Plain Talk

TOKYO NOTICE BOARD MARCH 22. 2024

Welcome Surprise! HIDDEN BENEFITS OF JAPAN’S HEALTH INSURANCE by Ace

For a lot of foreigners who are blessed, newly-wed expats with Japanese spouse, I am pretty sure that a lot of us start to get serious and seek for the most helpful, practical advice to start to be responsible breadwinners in a country that isn’t exactly English-friendly.

When my wife got pregnant with our first born child, apart from the joyous expectation of having a ‘hafu’ bundle of joy just a month before Christmas, my role as an expecting father had caused me to look for ways to responsibility prepare. Enter: the hidden benefit of enrolling in Japanese National Health Insurance (NHI) program.

With the NHI, it’s a known fact that 70% of medical and hospitalization expenses are shouldered by the government, but a downside may be the reality about having to pay as much as the equivalent of $200 to $300 for 10 months annually (except for the hyper-cheap first year).

In my early years as a father, I made two discoveries that will make you fellow expats think twice about not taking up the option to enroll in national insurance.

First, the government provides a lump sum allowance for child birth (called ‘shussan-ikuji-ichijikin’) from as much as 390,000 to
420,000yen depending on your city of residence. That’s a large amount of money to help offset the cost of delivering a baby in Japan!

Second, the government provides a monthly allowance per child in a family (called ‘jido teate’, formerly ‘kodomo teate’). This may be
subject to change, but I do know that my child will be getting 15,000yen until the age of 3, and then 10,000yen until the end of
Junior High School. I have used this money to save up for my children’s college education in a potential college savings insurance plan in Japan. This is meager amount, but it is helpful nonetheless.

As an expecting father, I was relieved to find about these hidden benefits of simply having an NHI card. Thank God! I am certainly thankful that these providential support systems can grant my family some leverage, as well as to other international families who decide to stay in this country for more than just a few years.

日本人と結婚して日本で新婚生活をスタートさせる外国人の多くが、英語圏でない国で責任ある一家の担い手として何をするべきか、 実践的で役に立つアドバイスを真剣に探し始めるのは間違いない。

妻が第一子を妊娠したとき、クリスマスを1ヵ月後に控え「ハ-フ」な子供を授かるという喜びをもたらしてくれたが、それとは別に、期待される父親としての役割も求められた。それは、日本の国民健康保険(NHI)に加入することだった。

国民健康保険は、周知の事実として、医療費や入院費の70%を国が負担してくれるのだが、毎年10カ月で200ドルから300ドル相当の保険料を支払わなければならないというマイナス点がある(初年度の超格安を除く)。

父親になって間もない頃、健康保険への加入について悩んでいる外国人のために役立つ2つの発見をした。

まず、政府は、出産一時金(「出産育児一時金」と呼ばれる)を支給する。住む市によって金額は異なるが39万円から42万円だ。これは、日本での出産費用を相殺するための大きな金額だ!

ふたつめは、政府は一世帯の子供一人につき毎月手当を支給する(「児童手当」と呼ばれる、以前は「こども手当」だった)。これは変更される可能性もあるが、私の子どもは3歳まで15,000円、その後中学卒業まで10,000円支給される。僕はこのお金で、子どもの大学進学のために、日本の大学貯蓄保険に加入している。
微々たる額だけれど、それでもありがたい。

出産予定の子を待つ父親として、国民健康保険証を持っているとこのような隠れたメリットがあることを知り、僕はほっとした。ありがたい!このような摂理にかなった支援制度が、僕の家族だけでなく、この国で数年以上生活すると決めた他の外国人家族にも、ある程度の影響力を与えてくれる事に、感謝している。


Plain Talk

TOKYO NOTICE BOARD TNB Throwback: JUNE 09. 2017

Mothering options: France Vs. Japan by Anne Corinne

Being a mother is always challenging. Being a foreign mother in Japan is even more challenging.

Just as any new mother without experience would do, I often question my educational decisions and want to do the best for my child. But having a French background and living in Japan is sometimes confusing to deal with.

Should my baby and I sleep in the same bedroom? “Never!” would say my European friends. “Let your new-born baby in her own bedroom and make her become independent”. “Of course!” would answer my Japanese friends. “Give her a feeling of security. Some kids stay with their parents until the age of 12 years old.”

If my baby cries, shall I always hold her in my arms? “Definitely!” would a Japanese mom tell me. “No, would a French mother say, otherwise she will become temperamental with you”.

My baby has started to walk? “Make sure she always wears slippers with a firm grip for the heels” would my French family recommend. “Leave her barefoot as much as possible” would suggest a Japanese mama.

How shall I educate my toddler? “Be strong and firm” would advise French parents. “Keep gentle and patient” would their Japanese counterparts reply.

Can I have a bath with my child? “Absolutely! O-furo is a great way to relax with the family” would any Japanese dad say. “Nakedness between parents and children should be avoided” would Western psychologists write.

My opinion about this? Somewhere in between. I sometimes feel misunderstood from both sides of the world. Wherever you are and whatever you do, there will always be people who disagree with you, anyway.

There is one thing for sure: getting to know two different parenting approaches is a chance for my child. A chance to learn double. A double chance to understand others.

子育ては大変だ。日本で子育てするのはさらに大変だ。

初めての子供を育てる新米ママなら誰でも同じだと思うが、自分の育て方についてしばしば迷う。子供のために最善を尽くしたいからだ。しかしフランスで育ち、日本で生活していると、なかなかうまく対処できない。

赤ん坊の娘と母親の私が同じ部屋で寝るべきかしら?「ありえない!」「赤ちゃんは自分の部屋で寝させて、独立心を芽生えさせなくちゃ。」とヨーロッパの友人は言う。日本の友人はこう答える。「もちろん!」「赤ちゃんに安心感を与えるのは大切よ。12歳まで親と一緒の部屋で過ごす子供もいるくらいよ。」

娘が泣いたら、抱いてやるべきかしら?「絶対、そうあるべきよ!」と日本人のママは言うが、フランスのママは「ダメよ。気分屋になってしまうから。」」と言う。

娘が歩き始めたんだけど?「かかと部分がぐらつかないスリッパを常時はかせない。」とフランスの家族は教えてくれた。「できる限り裸足にさせておくべきよ。」と日本のママは勧めてくれる。

幼児教育はどうしたらいいかしら?「意思が強く毅然とした態度がとれるように。」とフランスのパパやママはアドバイスしてくれる。一方、日本のパパやママは「やさしく我慢強く取組める姿勢がもてるように。」と答えてくれる。

子供と一緒にお風呂に入った方がいいかしら?「もちろん! おふろは家族全員でくつろげるいい機会だよ。」と日本のババは言う。「親と子供が裸同士になるのは避けるべきだ。」と欧米の心理学者達は警告する。

さて私の意見はどうだろう?両者の間と言っておこう。私は時々、いづれからも誤解されていると感じる。どこにいても、何をしても、必ず異を唱える人達はいるのだから。

ひとつだけ確かな事が言える。ふたつの異なる育て方を知る事は、私の子供にとっては好機であろう。異なる価値観が学べる好機。異なる価値観をもつ他人を理解できる2倍の好機だ。


Unfinished business

TOKYO NOTICE BOARD MAY 17. 2019

Farewell to a Japan Jazz Icon by David Gregory

The messages from all over Japan read aloud during the service helped us realize how widely Koyama-san touched lives and how many like us were feeling something newly missing from our worlds. But, although wonderful and sometimes saddening us, they did not trigger crying. That happened next.

Those first few notes of the "'Round About Midnight" Miles Davis version, the cut Koyama-san always used to open Jazz Tonight, performed by a live piano and trumpet duo up front near the coffin, did it: Instant recognition, recollections, sighs around the room, eyes closed, arms crossed, heads dropped back or down, and tears, at least for me. How many times had we heard, after Miles breathed his somber opening, Koyama-san's low, raspy voice welcoming us into the studio with, "Minna-san, gokigen ikaga desho-ka everybody, how are you feeling?"?and never thought that someday we would hear him ask about us no more?

Koyama-san's widow, whom, like him, had never known me, stood alone at the coffin head and bowed in silence to everyone in turn after they placed flowers around his body as the duo continued with another slow number, the trumpet sounding so strong and crisp and unusual in a memorial service hall. After we placed our flowers, she responded to my hand on her shoulder, a touch just meant to console her, by immediately turning and reaching for me?a total stranger?burying her head in my chest, and breaking down. She needed that hug that everybody sometimes needs. She let go after her respite when she was ready to face the coffin and everyone else again, and returned to her position. Going to Kashiwa in a snowstorm was worth it just for those few moments when I could do something for her.

So our Kashiwa day was both sad and good. But, why did I even want to go a funeral for a man whom I only knew by voice, and who, although linked to jazz, was not even a musician?

Koyama-san and his Jazz Tonight program I listened to since at least the early 2000s. For more than sixteen years, while my life in Japan has been filled with huge uncertainties, he has been here Saturday nights on the radio, reliable, keeping me connected to the world's music and opening my ears to music from Japan I would not know without him. Listening to him always made me feel good, no matter what had happened in my life during the week or what was coming up in the weeks ahead. Koyama-san and Jazz Tonight were my respite. How well can I replace that comfort?

Koyama-san, thank you for helping this foreigner feel good in Japan. Please rest well in jazz heaven.

NHK Radio, thank you for giving Koyama-san a way to connect with us. Please encourage other DJs to continue doing what he did so well.

To Koyama-san's surviving family members: Please care well for yourselves now, and thank you for supporting and sharing Kiyoshi with us.

 

 

The Smallest Box by David Gregory

She came over to my table and asked if I remembered her.
“That’s my boyfriend over there.”
Their table hugged a pillar blocking the sunny Tokyo Bay view enjoyed by the other customers that afternoon in Chiba’s AquaRink ice skating facility café.
“Maybe we will marry next year.”

On my way out, I stopped to congratulate the potential groom to be. What I later heard happened with Hiromi and Hiroshi that night at another place also close to the bay sounded so too good to be true that I visited that place to confirm it really happened. It did.

Hiroshi had reserved for the course menu that night at OCEAN TABLE, next to Chiba Port, on the second floor, where tables sat by the huge windows facing Chiba Port Tower and Tokyo Bay. No view-blocking pillars there. And they had a wait, even with their reservation, because it was Christmas Eve, which in Japan matters much more than the following day; the Eve is the year’s couples’ night out, and single women without dates that night can feel their whole year was wasted.

Hiroshi had changed into a suit after skating, and had urged Hiromi, against her protests about overdressing, into a plaid one-piece, raising expectations. They had never come to a place this nice, one requiring reservations. Saizeriya was more their speed: fast faux-Italian, cheap, and everywhere.
The unexpected wait made Hiroshi antsy. He relaxed and all was perfect after they were seated.

They talked. They ate the Christmas Dinner courses. They ignored the soft Christmas background music. They admired the gleaming, golden Christmas Tree rising from the first-floor buffet area through the open center space across from their table. They could see outside the sparkling flashes and half the tree in Port Tower’s Christmas Illumination, and beyond, the lights from the ships on and facilities around Tokyo Bay, appearing almost twinkling. Perfect—but not for Hiromi.

She went to the toilet. Still he had not asked. The day was done. The reservation system only allowed them two hours there. They had been together all day. He had remembered her birthday-just by coincidence, also that day-with a necklace at AquaRink. Nice, but was that all? He had pestered her since early December about what Christmas present she wanted until she had finally exploded with, “Nothing! Don’t you know I just want a proposal?!” And had added she wanted it to be a surprise. Here he had the perfect chance, and he was wasting it.

She could try enjoying what was left of the evening. Dessert was next. At least here was better than Saizeriya….She was still stuck when she returned to the table, and had no chance to do or say anything, anyway. It was his toilet turn.

Their desserts came. Hiromi sat and waited and pondered the future. Outside, the tower stood alone against the dark sky and Tokyo Bay’s inky darkness.

Their desserts waited. Maybe his tooth was bothering him again. Maybe he was just tolerating it to make the night go well. Maybe for her. Maybe she should go to check on him. Wait-maybe she just heard his voice across the room.

No, only Santa Claus, posing for photographs with diners at the far table. He then started circling the room, giving a small present from his big sack at each table. She could check after he was done.

Hiroshi still had not returned to his seat when Santa reached their table. He handed Hiromi a big, red stocking, by far the room’s largest gift, accompanied by a squeaky, “Atari! You’re a lucky one!” Yeah. She set it aside and Santa moved on. What was he still doing in the toilet?

Santa finished his round, returned to Hiromi, and pointed at her unopened stocking with squeaky, “Un! Un!” grunts. The other diners had opened their presents. She forced a smile and said she was waiting for her boyfriend to return. “Un! Un!”

When Hiromi still resisted, Santa took the stocking in his white-gloved hands and opened it himself. Out first came a big, pink box, heart shaped. He opened that and pulled out another heart-shaped box, and then, from inside that, another heart-shaped box. Another smaller, heart-shaped box followed. He removed from that an even smaller heart-shaped box, and thrust it to Hiromi with one more squeaky, “Un!”

Still gone. Well, he’d miss it. Hiromi obeyed Santa this time and opened it, the smallest box in the room …and her mind and face went blank.

After that frozen moment passed, Hiromi looked at Santa. The second shock hit, and more followed. Santa Claus had ripped off his gloves, furry hat, sunglasses, and huge, flowing beard. He took the box from her?she was still speechless?dropped onto one knee, held the open box out and up to her in both stretching hands, and said in a voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, “Hiromi-san, boku-to kekkon shite kudasai! Hiromi, please marry me!”

Outside, to anybody looking, Port Tower’s Christmas Illumination still flashed, and the lights on and around Tokyo Bay still appeared almost twinkling. Inside OCEAN TABLE, on the second floor, everything was happening so fast that Hiromi just did not know which was more difficult to believe: Hiroshi and the ring he first tried slipping onto the finger on her right hand, the one he had taken in his before she held out her left hand, or the following PAN! and PAN! PAN! PAN! PAN! PAN! and PAN! PAN! and PAN! explosions ripping and ribbons shooting around the room as diners at the floor’s other tables popped the party crackers they had found with the notes in their presents from Santa Claus.

Copyright © 2018 David L. Gregory All rights reserved.

 

I Did It! by David Gregory

She had been here before. But, those were tour-guided or hand-held visits. After living most of her life in white-bread suburban USA, driving everywhere, shopping in giant malls and supermarkets, and needing only one currency and one language, my mother ventured out on her own, within and beyond Chiba, during one trip to Japan. From her notes, here are Dorothy's...

ADVENTURES IN JAPAN
Grocery Shopping in Neighborhood―Walk five blocks...buy only one bag...walk five blocks back. Survived it!

Shopping in City Center―Walk six blocks to bus stop. Ride bus fifteen minutes. Arrive at stores. Walk around. Look. Decide: cookies.

Buying: “Ikura desu-ka how much?” Hmm. “Kakimasu kudasai write please.”

Paying options: give large bill, let clerk figure change, or open change purse, let clerk take out correct amount. Decide to just give some cash.

Clerk shakes her head (“NO! MORE!”), then counts out correct amount needed from register and shows me. I mimic her action from my change purse. Smiles! Deep bows with many, “Arigato gozaimasu thank you very much!”-es.
(My error: thought there was decimal point in Yen price....)

Open cookies, expecting pirouettes with chocolate centers. Instead, peanut butter waffle rolls, no chocolate. No wonder, now I see peanut sketch on package. “Shoganai can’t be changed,” I did it to myself. It could have been worse!
~~~
Travelling to Visit Friend’s Family on Other Side of Chiba―Walk ten blocks to train. Purchase ticket. Electronic lady on ticket machine screen says, “Arigato gozaimasu” and bows. Ride train twenty minutes, watching for correct stop, get off, walk seven blocks to house. I did it myself!

Visiting Hisae Overnight―My Japanese study partner in USA returned to Japan, now lives on other side of Tokyo Bay.

Take large purse and large tote bag with jacket, nightie, toothbrush, cosmetics. Walk six blocks to bus stop. Ride bus to train station. Ride train eighty minutes to Yokohama. Find correct exit from station. EASY. Did not even look at note in pocket explaining route and Japanese signs. And, look! Hisae and three-year old Kei are waiting! “Hello!” they say! Many hugs!

I did it!

Then, still more travel: train together fifteen minutes, short taxi uphill to lovely apartment, sunny and bright.

Returning to Chiba, just reverse process. Next time, we can meet at a station halfway in between. I can do it.
I can do it!

Copyright (C) 2015 David Gregory. All rights reserved. Chiba, Japan

Book Review

TOKYO NOTICE BOARD MAY 11 2018

Cherry Blossoms in the Time of Earthquakes and Tsunami by Rey Ventura
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2014,
291 pp, USD34.00 www.ateneo.edu/ateneopress

Reviewed by Randy Swank

video maker and scriptwriter Rey Ventura won the 2015 National Book Award for his third collection of essays, Cherry Blossoms in the Time of Earthquakes and Tsunami, but for some strange twist of fate you will find very little information on this book. You can’t even buy it on Amazon. This is a shame because Cherry Blossoms... is a beautiful, insightful and thought-provoking book.

These 11 essays, some of them autobiographical, see Ventura travelling back and forth between the Philippines and Japan, his adopted country, often portraying the many ways Filipino lives have been shaped and affected by their rich quasi-neighbor. Like in "A Suitable Donor," where the young men who live in the Manila slum of Banseco tell of how they came to "donate" a kidney or another organ to help a rich person in need − often from Japan.

Cherry Blossoms in the Time of Earthquakes and Tsunami
by Rey Ventura
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2014, 291 pp, USD34.00 www.ateneo.edu/ateneopress

In "Miniskirts and Stilettos" we meet Ginto, a young lady who comes to Japan dreaming of making it big as a singer and entertainer but has to deal instead with a much darker reality; while "Mr. Suzuki Tries Again" and "Into the Snow Country" are tragicomic tales of arranged marriages where the dreams and expectations of bride-starved farmers from Japan's Deep North clash with those of young Filipino women who want to escape their poverty and go into marriage "as a girl goes into a convent." Ventura tells these stories with a great eye for detail and manages to find a ray of light even in the darkest corners, or poetry in the midst of a nuclear disaster.

The book's first essay is called "The Slow Boat to Manila" and indeed, slowness is the first word that comes to mind when considering Ventura's approach to writing. Everything Ventura does is slow. He is no magazine reporter after all, and will spend days or even months getting to know a person he wants to write about. That's the kind of personal commitment and deep connection with his subject that one feels when reading his essays.

 


Tokyo Fab

TOKYO NOTICE BOARD MARCH 22, 2024

SAKURA Spring Festival

Yokota Air Base is scheduled to open its gates to the local community for the annual Sakura Spring Festival 2024 on April 6.
Yokota’s Sakura festival is an opportunity to celebrate the arrival of springtime, while serving as an opportunity to strengthen ties between the base and local Japanese communities. This year offers live music performances, food vendors, games for all ages, and views of flowering sakura blossoms throughout the venue. Yokota Air Base encourage all attendees to celebrate this local tradition as a way for Yokota and local Japanese residents to continue strengthening the invaluable bond of friendship they share.
Yokota AB officials are continually assessing public health conditions and will evaluate the most up-to-date information and procedures to ensure the safety of our personnel and festival attendees.
Yokota Air Base look forward to celebrating the long-standing and close bond between our base populace and the local community. See you at Sakura Spring Festival 2024!

6th APRIL (Sat) 11am - 4:30pm (Entry begins at 10am) @ Yokota Air Base

https://www.yokota.af.mil/Sakura-Spring-Festival/

SAKURA FES NIHONBASHI 2024

"SAKURA FES NIHONBASHI 2024," a cherry blossom festival in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, will be held for the 11th time. The festival will feature a variety of contents under the theme of "cherry blossoms" that remind us of the arrival of spring, including illuminated cherry blossoms, food stalls where you can enjoy the tastes of famous restaurants, and limited-edition sweets.
The highlight of the event is the "Sakura Light-up," in which the Nihonbashi area, starting from Chuo-dori Avenue, will be dyed in cherry blossom colors. Chuo-dori Avenue and the rest of the Nihonbashi area will be illuminated in a fantastic pink color, allowing visitors to view the beautiful nighttime cherry blossoms.
In addition, about 200 stores in Nihonbashi will offer limited-edition "cherry blossom" themed menus, including IL BACARO ALMA's "Cherry and Green Tea Mont Blanc," Bunmeido Tokyo's "Sakura Mikasa-yama" dorayaki, and Shiseido Parlour's cherry and strawberry parfait. Shiseido Parlour's "Cherry and Strawberry Parfait," and food such as "Seito Sakura Gozen" presented by Nihonbashi Seito will also be available. Also, live performances by popular artists will be held at the main venue and plaza. Including Japan Record Award winner Kyogo Kawaguchi, dance agent INFINITY, and singers XinU, Hiro-a-key, and Sincere will perform.


- April 7th (Sun) @ Nihonbashi "Fukutoku no Mori" (Mitsukoshimae Sta. on Ginza line)

https://www.nihonbashi-sakurafes.art/


Have You Benn To...

TOKYO NOTICE BOARD MARCH 22, 2024

Daigo-ji Temple [Daigohigashiojicho, Kyoto]

The cherry blossoms at Daigoji Temple are famous for the extravagant cherry blossom viewing event held by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Daigo. About 1,000 cherry trees including weeping cherry, someiyoshino, yamazakura, and yaezakura bloom here, so you can enjoy them for a long period of time. The combination of the five-story pagoda, a national treasure, and the cherry blossoms is magnificent!

Mount Yoshino [ Yoshino-cho, Nara]

About 30,000 white yamazakura cherry trees bloom in four clusters at the top, middle, bottom, and back of Yoshinoyama, a World Heritage site, covering the entire mountain. Since they bloom in order from the bottom, middle, top, and back of the mountain starting in early April, it is a popular spot worldwide where visitors can enjoy viewing cherry blossoms for a long period of time.

 

Hirosaki Park [Shimoshiroganecho, Aomori]

Hirosaki Park is one of the most popular cherry blossom viewing spots in Japan, and has been selected as one of the three best nighttime cherry blossom viewing spots in Japan and one of the three best cherry blossom viewing spots in Japan. When in full bloom, the park is filled with approximately 2,600 cherry trees of about 50 varieties. The sight of the castle tower soaring above the stone walls and the cherry blossoms is said to be the most beautiful in Japan.

 

Takada Castle Site Park [Motoshirocho, Nigata]

About 4,000 Someiyoshino cherry trees are illuminated by more than 3,000 paper lanterns along with the three-story turret of Takada Castle. The beauty of the blossoms reflected on the surface of the moat is one of the "Three Greatest Night Cherry Blossoms in Japan. During the cherry blossom viewing period, many stalls line the streets, making it a good place for those who want to enjoy food along with blossoms. This is a must-see place to visit at night!

 

Tokyo Voice Column

TOKYO NOTICE BOARD TNB Throwback: MARCH 11. 2016

View of Spring by Nobuyo Honda

Spring is the season of moving. I recently got a new job that’s a little far from my home in Akiruno. I have left home and now live alone. I packed my stuff and cleared out my unnecessary things from my room. A removal man came to my house in the morning and we loaded my stuff into a van. The driver put my new address into the car navigation system. I left the suburbs of Tokyo for its Metropolitan area.

The warm weather has held and the cherry blossoms have started blooming quickly this March. I watched last evening’s news which said the dropping cherry tree was in full bloom in Rikugi-en. I expected to see cherry blossoms during my move. We would cross a bridge over the Tama river and pass in front of Koganei Park.

It was a cold but fine day. We crossed the Tama river but the cherry flowers were few. They were still in the buds. There were also only a few cherry flowers in Koganei Park. The driver told me that he was planning Ohanami in Syowakinen Park on the first Sunday of April. Surely, the cherry flowers would be gone in two weeks. He made sure his friends were having the party. The guy said, “Of course.” “It is OK that there won’t be any cherry flowers. We will just drink sake.”

The view from the car was gradually changed. The greenery was giving way to tall buildings. Luckily, the traffic was not heavy on the Ome Road. I arrived at my new house around noon.

As soon as I had carried my cardboard boxes into my room, I went out to Rikugi-en, a huge Japanese Park to see cherry flowers. People flocked to the huge dropping cherry tree and took photos. The tree was magnificent and the flowers were graceful. I took some photos of the cherry flowers against the blue sky with a white half-moon. I walked in the park and was really refreshed.

I returned to my house to unpack my stuff. New life was beginning.

春は引っ越しの季節である。最近、私は住まいのあきる野から少し離れた所で、新らたな仕事に就くことになった。実家を出て1人暮らしを始める。部屋から不要なものを処分して、荷造りをした。朝、引っ越し業者がやって来て荷物を軽トラックに運んだ。運転手はカーナビに新しい住所を入れた。私は郊外から都内に移動する。

今年の春は暖かく、桜の花が早く咲き始めた。昨日の夜のニュースでは、六義園のしだれ桜が満開であると言っていた。私は移動の途中で、桜の花が見られることを期待した。私達は多摩川の橋を渡り、小金井公園の前を通る。

この日は快晴だが寒かった。多摩川を渡ったが、桜はまだつぼみで花はあまり咲いていなかった。小金井公園の桜も少ししか咲いていなかった。ドライバーが、4月の第1日曜日に、昭和記念公園でお花見を計画していると言った。2週間後に、桜の花が散ってしまうのは確実だ。彼は友達にお花見をするかどうかを確かめたが、彼らは「もちろん。」「桜の花は咲いていなくたっていいよ。酒が飲めさえすればいいんだよ。」と、言ったそうだ。

車から見える景色は徐々に緑が減り、高いビルへと変わっていった。幸運にも青梅街道は渋滞していなかった。新しい家には昼頃に着いた。

私は段ボール箱を部屋に運ぶと、すぐに六義園の桜を見に出かけた。人々がしだれ桜の大木に群がり、写真を撮っていた。壮大なしたれ桜の木に、優美な桜の花が咲いていた。私は白い半月が浮かんだ青い空を背景に、桜の写真を撮った。公園を歩き、気分転換ができた。

私は荷ほどきをするために、自分の家に戻った。これから、新たな生活がはじまる。



MUSEUM -What's Going on?-

TOKYO NOTICE BOARD MARCH 08. 2024

Henri Matisse - Forms in Freedom

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) is known as one of the greatest masters of 20th-century art. He emerged in Paris as a central figure in Fauvism, a style characterized by the daring liberation of color from the role of reproducing nature. In Nice, where he spent most of the latter half of his life, Matisse prolifically painted a remarkable variety of models and objects at his studio, and eventually arrived at the series known as Cut-Outs, in which he cut shapes and images out of colored paper with scissors and pasted them onto other sheets of paper.
This exhibition will feature a total of about 150 works and archival materials from the collection of the Muse´e Matisse Nice, France, including paintings, sculptures, prints, and textiles, with a particular focus on the Cut-Outs. Notably, Flowers and Fruits, a large and stunning Cut-Out from the museum's collection, is a must-see, restored in France for this exhibition and on view in Japan for the first time.

Henri Matisse, Creole Dancer, 1950
205 × 120 cm Muse´e Matisse, Nice
(C) Succession H. Matisse
Photo: Francois Fernandez

The exhibition will also focus on the Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence (often referred to as the Vence Chapel), which was built in Matisse's final years and can be seen as a culmination of his long career, and will present aspects of this great masterpiece from architecture to interior decoration and liturgical garments.
This is the first time that an exhibition in Japan has centered around Cut-Outs, which Matisse was fixated on in his later years. This would become his most outstanding form of expression at the pinnacle of his long life as an artist.

Period: - May 27 (Mon.), 2024
Venue: The National Art Center, Tokyo
Closed: Tuesdays *Open on April 30 (Tue.)
Hours: 10:00 - 18:00 / - 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays (last admission 30 minutes before? closing)
Admission: General: 2,200yen / University, college students: 1,400 / High school students: 1,000yen / Under Junior high school students: Free

For more information, please visit

https://matisse2024.jp/

Frank Lloyd Wright and the World

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is celebrated as one of America’s most famous modern architects, noted for masterworks such as the Edgar J. Kaufmann House (Fallingwater) and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. His passion for ukiyo-e and close ties to Japan are also evident in the works he left in Japan, including the Wright Imperial Hotel (now partially relocated and preserved at Museum Meijimura) and Jiyu Gakuen School.

Cover design for Liberty Magazine.
Saguaro Forms and Cactus Flowers. 1927−28.
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C. LC-DIG-ppmsca-84873

In 2012, a collection of more than 50,000 materials, including his drawings, was transferred from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library at Columbia University. Ongoing research has been conducted to uncover Wright’s broad vision and intellect from art, architecture and design to writing, landscape, education, construction and urbanism. Jointly curated by Japanese and US teams with Ken Tadashi Oshima (Professor at the University of Washington) and Jennifer Gray (Vice-President and Director of the Taliesin Institute, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation) invited from the United States, this exhibition will highlight Wright’s cutting-edge endeavors through his interaction with diverse cultures bridged by the Imperial Hotel and showcase his drawings among other materials.
The perspective of this global architect resonates with present-day challenges and provides inspiration for the world yet to come.

 

Period: - March 10 Sunday, 2024
Venue: Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art
Closed: Wednesdays
Hours: 10:00-18:00 (last admission 30 minutes before? closing)
Admission: Adults: ¥1,200 / Students (High school and college): ¥700 / Children in middle school or younger: Free

https://panasonic.co.jp/ew/museum/en/


Strange but True

TOKYO NOTICE BOARD MARCH 22. 2024

Wonders of Cherry Blossom

Why can't we have cherries on the cherry trees we see in the city?

The cherries we usually eat are the fruit of a species of cherry tree called the "Wild cherry (Sweet Cherry)" that grows wild in Europe and Northwest Africa. Japanese cherry trees do produce fruit. However, some species are toxic, so eating them is not recommended.

What is the language of flowers of cherry blossoms?

The language of flowers is "beauty of spirit" and "graceful woman. The "beauty of spirit" comes from the story of U.S. President George Washington, who accidentally cut down his father's cherished cherry tree when he was a child and confessed it honestly to his father. The flower language of "graceful woman" is based on the cherry's graceful beauty as compared to a woman.

Both cherry blossoms and strawberries are in the rose family for some reason.

The Rosaceae family is not limited to roses, but includes a wide variety of plants, including cherry blossoms, strawberries, almonds, and other plants that one might wonder if they are members of the rose family. Some of them are even called "rosaceous plants". You may discover that your favorite fruits and flowers are all in the Rosaceae family! You may even discover that your favorite fruits and flowers are all in the Rosaceae family!

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