しあわせ

For several months I’ve been following Okinawa Soba’s fascinating photostream at Flickr. He has an enormous collection of Meiji period photographs mainly by a photographer called T. Enami which he is generously sharing via his flickr account. His comments make for interesting reading as well. He is what might be called cantankerous and I’m sure would be an interesting companion over a drink or two in a izakaya.

(original photo from Okinawa Soba used under creative commons licence)

This illustrates why I like Japan. And also features kanji and gaffertape.

If you’ve ever been to Japan you will have seen guards with illuminated batons who direct people away from construction sites. On one hand it looks an even worse job than the bored security guards in the UK but as is often the case in Japan the guards take their job seriously and seem to have pride in it.

Shuetsu Sato went one step further. On his own initiative he started to make signs out of gaffertape while the station he was working at was under renovation. I believe it was Shinjuku which is confusing at the best of times. He does it out of public-spiritedness, to help people find their way. His bosses allow or encourage it. He takes great care over his work. I’d say he takes great pride in it. Apparently in his own freetime he has made signs in other locations.

He came to the attention of some artists who made a documentary about him and has now even appeared in a pop promo making one of his signs.

The typography is amazing, especially considering the materials he works with. It’s a lesson in information design.
For me it demonstrates Japan’s wealth in talented amateurs doing amazing things for the joy of it. It also demonstrates Japans genuine public-spiritedness and attention to detail. I think “only in Japan”.

Unfortunately I’ve never seen any of these signs myself. The photo above is by antjeverena on Flickr and is used (and cropped) under his Creative Commons license.

Falling Blossom– A British officer’s enduring love for a Japanese woman.
by Peter Pagnamenta & Momoko Williams published by Century

I found a very interesting book in a second hand bookshop at the weekend. (I buy almost any book about Japan! even the ones written in Japanese I can’t read that appear in this shop from time to time)
It reminded me of the old curse “may you live in interesting times”.

It is about the love affair between an British Army Officer (Arthur Hart-Synott) from Ireland and a Japanese woman (Suzuki Masa-san) in the early days of the 20th century. It is based on his letters that were found in Japan when Masa-san’s daughter-in-law was clearing the house. A unique record I think. Unfortunately Masa-san’s side of the correspondence is lost but it is a very interesting, albeit sad, story indeed.
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I’ve been wondering lately if I should allow comments here. This is actually the second time I’ve posted this piece. I pulled it the last time.

At first I used WordPress more as a content management tool. しあわせ started as a static website. I can’t remember why I decided to shift to WordPress actually.

This is just hobby stuff really. I spend rather than make any money on it. I’m not even sure why I’m shouting into the void of the web about these various topics. Something to do I guess. The 21st century equivalent of writing manifestos on a wall.

But I saw a video of a presentation by Liz Strauss at WordCamp Dallas and I think her call of “C’mon Let’s Talk!” inspired me a bit.
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Hiroshima by: John Hershey pub: Penguin

In January I visited Hiroshima. I’m not sure I wanted to. I was going there on a recommendation of a friend to see bugaku at Miyajima shrine near Hiroshima. I was afraid Hiroshima would be too depressing; maybe upsetting; maybe just too macabre to be a tourist at the worlds first nuclear destruction.

In the event, what I found was a vibrant modern city not overly dominated by it’s past. Yes there are memorials, and a museum, but oddly I didn’t find it depressing as I expected. It’s strange knowing what happened, seeing what survived. There’s the famous A-Bomb dome. The bank, and in the grounds of Hiroshima castle, trees.

And people survived.
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The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery published by Vintage Originals

This is a very interesting debut novel by Ellis Avery. What struck me most about it is the author had obviously learnt Japanese and learnt it in some depth. Usually in novels about Japan there are a few tidbits thrown to the reader about Japanese but I often get the feeling that it is so superficial, that the author just did a little bit of research for added flavour. Ms. Avery shows some deeper insight or at least I can identify with her characters struggles in learning Japanese and learning to write.
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