Following Prime Minister Takaichi's statement that "a crisis in Taiwan could pose an existential threat," the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs anno ...

In Japanese poem, “Honkadori” is an allusion within a poem to an older poem which would be generally recognized by its potential readers. For example, ...

“Autumn and Walking” by Sakutarō Hagiwara https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000067/files/1772_58419.html He likes autumn. Because autumn is the most comf ...

What I learned this year. It is November, a year has almost over now. “What did I learn this year?”, I ask myself. A dictionary says “learn” is “to ge ...

Every day, I take a walk along the Hirose River, and with the arrival of winter, dozens of swans fly in from Siberia in Russia. While watching the swa ...

Life is often compared to climbing a mountain. When we were three years old, we were relieved that we could pee by ourselves without wetting our pants ...

Sitting in the usual place: I’m sitting in my usual spot, in front of my usual writing desk. The desk is in the corner of my living room. Many things

In the novel” The Small Rain" written by Thomas Pynchon, Levine’s girlfriend’s name is “Little Buttercup”. Buttercup is the name of a flowering plant

When I was reading the novel “The Small Rain” by Thomas Pynchon, I found the phrase,” An adolescent-looking rebel in a cord coat came staggering up to ...

Canadian Goldenrod When I was taking a walk with my wife, Canadian goldenrods were flourishing in a neighboring backyard. “This is Hog-Weed, and this

91  The crickets cry on this frosty night as I spread my robe for one on the cold straw mat where I shall sleep alone.

When I was watching the baseball game on TV, some spectators put shoes on top of their heads. This is a fan culture called Rally Shoe, a kind of charm ...

Rare sports/minor sports Today, October 10 is a holiday for Sports Day in Japan. What would you answer if you were asked what your rare sport is? I’d

Hyakunin Isshu 47 " How lonely this villa has become, overgrown with goose grass weeds. No one visits me - only autumn comes." As the weather gets col ...

Words change with the times, and the times change with words. I was a little surprised to see an email from a young person asking me to arrange a date ...

In the novel “Greek Lessons” by Han Kang, a girl discovered the hangul character 숲 consists of ㅅ+ㅜ+ㅍ. The meaning is “woods”. She says the figure of 숲 ...

We often see Colchicum autumnale in this season. when we are taking a walk around our living places. It is also called autumn crocus, meadow saffron,

Yesterday, October 6, was the night for the full-moon festival held in Japan. We used to hold parties to celebrate the beauty of the full moon, but no ...

“Bound Jizo“ at Komega-fukuro A Jizo, a stone statue, is enshrined at Komega-fukuro, on the banks of the Hirose River. A strange custom is done whenev ...

International Coffee Day International Coffee Day is an occasion that is used to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events now occurring ...