Tag: 日本語

Posts written in Japanese. 日本語で書かれた投稿はこちらです。

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7-Day Book Cover Challenge (Day 6): “Book from the Ground”

Introduction:

This bilingual post was originally written for social media, and is part of the “7 day book cover challenge.”

「7日間のブックカバーチャレンジ（6日目）：『Book from the Ground (地の本)』」

この投稿は、もとはSNSのブックカバーチャレンジのために書かれたものです。英語の本文の後に日本語が続きます。

The cover of “Book from the Ground“–which is very brief and to the point, literally! By the way, I found out while working on my master’s project that this man is called “Helvetica Man” 🙂

7???（?6）：?←?

The sixth book is Book from the Ground by the Chinese artist Xu Bing. This is a novel that’s written entirely in pictograms! I love pictograms so much that I wrote my “master’s project” (the equivalent of a master’s thesis at my journalism grad school; essentially a long article meant for publications in magazines) on it.

I feel very lucky to have learned about Xu Bing from my dear friend Kieu, an artist who also loves languages. I was fascinated by Bing’s renditions of English words that are made to look like Chinese characters. Then, a few years after, Bing happened to come to my grad school to speak–and that’s how I learned about this book, which he was still writing at the time. 

From inside “Book from the Ground.” By the way, the exit sign (on the left page) was invented by a Japanese individual!

The back of the book contains Bing’s quote that says: “Twenty years ago I made Book from the Sky, a book of illegible Chinese characters that no one could read. Now I have created Book from the Ground, a book that anyone can read.” Indeed, the pictograms make the story accessible–but I also find that it takes a lot longer to read! The story is essentially about a day in the life of one man, and has lots of humor (including slapstick bathroom humor).  

I’d always been fascinated by kanji, and love how they are essentially little pictures. They are so concise in conveying meaning. I especially love the series of characters that belong to one family, like fish names (who *hasn’t* tried to read all the characters on tea cups at sushi restaurants??), tree names (like fish, you can kind of guess what “hard tree,” “white tree,” etc. each refer to!), and types of weather (especially poetic with the droplets in the “rain” portion). 

From the exhibit “Chinese in the Information Age” at the Museum of Chinese in America (February 2019), a panel that shows how the character for “mountain” evolved over time

When I attended Bing’s lecture, emojis were just becoming popular. Facebook wasn’t as big, Twitter was just gaining traction, and Instagram didn’t even exist. But texting was huge, and lots of shortened words (like LOL and TTYL) were being used. I began to wonder if that was the direction were going–will words continue to be shortened, eventually giving way to pictures? I talked about this with my advisor and fellow advisees, and one of the advisees pointed out that letters like hieroglyphs came from pictures–so perhaps we were actually coming full circle.

I really, really, really enjoyed working on this master’s project. I got to interview lots of designers, including the designer of the sports icons of the Mexico City Olympics (1968), and a designer who was commissioned by the Department of Transportation to create airport pictograms (the first of its kind, including bathroom signs). I also got to interview other professionals, including a computer programmer who crowdsourced the translation of Moby Dick into emoji, as well as the founder of an NPO that facilitates virtual communication among children all over the world using emoji. (I didn’t get to meet Bing himself, but visited his studio in Brooklyn, where his assistant provided me with many resources.) Some showed me drafts of their designs, and many welcomed me into their home, reminiscing about their past projects or sharing their ideas for the future. Others were kind enough to meet me for tea–on one occasion at a station in Tokyo, when they were about to jump on a bullet train to go home for the holidays.    

It is truly one of my biggest regrets in life that, while I submitted this article to my school, I did not get to publish it in a magazine. While I was pitching it, I was very excited that one major magazine that I’ve always loved expressed interest–but they asked that it be cut to 300 words (less than 1/20 of its length). I felt that was too short, and while I was being indecisive, I missed my timing. Now I fear it is too late, since the interviews were done ten years ago. I think back to all the kind interviewees who were generous with their time–especially the then-79-year-old designer who not only picked me up at a train station and drove me to his house, but gave me a two-hour long interview over tea, kindly brought out his hand drawn designs, and even gave me a rare copy of a poster that has his pictograms. I would still very much like to revisit this project, especially to repay his and other interviewees’ kindness.

Anyway, I continue to be fascinated by kanji, emoji, and pictograms, and look forward to exploring this topic more!

At a special exhibit at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna (May 2019). I love the beautiful waves!

*****

6冊目は中国人アーティストの徐冰（Xu Bing）による 『Book from the Ground（地の本）』。すべてピクトサインで書かれた（描かれた？）素敵な本です。

私は子供の頃から漢字が大好きです。割れた卵にそっくりな「卵」や木がたくさんある「森」は小さな絵ですし、「雪のように白い魚＝鱈」、「堅い木＝樫」のように、ちっちゃいスペースにたくさんの意味を詰め込んでいる字も素晴らしい。友人を通じて徐冰のことを知ったのですが、彼は、アルファベットを漢字のように書いたりして、もとからよく字で遊ぶアーティストのようです。

私が大学院にいた時に徐冰が講演しに来たのですが、その際に知ったのが、当時まだ執筆中だったこの本。そこで私もすっかりピクトサインに魅了され、それを修士論文（といっても、ジャーナリズムの大学院なので、雑誌に載せることを意図した長文記事です）のトピックにしました。ちょうど絵文字の人気が出始めたころだったので、どんどんコミュニケーションが短く速くなっていく中、言葉はどんどん絵に取って代わられるのかを調べたいと思いました。

I thought this sign was hilarious and so straightforward! I’m sure Bing (whose book includes bathroom humor ?) would love it! (Found in the streets of Vienna, May 2019)

修論を書く過程はものすごく楽しいものでした。メキシコシティ五輪のスポーツのアイコンをデザインした方をはじめ、多くのデザイナーと話す機会があり、他にも、クラウドソーシングで『白鯨』を絵文字に翻訳したプログラマーの方、絵文字を使って国が異なる子供たちにコミュニケーションを促すNPOの代表の方もインタビューする機会がありました。

今悔やまれてならないのは、修論を学校に提出した後、雑誌に投稿することができなかったということです。300ワード（全体の20分の１以下）に縮めたら検討してもよいと言う雑誌もあったのですが、あまりに短いので悩んでいるうちにタイミングを逃してしまいました。インタビューした方々は本当に優しく、今でも思い出して一番胸が痛くなるのは、運転して私を駅まで迎えに来てくださり、ご自宅で２時間以上インタビューに応え、自分がデザインしたピクトサインの珍しいポスターまで下さった、当時79歳だったデザイナーのおじいさまのことです。論文が書かれてちょうど10年経ってしまいましたが、彼のため、そしてインタビューに応えてくださった多くの方のためにも、いつか何らかの形で世に出せることを心から願っています。

At the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (May 2018). I would love to learn more about Egyptian hieroglyphs at some point!

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7-Day Book Cover Challenge (Day 5): “Patchwork Girl”

Introduction:

This bilingual post was originally written for social media, and is part of the “7 day book cover challenge.”

「7日間のブックカバーチャレンジ（5日目）：『Patchwork Girl (パッチワーク・ガール)』」

この投稿は、もとはSNSのブックカバーチャレンジのために書かれたものです。英語の本文の後に日本語が続きます。

The fifth piece is Patchwork Girl by Shelley Jackson. This is actually not a book–it’s a “hypertext,” a type of interactive literature that is read on a computer. I encountered this work in a contemporary literature class in college, and continue to be inspired to it today.

Patchwork Girl is about a female version of Frankenstein’s monster, assembled from pieces of multiple corpses. It is very much a feminist piece, focusing on a lesbian figure who takes matter into her own hands. It is worth noting that the original Frankenstein was written by a woman. It is so cool that, while contemporary women writers in the 18th century (who I also love!) wrote about romance and witty conversations over tea, Mary Shelley wrote about human nature and industrialization–and invented the genre of science fiction. Still, the bumbling Frankenstein’s monster who cannot find a mate is very tragic and awkward to read about–and a lot less sexy than other characters of Gothic literature like Dracula, Mr. Rochester, and (while better known for their appearances in films) werewolves. Patchwork Girl empowers this figure, making her a strong and independent woman.

Patchwork Girl is like an allegory, where the various body parts sewn together are parallel to the pieces of text connected through links. In hypertext fiction, instead of pages, passages of text come up on the computer. Links are embedded in the passage, and when the reader clicks on any of them, the next passage appears in a box. But the links aren’t underlined, so it’s never clear where the links are. And unlike on a website, there is no back button or home button. There is no way to skip to the end, so readers are literally lost in the story. Patchwork Girl takes full advantage of this medium. There are scenes where the main character takes a bath with her girlfriend, and the seams come apart–and when she comes out of the bath, it’s not clear whether she’s still herself or has somehow merged with her girlfriend. The main character “dies” (although she is made of dead body parts to begin with) in one passage, but is somehow resurrected in another. These things would not make sense in a linear story–but magically, Jackson makes them work in this nonlinear medium.

I really enjoyed this special exhibit (2017) at The Rosenbach in Philly, which celebrated the 200th anniversary of “Frankenstein”

Ever since I read this, I’ve wanted to create interactive fiction. To me, they seem more natural than books and parallel to how the mind works, like endlessly clicking from one Wikipedia article to another. But there are some big challenges. The first is storytelling: I’ve found that it’s difficult to add depth to characters–or even have more than a few characters, since the story becomes so confusing. (Indeed, this article, which calls it “the failure of futurism,” says that hypertext fiction didn’t take off because they are too hard to write.) The second challenge is technology. In earlier attempts, I was very frustrated by how inaccessible this genre was–hypertext had to be read and written in a specific medium called Storyspace. I thought about putting it online, but thought the back button made things too easy for readers. Now, things are somewhat easier because of apps and websites like Twine.

Personally, I think a biggest challenge is that they’re often a difficult experience for readers. As a child, I didn’t really enjoy reading “choose-your-own-adventure” books, mostly because the characters seemed flat, and the stories were less exciting than linear books–so much attention was paid to making it interactive, that everything else fell behind. And even the experience of reading Patchwork Girl was an intellectual exercise. It was sometimes scary and frustrating to not know where I was in the story, and constantly making decisions ended up being a bit taxing, because even though I was given control in choosing the next step, I didn’t have enough control to know the outcomes of each step. But after I finished reading it, and explored what Jackson has said about her own work, as well as various research done on non-linear narratives and feminism, including Judith Butler–that’s when everything came together. It really was a piece of art that gradually came into focus, rather than a quick and entertaining read.

I’ve put a pause on trying to write interactive stories, because I’ve realized that I first need much more practice in writing linear stories. Still, I hope I can one day challenge myself to create an interactive piece of fiction that is thought-provoking and satisfying to the reader, lingering in their memories for years, like Patchwork Girl has for me.

Part of the exhibit on “Frankenstein.” Mary Shelley was truly a cool figure, the sole woman in a group of male writers!

*****

5日目は『Patchwork Girl（パッチワーク・ガール）』。本当は本ではなく、ハイパーテキストという名の、コンピューターで読むインタラクティブな作品です。大学の時に現代文学のクラスで出会った、憧れの作品です。

フランケンシュタインの話に基づいて、いろいろな死体から身体のいろいろな部分を縫い合わせて作られた女性が主人公です。『フランケンシュタイン』自体、SFのジャンルを作ったと言われる女性（メアリー・シェリー）が書いたという意味で画期的ですが、そこに出てくるモンスターは物悲しく、精神的に弱い部分があります。『パッチワーク・ガール』では、自分の身体の状況をものともせず、自由に行動するかっこいい女性となっています。

ハイパーテキストでは、画面上にページの代わりに箱が現れ、そこに書かれた文章を読んでから、文章の中に埋まっている複数のリンクのうちの一つを選んで、次に進みます。リンクに下線がないのでどこがリンクか分からないし、ウェブサイトと違って、前のページやホームページに戻ることもできません。そういう場に、『パッチワーク・ガール』はまさに適しており、縫い合わさったバラバラの身体の部位がリンクでつながったバラバラの文章を象徴しています。また、主人公が死んだり（身体は死体から来てますが）生き返ったり、身体の一部がぽろっと落ちたりまた拾われたり、そんな不思議なお話が、本だったらわけがわからない状態なのに、こういったノンリニア（非線形）ナラティブではなぜかとっても納得がいくのです。

これを読んだ時から、私もインタラクティブなお話に強く憧れています。人間の考え方は、無理やり直線的に整理された本よりも、ウィキペディアの記事のリンクを次から次にクリックするような感じで、連想で成り立っているように思います。正直、こういう話はものすごく書きにくいだけでなく（何度か試しましたが、話の流れに気を取られてしまって、登場人物の性格に深みを持たせることができません）、読み手にとっても楽しみにくい（今自分が話のどこにいるのかも出口も見えず、決断ばかり求められることに疲弊する可能性があります）のが大きな障壁です。でも、まずは直線的なストーリーを書いて練習しつつ、いつかは、読み手にとっても思い出に残るようなインタラクティブなお話を書いてみたいと思っています。

An interactive book (of more than 400 pages!) based on “Romeo & Juliet.” It has more than 100 possible endings!
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7-Day Book Cover Challenge (Day 4): “Theories of Modern Art”

Introduction:

This bilingual post was originally written for social media, and is part of the “7 day book cover challenge.”

「7日間のブックカバーチャレンジ（4日目）：『Theories of Modern Art（近代美術の理論）』」

この投稿は、もとはSNSのブックカバーチャレンジのために書かれたものです。英語の本文の後に日本語が続きます。

The fourth book is “Theories of Modern Art” by Herschel Chipp, who was an art history professor at UC Berkeley. I encountered this book as a college student, when it was assigned in a class about the history of modern art. It’s full of primary sources: diaries, letters, and statements by the artists themselves. Despite the somewhat boring name, it’s a really fun read!

The following are works by some of the artists who show up in the book (in roughly chronological order). They’re paintings I happened to encounter, and not works that were mentioned in the book–or even the most representative work of each artist! This is “Postman Joseph Roulin” by Van Gogh, at the MFA in Boston. In the 2017 movie “Loving Vincent” (which, incredibly, was animated using handdrawn paintings that emulated Van Gogh’s style!), the main character is the son of this postman.

My parents are avid museum visitors, and ever since I was a child, I had the chance to tag along. We were most often in the sections with Renaissance art. In my childish mind, they were easy to understand as art that captured a moment in real life. We enjoyed the beautiful colors and nature represented in Impressionism too (although in my youth I believed the rumor that Monet’s style came from his bad eyesight, and questioned the point of Pointillism (so much work!)). But I just never understood modern art after Impressionism, and that frustrated me. So I decided to take a class about it in college–and boy, was that the best decision ever!

“In the Waves” by Gauguin, at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Whenever I see Gauguin’s Tahiti paintings, I have mixed feelings of nostalgia/familiarity (the scenes and clothing are reminiscent of Hawaii) and a vague annoyance at a white man’s portrayal of what he saw as an exotic culture. So I really like this painting that’s a bit different from his style, depicting a white woman (this was apparently two years before he left for Taihiti), and putting much more emphasis on color and composition than showing a different culture. The contrast of the green waves and red hair is so beautiful, too!

Starting with Post-Impressionism, this book progresses through movements like Cubism and Surrealism, ending with “contemporary” (as defined by when the book was first published (1968)) art. These letters and diary entries explain in detail what each artist aimed to achieve in their work, what materials they used, why they changed their style over time–and even their personalities. Van Gogh’s renowned letters to his brother about his artistic and financial struggles are heartbreaking. Picasso’s statement on “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” is enlightening. Many artists’ lives are integrated with history, like WWI and nationalism. A couple of artists are so passionate that they seem rather self-absorbed–I recall one artist writing in his diary something like, “When I took a break from painting, I noticed that my wife had come and gone, leaving me dinner” (all the artists in the book are, inevitably, male and white).

Henri Rousseau’s “Fight Between a Tiger and a Buffalo,” at the Cleveland Museum of Art. I was amazed to learn that Rousseau had never seen a jungle–or even left France! I also like his style that somehow makes jungles appear two-dimensional.

Now these artists have become some of my favorites–so much so that when I go to museums, I rush to the modern art wings first. Some I just enjoy because of their visuals even if I still don’t understand them (Klee, Miro), and some I admire for their chameleon-like transformation over time (Picasso, Kandinsky). It is fun to recognize their names and style, read the descriptions, and interpret the emotions they were expressing. I find that there’s so much depth, and that the more I stare, the more there is to discover.

“Woman in a Purple Coat” by Matisse, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. This woman is so stylish and could totally be an amazing fashion magazine editor today!

Thanks to this book, I have a much better appreciation for modern and contemporary art in general. I also have a better understanding of how crucial primary sources are in the field of research. In combination, they are even more powerful, fulfilling the artists’ desire for expression and enriching the viewers’ lives at the same time. For now, I’m enjoying these photos from the past few years–but can’t wait to visit museums in person again!

“Tre Croci-Dolomite Landscape” by Oskar Kokoschka at the Leopold Museum in Vienna. I am not a big fan of Kokoschka’s style of depicting people, but his harsh strokes seem perfect for these mountains (and the very muscular horse!).

*****

4日目は『Theories of Modern Art（近代美術の理論）』。故ハーシェル・チップ（カリフォルニア大学バークレー校で美術史を教えていた教授）がまとめた本です。

“Three Musicians” by Picasso at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It seems like MoMA’s version is more famous, but I like this one more, because the musicians seem happier (the mustaches/smiles are so cute!).

私は、子供の頃から両親によく美術館に連れて行ってもらいましたが、主にルネサンス美術と印象派の絵画を見ることが多く、近代美術をあまり理解できませんでした。そこで、大学の時にあえて近代美術史のクラスを受講したら、とても面白く、大きく視点が変わりました。特によかったのが、画家の日記や手紙、アーティストステートメントといった一次資料を集めたこの本。どういう思いでそれぞれの絵を描いたのか、なぜ画家としてのスタイルが変わっていったのかということのみならず、第一次世界大戦などの時代背景や、画家個人の性格までが映し出され、読み物としてもとっても面白いのです。

Miro’s “Metamorphosis” at the Albertina Museum in Vienna. I still don’t get it, but I love the beautiful colors, and it’s so cute!

この本のおかげで、美術館巡りが大好きになり、行けばまず近代美術のところに直行するようになりました。ここで学んだり知ったりしたアーティストのみならず、近現代のアート全体をより広い視点で考えられるようになり、人生が豊かになりました。今はこういう状況ですが、この投稿に選んだ写真を見つつ、また美術館に行ける日を心待ちにしています！

Chagall’s “Sleeping Woman with Flowers” at the Albertina Museum. It is so interesting that the emphasis is on the flowers rather than the woman, as if to depict the contents of her dream.
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7-Day Book Cover Challenge (Day 3): “The Joy Luck Club”

Introduction:

This bilingual post was originally written for social media, and is part of the “7 day book cover challenge.”

「7日間のブックカバーチャレンジ（3日目）：『ジョイ・ラック・クラブ』」

この投稿は、もとはSNSのブックカバーチャレンジのために書かれたものです。英語の本文の後に日本語が続きます。

The third book is Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. I’m especially excited that I get to write about this during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, as well as a few weeks after Mother’s Day.

I was blown away when I first read The Joy Luck Club in high school. It was the first time that I could see someone similar to myself in a book written in English: Asian American women who struggle with the dichotomy of two cultures. Because during my childhood, even in Hawaii, the most iconic books were written by and for Caucasian children. It was especially bad with picture books: an Asian kid occasionally made an appearance as a classmate or friend of the white main character, sporting slanted eyes and unreadable expressions. Hawaii bookstores did feature local authors who wrote more diverse characters, but they were harder to come by. So in most stories I read growing up, I felt like a bit of an outsider.

I was super excited to see her on stage at the 2018 National Book Festival (she’s on the left, with her iconic hairstyle)! I bought her memoir but didn’t have the chance to ask for her autograph.

What I love even more about The Joy Luck Club is its focus on immigrant mothers and their second-generation daughters, each with different back stories and personalities. The book really resonated with me because, like those daughters, I was also desperate to fit in the United States, and often narrow-mindedly cast away my mother’s–and my own–culture.

My mother was no “tiger mom,” but she certainly seemed stricter than other parents. She is tall, beautiful, smart, and confident, and growing up, I often felt that I didn’t live up to her expectations. But I also remember a few instances when I hurt her, especially because of the bicultural environment. Once, when I was in second or third grade in Hawaii, my classmates and I were hiking in the mountains, and she joined us as a chaperone. She spoke to me from behind in Japanese, warning that my backpack strap was slipping from my shoulders–and I turned around and said to her sharply, “I told you to talk in English in front of others!”. She apologized, looking surprised and embarrassed. I had wanted to fit in with my American classmates, and wanted to appear strong, as if I didn’t need my mom’s help. I’m now so ashamed that I treated her that way, especially when she’d joined the trip for my sake. In retrospect, I think this was the first time I realized that my seemingly almighty mother could be hurt by my thoughtless words. Now that I’ve matured, we’ve come to understand each other much more–and I’m so thankful for the stronger relationship we now have.

Amy Tan is such an icon and pioneer Asian American woman writer. I understand she has her critics about stereotyping, and to be honest, I don’t think I would be as receptive if she wrote stories based on Japanese history and culture. But I will never forget how much comfort The Joy Luck Club gave me when I first read it, and I believe she paved the way for generations of writers.

The 1993 movie, which I sometimes still talk about with my mother, was unforgettable. While it is shocking that a quarter century (!) had to pass before another major American movie with an all-Asian cast was created (Crazy Rich Asians), it is also amazing how progressive The Joy Luck Club was when no one else was willing to create a movie like that. Either way, I hope I can someday also create stories that bring together diverse characters and universal themes.

From an exhibit on influential baby boomers at the Newseum (2015). I found hope in the fact that she started publishing later than some other authors.

*****

3日目はエイミ・タンの『ジョイ・ラック・クラブ』。高校生の時に読んで、アメリカの本で初めて、自分と似た境遇の登場人物（二つの文化の間でアイデンティティを探すアジア系アメリカ人）に出会い、深く共感しました。話の根底にあるのは4組の母娘（中国からの移民である母親たちと、中国系アメリカ人の二世である娘たち）の関係で、一人っ子の私も母親と喧嘩することが多かったので、いろいろと考えさせられました。

エイミ・タンは、中国に関するステレオタイプが多いという批判も受けていますが、アジア系アメリカ人の作家(特に女性の)として先駆者の一人だと思います。私もいつか、マイノリティである登場人物と普遍的な感情の双方をお話に盛り込むことができれば、と思います。

The 2016 Annual Conference of my former workplace, the U.S.-Japan Council, welcomed Tamlyn Tomita (left), one of the actresses in “The Joy Luck Club.” She was as beautiful as ever, and really encouraging of Japanese American leaders. (Photo borrowed from USJC)
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7-Day Book Cover Challenge (Day 2): “Nihon Mukashibanashi” (Japanese Folktales)

Introduction:

This bilingual post was originally written for social media, and is part of the “7 day book cover challenge.”

「7日間のブックカバーチャレンジ（2日目）：『日本むかしばなし集』（坪田譲治）」

この投稿は、もとはSNSのブックカバーチャレンジのために書かれたものです。英語の本文の後に日本語が続きます。

The second book (or set of three books) is Nihon Mukashibashi (Japanese folktales) compiled by Joji Tsubota. I read this series several times while I was in elementary school. Among the many different versions of Japanese folktales I’ve owned or borrowed (I bought regional folktales whenever I traveled in other areas in Japan), it’s one that I remember most fondly for its readability and wide collection of stories.

I’ve always enjoyed folktales and fairy tales from throughout the world, including those compiled by the Brothers Grimm or written by Hans Christian Andersen. In olden times, fantastical beings existed alongside humans. It is a bit sad that these beliefs have disappeared in recent times, due to progress in science that dispels myths and explains mysteries, nighttime lights that chase away shadows, and more.

In 2008, when I worked at the Japan Information & Culture Center, Embassy of Japan, I had the fortune of working on this amazing exhibit! Shigeru Mizuki, a manga artist who specializes in yokai, created a special rendition of “The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido” (ukiyo-e prints originally by Hiroshige), with yokai inserted in all 53 prints.
2008年に日本大使館で働いていた頃、水木しげるの『妖怪道五十三次』の展示に携わることができました。広重の『東海道五十三次』の絵一枚一枚に妖怪が足されている、とっても素敵な企画でした！

I especially enjoy how in Japanese stories, animals and objects have a life of their own. This idea is intertwined with the Japanese indigenous religion, as well as the belief that every being, even inanimate objects like rocks or places like mountains and lakes, have a soul. I’m especially enamored with Japanese yokai (monsters), which I’d love to write about one day. They are very human in their behavior and a part of the daily lives of local residents. They often have sad origin stories: like babies that were killed by their parents who could not afford to raise them, monks that turned into monsters once they ate the corpse of an apprentice they loved too much, or animals that disguised themselves as humans because they fell in love with a man. Some are scary, some are mischievous and cute–but all of them have an undertone of melancholy in their isolation, otherness, and yearning to be a part of the human world.

Anyway, these folktales were really helpful in learning Japanese history and culture, especially when I was in the U.S. It looks like Tsubota’s version was written in 1957, and I think the version at my house was republished in 1975–so these stories have really stood the test of time. I hope I, too, can rely on these stories to someday pass along my culture–and perhaps my love for yokai–to the next generation.

This amazing exhibit at the Edo Tokyo Museum featured an all-star cast of ukiyo-e artists–including Utagawa Kuniyoshi, who frequently drew yokai. I’d always wanted to see his work in person, and was really excited that I finally had the chance to do so!
今年1月、江戸東京博物館で見てきた素晴らしい展示（この3人以外にも、写楽と歌麿も取り上げ、『夢の競演』（笑）の名前に負けない展示でした）！以前から憧れていた、妖怪を頻繁に取り上げる国芳の絵を初めてきちんと見ることができました。

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2日目は坪田譲治の『日本むかしばなし集』（3冊シリーズ）。子供の頃買ったり借りたりした数多くの昔話の中でも、最も読みやすく、いろいろな話が詰まっていて面白かったのを覚えています。

グリムやアンデルセンはじめ、世界中の民話、童話、昔話が大好きで、いろいろ読みましたが、昔の生活では、人と不思議な生き物が共存していたのが、子供としてはとても羨ましかったです。特に日本のお話は、八百万にも通ずることだと思いますが、動物のみならず、石のようなものにも、山や沼といった場所にも、魂や神様や主がいるのが素敵だと思いました。そんな中でも、常に人の生活に近いところにいる「妖怪」がとても好きで、かわいかったりいたずら好きだったりするものの、座敷童はじめ、その多くに悲しい起源があること、全体として人間と関わりたいという物悲しさがあることにとても惹かれています。

Some of the many yokai-themed books I have. I’m especially excited about the “survival guide” in English!
妖怪をテーマとした本は、見ていて本当に面白くて、つい買ってしまいます。英語で書いてあるものを発見したときは飛び上がって喜んでしまいました。

坪田さんの本を含め、昔話のおかげで私は、日本で暮らしていなかったときにも、日本の歴史や伝統文化を学ぶことができました。私もいつか、妖怪を含め、こういったお話を次世代に伝えていくことができれば、と思います。

Western monsters are somehow very different from yokai! (Ok, so “Monsters, Inc.” is a category of its own and doesn’t represent all monsters in Western culture, but still…!) This photo is from a great exhibit at the Franklin Institute that explained the technology behind Pixar animations!
西洋のモンスターと妖怪は全然違います。『モンスターズ・インク』はもちろん独自のカテゴリーのもので、西洋のモンスターを代表するものではないけれど。写真はピクサーのアニメの技術を説明した、素晴らしい展示から。
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7-Day Book Cover Challenge (Day 1): “Matilda”

Introduction:

This bilingual post was originally written for social media, and is part of the “7 day book cover challenge.”

「7日間のブックカバーチャレンジ（1日目）：『マチルダは小さな大天才』」

この投稿は、もとはSNSのブックカバーチャレンジのために書かれたものです。英語の本文の後に日本語が続きます。

I’ve spent way too long agonizing about the seven-day book cover challenge, which I know is only meant to be fun! The more I saw posts from friends about unique book selections, the more embarrassed I felt about how much I haven’t read recently, especially for someone who professes to love words. But I’ve decided to choose seven books that have meant the most to me in my life. After moving a dozen times, most of these books are buried way deep in a box somewhere in the attic of my parents’ house, so I’ve borrowed the cover photos from online.

In somewhat chronological order that I’ve read them, the first book is Roald Dahl’s Matilda. I read almost every children’s book by Dahl. I think I first learned about him when my third grade teacher, Ms. Kakugawa, read us The Witches–which was a bit scary but very thrilling. The first book I (or rather, my parents!) bought was Fantastic Mr. Fox, then the collection grew from there. Even after my parents and I moved to Tokyo when I was nine years old, my father continued to buy Dahl’s books whenever he went to the U.S. on business trips, and so they were some of the few English language books I could continue to read in Japan.

What makes Dahl’s books wonderful are how much children are empowered, even when their circumstances are less than ideal. When I grew older and began reading Charles Dickens, I recognized so many common themes: the difficult childhoods, mean adults, and amazing naming sense (Miss Trunchbull and Uriah Heep should belong in the same world–just imagining their encounter makes me chuckle!). And Quentin Blake’s illustrations are simply wonderful! They are so simple and cute, but somehow convey the personality of the characters.

While Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The BFG, and more are all iconic, Matilda is my favorite. She’s a (somewhat socially awkward) bibliophile who finds happiness in the end. I’ve thought back often to the list of books that Matilda read— but I still haven’t caught up! A few years ago, I got to see a musical version of the book, and that was great, too (my favorite is this song), especially its fun play on all the alphabets)!

As an adult, I’ve learned about some of the controversies that surround Dahl, and that saddens me. Still, I like how feminist Matilda is–it’s about a young girl who stands up for herself, along with the help of a woman mentor (Miss Honey). It brought me so much joy as a child, and I hope I can do the same for others someday.

The musical was in San Francisco before it came to DC (I was so excited to see a poster during a business trip there!).

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友人からいただいた「7日間のブックカバーチャレンジ」。他の方の素晴らしいセレクションを見て、最近読書から離れてしまっていることを恥ずかしく思うとともに、7冊に絞ることに随分長いこと悩んでしまいましたが、勇気を出して、自分のこれまでの人生にとって重要な7冊を選んでみました。ほとんどの本が実家にあるので、オンラインから借りた写真で代用します。

1日目はロアルド・ダールの『マチルダはちいさな大天才』。ダールの児童向けの本はほぼ全部読みましたが、本好きでちょっと孤独な主人公に共感しました。日本に引っ越してからも、出張でアメリカに行くたびに父がせっせと買ってくれたので、日本でも細々と英語の読書を続けることができました。

『マチルダ』は静かながらも強い女性が何人も登場して、とても素敵です。子供の頃私が元気をもらえたように、私もいつか文章を通じて誰かを励ますことができたら、と思います。

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英語 de 敬語　⑧ いたわりの言葉のかけ方

Introduction (the full text in Japanese continues below (日本語の本文が続きます)):

この投稿は、DCとヒューストンのコミュニティ・ペーパー、『さくら新聞』で書かせていただいている連載、「英語 de 敬語」の記事に関するものです。

新型コロナウイルスが蔓延し、精神的にも経済的にも辛い日々が続いています。今月の「英語 de 敬語」では、今のように不安な時期に他者をどのようにいたわるかについて取り上げました。なお、コロナウイルスの影響により、さくら新聞は来月から休刊となってしまいました。再開の時期も決まっていません。広告が減り、多くの地元紙やコミュニティ・ペーパーが苦しんでいます。ジャーナリストの方々は命を張って外で取材を続けており、地元の人々にとっては、感染の状況を知るために今こそ地元メディアが必要なのですから、非常に残念な状況です。たった10日前にこの記事を書いたときには、さくら新聞も休刊となることを知りませんでした。それくらい、状況は刻々と変わり、悪化していっています。一刻も早くこの状況が収束することを願っています。

“Polite Phrases in English (Episode 8): Words of Compassion”

This post is about my column in “Sakura Shimbun,” a Japanese community paper in DC and Houston.

These past few weeks have been mentally and financially difficult for all of us. This month’s column discusses how to reach out and comfort others during these uncertain times. Due to the virus, Sakura Shimbun has had to suspend publication–and it’s not clear when it might resume. Many local newspapers are suffering because companies are having to pull ads. This is very concerning, because journalists are risking their lives for us when they go out to cover these important topics–and in order to understand how the infection is spreading, we now need local coverage more than ever. When I wrote this column a mere 10 days ago, I did not know that Sakura Shimbun would be suspended–that’s how rapidly things are becoming worse. I sincerely hope this situation will improve as quickly as possible.

今や世界中で猛威を奮う新型コロナウイルスによって、私たちの生活は一変しました。毎日衝撃的なニュースがあふれ、人と会えず、健康はおろか経済的にも不安が募ります。しかし、だからこそ、自分より大変な状況にいる人々を気遣うと、相手の気持ちを少し楽にすることができ、自分もまた励まされます。今回は、ビジネスの場における敬語という枠組みを超えて、友人・知人・隣人を含め、あらゆる人に対するいたわりの言葉を取り上げます。

今最も大変なのは不眠不休で働く医療関係者の方々だと言えますが、他にも、配達や清掃など、リスクを負いつつ外で仕事を続けている方々が多くいます。 Thank you to you and your colleagues for all that you do. と一言メッセージを送ったり声をかけたりすることで、感謝の気持ちを伝えられます。

飲食業や観光業など、業界によっては、仕事の継続が難しくなってしまった方や、フリーランスや契約の仕事が滞っている方もいます。親しい友人がそういった状況に直面した場合、いろいろと話を聞いた後は、 I would love to help look for any opportunities. Could you let me know what kind of work you might be interested in? などと提案し、別の分野で一時的な職を一緒に探すこともできます。

体調が悪く自己隔離をしている隣人や外出に不安を抱える隣人に対しては、 Is there anything I can get for you, like food or medicine? I’m happy to leave it by your door. といったメッセージを送り、代わりに買い出しに行くこともできます。

友人や同僚と会えず孤独な思いをしている一人暮らしの方や、仕事が減って精神的に辛い方もいるかもしれません。皆大変だからと遠慮して自分から悩みを打ち明けない人もいるでしょうから、 I just wanted to check in with you to see how you’re doing. や I am here for you if you need someone to talk to. などと時々友人にメッセージを送ると、受け取る側は少し気持ちが軽くなるかもしれません。文面だと本音が言いにくそうであれば、 Let’s have a phone date! とある程度の時間を取って電話での会話を持ちかけることもできます。

辛い毎日が続く中、互いを励まし合っている方は多数います。上記の例には、SNSで見かけた投稿や友人の言葉からヒントを得たものも含まれます。物理的な「ソーシャル・ディスタンス」を保たなければならない今だからこそ、心のつながりを強化する必要があります。私たちの多くは医療の最前線にいるわけではありませんが、一人一人の行動によって流行の速度が抑えられることを何度も聞いています。同様に、私たちが一丸となって互いを助け合えば、この苦境をもっと楽に乗り越えられると信じています。

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英語 de 敬語　⑦ 好意の伝え方

DCとヒューストンのコミュニティ・ペーパー、『さくら新聞』で書かせていただいているコラム「英語 de 敬語」。 今月はバレンタインに言及しつつ、ビジネスの場における、人や物に対する好意の表明の仕方を取り上げました。

My column this month in “Sakura Shimbun,” a Japanese community paper in DC and Houston, touches upon Valentine’s Day and discusses how to express positive feelings for people and objects that you like.

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お店やレストランが赤やピンクに包まれるバレンタインは、寒く暗い2月の日々にわくわくした楽しさや温かさをもたらしてくれます。ビジネスは恋愛と無縁の場合が多いかもしれませんが、人や物に対する好意を表明する機会は少なくありません。そこで今回は、そういったポジティブな気持ちの伝え方を取り上げます。

まず、人事評価などで、上司、同僚や部下に対する評価を第三者から聞かれた場合。少し稚拙に聞こえる like よりも、 respect や admire といった言葉を使った方がよいかもしれません。米国はセクハラやパワハラなどにとても敏感なため、誤解を招かないように、その人個人への感情よりも、 I admire the way she treats all employees fairly. や、 I appreciate how resourceful and efficient he is. といった形で、その人の長所やスキルに対する好意を示した方がよいでしょう。

また、学生や部下の推薦状を依頼される教授や上司は多いでしょうし、転職を考える部下が応募した会社から、「レファレンス」として電話やメールでその人の評価を聞かれる上司も多いでしょう。 I was always impressed with his thorough research and insightful essays. と主観で言う以外にも、 Her subordinates told me she was a reliable and trustworthy boss. と周りの評価も交えることもできます。一緒に仕事をしたことがある業者について、誰かに非公式に聞かれた場合も、 She is a copywriter who always captures perfectly what we want to say. などと褒めることができます。

仕事に応募した人や外部の人から、自分の職場についての考えを聞かれる場合もあるでしょう。これには I love how we make a difference in people’s lives. や I’m proud of the innovative products we make. といった言い方ができます。自分の職務についての意見を聞かれれば、 I enjoy publicizing the accomplishments of our talented students and faculty. などと答えられます。

日々の業務の中でも、好みを他者に伝えることがあります。デザイナーなどの業者とのやり取りの中で、いくつかの選択肢から一つ選び、細かな点を変えていく場合には、 prefer という言葉が便利です。 We prefer the black one. などと特定できますし、 Our preference would be to use a brighter color palette. など、選択肢にない希望も伝えられます。好ましくない状況も、 We’d like to replace the purple with blue. や Would you please enlarge our logo? など、代替案を交えれば分かりやすく、柔らかく聞こえます。

ビジネスの場での好意の表明は、遠回しな表現を使ってポジティブな点のみ取り上げるため、人間関係を円滑にする義理チョコと似ているかもしれません。そんな中でも、称賛のさじ加減で、好意の程度を相手に量ってもらうことはできます。本当に好きな人や物は、言葉を惜しまず、甘さ全開で褒めたいものです。

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英語 de 敬語　⑥ 目標の掲げ方

DCとヒューストンのコミュニティ・ペーパー、『さくら新聞』で書かせていただいているコラム「英語 de 敬語」。 今月は新年（そして2020年代！）の抱負に絡めて、目標の掲げ方を取り上げました。

My column this month in “Sakura Shimbun,” a Japanese community paper in DC and Houston, touches upon resolutions for the new year (and new decade!), and discusses how to establish goals and objectives. Once again, I’m so grateful for this opportunity!

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今月は本年のみならず、2020年代の幕開けです。今年、ひいては今後10年間の抱負を立てた方も多いのではないでしょうか。抱負は道筋であり、その先にはなりたい自分という目標があると言えるでしょう。そこで今回は、目標の掲げ方に焦点を当てます。

抱負自体は個人的なもので、日記に留めておくだけの方もいるかもしれません。しかし、最近は新年の挨拶ととともにSNS等で宣言する方もいますし、会話で登場する場合もあるでしょう。 My New Year’s resolution is to exercise at least three times a week. や、 I resolve to spend more time with loved ones this year. などという言い方ができます。

ビジネスでは、目標を立てる場面が多くあります。まず、ウェブサイトなどで大きく外部に宣言する場合。実現に強い自信がある場合は、 We will eliminate plasticware in our city by 2021. など、未来形で決意を表明します。企業や団体の使命などでは、 We aim to strengthen U.S.-Japan relations. など、大局的な表現が使われます。使命を実現するための手段など、より具体的で短期的な意思表明には、 We intend to host three bilateral conferences per year. などと言うことができます。

日々の仕事における部内の目標では、数値も入れた objective を使うことが多く、 Our objective is to increase sales by 10% within the next year. などと言えます。（なお、より知名度の高い goal という言葉は、国連の SDGs（Sustainable Development Goals; 持続可能な開発目標）のように、長期的で幅広いものに使います。） Intend より具体的で口語的な plan は、 We plan to submit our draft video by next week. など、普段のやり取りの中で予定を伝える場合に使えます。

組織を立ち上げたばかりでまだ使命を書いていない場合や、実現したいことが数値で測りにくい場合にも、外部に大まかな方向性を示すことは可能です。 We are working to provide more educational opportunities to children. や We strive to instill confidence in high school girls. といった表現は、どのような理想のもとに活動しているのかを伝えることができるでしょう。

実現の目途が立ちにくい内容に関しては、希望として伝えることもできます。大局的な話では、 We aspire to bring equality to all citizens. と言えますし、職場のやり取りでは、 While I am waiting for some additional data, I hope to send you the draft report very soon. などと言えます。

目標は楽しいと同時に苦しいものです。新年や節目に明るい未来や新しい自分を思い描く過程はわくわくします。しかし、期限が過ぎた後に目標がどれだけ達成できたかを分析し、至らなかった点を反省するのは、多くの場合苦痛に感じられるでしょう。それでも毎度改善に努めるからこそ、私たちは前に進むことができます。2020年、そして今後10年間が皆様にとってこれまで以上に良いものになることを祈念します。

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英語 de 敬語　⑤招待への返事の仕方

DCとヒューストンのコミュニティ・ペーパー、『さくら新聞』で書かせていただいているコラム「英語 de 敬語」。 今月はホリデーパーティーなどの招待への返事の仕方を取り上げました。

My column this month in “Sakura Shimbun,” a Japanese community paper in DC and Houston, discusses how to respond to invitations to holiday parties and other events. Once again, I’m so grateful for this opportunity!

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日本の年末は極めて慌ただしいですが、米国でもホリデーパーティーなどの予定が立て込みます。多くの誘いが重なると、適切な手土産や失礼に当たらない断り方など、気を遣う場面も増えるでしょう。そこで今回は、個人的な招待への返事の仕方を取り上げます。

欠席する場合には、招待へのお礼とともに、 This sounds like a wonderful event, and I’m sorry to miss it because of work commitments. や、 I would love to attend, but I’m afraid I will be out of town visiting my parents. など、都合がつかない理由も含めて丁寧に断ると、次回も声をかけてもらえる可能性が高まるでしょう。

出席可能となると、今度はいろいろ確認すべきことが出てきます。他に予定があるものの部分的に出席したい場合には、 Would you mind if I arrive half an hour late, since I have a conference call that ends at 6pm? や、 May I leave around 8pm to prepare for my business trip the next day? など、理由や時間も含めて聞くとよいでしょう。

家族や恋人（「プラスワン」）を連れてきてよい場合は、 I would love to attend with my spouse, Tim Cratchit. など、自分との関係と名前を書くといいでしょう（家族で別姓の方も多いため、ネームカード等がある可能性のある公式なイベントでは、フルネームで書いた方がホストに親切です）。お子さんと参加したい方は、 May I bring my ten-year-old daughter? など、年齢も含めて確かめた方がよいでしょう。

ホームパーティーの場合は、ポットラックでなくとも、 Please let me know if there’s anything that I can bring. と聞くと丁寧です。多様な人たちが集まる米国は、健康や信念に基づく食事制限がある方も多く、アレルギーにもとても気を遣いますので、何か持参する前に、 Do you or your guests have any food allergies or dietary restrictions? と確認した方が安全でしょう。

少し難しいのは、集合時間です。座って食事をする場合は遅れると失礼にあたりますが、立食のビュッフェやポットラックであれば、時間通りに行くと他に誰もおらず、忙しいホストに気を遣わせてしまうこともあります。事前に説明がない場合には、 Am I correct that this is a sit-down dinner? などと確認できます。さらに I plan to arrive before 7pm. などと到着予定時刻を知らせると、もう少しゆっくり来た方がよければその旨お返事があるでしょう。

この時期は町中がライトや飾りつけでキラキラしていますが、様々なイベントで人と会ったり、年内に仕事をまとめたり、プレゼントを買ったりと忙しいあまり、せっかくの景色に気付かず素通りしてしまうことがあります。たまには長い「やることリスト」を忘れ、温かい飲み物を手に一息ついて、今の季節を楽しむのもいいかもしれません。

2010年代も残りわずか。皆様、よいお年をお迎えください。