the qualia journal

The fact that nationalism is on the rise in some parts of the world seems to be indicating the ubiquity of growing global interdependence. I...

I think there are two kinds of stupidities. In one, you try to protect yourself. By looking down on others, for example. In the other, you d...

Everybody knows that Japan is an island nation. But we sometimes forget that, because the main Honshu island is so large. Recently I flew to...

Language policy is really serious here in this country, and has grave implications for my own life, too. I love Japanese as my native tongue...

I have been to Singapore on a few days trip, attending a conference and giving a talk. The energy in Singapore is incredible. Even politicia...

Even small children are fond of moving their hands and leaving tiny traces of colored lines on the paper. A whole career can be built, start...

People might think that Mozart was a naïve guy who left for others to write the librettos of operas. If you look carefully you notice otherw...

In the last few months, I seem to have learned that to bring about revolution to the society is a very difficult task. Yes, I am stupid enou...

(Continued from the previous entry) I walked on along the twilight street, but my inner turmoil did not seem to calm down. It was obvious no...

When I was young, I wanted to try new things. One day, I found a posh building in central Tokyo. I went in. There was a rather nice French r...

For some time, I have been making a point of abrupt concentration. I may be idling on the sofa, and all of a sudden, I would start concentra...

Summer in Tokyo this year was unusually long. The record-breaking heat spell went on and on, until we residents started to think that we wer...

So the newt was alive, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Once in a direct contact with the reality, a sense of practical wisdom took hold of ...

The clock in my heart started to tick slowly. The passage of the every day became painful. I felt the urge to take a look at the newt tank, ...

(Continued from yesterday) I had completely forgotten about my pet newt. Oblivion be damned! It was a horror realization. Apart from the sme...

(Continued from yesterday) Days passed, and I kept playing with the arrangements for the newt paradise. Within the small dimensions of the t...

When I was about 10 years old, I went to a pet shop and encountered my newt. It was the Cynops pyrrhogaster (Japanese fire belly newt) speci...

Yesterday, as I was moving through the maze that is Tokyo, I finished reading Botchan, written by Soseki Natsume, and translated by Yasotaro...

I have not written into this English Journal for a little longer than a week now. The writing streak is now officially broken. I don't r...

I don't know how, but I do feel that the summer has gone. Ever since childhood, at some time in August or September, I would suddenly co...