I am again struggling to finish an essay for the magazine Kaze no tabibito... It's a week past the deadline and I have finally grasped the picture. I think I can finish it in a couple of hours from now...
When my son was around 3 or 4, every time I mentioned the word "deadline" he screamed and said," Daddy, don't die!" At 16 he doesn't say that anymore and instead is fast asleep. Even my dog is sleeping with her loud, bulldog snoring. And I'll have to wake up at 6:30 again tomorrow morning to go to my office.
Mental images from New Mexico are flickering right in front of me...
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Radio UNAM
This afternoon two of my poems were broadcast on the radio. It was a program on Radio UNAM and the poems were translated by Eiko Minami into Spanish. The poems were "Lisboa" and a piece from my on-going "Agendars." The radio guy read the translation and Eiko the Japanese original. I was really happy to hear the two languages alternating, following each other, thus presenting a world to which I contributed more than anyone else in its making. Of course the translator is more-than-half an author in this case! Many thanks to Eiko.
Michael Richardson once told me that the phrase "on-going" was ugly. Sorry, Michael, I used it again!
Michael Richardson once told me that the phrase "on-going" was ugly. Sorry, Michael, I used it again!
Yozakura (cherry blossoms at night) and them
Last night at midnight I saw a group of South Asians (India, Pakistan, I can't tell) quietly partying under the cherry blossom. Drinking beer (?) they were talking, not particularly in a low voice, but not so loud as to attract the neighbors' attention. Our area is changing, too, with more and more non-Japanese settling in. To me it's a welcome change; now we have a fine Indian takeaway. Xenophobia is the least admissible of human errors. I want to live in a society at least as varied as that New Zealand!
Monday, April 02, 2007
Polar (Naoki Ishikawa)
Naoki Ishikawa at barely 30 is today Japan's foremost adventurer cum photographer and essayist. An amazing guy! This time his theme is the great north, the northern circumpolar region. Fascinating images that embody Michio Hoshino and Bruce Chatwin in one. I particularly liked an image where a raven flies past the utterly white ground. The image is blurred and you get the purest impression of movement, nothing else. I also liked dogs and the town. Those far places I would never go...
Spiral Life (Yukihiro Yoshiwara, dir.)
Spiral Life: 130 years of the Yoshiwaras. This is the title of an exhibition I saw today at Emon Photo-Gallery in Hiroo.
The family has been running a photo studio in Shibata, Niigata, for six generations. Yukihiro Yoshiwara, the sixth owner-photographer of the studio, compiled rare materials found at his home to reveal the depth of more than a century hidden in this corner of northern Japan. The result is fascinating. It is difficult to precisely point out where the images' charm resides. A moving experience for anyone!
Please read my essay on the relevant subject of "death and photography" in the magazine Kaze no Tabibito's latest issue.
The family has been running a photo studio in Shibata, Niigata, for six generations. Yukihiro Yoshiwara, the sixth owner-photographer of the studio, compiled rare materials found at his home to reveal the depth of more than a century hidden in this corner of northern Japan. The result is fascinating. It is difficult to precisely point out where the images' charm resides. A moving experience for anyone!
Please read my essay on the relevant subject of "death and photography" in the magazine Kaze no Tabibito's latest issue.
Have fun shopping... in Jinbocho!
I went to Surugadai (our main campus) today to meet my two new colleagues, Shino Kuraishi (art historian and critic) and Homei Miyashita (computer scientist, composer and media artist). We didn't have much time so our talk was done standing, yet it was a fruitful encounter. I met Miyashita for the first time. We have a common goal now to open and direct (cyber-navigate?) a new graduate program in 2008 called digital content studies.
Soon after I am on the street again, roaming. As the Jinbocho area is the world's biggest congregation of the second-hand book trade, I can't help occasionally dropping in at one or more used book shops. And you never fail to find some hidden treasure!
The period 1987-1998 doesn't exist for me, bookwise. I was out of the country. From that period there still are so many Japanese books I've never seen nor noticed, even. I enjoy looking at them, browsing, and buying once in a while. And that's not limited to Japanese-language books. Today I found in a road-side bin really good foreing paperbacks. They are:
Des bateaux dans la nuit (Philippe Labro, Folio).
Des feux mal éteints (Philippe Labro, Folio).
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (Gertrude Stein, Penguin).
George Orwell (Raymond Williams, Fontana).
They do look old and faded, for sure, but still are in a very good condition, unread. Guess how much they are. 100 yen a piece! I'm all smile.
Soon after I am on the street again, roaming. As the Jinbocho area is the world's biggest congregation of the second-hand book trade, I can't help occasionally dropping in at one or more used book shops. And you never fail to find some hidden treasure!
The period 1987-1998 doesn't exist for me, bookwise. I was out of the country. From that period there still are so many Japanese books I've never seen nor noticed, even. I enjoy looking at them, browsing, and buying once in a while. And that's not limited to Japanese-language books. Today I found in a road-side bin really good foreing paperbacks. They are:
Des bateaux dans la nuit (Philippe Labro, Folio).
Des feux mal éteints (Philippe Labro, Folio).
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (Gertrude Stein, Penguin).
George Orwell (Raymond Williams, Fontana).
They do look old and faded, for sure, but still are in a very good condition, unread. Guess how much they are. 100 yen a piece! I'm all smile.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Ashes and Snow (Gregory Colbert)
I also saw Gregory Colbert's exhibition: Ashes and Snow at the Nomadic Museum at Odaiba. The museum is an interesting portable architecture designed by Shigeru Ban. The show is sponsored by the Rolex Institute.
The whole show looks very nice and interesting. Images are great but incredibly human-centric, although their central theme is interspecies communication, seemingly. The images, beautifully rendered on Japanese paper, belong basically to the circus rather than any miraculous occurence in the nature. They are fascinating and at the same time they have something that put me off. They are in a way by their own essence a thorough denial of nature.
I wanted to buy some postcards or something, however. It was not worth asking the price. A mini-sized accordion book of 16 or so photographs, 1600 yen. A nice flip book, 1600 yen. A DVD, 6000 plus. And a boxed set of prints and catalogue (?), 3,500,000 yen! Nice price. And this belongs to another layer of the world than mine!
The whole show looks very nice and interesting. Images are great but incredibly human-centric, although their central theme is interspecies communication, seemingly. The images, beautifully rendered on Japanese paper, belong basically to the circus rather than any miraculous occurence in the nature. They are fascinating and at the same time they have something that put me off. They are in a way by their own essence a thorough denial of nature.
I wanted to buy some postcards or something, however. It was not worth asking the price. A mini-sized accordion book of 16 or so photographs, 1600 yen. A nice flip book, 1600 yen. A DVD, 6000 plus. And a boxed set of prints and catalogue (?), 3,500,000 yen! Nice price. And this belongs to another layer of the world than mine!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
FCI Asia International Dog Show
Went to see the biggest dog show in Asia today, at Tokyo Big Sight (this must be a pun on "site") in the Odaiba area. I used to be a junior handler when I was around 10. I went straight to the Ring 5 where a round of French Bulldog breed show was going on. The dogs were so well-built, impeccably manicured. To me a brindle male looked particularly good and it won the junior competition, apparently.
There were some awesome English bulldogs, too. Compared to the French, they were HUGE, with IMMENSE pows! My childhood dog was Toby, the English bull. Oh, how I miss him. Another breed I wanted to see was the Bull Mastiff, but we missed it. Leonbergers were quite nice, too.
There were some awesome English bulldogs, too. Compared to the French, they were HUGE, with IMMENSE pows! My childhood dog was Toby, the English bull. Oh, how I miss him. Another breed I wanted to see was the Bull Mastiff, but we missed it. Leonbergers were quite nice, too.
Auto-circulating Cherry Blossoms
Cherry trees are in full bloom and I've been making palindromes about them. These sentences are all untranslatable; I'll write them down in Japanese.
桜、楽さ。
桜、気楽さ。
桜、柿、唐草。
さくらもさくからぼくらくらくてもらくさ。
Beware, the final one is not really a palindrome! But when you present them in this order, almost every one believes and buys what you say.
What follows is the best one I wrote today. Made out of 21 Japanese letters.
さくらさくかきいてみなみていきかくさらくさ
（桜咲くか聞いてみな未定企画さ楽さ）
Tonight I took my dog out for a walk to appreciate cherry trees blowing in a stormy wind. White petals in the air like so many snow flakes. Dream-like. The only bearable moment in this season!
桜、楽さ。
桜、気楽さ。
桜、柿、唐草。
さくらもさくからぼくらくらくてもらくさ。
Beware, the final one is not really a palindrome! But when you present them in this order, almost every one believes and buys what you say.
What follows is the best one I wrote today. Made out of 21 Japanese letters.
さくらさくかきいてみなみていきかくさらくさ
（桜咲くか聞いてみな未定企画さ楽さ）
Tonight I took my dog out for a walk to appreciate cherry trees blowing in a stormy wind. White petals in the air like so many snow flakes. Dream-like. The only bearable moment in this season!
Michael Richardson on Breton
I went to Waseda this afternoon for a presentation by my friend Michael Richardson on André Breton's L'art magique. It was held under the aegis of the newly formed Dada-Surrealism study group led by Masachika Tani, Humi Tsukahara and others. Breton gathers various African objects in his own private office and they are nice to look at, really, but what's the use of them when they are totally decontextualized? An object loses its magic once it's taken out of its own milieu.
Over the years I am less and less interested in surrealism, although I still feel strongly connected with them regarding basic sensibility. Breton was my hero when I was twenty. Now I consider Blaise Cendrars much more important and actual than all three representative surrealist poets combined: Breton (whom Blaise considered too pretentious), Aragon (whom Blaise considered to be a really brainy stylist), and Desnos (whom Blaise considered the only authentic poetic genius of the group).
Today was the last day of Michael's three-year appointment at Waseda. He is going back to England in July. Vale, Michael, the world is your oyster!
Over the years I am less and less interested in surrealism, although I still feel strongly connected with them regarding basic sensibility. Breton was my hero when I was twenty. Now I consider Blaise Cendrars much more important and actual than all three representative surrealist poets combined: Breton (whom Blaise considered too pretentious), Aragon (whom Blaise considered to be a really brainy stylist), and Desnos (whom Blaise considered the only authentic poetic genius of the group).
Today was the last day of Michael's three-year appointment at Waseda. He is going back to England in July. Vale, Michael, the world is your oyster!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
A Whale of Dinner...
There is a restaurant in Shibuya called Kujira-ya, now totally refurbished. Went there last night with a couple of college buddies for the first time in almost twenty years. It's a very sophisticated restaurant and they gave us the best separate room there was, overooking the busy traffic down on the street. Ah, Shibuya has changed. It's sad to see the street I walked everyday back in the period of 1977-1983 so dirty and crowded.
The dinner was gorgeous. We paid 6000 yen a piece. The courses were:
1. Raw whale meat chopped and mixed with mentaiko (spiced cod roe) and squid.
2. Whale red meat sashimi combined with whale skin.
3. Deep fried whale meat.
4. Harihari nabe: a pot with soup stock in which you cook whale meat, vegetables, and finally some noodles.
5. Ice cream (green powder tea flavor).
It was delicious!
The dinner was to send off Yasushi Ishii, a Latin American lit specialist, to Stanford where he'sll spend two years. Keisuke Dan was with us; he is just finishing his long novel (that has been in the making for several years).
Next time at a dojo restaurant, perhaps! (Look up your dictionary and find out what DOJO is).
The dinner was gorgeous. We paid 6000 yen a piece. The courses were:
1. Raw whale meat chopped and mixed with mentaiko (spiced cod roe) and squid.
2. Whale red meat sashimi combined with whale skin.
3. Deep fried whale meat.
4. Harihari nabe: a pot with soup stock in which you cook whale meat, vegetables, and finally some noodles.
5. Ice cream (green powder tea flavor).
It was delicious!
The dinner was to send off Yasushi Ishii, a Latin American lit specialist, to Stanford where he'sll spend two years. Keisuke Dan was with us; he is just finishing his long novel (that has been in the making for several years).
Next time at a dojo restaurant, perhaps! (Look up your dictionary and find out what DOJO is).
Friday, March 09, 2007
Ah, c'est toi JuliA/En...
One of the books I've been browsing here and there is JuliAn Green's Le langage et son double, traduit par JuliEn Green. It's interesting how he thinks of the two languages separated by a thick wall. Somebody like Wallace Stevens, a casual reader, could pretend that English and French were one. Not so for Green, native in both languages.
This book presents his own texts and his own translations side by side; it is a source of infinite illuminations. Just look at his epigram for one of the essays:
She was a phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight;
A lovely apparition sent
To be a moment's ornament.
(Wordsworth)
This is rendered as:
C'était le fantôme de la joie
Quand la première fois elle brûla à mes yeux,
Charmante apparition envoyée
Pour embellir un instant.
The difference is striking. In the original English, "she" from the beginning is given with its anthropomorhic resonance. Then it is revealed that she is but a phantom, an apparition. Then in the French, the sentence is lead by a "Ce" and "le fantôme" is given sooner than the human-designating pronoun. Although the time lag is minimum, there is certainly a deep gap, with "elle" appearing late. "To be a moment's ornament" rendered with "embellir" gives a different impression, too.
There is much to be learned from here.
This book presents his own texts and his own translations side by side; it is a source of infinite illuminations. Just look at his epigram for one of the essays:
She was a phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight;
A lovely apparition sent
To be a moment's ornament.
(Wordsworth)
This is rendered as:
C'était le fantôme de la joie
Quand la première fois elle brûla à mes yeux,
Charmante apparition envoyée
Pour embellir un instant.
The difference is striking. In the original English, "she" from the beginning is given with its anthropomorhic resonance. Then it is revealed that she is but a phantom, an apparition. Then in the French, the sentence is lead by a "Ce" and "le fantôme" is given sooner than the human-designating pronoun. Although the time lag is minimum, there is certainly a deep gap, with "elle" appearing late. "To be a moment's ornament" rendered with "embellir" gives a different impression, too.
There is much to be learned from here.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Those were the days
It's March already and my resolution to work FURIOUSLY has been put off because of various obligations... tant pis! But I got to get some work done in three weeks. Essays, translations, as always. And some preparation for the new academic year. Ay, ay, ay.
I can only sing a Papago song at this time of the night:
In the great night my heart will go out;
Toward me the darkness comes rustling.
In the great night my heart will go out.
(American Indian Poetry, xx)
Last friday there was a party to honor my friend Shimada, the editor at Kokusho kankokai. He will quit his company soon to freelance. It's a hard way, but the only way to seek REAL satisfaction. I support him totally.
It was a rare occasion to gather the most prolific of translators actively working. With Motoyuki Shibata, Minami Aoyama, the Numanos, Kan Nozaki, Sachiko Kishimoto, among others, we have (including myself) produced several hundred books combined! The surface of the Japanese language mush have changed a little because of our collective work.
And March continues.
I can only sing a Papago song at this time of the night:
In the great night my heart will go out;
Toward me the darkness comes rustling.
In the great night my heart will go out.
(American Indian Poetry, xx)
Last friday there was a party to honor my friend Shimada, the editor at Kokusho kankokai. He will quit his company soon to freelance. It's a hard way, but the only way to seek REAL satisfaction. I support him totally.
It was a rare occasion to gather the most prolific of translators actively working. With Motoyuki Shibata, Minami Aoyama, the Numanos, Kan Nozaki, Sachiko Kishimoto, among others, we have (including myself) produced several hundred books combined! The surface of the Japanese language mush have changed a little because of our collective work.
And March continues.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Hello, old friend...
And here is what Alain says today:
Mais il faut dire aussi que l'homme content, s'il est seul, oublie bientôt qu'il est content; toute sa joie est bientôt endormie; il en arrive a une espece de stupidité et presque d'insensibilité. Le sentiment intérieur a besoin de mouvements extérieurs. (...) Tant qu'on est seul on ne peut être soi. Les nigauds de moralistes disent qu'aimer c'est s'oublier; vue trop simple; plus on sort de soi-même et plus on est soi-même; mieux aussi on se sent vivre. (21)
Mais il faut dire aussi que l'homme content, s'il est seul, oublie bientôt qu'il est content; toute sa joie est bientôt endormie; il en arrive a une espece de stupidité et presque d'insensibilité. Le sentiment intérieur a besoin de mouvements extérieurs. (...) Tant qu'on est seul on ne peut être soi. Les nigauds de moralistes disent qu'aimer c'est s'oublier; vue trop simple; plus on sort de soi-même et plus on est soi-même; mieux aussi on se sent vivre. (21)
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Alain, aujourd'hui
Je me sens de plus en plus proche d'Alain, qui écrit avec une simplicité incroyable. Voici une citation pour aujourd'hui:
Descartes, à mes yeux, est encore plus beau, sortant de son pays, fuyant toutes les preuves de l'example au milieu desquelles il a grandi, s'exilant par volonté. Voyageant et errant par discipline, afin d'effacer une coutume par une autre; et faisant même la guerre sans préférence, pour s'habituer à agir sans croire. (182)
Grace is the word for René!
Descartes, à mes yeux, est encore plus beau, sortant de son pays, fuyant toutes les preuves de l'example au milieu desquelles il a grandi, s'exilant par volonté. Voyageant et errant par discipline, afin d'effacer une coutume par une autre; et faisant même la guerre sans préférence, pour s'habituer à agir sans croire. (182)
Grace is the word for René!
Monday, February 12, 2007
Alain dit...
Ce qui est total et cosmique y est toujours TEMPÊTE, comme le printemps nordique. (Alain)
(C'est moi qui souligne.)
(C'est moi qui souligne.)
Senghor
Voici une traduction que j'ai fait de Senghor... pour tuer le temps!
おまえは長いあいだ持っていた（カラムのために）
レオポール・セダール・サンゴール
おまえは長い、長いあいだ持っていた、両手で、戦士の黒い顔を
まるでそれがすでに何か致命的な黄昏によって照らされているかのように。
丘からおれは見た、おまえの両眼の入江に太陽が沈んでゆくのを。
いつまたおれはおれの祖国を見るのだろう、おまえの顔の純粋な地平線を？
いつまたおれはおまえの暗い乳房の食卓に着くことができるのだろう？
そして暗がりに甘美な決意が巣を作る。
おれは他の空たちや他の眼を見るだろう
おれはレモンよりもさわやかな他の唇たちの泉から水を飲むだろう
おれは雷雨を避けて他の髪の屋根の下で眠るだろう。
それでも毎年、春のラム酒が記憶を燃え上がらせるとき
おれがなつかしむのは故郷の大地、乾いたサヴァンナに降るおまえの両眼の雨。
おまえは長いあいだ持っていた（カラムのために）
レオポール・セダール・サンゴール
おまえは長い、長いあいだ持っていた、両手で、戦士の黒い顔を
まるでそれがすでに何か致命的な黄昏によって照らされているかのように。
丘からおれは見た、おまえの両眼の入江に太陽が沈んでゆくのを。
いつまたおれはおれの祖国を見るのだろう、おまえの顔の純粋な地平線を？
いつまたおれはおまえの暗い乳房の食卓に着くことができるのだろう？
そして暗がりに甘美な決意が巣を作る。
おれは他の空たちや他の眼を見るだろう
おれはレモンよりもさわやかな他の唇たちの泉から水を飲むだろう
おれは雷雨を避けて他の髪の屋根の下で眠るだろう。
それでも毎年、春のラム酒が記憶を燃え上がらせるとき
おれがなつかしむのは故郷の大地、乾いたサヴァンナに降るおまえの両眼の雨。
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
At ABC again
January didn't exist. It's already a week into February, fabulous. On the 20th this month, I'll hold a joint reading at the Aoyama Book Center with Akiko Otake, a seasoned veteran traveler/writer. You can reserve a seat (limited to 50) only by calling them at the store--for FREE. There will be an autograph session following. I'll be glad to personalize, too.
Talking about autographs, Cioran, one of my all-time favorite thinkers, writes the following:
La séance de la signature chez Gallimard, chaque fois qu'un livre paraît, est une chose qui m'ennuyait et une fois j'ai négligé de signer la moitié de mon contingent de livres. Je n'ai jamais eu d'aussi mauvaises critiques. C'est un rite et une obligation. Même Beckett ne peut pas s'y soustraire. Joyce n'a jamais pu le comprendre. (Entretiens, 7)
Cioran by the way is so quotable! Here is my favorite tonight:
LA PLUPART DU TEMPS JE NE FAIS RIEN. (...) Je ne vois qu'une putain sans client pour en faire moins que moi. (10-11)
An admirable fellow.
Talking about autographs, Cioran, one of my all-time favorite thinkers, writes the following:
La séance de la signature chez Gallimard, chaque fois qu'un livre paraît, est une chose qui m'ennuyait et une fois j'ai négligé de signer la moitié de mon contingent de livres. Je n'ai jamais eu d'aussi mauvaises critiques. C'est un rite et une obligation. Même Beckett ne peut pas s'y soustraire. Joyce n'a jamais pu le comprendre. (Entretiens, 7)
Cioran by the way is so quotable! Here is my favorite tonight:
LA PLUPART DU TEMPS JE NE FAIS RIEN. (...) Je ne vois qu'une putain sans client pour en faire moins que moi. (10-11)
An admirable fellow.
Monday, January 01, 2007
2007
Feliz ano novo, bonne année, tout-monde! Ce que je cherche à faire, dès aujourd'hui, c'est écrire--des poèmes. Oui, c'est mon but, ma new year's resolution... On va voir ce que j'aurai fait dans un an. Tout va bien!
Saturday, December 09, 2006
On translation
Kommentar und Übersetzung verhalten sich zum Text wie Stil und Mimesis zur Natur: dasselbe Phänomen unter verschiedenen Betrachtungsweisen. Am Baum des heiligen Textes sind beide nur die ewig rauschenden Blätter, am Baume des profanen die rechtzeitig fallenden Früchte.
(Walter Benjamin, Einbahnstrasse, 20)
(Walter Benjamin, Einbahnstrasse, 20)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)