With the warm sunshine of the past few days, people on the streets seem to have changed into lighter and lighter clothing. I have been wondering what is wrong with my body, which has been completely careless wrapped in coats and sweaters, but I have been making excuses to myself that it can’t be helped because the cold makes me slow down in the winter. However, that excuse doesn’t work. In fact, winter is the best season for weight loss.
During the cold winter months, energy consumption increases in order to maintain body temperature, which naturally increases basal metabolism.
Basal metabolism is the energy that is consumed even when the body is at rest, and in winter, the body tries to maintain a constant body temperature, which increases basal metabolism, making it easier to burn fat and lose weight.
The reason why people feel that they gain weight in winter is not only because of lack of exercise, but also because they tend to eat too much food at Christmas and New Year’s. The less exercise people usually do, the more they clean their house. For those who do not usually exercise, even light exercise such as cleaning or walking can raise basal metabolism even more.
Mitochondria” have been the focus of much attention in recent years when considering basal metabolism. I am sure everyone has heard of this term at least once. I also think of that solanaceous figure in textbooks, and it is true that recently I have seen the words “drink mitochondria” and other such terms, which begs the question, what is a mitochondria? The more I looked into it, the more I was surprised.
The more I looked into it, the more I was surprised, so please bear with me if you would like to know more.
Mitochondria are present in all cells except human red blood cells, but surprisingly, they were originally a separate organism from our human ancestors and lived independently, using oxygen to produce energy. Then, about 2.5 billion years ago, they chose to live in symbiosis with the archaea of our human ancestors, and they continue to live inside our bodies today.
Come to think of it, there was a horror novel by Hideaki Sena called “Parasite Eve,” which became a bestseller a long time ago. It was made into a movie, and it is said that mitochondria are the creatures called Eve that try to take over and conquer the human body.
At the time, I wondered how they could come up with such a novel and frightening story, but in fact, it was also a realistic story in line with biology.
Of course, mitochondria are not such a terrifying existence at the moment, but rather they play an indispensable role in our biological activities. They take in oxygen and continue to produce energy on behalf of our human ancestors, who were originally oxygen-phobic. And the more we exercise, the more mitochondria in our muscle cells increase in number, which in turn increases our basal metabolism.
Many marathoners have thin physiques, and I have wondered where they get the energy to run long distances, but it seems that the mitochondria in their cells have increased considerably through training.
The reason why the flesh of tuna, which swims constantly, is red is because the protein that carries oxygen to the mitochondria is red in color, while flounder and flatfish, which hide themselves on the ocean floor, have white flesh.
The reason we breathe constantly is to send oxygen to the mitochondria.
Our bodies are programmed by the DNA in the nucleus of the cell, but the mitochondria in the cell still carry their own DNA from when they lived alone, separate from the DNA in the nucleus. It is somewhat mysterious, as if there is a different organism inside the body.
Moreover, it is said that mitochondrial DNA can only be inherited from the mother, and if you trace the mitochondrial DNA of the mother of a human being today, you will reach a woman in Africa. This is what is known as “mitochondrial Eve,” or more accurately, the “mitochondrial Eve population.
The famous story of “African Eve,” the mother of humanity. I could not understand it no matter how many times I thought about it and always thought that it could not be true, but now I see a little more. Rather than the mother of humankind, she is the mother of mitochondrial DNA.
And yet, I am amazed that mitochondria decided to coexist with us billions of years ago. It sounds like an extraordinary story, but when I think about the fact that it is actually passed down in my body, I feel strongly that I should take care of it and not treat it roughly.
How much sleep is healthy, and is it okay to sleep for shorter periods of time as long as I sleep soundly?
Normally, we don’t pay much attention to these questions, but when we feel that the quality of our sleep is not good, we think about these things. When I think that the quality of my sleep is not good, I think like this. I want to have a good sleep….
A friend of mine gave me a night spray as a gift the other day. She said it is easy to use, just spray it on the bedding before going to bed. I have only used it a few times, but as I was enveloped in the fragrance, before I knew it, I was in a dream. ……
Although I thought about the fact that I do not consciously take in “fragrance” on a daily basis, fragrances are surprisingly familiar in our daily lives, such as the scent of fabric softener, freshly brewed coffee, the aroma of a fragrant fragrance of a golden osmanthus in the garden, the smell of rice in a restaurant, and so on.
We are surrounded by so many fragrances, but when was it that fragrances were first enjoyed in Japan?
It is said that fragrances were first used in Japan during the Asuka period (710-794), when Buddhism was introduced to Japan. The earliest mention of “incense” in the “Chronicles of Japan” dates back to 595.
A large piece of sunken water drifted ashore on Awaji Island. Unaware of this, the islanders burned it with firewood in their hearths. The islanders, unaware of the wood, burned it with firewood in their hearths, and were so mystified by the faraway fragrance of the smoke that they presented the wood to the imperial court.” This is the content of the story.
The agarwood mentioned here refers to agarwood, which is a member of the daphne family. Agarwood is an aromatic tree that is based on a tree of the Zingiberaceae family, and the resin of the tree has been transformed over a long period of time to give off a unique fragrance. It is called “agarwood” because it is so heavy that it sinks in water, which is the origin of the name “agarwood.
The pillow spray I received as a gift this time is said to be a blend of fragrances based on the theme of sleep, and it seems to have an image of three stages of fragrance preparation while you are sleeping. I was surprised at how well I slept, and I didn’t have any dreams thanks to the refreshing scent.
For example, citrus scents are called citrus notes, herbal scents are called aromatic notes, and floral scents are called floral notes.
Perfumes are made from a variety of fragrances, and although they smell more intense when placed on the skin, the fragrance is actually not constant all the time.
The lighter fragrances, which are more evanescent, come first, and the heavier fragrances, which are more lingering, come last. The term “note” is used to describe this order of fragrance.
Perfumes are scented in three stages. It is said that they change into completely different expressions.
Some fragrances change dramatically in the last note. It is said that this note is what keeps the overall balance of the fragrance exquisite.
In other words, it would have been a mistake to buy a perfume at a perfume shop and say, “It smells so good!
Incense was introduced to Japan 1,400 years ago. Even today, we are surrounded by many fragrances. If you feel “it smells good” subconsciously, it may be the scent you are looking for.
There are various effects such as healing and stress relief. Let’s incorporate fragrance into our daily lives and get a good night’s sleep today.
While many people in the area may not be able to do so due to the daily cold wave, I heard the news that the ume (plum) blossoms have begun to bloom here in Aichi Prefecture.
Really? I went to Shiogama Shrine in Tenpaku Ward, which is my personal benchmark for plum blossoms, to do a little reconnaissance. I had assumed that this year’s blooming must be late, but as you can see, it has started.
Under the clear blue winter sky, the flowers were already in full bloom.
The perfect sunny weather must have been perfect for the day, as families visiting the shrine one after another came to the shrine. Shiogama Shrine is known as the god of safe delivery, and many people visit here every day to visit the shrine and pray for safe delivery. It was a morning that made me think, “Is this a paradise?
There is a very beautiful poem about plum blossoms in the “Preface to the Kana-suzu (Preface to the Anthology of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poetry)”.
In the poem, a beautiful flower blooms in Naniwazu, “Winter is over, now it is spring.
（In Naniwazu, this flower has bloomed. (In Naniwazu, this flower bloomed because it was holed up for the winter and now it is spring.)
This poem is said to have been dedicated to Emperor Nintoku (reigned 313-399) by Dr. Wani of Baekje, who came to Japan to rejoice in his ascension to the throne, and to have accompanied the plum blossoms with this waka poem. In the accompanying ancient commentary, the compiler Ki no Kannushi annotates the poem with the words, “Plum blossoms must be said to be in bloom,” indicating that the flower was so beloved at that time that the accession of the emperor was compared to the blooming of the plum tree.
Nevertheless, today’s “Sakuya konohana” at Shiogama Shrine is also wonderful.
On the way down the stairs, there is a small shrine called “Hakuryu Shrine” that you might pass by without noticing it. This shrine has a rare ceramic guardian dog, and I thought to myself, “What a cute little dog…” as I peeked around. As I was peering at them, I saw a madam with a real big dog behind her. It seemed to be a big golden retriever, so big that even madam might have been able to pull on the lead with all her might. However, when she noticed him, she was so surprised to see him rubbing up against a stranger (herself) and spoiling her. He is so cute.
We dropped by Shiogama Shrine on a whim to see if the plum blossoms were in bloom… but the plum blossoms that brought us so many happy items were in full bloom this year, too. That’s all for now.
I had never heard of Cat Day, which was mentioned in yesterday’s blog, but a few people I met yesterday talked about how today is Cat Day, and I was surprised to hear that it is so widely recognized. So what about today, February 23? It is also called “Mt. Fuji Day. Fuji Day”, which is also a word that comes from the Japanese syllabary. Fuji does not belong to any prefecture, and the area above the 8th station is the private property of the Mt.
Fuji is not part of any prefecture, and the summit above the 8th station is privately owned by Mt. I wondered if I would be able to memorize such a silly set of words, but surprisingly, the jokey combination of words remained firmly in my memory, and helped me a lot. I remember getting through it by making up my own slightly embarrassing alliteration that I couldn’t say to others.
I have heard that history classes are now more about digging deeper into historical events, learning the flow of events before and after them, and making students think about why things happened the way they did, rather than memorizing the year numbers. In addition, they are moving in the direction of parallel study of world history and Japanese history, rather than separating the two.
When I was a student, I was not very good at history classes, which required a lot of memorization, and I was not very interested in history itself, and I thought I did not like studying history. However, as I learned using modern and convenient tools, I began to find it interesting. Children today are blessed, aren’t they? Thanks to you, I feel that my aversion to history is gradually disappearing.
For example, there is a sentence “I sighted Thomas’s rights.” If you count the number of letters in the word, it becomes 1776 and 1776 respectively, which is the year when the American Declaration of Independence was adopted. If you count the number of letters in the word, you can remember the year in which the Declaration of Independence was adopted. It includes the name of Thomas Jefferson, who contributed to the Declaration of Independence. Is it just me, or does it seem to take a bit of time to count, and if I remember the English words incorrectly, I’m out of luck? Another year is “I captured south’s flags” 1865, the year the Civil War ended. It seems like a very advanced technique, but I guess different countries have different ways of remembering things. However, it is true that every country has a hard time remembering the year.
In Korean, there seems to be a system of matching the sound with the number, like in Japanese.
Two is pronounced “yi” and four is pronounced “sa,” and “isa” means moving, so 24 is often used as a phone number for movers. Other numbers are 51 “oil” for gas stations, and 2 “y” and 8 “pal” are used for telephone numbers for dentists, etc., because “yippal” = “tooth”.
It seems to be common throughout the world that numbers that are inorganic and difficult to remember can be made meaningful and easy to remember by combining them with other words.
Come to think of it, I used to remember English words that I just couldn’t remember by making up silly alliterations that I couldn’t tell anyone about. I also enjoyed doing that and time would pass by…. I told myself that, aside from the question of how it was pronounced, it would stick in my memory as I recalled it several times, and eventually I would remember the correct pronunciation, so it should be fine.
Now is the season of entrance examinations. In the past, people used to eat “tonkatsu” (pork cutlet) for good luck and to “win”, but the appearance of tonkatsu has been decreasing because of the possibility of stomach upset due to the oil. Recently, bento lunches are being made with the family’s wishes in mind, such as Okura (a kind of okra with a pentagonal shape at the cut end), Saikyo-yaki (grilled fish), and Renkon (a kind of lotus root that gives one a clear outlook and helps one pass the examinations).
To all the students preparing for the examinations, I wish you all to be in good physical condition and to exert yourselves to the fullest.
If you turn on the TV, you will see cats appearing in many commercials and cat programs are aired every week. If you go to a bookstore, you will find that new cat photo books and cat books are published every month, and the “cat corner” is well-stocked. It is truly an age of cats that fills society.
Although it may seem that there is a bit of a traffic jam of “cat” content, statistics show that the number of cats kept by people is growing, and has even surpassed that of dogs, the absolute king of the pet world. The term “Nekonomics” has even been coined, and the economic impact of cats is said to be as much as 2 trillion yen.
The current cat boom, which has even become a social phenomenon, is not a new phenomenon. At least in the Edo period (1603-1867), there was a “cat boom” that far exceeded the current cat boom. Edo people bought cat contents and they were considered the best-selling standard among ukiyoe prints.
There was a history behind how cats came to be literally “cat-adorable” by Edo people.
It is said that Japanese people have long loved cats since Emperor Uda wrote about them in his diary. The Pillow Book also describes Emperor Ichijo’s beloved cat, and Komaro, Minamoto Rinko’s beloved cat, was made completely famous in last year’s historical drama “Hikaru Kimi e” (To the Loving Prince). This Komaro and Komari, a black-and-white cat that was Akiko’s beloved cat, appear as “Rikyu” and “Hansuke” in “Belabo.
Cats, once the pets of nobles and noblemen, gradually became popular among the common people as beneficial animals that could kill rats as time went by, and in the Edo period, cats came to be depicted as part of the scenery in ukiyoe prints. In the late Edo period, cats, which had been integrated into the daily lives of the common people, began to be depicted as the main characters in Ukiyo-e.
In the late Edo period, a painter named Kuniyoshi Utagawa produced a number of Ukiyoe paintings that could be described as “cat-obsessed.
Kuniyoshi was an unrivaled cat lover. His self-portraits are also covered with cats. Kuniyoshi Utagawa depicted the Tokaido Highway with cats from Nihonbashi to Kyoto, named after the stations of the Tokaido Highway. The name of the painting is “Myaukai ko gojusanbiki” (53 cat-owning tours). Jiguchi” is a pun on the word ‘jiguchi,’ and Kuniyoshi painted this work when he was about 50 years old. There are a few puns that do not really fit. A bit forced? But I guess it is OK because of the cat.
Kuniyoshi Utagawa was born after Shigsaburo Tsutaya died, so he does not seem to be able to get on board with the great drama “Belabo,” and in fact, he is not. He teamed up with Kyozan, the younger brother of Santo Kyoden, who was related to Tsutaya Shigesaburo, to market “Oborozuki Neko Zoshi” (Oborozuki Cat Paper), which was a big hit. Among Kuniyoshi’s works, there are even uchiwa (Japanese fans) with the faces of popular Kabuki actors of the time imitated as cats, which gives a glimpse of the enthusiasm of the time.
I don’t know if this will be depicted in “Belabo” or not, but I am looking forward to tomorrow’s broadcast!
Today, the cold weather seems to have eased up a bit, but a warm drink is still essential. To my delight, I was treated to a snack today, which was given to me by a customer. Thank you very much! I don’t think I can stay for just one with its rich chocolate and crunchy texture….
Well, the following news that came to my phone today caught my attention. It is called “AI Inoki: Resurrection on his birthday.
Even if you are not at all interested in professional wrestling like me, you may be thinking, “How are you? One, two, three, dah! I remember seeing and hearing “Inoki’s verse”. Recently, I have heard on the news that there are more and more female fans called “pujoshi,” but the truth is that I, like myself, have no idea how to look at pro wrestling.
Even I know Antonio Inoki. He is so famous when it comes to professional wrestling! He is so famous that even I don’t know what to think of professional wrestling. When he was 13 years old, he moved to Brazil with his family to live on a plantation and was active in the shot put competition when Rikidozan came to see him and scouted him directly. His strength and overwhelming charisma attracted many fans, but he passed away in 2022 at the age of 79.
To someone like me who has no interest in him, he was just an “uncle who slapped people” (sorry to all his fans), but when I looked him up, I found that he left behind a number of wise words. He was not only a slapping uncle.
What will happen if I go down this road? Don’t be afraid, if you are afraid, there is no path.
If you step out, that one foot will become the path, and that one foot will become the way.
Don’t be afraid to go, go, and you will understand.
This quote, which was often featured first in the collection of quotes, is titled “The Way” and seems to be a word that is often used, so you may have seen it before.
I think it is a phrase that says, “Nothing starts when you are lost, so move forward,” but it is a simple phrase that strangely resonates strongly with me. Straightforward words may be a phrase that many of us can relate to.
Surprisingly, it seems that this poem called “The Way” is actually not an original poem by Antonio Inoki, but words of philosopher Tetsuo Kiyosawa (included in his book “Mujyo Danjo”). Incidentally, Antonio Inoki seemed to have mistakenly thought that they were not Kiyosawa’s but “Ikkyu Soujun,” a monk of the Muromachi period who was the model for Ikkyu-san.
Other words include, “If you want children to have dreams, it is adults who should have dreams,” and “Step out of the norm, even if it is just one millimeter. The words of a man who has mastered one path are profound. There are many more, so if you are interested, please check them out.
However, I have a sense of resistance to the idea of using AI to recreate the deceased (although it is still in its infancy), but compared to the AI Hibari Misora, which was very unpopular at the time, I can’t help but think that AI Antonio Inoki might be more acceptable now.
The other day, I received some chocolates from someone who has been very kind to me. The chocolates were so beautiful that I had to dress up and take a picture of them today. Of course I enjoyed the chocolates afterwards, and of course I loved the taste, but the packaging was also wonderful. Thank you for the treat!
Now, today’s tweet is about “guessing activities,” but are you all “guessing”?
To tell you a little about myself, I have been addicted to the “timelesz project” (a.k.a. “Taipro”), which has been a hot topic of conversation recently, for reasons that are beyond my years…. Last week, the day before the final audition for the new members was aired, I was in a state of mind.
I have been a fan of one of the members for the past 7 or 8 years, and I personally feel that I have finally been discovered by the world. I have been visiting the plays she has performed in for a long time, but in the blink of an eye, she has entered a different dimension in terms of the number of followers she has, and I felt a little sad that she has become a distant presence in the world. I had an experience for the first time in my life, such as wondering if this is what people call “nurturing” my “guesses”…lol I will continue to support them from the shadows, even though I feel a mixture of loneliness and hope for their success.
Putting aside the topic of my own “guess life,” the historical drama “Belabo,” which all of us at Fuhkosha are into, is also a story about increasing the number of “guesses.
Tsutaya Shigesaburo (Tsutashige), known for widely distributing “bijin-ga” (pictures of beautiful women), employed ukiyoe artists such as Kitagawa Utamaro to produce and sell large numbers of nishikie (woodblock prints with multiple colors), and one of the central works of these artists was a picture of a beautiful woman. For the people of Edo, beauty prints were literally images of “beautiful women” and were very close to what we see today in idol photo albums and posters. Ukiyoe was a popular media at that time.
Ukiyo-e was a popular medium at that time, and if an artist like Utamaro Kitagawa, who created many pictures of beautiful women, made a big hit, it seemed to generate a craze, such as “I want to be like that courtesan” or “I admire that actor”. However, at that time, there were also beauty paintings of ordinary town girls. They may have been the idols of Edo. When we look into the “guesswork” of these townswomen, we find that they are no different from us 200 years later, so please read on with a laugh.
Let us look into it,
It seems that the original idol was Kasamori Osen, a signboard girl who worked at a water teahouse called “Kagiya” in front of the Kasamori Inari Gate in Yanaka in the 1760s during the Meiwa period. O-Sen, who was a daughter of the teahouse (in essence, a cafe clerk), gained a reputation for being beautiful, and when Harunobu Suzuki, famous for his paintings of beautiful women, drew her, she spread throughout Edo and became very popular. At that time, beauty paintings were like today’s photo albums.
According to one theory, despite the high price of a cup of tea (about 3,000 yen in today’s prices), the shop was so popular that people had to wait in line to get in, so I guess it was like a cafe where you could meet idols around Akihabara in person.
The owner of the key shop became greedy because of the popularity of the tea, and came up with a business plan. He not only sold tea, but also so-called “Osen goods” such as tenugui hand towels, pictured paper, and sugoroku (a Japanese backgammon game) decorated with Osen. These goods sold very well, just as we do nowadays when we spend a lot of money to buy goods of our favorite characters….
In those days, along with Osen, Ofuji, the signboard girl of “Yanagiya,” a toothpick shop in the back of Sensoji Temple, was also popular, and these two plus Oyoshi, the signboard girl of “Tsutaya,” a water tea shop in Nijukenchaya, were known as the “Three Meiwa Beauties. The Edo people’s sense does not seem to have changed this much. Edo people are a bit cute.
However, Osen suddenly disappeared at the peak of her popularity. This led to the theory that she was kidnapped and abducted by a stalker, and her fans were in an uproar.
The fact that rumors like this are going around is proof that there were idol stalkers even back then, but it seems that the truth behind Osen’s disappearance was her marriage. (I laughed out loud here.)
(I had a good laugh here.) She was married to Masanosuke Kurachi, a shogunate bannerman and landowner of Kasamori Inari, and the story of her marriage to a promising elite bureaucrat and her retirement is now legendary. (In fact, Masanosuke even rose to the position of paymaster-gokin magistrate, in charge of the shogunate’s coffers.)
One thing that can be said is that beautiful women are still a treat today, and nothing has changed in the more than 200 years that have passed since then, not even the sad ending to the pure love of idol geeks! That was that.
Such human and commercial patterns related to “guesswork” have apparently not changed for more than 200 years, but the current guesswork market is said to be a whopping 8,000 timid, though I am not the owner of the key shop at Osen no Chaya. I feel that the culture of “guesswork” that has been cultivated for such a long time will never disappear, so I am thinking of getting caught up in the whirlpool.
I am going to be swept up in the whirlpool. (Staff Y)
FUKOSHA holds an appraisal session on the 21st of every month.
This month, it will be held on Friday, February 21st, from 10:00 am ~17:00
No prior notice is required, so please drop by at your convenience.
If you have any items at home or at your parents’ house that you wonder how much they are worth, please bring them in for evaluation only. If you have large items that are difficult to bring in, we will be happy to assess them by photo.
