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It is now August. How is everyone doing this summer?
As for our business this summer, we may be out of the office on urgent business trips, etc., so we would appreciate it if you could contact us by phone first.
Last night’s supermoon. I hope you were able to see it in your area.
The fireworks display in Nagaoka was on TV, and the supermoon and the fireworks were a spectacular sight. As for our neighborhood last night, the supermoon showed us many different faces because the clouds were coming and going quickly. I could tell even in this residential neighborhood that the nighttime brightness was brighter than the usual moonlight.
I would like to review this for myself here, and I hope you will all bear with me for a moment.
A supermoon is also called a “perigee moon” in astronomy, referring to a full moon (or new moon) that appears larger than usual. A supermoon appears to be about 7% larger than a normal full moon, but most people do not notice the difference.
However, the brightness of the moon is clearly different, which can be clearly seen in rural areas where there are few neon lights at night. It was so obvious even in the vicinity of our house in a residential area.
Originally, in astronomy, it is called a “perigee moon,” but it is more commonly known as a “supermoon. The name was actually coined by astrologer Richard Noel in 1979, perhaps because it was more catchy and suited the image. However, when looking at that full moon, I think everyone would say “supermoon”.
Richard defined a supermoon as “a full moon or new moon that is at its closest approach to the earth in its orbit.” The moon’s orbit is elliptical and its distance from the earth changes throughout the year, so a supermoon occurs several times a year. The average distance from the moon to the earth is about 380,000 km, but during a supermoon, the distance is reduced to about 350,000 km.
However, it is said to be about 16% brighter than a normal full moon or new moon, and I personally think that this increase in brightness is more noticeable than the size of the moon. Furthermore, one of the phenomena that can be seen during a supermoon is that the tides rise and fall rapidly and the difference between high and low tides is large.
And as some of you may know, we will be able to see two super moons this year in August. The next supermoon will be on August 31 at 10:36.
Apparently, the second full moon that comes in the same month is called a “blue moon,” and it is also the largest “super moon” of all full moons, so the next full moon on August 31 will be called a “super blue moon,” which is quite unusual and gorgeous.
However, it does not mean that the moon will be blue. The August full moon was named “Sturgeon Moon” (sturgeon moon) by the Native Americans, and the name comes from the fact that sturgeon fishing was very active in August, I think we can call the 31st a “super blue moon,” but I hope the weather will be fine.
That’s right, a typhoon is currently making landfall in Okinawa, and we are sure that everyone in the Okinawa region has had a hard time keeping up with it. This summer is full of unpredictable events, such as the path of typhoons, extreme heat, and guerrilla downpours. I have heard that it is good to make a wish on the supermoon, so I made a wish last night for this summer’s peace and quiet. I was watching the super moon with such a feeling.
This time, too, I got into my usual bad habit. I have been in the habit of attacking museum exhibitions on the last day of the opening period or at the very last minute. Recently, more and more museums require reservations in order to avoid overcrowding, but when there are no reservations, I tend to let my guard down. I was so close to visiting on the last day of the tour when I realized I was just in time…and I ended up visiting again on the last day of the tour. I have been alive for quite a long time, but this bad habit has never changed.
So, I rushed over to visit the “Kawase Tomoe Mizue: Travels and Art” exhibition.
Kawase Tomoe Sui: Landscape of Travels and Nostalgia” Exhibition
It is a traveling exhibition, and in Nagoya, it was held at Matsuzakaya Museum of Art in Matsuzakaya Nagoya until yesterday.
Kawase Boesui (1883-1957), the woodblock print artist we visited this time, was active from the Taisho to Showa periods. In an era of modernization, when towns and landscapes were undergoing rapid changes, Tomoe travelled around Japan in search of original Japanese landscapes, depicting seasonal landscapes where the lives of ordinary people still lived.
The four parties collaborated in unison, seeking to utilize more advanced techniques while continuing to carry on traditional techniques, and taking on the challenge of new colors and new expressions. The four parties collaborate as one and continue to challenge themselves to create new colors and expressions, seeking to utilize more advanced techniques while inheriting traditional techniques, and gaining popularity as the driving force behind “new prints.
The exhibition introduces the life of Tomoe Kawase, who was also called a “traveler’s poet” for his rich expression of the seasons, weather, and the transitions of time, along with his representative works from his early years to his later years. I was able to immerse myself in the lyrical world of Tomoe Sui at once.
Kawase Tomoe Sui, known as a “traveler’s poet,” continued to depict his travels and his birthplace, Tokyo, and seems to have been a leader in the new print genre of landscape painting. Tomoe’s first series of works based on his travels, “Tabi-miyage Dai-ichi” (First series of travel souvenirs), is regarded as a historic work that defined Tomoe as a printmaker. In this series, which was based on his travels in Tohoku, Hokuriku, Boshu, Shiobara, and other regions, Tomoe Sui depicted a variety of motifs that he favored throughout his life, such as the ocean, rivers and other bodies of water, rain, and the moon. In each painting, one can sense the concentration they put into this single piece, as if they were capturing this one moment in time. In particular, the rain and snow were rendered with great delicacy, and their pursuit of this technique was so delicate and wonderful that it is definitely worth seeing up close and personal.
In addition, there were many works such as “Twelve Views of Tokyo,” which started around the same time, that did not focus only on famous landmarks but also depicted the seasonal scenery of Tokyo from their own unique perspectives, following their own interests. Many of Tomoe’s landscapes are captured from the viewpoint of a single person with a certain perspective, without a “story” associated with the area, so to speak, and we can see modern expressions in his landscapes, which differ slightly from woodblock prints of the Edo period. I was thinking that these works were similar to the works of Kaburaki Kiyokata, which I had seen before…and that they were from the same period.
After the Great Kanto Earthquake, Tomoe Sui published “Twenty Views of Tokyo,” a series of 20 paintings that are representative of his work. From this series of works, two very popular works were created: “Shiba Zojoji Temple,” with its vermilion temple surrounded by white snow and a woman with a Japanese umbrella walking through the snow, which is full of the atmosphere of Edo, and “Magome no Tsuki” with the silhouette of a pine tree floating in the moonlit night. The “Moon over Magome,” in which the silhouette of a pine tree emerges in the moonlit night, are two of his most popular works. I used to live in the Magome area, and was a bit surprised to see such an elegant view of the moon, which I had never seen in the past.
Kawase traveled all over Japan for 40 years until his death at the age of 74, and left behind more than 600 works. His works are called 3H (Hokusai, Hiroshige, Hasui), which stands for landscape paintings, along with those of Hokusai and Hiroshige, and is very popular and collected by many museums and collectors (although there are about 30 other artists in Shinpanga, including Goyo Hashiguchi, Hiroshi Yoshida, and Shinsui Ito). Many museums and collectors seem to collect them. Steve Jobs was one of them, and this exhibition included some of the same works from his collection, but we can see from his collection that he liked colorful and rather large landscape cutouts.
I was standing at the exit, completely fascinated by the woodblock prints and feeling completely different from the way I felt at the entrance. No, no, no, it was not only me. I am sure that everyone who stands here must be fascinated by woodblock prints, and if you have a chance, please take a peek at the world of woodblock prints.
It takes a lot of energy to go out in this heat, but when I do, I feel both exhausted and fulfilled.
The other day I visited a live music club called “Tsukimiru Kimi Omofu.
The name is romantic.
I was accompanying my family, but even so, I felt uplifted by the live music.
I was moved to tears when I saw the artist holding back tears after hearing the audience’s voices for the first time in a long time.
Nowadays, it seems that many live performances are streamed online, and it has become commonplace to relax and watch them at home while sipping your favorite drink.
I was not the type of person who frequently went to live shows or concerts, so if live streaming had been available when I was a student, I might have attended more of them.
However, listening to live music live seems to have special benefits. Some studies have shown that simply experiencing a live music concert can increase your sense of well-being and even extend your life expectancy.
Live music is a precious time away from everyday life where you can sing, pump your fists, and shout while listening to your favorite artists.
In addition to the joy of listening to the music of your favorite artists, it seems that by thinking and acting together with many other people, experiencing and being moved at the same time, you feel a sense of connection with others and an increased sense of self-worth, which in turn increases your sense of self-efficacy.
I have heard of self-affirmation, but I had never heard of self-efficacy.
Self-affirmation is about accepting oneself and recognizing one’s own self-worth regardless of whether one can or cannot do something, and self-efficacy is about believing that one can choose the right path and achieve results with regard to one’s actions and achievements.
When self-efficacy is high, people are less likely to feel depressed when they fail, and they are more likely to solve problems and maintain motivation to do better the next time, and to tackle everything positively.
I am surrounded by people who are powerful and bold enough to take on any challenge. They must have a high sense of self-efficacy.
In addition to live music, the same effect can be seen at sporting events, and strangely enough, this sense of togetherness seems to be present in movie theaters as well.
The walls and floors of movie theaters are covered with a soft material that absorbs the sound emitted from the speakers.
This absorbing structure creates the illusion that everyone in the theater has been thrown into the world inside the screen. Therefore, they can naturally concentrate on the world of the movie.
Furthermore, the heart rates of people watching a movie often beat in unison, and when measured by skin sensors, they all experienced the same amount of emotional excitement.
Maintaining that state for a certain amount of time also improves problem-solving skills in daily life and results in increased productivity, they say.
Perhaps connecting with others is more important than we think.
It’s hot, hot, hot, but it doesn’t make me feel cooler, but I can’t help but say it.
At night, I watch the World Swimming Championships to cool myself down.
I am the type of person who gets fat in summer, and I keep alternating between sweet and salty foods, perhaps trying to protect my body from fatigue and heat stroke.
Recently, I have been enjoying Taiwanese sweets called “Tou Hua” (bean flowers).
It is softly sweet and filled with my favorite bean curd and beans, so it is very satisfying.
I hope everyone will survive this summer by eating many of your favorite foods.
However, it seems that we still cannot turn our eyes away from the abnormal weather worldwide.
Yesterday, UN Secretary-General Guterres said, “This month’s global average temperatures are expected to be the highest ever recorded, and the era of global warming is over.
Death Valley in the U.S., aptly named “valley of death,” recorded a temperature of 54°C. In Canada, forest fires are raging.
In Canada, forest fires have been raging, with 906 fires burning as of July 15, 570 of which are out of control.
Countries along the Mediterranean coast are also experiencing temperatures above 40°C. In Greece, the Parthenon was temporarily blocked off after recording a temperature of 45.7°C. Scientists believe that these excessive temperatures are mainly caused by the heat of the Mediterranean Sea, which is the main source of heat.
Scientists believe that the excessive heat is mainly due to the abnormal movement of westerly winds caused by global warming and the rise in sea surface temperature caused by the El Niño phenomenon.
Last summer, as I recall, I heard that Japan experienced a heat wave due to the La Niña phenomenon.
This year, for the first time in four years, an El Niño phenomenon has been observed since around May. I had an image that El Niño phenomenon = cool summer in Japan, but what is the meaning of this heat wave?
According to my research, the La Niña phenomenon was followed by the El Niño phenomenon in rapid succession this year.
El Niño means “God’s Boy” in Spanish, because it often occurs in December, the month of Christmas. La Niña, the opposite phenomenon, is named “girl.
Simply put, an El Niño phenomenon is when sea surface temperatures off the coast of Peru in South America rise above normal and sea surface temperatures near Indonesia fall below normal.
Conversely, a La Niña phenomenon occurs when sea surface temperatures off the coast of Peru fall below normal and sea surface temperatures near Indonesia rise above normal.
This year, however, because the two events occurred in succession, sea surface temperatures are high both off the coast of Peru and in the sea near Indonesia, and much of the heat is released into the atmosphere, causing temperatures to rise.
In addition, global warming caused by increased greenhouse gas emissions continues to heat the earth.
I am afraid that if it gets any hotter, the earth will no longer be a place where humans can live comfortably.
I also reminded myself that it is not the time to complain that it is kind of hot…I need to change my mindset.
How are you all doing in this continuous hot weather? As the days continue to be so hot, we are afraid to go outdoors, and in fact, we tend to lead an indoor life. It seems as if summer, which was supposed to have an image of openness, has become a thing of the past. We should be careful how we spend our time.
Although it is the height of summer, only this flower seems to be in good health.
Sunflowers.
The other day, I saw a sunflower and took a picture of it. Without any hesitation, it turned its face to the sky, facing the scorching sun. It was so lively that I couldn’t help but take a picture of it. I felt the power of this slightly upturned face and its dull yellow color, and was attracted to the face, so I couldn’t help but peek at it. I wonder if the painters of the 19th century, such as Monet, Gauguin, and Van Gogh, were also attracted to this face and continued to paint it.
I wonder if these sunflowers bring back a memory or two.
I remember watering the flowers early in the morning in the heat while I was sleepy, comparing my height with the growing flowers, and remembering how I drew a poor picture of a sunflower for my summer vacation project… as I was taking pictures. I remember how I used to draw poor pictures of sunflowers for a summer vacation project. I have known sunflowers for a long time, and they are full of memories, but there is something I did not know about them.
The sunflower actually looks like a single flower from a distance, but it is actually a group of multiple flowers. The part of the sunflower that looks like yellow petals seems to be one flower (tongue-shaped flower) for each petal. The black part in the middle is also a tubular flower with both stamens and pistils.
Many of you may also know that sunflowers are written in kanji (Chinese characters) as “sunflower hibiscus,” which is said to have gotten its name from the way it blooms facing the direction of the sun.
The origin of the name is said to come from “mukohi,” which is derived from the fact that sunflowers face the sun in the process of growing, and “hollyhock,” which means “a plant that grows toward the sun,” but hollyhock is a plant of the mallow family, and sunflowers are of the Asteraceae family. However, hollyhock is a member of the mallow family, while sunflower is a member of the asteraceae family. The name “sunflower” may have been chosen because it is rare to find a plant that moves.
Incidentally, there is also a flower that blooms facing the sun like the sunflower, and the clue to what kind of flower it is is hidden in the kanji writing of the word sunflower. The kanji for sunflower is “hollyhock facing the sun. As the kanji for sunflowers suggests, hollyhock family flowers have a habit of facing the sun.
Sunflowers do not turn toward the sun once they are in full bloom, but only before blooming. I think the sunflowers may look even more lively at that time of the year when they are facing the sun.
I looked into its face for the first time in decades, but the sunflowers still turned their faces to the sun and seemed to fill the time lag between the memories of those days and my own, but the sun was a little too strong for me as an adult, so it was a brief greeting.
Heatstroke alerts have been issued in various places today as well. When people say it’s a disaster-class heat, I feel fear, but when I was on my way to work, I realized that this was a disaster-class heat.
The heatstroke warning alert will be put into operation nationwide from 2021, and is jointly announced by the Ministry of the Environment and the Japan Meteorological Agency, and is information to call for “awareness” of the heat.
The standard for announcing a heatstroke alert is the “heat index (WBGT).” The heat index is an index that expresses the severity of the heat by incorporating “temperature,” “humidity,” and “radiant heat (heat emitted from the ground, buildings, and bodies).”
If this heat index is predicted to be “33” or higher at any point in the 58 prefectural forecast areas that divide the country, a heatstroke warning alert will be announced. When a heatstroke alert is announced, please try to be even more thorough about the heatstroke measures that you have been implementing since the beginning of time!
And what you can do close to you is to keep hydrated and eat foods that lower your body temperature. Speaking of foods that keep you warm…
Today, July 27th, is Watermelon Day! !
The watermelon’s characteristic vertical striped pattern was likened to a rope, and July 27th was enacted with a pun of “Natsu no Tsuna” (summer rope).
Watermelon has the effect of relieving fatigue, removing swelling, and cooling down heat, making it the perfect summer food. The seeds are lined up in the black part of the stripes, so if you remove the stripes and cut it, there will be no seeds on the cross section and it will be easier to eat.
By the way, I’m not very good at watermelons, so I’d like to eat a lot of cucumbers (laughs).
