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April 16, 2024
 

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Toshimi Horiuchi
For Toshimi Horiuchi's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 5, 2001
Open your ears to nature's rainbow of sound
In Japan, autumn fills nature, not only with visual colors, but also with "colorful" sounds: blowing wind, birdsong, the chirping of insects and the crunching of leaves.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 24, 2001
Even a single drop of beauty can ripple the soul
It was about the middle of September, and I was far from home.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 3, 2001
Poetry, music and art make for a peaceful soul
Several summers ago, while at St. John's University in Minnesota, I came across a book that had matched a poem by Ntozake Shange with paintings by American artist Romare Bearden (1912-88).
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 16, 2001
Somewhere over the rainbow lies a pot of bliss
In any creative activity, our powers of invention stimulate the mind, in much the same way fertilizer in a vineyard helps the grapes grow to make wine. By engaging these powers, particularly insight and synthesization, our mental and creative capacity is nurtured and nourished.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 19, 2001
Understanding the power of evil
Hamlet's views on man are well known: "What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world!" (II-ii, 315-20)
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 15, 2000
Hopes of peace rise with dawn of the 21st century
On the last day of the 20th century, the world seemed to resonate with the mournful aftermath of tragedies perpetrated across the globe during the previous 100 years. It appeared necessary to pin one's hopes on the dawn of the new century in order to dissipate the tones of violence and death still lingering in the darkness; to welcome the light of peace upon humankind and all the earth.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 17, 2000
A song that stirred the music of the heart
The season was far advanced when Etoile Nord came to Kyoto to study at a certain university.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 20, 2000
On living in the best of all possible worlds
In "Modern Man in Search of a Soul" (1933) Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) remarks: "The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purposes through him . . . To perform this difficult office it is sometimes necessary for him to sacrifice happiness and everything that makes life worth living for the ordinary human being." (tr. W.S. Del and C.F. Baynes)
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 21, 2000
Nourishing one's own inner source of joy
Just as the sun draws life from the earth, urging flowers to bloom and fruits to ripen, thus creating an earth "worthy" for humans to dwell in, so, I believe, in each person's soul an "inner sun" shines which makes human life well worth living.
COMMUNITY
Jun 16, 2000
Healing relationships bloom in 'renga'
A Japanese proverb says: Doki ai motomu (Like minds are drawn to one another).
COMMUNITY
May 19, 2000
Peace, abode of poetry, abode of peace
In this world, it remains most difficult to establish lasting peace. Aggrandizement of power continues to deface nations; blind and violent talons never cease shaking and shattering fledgling roots of peace.
COMMUNITY
Mar 24, 2000
On speaking to a tulip in the garden
Late in the autumn I dug up a spot of earth in my small garden and planted a tulip bulb. Several days later, frost fell and before long snow covered the garden. When spring arrived the next year and the snow had all but disappeared, the tulip broke through the earth, sending out its sturdy stem and green leaves. As the sun regained its power, the tulip leaves broadened and became an intense green. Rain and sunshine spread themselves across the garden and stimulated the further growth of the plant.
COMMUNITY
Mar 17, 2000
Lighting life's gloom with the gem of joy
While sitting in the shadow of death, which one does daily amid the troubles and tribulations of this world, I mused anew upon some phases of human life. In my ponderings, I seemed to hear a voice within declare, "Life is simply a mauvais quart d'heure (wretched quarter of an hour) made up of exquisite moments" (Oscar Wilde, "A Woman of No Importance," Act 2).
COMMUNITY
Feb 18, 2000
Polishing the bitter tears into sweet
Hardly a day passes without some sadness or bitterness touching our lives. Sometimes the waves of grief and pain are relentless.
Japan’s young workers head abroad as huge wage gap persists
The departure hall at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Now with inflation at its strongest in decades, Japanese are starting to realize that years of static wages leave many of them budgeting each month before their next pay check.
EVs head for junkyard as mechanic shortage inflates repair costs
An AA patrol for electric vehicles in Birmingham, England. Fewer than 10% of the U.K.’s 236,000 auto mechanics are qualified to work directly on EV batteries or their cases, according to the Institute of the Motor Industry.
Japan strongly condemns Iranian attack on Israel as 'escalation'
Missiles are showcased in a parade marking Iran's National Army Day in Tehran on April 18, 2023.
Worries remain one year to go before Osaka Expo
Construction at Yumeshima island, the venue for the Osaka Expo
How ‘winged’ gyōza took flight from a Tokyo suburb
The creator of "hanetsuki gyōza" is Isao Yagi, and his restaurant, Nihao, can be found right on the border of Tokyo and Kawasaki in Ota Ward.
For Modi, the Indian election is less about winning and more about by how much
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses supporters during an election campaign rally in Pushkar, India, on April 6, ahead of the country's upcoming general election starting Friday.
Akebono's human side eclipsed his incredible sumo achievements
The heights Akebono reached in sumo helped pave the way for future foreign-born yokozuna Asashoryu and Hakuho.
Ohtani’s dizzying three weeks end in exoneration by authorities
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani during a spring training game on March 12.
How ‘winged’ gyōza took flight from a Tokyo suburb
The creator of "hanetsuki gyōza" is Isao Yagi, and his restaurant, Nihao, can be found right on the border of Tokyo and Kawasaki in Ota Ward.
How Ippei Mizuhara allegedly wired millions from Shohei Ohtani’s account
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, in December at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California

Podcast

Two people try to take a selfie under the illuminated cherry blossoms in Kyoto’s Gion district last year.
Sakura stories revisited: Getting in the mood for hanami

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on
By Lance Henderstein

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