Latest news with #Basho
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Counting the steps to staying in good health
Keep walking towards good health. But it needn't be 10,000 steps daily, as health influencers and mobile apps advise. A new Lancet study suggests that 7,000 steps a day would do; the study also confirmed that walking does help in reducing the risk of death and cardiovascular disease by half, and the chance of developing type-2 diabetes, dementia and depression. Long walks have their own joys, though clinically meaningful improvements aren't greatly different – upping 7,000 steps to 10,000 steps offers only a 10% lower risk of all-cause mortality. Much before science offered evidence of the benefits of walking, philosophers found in it a therapeutic activity, a cure for melancholy, an exercise to develop a sound mind. Aitereya Brahmana advises in the Rig Veda: charaiveti, charaiveti (keep walking). The mantra tells us that the Sun is viewed with respect because it keeps moving: A man on the move gets to enjoy the nectar. So keep walking. Basho undertook long walks and distilled the experience in his haikus. In his Reveries of the Solitary Walker, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a philosopher of the European Enlightenment, wrote: 'I have never thought so much, existed so much, lived so much, been so much myself… as in the journeys which I have made alone and on foot.' In our crowded, vehicle-heavy times, how do we make our steps count? Spaces for walking are shrinking as habitations expand. Metros may have large parks, even urban forests. But tier-II cities now lack open spaces or parks. Footpaths could be an option for the morning/evening walker, but, wherever they exist, they are threatened by encroachments. A Supreme Court committee on road safety (2024) found that only 56% of Delhi roads had footpaths. The situation is no different in other cities. India's urban population is expected to double from 480 million in 2020 to 950 million by 2050, as per a recent World Bank study. An inexpensive way for them to stay healthy is to take up walking. State should oblige by building the infrastructure.
Boston Globe
13-07-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Basho was an elitist, Thoreau a codependent
I'm a baby boomer. My students were Gen Z. We had different views on things. I expected our classroom discussions to be lively. But still. I heard their thoughts on the reading with outright admiration and stunned incredulity. The whiplash could be unnerving. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Consider poor Basho! The 17th-century Japanese poet walking in the cold rain wearing his sandals and paper coat was apparently an elitist. Wendell Berry — poet, farmer, agrarian essayist, and activist — is crystal clear on his practice of Christian faith, but my students argued that he was actually a Buddhist. And certainly it was jarring to think of Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalists as imperialist oppressors. Henry Thoreau (no filter!) didn't have a chance. While rapturous in considerations of solitude, he socialized and dined with friends — often! Obviously, a codependent. And could we read Norman Maclean's classic 'A River Runs Through It' — a story about two brothers, family, God, and trout fishing — from an eco-feminist perspective? Advertisement These reactions to the literature startled me, to put it mildly. But it was hard not to see a certain imagination at work here. For all his humility and deficient outerwear, Basho was an educated man, which likely did qualify him as an elitist of his time. Berry himself identifies as a marginal Christian, and his thinking is not exactly conventional; and perhaps there are beliefs in which these two spheres of faith converge. And of course Thoreau infuriates all of us, especially those of us who most admire him. As with so many original thinkers, he contradicts himself constantly and with endless enthusiasm. 'He is such a geek. A total nerd. But I still love him,' one student concluded. Mark Twain had an admiration for new technologies of the time yet lamented the loss of river life, conflicting sensibilities familiar to us today. Advertisement My students learned about human inconsistencies in belief and temperament. Discovering the ambiguities and minor hypocrisies of those we hold in high regard is part of education. Theirs and mine. Facing up to our own partialities and discriminations comes into it as well. Maybe more to the point, their lack of interest in dogma allowed for unconstrained and broad interpretation. A contempt for established doctrine led them to evaluate the reading in ways that were — needless to say — new to me. Which is probably as it should be. Confounding questions and alternative perspectives have a rightful place in environmental thinking today. How we think and what we do in the natural world now is often confused, complex, contradictory. Beliefs and behaviors defy one another constantly. Knowledge and experience are often at odds. Our ideals and practices are often freakishly out of alignment. Advertisement So what's a college professor to do? Meet our students where they are, as the saying goes today. Although we may all still be in the woods, it helps if we can partner up to learn the names of the trees, the shapes of the leaves. And as a new academic year begins, I'd like to think my own abiding regard for the canon can find a convergence with the unorthodox perspectives offered by my students. Actually, it could even make for the kind of thinking that comes close to what Thoreau advocated more than 150 years ago: not knowledge so much as a 'sympathy with intelligence.' He elaborates only by suggesting 'that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy,' an inclusiveness in sensibility that my students and I might even agree on.
Yomiuri Shimbun
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Donald Keene Exhibition Kicks off in Japanese-Style Cultural Facility in Soka, Saitama Pref.; Set of Matcha Tea, Sweet Inspired by His Beloved Dog Available
An exhibition tracing the footsteps of Japanese literature scholar Donald Keene in Soka, Saitama Prefecture, started on Tuesday at a cultural facility located on the grounds of the Soka City Culture Hall. Around 40 items are on display in the exhibition, titled 'Exhibition on Donald Keene's bonds with Soka City,' including work tools such as a word processor and dictionary used by Keene in his study, as well as handwritten manuscripts and panel photographs. It is being held in a Japanese-style facility named Zenso-an: Travelers of a Hundred ages. Keene died in 2019 at the age of 96. At the venue, there is also an audio recording of a discussion between Keene and haiku poet Momoko Kuroda, who died in 2023, about the appeal of Matsuo Basho and the value of his work 'Oku no Hosomichi' (The Narrow Road to Oku). The discussion took place in Soka in 2014 to commemorate the award ceremony for the first Donald Keene Award and the seventh Oku no Hosomichi Literary Award, both of which are hosted by the city of Soka. An audio recording of the 2014 dialogue between Keene and haiku poet Momoko Kuroda can be listened to in a room at the exhibit in Japanese dictionary that Keene used quite oftenKeene's handwritten Basho haiku, written in Kyoto in 2004 'Looking at his handwritten manuscripts in the re-creation of his study with a desk, I feel as if my father is here,' said Keene's adopted son, Seiki, 74, who visited the venue right after it opened. 'My father loved tatami mats, so it's nice to be able to view the displayed items in tatami rooms in this kind of Japanese-style structure.'Keene studied 'The Narrow Road to Oku,' a work of travel literature from the Edo period (1603-1867), throughout his life and translated it for the world to read. Basho, who traveled north from Edo, present-day Tokyo, walked through Soka on his journey described in the book. Keene's studies led to an exchange between him and the people of Soka, and he was involved in the establishment of two awards in Soka and named Zenso-an, which opened in 2019. The exterior of Zenso-anA matcha tea and sweet set is sold at Zenso-an. The Japanese sweet was inspired by Keene's dog from his Japanese sweet is filled with anko red bean paste. The exhibition is open through Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free. Zenso-an is offering a limited time set of matcha tea and a fresh Japanese sweet for ¥800. The sweet is modeled after Keene's beloved dog from his childhood.
The Mainichi
16-06-2025
- The Mainichi
Japanese literary scholar Keene's reflections on haiku rhythm, travels of Matsuo Basho
Donald Keene's journey tracing the footsteps of haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) in Basho's masterpiece "Oku no Hosomichi," which Keene later translated into English as "The Narrow Road to Oku," took him from Miyagi Prefecture into the adjacent Yamagata Prefecture. His first stop was the renowned temple Risshakuji, also known as "Yamadera." This was in late spring 1955, 70 years ago. Details of Keene's journey were published in the June 1955 issue of the literary magazine Chuo Koron under the title "Komo Oku no Hosomichi" (loosely translating as "Westerner's narrow road to Oku"). In April 2025, admirers of Keene including this reporter undertook the same journey while reflecting on his travelogue and translation of Basho's work. Here we start with a visit to Risshakuji Temple in Yamagata Prefecture and an encounter there. Yamadera Basho traveled from Hiraizumi to Dewa province (Yamagata Prefecture) via Naruko Onsen hot spring, but Keene entered Yamadera via Sakunami Onsen hot spring to the south. The route going through Sendai was probably convenient for him as he was traveling by rail. Here, too, Keene was welcomed by cherry blossoms in full bloom. "There was a young monk on the veranda of the Konpon Chudo (Yamadera's main hall), who was absorbed studying an English reader. When I called out to him, he decided to guide us," Keene recalled, though he noted, "The explanations that the monk had memorized sounded a bit odd." At the time, it was likely rare for foreigners to visit Yamadera. The monk's earnest effort to provide explanations using the English he had just learned is endearing. Yamadera today is different, I found. Due to the revival of inbound tourism, there were many foreign visitors there, joyfully running up the 1,015 stone steps. I met one young man there, from Australia. He was on a six-week vacation traveling across Japan from the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido all the way down to Kagoshima in the southwest, using a rental car as accommodation. He told me with delight that Japan has hot springs everywhere and that he planned to head to Hakuba Happo in Nagano Prefecture next. He said he was 33 years old, -- the same age Keene was when he visited. I explained the origin of the statues there of Basho and his student Kawai Sora (1649-1710), but received a puzzled response: "Basho? Donald Keene?" The names were apparently unfamiliar to him, but he added before departing that it was intriguing and that he planned to look them up. In some way, he mirrored the young Keene. Ryushaku-ji There is a mountain temple in the domain of Yamagata called the Ryushaku-ji. It was founded by the Great Teacher Jikaku, and is a place noted for its tranquillity. People had urged us to go there "even for a brief look," and we had turned back at Obanazawa to make the journey, a distance of about fifteen miles. It was still daylight when we arrived. After first reserving pilgrim's lodgings at the foot of the mountain, we climbed to the temple itself at the summit. Boulders piled on boulders had created this mountain, and the pines and cedars on its slopes were old. The earth and stones were worn and slippery with moss. At the summit the doors of the temple buildings were all shut, and not a sound could be heard. Circling around the cliffs and crawling over the rocks, we reached the main temple building. In the splendor of the scene and the silence I felt a wonderful peace penetrate my heart. shizukasa ya / iwa ni shimiiru / semi no koe How still it is here -- / Stinging into the stones, / The locusts' trill. It was on the 27th day of the fifth month according to the old lunar calendar (July 13 in the Gregorian calendar) that Basho visited this place. This was around when the rainy season was coming to an end and the full brunt of summer was arriving. Keene often referenced this famous haiku in his later lectures. When the haiku is romanized, the vowel "i" appears seven times. "This is what makes the haiku rhythmic," Keene said. To his ear, probably not only the cicada's song but also the "rhythm of the haiku," unnoticed when rendered in Japanese characters, was audible. Shitomae Barrier After visiting Yamadera, Keene headed north, turned east from the city of Obanazawa, crossed the mountain pass at the prefectural border, and arrived at Naruko Onsen. Regarding Naruko's famous "kokeshi" dolls, he mused, "It seemed a bit strange for adults to collect such things." More intriguing to him were the historical remains of the barrier station that Basho had dedicated a chapter to, known as "Shitomae Barrier." What kind of place was it? Shitomae Barrier Turning back to look at the road stretching far off to Nambu in the north, we spent the night at the village of Iwade. We passed by Ogurosaki and Mizu no Ojima, and from the hot springs at Narugo headed for Shitomae Barrier, intending to cross into Dewa Province. Travellers are rare along this road, and we were suspiciously examined by guards at the barrier. Only with much trouble did we manage to get through. By the time we had climbed the mountain there, the sun had already set. We found a border guard's house and asked to spend the night. For three days a terrible storm raged, and we had no choice but to remain in those dreary mountains. nomi shirami / uma no shito suru / makura moto Plagued by fleas and lice, / I hear the horses staling / Right by my pillow. Though it was an important highway from Sendai to Dewa province, travelers were rare, and Basho and his party apparently came under suspicion. Today, only a fence and a small storehouse remain, with a grassy area that can't really be called a park spreading out desolately. Standing there, Keene reflected on the name Shitomae, consisting of the characters for "urine" and "front": "Perhaps due to the name Shitomae, I suddenly felt the urge to urinate. Normally, I wouldn't have hesitated to relieve myself, but the guides were calling me 'Dr. Keene, Dr. Keene,' so I felt I had to act like a doctor. ... It made me think, there are times when being treated as a doctor is troublesome." This anecdote was typical of Keene, always full of a spirit of humor. As for Basho, after somehow managing to pass through the barrier, his party sought shelter at the house of a barrier official along the highway as dusk approached. They ended up being stuck there for three days due to a storm. This house still exists and is open to the public as "Hojin no Ie" (house of the barrier guard). Inside, the room where Basho stayed is preserved, and sitting by the sunken hearth, one can feel as if they've traveled back in time. Mogami River The final stop on our journey was the Mogami River, the setting for the famous haiku "samidare wo" (The summer rains). After visiting Yamadera, Basho traveled north along the river, waited for favorable weather in the town of Oishida, and boarded a boat. Let's look at Keene's translation of Basho's original text. The Mogami River We waited for the weather to clear at a place called Oishida, intending to sail down the Mogami River. People told us that the seeds of the old haikai poetry had been scattered here, and they still recalled nostalgically the unforgotten, long-ago days of its glory; the rustic notes of a reed pipe brought music to their hearts. "We are groping for the right path, uncertain which to follow, the old or the new, but there is no one to guide us on our way," they said, and I had no choice but to compose with them a scroll of poems. The poetry-making of this journey had reached to even such a place. The Mogami River has its source in Michinoku, and its upper reaches are in Yamagata. The Chessboard and Peregrine Rapids are among the terrifying danger spots in its course. The river flows north of Itajiki Mountain, and finally enters the sea at Sakata. Mountains overhang the river on both sides, and boats are sent downstream through the thick vegetation. Probably what the poet called "rice boats" were boats like mine, except loaded with rice. Through breaks in the green leaves we could see the White Thread Falls. The Hermit's Hall stands facing the riverbank. The river was swollen and the boat in danger. samidare wo / atsumete hayashi / Mogamigawa Gathering seawards / The summer rains, how swiftly flows / Mogami River. Keene visited this river in early spring and noted, "The Mogami River was still 'swift,' but there were no boats or driftwood, and it felt lonely." The water level was likely low. Before heading for Risshakuji, Basho stopped at Obanazawa. There, he stayed at the home of the local haiku poet Suzuki Seifu (1651-1721). This house remains and Keene also visited it. It now serves as the Basho-Seifu Historical Museum and displays material related to Basho. Keene saw a monument inscribed with the "samidare wo" haiku at a nearby temple, but wrote, "I am not particularly interested in haiku monuments. Wherever I go, I am guided to them first. Out of courtesy, I try to hide my lack of interest by touching the monument or tracing unreadable characters, but to tell the truth I don't find them interesting at all. It may be evidence that I lack the spirit of haiku." Having learned about the traditional short poetry form of haiku through Basho, Keene would later compile a biography of Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), the Meiji-era poet who revived the allure of haiku in modern times. When he gave lectures in towns with deep connections to haiku, he would sometimes compose one himself after being invited to do so. Keene apparently was unable to settle into the idea of leaving haiku behind on monuments, but he appreciated the allure of haiku, which depict a world without limits within their 5-7-5 syllable format.
Indian Express
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Author Karen Jennings on her latest novel Crooked Seeds and how social media has impacted our sense of history
You've said that the vision of the lighthouse from An Island (2019) came to you in a dream, during an afternoon nap. What about the story of Crooked Seeds? I'm afraid it was a lot less neat and tidy. In fact, it is hard to trace the process or progression clearly. Some of the ideas or aspects of the characters go back as far as the 1980s, when I was a little girl and overheard a conversation between my dad and his colleague. She told him about growing up, how her mother had always favoured her son and treated her daughters as inferior to him. Other aspects of the novel go to my mid-20s when I passed a ditch being dug by the municipality. Each day, when I passed that ditch, they had dug up more artefacts — nothing interesting, just old handbags and bottles and bits of cutlery and rope and plastic. I remember knowing there was something important here, in this digging, the finding of things. I didn't know what, though. Countless other little experiences and thoughts and dreams made their way into the chaos in my mind and came out (hopefully) neatly on the pages. The South African landscape is almost a character in the novel. Is it at all possible to write about South Africa and Africa without talking about socio-political issues? Can one write about anywhere without including socio-political issues? I am a proud South African. South Africa is my home. I love its people and places. I am not afraid to say it publicly: everything that is good in this country is because of the South African people. For the bad, yes, we can blame history, but we can also blame a government that puts cronyism before the people. Most days, I want to ask our president: How do you sleep at night? Aren't you ashamed of your spinelessness? In the novel, there are also themes of memory, trauma and historical reconciliation. How did you approach post-Apartheid South Africa? A lot of reading. I make sure to read widely when doing research — newspapers, interviews, diaries, letters, fiction, non-fiction. We all understand, of course, that fiction is not meant to be focused on fact-giving. But in order for fiction to have value – in order for it to have an essential authenticity — research must be done. In addition, I spend a lot of time 'in place' — walking, looking, observing. The 17th century Japanese Haiku master Basho said that if you want to write about the tree then you must go to the tree. I believe that completely. Go to the tree — physically and through research. How has the landscape for postcolonial African literature changed since you began writing? This is an interesting question. Recently, someone from a different country in Africa indicated to me that young Africans don't know what colonialism is. It is something 'too far back' in history to be thought of — yet we still see the socio-economic consequences of it to this day; we still see knock-on effects such as cultural appropriation. Whatever the young know or don't know about colonialism or postcolonialism, they don't seem to be learning it from books. A few days ago, I was explaining to a student of mine that the only thing she needed to work on in her essay is to write smoother sentences. She asked me if I could recommend a TikTok channel to help her with that. I said, 'How can you ask me that? What you need to do is read, not watch Tiktok!' An Island and Crooked Seeds have a nonlinear narrative and yet it's effortless to envision the story. Talk us through your writing process. Short answer: agony. Long answer: lots of agony. The very dismal truth is that I write draft after draft after draft, on and on and on and on until I am sick and depressed. But by the end I know my character and my story completely. Your portrayal of marginalised characters has been praised for its nuance. What responsibility do you feel writers have when representing voices that have historically been silenced? This is a tough question. One must always approach one's writing with sensitivity. Even when one comes to it with good intentions, there is always a worry about appropriation or being offensive. Thorough research can help, as can using third-person narrators and avoiding giving characters accents or using patois that can come across as condescending. These are all practical matters. But consider the forgotten people in history — not necessarily heroes, just ordinary people whose role in our country's past and therefore in its present might be forgotten unless you write about them. Last year, I wrote a number of short stories related to slaves and servants at the Cape of Good Hope/Cape Colony in the 18th century. These stories were based on archival and other research. If I don't write about them, will someone else do it? Will AI remember our pasts for us and write about it for us? Already most South Africans don't even know the truth about South Africa's slave past. Shouldn't they know that history and the people it affected and in what ways? May that inspire them too to explore, to research and to write. Mazumdar is a Delhi-based independent writer
