by WATANABE Hiroshi (Tokyo, Japan)
since January, 2000



to 2004. 1〜
to 2003. 1〜12
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2001/12/25 (Tue)
　This year's Christmas gave me a complicated feeling. Most Japanese are non-Christian, but for them Christmas is a kind of festival. Since this September, Christians has been attacking Muslims. They look upon the attack as a crusade. In the other words, the war is brought about by 'the Occident' against 'the Orient.'
　Of course, we Japanese are involved in the war. Since the latter half of the 19th century, we have been struggling to become a member of 'the Occident' and looking down on 'the Orient.' As a result, our identity becomes so ambivalent. For example, while we read many Japanology books written by 'the Occident,' we feel that 'the Occident' can't understand us after all.
　My children are overjoyed at Christmas gifts. And I ponder a question of our identity.

2001/11/28 (Wed)
from 'Tokyo Heart', a kind of poem in progress

　'He' is a famous folk-rock singer, an actor and an activist. One day he held a concert against AIDS. He said there "This activity is for hemophiliacs with HIV, not for gay." His remark was loudly applauded. Some sex educators shouted, "That's wrong!!" but their voices were lost in the roar.

　'He' is a famous copywriter and a songwriter. He wrote a kind of comical song about an old homeless man. A young man became friends with him, but one day the homeless man was found dead alone.

　In most Japanese fictions, TV dramas, etc., minorities are excluded. Even when they appear, they are described only as unhappy people. Gay, homeless, etc., are unhappy or fated to die. And almost nobody finds the fact incomprehensible.

2001/11/27 (Tue)
　Robert Cormier is one of my favorite writers of young adult novels. He passed away last year and his last novel, The Rag and Bone Shop, was published last month. This novel is not very long, but so sadistic that I couldn't help reading through it in one sitting. In other words, I wanted to finish and forget the horrible novel as soon as possible.
　There, the police summoned a very able interrogator to make a murderer of a schoolgirl out of an innocent boy. The interrogator was convinced that the boy was innocent. But his pride and desire for promotion prevented him from stopping his persistent interrogation. At last, the boy....
　About half of the novel was the interrogation scene. It almost made me sick. But I couldn't throw away the book. It's Cormier's last magic.

2001/11/21 (Wed)
　I've read Before Night Falls, an autobiographical work of Reinaldo Arenas. Arenas was an exile writer from Castro's Cuba and committed suicide in 1990. This autobiography was made into a movie by Julian Schnabel. I found the movie not so powerful compared to the original work. In other words, Arenas' prose is so brilliant that I think any moviemaker can't recreate his spiritual and sexual life.
　By the way, I realized for the first time that Cuban exiles were on bad terms with Chilean ones. They both exiled themselves from dictatorial nations. But Chilean exiles seemed to think of Castro as a kind of hero against their ex-dictator, Pinochet, and his supporter, USA. So they were said to hate Cuban exiles' abuse against Castro. Their tragic conflict was obviously brought about by the cold-war century.

2001/11/15 (Thu)
　How much money has U.S.A. been spending on this 'war'? I wonder if her depression was a black lie.
　It is reported that a 'war' in Afganistan becomes a kind of civil war between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. And U.S.A. would like to control the country by changing the government. It's the same way as U.S.A. has done in Cuba, Vietnam, Chile, El Salvador, etc. There's no justice. There're only a series of cowboy movies, which are now too computerized.
　One of the U.S. high officers was said to be glad to show reporters the photograph of a dead Taliban soldier. I recommend he and his colleagues should go home and play Nintendo or watch 'Die Hard' videos.

2001/10/16 (Tue)
　I read Isabel Allende's brilliant novel, Eva Luna. Isabel is a niece of Salvador Allende, the president of Chile, who was murdered in a coup d'etat sponsored by USA. Recently I've been reading Caribbean literature and Latin American literature. Most of those works reflected the Great Powers of the world; USA, UK and France. The Great Powers conquered the small countries and, after their independence, still control them through economic or military powers.
　For example, Salvador Allende was murdered by Pinochet and USA. Pinochet, dictator with a reign of terror, was accused of his massacre of citizens after retirement. But Thatcher took sides with him, because he took sides with her in Falkland Islands War.
　Now I don't have more words to say. Let's sing Imagine.

2001/9/17 (Mon)
　Japanese Government lacks self-direction except embezzling public funds. They have not been able to break the deadlock about the history textbook issue that offended her neighboring countries.
　And now, the attacks on New York City and U.S. department of defense. Many Cabinet Ministers said we should cooperate with U.S. But none of them have not yet said anything definite.
　Some of them want to amend our constitution and make us people go to war wherever U.S. wants (Our constitution, which was made by the U.S. occupation forces, renounces war). Others may think money takes care of everything.
　But I think we, Japanese, have to find the solution to the world peace, to the world with less conflict, no matter how militant our prime minister and Mr. President of our 'friendly' nation are.

2001/8/16 (Thu)
　My office is near Yasukuni Shrine that is called 'a symbol of Japan's militarism'. Yesterday, Aug 15, is the anniversary of the end of WWII for Japan. So, there were many right-wing sound trucks that played martial songs with full volume. And this year many citizens gathered against Cabinet ministers' visiting and worshipping at Yasukuni Shrine.
　We Japanese can never make it clear who were responsible for that war. Whoever claims that the Showa emperor was responsible falls into a dangerous situation. I feel we have not freedom of speech.
　My principle is simple. I will never let Maki, my six-year-old son, go to war as a Japanese soldier.

2001/7/16 (Mon)
　Descriptions in authorized textbooks of Japanese history for junior high schools repel South Korea and China. But most of Japanese are indifferent. Now their greatest concerns are her business condition, the glib prime minister and the big-mouthed foreign minister (and Ichiro, major-league baseball player).
　The government looks upon the textbook issue only as a problem of descriptions. But, at the same time, they force every Japanese schools to raise the nation's flag and sing the national anthem. There're Chinese, Koreans, etc. in Japanese schools, but the government turns a deaf ear to their feelings.

2001/6/11 (Mon)
　Gail Tsukiyama's Women of the Silk and its sequel, The Language of Threads, are my favorite novels. I think this novel, The Samurai's Garden, is excellent too but it leaves something to be desired. It's because I'm Japanese.
　The protagonist, Stephen (he's Chinese but was given a Christian name by his parents) came from Hong Kong to Japan to recuperate from tuberculosis. There he met Matsu, his family's servant and skillful gardener, and Sachi, a leper who lived in a small community deep in the mountain. In spite of the ongoing war between China and Japan, they took each other to their hearts. The story about their spirits is very touching.
　But Tsukiyama's description of Japanese seasons and culture loses some reality (in Honshu, the mainland of Japan, we can't swim in Autumn; the autumn equinox is not the first day of autumn here; in a funeral women in kimono don't wear veil; etc.). Once I decide it's a portrait of imaginary Japan, it's excellent for me like her other novels.

P.S. Japanese lepers finally redeemed their honor by winning their suit against Japanese government last month, after several decades of struggle.

2001/5/10 (Thu)
　"Billy Elliot" (directed by Stephen Daldry) is a pleasant shock to me.
　I have not imagined seeing a 'ballet movie' whose music consists of glam rock and punk rock. Music of T-Rex, the Jam and the Clash impressed me with the vulnerability of Billy, would-be-dancer boy, and the anger of British working class. So it's not only a boy's success story but also a conflict story of his father between his devotion for labor movement against rich-poor cleavage and his self-sacrifice for his son. When the father is caught betraying his union comrades for money by his son Tony and burst out crying, I could not keep back my tears.
　But Billy (Jamie Bell) drives all the troubles away with his youthfulness. His dance seems to say, don't give up!

2001/5/7 (Mon)
　I've read Jamaica Kincaid's new book, Talk Stories. This book is a collection of her earlier anonymous columns for The New Yorker. They were written in 70's and early 80's, so the subjects are old. For instance, Sting (and the Police) and Boy George (and Culture Club) were gaining popularity in the book. But Ms. Kincaid already established her crisp and dynamic and music-like prose style. It's my pleasure to read her candid and sometimes sarcastic comments about snobs. It's my pleasure to read her stories about her native country, Antigua, and her parents. She wrote her own stories as her friend's stories (remember that they were 'anonymous' columns), but they were of her own prose style.
　I read all of her books, and I don't like much her previous book, My Garden, but I enjoyed Talk Stories.

2001/4/29 (Sun)
　"Peaceboat," Japanese citizens' group, is specially permitted to call at both North and South Korea in one voyage. It's said North Korea might put a high value on their attempt to hold a meeting and edit a common history textbook for every Asian people. School textbooks without countries' borders, it's a wonderful idea!
　And writing this, I just remembered today is the birthday of a late Emperor, Hirohito, who was to blame for that cruel war.

2001/4/23 (Mon)
　I have been reading the works of Caribbean writers; Michelle Cliff ('No Telephone to Heaven'), Junot Diaz ('Drown'), Edwidge Danticat ('Breath, Eyes, Memory'), Jamaica Kincaid ('Talk Stories'), etc. They write in English with their Creole words and expressions. Weaving of different languages, it's so exciting.
　Caribbean writers' works are mainly in English, French or their own Creole language. I can't read French, still less Creole language. So I read Japanese translations of Martinican writers who write in French; Raphael Confiant ('Ravines du devant-jour') and Patrick Chamoiseau ('Antan D'Enfance'). But it seemed to me it's almost impossible to translate 'weaving of different languages' to Japanese. When Japanese language and culture faces different languages and cultures, it tends to Japanize them, not to receive them as they are.

2001/3/29 (Thu)
from 'Tokyo Heart', a kind of poem in progress

　I and Takeshi were in Tokyo Dome, one of the biggest baseball stadiums in Japan. Amnesty International held a big Charity concert there, of course for human rights. Tens of thousands of audience gathered, almost not for human rights, but for Bruce Springsteen.
　When I got there, a stage of Tracy Chapman had finished. I heard this black female soulful folk-rock singer had got a lot of boos from the fans of Mr. Rock'n'roll. After Peter Gabriel, Bruce appeared on the stage. The roar of 'yellow' audience. Lots of Stars and Stripes were waving to his song about poor-white soldiers in Vietnam War. 'We' killed a lot of Vietcongs, but the killings did not bring 'us' good fortune. 'Born in the U.S.A.' played in Japan especially for human rights. Most of Japanese audience enjoyed his play but did not understand his English.
　After the concert, tens of thousands of Amnesty leaflets were thrown away all over the stadium.

2001/3/6 (Tue)
　In Japan, there are still some movements to justify her deeds in WWII. One of them is a new history textbook for junior high schools. It said at first that Japan annexed Korean Peninsula legally in 1910 and that Nanking Massacre was just some killings, not the Holocaust kind. Japanese textbooks for elementary, junior high and high schools must be censored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The censorship started in order to restrict the leftist movements, but this time it demands the rightist textbook ('draft') to be revised.
　Another topic is a self-imposed restraint of NHK (Japanese public broadcasting station). Their documentary program about 'comfort women' (victims of Japanese organized 'compulsory prostitution' in WWII) was castrated before putting on the air by some pressure.
　We must look squarely at our real history but the rightists call such an attitude masochistic. Unless we overcome the fruitless antagonism, we can't have 'democracy' nor 'truth' forever in Japan.

2001/2/24 (Sat)
　U.S. atomic submarine made Ehime-maru sink off Pearl Harbour. Ehime-maru is Japanese fishery training boat for high-school boys. It's said that there were ex-CEO of an oil company in Texas, etc. in the cockpit and the submarine's sharp surfacing was a demonstration for them. For them it was a kind of sightseeing.
　Texas and oil company remind us of Bush family. The ex-captain of the submarine is said to be supported by the most efficient lawyer and likely to be made not guilty.
　Bush's U.S. resumed aerial bombing against Iraqi almost simultaneously with the accident. I don't think it's a coincidence. Too big and too militant country, it's the U.S.

2001/2/1 (Thu)
　Today's lunch was cheap Chinese noodles. After that I went to a cafe (I wondered what language its name came from). There I read a novel written by a modern Indian writer, Salman Rushdie. His English is hard to read, but the novel is so interesting that I can't quit reading it.
　In the cafe, a group of female students were doing their faces, chatting away and sometimes burst into laughter. Middle-aged office worker was reading the yellow press with the obscene photos exposed. Pi, pi, pi. A highschool girl's cell phone rang. It seemed she couldn't be satisfied unless she and her friends told their whereabouts each other every hour.
　Today, Ormus, the novel's protagonist, woke up from his coma and resumed his journey all over the world, with his lover, Vina. This Rushdie's work covers the 20th century, east and west, the 60's subculture (rock music, movie, etc.), politics, religions, myths, etc. In today's Japan, there isn't such a vigorous work as his except the works of Okinawaites and Korean residents ('zai-nichi'). I feel Japanese culture has withdrawn into her language cell.
　Trucks of some right-wing organization went slowly on the main street and played old martial songs with full volume. But nobody cared, nobody said anything. This is Tokyo.

2001/1/22 (Mon)
　In the Philippines, people's power forced their corrupt president into resigning. In Japan, an ex-premier, who belongs to the 'Democratic' party now, said, "If Japanese people move our politics, it will have serious consequences for us politicians." He is so candid. Most Japanese politicians look upon the politics as their game, or their privilege. They are second- or third-generation politicians. They received constituency by inheritance, and have no principles, no policies.
　In other words, today's Japan is a new kind of feudal society.

2001/1/2 (Tue)
　Lars von Trier's fim, Dancer in the Dark, reminds me of Herman Melville's story, Billy Budd. Like Billy Budd, an innocent sailor with a speech defect, killed a bad sailor accidentally and was sentenced to death, Selma, a poor factory woman suffering from an eye disease, killed a neighbor in order to recapture her money saved for her son's surgery.
　Some musical scenes, especially 'Cvalda' and 'I've Seen It All,' are incredibly brilliant (Bjork's songs and Robby Muller's filming skill). But I wonder why Selma had to be put to death by hanging. Why her friends offered nothing for her defense. They only planned to use Selma's money for her defense. I think it's odd. So, in the last scene, I cannot realize her friends' grief.
　For Bjork fans, it's perfect. But for movie fans, it leaves a little to be desired.



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