Blog

  • Half A Sixpence Again / Half A Sixpence再演

    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    I visited Kokugakuin Tochigi High School where a friend of mine taught dancing and choreography to the student of the Musical Club as an instructor. There was a cultural festival of this school, and the Musical Club members performed Half A Sixpence. It was the second time to see this show since I saw it ten years before at just the same place.

    三枝美江子先生がダンス指導されている國學院栃木高校の文化祭のミュージカル部公演「Half A Six Pence」を観に行ってきました。初めてここの文化祭公演を観たのがちょうど10年前、そのときも「Half A Six Pence」でした。



    ここの舞台のイギリス・フォークストンに行ってみたい気分です。

  • A festival in summer / 夏の祭り

    Posted a belated summer festival at Oji Shrine on 4 August.
    8月4日の王子神社の例大祭。ちょっと遅くなりました……

  • ロンドン散歩

    ハワース散策からの続きです)

    3日目の朝、雨の降る中、B&Bをチェックアウトしました。

    平日なので蒸気機関車はやっておらず、B&Bの奥さんがロードン・ロードにある最寄りのバス停まで連れて行ってくれ、そこでキースリー行きのバスを待つようにと言ってくれました。

    バスを待っていると、年配のご婦人が話しかけてきて、どこまで行くのかと尋ねられたので、「ロンドンまでです」と答えると、もう1人のご婦人が話に加わり、バスがくるまでの間、3人でお話してました。

    (more…)
  • A walk in London

    (Continued from A stroll in Haworth)

    On the third day, I checked out of the Heathfield B&B on the rainy morning. Since it was a weekday, Keighley Worth & Valley Railway was out of service. The mistress took me to the nearest bus stop on Rawdon Road and told me to wait there for the bus for Keighley.

    While waiting for the bus, an old lady talked to me. She asked me where I was going. I answered that I was going to London. Another lady joined us, and they and I talked a bit until the bus was coming.

    On the bus, I sit on the upper front seat, and the ladies stayed downstairs. Arriving at Keighley bus terminus, I got out of the bus. The train station was a bit distant from the terminus, so I didn’t know how to get there.

    Then the lady who had talked to me first at the Rawdon Road bus stop found me standing there, and told me to follow her to the train station as she was just going for shopping near there. How kind of her! I was able to get to the Keighley train station with her help.

    Waiting room of Keighley station
    Lunch
    (more…)
  • ハワース散策

    English breakfast
    本当のイギリスへの旅からの続きです)

    ヒースフィールド・ベッド&ブレックファーストの朝食はまさにブリティッシュ・ブレックファーストで、目玉焼き、フライドポテト、マッシュルーム、トマトを半分にして焼いたやつ、ベーコン、ソーセージ2本、そしてシリアル、トースト、オレンジジュースに紅茶とすごいボリュームでした。イギリスの朝食時間帯はちょうど日本の夕食どきなので、一番食が進む時です。

    朝食中にも宿のご夫婦はいろいろ話しかけてくれます。食事しながら英会話するのは少しハードですが、お話するのは楽しいものです。

    (more…)
  • 本当のイギリスへの旅

    Town in Haworth
    ちょっと前の話ですが、イギリスに行ってきました。ブリティッシュ・ヒルズでも英語村でも栃木あたりにある英国風のコテージでも日本にある他の「ニセ英国」でもなく、死ぬまでに一度は訪れてみたかった本当のイングランドです。行き先は、森薫「エマ」の舞台のロンドンと、ハワースです。

    (more…)
  • A stroll in Haworth

    English breakfast
    (Continued from A trip to real England)

    Breakfast served at Heathfield Bed & Breakfast was really British-style, with a fried egg, fried potatoes, and mushrooms, a fried tomato cut in half, two slices of bacon and two sausages as well as cereals, slices of bread, a glass of orange juice and a cup of tea. I have a good appetite for breakfast in England because when it’s breakfast time in England, it’s time to have dinner in Japan where it’s nine hours ahead.

    (more…)
  • A trip to real England

    Town in Haworth
    Although it was a bit while ago, I made a private trip to the United Kingdom. It was not the British Hills, not an English village, not a British-style cottage in Tochigi Prefecture, not any other “fake Britain” in Japan. It was the real England, where I had wanted to visit before I died. I visited London and Haworth, West Yorkshire. Both of those places were introduced in Japanese manga, Emma, by Kaoru Mori, which was one of my favourite comics I’d ever read.

    (more…)
  • Happy New Year 2014

    May our Imperial nation prosper!
    May the people have a happy New Year!

    皇国の発展と国運の隆昌、そして
    国民皆が新年(2014年、平成26年)を無事に過ごせますように。

    地元の西宮・広田神社での初詣。

    Hirota Shrine
    Hirota Shrine

    I was born in 1973. Let the year be the first year for me. The next year (1974) becomes the second year for me, and the year 1975 the third year. Likewise, this year is the 42nd year in my life. It is believed in Japan that a man who lives in his 42nd year (and a woman in her 33rd year) is the most likely to be suffered from an accident, disease or disaster.

    今年は数え年42歳、本厄です。

    Mondo-yakujin Temple
    Mondo-yakujin Temple

    I visited the Mondo-yakujin Temple to have a special prayer to have such mishaps driven away by Yakujin-myô-ô (a mixture of Rāgarāja and Acala), which helps us prevent disaster, disease and other misfortunes from coming to us.

    I think this ritual tells us to live very carefully as such a man that is at a turning point in his health. Safe driving is the best option to prevent from accidents.

    厄除けで有名な西宮の門戸厄神というお寺で祈祷してもらいました。
    男42歳といえば、健康面でも曲がり角にさしかかる年齢。
    注意して今年は乗り切ります。