Today (21st of June) is the Summer Solstice. In Japan there is also a partial Solar eclipse. Unfortunately here in Vienna this time it cannot be observed. Summer solstice and and a solar eclipse (New moon) on the same day, of which some people say that it could mean that something special might be coming. I do not know, I have limited knowledge. All I can see is that it rains every day. I think this may not be very unusual in Vienna.
Now in Japan it is rain season. Once I spoke to a Japanese friend who used to live in Vienna about rain season in Japan and I said that there is no rain season in Vienna which is nice. She replied that in her opinion there is a slightly rainy period in June here in Vienna. I thought that could indeed be the case. It could be said that now there is a “mini rain season” in Vienna now.
Recently sometimes the rain noise wakes me up during the night. This morning I woke up and was surprised that already around 4 AM the twilight started to illuminate the sky somewhat. Today is New Moon and also rain which means it should be quite dark. However Vienna is at a latitude where the daylight hours in summer are longer. But starting tomorrow, the days will get shorter every day and so maybe I can sleep better.
Now is the season for cherries and they are offered at Viennese supermarkets. I think cherries are fruits that are mostly harvested in regions with a cooler climate. In Japan, cherries from Yamagata in northern Japan are well known. Every year, one of my mother’s friends living in the north, sent us a box of Yamagata cherries. They are much lighter in colour than those in the picture above and quite expensive. Since cherries are seasonal fruits, they can only be enjoyed for a short time. I remember that those cherries in the box sparkled like jewels to my eyes.
Austria is situated northerly enough and there are many cherry trees, also in many private gardens of houses and those owners can harvest beautiful cherries from their own trees. But often there are white worms inside the cherries. In Japan, cherries are special delicacies and it is wondrous to me that people can just pick them from their own trees and I had never seen worms in them. Austrian friends said worms are a sign of naturalness and of not using pesticides. If you leave cherries in water overnight, those worms will come out and you can enjoy those cherries worm-free. If you should swallow a worm, that is actually no problem and Austrians say that they consist mostly of protein.
Still to me it is unusual to eat cherries with worms and so for many years I decided not to buy any cherries in Austria. But the cherries are so beautiful and in their season there is the opportunity to buy them at a reasonable price. One time, more than 15 years ago, I gathered the courage and went to a market to buy some cherries. I asked the vendor whether his cherries had worms in them. He replied proudly “none of my cherries have any worms, see for yourself!”. He opened one cherry with his fingers and we both saw a white worm moving inside. Both of us could not speak any more and I left the stand without cherries.
Now in Austria however, there are cherries from many different countries. Recently I bought some from Greece, the ones in the picture above are from Italy. My Austrian husband always tells me that nowadays in supermarkets they don’t sell cherries with worms. And he says” If the unlikely case should occur, who really cares? It is mostly protein!” That is why I started buying cherries in Austria, they all taste quite good, no matter where they come from. Still to this day I need a little courage to eat cherries .
Yesterday was Father’s Day. If I had called my father on the phone in Japan, he would have been very happy about it. Sadly, I could not do that because he passed away at old age in 2013.
He was a high school teacher. There were some students who were close to him and every year some of them came our house at New Year to visit, even when he grew older. He gave them a warm welcome and served food and drinks. From a young age, I always had to greet those people or other guests when they arrived and again when they left. I was quite shy and it was hard for me but I think that as a teacher and father he did the right thing.
My father wanted to become a lawyer and studied law at Chuō University in Tokyo. Unfortunately because of the Second World War he could not pass the law exam. He taught poltitics, economics, ethics, world history and Japanese history . At home he used to read a lot and always continued studying. His spirit of studying had a strong impact on me and I really respect it.
He did not only study by himself but also spoke a lot to his family about his studies. Because of my father’s decision, at home it was almost only allowed to watch the news on TV. He always gave critical remarks and an analysis of the news to us. Thereby as a small child I could listen to his words. I could be said that he was teaching his own family every day. Especially during the summer holidays he made plans for me and I had to study all day under his watch.
This diligent motivation for study was well known among his relatives but he was infamous for forcing relatives’ children to study. However I am sure that those relatives did not know my father’s funny side. He was a wonderful teller of fairy tales. About dogs and cats he could invent funny stories and I really liked to listen. Also surely I was the only person who could do insolent things to him. For example combing his hair or sitting on his shoulder (of course as a small child). If relatives had seen that, they would surely have been amazed because my father was known as a strict person.
He lived to be over 90 years old. Sadly he developed dementia late in life and so what he said was no longer fully reasonable. That made me said. But what he taught me, especially ethics and politics, I do value and cherish a lot. Furthermore he was a motivated singer! Over about 80 years old he studied Japanese Noh theater singing. Because I chose the path of specialised classical singer, he spoke for hours about vocal technique. Surley his relatives do not know that. I know that he wishes for me to walk this path ever more deeply and become a good voice teacher.
Recently on Mariahilfer street in Vienna, I found those two new things. The one above looks rather strange, it is mounted on a fire hydrant. On top there is a solar panel. I did not understand what it is and for many days we talked about its purpose. Today on the internet we found what it is good for! It is a device that sprays fine mist when the temperatures are high in order for people to cool down. It is quite warm in Vienna now and I can hardly wait to see it in action.
The device on the picture below is obviously a trash can. It also wears a solar panel as a “hat”. I understand that it is an automated trash compactor which reduces the size of the waste so that one can put more in it. How fantastic!
Because both feature solar panels I suppose their operation is quite ecological. Devices that are well thought out for the environment are very important. I would like to welcome them to Mariahilfer street and I hope they will do a good job!
Now there are many movements against incorrect or unjust circumstances. Even though Coronavirus has not gone away, many people gather to protest. About one year ago, here in Austria there were huge protests because of a problematic video of a political leader . Many people spontaneously gathered one after the other at Hofburg (near government offices) to protest, the voices grew ever louder. This really happened in the city where I live.
Nowadays through the spreading via the internet it is possible to spread information or contacts worldwide. Therefore one could easily think that everything might work like this. Of course the internet makes many things possible but in the end if we want to really move something, people in fact have to gather in person and raise their voices. The power of human crowds is enormous!!
When I was very young my family very often visited my father’s house. That house was in Aki city in the Eastern part of Kochi prefecture. Back then there was a streetcar from Kochi city to Aki city. That streetcar was quite slow with many intermediate stops and so the journey time was rather long. But I liked this journey. Because I liked to look out the window! The seats were up against the window and so I was allowed to take off my shoes and sit on the seat looking out the window. Sunny days, rainy days, daytime, nighttime…I saw so many different views from the window and I was never bored.
A highlight of this journey was the ocean view. Kochi city is not far away from the ocean but since my family did not have a car it was rare for me to be able to see the ocean. Approaching Aki city, this streetcar ran close to the ocean. Because I love the ocean I was eagerly awaiting it. When I could catch a glimpse of the ocean throught the trees my heart almost exploded with excitement. On the coast there usually are many pine trees. And to my eyes it looked as though the trees came close to me, slowly turned, and showing their other side said goodbye. When I noticed that, I joyfully said to my mother “Mother, look! Fashion show of trees!”. Then she said to me “The trees are standing still, the streetcar is moving!”. I thought I understood but to my eyes it looked as though the trees were turning and that seemed miraculous.
Even when I take the streetcar right now, I remember the “fashion show of trees”. But to the eyes of my grown up self it does not look like the trees are turning. It is a miracle that back then I could observe it in amazement. Also back then during those journeys the most frightening aspect were the tunnels. Tunnels seemed to me as frightening as the end of the world. I get a warm feeling bacause back then “fashion show of trees” as well as “tunnel” I did experience with the emotions of a child. And I think it is a little bit sad that I no longer have this sense.
In the garden of our house in Kochi, there used to be a Kaki tree. When I was a teenager, I used to lie on the couch listening to music and looking at the kaki tree outside. The leaves were such a beautiful green and they gave me a lot of pleasure. In Japan there is a saying that it takes about 8 years for a Kaki tree to bear fruit. This seemed about right concerning our Kaki tree. When I was about the age of University student, our tree started bearing fruits and they were sweet, juicy and quite delicious. Since I attended university in a different city, I always missed the fruit bearing seasons. After graduating from music university, only the could I see the Kaki tree full with fruits, which was quite spectacular. There was a tool in the shape of a rod, which made it possible to remotely and carefully cut off the fruits and harvest them. My parents asked me to harvest Kaki with that tool, but I was not a big help, because I used to laugh a lot. I felt it strange, that some grippping motion occured far away from my hand and I could not stop laughing. Therefore my parents called a boy from the neighbourhood to do it and so he helped my parents every year as long as he was living with his parents. He was a tender boy who loved music and I heard he eventually he went to Kobe to manufacture guitars. About fifteen years ago, my father told me that he was still in his twenties when he died in a car accident. Because he was an only child, I presume that his parents’ pain was surely without limit. Later, they moved away. The Kaki tree grew to be immensely tall and some years ago I has to cut him down in size. It is still alive and always new fresh branches appear from it. I heard that Kaki is an Asian tree. When I came to Vienna for the first time, there were no Kaki sold anywhere. Starting about twenty years ago, Kaki began to be sold in autumn. Also in Italy in supermarkets, I often see Kaki fruits and I see that Italians like to eat ripe Kaki. In Italy there is often Kaki sorbet sold in Ice Cream stores. When I go to Italy in autumn and winter, I look forward to eating that kind of sorbet. There is another memory of Kaki fruits. My Buddhist teacher, Mr. Okamoto, when he was a professor at Sakuyo Music University one time in his room there was a small bowl with Kaki fruits inside. Every time I used to visit his room, there was still one Kaki left in the bowl. One day I worked up courage and said to him “Sensei, you should eat this Kaki or else it will spoil”. Then my teacher said “I will watch that happening”. Maybe he was being philosophical about this Kaki. I remember that this Kaki was in the bowl so long that it could no longer be identified as such. Yet another memory is when my parents were still alive, that although they had harvested all the fruit, the next day there were again fruits on the tree. I doubted my eyes and thought that I must have been dreaming. I asked them where the fruits came from and whether that was at all possible. So they said that they put some Kaki back on the tree as bird food. I thought that was quite funny.
Today is my birthday. Many years ago, exactly at noon my voice came out for the first time in Kochi General Hospital. Back then my mother used to work at this hospital. There she did some accounting work. Since it was noon lunch break, many of her colleagues, being nurses, came by to see me and to congratulate her. My mother often told me this story and I find it to be wonderful. Thank you, I am here and have grown so big.
2019 marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of diplomatic relations between Austria and Japan. There are many and diverse events to commemorate this anniversary. I came to Austria a long time ago in order to study classical singing. In the meantime I have gotten married and my husband is Austrian. My husband and I would like to contribute to this anniversary as well. June 1st (starting from 17:00) we shall perform a concert featuring works by Austrian and Japanese composers at the historic “Club der Wiener Musikerinnen”. That is a historic organisation, founded by Rosa Lutz, one of Brahms’ students, in 1886. This organisation was featured in my essay series, which was published in Kochi newspaper (see article above) in February 18, 2010.
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