Why I have this book, if you are interested.
This picture is a mosaic. View large to read.
Top right: Chapter One.
Bottom right: Chapter Three. （このルビ、しびれる～。）
Top left: Publication Data
Bottom left: The auther's profile, looks very 1970s!
Indeed, how he looked thirty years ago in an "official" PR photo was why I bought this. This makes me AHGRRRRGHA (LOL).
I wish I were a better photorapher ... A 1973 Frederick Forsyth book (printed in 1984), Japanese edition.
Why I have this book, if you are interested.
As I wrote the other day, I really can't quit second-hand bookstores. The famous Book-Off (ブックオフ) is not traditional kind of used bookstores, and I don't like all the noise there (J-POP thingy: I can't concentrate), but they have huge "100 yen" shelves. They put every old, dusty book in there. So, BO's 100-yen shelves are treasure islands.
Today, I'm just back from one of the BO stores in Tokyo. With four 100 yen books. Thus, my books keep growing.
Anyway one of the find was this: Frederic Forsyth's classic novel, "The Day of the Jackal". Hardcover. Published by 角川春樹 （笑）. 昭和59年 (1984!), 33rd print, first print being in 1973. And 100 yen.
Yes, I have "The Day of the Jackal" Japanese edition's bunko (paperback). I've read it four or five times. (If you don't like F. Forsyth's political point of view, this novel is exceptional, 別格! And "Dogs of War" too. So just try!)
I knew it's nonsense to buy a book which I already have, already read. But the hardcover looks SOOOOOO classic! Hard-boiled! ゴルゴ13! And it was only 100 yen.
Thus, my books keep growing.
A few weeks back, I was looking at a bunko (paperbacks) shelf at a local, small, family-run bookstore. I often go to the store because they have a good selection of books - other bookstores in my area are too consumeristic to have Edward Said and other books that make me feel intellectual.
I was looking for a "The Secret of Google" sort of books needed in my work, when I found the "B・ジョンソン (B. Johnson)" book. I know one B. Johnson - Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, a British MP, a Tory, etc. The funny title, 「世界同時中継！ 朝まで生テロリスト？」 caught my eyes too. I couldn't find the right kind of my book, so I bought this. 1,000 yen is rather costly for an entertainment book, but this is Boris Johnson. I didn't know how long the store keeps it or it might not be very long until it gets in the usual out-of-print status. (I don't think this sells so well, and I know how publishers make decisions.) It was "now or never".
「朝まで生 something？」 is sort of in the Japanese pop culture, after a TV debate program, 「朝まで生テレビ」. It literally translates as "Live TV til Dawn", in which guest members do some debates from 01.00 til 05.00 (or something). I seldom see the program, as I don't like the host. Anyway the phrase 「朝まで生 something？」 is catchy enough.
The book is rich in details. I have just read the first 100 pages, and am sort of bored of the story but some details make me LOL. There will be a big move in the story in the next 100 pages, I hope. If Robert Altman were still alive, he'd do a clever job on this novel.
And 「世界同時中継！ 朝まで生テロリスト？」 translates: Live on Air World-Wide! Live Terrorist til Dawn? ... Looks seriously stupid for a title of a book. (Originally, as on the cover, "Seventy-Two Virgins".)
For this thread... 62 years ago, today, 16 February, the Battle began at Iwo Jima.
One one the reasons why I can't quit second hand book stores is, I can find something that I didn't or couldn't buy ages ago. This is one of these books, the Japanese 1981 edition of "Moraity and Architecture" by David Watkin (1977, Oxford University).
It was 1,500 yen or something in the 1990s, or possibly deleted, and I didn't have the money. Now I found it, only at 300 yen in Jinbo-cho.
The underline (in Japan it becomes sideline) was already in there. This is another joy of a second hand book. I can see what another person thought. I really like the emotional sideline here.
An impressive Levi's advert in the summer 2006. Found in my old memory card. The other side of the poster is here.
This "Dos and Don'ts" list is too familiar for us girls/woman in Japan, especially the "Wear a tight skirt to your job interview" line (in Jp, 面接にはタイトスカートで行きなさい).
Yes, this is my sort of Only in Japan pic; Westerners will find this quirky (only with translation, so I put a rough translation as notes). Girls - around the world, actually - may find this ironic and somewhat funny.
An impressive Levi's advert in the summer 2006. Found in my old memory card.
The other side of the poster is here.
I forgot where I took this one, but I think this is Sekaido (a notable art supply store) in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Just like candy.
Tokyo International Forum, Yurakucho, Tokyo.
Tokyo International Forum, Yurakucho, Tokyo.
Tokyo International Forum (東京国際フォーラム), Yurakucho, Tokyo.
www.t-i-forum.co.jp/general/index.php
You know I was looking for something square-circleable.
Tokyo International Forum (東京国際フォーラム), Yurakucho, Tokyo.
www.t-i-forum.co.jp/general/index.php
Architect: Rafael Vinoly
www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Tokyo_International_Foru...
www.t-i-forum.co.jp/general/index.php
Outside (including macros):
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276580/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276579/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276591/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290900/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290903/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290905/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290908/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290910/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326306155/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326306156/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326306158/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/330295595/
Tokyo International Forum (東京国際フォーラム), Yurakucho, Tokyo.
www.t-i-forum.co.jp/general/index.php
Architect: Rafael Vinoly
www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Tokyo_International_Foru...
www.t-i-forum.co.jp/general/index.php
Outside (including macros):
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276580/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276579/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276591/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290900/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290903/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290905/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290908/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290910/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326306155/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326306156/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326306158/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/330295595/
Tokyo International Forum (東京国際フォーラム), Yurakucho, Tokyo.
www.t-i-forum.co.jp/general/index.php
Outside (including macros):
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276580/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276579/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276591/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290900/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290903/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290905/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290908/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326290910/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326306155/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326306156/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326306158/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/330295595/
Tokyo International Forum (東京国際フォーラム), Yurakucho, Tokyo.
www.t-i-forum.co.jp/general/index.php
Inside:
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276590/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276587/
flickr.com/photos/nofrills/326276582/
Tokyo International Forum (東京国際フォーラム), Yurakucho, Tokyo.
www.t-i-forum.co.jp/general/index.php
I was tempted to take a "squared circle" picture at this "clean, stub-free pavement" but gave up because it's too dark and my battery was almost out. Maybe next time.
Yurakucho, Tokyo.
No smoking is allowed on the platforms and in any other part of a station now. All the train stations and bus stations/bus stops in Japan (overground and underground) are now "no smoking". In 2002, the law-makers decided to do something about passive smoking, and 健康増進法 (Health Improvement Laws) has been in place since then.
This picture is an narrow alley just outside the station - the "ガード下" area at Yurakucho Station. This actually is part of the station, but some people don't realise it is. The alley is 50 meters long, and it's fully decorated with this "no smoking" stickers on the floor, but it seems ... well, half successful. (^_*)
People (platform-smokers) might have been unhappy at first, but in time, they became accustomed to it. And they began to smoke just outside the station. But still, it is part of the station. That's why this long lane of "no smoking" sticker exists at Yurakucho Station. Somewhat funny. And more and more people has gone 禁煙 (quit smoking) thinking/worrying about their health.
Many streets in Tokyo are now no-smoking zones. A few yeayrs ago, before the 健康増進法 was in place. Chiyoda-ku illegalised smoking on the streets (歩行喫煙: smoking while walking) in many parts of the ward. 歩行喫煙 really was dangerous in crowded areas. Some wards, including Chuo-ku, and other cities followed. I'm a smoker myself, but I think the move was reasonable enough.
Japanese smokers can't complain. England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (North and South) has no-smoking laws now - smoking is prohibited in all indoor public space. Italy has very tough anti-smoking laws. And France has just banned smoking in public space. (Even France!)
Very old political posters (right-wing/nationalist or far-right, to be precise) found in Yurakucho area.
Back in the 1980s, these posters were very often seen in Shinjuku and other spots in central Tokyo. Today, it's rare to see this type of posters.
I'm no suppoter of their politics, but find this interesting. Time is frozen here, in the middle of Tokyo city centre.
Feels very odd, as the Japanese mainstream politics now are more extreme than those traditional extreme right in a way or two. Moreover, so many things are completely illogical in the mainstream politics today. Those "good-old" (I'm being cynical) nationalists were at least logical in their own way (although I never supported them).
Democratic elections have resulted in a nightmare.
[14 feb]
I added this to the Only in Japan group pool as this is without a doubt only in Japan... I was and am never with them. This is only a photograph.
[for my blog (in Japanese)]
nofrills.seesaa.net/article/28150579.html
BOOK INFO:
First published in Great Britain 1975
by Hamish Hamilton Ltd as A Terrible Beauty Is Born
This edition revised and with a new epilogue published in 1989
by Mandarin Paperbacks
ISBN 0749301775
The book Terrible Beauty Is Born is translated and published in Japan under the title, 『恐ろしい美が生まれている―アイルランド独立運動と殉教者たち』 （青土社、1997年）、ISBN 4791755154.
