FICTION OR FACT

FICTION OR FACT

　　On October 30, 1938, many of those who were listening to the radio program “The War of the Worlds” directed by Orson Welles panicked, because they believed that Martians were really attacking the earth. The radio program was a live coverage from Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, the spot where the beam from a cylinder-shaped spaceship killed some of the onlookers. The New Jersey state declared martial law and attacked the cylinder.
　　The drama was a fiction, but the broadcasting was so real that as many as 1.7 million people believed that the reporter was actually describing the attack in real time. More than 2,000 emergency calls rang within two hours in New Jersey police department; some went out of their houses to run away into the mountains from the invaders from the planet Mars; and others said they saw strange flashes of lightning and smoke and even the aliens. The whole community went wild and panicked.
　　About ten years later, in 1949, a Spanish language version of "The War of the Worlds" was broadcast in Ecuador. After the program was finished, the listeners knew that it was a fiction. They became so angry with the radio station that they broke the windows with rocks and set it on fire. Six workers for the station were killed.

Seeing is believing
Believing is seeing
Desdemona’s handkerchief

THE GIRL WITH THE WINEGLASS ワイングラスを持つ娘

　　　　　　　　　日英バイリンガル通信　 No. 39　Hiroshi Matsuoka 松 岡　博
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　THE GIRL WITH THE WINEGLASS

　　Last September I went to Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum to see the Vermeer exhibition. He is said to be a master of depicting light, because he uses light so effectively to illuminate objects that they appear to be real. His skill is well demonstrated in Young Woman with a Water Jug and Milkmaid.
　　I say Vermeer is a master of depicting human psychology, too. He captures the most crucial moment of emotions and paint it. The Love letter depicts the mistress’s misgivings because her maid seems to have read the letter; Mistress and Maid illustrates the mistress’s feelings about the letter the maid is about to give her; and Woman writing a Letter, with her Maid also shows the mistress’s sweet enthusiasm in writing a letter, and the maid’s concern about it.
　　Among such psychological paintings, The Girl with the Wineglass is the most astonishing. Look at the girl’s eyes and curly smile. Look at the man’s eyes and posture. He is politely suggesting to her that she should drink the wine, while she is wondering whether she should or not.
The most shocking part of the picture is that she is asking you, the viewer, “What shall I do with the wine? Jekyll says, ‘The man is seducing you. Don’t drink it,’ but Hyde says, ‘Drink it and enjoy seduction.’ Should I drink it?”
　　What an embarrassing girl! What an embarrassing picture!

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　lovely girl 　　　　　　可愛い娘
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　until you raised 　　ワイングラスを
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　the glass　　　　　　持つまでは

IWATE MOUNTAIN 岩手山

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　MT. IWATE

　　When I went on a trip to the Tohoku district last October, I saw Mt. Iwate for the first time in my life. The top of the mountain was partially covered with snow, which made the view all the more beautiful.
　　The tour guide told us about Ishikawa Takuboku, who composed a well-known poem about the mountain. It goes:

　　　　When I see the mountain
　　　　in my home village,
　　　　I have nothing to say to it.
　　　　I appreciate the mountain.

I had known the poem, but I did not know which mountain Takuboku composed the poem about. Now I know which one.


Iwate Mountain
Embraces Takuboku
Like his mother

FICTION HAIBUN: NEARSIGHTED 近視

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　NEARSIGHTED




I am strolling along the road in Jurassic Park. Suddenly a dinosaur attacks me from behind. I run and run and run, but the fierce creature catches up and grabs me. It carries my body to its mouth and is about to eat me.

Lightning!
The dinosaur drops me
and its giant contact lenses

ENGLISH HAIKU: THE OIRASE RIVER 奥入瀬

THE OIRASE RIVER


　　My wife and I went to Tohoku district for sightseeing at the end of October. The scenic spots we visited included Konjiki-do Temple in Hiraizumi, Hachikoda Mountains, and Lake Towada.
　　The most impressive place was the Oirase River. The autumn trees with red and orange leaves over the river were so beautiful that I didn’t know how to describe the beauty. We were lucky that the sky had cleared up when we began to stroll along the path beside the river. I want to enjoy the scenery again.

Autumn leaves
Over the Oirase River
Oxygen into my happy lungs


Along the Oirase River
White waves
Orange leaves


Autumn leaves along the river
Orange, yellow, green, and red
360 degrees

NOT A MERE PAGE IN HISTORY 歴史の単なる１ページではない

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

日英バイリンガル通信　 No. 38　Hiroshi Matsuoka 松 岡　博

NOT A MERE PAGE IN HISTORY

　　I was shocked the other day when I was watching a Korean historical drama, Hur Jun. It depicted the Bunroku-no-eki or Japan’s invasion of Korea in 1592. Since it occurred more than 400 years ago, it is not directly connected with me. However, I felt embarrassed. I was ashamed of myself as a descendant of the invaders.
　　I am a great fan of Korean historical dramas. I have so far watched more than ten Korean historical dramas including Dae Jang-geum and Jumong. Now I am enjoying Hur Jun, a 64-episode drama of a doctor named Hur Hun during the reign of Joseon’s 14th Emperor Seonjo. In the 56th episode, Hur Jun is promoted to the position of royal physician．He celebrates the promotion with his family and friends, when Japan invades Korea.
　　First, the Koreans were not worried about the invasion, but the Japanese advanced to threaten Hanyang (present Seoul). All the Hanyang people panicked, packed their possessions, and ran to the north. Hur Hun’s family also tries to flee, but Hur Jun remains to prevent the royal medical documents from being burned.
　　Until I saw the episode, the Bunroku-no-eki had just been one of the numerous Japan’s historical events for me. I studied about it in my high school history class. Japan invaded Korea because a great unifier of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi wanted to conquer Korea and the Ming Dynasty. My viewpoint then was based on Japan’s side.
　　However, I was in the Korean shoes while I was watching the drama. I had been so absorbed in it that I had identified myself with Hur Jun. Japan messed up Hur Jun’s happy moment of promotion. Japan’s army ruined the peaceful life of the Koreans. Japan ruined the palaces, killed Koreans, damaged the fields, and burned their houses. Japan in the drama was my enemy.
　　Now, the Bunroku no eki is no longer a mere page in history for me. It has become an embarrassing one.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　歴史の単なる１ページではない

　先日、韓国歴史ドラマ「ホ・ジュン」を見ていてショックを受けた。ドラマは１５９２年に日本が朝鮮を侵略した「文禄の役」を扱っていた。４００年以上前のことだから私には直接関係のないことだけれど、私は当惑し、侵略者の子孫として恥ずかしく思った。
　私は韓国歴史ドラマの大フアンで、「チャングムの誓い」「朱蒙（チュモン）」など、１０本以上は見ている。今見ているのは全６４話の「ホ・ジュン」で、李氏朝鮮１４代宣祖国王(1567-1608)時代のホ・ジュンという名前の医者の物語だ。第５６話では、ホ・ジュンは宮廷医に昇進し、家族や友人と昇進を祝っていると、日本が朝鮮を侵略してくるのだ。
　初めは、朝鮮人は侵略を心配していなかったのだが、日本が漢陽（今のソウル）に接近するに至り、漢陽の人々はパニックに陥り、家財道具を荷造りし、北方へ逃れた。ホ・ジュンの家族も逃げようとするのだが、ホ・ジュンは宮廷の医学書が燃えないようにとそこに留まるのだ。
　この話を見るまでは、「文禄の役」は私にとっては日本史の無数の出来事の一つにすぎなかった。「文禄、私は日本側の視点に立っていた。
　しかし、「ホ・ジュン」を見ているときは朝鮮側の立場に立っていた。私は「ホ・ジュン」にのめりこみ、ホ・ジュンと一体になっていた。日本軍はホ・ジュンの幸せな時を台無しにしたのだ。日本は朝鮮の宮廷を破壊し、朝鮮人を殺し、田畑を荒らし、民家に火をつけた。ドラマでは日本は私の敵であった。
　「文禄の役」は私にとって、もはや単なる歴史の１ページではなくなった。恥ずかしい思いをさせるページとなった。

IT IS NOT SO SIMPLE そう単純ではない

日英バイリンガル通信　 No. 37　Hiroshi Matsuoka 松 岡　博

IT IS NOT SO SIMPLE

　　Transport Minister Nariaki Nakayama, who resigned on September 27 because of his inappropriate remarks, commented during his resignation interview that it was deplorable that a child kills his/her parent and that a parent kills his/her child in Japan. He did not touch on why such a sad murder took place. Let’s probe the reason behind a child-killing. 　
　　On September 23, a 35-year-old mother, Kaoru Tomiichi, told the police that she strangled her 5-year-old son, Koki, at a public restroom. First she proclaimed her innocence, but later she confessed the crime. Why did she kill her son? She said, “When I asked Koki to assist me in the restroom, he refused saying, ‘Why do I have to do such a thing?’ I lost my temper and killed him.”
　　But, is this so simple? In fact, she had been suffering from a chronic disease that affected her legs caused by a traffic accident. Moreover, Koki-kun, was enrolled in a class for children with special needs becaue he tended to be restless and had concentration problems. She said, “I was pessimistic about Koki’s future.”
　　I can't help feeling sympathy with her. How deeply she had been worrying about Koki-kun’s future after her death? Who will take care of my child? I can’t die leaving my son in this harsh world. Every day, every hour, and every minute of the day, she had been fighting with her fate. She had been under extreme mental stress. She killed her son not because she hated him but because she loved him.
　　Can anyone blame her? What would you do if you were in her place? It is easy to comment that child-killing is deplorable, but it is not such a simple matter.

そう単純ではない

　失言で９月２７日に辞任した中山成彬国土交通大臣は、辞任インタビューで子殺し、親殺しがある日本は、これでいいのかとコメントした。中山氏はこのような悲しい殺人の原因ついては触れなかった。子殺しの背景を探ってみよう。
　９月２３日、富石薫（３５歳）は息子の弘輝くん（５歳）を公衆便所で殺害したと自白。始めは無実を主張していたが罪を認めた。なぜ殺したのか。富石は、「トイレで、弘輝に私を介助するように頼んだら、「なぜそんなことをしなければならないのか」と断られ、カッとなって殺した」と言った。
　しかし、事はそんなに単純ではない。実は、富石は交通事故のため足に慢性障害があった。また、弘輝くんは、情緒不安定で特別支援学級に入っていた。「弘輝の将来のことを思うと不安で」と富石は言う。
　私は富石に同情を禁じ得ない。富石は、自分が死んだ後の息子のことをどれほど心配していたことだろう。誰が面倒を見てくれるのか。厳しい世の中にとても弘輝を残しては死にきれない。毎日、毎時間、毎分、富石は自分の運命と闘い、極度のストレスに陥っていたのだ。弘輝が憎いから殺したのではない。いとおしかったから殺したのだ。
　彼女を責めることができようか。彼女の立場だったらどうするだろう。子殺しは嘆かわしいとコメントするのは簡単だが、奥が深いのだ。