消しゴム大のホルター A Very Small Holter Monitor

消しゴム大のホルター

昨日、ホルター（脈拍２４時間計測器）を装着してきた。計測器を見て驚いた。とても小さい。消しゴムぐらいの大きさで、煩わしいコードは着いていない。一年ぐらい前に装着したときは、スマホぐらいの大きさで、コードが７本ぐらいついていた。その前の旧式ホルターは、もう１５年ぐらい前だったが、弁当箱ぐらいの大きさだった。

科学の進歩は著しい。何でも、ますます小型化していく。テレビで先日見たが、チップが手の甲に埋め込んであり、それで支払いを済ませていた。身体の中にスマホを埋め込む時代が来るのかもしれない。

A Very Small Holter Monitor

I went to a hospital to wear a holter monitor, a portable device for cardiac monitoring for 24 hours. The device was very light and as small as an eraser, about 6 by 6 centimeters. It did not have any troublesome leads that attach your body. About a year ago, the device was as large as a smartphone with 6 or 7 leads. About 15 years ago when I first wore a holter monitor, the machine was heavy and as large as a big lunch box.

The development of science is marvelous. Things are getting smaller and smaller. The other day I saw a TV program in which a man was paying by putting his back of his hand on a machine at a store. A micro-chip was implanted in his hand. Sooner or later, a computer as large as a chip will be implanted in your hand. It is spooky, isn’t it?                                                                                                                                           

グリーンブック Green Book

映画「グリーンブック」

心を打つ映画。映画の出だし、イタリア系アメリカ人、トニーは二人の黒人が使ったコップを、さも汚いと言う風に、指で掴んでゴミ箱に捨てる。彼が人種差別者だということだ。ところが、トニーは、世界的に有名なピアニスト、ドクター・シェリーの運転手として雇われ（賃金のため。意に反して）、マンハッタンから米国南部にまでコンサート・ツアーをする。８週間のツアーの間に、二人は気心が知れてくるようになり、ツアーの終わりには二人の相手に対する考え方が１８０度変わる。トニーはシェリーが気に入り、シェリーもトニーが気に入る。映画の最後、シェリーはトニーの代わりに車を運転することさえする。両者の態度の変化はまさしく逆並列の典型例だ。

"Green Book"

This is a very moving movie. In the beginning, Tony Lip, an Italian-American, is shown as a racist when he picks up two glasses, which black workers have used, with his fingers and throws them into a garbage bucket. He is hired as a driver by Dr. Shirley, a world-class black pianist, on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South. During the 8-week tour, they gradually understand each other and at the end their attitudes toward each other totally change. Tony likes Shirley and Shirley likes Tony. Shirley even drives the car for Tony. This is a typical example of juxtaposition.

新元号(予想） New Era Name（Prediction）

　　　　　新元号（予想）

和元

和は争いや諍いがなく、皆が平穏に暮らすことを意味する。今日、国家主義に偏る国が多くなり、異質なものを排除しようとする傾向にある。グローバル化が進む中、どの国も、他の国とのかかわりなく、単独には成立しえない。身体の一部分が痛いのは身体全体の痛みである。和の精神は今日最も重要なものとなっている。

元は本来の姿を意味する。国家間の連携が進むとき、国家の独自性が薄れていき、グローバル化すればするほど、物事の画一化が進む。しかし、独創性が失われていけば、民族特有の文化も失われていく。どの文化も共存できる世の中にしよう。

和　“wa” means harmony. That is to live together peacefully rather than fighting or arguing. Today, more and more nations are inclined to go nationalistic, avoiding associating with aliens. Since the world has become one big global society, no nation can survive alone without interaction with other nations. A pain in one part of a body is the body’s pain. So, harmonious spirit has become more important than ever.

 

元　“gen” means originality. The closer the ties among nations, the more they lose their originality. Things will become more standardized as globalism advances. But losing originality symbolizes the loss of its culture. Let each culture coexist with one another.

「西の正倉院文学賞」佳作 Honarable Mention

「西の正倉院文学賞」佳作　

「西の正倉院文学賞」の結果が発表され、拙作「月よ、高く昇れ」は選外佳作であった。残念。優秀賞以上だと、宮崎県美郷村での表彰式に招待されるのに。
応募するとき、エンディングに読者の心を打つものがいまいちと思っていたが、そのままの評価であった。
推敲の余地のあるものは、推敲を徹底しなければならないと思った。

Honorable Mention

 
　　My short story “Tsukiyo, Takaku Nobore” (The Moon, Rise High up) won an honorable mention for the “Nishino Shosoin Bunngaku-sho”(West Shosoin Literature Prize). I was disappointed. If I had had won an award, I would have been invited to attend the awards ceremony to be held in Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu.
　　I was not satisfied with the ending of the story because I thought it might not impress the readers, but owing to the lack of time and energy, I submitted it. I should have given much more time to improve it.

文芸大賞授与式 Award Ceremony for Literature Prize

文芸大賞授与式

 

昨日、岐阜県文芸祭表彰式で文芸大賞（小説部門）を受賞した。表彰されたのは児童文学、随筆、詩、短歌、俳句、川柳、狂俳、連句の８部門である。会場は岐阜市のサラマンカホールの大会議室で、約１５０人が参加した。
表彰式はウエルカムバイオリン演奏（愛の挨拶、ロンドンデリーの歌、ユーモレスク）に引き続き、主催者の挨拶があり、その後賞状授与式が行われた。
私は最初の受賞者で、大勢の参加者の前に立ち、岐阜県文化局長から賞状を受け取るときは緊張した。
授与式に引き続き来賓の祝辞と審査員の紹介があり、最後に詩の朗読と歌曲があった。
全体で４５分で終わった。（名古屋市の表彰式は２時間ぐらいかかった）
家を１０時過ぎに出て、帰ったのは５時半ごろだった。緊張のためかよく眠られず、今日は身体の調子が悪い。
（受賞した拙文は「暴れ川」で江戸時代に薩摩藩士が木曽三川を分流した普請の話である）

Award Ceremony for Literature Prize

　　Yesterday I was awarded the first prize in the literature genre for the Gifu Prefecture Cultural Festival. There were seven other genres: children literature, essay, poetry, haiku, senryu, kyohai, and renku. 　　
　　The award ceremony was held in the main conference room in the Salamanca Hall in Gifu City, attended by about 150 people.
The ceremony started with the “welcome violin performance” in which the violinist played “Salut d'amour” by Elgar, “Londonderry Air” (an Ireland’s folk song), and “Humoresque” by Dvořák. After the host’s speech, the awards were given to the winners.
　　Since I was the first to get the award, I was nervous when I stood in front of the Gifu Prefecture culture section chief. (The prize-winners had a rehearsal for the ceremony.) Guests’ speeches followed that and the judges were introduced. The prize-winning poem was read aloud at the end of the ceremony accompanied by a violin performance.
　　It lasted for about 45 minutes. (Nagoya’s ceremony lasted for about staggering 2 hours.) I returned home around 5 o’clock in the afternoon. Probably because of the tension and exhaustion, I was not able to sleep well that night.
　　The story I got the prize for is about the Satsuma Hanshi (Kagoshima Prefecture bushi) who were ordered by the Edo Government to construct the banks that would divide the three large violent rivers in the Kiso District in Gifu Prefecture during the Edo era (1754-1755).