The Chair of Destiny

As it is often said, "People spend one third of their lives in their beds. That's why the quality of the bed is very important." Maybe the phrase was made by a bed seller. But, in my opinion, it is true not only for beds but also chairs.

I spend much time in my chair: reading books, checking e-mails and websites, writing e-mails and weblogs, and sometimes learning English. I mean to say, I spend over one third of my holidays in my chair. But my chair is not suitable for my body. Its surface is hard; therefore, I placed a cushion on the surface. But I felt uncomfortable because the thickness of the cushion touches my thighs. It means that I spend over one third of my holidays uncomfortable.

Some days ago, I decided to buy a new and comfortable chair. Then I thought about the kind of chair I want. The points are: suitable for my desk, being equipped with many adjustable parts, and fitting my body.

I went to the biggest furniture shop in Osaka city, because I wanted to check a variety of chairs as possible. The furniture shop is in a former upscale hotel that went bankrupt and was bought by the furniture shop. I was very content shopping in such a large, calm environment . I sat on fifty different kinds of chairs and enjoyed fifty kinds of feelings.

It was not difficult to meet "the Chair of Destiny", which is suitable for my desk, being equipped with many adjustable parts and fitting my body perfectly. But, as it might be expected, I realized that the chair's comfort was directly proportional to the price. The price of the chair was twice the amount my budget. But I think nothing compares to the chair, so I bought it.

After all, it didn't take much time to choose witch chair, but it took a lot of time to choose the color of the chair.



The chair: Okamura Contessa

Strawberry Field Forever

News sites said that Strawberry Field, in Liverpool, is to be closed within several months. That is the orphanage that used to be John Lennon's playground, that became famous from The Beatles' song "Strawberry Fields Forever". The entrance gate is also memorial place for Beatlemania.

I have been to the place three times, and have unforgettable memories, especially from 1990. When I went the orphanage, its wall block was under reconstruction. Then, a workman approached me. He passed me a block, said, "Put it in the wall". He helped me make a special memory that was that I put a block in Strawberry Fields. I was deeply moved and appreciated his action.

So, the news reminded me of this memory and I thank the workman again. After it closes, "Strawberry Field will be forever", for me, thanks to this memory.

A report about Amazon.co.jp

Amazon.co.jp is one of the most popular net-stores in Japan, but it is infamous for their secretive management. They don't accept most interviews, and don't reveal their management data, even the net sales. A documentary writer was frustrated with this situation, so he quit his job as the chief editor of a logistics magazine and got a part-time job for a logistics center of Amazon.co.jp, of course keeping his real purpose for this job a secret from Amazon.

His job is to pick books from many huge shelves and carry them to a packing counter. Amazon promotes rationalization and efficiency in a positive manner, but it is impossible to mechanize this picking process, because all books have their own size. For this purpose, Amazon employs 400 part-time-jobbers at a 900yen(7.5US$,6euro)-an-hour salary. It is the job the reporter had.

Amazon controls the workers with a time tracking machine. The machine tells Amazon and the workers how many books they are picking in a minute. Amazon sets a target as 3 books / min. Because of its difficulty, workers can't be lazy. This simple job goes on every single day. The finishing time of this job changes every day, and depends on the number of orders from customers. Sometimes the staff tells workers to work overtime untill 8 pm at the start, and sometimes he tells them to stop working at 3 pm. 9 / 10 workers quit this job in one year. Workers have no loyalty to Amazon.

The reporter gathered information about Amazon from workers in the center, and interviewed a retired chief executive of the logistics company and rival company of Amazon. He estimates that the last sales amount of Amazon was far and away ahead of rival companies (more than ten folds of rivals), a 70% amount of the biggest bookstore chain in Japan, Kinokuniya. In his opinion, Amazon's strength is based on their corrective logistics demand forecast, and thoroughly "customer-first" thinking (for example, customers can returned books they bought from Amazon any time within 30 days.).

He finds a future society in Amazon's model. It is a workplace that consists of "thinking workers who make manuals and earn a high salary, and non-thinking workers who are controlled by the manual and earn a low salary." His feeling about Amazon is "As a customer, I want to buy again. As a worker, never again."

Videogames in the 80s

On the first day of this Golden week holiday, I tidied my room all day long. When I unpacked my cardboard boxes that I had packed for moving, I found some towels. A parade of many videogame characters are printed on the towels. These things made me very nostalgic.

When I was an elementary school pupil, some classmates were enthusiastic about playing videogames in an arcade. But our parents and teachers prohibited us from going to arcades and playing games at them. There are some reasons for their prohibition. Some pupils stole their parents money for playing. Bad boys often made threats pupils at arcades. Adults didn't know what videogame were. They thought of them as an underground indulgence and didn't have sympathy for them. At the time, NES hadn't been released yet.

But my parents gave me money for playing some games, and never banned me from going to arcades. So I went to some arcades that were located in a department store that bad boys never gathered at, and fervently concentrated on each game I played by using the small sum from my parents. So I started to understand some games in detail, and so, I wrote a guidebook of a game and sold some copies of it to classmates (This was my first experience making money). In those days, guidebooks of videogames had not yet been released publicly. (Actually, a student satarted a game circle in Tokyo and wrote a guidebook in his private time at same time. After that, he made a company and created the original Pokemon.)

As stated above, some videogames caught my fancy very much. Those games had one point in common. It was the maker, NAMCO. It was still a small company in early 80s, and unknown among ordinary people but was becoming famous among videogame maniacs for being the originator of Pac-Man and other innovative games. Every game had new ideas, a beautiful pop design, and good music. More than anything else, all the games were great fun. I was heavily into their games, so I wrote a long letter to tell the NAMCO staff how I love their work.

After a month, a big parcel was sent to me. It was from NAMCO. I was very surprised and opened it quickly. There were some towels and a letter in it. The towels had a parade of many videogame characters for the 30th Anniversary of the founding of NAMCO. Perhaps these were for their corporate customers. The letter stated their thanks. I was deeply impressed for their consideration, and treated it as my treasure.

NAMCO has developed very much, and was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after 7 years, and now is one of leading companies of videogames in the world. Based on my memories in the early 80s, I think this was a natural result.

Mozart, the English Speaker

I have a fundamental question about English or American movies. Why do non-English speakers speak normal English in the movies?

For example, in "Amadeus", it is staged in 18th Century, Vienna, but all characters speak English. I wonder if American people think it's funny that Mozart said "My opera is full of German virtue." in English.



Asian characters who speak English in movies set in the past is even more funny. In "The Last Emperor", the Chinese Emperor and his mother speak English. I think it is very funny for Japanese to hear this. Even in "The Last Samurai", Japanese peasants speak Japanese and only the educated class speak English. A lot of Japanese question "Why can so many Japanese people speak in English?"



Of course, there are some incorporation of Vienna in "Amadeus". People don't say "Mister" but "Herr". The DVD's English subtitles says "Direktor" not "Director". But, in my opinion, it is not enough. This movie is very real. The location was an old city of Prague, which has 18th Century buildings and atmosphere. The costumes were reproduced in detail. The music director was Sir Neville Marriner, a very excellent conductor. But the language isn't real.

When I watch these movies at first, I don't think it's funny because I concentrate to read the Japanese subtitles. But whenever I watch it the second time, I always question the use of language.

Meeting Brian Wilson in Tokyo

I went to the autograph session of Brian Wilson. It was a very rare chance for us Japanese.

Brian Wilson was an original member of the Beach Boys. Because of his songwriting talent, they released many hit songs in the first half of the 60s. People felt the California sunlight, girls on the beach, hot rods and surfing in their songs.

But Brian's genius wasn't to be contained in this style. His lyrics became reflective, and his melody got more and more complex. Being inspired by the Beatles' Rubber Soul, he became eager to make the album that could would be better the Beatles. Concentration was the most important thing for Brian. He shut himself off to the outside world. and composed songs for months. At last, he quit the Beach Boys' concert tours in 1966.

Brian released Pet Sounds released that same year with Brian's fully confidence. The music was innovative, complex and beautiful. The Beatles, especially Paul McCartney was shocked by the album. But people were bemused. They couldn't find the sunlight, girls and surfing in it. Even members of the Beach Boys didn't realize the true worth of Pet Sounds.

Brian was very disappointed. He began to create the next work, SMiLE. This album, was composed with some unique themes - The four elements (Fire, Air, Water and Earth), a native American girl dancing in the war among natives and whites, etc. - should have been one of the masterpieces of American music. But when making SMiLE, Brian became mentally deranged because of the pressure and a lack of understanding by the record company, fans and the other member of the Beach Boys. Thereafter, he was in a state of a suspended animation for many years.

After struggling, he was back. SMiLE was released after an interval of 37 years with big help from his young supporters. And he came to Japan for his SMiLE live concert. An autograph session was held on the day before of the first day of the concert. A friend of mine who lives in Tokyo got the ticket of this session for me. How can I thank him?

I went to Tower Records Shibuya, the place of the session to meet my friend. It looked as if was going to begin, so a friend of mine was waiting for me, nervously. 200 ticket holders gathered there.After ten minutes, Brian Wilson appeared, and said hello to us. He looked very casual, like he had just walked out of his hotel room. His style didn't radiate with his usual charisma, but we feel soft and gentle atomosphere. As soon as he arrived, the session had began. It had many rules. They said: Things for autograph are only SMiLE's vinyl record sold by Shibuya Tower Records.

Participants could not pass things to Brian directly. Participants were kept away from Brian, etc. What's more, Brian looked tired, so he concentrated to sign autographs with no reaction, no smile. He looked only at his desk. So, the session seemed like a distributing station. But I thought of it as a golden opportunity. I said a message to Brian, keeping in the rules. Then, Brian looked at me, a little surprised, gave me a kind smile, and said "Oh, thank you." Of course I replied.It seemed to be a rare case. When I wrote about it on my weblog in Japanese, some people I didn't know trackbacked with surprising comment like "Here is a miracle man who could communicate with Brian in such situation!"

Despite his nervousness, Brian's concert tour through Japan was a big success and fans were deeply impressed.

Horyuji Temple with moving friends

"Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?" The ancient Chinese wise man Confucius said these words in the beginning of the Analects over 2,500 years ago. The words still hold true today.

K is a friend of mine who lived in Tokyo with his wife. They spent happy days there, but they were determined to move from Tokyo to Chugoku area, Japan Sea side.

They planned their moving journey. They bought a Smart, very small car of Daimler Chrysler.
Then, they made their weblog that was opened only to their intimate friends. The site has pictures and comments of customizing their Smart, preparing for their move, and their journey from Tokyo to Matsue by their Smart. They began to move in late November.

They traced back to their memorable places. They went to see their relatives, friends, their first workplaces, and where they first met. They were working towards Kansai.

On the 4th of December, they reached my hometown, Ikaruga, Nara. They had been looking forward to see Japan's first world heritage, Horyuji temple in town.

Horyuji is the world's oldest wooden architecture in existence, established in A.D.672 by a prince regent (nephew of emperor). To make the nation of ancient Japan and rule it peacefully, he established diplomatic relations with China (He wrote the beginning of the diplomatic letter as "From the emperor of the sunrise place to the emperor of the sunset place, I wish you are safe and sound..." So the emperor of China got very angry, but Japan could make diplomatic dialog on equal terms, not as a subject state.), imported Buddhism from Korea, made the constitution based on Buddhism, and established Horyuji temple.

I guided them to good spots in Horyuji and answered most questions about Horyuji for them. Because I had guided friends at Horyuji several times, I had already learned about the temple.
We appreciated the old architecture and statues of Buddha. When I was a young boy, I didn't realize the reason why mature people loved such old things. Now, I can understand the true value of some things, but still can't understand some other things.

We took lunch at the riverside of Tastuta-gawa. It is famous for tinted autumnal leaves and is described in two poems of the Ogura Anthology of One Hundred Tanka-poems by One Hundred Poets, complied in the 13th Century. The anthology is the basic classical refinement for Japanese people (Even nowadays, high school teachers recommend students to learn poems by heart). We enjoyed beautiful red leaves and appreciated the old poem as follows:

No.17: Water of Tatsuta River was tie-dyed scarlet by
maple leaves...? I would never hear such a thing even in the era of God when strange things often happened.

No. 69: The maple leaves on Mt. Mimuro with a storm raging fall and float on Tatsuta River one after another and make a gorgeous brocade.

After appreciating ancient Japanese culture, they left my hometown and went to their future hometown.

My desire is always to be here, Mull of Kintyre

(The original article was published on my former website in 1997)

My Wanderlust for the Mull of Kintyre

Paul McCartney / Mull of Kintyre
When I heard this song's title, I presumed it referred to a place in Africa or somewhere because it didn't sound like English. However, the sound of bagpipes made me realize the song was about Scotland. The strange songtitle and sweet, peaceful melody tempted me to travel to Scotland without me noticing.

When I came to love the song and decided I wanted to go on a trip to Scotland someday, I gradually founded out how to get there. At first, I checked the location of the place on a map. I had thought Mull of Kintyre was a very famous tourist resort, but few Japanese articles dealt with the place. According to "Blue Guide:Scotland" published in the U.K., the place is at the top of the Kintyre peninsula of Scotland. The aritcle told me that there is the lighthouse. (At first, I had thought that the Mull of Kintyre was on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, but it wasn't.) I decided the destination of my journey, it was the lighthouse.

Consulting books and websites about Scotland so like that, and with help from members of the PC communications forum for U.K. lovers in Japan, I rearized that the cape Paul had sang about was very far away. I heard that there was no railway station near the place, so it would take at least one way to get to. I checked railway and coaches timetable, began to prepare for travel, felt a touch of anxiety, and left Japan.



On the way

The places I travelled to Mull of Kintyre are as follows:

-Japan(Kansai airport) to London Heathrow(about 16 hours)
Heathrow - London King's X - Glasgow (four and half hours by a limited express"Flying Scotsman")
I was so tired that I stayed for one night at Glasgow.

-Glasgow to Campbeltown (took 4 and half hours by coach)
There are no railways between the two points. When I got in the Kintyre peninsula, I found the sightseeing guide board that said"... one of the most exciting roads to the Mull of Kintyre, immortalised in song by Paul McCartney". I fell his lyrics "I'm Getting Closer!".



the sightseeing guide board


-Campbeltown to "End of The Public Road" (20 minutes by taxi)
Campbeltown is small town, however, I didn't got the impression that the town was inconvenient for daily life, because there is no large city near the town. I checked in a B&B and took a rest.




Campbeltown


A few hours later, I took a taxi in mainstreet of Campbeltown. The taxi went through the green grasslands. There is no car coming from the opposite direction.


on the way...


-End of the Public Road to Mull of Kintyre(20 minutes on foot)
The end of the road was a small park.I had to get off the taxi.
There was a board for sightseeing, it had the sentences as follows;




"Made famous by Paul McCartney's hit single in 1977,the Mull of Kintyre is strictly speaking,the rounded headland making up the south west corner of the Kintyre peninsula."
At last, I could see the sea and the lighthouse here. I went down to the lighthouse, on the winding road for a mile.



The Mull of Kintyre

Soon I saw beautiful and wide landscape; deep blue sea, brilliant green plains. The landscape had a splendid view, because there is no tree. Rabbits sometimes ran across walking path. The fine weather made the place surrounded by gentle light.

There is no people, like the Mull of Kintyre was reserved for me. So I sang "Mull of Kintyre" sitting on a small bench near the Mull lighthouse. I could hear Paul's song with My MD player and a ripple without the player. I could see the land of Ireland dimly over the calm sea.













Back to the town

At 8 p.m., The taxi I had took on the way to there came to pick me up. We went back to Campbeltown behind strong west sunlight. When I told her to take thirty pictures for the Mull of Kintyre, she smiled.



Souvenirs

The Campbeltown's only one tourist information centre had these souvenirs;



The postcard



The sticker



6years later

In 2003, a reporter of The Independent (UK newspaper) asked me to quote this article. He said that he would like to take it for his page "The End of The Earth" travel guide including the Mull of Kintyre.

I was happy to comply with his request! What's more, The Independent is Paul's favorite paper (He said so on his concert brochure in 1990)!

Then, fortunately, I could get the paper quoting this article, including my name in the UK because I was happen to travel the UK at that time. Thanks for lucky streak!






(now the URL on above was changed)


Actually, this article brought me not only this fortune but also friendship with some fans of Paul who read my article. I have good friends through this article about Paul's song.
Paul McCartney change his fans' life better worldwide, but not only by his great music. The real case is here. Thank you, Paul.