Every morning around 6 o'clock, I eat while watching TV.
Washing the dishes after eating has now become an indispensable habit.
It's the perfect way to start the day.
Above all, my pride and joy is my special spicy curry rice. My wife has also come to love this lunch, which I make two or three times a month.
I use store-bought curry roux, along with beef for curry, onions, carrots,
potatoes, and eggplants. It's a very ordinary recipe, but my approach
is different. I take great care, take my time, taste repeatedly, and refuse
to be careless until satisfaction reaches its peak.
I believe that telepathy isn't limited to humans alone. My curry rice is a true reflection of myself.
My Homepage, This and That
This “Viva, Seniors!” project was born from a hobby. Fortunate to meet
fellow mountain enthusiasts, I began hiking as part of rehabilitation for
my left-side disability. This merged with my appointment as an instructor
for the “Senior Computer Class” at the NHK Culture Center (Toyocho Classroom),
leading me to start creating my own website 20 years ago.
This coincided with the era when desktop PCs began entering ordinary households,
and IBM's software “Homepage Builder” was gaining attention alongside word
processors like ‘Ichitaro’ and spreadsheets like “Lotus 1-2-3,” capturing
interest from both businesses and individuals. The mountain-walking photo
albums and travelogues I crafted for my homepage proved useful as teaching
materials for the computer classes.
A few years later, it was the homepage that pulled me into the world of
travel writing, essays, and creative fiction. Upon turning sixty, I handed
over the company to my successor, Mr. Y (Y-san), and began traveling with
my wife.
Especially overseas, trips lasting one night to ten days. Each journey
became a travelogue. Domestic trips followed suit.
During this time, I wrote several short stories: fairy tales, my personal
history, and a school chronicle. These works are now key members of “Viva,
Seniors!”
“English Edition” Square
Steel-cast railroad crossings (commonly called frogs) to the global market.
Nearly 20 overseas business trips, mainly to the US, and data accumulation,
entrusted with a grand dream.
The result: several years stationed in New York, field surveys, and an
expansion route. Just as I felt I was on the verge of realizing my dream,
at age 45, I collapsed from a cerebral infarction. It ended in tears of
regret, but even now in old age, it remains a powerful source of strength
in myself.
After turning sixty, the dozen or so overseas trips I took with my wife added another layer. The culmination of these experiences led me to a fascination with “recognizing Japan's unique and distinct climate and culture.”
That's when my old skills came back to life. It was English, indispensable for my work.
Primarily based on domestic travel essays, I began translating these into
English and added the “English Edition” Square to “Viva, Seniors!” Through
this square, friendships began with several people both in Japan and abroad,
and these precious encounters, though clumsy, would be added to my English
writings.
For reference, here is an outline of the English Edition Square. (The numbers
in parentheses indicate the number of entries.)
| English Translations of Domestic Travel Essays |
|
Journey to the Farthest Capes (1), Hokkaido (2), Tohoku (5), Kanto (8),
Boso Peninsula (6), Hokuriku/Chubu (5), Nagano Prefecture (8), Kinki (3),
Nanki Kumano (9), Chugoku (3), Shikoku (1), Kyushu/Okinawa (3) |
|
|
| Overseas Travel Essays Translated into English |
|
Spain & Portugal (2), Benelux Countries, Indonesia & Bali Island,
America |
|
|
| Novels Translated into English |
|
Peechan, My Hayatama Days, The Story of the Auditorium Where Monsters Live |
|
|
| Essays Translated into English |
|
These Days (2), Others (4) |
|
|
| Others |
|
Learning America Through Famous Speeches, Current Affairs English & Japanese Translations, English Diaries, etc. |
|
Email Diary
Around the time my once-ardent desire to introduce Japan in English began
to fade several years ago, I started exchanging emails in English with
a woman of the same English conversation school. For three years and seven
months now, except for absences due to travel or significant health issues
on either side, we've kept it up without fail.
Gradually, it became my diary written in English. This evolved further,
and I made my diary entries alone part of the “English Edition Square”
as “Email Diary.” Thanks to this, I can look back on the path I've
walked since early summer 2014 and catch glimpses of events around me at
various times. It is truly one of my most valuable assets, and I am grateful
for her unwavering cooperation.
“Current English Class”
As mentioned in the previous chapter, in the fall of the year before last, a class called “Current English” began in a room at the Urayasu International Center, and I decided to take it. Fifteen sessions over six months, on Saturday afternoons, each lasting an hour and a half. Two days before each class, the current English text would arrive by email. It was breaking news on topics dominating the world at that very moment, sourced from British and American media.
Each time, I would translate the text into Japanese to prepare for the
class. Rather than discarding these after the course ended, I decided to
incorporate them into “English Edition Square” as the “Current English
Class”. By the class on January 13th, we had covered 36 topics.
While most of “English Edition Square” consists of my own Japanese texts translated into English, this section features English-to-Japanese translations, specifically of current English. I hope it will be somewhat useful for improving my English skill.
Evening Drink
I managed to quit smoking in my thirties. I had been sending the equivalent of 60 cigarettes a day into my stomach.
Yet, I can't quit my evening drink. In recent years, opportunities
for drinking gatherings have drastically decreased by my own choice, with
my monthly meeting with Mr. H being the only one. So, quitting alcohol
shouldn't be so inconvenient.
Setting aside quitting alcohol, what value does evening drinking hold? A slight buzz certainly eases the day's tension, makes dinner enjoyable, and lulls me into a good sleep. Moreover, I don't get a hangover and it doesn't overburden my body. But, beyond feeling a heavy stomach and liver, my head sometimes feels dull.
On such days, I can't focus on desk work, my shoulders feel stiff, and my eyes get terribly tired. My doctor doesn't pinpoint evening drinks as the cause, but my body tells me it is.
I should just quit! That's true. But I'm weak-willed. I do manage to stick to my resolve occasionally. Will I eventually have no choice but to quit?
…………
Anyway, it's already mid-January this year. What essay topics will
be waiting for me until this time next year? First, I need to get out of
this room.
