August 17
It goes without saying that beautiful things are made under the influence of money and power. There are cultures that were born due to this. But the beauty that is born from everyday life has a different brilliance. The embroidery of certain Asian minority peoples is, for example, something a mother made for her daughter.
August 18
The local high schoolsâ baseball best 8 had been decided. The day before the match that would enter us into the best 4 if we won, my mum said to me excitedly: âIf you win tomorrow, itâll be the âeight fourâ huh?â Thatâs a deodorant, mumâŠ
August 19
The are players who just joined and players who are leaving. There are people who say that you become stronger through addition and those who calculate through subtraction. Itâs a question of what it is in total. Itâs ok if itâs not a total of +10 or +20. If itâs a total of +1, I feel like I am going to win.
August 20
Words are not all-powerful and [canât express] everything. I like that inconvenience.
August 21
Whales came from a different direction than fish, but became the same shape. This is called âconvergent evolutionâ. The tail fin of fish is vertical, the tail fin of whales is horizontal. Because they once lived on land, their body shape became like that. I mean, it is often said that the way a whale moves its tail is the same to the movement of a dogâs tail when it is sprinting.
This is fascinating! Hereâs more info about the dog tail thing.
August 22
Actually, when your contact with society declines, at the same time, your calves and thighs will become thinner in the blink of an eye.
August 23
Even now, I think there is nothing as nice as time [spent] writing letters. There is also something very good about the âroundaboutnessâ of a letter. For example, when one begins writing something like âHow are you doing? Summer will soon be overâ in a letter, the writer is thinking things like âItâd be nice to go fishing together in autumnâ while they are imagining the image of being together with the addressee.
August 24
When it comes to drawing, itâs better if thereâs a line that only that person has, or a colour only that person can produce. But there was an instant where I clearly understood that I didnât have that. Thatâs when, with an approach close to âdefianceâ, I shifted to a method where I draw with shapes that anyone can use, such as straight lines or arcs.
August 25
Actually, in a scrum even a lightweight team can jostle if theyâre bunched up together. If they try to push while theyâre scattered on their own, their force is not transferred well. A good team cares about how to huddle together, rather than how to push the opponent. In the end, you are better able to push if you are huddled together.
August 26
On my PDA I had enabled the mode that turns off the notification sounds and notifies you by vibration. At home, I put it in the window sill to charge it. One night, there was a âbubububuâ sound coming from the window sill, so I thought âaah an emailâ. When I turned it over, it turned out a drone beetle had flown in through the window screen.
August 27
Pokey in âMOTHERâ is a perfect heel (baddie). Whether people like him or laugh at him, he is a person who does purely horrible things. However, for whatever reason I like him. Maybe that is what being a âgood baddieâ is all about.
August 28
I have come to think of shame as an asset as well. The embarrassment that I experienced due to my youthful indiscretions, I canât experience that anymore. If I imagine that the embarrassments of that time or another had not been there, then to my surprise I can think that Iâm glad they were there, that itâs better they were there.
August 29
Because a poem is born when the heart is stirred, the emotional uplift of love is very compatible with tanka. So when love is not going well or at times of a broken heart, overwhelmingly good tanka are being born. However negative the emotion, the instance they become 31 (misohito) characters, they become a positive legacy. I would be happy if you learn this method of making the most of that [tanka] expression.
August 30
I have gradually become able to draw what I was thinking of little by little. I think it was around the time of âPing Pongâ, I think, that I began being able to think âAh, so this is my placeâ. I have come to feel very at ease because of that.
August 31
Even in the evening of the day of the earthquake, there were people who were trying to say something even somewhat interesting. That evening, even though I was gazing upon the city dumbstruck, I calmed down when [someone] told me something kind of funny. There was a âbalanceâ. It wasnât like âthereâs only thisâ.
September cover page
When [he] strikes the fish gong it emits midday mosquitos.
September 1
The disaster prevention officer Minoru Kiharaâs bag to bring with you in case of emergency (Pattern A: items needed for eating):
Rice, water, gomashio, canned food, gas burner, a gas cartridge, outdoor cooking utensils, tableware, food wrap, plastic bag.
The disaster prevention officer Minoru Kiharaâs bag to bring with you in case of emergency (Pattern B: items that enable you to spend one night warmly):
Sleeping bag, space blanket, blue plastic sheet, packing tape, nylon band, radio, candle, lighter.
September 2
My middle school daughter called âotabaâ, that excellent sweet from Kyoto, âdoyasaâ.
September 3
Okamura: My own interpretation is that as far as human life is concerned, happiness is important and marriage is probably one way of becoming happy. But, because all the people I look up toăŒnot only John Lennon and Yoko Ono, but all of the Beatles, and you as well, Mr ItoiăŒare married, I feel like I want to try getting married.
Itoi: But the people whose names you mentioned just now, they all experienced both marriage and divorce.
September 4
I think that what makes life fun is, ultimately, finding longing. Itâs also finding it by yourself.
September 5
When Iâm writing, the friction between the material of the paper and the lead of my mechanical pencil, in other words, the course or smooth feeling, goes along my fingers and I can sense it. Itâs not just visual, itâs important information reaching me through my fingertips. I feel like the such a delicate sensation doesnât readily reach me when it is expressed through using a keyboard and mouse for input.
September 6
People live towards their hobbies. So what is a hobby? A hobby is âwhat makes you feel like you want to be alive tomorrowâ. Being happy because that hobby is there, is why people feel like they want to live.
September 7
In the case of a standard size, 53 meters tall H-2A rocket, its weight when it is not carrying a satellite is about 289 tonnes, but when the fuel is empty, its weight is about 8-10% of that. What I often put forth as an example, is that itâs like an aluminium beer can. When youâve drunk the beer thatâs inside, it becomes completely light, itâs that image. The fuel tank, too, [is made] of a 25mm thick aluminium sheet that is shaved down to 2mm.
September 8
This is something I say as a joke, but you can just write lies in your notebook or diary. When as much as 30 years have passed, even you yourself can no longer recognise which things are lies.
September 9
Most likely at some point everything will become a memory. No, âeverythingâ is an exaggeration. You will mostly forget both the good things and the bad things. They will most likely become mottled memories. Thatâs why I want to live my life digesting each day well.
Bit of a liberal translation in the last sentence, but I think thatâs what the author meant.
September 10
The other day, as I was shopping I got the idea of making jelly, but I couldnât readily find the gelatin. When I was looking about the shop while thinking âgelatin, gelatin (ăŒă©ăăł)â, I saw a shop clerk so I thought âletâs try asking themâ, but the word that came out was âsuimachinâ.
September 11
Itâs not like humans think of such great ideas one after another, right? But by making a note of the things that you think âthatâs great!â in an unexpected moment, it is sometimes useful at a later time. Words, like those you write in a proposal, with the power to persuade people, donât come out when you are facing a computer. The ârawâ keywords that you will forget if you donât write them down when you think of them are actually more important.
September 12
I feel almost no desire to go on a trip or have a holiday. But when it comes to drawing, I think âI want to draw more like thisâ or âI want to draw this wayâ a lot. Thatâs why, fundamentally, time spent drawing is relaxation.
September 13
It is science that âtranslatesâ nature into words that humans can understand. If humans canât understand, it canât be called science. Science is the act of explaining nature. Furthermore, you have to explain it using a human brain, with such eccentricities. Thatâs why translators have come to be important. Those translators are scientists. So science is a very human-like behaviour.
September 14
The fact that not one person, but multiple people are reading [my work] means that, actually, I can put my mind at ease when I am writing. Itâs also fair to say that itâs very helpful that I am writing for people who have the freedom not to read [my work]. I want to thank both those who read [my work] and those who donât.
September 15
What sort of things did the Manyou people eat? It goes without saying that it was a time without fridges, so fermented foods emerged. Narezushi. Itâs amazing. There are things that donât go off even after 30, 40 years have passed. Or pickles. Even in the mokkan of Naraâs Heijo-kyo, there are descriptions of pickles. In fact, there were already as many as 27 kinds of pickles.
September 16
Itâs difficult to make a small difference. In fact, there are a great many leathers that look similar. Itâs fun to find the one among them thatâs like âthis is it!â. In the end, that is also conveyed to our customers who like leather, and it will be loved and become a âstapleâ that will be used for 10, 20 years.
September 17
The reason I like hotels is because they always start from zero. In the room, the necessary things are neatly placed where they should be. Every day they put them in order in the same way. Sheets and towels are freshly laundered. I am wondering if I canât do this at home as well. When I start something, I donât want to start once Iâve tidied up, I want to have it in the same state every time.
September 18
At home I asked my child to give me a hand, saying âplease poipoi (meaning: toss) this!â. The other day at work I accidentally asked a colleague âcan I poipoi this?â. My colleague, who has a kid the same age, responded âyou can poipoi it!â.
September 19
From my point of view as a performer, it would be a big mistake if I showed Kunimuraâs face. If the role is an old man running a Chinese restaurant, the old man running a Chinese restaurant has to be there. If he isnât, itâs just Kunimura doing cosplay. Watching something like that isnât interesting at all, or thatâs what I think anyway.
This is Kunimura himself speaking.
September 20
When Darwin decided to reflect on the evolution of living beings, he had no choice but to climb to a higher perspective and look at the whole issue, and he grappled with it resolutely for his whole life. I am also very impressed by the breadth of his perspective and his bravery and mentality to surpass societyâs received wisdoms.
September 21
If there arenât any new discoveries, itâs no fun at all for a writer. If there are no discoveries, it rapidly spoils it and they starts feeling fed up with writing. If they are writing while theyâre fed up with it, less and less will come out. Thatâs the sort of vicious cycle theyâll enter. After all, you they to evolve. In order to evolve, they have to be constantly progressing in new directions. Such a person moves up aiming for their own route and come to know the past more widely and deeply.
September 22
If they are made to do a side job, they canât do it well and they canât do it in numbers either. But with art activities, there are no directions, no quotas, no failure. Moreover, they can get recognition that they are amazing. In other words, their environment up to then had made those people into disabled people. If they do what they are good at, they are truly amazing people.
September 23
When weâre looking at a picture book, or reading a novel, or listening to a song, or watching a movie, or watching a drama, or eating food, or listening to someoneâs rubbish story, in all of those cases, weâre being deceived. We love the time spent being wonderfully deceived and we spend that time asking the maker to deceive us more and more.
September 24
Because rugby is the sort of sport where âthe winner wins and the loser losesâ, there are no miracles. Thatâs why, in the interview after the 2015 game against South Africa, I said: âThis wasnât a miracle, it was an inevitabilityâ.
September 25
If weâre going at a very energetic pace at this point, why have we been [working on it] little by little for 4 years? Thatâs the way it is though. You should finish it up in one go. Otherwise, you hardly finish anything at all.
September 26
I think that cats know all about what humans expect from them or think about them and things like that. You can use whatever metaphor for them, but to call them gods, that would be an exaggeration.
September 27
I was working part-time at a convenience store. When I was serving customers at the register, there was a nostalgic smell I had smelled before somewhere coming from an old man. While I was wondering âwhere have I smelled it beforeâŠ?â, I handed that old man his change and accidentally said âit smells like 300 yen.â The old man with the nostalgic smell let it pass, accepted his change and went home.
September 28
For example, they sometimes say âlive your life thinking that today is manâs last dayâ, donât they? Thatâs not possible. For me, at any rate, itâs not possible. Life or death, that word alone takes on a life of its own.
September 29
Perhaps people who donât desire to express themselves are more adept at impressions. Itâs not like âlisten to my songâ, but it is like âlisten to this person Iâm playingâ. âCause Iâm doing it on that personâs behalfâ. Thatâs because when I was in my teens, those people made a deep impression on me.
September 30
âNot being lazyâ becomes a wonderful quality for a person to live well.
October cover page
Autumn has become brighter
In the depths of this brightness
There seems to be a quiet echo
October 1
I have been looking at Van Gogh for a while, and I feel like I understand just a little what sort of person Van Gogh was. For a mangaka itâs like that as well, itâs important to find oneâs way to oneâs own personal touch.
October 2
As for âget together!â in dramas, donât get together! Grit your teeth and endure. Good patience. Old BL was like that. Gritting your teeth and enduring was the aesthetic of old BL. Like, enduring and thinking hard. Enduring, enduring, thatâs what BL was about. If I were asked âplease make a BLâ, they would endure. A pretty boy and a pretty boy, I would make them hold out. I wouldnât even let them kiss.
Man, this one took a lot of context to figure out!
October 3
Human life [tends to] get progressively sadder if you leave it to its own devices, and music might be like that as well. If thatâs the case, something intelligent is required in order to make it more fun.
October 4
There is a double-edged sword kind of aspect to training your power of imagination. Thanks to your power of imagination you can be rescued from anything, but you can also get very depressed from completely irrelevant things. I have to persuade myself continuously that âthere is sad news, but depending on your way of looking at it, it can also be so interesting, right?â. I make drawings for that reason.
October 5
One day, when I was in middle school. At recess, I went to the class next door to return a textbook I had borrowed. Intending to call my friend Maichan, I said with a loud voice âeveryone!â. The whole class turned around and I was so startled that I stopped thinking.
October 6
The shape and colour of insects show the climate of a region. I have come to think this as I have been watching Japanese and foreign insects from morning to evening. You could say the same thing about birds. So, for example, even if youâre kidnapped, blindfolded and taken somewhere by plane, you can make a rough estimate of where you are if you look at the insects that are there.
October 7
I often say âif you feel like you are going to cough, stop it with your elbowâ. Because if you stop it with your hand, there is a possibility of transmitting it from that hand to another person. If [you stop it with] your elbow, well⊠youâre not really going to touch people with it, right? I hope cough etiquette will become more widespread.
Amen to that!
October 8
Well, itâs because he doesnât know how to use the right amount of force yet. He tries to pick at my nose with incredible force or he tries to crawl while using his face as a base. Oh well, itâs fine, whatever he does. Whatever he does, being in a good mood is a great act of filial piety.
October 9
Curiosity means that you have a readiness (or a subconscious urge) of âitâs ok to changeâ. [Itâs like that for] dogs, poets, athletes, managers. I blunty say âchanging is being aliveâ. If thatâs difficult to understand, Iâll say it the other way round. âComing to a halt is dyingâ.
October 10
As for the etymology of âartâ, it basically means âskillâ, from the Latin word âarsâ. So the skills used to live are at the origin of art. For example, in the olden days, the skill of medicine that healed peopleâs illnesses was considered an art. So however many times it is said âitâs an art!â, if it doesnât have the slightest relation to âskills for livingâ, I am not all that interested.
Had some trouble figuring out the meaning of ăăă. Turns out itâs æ ă and itâs used in a somewhat figurative sense.
October 11
To the generation that is about 60, I really want to give some advice. When you want to find a new passion yourself, you should have a rest. Take a rest where you donât think about anything. If you do that, a passion for new things, things you like, will come out. Thatâs why Iâd like to say ârest creates energyâ.
October 12
Ito: I say something like ârugby is made out of Pythagorasâ theoremâ. In rugby, you throw the ball diagonally behind you, right? So thatâs the base times height divided by 2. If you watch [a game] and apply this concept it will be more interesting throughout the game.
Tomizawa: I donât really know what youâre talking about.
Date: You get it, right?!
October 13
We were talking about cream puffs (ă·ă„ăŒăŻăȘăŒă ) and when I was supposed to use some âăăăȘăźâ aizuchi, I accidentally said âă·ă„ăŒăȘăźâ. When I continued to have my conversation without change and with an unconcerned air, after an interval, they said âdid you just say ă·ă„ăŒăȘăź?â.
October 14
I saw the musical âThe King and Iâ starring Ken Watanabe in London. When I left the theatre, the stage door was open and right when I thought âo, letâs go in!â I could see Ken in the back, saying âgood job!â, surrounded by his co-stars and staff. In that moment Kenâs smiling face was amazing. So I stopped myself going in. I felt like I would be able to work harder if I went home like that. And I thought âone day, I too will go thereâ.
October 15
50 years ago, around the time when I started following the path of a drag queen, I didnât have an image for how I was going to make a living. But this is how our lives became movies and books. Itâs not like we came to do something in order to become people who would go down in history. All [we did] was just continuing to be ourselves.
October 16
The secret to continuing with your knitting enjoyably is ânot to be too disappointed when youâve made a mistakeâ. For me there are often times where it doesnât go well. Naturally, I think âaaahâ a little. But while I have been creating I have reached the point where I can accept that such things happen. [Taking] the things that went well as encouragement, I overcome the times when it doesnât go well. Taking all of those things into account, thatâs the real pleasure of knitting, I think.
October 17
Before winter truly arrives, humans (as animals) begin preparing for the cold season little by little. We become increasingly accustomed to wearing thick clothes. In the long nights that donât become light indefinitely, we start reading books. In the coldness of our futons, we think of people we want to meet.
October 18
When we read stories, we enter a world different from the real world and return after having fun for a while. On the other hand, with science picture books like our âFriends of Scienceâ you enjoy the real world itself. When you live in this society, there are many things you donât like, that you think you donât like. Even if, for argumentâs sake, you consider that to be true, I wonder if itâs possible to cultivate the âpower to affirmâ this world that youâre living in in this instant.
October 19
Although I am a fortune teller, that doesnât mean I know everything. If I took a position of âI know all the answers because I tell fortunesâ, I donât think words would ever reach me anymore.
October 20
When you look at other people, [do so] individually and carefully. Look at their irreplaceable individuality. For example, when you discover a talent for writing, before giving coarse praise like âyou are a prodigyâ or âyou have literary talentâ, stop and read that personâs writing well and try to tell them honestly how your heart was moved, concretely, part by part, like âIn this passage, in this part, these sort of feelings surged upâ.
October 21
About our son, a working adult, my husband said earnestly: âHeâs a manifesto. He is in raptures about himself.â âAh, a narcissist, right?â I conjectured, having been married [to this man] for a long time.
October 22
I think that God gave this to me, this role of singing songs. Being this age, itâs something I think about. When I was young, all [I wanted to do] was making hits out of my songs, competing in the Red and White singing contest, winning the Japan Record Award, just those things. Itâs was recently when I realised that this âis my roleâ. I think God gave me the role of singing songs, the ability to sing songs.
October 23
When it comes to faith, we tend to think that it is something that has been established with very clear demarcations and principles. However, faith is probably something with more of an amplitude. There are some that are more unconscious, some that are multilayered. There are cases where one might say that activities suck as folk customs are also a creditable faith.
October 24
Secrets to continuing to eat food in a delicious way.
- Eating something salty after something sweet (not eating things with the same flavour successively)
- Eating western food after eating Japanese food (eating food from different countries after another; the same goes for sweets)
- Eating something with a different temperature (like oshiruko, which isnât ice, after shaved ice)
October 25
There are times when we think about things assertively, focussing on âconservative measuresâ.
October 26
In all translations of âRomeo and Julietâ made by men, Juliet humbles herself. But in the original text nothing like âăăă ăăâ is written! Romeo and Juliet are on an equal footing. When I was asked at one time âThere are already loads of interpretations of Romeo and Juliet in the world, why are you translating it, Ms. Matsuoka?â, I reflexively answered âThatâs because I am a womanâ.
October 27
I am of the opinion that âanimals donât have the same general ideasâ. There is no âequalsâ. For a monkey, [a=b] and [b=a] are different.
October 28
In the words that were said to me by my maid, who had been coming to my house for a while: âSir, you live really conscientiously, donât you?â. That made me happy. Thatâs how I want to be. In my own Soraidoufu I included the line âPeople are hurt by peopleâs words, people are saved by peopleâs wordsâ. Living conscientiously. This is a good phrase, isnât it?
October 29
When I was doing some shopping at the convenience store, the total came to 777 yen. I got change for a thousand yen note and when I looked into my wallet, there were 7 thousand yen notes and when I counted the small change, it was 777 yen.
This probably has something to do with 7 being considered a lucky number in Buddhism.
October 30
Let me tell you an unscientific story. Once I started polishing my hammer, my records have improved. I use various detergents. So while I am polishing, I think. When I am polishing throughout my thinking, the hammer comes to feel like a part of myself. I think, polish, clean, repeat. From that moment onward, gradually my records started improving. Somehow, I wonder if the act of polishing and thinking hasnât been having an impact on a unconscious level.
October 31
Generally kitty cats cling to their owners or occupy their ownerâs space, but it seems like Menma prefers for her body to slightly be touching the edge [of the bed].
November cover page
You, for example, couldnât you go and snatch me away like one would scoop up rustling fallen leaves?
Written in slightly more modern Japanese:
ăăšăă°ć ăăăŁăšèœăĄè ăăăăăă« ç§ăăăăŁăŠèĄăŁăŠăŻăăăŹă
Some interpretations (1, 2).
November 1
Just thanking someone with a âthank youâ when you get something may be inconvenient. Being told âthank youâ by someone is a human right. At that time time I truly understood something important from the bottom of my heart.
November 2
The efficacy of striped pajamas is enormous. From way back, I have continued to be called âa type who starts with the looksâ, but starting with looks isnât a bad thing. But, strangely enough, when I wear these, I get a feeling like âIâm going to bedâ or âletâs get upâ. I guess one could say that my mood and the way I demarcate my time have become more gracious.
November 3
Ceramics is a cycle of decisions. While the clay hasnât hardened, there is too much freedom. But when it has completely hardened, you canât move it. So you have to make all the decisions one by one. Itâs a constant cycle of decisions. A series of decisions.
November 4
The question of âwhat was there before the big bang?â itself presupposes existence. Letâs just assume for now that things exist. âWhat was there, before the thing that brought forth that existence was madeâ, thatâs the question. To begin with, doubt existence itself. Existence, what sort of thing is that?
November 5
While I was out with my family, I was really hungry, so we decided to go to a Chinese restaurant. I was asked âYour name?â by the waiter and I said âItâs ramenâ. It seems there was nothing but ramen in my head. âNameâ sounded like âramenâ.
November 6
When I was 19, I donât think I ever wouldâve been on Insta or anything like that. Because I was certain that actors should be mysterious, so I thought that actors sharing their private lives was unseemly. But once I got a family, that changed. My private life is an uncontained leak, but I think itâs ok if I perform [my acting] to a degree of perfection where Iâm not letting [the audience] sense it even for a moment.
November 7
When a hawk spots its prey, its tallons are firmly filled with strength. The feeling of tension before a hawk takes off is transmitted through the glove that I wear on my arm. So even if I close my eyes, I can tell whether it flew towards a prey or whether it flew for fun by the difference in the tension of the force thatâs exerted onto my arm.
November 8
It is easy to forget, but everyone is living for a limited timespan and we donât know when that will be snapped off. Itâs easy to forget though.
November 9
In middle school I came to imitate the handwriting of Takurou Yoshida, and later Makoto Wado, and I perfected my current handwriting. âI want to have the handwriting of people I admireâ, so I avoided the matter of whether my handwriting was good or bad.
November 10
Before you know it, people come to be remembered more by their date of death than by their birthday. As I thought about this, suddenly I realised. I donât have a date of death yet. âI am alive. I donât have a date of death yetâ. Thatâs right. One day, when my date of death is decided, ladies and gentlemen, please think of it something like âDid he live until this day?â My birthday is mine, my date of death is everyoneâs.
November 11
Although it is an old poem, when it comes who interprets it, it is us who live in the present. Thatâs why Manyoushuu research is also scholarship that probes ourselves, now living in the present, in relation to the past.
November 12
When Iâm deciding on the advisability of a launch, I can give a mechanical OK if various parameters and values are within a certain range. But sometimes I have a bad feeling about it even though the values are within range⊠âSomethingâ is different from usual. In such cases I stop for a moment. In cases where I canât be technically confident that the value I feel somewhat uneasy about is normal or ok, we stop the launch.
November 13
The time my friend had an offer for a promotion. My friend, who isnât confident, meant to say to the superior who brought them that offer âyou give me too much creditâ, but ended up saying âyou give me too little creditâ. Ultimately, they ended up accepting it.
November 14
When I am giving calligraphy instruction, my students sometimes become monotonous. Even though they are convinced they are thinking about development, the brush erosion itself is not developing and it becomes the same tone. There is a little change, but it hasnât changed substantially. At those times I say âhave a breakâ. But even if the same person tried to sleep, think it over and change it overnight, it doesnât amount to much. However, if they donât build up such things, a person can never change.
November 15
I woke up in the middle of the night. Somehow it had been a long time. It such a time as this, the best thing is to read the book I have left at my bedside. Getting up and waiting for dawn is fine. Going to sleep a little longer works as well. Sometimes it is also ok to wander about at night. Everyone occasionally wander about at night.
November 16
Why do I go looking for wild hen-of-the-woods, pushing through the forests of the roadless wilderness of Akan, to the point of risking a bear encounter? Most of all, my motive is âbecause itâs funâ. In order to look for wild mushrooms, you need knowledge, strength, experience and luck. Isnât the smell of adventure strong? The act itself of looking for mushrooms is fun, but actually, whether you find hen-of-the-woods or not, thatâs secondary or tertiary.
November 17
If thereâs an environment where good people can demonstrate their abilities, good people will probably be able to demonstrate their abilities. People, and creating a âspaceâ where people can play an active role without worries. I think thatâs the most important thing. People, and [such a] space. That is the root of âcreationâ.
November 18
When I think about it once again, the common words âdeveloping countryâ and âundeveloped countryâ are careless. There is nature to look up to, there are environments suitable for living in, there is history from ancient times, there are towns built in the Middle Ages, there are the smiling faces of the people who live there. They are an equal asset, that mankind has pursued and cultivated roughly equally, regardless of race or ethnicity, since civilisation was born. Each region and ethnicity has equally sufficiently âdevelopedâ.
November 19
When you go and look at the nature thatâs in the area where you live, thatâs fun. I think itâs ok to start with going outside and looking around.
November 20
We have no choice but to make a smiling face first. If we make a smiling face, the other side will also smile. The person on the side of dying has no choice but to ellicit a reaction in the person on the side of living. For example, take my wife, what makes her smile is the fact that I am smiling. Thankfully, I am only doing things I want to do now and I am living every day enjoyably, and as a result I really get a sense that this is leading to my wifeâs and sonâs smiles.
November 21
âYou can eat that cheese tert thatâs in the kitchen.â
âCheese tert?â
âNo, cheese torta, huh? Cheese terta, cheese tarte!â
The correct word is âcheese tartâ.
November 22
When I draw with as little effort as possible, it also become more peaceful in my head. Conversely, when I accidentally put in effort, my head becomes too aware and itâs no good. So I have to relax my mind and not put in any effort. If I do that, it goes smoothly.
November 23
With the popularisation of smartphones, the general public has also come to take good pictures. When it comes to childrenâs pictures, itâs surely best for parents to take them. I wonder if, in such cases, it is the professional who takes pictures that convince the viewer in any situation.
November 24
I have become increasingly embarrassed to react like âouch!â. The pain I experience during my practice, my team mates might also be feeling. Even so, we are all making a calm face. I have come to think that what makes a rugby player is making a calm face and remaining on the pitch, even when youâre feeling pain.
November 25
For life, instability is important. Why is that? Because once itâs become stable, itâs a corpse. All living beings are moving barely at just the right spot, while being unstable.
Within the context of growing tadpoles into frogs and the âjust rightâ temperature that it requires.
November 26
Whatâs fun is trying to read in a Kansai accent. There are the Kantou folk song, but the greater part of the people who left poems in the Manyoushuu were basically people from the Kinki region. Thatâs why, when you try to read the poems in a Kansai intonation, there is yet another charm. On the whole, it makes it whoaaa. There are also ones that become unromantic. Discover a whole new Manyoushuu!
November 27
The shouting and clapping, those are by themselves songs and pictures. It is true that even in the shouting, oneâs imbued experiences from the past come out. Sometimes the clapping is doing the editing, sometimes it makes the instruments of the other members sound better.
November 28
In the case of illustrations, of course I myself am important, but the person who commissions me is equally important. In other words, I think illustration is something that guides the project of the person who is commissioning me to a point of âhow they want it in the endâ. At the same time, it is the person who commissions me who expands the range and possibilities of my images.
November 29
At my part-time job, an izakaya, a customer that had drunk warmed sake said: âThis sake becomes warmer when you heat it!â ⊠âIt becomes mellower when you heat itâ is what he probably meant to say.
November 30
In the Nara period, it is noteworthy that the imperial court managed salt production. And then, there is sake. Before then, sake had a strong âsake for the godsâ character, but in the period spanning 130 years between the Asuka period and the late Nara period, sake became âsake for the peopleâ.In the Manyoushuu there are various settings in which sake makes an appearance, such as Ootomo no Tabitoâs âCloudy Sakeâ or Yamanoue no Okuraâs âSake Kasu Drinkâ.
December cover page
Are the tips of the winter treesâ branches, naked because their leaves have fallen, cold and lonely? No, they are smiling cheerfully. Because spring, summer and autumn are gathered in the tips of those branches and they are enjoying themselves while waiting for their turn.
December 1
At the site of my live radio broadcast, no matter what important sponsor is on the other side of the glass, or director or producer, it is my mouth that becomes the final âflood gateâ or outlet for everything. I have no choice but to decide whether the words coming out of my mouth will sink of swim.
December 2
The Joumon people being clever means, in short, that they possess the power of survival. For example, in the coldest period snow piles up to 3, 4 meters in this region. It is under such circumstances that the Joumon people lived as well. They had the ability to survive.
December 3
Mr. Itoi was watching television, and he thought that the word 'ochitsuke (calm down)'ăŒthat was written on the set of 'Sanma no ManmaâăŒwas interesting and it seemed that if he got a famous calligrapher to write it and made goods with it as a joke, it would sell very well. I think I too should talk more calmly soon and I should do something for young people and middle aged people soon as well.
December 4
Though you could call it a fantasy map, that doesnât mean that youâre drawing an ideal neighbourhood. If you are single-mindedly including your ideals into the map, it is no more than a visualisation of simply âwhat do I desire?â by means of a map. That quest will soon be put to an end.
December 5
Mr. T had turned 101. While I was helping him get out bed, I was hugged really tightly. However old people get, there are always times when they need a hug. Mr. T didnât even know my name. But I was chosen by this person, who looked me in the face, smiled at me and squeezed me. When I squeezed him tight in return, he laughed âheheheâ. In my job I can be the one who gives someone their last hug.
December 6
Every day there are numerous things that arenât fun. There are things that I may be bad at or not good at, but still have to do, as well as things that I feel I have to do because of my position. But I do them while thinking âhow can this become fun?â. Continuing to do this is actually fun.
December 7
Japanâs 2015 rugby delegation was even preparing for âlisteningâ to the South African anthem before the match. At the 2011 world cup match against France, we heard our opponentsâ anthem for the first time before the match, and when I told our coach Eddy that I had been emotionally engulfed by it, it was established that âwell, letâs listen to South Africaâs anthem beforehand, thenâ. I was proud that I had done everything I could do to prepare for the South Africa match.
December 8
A magazine (éèȘ) is certainly é, and that é isnât a bad thing. It is placing its feet in real life. It feels like it is properly standing on its own feet in this é (that is, to be mingled) situation.
December 9
âWhat is Kesennnuma like now?â may well be the question I have been asked the most since I came to Kesennuma after the earthquake disaster. And it was also the most difficult question. âThere are people who are doing well, and people who are doing badlyâ. Even now it hasnât changed that it varies depending on the person, so that is the only way to put it. So in short, it means that there are sad and difficult things, but there are also many fun and bright things.
December 10
I repeatedly show even my work in progress to other people. I show it and instantly asked for advice. Even when I was at my parental home, I was always showing it to my mother. There is, after all, a limit to how objective I myself can be.
December 11
Ayaya: âFor a factor that seems irrelevant to a drama, but that is actually important, there is the quality of the official website.â
Arai: âIn my past experience when I have gone to check out a drama, thatâs not irrelevant. For a carefully made drama, the official website is also carefully made.â
Morishita: âWhether various things like the preparatory period, the budget, the number of staff have been done properly becomes apparent in the quality of the official website.â
December 12
On a certain day, close to my daugherâs wedding, I said to my daughter who was getting married: âSeems like your mum has been getting a marine bridge, huh?â. âWhat bridge is that?â, she said. I didnât know what she meant, and only when it was explained to me did I understand.
ăăȘăłăăȘăăž â ăăȘăăžăă«ăŒ
December 13
For oneâs health it is best to be pampered. A warm house, warm food, a proper bed, you can live longer if you grow up in such an environment. People in the olden days being healthier is no more than an urban legend.
December 14
I want it to be possible for our children to be able to do things as a matter of course that arenât to their advantage. Even if they arenât parents and children, I want it to be like that for my friends as well. People who attempt to gain only advantages, are easily found out for it, and become only that sort of people.
December 15
It goes without saying, but even when we didnât have modern sports, people exercised. For example, in the Edo period there was the profession of express messenger. Every profession had exercise or skill to it. I think it was originally some kind of âhanding down of sensesâ, but now that has been cut short. I think that sort of thing is very important. I learned how to throw a hammer from my father and I think that is also a âhanding down of sensesâ.
December 16
I am often told things like âMr. Urasawa, you live such a life of leisure, youâre entrusting [everything] to your assistant and donât draw anything yourself, do you?â, but itâs exactly the opposite. It is precisely because this turned into a career that I have finally come to be able to take the time to draw by myself.
December 17
Because the speed with which evolution progresses is considerably impacted by things like the make-up of the group, or its size, a long time period may not necessarily be required. Having said that, I may not be able to see it within my lifetime. Nevertheless, if I leave [my collection] behind now, perhaps a researcher can make use of it 100, 200 years later. So I think it will turn out that I did it with that sort of goal.
December 18
I donât want to do it myself. I sing what I am given and I have them change it. Itâs all I can do, having them change it.
December 19
If you make up your mind at the stage where you have formulated a hypothesis and go âIâm not budging!â, your hypothesis may be wrong. What I am putting forward is, after all, a hypothesis. I am letting my anchor down here for now, but if I try looking into it and think it is slightly off, I raise the anchor and drift a little more.
December 20
After the old lady managing the set meal restaurant had ended a takeout order phone call, she shouted to the kitchen âKaraage set meal, hold the side dish!â. âAh, hold the rice!â, she corrected herself in a frenzy. She customers who were there errupted with laughter.
December 21
One job⊠Whichever job it is, from a pianist to a carpenter, people who have been in that world for dozens of years must certainly have accumulated some things. Of that much I am sure. Thatâs why, if only you could meet them, you could certainly hear some interesting stories. If Iâm doing an interview and it turns out uninteresting, thatâs the listenerâs problem.
December 22
One way or another I feel like I am preparing for the end, so I have become stingy with things like time and significance. Itâs not a bad thing, but itâs no use not having the allowance. If you donât mix in the fact that you intend to live in good health indefinitely, you will give being useful too much of a priority.
December 23
The times change. Circumstances change as well. Power is prone to wane, and in the midst of it many people live and die. Still, that short but beautifull and noble time should be left for eternity, itâs valuable. None other than I, who was named there, who found a purpose in life there, will leave it behind. That is why I was born. Sei Shounagon might have thought so, I think.
December 24
At work, I naturally come into contact with guys that are 20, 25 years old. Even though I tell them âI am already old enough to be your motherâ, given the chance I do definitely keep company with them, though⊠I am afraid of myself thinking that. Ah, when I get a little older, perhaps itâll get easier.
December 25
When youâre a bookseller, Christmas unintentionally becomes all about the store, and you forget about your family or children. Though, assuming there is something like an invisible thought of âI want to deliver something importantâ, I thought of something convenient, that itâd be good if what I am doing for the shop, the books, the customers, bounces from one place to the next and is delivered from somewhere to the kids
December 26
A trip is fine just as a trip. Just by setting out on a trip, the tripâs purpose is already pretty much accomplished. Itâs fine not to take the trouble of trying to bring anything back. Put your time into that place and it will exchange with the time that has been flowing in that place all along. Thatâs all you have to do.
December 27
It is the season of the night watch. This year too, the neighbourhood association officials make the rounds in turns. The sound of their wooden clappers clattering. My daughter, who heard it from inside the house, said âogre extermination!â. The correct phrase is âwatch out for fire!â. It seems like she has come to want to say âogre extermination!â without thinking whenever she hears the clattering.
December 28
Someone very close to me was having a baby, and when I looked at it as a third party, I felt that when a baby is born, at the same time a mother is born. To put it more broadly, a father is born as well, and a world with new people in it.
December 29
To love someone else, you first have to love yourself. And to love yourself, you need to have self-confidence. You being alive and existing here right now, the reason you are able to do that is because not only your parents, but also the people around you treated you with loving care. In other words, you being there now is the result of you having been loved. In that much you can be self-confident.
December 30
When once a year the job of proofreading the English text for the Hobonichi Techo, I feel relieved. The daily quotes I read while proofreading encourage me. It allows me to think âanother year, letâs do this!â.
December 31
The person who is the scriptwriter of your life, who is also the author of your biography and who is also your best reader. That person is none other than yourself. What a luxury!