the qualia journal

I think The Carpenters was the first pop singer group that captured my imagination when I was a kid. I guess I was about 10. "Top of t...

I and Ms. Sumiyoshi Miki had a conversation with the manga artist Takehiko Inoue for "The Professionals" program broadcast by NHK...

When I am hungry at night, having been unable to take a respectable bite, at the bed time I am faced with a dilemma. Should I eat something ...

When I was a kid, I used to love to eat white thin noodles ( Somen ) in the summer. After being boiled, the noodles would be put into ice c...

My native and resident country, Japan is a nation of islands. Going abroad used to and remains to have a special connotation for its inhabit...

Parsifal is the final opera of Richard Wagner. It seems to be a fitting end to the career of a composer who pursued the theme of Erlosung du...

In order for a work of performing art to be maintained in a living condition, it needs to be refreshed in the styles of times. The concerns ...

The performance of Tristan und Isolde, conducted by Peter Schneider and directed by Christoph Marthaler (Bayreuth Festspiele, on 13th August...

On 13th August 2009, I attended a performance at the Bayreuth Festspiele for the first time in my life. It was Tristan und Isolde.

So I have come to Munich, in translation to Bayreuth. I have visited Munich many times. Whenever I can, I listen to operas, preferably Wagne...

Lands in Tokyo, like in any cotemporary city of big lights, are heavily utilized. It was a rare occasion that a space near my house, after t...

This summer, within a few days, I would be traveling to Bayreuth for the first time in my life. I will be listening to the performances of T...

When the onceness of life touches us, tears drop from the eyes. Yesterday, there was a wedding party. Shinichi Nozawa, a Ph.D student in my...

NHK is the national public broadcasting organization in Japan. I host, with Ms. Miki Sumiyoshi , "The Professionals" program broa...

I was in the car on the way to the conference site in Saga . We have just been to the old Saga castle site. As we left the Saga Castle Hist...

"El Sur" by the Spanish director Victor Erice is one of my all-time favorite films. In it, el sur ("the south") is depic...

Some days ago, I went to the Nasu district, where the Nasu Imperial Villa is located. It is a favorite summer retreat for the Japanese, as d...

Boybu (wind wall) is a typical Japanese style of art, and many excellent specimens are known. Of them, the Jitsugetsu Sansui-zu Byobu (...

When I was 16, the senior high school teacher gave us a booklet titled "Background to Britain". We were to read it during the summ...

Several days I go, I made a comment on the internet service twitter. Since then, some people have told me their opinions about twitter, as I...