The special exhibition Haniwa to Dogu no Kindai (Modern Images of Ancient Clay Figures) is currently on view at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT) until December 22, 2024. What stories have people seen in ancient figures since the modern era? Tracing this “gaze” reveals changes in society and the mind in Japan. The monthly magazine Tokyojin held a roundtable discussion entitled “A Gaze upon Haniwa and Dogu” at MOMAT. The discussion was moderated by Matsui Mio and featured novelist Machida Ko, whose Koyaku Kojiki (colloquial translation of the Kojiki) has received much attention, and exhibition curators Hanai Hisaho and Nariai Hajime. Tradition, avant-garde and yuru-chara[1]. ……? A look at the haniwa / dogu boom ——In 2023, Mr. Machida published Koyaku Kojiki (Kodansha, 2023), a modern translation of the Kojiki.[2] A kofun[3] (an ancient burial mound) also appears in important scenes in ... ... [Read more]

[Physical Education/Sociology] There are swimming styles that have been passed down through the generations in Japan. Nihon eiho (Japanese swimming techniques) developed in a way suited to the waters of each region, such as rivers, lakes, and oceans. Currently there are 13 schools. We [the editorial staff of Mizu no Bunka] covered the historical background of one of them, Suifu-ryu suijutsu (Suifu school of the Japanese martial art of combat swimming), which is being kept alive in in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and were shown some of the swimming techniques. Can be continued for life, regardless of age Sideways in the water, with the face turned upwards above the surface, the swimmer performs scissor kicks called aoriashi while the lower hand extends forward and pulls down through the water. This is hitoe-noshi (single sideways kick), one of the representative swimming strokes of Suifu- ryu ... ... [Read more]

Speak English with a native speaker living in Japan and you’ll run across words unlikely to come up in a conversation in, say, the US or the UK. For example, the Japanese word conbini comes from the English convenience store, but I can’t recall ever hearing English speakers here using the latter to describe their local Lawson or Family Mart franchise. We drop conbini into our speech regardless of whether we’re conversant in Japanese. For one thing, it’s short and easy to say. And despite the similarities, the image evoked by convenience store (that drab landmark with the gas pumps found along intersections across the American countryside), and the image evoked by conbini (that shiny Japanese institution constantly humming with bright chimes and announcements) are different enough that it’s only natural to want to assign them separate appellations. Work-related Japanese terms are also often ... ... [Read more]

  From March 26 to May 19, 2024, the “Special Exhibition: Yoshiwara” was held at the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts. About 89,900 people visited the museum, and the catalog sold out. It was a great success. The author visited the exhibition on April 16. The huge exhibition of about 230 works included works by many famous artists such as Hishikawa Moronobu (1618?–1694), Hanabusa Itcho (1652–1724), Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806), Chobunsai Eishi (1756–1829), Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1865) and others. The exhibition includes works by famous ukiyo-e artists such as Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), Sakai Hoitsu (1761–1829), Takahashi Yuichi (1828–1894) and Kaburaki Kiyokata (1878–1972). The author was overwhelmed by the amount of material and the fact that Yoshiwara had been painted by so many artists, and at the same time, recalls feeling confused and unsure of how to interpret the exhibition. Why is there such ... ... [Read more]

The act of looking at daily life Three years have passed since I opened “Nikki-ya Tsukihi,”[1] a store specializing in diary literature, in the BONUS TRACK[2] commercial area in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. I myself like reading diary books, and have been involved with diary books for some time, including introducing them in magazine articles and publishing them through my own publishing company, NUMABOOKS, but I had never thought of opening a specialty store. However, when I became involved in the overall management of BONUS TRACK, I had an idea that it could work as a store along with a coffee stand. A diary is a piece of literature that plainly records one person’s daily activities. In an era where people are conscious of cost performance, and in a world where life is all about pursuing economic rationality, I have always thought that the number of ... ... [Read more]

    The existence of the box, which had been handed down in the Reizei family, was known. It had never been opened since 1896 and had been passed down quietly in the family—I had just kept it out of respect without opening it. In 1980, an investigation of the entire Reizei family book collection began, and as the collection was examined step by step, in 2022 the box was opened for the first time in almost 130 years. Many valuable documents had already been found in earlier research work, and I thought that there would be nothing of great value in the box. Therefore, I was surprised when the team of scholars in charge of the investigation told me that a commentary on the Kokin Waka Shu, the Kenchu Mikkan, handwritten by Fujiwara no Teika (1162–1241) had been found. The professors who discovered ... ... [Read more]

  Seki Takakazu (also known as Seki Kowa, ?–1708) is known as a Japanese mathematician of the Edo period (1603–1867) who studied traditional Chinese mathematics and made great advances in Wasan (native Japanese mathematics). He was also the first mathematician in the Sinosphere (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam) to emphasize the importance of general theory. In traditional Chinese mathematics, which Seki inherited, there was only one way to describe an unknown in an equation. However, he devised a way to describe equations with many unknowns, and completed the general theory of eliminating unknowns in high-order simultaneous equations, the theory of resultants, which had introduced determinants independently of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), before Western mathematics. He also made equations, which had previously been seen only as tools for solving problems, the subject of mathematical research, completing a numerical solution method for equations using assembly division before ... ... [Read more]

Yamaguchi Yuka (Home Cook) and Miura Tetsuya (Professor at Aoyama Gakuin University) To make the impression bigger than the trouble Yamaguchi Yuka: Mr. Miura, in your book Jisuisha ni Narutame no 26-shu (26 weeks to become a home cook [those who willingly cook for themselves]) (Asahi Press), you repeatedly write about the “charm of flavor.” I think the saying that we “savor the aroma as we eat” is really true. First of all, Mr. Miura, you’re not an expert in cooking, are you? Why did you decide to write a book on home cooking? Miura Tetsuya: I have always loved cookbooks, and in my mid-twenties I became particularly obsessed with the works of Mr. Marumoto Yoshio (writer, cooking expert, 1934–2008). He was an even more eccentric writer who forced fundamentalists to rethink home cooking from the ground up. Since then, I have read books ... ... [Read more]

  Even famous buildings created by teams of designers affiliated with large organizations have stories that the author wants people to know. This series features masterpieces and recent works designed by Taisei Corporation. In the third installment, an “Innovation Edition,” we visited the Tokyo Tatemono Mitsutera Building (Osaka City), which just opened in November 2023. [Cooperation: Taisei Corporation Design Division]   Miyazawa Hiroshi, Editor-in-Chief, BUNGA NET   The phrase “win-win” is often used in the business world. It is not often used in the world of architecture, perhaps because people in the architecture industry believe that a piece of architecture cannot be called “good architecture” unless both the client and the architect are satisfied. In this sense, this project is one that will probably be called sanpo-yoshi (win-win-win)[1] in the future. At least, that is how the author feels at this stage. The building ... ... [Read more]

In recent years, there has been a growing tendency for books that are bestsellers in South Korea to become hits in Japan, and vice versa, for books that are popular in Japan to become hot topics in South Korea. A representative of a publishing company that pioneered the Korean book market in Japan talks about the current situation in Japan and Korea. Kim Seung-bok, CEO of Cuon Inc. Japan and South Korea have become competitive societies  ——In 2019, Mr. Kim Soohyun’s essay Watashi wa Watashinomamade Ikirukotonishita (I decided to live as me [original title: 나는 나로 살기로 했다 (2016)]) (Wani Books Co., Ltd., 2019), which Ms. Kim was involved in translating and publishing, was published in Japan and became a bestseller with a cumulative circulation of 550,000 copies (1.8 million copies worldwide). Why do you think Korean “picture essays” have become such a big ... ... [Read more]