Lost In Translation

Decay Of The Angel

 

The final installment of Yukio Mishima’s Sea of Fertility teratology is Decay Of The Angel . There is a curious end to the story that refutes most of what has come before. This novel concerns the adoption of Toru by Honda, who believes Toru is the third incarnation of Kioyaki. There are some curious developments as Toru develops a cruel streak for no apparent reason than the fact he is something of a nihilist. Honda falls into his voyeuristic ways and faces a public scandal that allows Toru to gain control of his estate, but it is reversed when Keiko intervenes and tells Toru about Kioyaki. I guess the themes of the cruelty of aging and the themes of nothingness say a lot about the author who committed suicide shortly after finishing this final volume. I find it thought provoking in the context of Mishima’s extraordinary life. My first impression is that it might be the least engaging of the three novels, but in concert it is a grand achievement.

Burger 5

This is the cheeseburger at Burger 5 in Ginza. You can choose from three types of cheese (I chose Monterey Jack), fries or onion rings, with freshly made buns and pickle garnish. Good but inferior to several of the other gourmet burger joints in town like Arms, Blacows, Air Burger, etc.

William Eggleston: Paris-Kyoto

I recently read a Continuum 33 1/3 book on Big Star's Radio City album and it briefly mentioned that Alex Chilton asked Memphism-based photographer William Eggleston to provide a photo for the album cover. It seems that he has become somewhat in demand for album covers since then.

My friend Donald Eubank interviewed him for the Paris-Kyoto show that I went to today at the Hara Museum. I largely enjoyed the photos, however, I thought some of them were slightly pedestrian, but most had interesting colors, shadows, framing, or some other feature that made it interesting to look at. The drawings were a bit abstract for my tastes-but overall a worthwhile excursion.

Pronto

Pronto  is the first Raylan Givens (the first appearance was in the short story “Fire In The Hole”). I can see where the writers mined several aspects of the character and story for the TV show from this novel. In particular, Givens’ telling Tommy Bucks he has 24 hours to get out of town and then shooting him dead in a crowded restaurant is one of the acts that makes him a smooth and unflappable lawman.  It’s clear that Leonard did some research on the Italian portion of the story and the novel is full of his realistic sounding dialogue. I’m looking forward to continuing the Givens story in the next novel Riding The Rap.

Counter Action Garage

This a vintage clothing store on the shotengai in Sazauka where I recently got a cool vintage Hawaiian shirt.

Late Spring

Late Spring  (1949) is considered one of Yausujiro Ozu’s masterworks and Criterion has produced a 2 DVD set for this film. This is another family drama centered on the story of a widowed father (played by Ozu regular Chishu Ryu) determined to marry of his daughter (Setsuko Hara). Despite the images of tea ceremony and traditional houses the best friend to the daughter is a divorcee and hints at the dysfunction of the post war era that no longer reflects the traditional family structure. This new transfer has audio commentary by Richard Pena, a booklet featuring essays by Michael Atkinson and Donald Richie. The second disc is a tribute by German director Wim Wenders called Tokyo-Ga (1985). An interesting depiction that suggests to me that Tokyo hasn’t really changed that much from 1983 really.

Roast Beef & Wasabi

I got this great roast beef and wasabi sandwich at the Tokyo station Dean and Deluca deli before taking the shinkansen to Kobe.

The Continental Op

I’ve been on a crime novel kickoff recently and the latest is one of the Dashiell Hammett books I haven’t read The Continental Op . It is a collection of stories-some interlocking about the detective agency unnamed continental operative. There’s a very good introduction written by Steve Marcus who makes some good observations about Hammett. For example, he summarizes Hammett’s philosophy that “..how despite everything we have learned and everything we know, men will persist in behaving and trying to behave sanely, rationally, sensibly and responsibly.” He also points out that Hammett runs on a principal that is direct opposite of that postulated by Erik Erikson as the fundamental and enabling condition for human existence is that society and social relations are dominated by the principle of basic mistrust. He continues stating that Hammett’s depiction of modern society shows that violence is the decisive means along with fraud, deceit, treachery, betrayal, and general endemic unscrupulousness. This is clearly evident in works like the engaging Red Harvest. I must say that aside from his dark world view I enjoyed his prose style especially the dialogue. All in all very entertaining collection of stories.

Kobe Beef

Since I was in Kobe I thought it would be appropriate to eat the famous Kobe beef . I ordered Kobe beef katsu at Otomo in Sannomiya. I think I should have just went for a regular steak dinner.

 

This is the Kobe beef burger i had for lunch at Sanzoku.

Kobe 2010

Kobe as seen from Rokko Hall on the Kobe University Campus.

 

Ikuta Shrine  in Sannomiya.

 

 

Suwa beach only about 15 minutes from Sannomiya.

Gate in Chinatown I believe.