off, the book was on my mind for 18 years.

Freshman, 1993: An Osaka Univ. professor recommended that "Shrimps and Japanese (1988)" along with "Bananas and Japanese" might help get a broad picture of international economics. Looked interesting, but a bit nerdy.

Then two major earthquakes: Jan. 17, 1995 & March 11, 2011

Weeks ago, March 24: It occured to me that I still wanted to read the "Shrimps." Took a chance to walk in Aoi bookstore. Found a copy - it was calmly on the shelf, naturally, sort of - along with "Shrimps and Japanese II (2007)."

うやむやになっていて、18年越しで読んだ本　とはいえ、べつに震災とは関係ないよなぁ　と思いましたが 「II」の第一章で、なんとも言えなくなる

Rent-a-Panda

Better watch out
Chinese pandas are coming to town

「賃貸　パンダ」のgoogle検索結果、396,000件。
なんか、あさましいなぁ

Fill in the Blank:

As beautiful as a __.


What would you say?



　どう言おうとかまわないのです。

　　『読書からはじまる』（長田 弘）

Jugendgedenken

My coworker has got a butterfly in a jar.
Eek!

But for me, it is more than gross.
It reminds me of a Hesse's bitter story of
how innocent boys got into moths and butterflies,
ending up extremely competitive and envious.


「そうか、そうか、つまり君はそんなやつなんだな。」