"Daily Word" Echoes P.O Box 30, Moriyama Post Office, Nagoya 463 Tel. (052)794-6422 March 31, 1996 Number 52 Y200 (Essays submitted by listeners/readers on themes of "Daily Word" messages be- tween January 16 and February 20, 1996. Corrected and edited by Clark Offner.) ************************* January 16 Message (Subject #296) The theme for our meeting is: "Plans, Hopes and Fears for 1996". ************************* My greatest plan for this year is to go to the United States of America. Last year, I traveled there for the first time in my life. I went to a small city in Mich- igan named Saginaw. That city has a Jap- anese Culture Center along with a Japa- nese tea house and a Japanese garden. The director of that center is a Japanese woman who loves that dainty house and fascinating garden and is devoted to ac- tivities related to them. The budgeted amount she receives from the city to manage those valuable assets is very limited so she has been holding events every year to raise funds for the main- tenance of those facilities ever since she became the director. Last year, she planned some stage performances of traditional Japanese art and music. On her request, about ten women from Handa and nearby cities and towns went to America for that purpose. They were instructors and teachers of traditional Japanese art and music, such as tea ceremony, flower arrangement, ko- to music, Japanese dance and kimono dressing. I accompanied them. We paid for the flight by ourselves. In return, there was no charge for our accomoda- tions. We stayed with American fami- lies. The family I stayed with was a re- tired couple; the husband was American and his wife was Japanese. She was one of the so-called sense) haba-yorne, war brides, young Japanese women married to American soldiers af- ter the war. Coincidentally, she came from the same town in Osaka where I am from. She was happy to talk to me in her native language, in the dialect of Osaka in particular. We spoke in Osaka-ben all the time while we were together. I had never spoken so much in Osaka-ben since I left my hometown. I spent about ten days in America, but I scarcely spoke Eng- lish. I was always with some Japanese. I realized it was not helpful to me to use only my mother tongue where people spoke English, the language I had studied for so many years. Next time, I should .put myself in a situation where I hear only English and have to speak English. The leader of this artists group was a Japanese woman professor of Eng- lish. She suggested that I attend summer sessions of the Intercultural Communica- tion Institute in Portland and advised me to write to that institute and request a pamphlet about the "summer institute for international cultural communication". I immediately did so two weeks ago. I have been waiting for their reply and look for- ward to attending the summer sessions. 1 have two problems. Firstly, I am an extraordinarily strict vegetarian. I cannot eat out. I have to find a dormitory ---------------------[End of Page 1]--------------------- 2 APRIL 30, 1995 or an apartment house where I will be al- lowed to cook for myself. Secondly, I am very traditional in terms of clothing. I usually wear kimonos, but kimonos are not appropriate garments in this case. I have to make some other clothes to wear there for it is my principle to make al- most all the clothes I wear by myself. Right now, I am busy unsewing some old kimonos to remake them into more mod- ernized apparel that would make my trip and stay more convenient and comforta- ble. (NAOMI KONDO, Handa) In Japanese, we say lchinen no kei wa gantan ni ari. It means "New Year's Day is the day for planning" or "Decisions made on New Year's Day are the key to a successful year". My hope is to make progress toward my deep longing and this is most difficult for me because my deep longing for 1996 includes plans, hopes and fears, all three. I long to have a tender heart, not only for human beings but for all things. If I can become more tenderhearted, I will speak about my thoughts to others and, if anyone approves of my longing, the world will become a little happier than before. I, myself, am the only problem— whether or not I will put forth the effort to accomplish my aim. I am concerned about the destruction of nature, bullying in schools, child suicides, cruelty toward old people or animals, international rela- tions. Having even a little sympathy will help to solve many problems. I pray to God at the beginning of the New Year that I will not spend days idly through the year and will talk to others about the love of God. (MICHIKO SANO, Minami, Nagoya) As for my personal plans for 1996, first of all I would like to study the "Dai- ly Word" messages more carefully and di- gest them better so that I can make fur- ther progress, both intellectually and spiritually. These days, I feel urged to do "DAILY WORD" ECHOES so, though I have been a_very lazy student for a long time. I have been a student of Dr. Offner's since 1988 when I noticed an article about the "Daily Word" messages in the Asahi Shinbun and requested copies to be mailed. I regret very much that I have not been able to make much use of the precious gifts profusely given by Dr. Offner through the messages. How I miss those 8 years which have flown by like an arrow while I have grown older and my memory is worsening year after year. It is said that 1995 was a horrible year for us Japanese and so it was for my family also. Last May, I lost my mother and then my husband became sick. How depressed was and without vigor those days! When I was very gloomy, I received the good news that Dr. and Mrs. Offner would provide us listeners in the Tokyo area an opportunity to see them near To- kyo Station on August 24, 1995 on their way to their homeland. Ms. Shizuko Muto and I were able to go there. How happy we were to see our loving teacher and his wife face to face and to enjoy talking with them for a while! Talking with him, I felt as if I were urged to be a more faithful student. Since then, I have been much encouraged and recovered my vigor. I am so grateful for their kindness and thoughtfulness to share their precious time with us when they were very busy. I am an old woman whose studying ability is very poor. Devising a system for effective studying was necessary. I t is said that an effective way for us for- eign students to study English is to mem- orize English sentences as much as pos- sible. I would like to memorize passages which seem to me significant or impres- sive as much as possible. Then I would like to follow the way Mr. Tomoyasu Ki- mura mentioned in the 15th anniversary issue of "Daily Word" Echoes. He wrote that after listening to the messages a number of times, he tried to write down all the sentences in each message. That seems too difficult for me, but I plan to ---------------------[End of Page 2]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 try to do so as much as possible. The mes- sages,which are the result of Dr. Offner's marvelous talent and precious effort, should not be wasted. They are always very interesting and beneficial. I would like to broaden my knowledge and deepen my thinking through studying them so that I may grow healthier even in trials. 1 would like to contribute essays to "Daily Word" Echoes as often as possi- ble, though I am poor in writing. Once I contributed for a while, but soon gave up, thinking it was too difficult for me to continue. After a long break, I tried again and found that my ability had remarkably declined. I would like to try again as much as possible, so that I may stay young. Now I imagine my deceased moth- er watching over me with a smile. "You do not need to take care of me anymore. So spend your time studying the messag- es and do not give up." (MICHIKO KAWAMURA, Meguro, Tokyo) I will write about my two main hopes for this year. First, my hobby is painting and our painters group usually takes a sketch tour abroad once every two years. This year, we are planning to go to Spain in June. As I have never been there, I am looking forward to going. But atthis time, I cannot decide whether to go or not. The problem is the condition of my health. Since the end of last year, have not been so well, but if I regain good health, I will join the tour. I hope to make as many sketches as I can and bring them back with me. My second hope is related to the problem of our two grandchildren. They are now 5th and 7th graders and victims of school bullying, as I wrote in a previ- ous issue of the Echoes. The principals, homeroom teachers and child psychia- trists did their best but failed to per- suade them to go back to school. From last autumn, they have not attended school, staying home everyday. My daugh- ter looked for a special class for absen- "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 3 tees in and around the city but failed--to find one. Now she is planning to send the elder child to the international school in Toyota and has already contacted the Summerhill School in England for the younger one. We sincerely hope that this year will be a better year for them. (TSUYOSHI HAMADA, Minami, Nagoya) I have two hopes and one plan for this year. My first hope is to gain the 2nd rank of the Taikyokuken for which I have been training for two years. There are five ranks: beginner, middle, advanced, sub-teacher and teacher. I am still far away from teacher, which may require five more years of training, but I'm thinking that doesn't matter if only I keep healthy. My second hope is to be a translator of "English Literature for Children", but it is very difficult to pass the license examination for 2nd grade and then 1st grade. .A person with a 2nd grade ranking can take part in a translator group and can brush up on his or her technical abili- ty, but it's very difficult for me. By the way, I now have a 3rd grade ranking. Regarding my plan, I have been studying sign language on NHK television for one year now. I have become able to understand and to speak with my hands and also to finger letters but Only for simple conversation. So, I'm planning to join a volunteer group and would like to help deaf and dumb persons even a little. (MIEKO OKUMURA, Mizuho, Nagoya) To tell the truth, I am three score and eleven years old as of this January. It stands to reason that I have come to think of the time when the curtain will fall on my life. I know that no one can escape one's destiny. Sooner or later the inevitable will come to pass. So I ponder this matter long and deeply before reach- ing the conclusion that I had better be prepared for my demise. ---------------------[End of Page 3]--------------------- 4 APRIL 30, 1995 What I hope and pray__is that I will keep so well as to need little help from others to lead a normal life until the very time that a sudden natural death robs me of life. Thus my plans should be focused on how to keep well as long as I am alive. One of the prerequisites for keeping well is to keep regular hours. This is my top priority in order to keep well. Beyond the personal level, I think I should have something to say about vari- ous matters present-day society faces. In order to do so, I should keep abreast of the times, seeing the world in a different light. Some people say they see no bright prospects for the future. There may be a possibility that their pessimistic view i s correct. But I am in no mood to agree with their gloomy outlook. Then, what can I do about it? This is the question I face in the year 1996. (SHOJI SUGIMOTO, Suginami, Tokyo) This year will mark a new start for my husband and me because he is going to retire from his job at the end of March. I don't know what he will do after that. He will probably stay at home all day long. Although I will have to do more house- hold chores than before, I'd like to ex- press my sincere thanks to him for his working hard for more than 35 years. I'm afraid, however, that the sudden change in his lifestyle may adversely af- fect his mental or physical health. I real- ly hope he will find something to do soon, which will help him maintain his health. I have already told him that his retire- ment is also my retirement. At that time, he was astonished at my words, but now it seems to me that he is trying to under- stand them. I wonder if my lifestyle will change due to his retirement. These are my hopes and fears. (MICHIKO NIWA, ShOwa, Nagoya) When I attended the "Daily Word" meeting on the 21st of January, I felt confident about my health, but from the "DAILY WORD" ECHOES end of January, I noticed that I had some stomach trouble and called a doctor for the first time in many years. This made me realize I have to take better care of myself as I get older. As a result, I had to take medicine with me on my trips. Some trips were included in my hopes and plans for 1996 and I have taken two trips as of this time. I visited Okinawa and Palawan Is- land in the Philippines in February. The trip to Palawan Island was one of the most enjoyable and memorable trips I have ever taken. The island is completely isolated from 20th century civilization, if I may be permitted a slight exaggera- tion. There were no telephones, fax ma- chines, radios or television sets. There was only an unpolluted ocean and a hospi- table staff at the hotel. Having no specif- ic program or schedule, we could do whatever we wanted to do. Some of the group enjoyed snorkeling, scuba diving and canoeing. A number of small fish came near me while I was enjoying swimming. In Canada last September at Bow River, I could not catch a single fish in half a day, but here I caught several big fish in a short time. On a boat, we ate them as sashimi. At night, we could see the Southern Cross, the Big Dipper and the Milky Way high up in the sky. The sound of the waves provided a pleasant accom- paniment while we were dining. How I wish I could have stayed longer! (MIDORI KODAMA, Midori, Nagoya) January 23 ************************** Message (Subiect #297) In Japan, writing may be consi- dered an art as well as a means of com- munication, but the art form known as shock) does not enhance legibility. ShodO, or calligraphy, is the suggested theme for ---------------------[End of Page 4]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 an essay this week. What do you think of this style of writing? Have you taken classes in calligraphy? Do you appreciate this form of art? What are the benefits of learning to write in this manner? What do you think about the future of shodo? ************************* My hometown of Kasugai is called a city of calligraphy. This is because DafCi Ono was born here in 894. He is one of the three great Japanese calligraphers, known as sanseki. He is a descendant of Imoko Ono, a famous Japanese envoy to the Sui Dynasty in China. He somewhat changed the Chinese style calligraphy to a Japanese style. The D'OfC1 Memorial Hall is located near the JR Kachikawa Station. There is a saying that "calligraphy reveals one's character". It might be true. Beautiful calligraphy, as a work of art, is very impressive. It is delicate, gentle and powerful. When I write poor letters with a brush, they reveal my state of mind re- flexively. Often they show instability. Peace, stability, affection, carefulness and power are important. All kinds of su- perior mental qualities are required. (TOSHIYUKI KOTERAZAWA, Kasugai) As I may have written previously, calligraphy, shodo or kakikata was one of the required subjects in elementary and junior high schools in Japan. In our school days, pupils carried inkstones (su- zuri), and ink sticks (sumi) to school for their two calligraphy lessons a week. We also took writing brushes (fude), calli- graphy papers and textbooks (tehon) with us. Our teacher used to make the rounds of the class, standing behind each pupil and instructing how to write correctly. I was not good at calligraphy. I sometimes carelessly dripped ink on the white paper when I was going to start writing. It was "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 5 because nay writing brush had too much ink on it. Although the semi-cursive writing style (gyOsho) of Chinese characters and Japanese hiragana is not so difficult to read, the cursive writing style (sosho) i s sometimes quite illegible. The printed style of writing is good for official docu- ments, such as one's personal history. Being illegible, both cursive styles are good for advanced classes in calligraphy. It is said that the printed style is as easy as just standing, the semi-cursive style is a little more advanced, like walk ing, and the cursive style is as difficult as running. Japanese or Chinese sentenc- es written with a writing brush in semi- cursive or cursive styles are really a work of art to display on a wall. or in an alcove. They are difficult to read, so we often wonder what they mean. It is good for us to learn and to appreciate them as we think about the meaning. People in the old days used to write in these styles with a writing brush on rolled letter paper. Our mother used to receive letters written in cursive style on rolled paper from her sister. Mother said, "Sister Ritsu has tappitsu (good handwriting)." As I was a child, I could not understand nor could I read them. I thought that tappitsu meant to dash off letters hurriedly. Later, I understood that tappitsu meant to write very skill- fully and I thought much better of my Aunt Ritsu. I wish I could write large Chinese characters with a bamboo broom on a mat-sized paper. But first of all, I must learn how to write skillfully in a printed style with this pen in my daily life. (KAZUO TAGUCHI, Fukushima) Shodo is the art of drawing charac- ters with a brush and India ink to express spiritual depth and beauty. Shock) origi- nally came from China, but in Japan, Chi- nese characters (kanji) were combined with the Japanese syllabary (kana). ---------------------[End of Page 5]--------------------- 6 APRIL 30, 1995 At first, we should begin with the square style (kaisho), progress to the semi-cursive style (gy)sho) and then move on to the more advanced cursive style (s)sho). That is the system devised in Japan to produce this character art. With a brush soaked in India ink, one can freely control the thickness and the tone of the characters, unlike using a pen. I used to exhibit my calligraphy at exhibitions and received a number of prizes during my school days. I like the atmosphere in which my attention is calmly concentrated. That is how calli- graphers are able to express their spirit and ideas. Beyond the standard square style of writing (kaisho), writing styles can be divided into the somewhat simplified semi-cursive style (gyOsho) and the still more simplified cursive style (sasho). Except for New Year's cards and the like, a brush is ordinarily not used for writing, but shock) is included in the elementary school curriculum. Haiku, which are poems in 17 syl- lables, or Tanka, which are poems in 31 syllables, are very beautiful when writ- ten in semi-cursive style. They remind me of the beautiful elegance of a Japa- nese woman dressed in a kimono. (MIEKO OKUMURA, Mizuho, Nagoya) I do not like this style of Japanese writing and I have never taken classes in calligraphy. I do not appreciate this form of art very much because some famous artists are proud of their writing style which we cannot figure out. I think they are not considerate of persons who can- not read such writings. If they were to write in a readable style, it would make a better impression on the readers. 1 do not think that shod() will become more popular in the future. (TAMAKO MORIMOTO, Tsuyama) Shod' (calligraphy) is the art of fine and elegant writing. This visual art "DAILY WORD" ECHOES is characteristic of countries where peo- ple use Chinese characters which can be objects of aesthetic delights. While sim- ilar to the decorative calligraphy of the West, it is more deeply rooted as a fine art form, in part because every character has meaning of itself and because of the great diversity of character shapes. As early as the 9th century, when Japanese nobles had great esteem for the culture of the Tang Dynasty, they regarded shod) as an important part of their education. The invention of kana (Japanese charac- ters) in the 9th century encouraged the development and popularization of shock). Shock) is considered to be a way of cultivating the mind as well as promot- ing skillful penmanship. It is judged not only by its surface beauty but also by the calligrapher's character. When we were children, shock' (which was often called kakikata) was one of the few subjects taught at private schools together with soroban. (In this case, shod' is a style of writing using a brush.) These two skills were essential requirements for people living at that time. Fine writing is an indication of the education of the calligrapher, or at least it has been so. I am not so good at writ- ing, especially when using a brush and sumi. I hesitate to sign my name when requested, for example, at a wedding din- ner or at the entrance of an art exhibi- tion, especially when the signature i s written with a brush. My wife is rather good, or at least, better than 1, at writing because she was taught it quite thorough ly when she was a child. I often ask her to write a letter for me in certain cases when there is no one observing. Persons with poor handwriting are now greatly benefited by the appearance of word processors. I myself am one of them. These days, I write letters or oth- er documents With a word processor and what I must write by hand is only my sig- nature at the end. But, at the same time, this tendency to use word processors pre ---------------------[End of Page 6]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 vents people from writing beautiful let- ters by hand. My son usually writes many theses or articles in his work and some- times I have a chance to look at his man- uscripts. 1 am shocked at his bad writing (resembling that of a schoolboy) and tell him he is fortunate to be living in this machine-oriented society. if he had to expose his own handwriting directly to people's eyes, he would be regarded as an uncultured person simply by his poor pen- manship. (MIKIHIKO YOSHIMOTO, Gifu) I do not truly appreciate calligra- phy because 1 cannot write characters in a beautiful style. When I was young, my father advised me to practice shod& but I did not like it. I said at that time that I would be careful not to use mistaken characters and words instead of practic- ing writing. If I use the wrong charac- ters, I am truly foolish--not only unskill- ful but ignorant. I intend to keep the word I said to my father. A word processor helps me very much. It must be used with great care, however, for it will choose a mistaken word if I am not careful. Typed words are easier to read than skillfully written ones. By the way, my husband's brother- in-law is learning to read ancient manu- scripts, called komonjo in Japanese. I can read only three or four words on a line. In conclusion, I feel strongly that I was truly foolish because I did not fol- low my father's advice. (MICHIKO SANG, Minami, Nagoya) Among my school friends in the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture, there was an apprentice monk named TOgen, who had a slim body and was well-man- nered. He always had his head cleanly shaved. A friend told me that his calli- graphy work brought in money. After we graduated from school, some thirty years passed. I was working in this city. One day in a street car, by chance 1 noticed a monk in a black robe. "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 7 To my surprise,it was Mr. Togen. We were surprised and enjoyed seeing each other. He told me he was teaching English at a university and had temples in Nagoya, Kanazawa and Higashiura. Several years later, he was assigned to be the chief leader of a propagation campaign in the United States. At the send-off party, he was attired in beautiful, colorful robes. The mayor said in his congratulatory speech, "I came here imagining to see a stout, strong Zen monk, but how tender and soft you are!" Then, about two decades ago, our South Library E. S. S. members made a one-day excursion to the countryside. On the way back to the city, we dropped in .a famous Buddhist temple in Higashiura.. When I went through the temple gate,. 1 read the name of the temple, Ken-kon-in. 1 was indeed impressed with the calli- graphy--beautiful, strong and stream- lined letters. When I read the signature, I was quite surprised. It read "TOgen". I realized this was my friend's temple and my friend had written this. Later, he became the second highest monk of SOjiji Temple in Kamakura and the highest monk in Sojiji, Noto Peninsu- la. A few years ago, he passed away. should have asked him for some of his calligraphy! What a pity! (TSUYOSHI HAMADA, Minami, Nagoya) I think that shod6 is an art. I at- tended calligraphy classes for about sev- en years when I was child. My parents think that a smart person is a good calli- grapher so my brother and I studied it. He was in kindergarten and I went to class with him and my friends every week on Saturday afternoon. It was very enjoyable We were fond of mischief. We painted with ink (sump on our hands, legs, clothes and faces. We had to pre- pare twenty sheets of paper, but I often failed to write and always turned in about ten or fifteen sheets. But the teacher was generous and kind. The hard- ---------------------[End of Page 7]--------------------- 8 APRIL 30, 1995 est work was seiza. My--legs became numb. I learned shodo and sada' for a long time even though I disliked seiza. This experience taught me that I can overcome any difficulty, but I don't like it. Maybe I'm not a good calligrapher. (KEIKO UKAI, Minami, Nagoya) It was when I became a second grader that I began taking calligraphy lessons near the elementary school I went to. According to my mother, it took a long time for me to be "allowed" to take lessons there. The calligraphy master was such a strict teacher that he did not want a talkative, active boy like me to disturb the other pupils, so I was sum- ryjaLy-ilrejected at first. Since she knew that I needed disciplined training, how- ever, mother knocked on the door of the calligraphy master again and again until he gave me permission to attend on one condition. Unless I was able to sit still and devote myself to practicing calligra- phy, I would be expelled. To his surprise, I did devote myself and even got the first prize in a shodo contest. Through this experience, I became confident and came to believe in my ability. Now, I do not practice shodo nor can I write Japanese characters using semi ink as well as I used to, but the fact re- mains that I did a good job in calligraphy during a certain period in my early years. This is all I can say about my: personal experience with calligraphy, but there are some other things I think of. For one thing, shock practice seems to be representative of one aspect of our culture: to copy the prototype of some- thing. In a calligraphy lesson, we are ex- pected to look at the model, called tehon, as carefully as possible, then write our own character which should be an imita- tion of the tehon. However hard we may try, of course, we cannot produce an ex- act copy, but we are praised for produc- ing an approximation. We never think of writing in a different manner. "DAILY WORD" ECHOES During lessons, we are not allowed to talk. All we can do is to ask for some detailed instruction when we cannot un- derstand the master. As I wrote earlier, I am talkative by nature, so I found it extremely difficult to keep silent. As you may know, a large number of Japa- nese, especially when they are children, take shock) lessons during which they are allowed to talk very little. This aspect of the shock) lessons may have made many Japanese poor at speaking. Last of all, about my dream. When I become old and retire from the job of teaching, I would like to take shock) les- sons, but I wish to produce my own calli- graphy. Of course, I should again learn the basics of calligraphy, but once I've learned them, I hope to produce my own creative works of calligraphy. (TOMOYASU KIMURA, Nishi, Nagoya) Calligraphy is called shodo in Japa- nese. This term has dO at the end of it, like sack) (tea ceremony), kad6 (flower arrangement), judo (Japanese wrestling), kyOcki (Japanese archery) and so on. DO literally means a way or road. In this case, I think, it indicates the right way, the proper method, principle or art. Calligraphy was one of the most important subjects at school. My late father went to school for only eight years,' but his handwriting was far better than mine even though I went to • school for twice as long. The handwriting of my mother was equal to his although her school education was seven years longer than his. Calligraphy was practiced very intensively at primary school. For a calligraphy lesson, children have to bring everything they need for the class, including an ink stick, an ink stone, writing brushes and a paperweight. When I was in the fifth grade of primary school, one of my . classmates brought a small bottle containing liquid ink. She was reprimanded by the teacher for not bringing her ink stone and ink stick. The ---------------------[End of Page 8]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 teacher told us-that calligraphy did not mean only writing but included all the preparations for it. It began with rubbing the ink stick on the ink stone. We had to sit up straight while doing this and could not speak but concentrated on moving our hand. smoothly so that the end of the stick touched the surface of the stone evenly. Doing this, we became calm and then focussed our attention on the point of the brush and on writing. A calligraphy lesson is a sort of mental training. It takes much time and patience, like other lessons of Japanese traditional arts. It takes many years for a learner to master the fundamental rules and skills. Once acquired, these skills enable. one to write Japanese and Chinese letters in the correct order and to change them into the running style properly. One can even read letters writ- ten many years ago in a simplified form. Calligraphy was an essential part of our culture and its mastery was mandatory for those who wanted to be educated. These days, though, there is rarely an opportunity to read old documents and those who can read them or who can write very well with a brush are not so highly respected. Calligraphy lessons are less and less demanded by people who use word-processors or computers. I am afraid that, someday, calligraphy will no longer be taught at school. (NAOMI KONDO, Handa) I was one among a number of class- mates who were above average in shock). It was the practice in our classroom then to display some well-written works on the wall and mine was almost always among them. By way or reference, the shodO we practiced then was the square style, the most basic form of Chinese characters. Other styles such as the semi-cursive and cursive were taught in more advanced levels. As graduation from middle school was drawing near, I heard from a friend "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 9 that mastering the cursive as well as the semi-cursive styles was a necessity to becoming an adult. As I was longing to become an adult, I was very eager to master both styles. Keeping a copybook of "A Thousand Chinese Letters" at my side, I spared no effort to learn to read and write basic letters in semi-cursive and cursive styles. Some letters in the cursive style were so difficult to learn that I had to be content with only reading them and to give up trying to write them. But after some time of endeavor, I felt content with the result, finding myself able to read and write a few hundred Chi- nese characters. In fact, I even fancied myself to. be a respectable adult already. After leaving school, opportunities for taking up my writing brush became fewer. Caught up in a great maelstrom of denying traditional things as evil that was caused by the defeat of Japan (or, more correctly, Japanese militarism) after the end of World War II,shodo was one of the victims neglected by the gen- eral public. With the restoration of a peaceful society, however, some of the good traditional things have returned and shodei is among them. I would like to mention about re- cent tendencies among some people who love shock), They try to seek sophistica- tion in their works so much that they are prone to forget the very basics of shade). Some who call themselves avant-garde artists tend to give priority to aesthet- ics at the cost of legibility. Without leg- ibility, shade) makes no sense. It is an un- deniable fact that some ancient shocto works have lost their legibility for ordi- nary people, but that is an inevitable re- sult of the flow of time. (SHOJI SUGIMOTO, Suginami, Tokyo)' I have some acquaintances who are very good at calligraphy. All of them have practiced it for many years and exhibit their works a few times a year. Though I don't know exactly, it seems to me that ---------------------[End of Page 9]--------------------- 10 APRIL 30, 1995 works of calligraphy exhibited can be classified into two groups. One is imita- tive, closely copying another calligraph- er's work. (Almost all beginners belong to this group.) The other is creative, de- veloping her or his own unique style. Several years ago, 1 was shocked to view my friend's work at a calligraphy exhibition. There was only one big letter written on the paper, 120 cm. wide and 60 cm. long, which I managed to read. I thought it was a kind of picture with white and black, expressing her heart. Her calligraphy experience totals more than 45 years. Needless to say, her com- mon handwriting is very beautiful and whenever I receive a letter from her I envy her good handwriting. It is natural that good writing is better than poor writing. Albeit, when we had to decide whether or not to let our children attend shodO-juku, a private school for calligraphy, their father said that what is most important is the con- tent of their writing or thinking, not their beautiful penmanship; now they need to play outside. I agreed with his opinion. As a result, partly inheriting poor penmanship from their parents, our daughters and son also have poor penman- ship. (YOSHIKO TOYOTA, Kanie, Aichi) Writing is an important means of communication. The Japanese writing system changed after the war. When I went to school before the war, we had to learn far more characters in more com- plicated forms than now. We were taught to write inflections of verbs quite gram- matically. After the war, the Japanese government recognized the need to sim- plify the form of writing so that stu- dents might learn more easily. They made a list of a limited number of characters approved for general use. Characters themselves were simplified, though their original meaning and flavor were lost. Now, the inflections of verbs are no long- er grammatical, but simply dependent on "DAILY WORD" ECHOES phonetics. The revision may have—been successful in promoting a more practical use of written Japanese, but we cannot deny that Japanese characters have lost their original style and attractiveness. Maybe the younger generation cannot read the old type of written Japanese very well and we older ones cannot get used to the new style. Now, we live in a global age. To maintain good relationships, communica- tion is essential. For effective communi- cation, legibility is also required. Today, word processors are quite common and we have few chances to write letters with a brush and ink. I suppose Japanese long ago were far better calligraphers than we. We must be quite pessimistic about the future of calligraphy for, as Dr. Offner stated, calligraphy does not en- hance legibility. I am ashamed that, though I am old, have never taken classes in calligraphy and am quite ignorant of it. Though I know my artistic appreciation is quite limited, I do recognize its positive value as an excellent art form and as one of the precious assets of Japanese art. Certain- ly, calligraphy is a creative art form in which one attempts to express spiritual depth and beauty by means of kanji and kana characters written with a brush and ink on Japanese paper. The Chinese char- acters were introduced to this country from China in about the fifth century A.D. Then, we invented two phonetic syllabar- ies to express Japanese more correctly. One of these syllabaries is katakana and the other is hiragana. Each of these sym- bols represents a single sound. Over the years, the forms of those symbols have changed and, without studying them, we cannot read them now. Calligraphy has a long history and a precious heritage, which stimulates our interest in deepening our understanding and appreciation. Calligraphy is not easy to learn. One must practice repeatedly, following the rules faithfully. It is said ---------------------[End of Page 10]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 the beauty of expression (brush strokes, structure, color of sum!, arrangement, etc.) all make the work worthy of appre- ciation. Isn't it wonderful that just one stroke of a brush can cause the work to move our hearts? Though our life style has been • modernized, we still like to hang a work of calligraphy by an expert or a celebrity in the alcove of our rooms. At old people's clubs, calligraphy is the most popular subject to learn and many elderly people enjoy studying it. On the day of the First Writing of the New Year, many elementary and junior high school students enjoy writing auspicious words with a brush and ink. As an art form, calligraphy will survive and l• real- ly hope it does. (MICHIKO KAWAMURA, Meguro, Tokyo) I will write a little about kana cal- ligraphy in which I am involved. As you know, kana are the original monosyllabic Japanese characters which were fash- ioned from simplified Chinese ideographs (kanji). Their origin can be traced to the 10th century. Continuing through the 11th century, this distinctive, artistic sylla- bary became established in the 12th cen- tury. Their aesthetic beauty has played an important role in the history of Japanese calligraphy. The so-called onna-de (femi- nine script) calligraphers have. developed an expressive world of refined calligraph is beauty, adopting a continuous writing technique known as renrnen-tai that pro- duced beautiful flowing scripts. Today, those who study kana calli- graphy use classic textbooks that contain masterpieces of the great calligraphers of the Heian Period and practice renmen- tai(a continuous writing of kana charac- ters) at the. beginning. When you view kana works on display, you may find this form of continuous writing difficult to read, but I think that matters little if you sense some feminine or poetic beau- ty, a kind of picturesque aroma, exuding from them. "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 11 In recent years,_ kana calligraphy has been exhibited abroad also, in Amer- ica and France, for example, and a ten- dency to enhance legibility is emerging among calligraphers. Needless to say, it is essential that everyone can read. I hope that legible kana art will be more enjoyed by many people who also appre- ciate its own traditional beauty. (SADAE HASHIMOTO, Minami, Nagoya) In olden times, it is said, yomi, ka- ki, soroban, or reading, writing and cal- culation were the basic studies and their importance was emphasized, but nowa- days, these functions have been taken over, more or less, by machines, such as word processors and calculators, which are almost necessities for a business. They have advantages. Letters are clear and calculators work rapidly, but I still prefer handwriting, especially when it comes to personal matters. Whenever I receive a letter written beautifully, I feel happy. Even if the writing is not so good, I still feel the warmth and person- ality of the writer. 1 took calligraphy lessons in my youth and continued for several years. I mostly took lessons in kana and rinsho. It was very complicated and time-con- suming work for this rapid modern age. (MIDORI KODAMA, Midori, Nagoya) In Japanese calligraphy, or shod& Chinese characters, or kanji, Japanese syllabaries, or kana, including both kata- kana and hiragana, are all written, either alone or in various combinations to suit the requirements of our native language. When we write Japanese vertically,. we begin at the top of the right side of the page and go down. Each new line fol- lows to the left. In some cases, we write horizontally, starting at the top left- hand side of the page and go from left to right as in English. Not only is the vertical style easy to write, it is also considered the natural ---------------------[End of Page 11]--------------------- 12 APRIL 30, 1995 way. The characters flow into one anoth- er, forming the basis of the art form re- lated to Japanese calligraphy, or shock), so-called shaji. By virtue of the many opportunities had to :take' shOji „lessons during my school days, my cacography improved and was changed into calligraphy. Nowadays, most Japanese write letters or cards on their wa-puro (word processor) or on a pasu-kon (personal computer) instead of using a fude, or Chinese brush, and sumi, or Chinese ink, resulting in a deteriora- tion of their penmanship. I am one of those who are trying to write letters and cards using the original shock) method in order to promote Japanese tradition. Whenever I receive greeting cards and/or letters which were typed on a wa-puro or a pasu-kon I do not receive any friendly vibes from them. I think,. however, that official letters should be typewritten which makes them easy to read. Only recently, I had an opportunity to submit my personal history in shodO style when applying for a new job (after already reaching retirement age) which seemed to have made an impression on the director of the company. Now it is very rare for those who write their per- sonal history to use the shodo style. I have determined not to permit this tra- ditional:Japanese.:.art to perish as long as I live. (JAIME IWAI, Owariasahi) ************************* January 30 Message (Subject #298) For the third theme [for the next issue of the "Echoes"] I am suggesting the names of three historic men whose lives are related to this 30th day of Januaty. You may choose one or more of them to write an essay about. They are: Franklin Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the Unit- ed States, who was born on this day in "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 1882; Adolf Hider, who was appointed German Chancellor on this day in 1933; Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian political and religious leader, who was assassinated on this day in 1948. Each of these men af- fected the course of world histhry. What are your thoughts or memories regarding one or more of them? ************************* The United States insisted that Ja- pan withdraw from China and from its al- liance with its Axis partners, but Japan refused to do either and negotiations failed. On December 8,1941, Japan at- tacked Pearl Harbor. Hearing the news, was frightened, fearful of the threaten- ing, dark future. What a foolish mistake Japan had made! We should remember that Japan had owed much to the United States, which was far stronger than we. During the war, we were manipulated to feel hostility toward them and their pres- ident, Franklin Roosevelt. Later, I came to .know about him and appreciate him as a great president with a compassionate heart and strong leadership ability. He was born into a well-to-do fa mi- ly and received a good education. At his school, Christian duty and responsibility to the less fortunate 'was emphasized and he was exhorted to enter public service. Unfortunately, ,at the age of 39, he was stricken with poliomyelitis. He was able to regain partial use of his paralyzed legs, slowly and painfully, over the next few years. During his illness, he devel- oped patience and self-control and broad- ened his understanding of social prob- lems. In 1929, he was elected governor of New York state. In those days, the world economy was very bad and the Wall Street crash occurred that year. When the economic depression deepened, he was willing to experiment and revealed his capability. As governor, he enacted many New Deal policies. ---------------------[End of Page 12]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 Then, he was nominated for the presidency and elected in 1932. When he took office, the streets were full of the unemployed and the banking system was collapsing. He firmly believed that gov- ernment had a positive responsibility for the general welfare, not as a matter of charity, but as a matter of social duty. With his strong leadership, much of the basic legislation of the New Deal was enacted by Congress. Many major laws and new government agencies were ap- proved. Among them, the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) which was formed to build dams, produce power, work on flood control and to promote industrial growth in that area is very famous. It is said that the early stage of the New Deal was quite successful. He realized the importance of to to the general public in a friendly way so that it might understand his prin- ciples and share his opinions. I still re- member his famous "fireside chats". He was a warm, friendly president and a strong leader. During the Second World War, he tried to aid the Allies against the Axis to protect democracy and planned to make a world organization to stabilize the postwar world. He was reelected in 1944, the only president ever elected to four terms. He passed away in 1945. He was certainly a great president. Now, Japan is facing a crucial situ- ation, both domestically and internation- ally. In order to overcome the difficulties and to ensure a better future, we need good leaders, equal to the task and trust- worthy. In order to get good leaders, we should be more concerned with politics and try to raise our standards, morally and intellectually. We should remember it was common Americans that elected Franklin. Roosevelt to be their president. (MICHIKO KAWAMURA, Meguro, Tokyo) In January, I had a chance to travel abroad to India and was deeply impressed by their society. Here, I will comment on "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 13 that society which is full of inconsisten- cies and on Mahatma Gandhi who devoted his life to improve that society. Gandhi's tomb in Delhi was covered with many flowers and a great number of pious peo- ple were offering prayers in front of it. India has been controlled continu- ously by other nations throughout her long history. Most notable was her sub- jection to the Mughal Empire. I had been expecting to find footprints of the Bud- dha because India was his native country, but almost all the historic sites I visited were remains of Islam and the Mughal Emperors. (At many spots sacred to Bud- dhism,there is no trace of historic ruins.) Following the • conquest by Islam, British domination was remarkable in her history and many traces of it are evident today. Many old hotels are English-styled and the elevators inside them are called "Lifts". "English meal" is equivalent to "Western meal". It was convenient that English was spoken in public places, such as hotels, airports and stores, but the mass of people seemed quite indifferent in regard to English. I took pains to un- derstand their peculiar, provincial ac- cents, though I gradually grew familiar with their English. The British way of domination was very clever.. They even adopted a policy to cause the two reli- gions, Hinduism and Islam, to be antago- nistic to each other in order to prevent unity of the whole nation. Mohandas K. Gandhi was persistent- ly confronted with such British policies. He developed a nationwide movement for independence from Great Britain, empha- sizing nonviolence, passive resistance, non-cooperation and insubordination. He was given the honorific title of "Mahat- ma" (Saint) and was called "Father of I n- dia". After India's independence in 1947, he exerted himself for reconciliation be- tween Hindus and Muslims but was assas- sinated by a fanatic Hindu. Traveling in India, I could not help noticing that people are generally poor, ---------------------[End of Page 13]--------------------- 14 APRIL 30, 1995 that the country is still slowly develop- ing and that what obstructs its growth is the religion of Hinduism and the caste system. (This system itself is derived from the religion.) I felt that people should free themselves from the bondage of that religion for their modernization. Many farsighted leaders have aimed at abolishing the caste system from of old (Buddha himself was one of them) and have failed. Gandhi was pained by the miserable living conditions of the people belonging to the lowest class and en- deavored to improve their conditions but died before he could realize his aspira- tion. Indian society is too huge to be moved by a single great man no matter how influential he may be. (MIKIHIKO YOSHIMOTO, Gifu) I have never met nor talked with Franklin Roosevelt or Adolf Hitler but I have seen their pictures on television. At first, I must say that my brother and I like America so we are always in agree- ment in regard to it, but I am sorry to say that I do not have a good feeling about Franklin Roosevelt. The reason is that I saw his picture in a newspaper during the Second World War. The caption said that his pipe was made from the bone of a Japanese killed in the war. It took my breath away at the time. I thought that the news must be mistaken, but I. was greatly shocked nevertheless. Thinking about it now more calmly, I presume that it was the bone of an animal and that the Japanese newspaper's report was the re- sult of militaristic misinformation., but I cannot forget my shock at that time. I say again, I am sorry that I received this bad impression of President Roosevelt instead of that of a man with a good heart who did not want war. I believe that America and Americans are honestly trying to do God's will. In regard to Adolf Hitler, I hesitate to say it but we must not avoid consider- ing a part of our history. It is easy to "DAILY WORD" ECHOES criticize after—the event, but very diffi- cult to make decisions at the time. I my- self am not confident in his respect. Even if we condemn Hitler, it is fruitless. I also presume it is God's will. I must walk the way which God directs even though it is most difficult for me. (MICHIKO SANO, Minami, Nagoya) Mohandas Gandhi was born in 1869 as the youngest son of the premier of a regional monarchy in India. When he was eighteen years old, he went to England and afterward was admitted to the bar. Then we went to South Africa when he was 23 years old and experienced how his fellow countrymen were harshly - discrim- inated against there. He returned to his motherland and began an independence movement based on the principle of non- violence and nonresistance. He went eve- rywhere with a simple white cloth around his waist, wearing sandals. He taught the people on their own level and worked together with them. He treated even the untouchables as sons of god. He won the independence without weapons but finally he was assassinated in 1948, when he was 78 years old. The poet, Ta- gore, conferred on him the title Mahatma. His disciple, Jawaharlal Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, and her son, Rajiv, were also assassinated. What a tragedy! They were willing to sacrifice their lives to save their countrymen. Af- ter the war, at the Tokyo Military Tribu- nal, only the Indian judge found Japan not guilty. I think it might be due to the in- fluence of Mahatma Gandhi. Anyway, he was the greatest leader and savior of his people. I respect him! (TSUYOSHI HAMADA, Minami, Nagoya) Franklin Roosevelt was born in1882 and became a politician in the United States. To my surprise, I heard that he was elected president four times. He put forth an effort to restore the economy after the Depression, put New Deal poll- ---------------------[End of Page 14]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 cies into practice, recognized Soviet po- litical power, helped various countries in Europe and saved them from totalitarian- ism in those days. (YASUKO IZUMI, Seto) • As a person related to the 30th of January, I choose Franklin Roosevelt who was born on that day 114 years ago. Even in the years of the Pacific War, we knew about President Roosevelt in America and Prime Minister Churchill in England. More than 50 years have passed since the end of that war. Following the end of the war, the U. S. A. and Japan have been very friendly nations much longer than when they were opposed to each other. Accord- ing to the U. S. News and World Report of 1982 (100 years after the birth of Frank- lin Roosevelt), he is the third most popu- lar of all American presidents. We heard of Franklin Roosevelt's death from ill- ness in the spring of 1945. Even at that time, I felt sorry that a great man had been lost. After a few months, the war was over and we learned, about America by and by, little by little. Franklin Roosevelt was a promoter of liberalism. He made America a first- class power. He also proved himself very capable, showing his presidential ability not only in foreign affairs but also in do- mestic legislation. He put forth a great effort for economic reconstruction after the great panic in America in 1929. Dur- ing his time as president, from 1933 to 1945, he was elected four times. I ad- mire him for meeting with journalists as often as 998 times during those twelve years, whom he treated kindly. He also chose a group of university professors to be his counselors. He served his country very well and brought about industrial reconstruction. I am sure he prayed to God asking him what to do before making decisions to do those wonderful things. It is too bad that he became sick in h is later years. Although Franklin Roosevelt, as a leader of the United States, died before "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 15 the end of the war and was not able to see the good relations between America and Japan, he may be happy to know that I like my American teachers and friends who are in heaven, in America and in Ja- pan. I hope there will never be a war be- tween these nations whatever happens on earth. Jesus binds together the people who believe in him. (KAZUKO TAGUCHI, Fukushima) Once I heard an unforgettable epi- sode about Mahatma Gandhi which became a picture clearly printed in my memory. He was sitting on the ground, spin- ning cotton. To promote the cotton in- dustry, he had prompted people to grow cotton and spin it. He himself often spun cotton. He used white cloths to cover the lower part of his body and his upper body was exposed. Prior to his meeting with the Eng- lish prime minister, he was asked by a high-ranking English official if h e was not ashamed of wearing such rustic clothes. He answered, "No". On the con- trary, he was proud of wearing them be- cause they were the traditional Indian costume and he regarded them as the most appropriate garb for a formal oc- casion. (NAOMI KONDO, Handa) Basho, the greatest Japanese poet, in one of his writings, quoted these wise words of Kukai, the ancient Buddhist priest: "You should not be content with following in the footsteps of your pre- decessors, but try to seek out what they sought." These very significant words have stayed in my mind since I first came across them dozens of years ago. Now I would like to apply them in relation to the great man I am going to write about. In reading an article in the Encyclo- paedia Britannica (1966),I found that two main ideas prevailed in his activities throughout his life. "The only virtue I claim," he said, "is truth and non-vio- lence." The article also included another ---------------------[End of Page 15]--------------------- 16 APRIL 30, 1995 quotation: "My life is an indivisible whole and all my activities run into one anoth- er; they all have their rise in my insatia- ble love of mankind." Here lies the con- densed essence of the thought of this great soul, in my view. We should seek out what the great Gandhi sought throughout his whole life. He was all heart. He distinguished him- self by getting to the heart of the prob- lems he faced. He was very tenacious in seeking to attain his purpose. His great personality made everyone attracted to him. He was a genius. He has every rea- son to be venerated after his death. Now I can safely say that the spirit of non-violence has taken shape in Arti- cle 9 of the Japanese Constitution that stipulates the renunciation of war, for war is nothing but violence at its worst. Thus, renouncing war means non-violence. To realize what Article 9 states must mean sharing the spiritual legacy of non- violence this great soul devoted himself to. It follows as a corollary that we should spare no effort to eliminate nu- clear weapons from the whole world. This end goes well together with the creed of non-violence the Mahatma con- stantly advocated throughout his life. (SHOJI SUGIMOTO, Suginami, Tokyo) ************************** Februarv_G Message (Subiect #299) Last Saturday was the "season-di- vider" day, called setsubun,in Japan. The following day was risshun, literally meaning "start of spring". Actually, there are four "season-divider" days each year, but the term setsubun is now used only for the one at the beginning of spring which is also associated, traditionally, with the beginning of a new year. In the agricultural alinanac, there are 24 sea- sons of about 15 days each, which are re- "DAILY WORD" ECHOES lated to the relative position of the sun- and the earth. Some of them are well known by the general public, but others are often overlooked.. Do you know, for example, what season follows risshunand on what day it begins? What do you think of these 24 seasonal divisions? In your daily life, do you ever think about them? If so, in what way or for what reason do they come to mind? I would be interest- ed to read your comments about these 24 seasons and their place in Japanese thought in the past and present and what you think about their future. ************************* The twenty-four seasons in the Japanese and Chinese calendars are root- ed in the lunar calendar and related to the relative positions of the sun and the earth. Consequently, the dates of these seasons are slightly different each year. Nowadays, a great majority of people are indifferent to them. I also am not inter- ested in them in my daily life, but I do think about them when I write cards ex- pressing my best wishes to friends and relatives living far away during the hot or cold seasons and also inquire about their health. These greetings should be written during a certain period. Summer greet- ings are called shochei-mimai when writ- ten before rissha, meaning "start of fall", and zansho-mimai after rissh0. Shocha means the hot season and zansho the re- mainder of the summer heat.Mimai means in inquiry about another's health. The summer heat does not stop at risshO, fall- ing on or about August 6th. It remains un- til the end of August or the beginning of September. One is not supposed to write summer greetings after shosho, meaning "end of summer heat", about August 23rd. I often forget to write summer greetings before rissha, so I usually write them af- ter that. It is still hot even after "start of fall" and I am lazy and slow in writing ---------------------[End of Page 16]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 them. To remind myself of the deadline, I circle the "end of summer heat" day on my calendar. Winter greetings sre supposed to be written around daikan, meaning "great cold", about January 20th. I hardly, ever write a card or letter during this season because I write New Year's greetings. I only write to those who are in mourning and to whom I could not send a New Year's card. I regard the writing of season's greetings as a thoughtful Japanese cus- tom. It enables me to keep up a good relationship with old friends and rela- tives I rarely see. Thinking about the twenty-four seasons reminds- me that formerly almost all Japanese were farm- ers, keenly sensitive to the changes of nature, who made their farming plans precisely based on the agricultural al- manac which is closely related to the twenty-four seasons. (NAOMI KONDO, Handa) As a composer of haiku, I know the seasonal words related to the seasons of risshun, keichitsu, shunbun, rikka, geshi, shOsho, taisho, risshu, shabun, ritto, Cop, shokan and taikan, but I didn't know the season that follows risshun. According to my lunar calendar, usui, rain water, comes after risshun and begins.on Febru- ary 19th or 20th. The name implies that icy water, warmed by warm air, vaporiz- es, ascends to the sky, turns to rain wa- ter and falls back again onto the earth. In this season, the buds of trees sprout and new leaves of grasses grow. I learned the word "rain water" for the first time. What a shame! (TSUYOSHI HAMADA, Minami, Nagoya) We Japanese are very sensitive to seasonal changes. One reason for this is that we have four distinct seasons. (In India, which I visited recently, for exam- ple, there are only two seasons: the rainy season and the dry season.) Another rea- "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 17 son is that we were originally an agricul- tural people whose work was related to seasonal changes. Appreciation of sea- sonal changes is vividly expressed in the famous haiku, "Me-ni-wa aoba, yama ho- totogisu, hatsu-gatsuo" (Fresh greenery for the eye, a cuckoo's song for the ear, and the first bonitos for the mouth). In Japan, the visual effect of serving food is important and dishware for it has to be carefully chosen--glass or bamboo- made dishes for summer and thick earth- enware for winter. In former days, we used the lunar calendar, which was inconvenient in vari- ous ways for agriculture. The system of 24 seasonal divisions was adopted to make up for the deficiency. A one-year period, from the time the sun reached the spring equinox point until the next time it reached that point (called celestial longitude), was divided into 24 parts and the 24 sekki were the names given those seasonal divisions. People could know the climatic changes in a year by these divisions. As the year is divided into 24 peri- ods, each division has about 15 days. Among these 24 sekki, risshun, rikka, risshu and ritto are the most widely rec- ognized; everyone knows them. For exam- ple, we become very happy to hear the word risshun, feeling that spring is near at hand though the weather is still cold. The four next most widely recognized sekki are: shunbun, geshi, shObun and teiji, which are all in the middle of the four major seasons. Other examples of sekki in spring are usui and keichitsu. The former is around February 19th when ice and snow begin to thaw and rainwater gets warm. The latter is around March 6th, when insects and worms which have been hibernating, begin to move. In addi- tion to these 24 sekki, we have zassetsu, or other kinds of sekki, such as setsubun or hachi-ya, which are also very familiar to us. These various kinds of sekki, or seasonal divisions, have had special ---------------------[End of Page 17]--------------------- 18 APRIL 30, 1995 meaning and sentiment _for us. Hearing the names of these sekki, we people be- longing to the older generation, are filled with deep emotion, but young people to- day seem to have no special sentiment for them. In regard to the Japanese sensitivi- ty to seasons, much greater attention should be paid to saijiki. This is a beau- tiful illustrated glossary of words with seasonal connotations regarding Japan's traditional, annual events, animals, natu- ral phenomena and so on. All the words and phrases are exemplified by simple haiku poems and arranged according to the well-defined four seasons. The names of the 24 sekki are of course, the most important element of saijiki due to the circumstances mentioned above. (MIKIHIKO YOSHIMOTO, Gifu) I will write about the names of the 24 seasons and their meanings. January: 1) shOkan= little cold; 2) daikan= very cold. February: 3) risshun. beginning of spring; 4)usui= rain water. March: 5) keichitsu= insects/worms end- ing their hibernation; 6)shunbun= vernal equinox. April: 7) seimei= purity; 8)koku- u= grain rain. May: 9) rikka= beginning of summer; 10) shOman= little filling. June: 11) bO-shu= plant having an ear; 12) geshi summer solstice. July: 13) shOsho= little hot; 14) taisho= very hot... August: 15) r i- ssh6= beginning of autumn; 16) shosho= hot place. September: 17) hakuro= white dew; 18) shCibun= autumnal equinox. Oc- tober: 19) kanro= cold dew; 20) soko= frost descent. November: 21) ritto= be- ginning of winter; 22) shO-setsu= little snow. December: 23) tai-setsu= much snow; 24) toji= winter solstice. This theme suggested by Dr. Offner was very helpful in stimulating me to add to my knowledge. I confirmed the names and their meanings because I did not know some of them. I marvel that they have come from China. I looked them up in the Shinjigen, a Chinese-Japanese dic- "DAILY WORD" ECHOES tionary I use in composing Chinese poems I felt deeply that Japanese should become more friendly and share the love of God with the Chinese. We can view our old history, for example, by reading the Man- yOshO which was greatly influenced by China. (MICHIKO SANG, Minami, Nagoya) I did not know about the 24 season- al divisions until I read a compendium of seasonal words for haiku poets some thir- ty years ago. I remember 1 was deeply impressed by the wisdom of the ances- tors who devised such a clever system of dividing the whole year. The idea of the 24 seasons comes from the agricultural community whose schedule necessitates correspondence with the constant change in the climate throughout the whole year. It is quite natural that the 24 seasons correspond exactly to the ecliptic longi- tudes showing the places of the sun on its theoretical orbit. The 24 seasons might have origin- ally reflected public feelings toward the natural climate, but as modern civiliza- tion and urbanization progressed, some of the words have deviated from the origin- al meanings. For example, we see the word risshun, or start of spring, on Feb- ruary 3rd in the midst of a usually frigid winter, though it immediately follows the coldest season called daikan. We, today's urbanites, tend to forget the 24 seasons in our daily lives and with rea- son. As for .me, I am no exception. It is only when 1 try to compose a haiku poem that I become aware of the 24 seasons. As you know, every haiku poem in its tra- ditional form has to include a word relat- ed to the 24 seasons. Then I realize that the 24 seasons have become a precious legend that I think will go down in the history of Japanese culture. (SHOJI SUGIMOTO, Suginami, Tokyo) To tell the truth, I didn't know at all that there were 24 seasonal divisions of about 15 days each until Dr. Offner sug- ---------------------[End of Page 18]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 gested this theme. Consulting the Kojien, my big dictionary, I found out the 24 names of the seasons. Except for six of them, the names are familiar to me, but I didn't know they were names of seasons. When I asked my husband if he knew about them, he proudly replied that that was a matter of common sense. Neverthe- less, he could name only eleven of them. Among the names, there is no doubt about which is his favorite. About March 6th, every year, looking pleased, he says, "Today is keichitsu, (literally meaning worms crawling up out of the earth after a winter's sleep). What an excellent expression we have (iiete my6 da)!! Not only worms, but all of us feel ready to move actively these days of the year. Don't you?" He never misses making this declaration because on this day we can easily read or hear the word keichitsu in the newspaper or on television or radio. (YOSHIKO TOYOTA, Kanie, Aichi) Risshun begins on February 4th or 5th every year according to the solar cal- endar in Japan. This means that spring comes at the beginning of these 24 sea- sonal divisions. It is difficult for us to remember each of the 24 seasonal names. I think it is quite unnecessary for mod- ern people to remember them, apart from specialists.' • I have never thought about them in my daily life. I only know about them by means of newspapers or televi- sion newscasts. To my regret, I have no interest in risshun or the mame-maki ceremony even though it is one of the traditional ceremonies in Japan. (TAMAKO MORIMOTO, Tsuyama) As everyone knows, there are four seasons in a year, but I thought that March 1st was the beginning of spring. At the same time, I had heard the word risshun on February 4th, which means "start of spring". It was unbelievable to me, for February is the coldest month in the whole year. But I notice that there "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 19 are some warm days between some cold days. "Three cold days and a few warm days after risshun", and gradually real spring comes. When a year is divided this way, rikka, start of summer, falls on May 5, risshun, start of autumn, on August 7 and rittO, start of winter, on November 7, following risshun. Such a division may be more convenient to Japanese farmers, but these dates are about three weeks earlier than the four seasons of three months each. If we divide the seasons in- to 24 divisions, usui comes after risshun, I think. I am sorry, I cannot tell all the names after that, except for keichitsu and seimei until rikka. If I knew all the names of the 24 seasons, I would feel the subtle seasonal changes more. I would rather divide one month in- to two halves, about 15 days each, for I can receive my annuity to support myself on the 15th of the months with even num- bers: February, April, June, August, Octo- ber and December. But it is true that the division of one year into 24 seasonal di- visions made it more convenient for Jap- anese farmers to decide the dates for sowing and reaping. It will also help us to understand the reason for the change- able weather and to love the nature which God created. So these 24 seasonal divisions. should be kept by Japanese peo- ple as an incorporeal legaci of our an- cestors with their long experience. 1) If winter comes, spring cannot be far behind. 2) Summer is drawing near, green leaves are growing in the field, on the mountain. 3) We don't know when autumn comes, but we are surprised at the windfall. (KAZUKO TAGUCHI, Fukushima) When I listened to this message, I could not answer the first question with the word usui, one of the seasonal divi- sions, so I took the almanac from my bookshelf and checked it out. I found that I knew 18 names out of the 24. I learned some of them through television and ---------------------[End of Page 19]--------------------- 20 APRIL 30, 1995 some of them from my parents. I think I perceive the seasonal changes of weath- er, atmosphere and temperature by those names even if they cannot be seen or felt. RisshO, start of autumn, top, winter sol- stice, also stimulate some expectation of a change of season. There is an old say- ing that heat and cold will last until the equinoctial week, atsusa samosa mo hi- gan made, in Japanese. I am now waiting for the equinoctial week which will bring moderate and comfortable temperatures. (MICHIKO NIWA, Showa, Nagoya) ************************* Februaryl 3 Message (Subject #300) Probably the most well-known ka- buki drama which has maintained its popularity over the years is that called chashingura, in which 47 masterless war- riors, or rOnin, literally meaning "men on the waves", avenge the death of their lord by killing his adversary and taking his head to their lord's grave to console his soul, after which they all comn2itted sui- cide. This drama exhibits many charac- teristic aspects of Japanese culture and traditional mentality—including the em- phasis on proper decorum, concern for face and the honor of one's leader or group, loyalty, discipline, the endorse- ment of vengeance and the approval of suicide. I would be interested in reading, your impressions of this drama and its in- fluence in Japanese history. Have you seen it performed? Do you approve of its theme and the actions of its heroes? Does it continue to attract and impress young people today as it did in prewar days and will it continue to be a popular drama in the future? ************************* "DAILY WORD" ECHOES Every year when December rolls around, many television stations air the chashingura drama, no doubt because it draws many viewers. It is also performed in many theaters and always attracts a large audience. About sixty years ago, I stayed in Tokyo for a year. Then I thought visiting the Sengakuji Temple was a must and one day, I visited it. In the gloomy inner area, there were 47 warriors' mossy graves surrounded by big old trees. To my sur- prise, much incense was being offered, sending huge columns of smoke in the air. Now I live in Minami-ku in Nagoya. It is said that Japan's first movie studio was established in our town about 70 years ago and the first movie they made was chashingura. Near my home, there is a public park with a small wooden bridge which was selected for the location. Many Japanese have a hangan-biiki feeling that implies sympathy for the loser, so I think this story will never disappear from Japanese minds. (TSUYOSHI HAMADA, Minami, Nagoya) When I was a student, 1 went to the Misono-za to see kabuki, which included chashingura, because we were taught by Dr. Fujino who received his doctorate for his research on kabuki. For that reason, at that time, I saw the chashingura dra- ma many times. I thought of it only as a story without a deep meaning, but I en- joyed the performances and thought the performers played their parts well. I presume young people will not un- derstand this concept of revenge and give up their lives. I myself feel that way. I am selfish. I may hesitate to give my in- ternal organs for my husband if it means I must die. I have given notice to donate my corneas to an eye bank and am think- ing about donating my body after I die, but chashingura is completely different. This drama will continue in the fu- ture, but only as a dramatic performance to be enjoyed and the story has become a ---------------------[End of Page 20]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 kind of legend. Young people will not judge that it is good or bad and not think about following or not following its ex- ample. It makes no difference to me if the drama continues or fades with time. (MICHIKO SAN°, Minami, Nagoya) In December of last year, 1 hap- pened to watch most of the TV series drama, Genroku ChOshingura, written by a celebrated playwright, Mayama Seika. It was a play in six acts. I saw about four of them, including the first and last ones. Everything went according to the script, the outline of which is common know- ledge among us. Watching the drama led me to reaffirm what I already knew. However strange it may seem, I do not think that the drama made a deep im- pression on me. For one thing, I am far from a kabuki-goer. I am, probably by nature, unwilling to go in for kabuki plays. In fact, I have gone to a kabuki play only two or three times in my life. I do not agree with the pomposity which prevails in the traditional plays. For another thing, I have not been infatuated with the drama. 1 have been, and am, rather a cool outsider. 1 learned a lesson from what another kind of infat- uation brought about--the infatuation which the wartime leaders of this nation adroitly inspired in the populace in the days before and during World War II. They made full use of such elements as Dr. Offner noted in his message to tout ul- tra-nationalism. They connected those elements of chOshingura with the spirit of the then ultra-nationalism. It is really surprising that the cho- shingura drama continues to survive over these many years, half a century after the war, functioning as a stimulant to attract many people and strengthening its established reputation as a national favorite kabuki play. It must contain something that has taken root deeply in the mentality of the Japanese people. (SHOJI SUGIMOTO, Suginami, Tokyo) "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 21 Chashingura is a drama written in the mid-eighteenth century, first for ningO-jOruri (puppet theater) and then adapted to kabuki. It has been regarded as one of the best dramas. The main theme is loyalty and it has been highly approved by Japanese of all kinds from the beginning. A great number of movies and television dramas have been made from this drama by many famous direc- tors in which numerous shining movie stars have acted. They always attract a large Japanese audience and bring profit to the filming business. This drama is based on a historical event that happened in the samurai (war- rior) society during the feudal Edo Period. The Japanese feudal system was like a solid pyramid with the shOgun at the top. Its structure was beneficial for the ruler who dominated his people with number- less rules and laws. In this extremely regimented society, people were obliged to think about duty, order, honor and dis- cipline. A samurai especially thought of keeping his face and honor. The honor of his master was his greatest concern and loyalty was the most important virtue. For this sake he sacrificed even his own life and his family's lives. His attitude was supported by all Japanese living in this small isolated society. The Meiji Restoration drastically changed the political and social systems., but the mentality of the Japanese did not change over night. It continued from gen- eration to generation. I myself under- stand the sense of this tragedy. I have sympathy with the forty-seven master- less warriors. if I had lived in the Edo Period, I would have respected them and cried for them when they had fulfilled their calculated plan. Now I live in a democratic society two and a half centuries after chOshin- gura was written. From my present view- point, this drama is nonsense. The war- riors are stupid and their deeds are ridic- ulous. This drama is a product of the rig- ---------------------[End of Page 21]--------------------- 22 APRIL 30, 1995 id society where people were forced to live with a narrow perspective. They hung on to the present and the past and had no idea about the future. If they had thought of the future of the children and vassals of their adversary, they would not have killed him. If the social code had been a little looser and they had had a little wider perspective, they would not have needed to kill themselves. The last war in which Japan was defeated changed the Japanese once again and the bursting of the economic bubble caused them to think differently than be- fore. They do not care so much about loy- alty. I do not think this drama will appeal to young people in the future as it did in the past. (NAOMI KONDO, Handa) ChOshingura is a very interesting topic and it reminds me of many things. As a child, I really loved heroic dramas, such as Kurama Tengu and Akado Suzunosuke, in which the hero defeated his enemies for the sake of justice. I came to believe that the right was al- ways the winner and that the right was always distinguishable from the wrong. In the same way, I felt happy to see the 47 rOnin of the Asano Clan kill their ad- versary, Kira Kazukenosuke. When I began to teach at Nishio High School, however, I found some of my students from Kira hated Chashingura for people in their town still respected their lord Kira, who is always treated as if he were a most disgraceful person. One stu- dent even said she had never seen any drama or play of Chashingura. It was not until this little incident that I noticed a clear difference in esti- mation of the same historical figure. It taught me a lesson in the importance of viewing history and historical figures with critical eyes. It may suggest that we have been much influenced • by televi- sion when it comes to our points of view. (TOMOYASU KIMURA, Nishi, Nagoya) "DAILY WORD" ECHOES Chashingura is the story of 47 AkO- roshi (masterless warriors of AkO) who took Asano Takumi (their masterYs re- venge upon Kira KOzuke (who was unkind to Asano) in the 18th century. This dra- ma has been repeatedly presented on the stage ofjoruri or kabuki and has also been recited in kOdan for a long time. Cheishin- gura is very popular among Japanese and it is often said that the performance of this drama always makes a hit no matter how bad times may be. Why does this story of feudal days enjoy widespread popularity even today? What accounts for the popularity of the story is the loyalty of the 47 roshi to their lord and the tragic bravery seen in their death. These actions of the roshi were based on bushidei, the feudal-mili- tary Japanese code of behavior. Formu- lated in the Edo Era with come Confucian ideas as its philosophical foundation, bu- shido puts special emphasis on thebu- shi' s loyalty to his lord. It maintained, among other things, thatbushi must serve his lord and his country at the risk of his life. "Bushick) is a way of dying" is a fa- mous line from Hagakure ("In the Shadow of Leaves"), a book on bushido written in the middle of the Edo Era. Young people today may say that bushicrri is a holdover from the feudal times and nothing but an absurd standard of conduct. But bushicro, as behavioral ethics and as practical mor- ality, flourished among military men un- til the end of the last war. Beyond that, the spirit it fostered somehow survives in the business world to the present day. Loyalty to business organizations and the total involvement of employees in their work are highly esteemed. The most impressive element in the story of Chashingura is the rOshi' s death after their success in revenge. They were permitted to commit seppuku, or suicide by self-embowlment. Suicide is regarded as sin in the West. In Japan, however, suicide is not always condemned but is often looked considered an acceptable ---------------------[End of Page 22]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 way of apologizing for one's grave error, shouldering full responsibility or show- ing one's loyalty, for example. Often called hara-kiri in the West, seppuku was the death penalty to which high-ranking bushi were condemned for crimes of great gravity. It was considered to be a less disgraceful punishment than behead- ing. At the end of the last war, several generals committed seppuku, though they were not ordered to do so. The 47 rOshi` s tombs are at Sen- gaku-ji in Tokyo. Many people offer flow- ers and incense sticks at their tombs everyday even now. This fact indicates people's respect and grief for the rOshi' s faithfulness unto death. Kira Kazuke was a feudal lord of K i- ra-cho in Aichi Prefecture. He is recog- nized for his good administration in the area even today. People of Ake-shi (the native place of the rOshi) and Kira-chO recently began to cultivate mutual friend- ship, getting over the enmity which has continued for 300 years between them. The passage of time sweeps away every- thing. (MIKIHIKO YOSHIMOTO, Gifu) I saw ChOshingura performed a few years ago when a director invited us to see it in Himeji City in Hyago Prefecture, which is the neighbor of Okayama Prefec- ture. I do not approve of its theme or of the actions of its heroes. There should not be revenge among human beings. I hope that such dramas as Chushingura are not performed anywhere after this. Ch0- shingura exerts a bad influence on educa- tion and morality. It is against the will of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. (TAMAKO MORIMOTO, Tsuyama) First, 1 must confess that I have never seen the kabuki drama,Chushingura, but I read about it in a storybook many years ago. The 47 Aka ranin forced themselves into the house of their adversary named Kira Kozukenosuke and avenged their "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 23 lord's death by killing him on December 14, 1702. It was because Kira Kazukeno- suke had offended Asano Takumi, the ronini s lord, who immediately exploded with anger without discerning the time and place. This tragedy ended with the suicide of these 47 masterless warriors. It seems to have been considered virtu- ous to have been loyal to their dead mas-. ter at the sacrifice of their families and their own lives to take revenge. And Asa- no Takumi, their lord, seemed to be happy In fact, before and during the war, these men used to be praised highly without hesitation.. However, from the Christian view- point, it is not God's will to kill a man even though he is an enemy. The Bible tells us "Never take revenge, my friend, but instead let God's anger do it." To com- mit suicide also was wrong. Although they were not so happy and experienced a difficult time after the death of their lord's enemy, they should have kept living, This drama attracted and impressed young people for a long time and misled them into taking revenge or into wars be- tween people and nations. The drama may be continued to be performed, but we should not praise the 47rOnin as heroes. We should feel sympathy for them who were involved in their lord's misfortune. (KAZUKO TAGUCHI, Fukushima) ************************** February 20 Message (Subject 301), A bank is a business establishment for receiving, keeping or lending money. Banks and the banking business have been in the news recently. A Japanese bank was ordered to close in the United States because of its failure to abide by the law and the so-called jilsen problem in Japan continues to provoke controver- sy. The subject I am suggesting this ---------------------[End of Page 23]--------------------- 24 APRIL 30, 1995 "DAILY WORD" ECHOES week for "Daily Word" Echoes is "Banks". You may give your opinion regarding the jusen problem or simply tell of your ex- perience with banks. How often do you go to the bank? for what purpose? Are you happy with the service? Do you have any suggestions for improving the serv- ice? Do you often use the automatic tell- ers? Have you ever borrowed money from a bank? According to the American comedian, Bob Hope, "A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it." And the Ameri- can poet, Robert Frost, wrote: "A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back again when it begins to rain." ************************** I go to the bank once .a month, but a bank employee comes to our office once a week so it is very convenient for us to use the bank. All the members of our family use the bank for charges of gas, water, electricity, telephone, shopping at department stores, taxes and so on. These bills are paid automatically by the bank, even if we forget about them. It saves us much trouble. I presume that the other party also finds it convenient to use that same system. I do not agree with the recent gov- ernment's position related to • the jOsen problem. I want our taxes to be used for welfare. If they are, I will happily pay more taxes. I feel that Japanese are be- ing reproved now. I told a friend previ- ously that we were haughty so I was frightened when the economy failed. I believe in God's love. Therefore, we must not chase only benefit for our- selves but pray and act on behalf of oth- ers. Then; God will give us truly happy lives. (MICHIKO SANO, Minami, Nagoya) The phone was ringing. I picked up the receiver: "Hello". Then I heard a young man's voice: "I've lost my credit card." "I'm sorry, but you have the wrong num- ber," I said. We sometimes receive this kind of phone call. My husband once asked the person who said the same thing what number he had dialed. The number was ours, but he found out that the person in- tended to call a bank. It seems our phone number resembles that of a bank branch. It must be an urgent matter for a person to tell that bank that he or she has lost a credit card. Although I have not had such an experience, my daughter once lost hers. She immediately told the bank and they swiftly took the proper steps so that no one else could use the card. I was relieved to know that she did not suffer any loss at that time. I once had an uncomfortable experi- ence when I used an automatic teller. I was very surprised when I finished using it and turned around to find a man stand- ing very close to me, as if he had been watching my operation. I see some peo- ple keep a certain distance from the per- son using the machine when they are standing in a line. I, too, do so. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone did so? (MACHIKO HORI, Naka, Nagoya) I keep a little money in the bank lo- cated near our house. The young girl who sits at the counter is kind and well-man- nered to us customers. She kindly tells us how to handle a small sum of money. She handles money like a machine. When I deposit money in the bank, she presents me with a large paper bag which is filled with some kinds of domestic goods. It is unpleasant when I have been kept waiting over twenty minutes. I have not experi- enced borrowing money from a bank. Risen is the abbreviation of jutaku kinyCi senmon kaisha in Japanese. It is "Housing Finance Special Corporation" in English. Asen is the corporation that lent money unwisely. I have little know- ledge regarding banks and jasen. (TAMAKO MORIMOTO, Tsuyama) ---------------------[End of Page 24]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 Housing loan banks (jCisen) became bankrupt. Usually, each company has its own responsibility regarding its manage- ment. If it becomes bankrupt, it has to take responsibility for what it has done. According to the newspaper, how- ever, the government decided to collect supplementary taxes from citizens in or- der to help the housing loan companies. Money from the taxes is going to be ap- propriated for that purpose. As far as I have learned from the newspaper, most Japanese people are angry at that deci- sion. Some say that we had better give money from taxes to the victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake. Others say that we they would rather spend X10,000 for their living expenses rather than giving it to the housing loan banks. From what I hear, after officials in the Finance Ministry retire from the min- istry, they get jobs at banks through ap- pointments by orders from the top. Those who get jobs at housing loan banks are called "billionaires to the housing loan banks". It is said at least five officials are high taxpayers and their annual in- come is over Y10,000,000. Judging from these facts, the re- tired officials at the Finance Ministry are supported by the housing loan banks. The government wants to help organizat- ions which bring advantages to the offi- cials. It is terrible to use taxes from the people to help the companies in bankrupt- cy. If taxes are used to help them, the government should tell the nation how it will distribute the money. (HIROMI FURUTA, Kita, Nagoya) During my short stay in Toronto, I accompanied my friend when she went shopping at an elegant boutique. She pur- chased a fancy cape with fox fur attached to the collar for 870 Canadian dollars (67;900 yen). In addition, she paid two different sales taxes of 15 percent, bringing the total to about 1,000 Cana- dian dollars (78,000 yen). "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 25 I heard there that_the Canadian government paid a tax refund to any tour- ist who claimed it. On behalf of my friend, I got a pamphlet, filled out an ap- plication form and mailed it to the Cana- dian Revenue Bureau. She received a cheque from Canada six weeks later in- dicating that her tax rebate was 61 Can- adian dollars (4,760 yen). She was happy about it. I went to her bank with her and asked a teller to pay her the money. He said that she had to pay X2,040 to her Japanese bank and $30.55 (Canadian) to the Canadian bank as commission fees, so the remainder would be about Y300. My friend was upset to hear that and became more angry at the sullen face of the tell- er and his blunt way of speaking. Another friend who paid $2,300 (Canadian) (Y179,400) for the goods she. purchased was supposed to get back about Y7,500 as her tax refund, but she got only about Y3,000 after the commis- sion fees were taken for both banks. I f both of my friends had applied for it to- gether as one person, they could have saved the commission fees and have received about Y4,500 more. 1 think that the bank is a place that takes rake-offs from its customers. (NAOMI KONDO, Handa) I have been engaged in business for about five decades and have learned many things. My fundamental rule is not to easily believe good news. I have seen many customers who went bankrupt be- cause they dreamed of good news. During the "bubble age", my eldest son strongly recommended moving to a new, larger office in a better part of the city, but I refused. Last year, my daughter planned to build a new house on my land and wanted to borrow some money from the housing loan corporation. Afterward, we learned that the agent bank arrogantly demanded the new house and land as securities. The ---------------------[End of Page 25]--------------------- 26 APRIL 30, 1995 land is not my daughter's. The value of the new house and the land would be al- most three times that of the loan. The catch-phrase of the corporation was "pleasant housing plan", but these things made me quite unpleasant, so I persuad- ed my daughter to retract her application to the corporation. . Recently, the housing loan problem has become the subject of much contro- versy. The government, the bankers and the borrowers all had big dreams of pie in the sky. Those who should shoulder the responsibility are the government, banks and borrowers concerned. (TSUYOSHI HAMADA, Minami, Nagoya) I always try to view the NHK com- mentary on the latest issues of the day which begins at 10:30. Fortunately, I heard the observations of two famous people: Katsuto Uchibashi, a critic, and Noriko Konno, of the research center of a securities firm. While listening to Mr. Uchibashi, I realized the discrepancy i n the government's attitude in regard to two major problems: relief measures for the victims of the Great Hanshin Earth- quake and ways to solve the so-called jOsen problem. Mr. Uchibashi pointed out that the Murayama government decided not to use any government funds to save individual households from a miserable situation while the same government de- cided to use part of the increased taxes to help the failed housing loan corpora- tions. Aren't those companies involved in the jOsen problem in the private sector? The government seems to have given spe- cial consideration to the jOsen, but that special consideration has not been clari- fied sufficiently to convince the general public. Last night, another commentary was given by a quiet but very persuasive woman. She explained how the whole na- tion should support the government's plan by agreeing to the increased taxes. She said it is hard to object to the proposi- "DAILY WORD" ECHOES tion that the jOsen problem be seen from the viewpoint of those who have to pay taxes as well as from those who must make decisions about the best use of gov- ernment funds, but she went on to say that the paying of increased taxes would be beneficial to the whole nation in the long run. Ms. Konno, however, hastened to add that we must not forget the necessi- ty of reviewing what we have taken for granted: land is the safest insurance against failure to pay back loans. We have found it easy to borrow money using land as a security, but what if a young busi- nessman who wants to start a new busi- ness has no land? In the sluggish econo- my of present-day Japan, other things should be used as security. There were several things I couldn't understand clearly, but I was under the impression that both people encouraged us, the general public, to give serious thought to this biggest issue of the day. Now I am expected to express my own opinion on the issue. Having seen how our government has dealt with prob- lems such as the Hanshin Earthquake, the Aum ShinrikyO subway sarin case and the jOsen, I have learned that it takes an enormous amount of time to come to a conclusion, so we shouldn't depend too much on the results of the debates in the Diet. We should see what we ourselves can do as citizens of this nation. Second- ly, we tend to think such big issues are out of our control and that we cannot do anything substantial. The problem. itself may be too much, but we should think seriously about it as our own problem. It is now pointed out that a big earthquake had been predicted in the Kobe area but nothing was done about it just because they had never had any big earthquake. The Aum Shinriky6 had already been no- torious for its strange rituals, but al- most nothing was done to question the credibility of their "faith" because few people had been involved in such a scru- tiny. And many people must have noticed ---------------------[End of Page 26]--------------------- MARCH 31, 1996 a great drop in the price of land after the collapse of the "bubble economy" but land continued to be used as security just be- cause it had been considered as the saf- est insurance for a long time. These days, I sometimes ask my students why they study English. Many students may answer, "English may be useful in the future", but I am very doubt- ful about their belief. Do they really think so? I am afraid they have said so just because their parents or teachers have told them so. If they were able to think of it on there own, they would sure- ly study English much harder. (TOMOYASU KIMURA, Nishi, Nagoya) There has been no such time as to- day when banking concerns aroused such public controversy. Now even the cabinet itself is in danger of falling, being sub- ject to the influence of the so-called jusen problem. JCIsen is an abbreviation of banking concerns specializing in pro- viding financing for housing. The banking concerns borrowed much money from big- ger banks (called botai-kei) and lent it to companies (debtors) which required it for housing. In conjunction with the bursting of the so-called "bubble", land prices be- gan to fall and jasen became incapable of collecting loans from the debtors. It i s said that some debtors are something like yakuza and have no intention of pay- ing back the money even though they have the ,means. If we leave the matter as it is, it is said, most of the jasen will be brought to ruin. At this point, public opinion is di- vided . One opinion is that we should re- lieve the jOsen using public funds (which, of course, come from our taxes) because their bankruptcy will cause a sense of unease in the financial world and the prestige of Japan will suffer severely as a result. The government took this posi- tion and prepared a budget in line with it. The other opinion is that we need not re- lieve them and should leave the matter in "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 27 their own hands because there are no de- positors at all as is the case with regu- lar banks. Regarding this problem, we are in- evitably led to consider where the respon- sibility lies for the present situation. Needless to say, the responsibility lies with the debtors and jasen in the first place. But now, the attack is mainly di- rected against the botai-ko (banks) which lent the money to jOsen without a due sense of responsibility and to the Finance Ministry which neglected their duties to take the lead and then to let the matter alone. People are leveling caustic criti- cism at the policy of botai-kO (banks) in particular. It is well known that bank clerks are highly paid . (It is said that their salaries are one and a half times that of other company employees.) Today, interest on a deposit is extremely low and banks are making much money from their business. Therefore, people insist that the banks should give up their prof- its for jOsen in order to lighten the tax burden. Another related party responsible for the serious state of affairs is the Fi- nance Ministry. As a retired public em- ployee, I fully recognize the limits of leadership by government offices, but the lack of policies of the Finance Ministry at this time cannot be justified. If the Ministry had given more appropriate guid- ance to the banking concerns at the prop- er time, we could have avoided the pres- ent difficulty. The government is plan- ning to ram the bill through the Diet. Chief Cabinet Secretary Kajiyama said: "People's discontent is preferable to un- easy finance." I urge the government to reconsider this kind of thinking. Other- wise, they will soon lose the broad sup- port of the people. (MIKIHIKO YOSHIMOTO, Gifu) By definition, a bank is a business establishment for receiving, keeping or lending money. However, as a matter of ---------------------[End of Page 27]--------------------- 28 APRIL 30, 1995 fact, it borrows money from savers in general or the Bank of Japan at rates of about 0.5 percent and lends money to the borrowers at rates of more than 3 per- cent. According to a postcard from CARD Co., Ltd., an affiliate of a bank, it lends, surprisingly enough, at the rate of 27.8 percent. On the other hand, many aged people who have retired from their company and are living on a pension and interest from their savings, are suffering from the low interest rates. Speaking of the banks, they failed to collect debts which were lent to reckless borrowers due to their own mismanagement. Subsequently, the banks are trying to shift their reponsibil- ity of uncollectable debts to the weak people suffering from the low interest rates under the name of a monetary panic. Come to think of it, we cannot help thinking that a bank is a business estab- lishment that "sides with the strong and crushes the weak", that "encourages the evil and punishes the good." (HARUJI FUKUMI, Minami, Nagoya) The jersen problem has been much discussed in the newspapers and on TV lately. Risen, housing loan companies, made bad loans. That was the beginning of this trouble. I also don't understand why taxpayers in Japan must shoulder as much as 685 billion yen to aid the jasen, which were mismanaged. I think it was due to the changeable business condi- tions, but aiding thejOsen is different from helping hungry people. I began depositing money in the KagyO Gink6 two years after I began teaching school in Fukushima Prefecture in 1964. 1 continued to save and deposit money, little by little along with inter- est, in the same bank for about 18 years, until I moved to where I am living now. During those years, this bank served me with boxes of tissue, towels and cupid dolls sometimes. When I bought this two room dining-kitchen-bathroom apartment "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 19 years ago, I didn't have enough money in the bank to pay for it. My aunt had left us some money and this legacy plus my own money enabled me to buy ft. Fortu- nately, I have never borrowed money from the bank. . Once on a payday just before my resignation, a clerk from . the Fukushima Bank came to our school and advised me to open an account in his bank. Since that time, my annuities are paid into that bank every other month. I can withdraw money with a little interest when I need it for my daily life. My gas, electricity, telephone and NHK bills are all paid through the bank. It is a great help that I don't have to go from place to place to pay them. I think that what Robert Frost said is very true: "A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back again when it begins to rain." Money is important. If I have money to spare, I would deposit it in the bank and not bury it in the ground [as the foolish servant did in Jesus' parable in Matthew 25]. (KAZUKO TAGUCHI, Fukushima) I seldom go to a bank. Instead, twice a week a bank worker regularly comes to our place. At that time, both business and private financial transac- tions are handled. They usually bring small tokens of appreciation such as a box of tissue paper, a roll of saran wrap, cosmetic cotton and the like. We spend a short time over a cup of tea. The only drawback is that just when we become familiar with the worker, he will be transferred to another branch or section. It seems the workers remain in the same area for two or three years at the long- est. (MIDORI KODAMA, Midori, Nagoya) Among the 21 writers of the 60 es- says in this issue are three first-timers. We welcome them and hope they and the "old-timers" will continue to write. (C. 0.) ---------------------[End of Page 28]---------------------