Kurashi - News From Japan

Soprano Birgit Nilsson was born just a few miles from my hometown, in Skåne, Sweden. She performed at the Met in New York 223 times in 16 roles, appeared 232 times at the Vienna State Opera from 1954-82, and at Bayreuth in Germany. The video above is from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde at Thèâtre Antique d'Orange in 1973. The miracles of Youtube: A very rare NHK video from her concert in Osaka in 1967, performing Wagner with the Bayreuth Festival. Conductor Pierre Boulez. Wagner in the news: Times on Line Osaka Festival celebrated its 50th year anniversary in 2008!

Wow, I like the heavy rain and the thunderstorms. Makes me wonder if it is true that one should unplug the computer when lightning is near. Any thoughts? Over at Treehugger , I wrote about Gary Snyder, who won the 2008 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize . Gary, one of the Beat Poets, lived in Kyoto for a decade from 1956 (!) and is still going strong. Congratulations. I like his humour and political sarcasm, as in Coyote Man, Mr. President & the Gunfighters , a story inspired by an ancient Chinese text, in Kyoto Journal : Mr. President was fascinated by gunfighters. Expert gunfighters were invited to his White House, three thousand of them, like guests in the house. Day and night they practiced fast-draw and shootouts in his presence until the dead and wounded men numbered more than a hundred a year. The Senator from the Great Basin was troubled by this, and summoning his aides, said, "I’ll give a basket of turquoise and a truckload of compost to any man who can reason with Mr. Pr...

Just a short, lovely live version of Nakayama Uri's Summer Festival song. I have to mention she went to high school in Yono, Saitama... Way to go! Bonus: 月とラクダの夢をみた

A bunch of young Japanese monks have created a virtual temple online to talk about issues close to their hearts. They are based in Tokyo, where there are surprisingly many Buddhist temples, many as old as the city itself, dating back to the Edo Period (1603-1868). They note that no matter how artificial our environment becomes, monks continue to pass on age-old wisdom from master to disciple, inheriting the modes of living, using the temple as its vehicle: The continuity of such lifestyle will become an aid for those who hope, with all of their heart, for a life full of love and appreciation. The Japanese lifestyle made of culture and traits influenced from Buddhist beliefs is the heritage for Japanese people and could be shared amongst people all over the world. We hope to transform these Buddhist thoughts into a lamplight and deliver this message to the world. Hope to fill the world with smiles of joy.

Kyodo says more than 60 percent of surveyed consumers in Japan are buying more domestically produced food than they used to. This follows a number of food scandals and books published here about food safety. Kyodo quotes a recent survey conducted jointly by NTT Resonant Inc. and Japan Research Institute Ltd. The survey found a noticeable decrease in consumers buying frozen food and eating out, an indication that more people now want to select and prepare food themselves. People also worry about food shortages: Consumer behavior apparently has been affected by a widespread food scare earlier this year resulting from pesticide-tainted Chinese-made frozen meat dumplings and numerous recent cases of fraud involving food passed off as domestically produced or as premium brands, food industry observers say. Asked about how their eating habits have changed over the past three years, 64.3 percent of the respondents said they are now buying more domestic food. In addition, 39.3 percent said tha...

Summer festivals... If you live in Japan, how can you avoid them. A great time to be in town, celebrating and getting to know your neighbours. Japan's summer festivals are getting some attention on Youtube, with lots of homemade videos featuring traditional street dance and music. Search for 高円寺 (Koenji) or 阿波おどり (Awaodori) or 祭り (Matsuri). You will also find clips from Tokushima, where this particular festival originated over 400 years ago. Some history. Koenji is a great little town just west of Shinjuku, Tokyo. I used to go there a lot and still like to visit. The Koenji festival in August every year is one of the best in the capital, after the Sumida River Fireworks Festival and Asakusa Samba Carnival. Yes, yes.. the food is pretty bad, and it is crowded, and only really young kids like the stalls with silly games. If you went to Koenji this weekend, you probably went for the dance and the music. The different troupes practice a lot to get their steps right, with a powerful...

I'm off for Niigata this weekend, but a story on the Ganges caught my eye. I have written about Japan's rivers previously, but none are "holy" in the sense that India has historically revered what is actually the largest river and river delta on earth. Japan seems to have had more spiritual feelings for its numerous mountains, including Mt. Fuji . In India, the problem is that since the 1970s, the Ganges is increasingly polluted. A campaign, “Awiral Ganga, Nirmal Ganga: From Gangotri to Ganga Sagar”, aims to clean up the holy river right from its source in the Himalayas to where it drains into the Bay of Bengal at Ganga Sagar in West Bengal. They want to reduce pollution and demand national heritage status for the river. Not a minute too late. At stake are deeply held spiritual values, notes The Times: A coalition of gurus has issued an ultimatum to India’s fragile Government: purify the chronically polluted Ganges, the river revered by Hindus, or face protests and p...