Month: February 2021

Plum blossom viewing

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I went for a stroll around the castle park this morning. It was a little cold, but there was warmth in the sun’s rays. Spring is almost here. There are plum blossom trees scattered around the park. I love the plum blossom. It features in my novel In the Shadows of Mountains. The main character has a plum tree in her garden. She prefers it to the more celebrated cherry blossom, calling the latter a braggart, and a show off, demanding to be seen. The plum blossom, however, just blooms silently and in stillness. And it smells divine.

Masaoka Shiki

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Matsuo Basho is the most famous haiku poet in Japan, but there is another haiku master who was just as prolific and talented – Masaoka Shiki.

Masaoka Shiki was born into a samurai family in Matsuyama (Ehime Prefecture) in 1867. He is said to have written 20,000 haiku, as well as poetry in other forms, and essays. He started writing haiku when he moved to Tokyo in 1883. He enrolled in the philosophy department of Tokyo Imperial University in 1890, but soon changed to the Japanese literature department. Around this time, he started to write haiku under the name “Shiki”.

“Shiki” is another name for the bird hototogisu, or “Lesser Cuckoo”. He chose this name, because in Japan, this bird is said to sing until it coughs up blood. Suffering from TB, and coughing up blood himself, he thought this name appropriate. He was diagnosed with TB in 1889. He was bedridden during his last years, but continued to write haiku and tanka from his sickbed.

His most famous work is arguably

柿食えば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺

Eat a persimmon

and the bell tolls

Horyuji Temple.

During a visit to Horyuji Temple, he stopped to eat a persimmon, which is an autumn fruit, and as he took a bite, the bell of the temple rang, and he could sense the season in its echoes.

He developed into a master poet, and has a lasting legacy in Japan. There is a museum dedicated to him in Matsuyama City in Ehime. In 2002, he was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a keen player of the sport, until his illness took its toll, and in 1889 co-wrote Japan’s first novel about baseball – Yamabuki no Hitoeda. It was serialized over a year, and remained unfinished.

His life was tragically short – he died of TB in 1902 at the age of 34.

Aru Otoko – A Man

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I have just finished reading the novel Aru Otoko (A Man) by Keiichiro Hirano. It has been translated into English, but I read the original Japanese version. I enjoyed it immensely. It made a change from the dark, postwar detective novels which I read in Japanese.

The book is set in the present day, and centers around a lawyer who is asked to investigate a dead man who had been using someone else’s identity. It raised some interesting questions. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to just walk out of one’s life and live the life of someone else. Would your past catch up with you? Would you slip up and get found out? Could you live the life of another person, fool everyone around you, even those you love, and not feel guilty about it?

The book also raises the question of how love relates to the past. Does the past of someone you love matter? Do you love the person in front of you, as they are now, or do you love them as an accumulation of their past experiences?

I won’t go into details (don’t want to spoil it for anyone!) but it is well worth a read.

The book made me cry at the end, something which doesn’t happen with my dark detective novels. Speaking of which, I’m going to start a new one tonight. Can’t wait!

Pessoa’s “Notes for a rule of life”

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Being self-employed, I do most things in my business myself. I am terrible with numbers, but today, I battled through and completed my tax return. The paperwork is all in Japanese, but that is not the problem – the numbers are the problem. I eventually finished it, but it took me the best part of the day. Tired, I absent-mindedly opened Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet and landed on the following passage. It made me smile! On today of all days!

“To need to dominate others is to need others. The commander is dependent.

Enlarge your personality without including anything from the outside – asking nothing from others and imposing nothing on others, but being others when you need them.

Reduce your necessities to a minimum, so as not to depend on anyone for anything.

It’s true that such a life is impossible in the absolute. But it’s not impossible relatively.

Let’s consider a man who owns and runs an office. He should be able to do without his employees; he should be able to type, to balance the books, to sweep the office. He should depend on others because it saves him time, not because he’s incompetent. Let him tell the office boy to put a letter in the post because he doesn’t want to lose time going to the post office, not because he doesn’t know where the post office is. Let him tell a clerk to take care of a certain matter because he doesn’t want to waste time on it, not because he doesn’t know how to take care of it.”

Writing – appreciating the freedom

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I started my translation career in 2004. I enjoy translating. I always wanted to be a translator, so I guess I am doing my dream job. I always wanted to be a writer too though, and started writing professionally eight years ago.

After a couple of years of translating, I was yearning to write something of my own. Yes, translation is writing, but it is restricted writing. I do commercial translation, not literary translation, so most times, the translation has to be faithful to the original, both in style and content.

I was aware that, even though I was writing, I was writing someone else’s words and thoughts. I was following their thought processes, using their vocabulary and phrasing. I didn’t feel like any of it was my own.

When I started writing as a career (graded readers for learners of English), I felt I had more freedom, but again, I was restricted. This time, it was by vocabulary and grammar, which was graded to suit the level of English learners.

I felt complete freedom when I wrote my first novel In the Shadows of Mountains. At first, this freedom was almost Sartrean. I felt uneasy, not scared, but a bit, well, kind of seasick. I could write anything. There was nothing stopping me – no one else’s ideas and words to follow, no vocabulary or grammar restrictions. It was just me, and the blank page. And whatever I wrote, I was responsible for it. As I progressed through the novel, I felt this uneasiness lifting, and I felt like I was soaring. After so long writing other people’s words, and following strict grammar and vocabulary guidelines, I was discovering my own voice. And it felt great. I can’t wait to write my next one.

Studying, not writing

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I’ve spent the weekend studying. I should be writing, as I already have most of my next novel worked out, but I’ve set myself a tough exam schedule this year. I am a Japanese/English translator, and I specialize in skincare and cosmetics, in addition to general business and tourism. The way to learn more about my specialist fields (and to get more work) is to get qualifications in them. I already have a few business, tourism, skincare and cosmetics qualifications, but this year, I’m going to take two more. I also want to add pharmacology to my specialisms, so I am planning to take three exams in that subject. All these exams are in Japanese.

As if that wasn’t enough, a passion of mine is learning languages. So I’m going to take level 3, then pre-level 2 on the French exam administered in Japan, and also the Chinese HSK level 3.

This leaves little time for writing, but I figure if I can get most of the qualifications I want this year, I can get more work next year, and also devote more time to writing. Once I have the qualifications, they are mine. No one can take them away. Work has been a bit thin on the ground because of covid, so I need to focus on building up my portfolio of clients. As much as I want to write, work has to come first.

I may not be writing physically, but the story is going around in my head, and I am adding bits to it and taking bits away. I’m making notes in my notebook. So when I do actually come to sit down and write it, it should just all come out more or less in one piece. Anyway, back to the study!

Kobayashi Takiji

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Kobayashi Takiji is one of the most well-known writers of proletariat literature in Japan. He was born in Akita in 1903 into a farming family. While at school, he became interested in literature, and because of the economic hardship that surrounded him, joined the labour movement.

Kobayashi is most famous for his story “Kani Kosen”, which has been translated into English as The Cannery Boat, The Factory Ship and The Crab Cannery Ship. It tells the story of the harsh conditions endured by the men on the ship, and how they stood up to their cruel manager. He wrote it in 1929, but it really took off as a best seller in 2008, around the time of the financial crisis, when people were examining their working lives and conditions.

Kobayashi’s writings, along with his support of the banned Japanese Communist Party marked him out as a potential threat, and he was put under surveillance by the special police. He was arrested and imprisoned numerous times, before officially joining the Communist Party and going underground. The latest translation of The Crab Cannery Ship includes a story called The Life of a Party Member, which offers an insight into the lives of activists.

A special police spy infiltrated the party, and he was arrested. He died of torture at the hands of the special police on this day, 20th February, in 1933. He was 29 years old.

Nakamura Tempu – Heaven’s wind

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My favourite Japanese non-fiction writer is Nakamura Tempu. The name “Tempu” can be translated as “heaven’s wind”.

Nakamura Tempu was born in 1876, and died in 1968. He is known as the founder of Japanese yoga, and as a public speaker on self-help. He began his career as a military spy in China in the Russo-Japanese War. Out of 113 spies, he was one of only 9 who made it back to Japan alive. Soon after, he developed TB, and was given months to live.In an effort to save his own life, he travelled the world in search of a cure. He enrolled in Columbia University and studied for a medical degree, and travelled to Europe. Getting no closer to a cure, he decided to return to Japan to die in his homeland.

On his way back, he met an Indian yoga master in Egypt. This yoga master took Tempu back to India with him, and for two and a half years taught him yoga and meditation. The way of life Tempu experienced more or less cured him of TB, and he lived to the age of 92. Back in Japan, he established his own association based on teachings he had learnt. His philosophy was “Shinshin Toitsu Do”, or “mind and body unification”. The organization he established is still going strong today. Over the years, Tempu’s teachings have influenced a range of people, from famous business owners, and politicians, to sports stars.

I have read most of Tempu’s books in Japanese. One of my favourite quotes from him is “okoranai, osorenai, kanashimanai” – “don’t get angry, don’t be scared, don’t be sad”. Whatever happens in life, he says we are to remember these three phrases. When times are tough, I recall these words and they have a calming effect.

Tempu believed humans are supported by six kinds of power, or energy. These are physical power, courage, the ability to judge, the ability to make decisions, vitality, and capability. Combined, these make up the life force.

If you can read Japanese, I recommend his most popular work Unmei wo hiraku （運命を拓く）. As far as I know, his books have not been translated into English, but there are books about his philosophy and life. These are The Teachings of Tempu: Practical Meditation for Daily Life by H.E. Davey, and Heaven’s Wind: The Life and Teachings of Nakamura Tempu-A Mind-Body Integration Pioneer by Stephen Earle. They are well worth a read if you are looking to improve your life, or discover a new way to live!

Winter returns

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It was 18 degrees on Sunday. I thought winter was over and spring was on its way. The gentle scent of plum blossoms carried on the warm breeze, and the lake in the centre of the city was calm and deep blue. It was the perfect day to go running, which I did early in the morning.

Fast forward to today, and I am digging my car out from under the snow in -3 degrees. I had to go out this morning, and the roads were icy and slushy. I heard some cars got stuck in the snow, and caused long traffic jams. I got home safely and have spent the day working next to my heater.

Winters here have been odd for the past few years. Last year we had hardly any snow. It was the same the year before that. Three years ago, we had the worst snowfall in 35 years. I remember New Year’s Eve about 11 years ago. The snow was that bad, the power was out most of the night in the city. Not a great way to welcome in the new year.

I live on the Sea of Japan coast. It is the cold side of Japan, especially farther north from where I am. They have harsh winters. I guess I don’t have much to complain about compared to the people who live up there.

People tell me stories of when they were young – the area where I live was a “snow country”. They spent most of the winter digging out their houses and cars. It is a very rural area, and I can imagine what it was like 30 or 40 years ago, blanketed by snow for most of the winter. When it snows, the landscape is monochrome. Time seems to stop. There is a stillness and calm about the mountains, forests and rice fields. If the roads weren’t so bad, I’d make the short journey out of the city centre to the farming communities and take pictures.

Anyway, the weather forecast says it is going to be 18 degrees again on Sunday. Maybe this is our last flurry of snow for the winter. I hope so.