Yesterday, 2013 April 19, was the 116th birthday of the world’s oldest living person … Jiroemon Kimura of Japan.
Mr. Kimura was born on 1897 April 19th.
(edited on 2013 June 12th:
Mr. Kimura died this morning.
RIP, Mr. Jiroemon Kimura, 1897 April 19th – 2013 June 12th, aged 116 years and 54 days.)
I have written a number of posts about interesting people. Most of whose stories are related to Japan in some way.
Maybe you haven’t seen many of them…so I decided to put links to all of them on a new page that I titled “Who’s Who?“.
Please check them out and leave comments to let me know what you think.
The new page is here.
野口英世 (Hideo Noguchi) was born 135 years ago today…on 1876 November 9th.
Hideyo Noguchi, 1876 Nov 9 - 1928 May 21. RIP
He was a doctor who died in Ghana when he contracted Yellow Fever, which he was doing research on.
In 2004, the Japan government changed the design of the ¥1000 and the ¥5000 bills. For the twenty years until then, the face on the ¥1000 note was of famous author 夏目漱石 (Natsume Soseki), but ¥1000 bills issued since 2004 have the face of 野口英世 (Hideyo Noguchi).
When I first came to Japan, ¥1000 notes had the face of 夏目漱石 (Soseki Natsume) on them. (The bill in this image has 「見本」 ("sample") print across the center).
But since 2004, 「野口英世」 (Hideyo Noguchi)'s face has been on the bills.
I learned that today was the birthday of 野口英世 (Hideyo Noguchi) when I checked Google today and saw the logo:
"Google" logo for the birthday of Dr. Hideyo Noguchi.
Other facts about Hideyo Noguchi:
-He was born in Fukushima (where the nuclear plant that was hit by the 2011 March 11 tsunami is).
-There is a statue of him in 上野公園 (Ueno Park) in Tokyo.
-His lived and worked in America for many years and married an American woman.
-His grave is in America.
I’m not an expert on art by any means.
My tastes might be considered “low brow”.
I listen to heavy metal music, my favorite TV shows aren’t really educational or anything, and I don’t see the appeal of “over-rated” movies such as “Lost In Translation“, “Forrest Gump” and “The Lord Of The Rings“…those movies were all boring to me.
The movies I like are more exciting.
And I don’t feel comfortable eating in “four star” fancy restaurants…I prefer a simple 「居酒屋」 (Japanese izakaya “blue collar” type restaurant).
Even though I may be a “simple man” I can appreciate art sometimes.
I have never attended an opera or even a musical on stage, but I have watched 歌舞伎 (Kabuki) plays and sometimes I go to art exhibits at museums.
I have seen a number of 浮世絵 (Ukiyoe Japanese woodblock prints) exhibits…and yesterday, my wife and I went to 渋谷 (Shibuya, Tokyo) to see the 「モネとジヴェルニーの画家たち」 (“Claude Monet and the Giverny Artists”) exhibit.
It’s at the “Bunkamura Museum” in Shibuya, Tokyo until 2011 February 17th.
I learned that Claude Monet moved to a tiny French village called Giverny and painted the natural views that he saw there. And his work inspired many artists from other countries, but the vast majority were Americans, to go to Giverny and set up an “artist colony” there to learn from Monet.
Also, Monet was inspired by Japanese art (other famous Western artists, including Vincent Van Gogh, were too) and he had a collection of Japanese Ukiyoe prints.
Monet's painting of his wife in Japanese kimono.
Monet's painting of his garden in Giverny, France.
Monet's painting of a hay stack.
Are you interested in art? Monet? Ukiyoe?
How about your taste in food, movies, music, etc?
Today is 2010 September 1. The 87th anniversary of the 「関東大震災」 (“Great Kanto Earthquake“) that destroyed the Tokyo area on 1923 September 1.
So every year on September 1st in Japan, it’s called 「防災の日」 (“Disaster Prevention Day”).
On this day, fire departments give fire and earthquake safety tips to people, schools hold earthquake drills, and people are encouraged to check and maintain their “earthquake kits” that are recommended to be in every home.
It is said that in Japan’s history, a major earthquake has struck on average every eighty years. So it is expected that Tokyo is due for another one.
I really hope not!
No major earthquakes have struck Tokyo in a long while (“knock on wood”), but a different disaster has hit Tokyo this summer.
A heat wave.
It was reported on the news today that the temperature this summer in Tokyo has been the hottest in 113 years!
The temperature reached 35°C a number of times this summer.
Over a hundred people died from heat stroke and thousands were hospitalized.
It has been brutally hot in Tokyo this summer…and the forecast for the rest of this week says the heat and humidity will continue.
"Uchimizu" is a traditional Japanese custom of throwing water onto the streets to lower the temperature in the city a bit.
Today is ７月４日 (July 4). 「アメリカ独立記念日」 (American Independence Day).
I don’t usually do anything special on this day. Although there are many 花火大会 (fireworks shows) in Japan during the summer, they don’t usually start until late July or early August.
Watching fireworks is a “Fourth Of July” tradition in America, but I don’t live in America.
(It’s possible that the U.S. military bases in Japan will have a fireworks show this evening. I’m not sure. I don’t live near any U.S. military base anyways).
But anyways, in honor of the 234th anniversary of America’s independence from England, I am writing a list of some of American inventions that have changed the world (in most cases, for the better).
So, according to the U.S. Patent Office, this is a list of some of the numerous things that have been invented in America:
U.S. "Stop" sign
Japanese 「止まれ」 ("Stop") sign
「アメリカンドッグ」 (Corn Dog)
KISS "Alive II" on 8-track tape
Kama Chinen, of Okinawa, Japan, was born on 1895 May 10 and she became the oldest person in the world on 2009 September 11 at the age of 114.
(Click here to read the post I wrote when she became the “World’s Oldest Person”.)
It was just reported that she died a few days ago on 2010 May 2. Only eight days before her 115th birthday.
Kama Chinen, 1895 May 10 - 2010 May 2, R.I.P.
Now the World’s Oldest Person is Eugenie Blanchard from France. She was born on 1896 February 16…about nine months after Kama Chinen was born.
I was watching a TV program called 「きょうは何の日」 (lit. “What day is today?“).
This show tells something that happened in history on the same date in history. Something like “On this date in history…” might be a better translation of the show’s title.
It said that 140 years ago today, on 1870 March 22, the 「人力車」 (“rickshaw“) was invented in Japan.
(Click here to see a post I wrote about a trip we took to Yokohama about two years ago…and I took a photo of a 「人力車」 (“rickshaw“) near Yokohama Chinatown (there’s also photos of cool graffiti in that post)).
There seems to be a bit of controversy over who exactly invented the 「人力車」 (“rickshaw“).
Some say a Japanese businessman in Tokyo named Yosuke Izumi invented it, but others say it was invented by an American missionary in Yokohama named Jonathan Goble.
There seems to be evidence supporting both stories and neither can be proven conclusively.
Either way, the 「人力車」 (“rickshaw“) is 140 years old today and, although it was used as a major form of transportation in Japan back then, it is mainly only ridden by tourist (both Japanese and overseas visitors) in parts of Japan with a lot of traditional history…such as Asakusa, Kamakura, Yokohama, Kyoto, etc.
The 「人力車」 (“rickshaw“) pullers double as tour guides explaining the history of the sites to his customers.
Also, geisha can sometimes be seen riding in them as part of their image.
The 「人力車」 (“rickshaw“) was imported into other parts of Asia.
So the word “rickshaw” is famous around the world…but in Japanese, 「人力車」 is actually pronounced “jin-riki-sha“…literally “human-powered vehicle”.
Have you ever ridden in a 「人力車」 (“rickshaw“)?
By no ways a complete list, but here is a timeline of some highlights of world history.
Japan-related dates are written in red.
An Ukiyoe portrait of Cmdr. Perry. His name is written as 「ぺルリ」 ("Peruri") because that's what it sounded like to the Japanese when Perry said his name with his American accent.
A collapsed overpass after the Kobe Earthquake; 1995 January.
I know that I left out many important dates. Feel free to write any that you can think of in the comments section of this post.
And did you witness any historic events?
Today I went to the 「よみがえる浮世絵 －うるわしき大正新版画」特別展覧会 (Taisho-era Shin-hanga Ukiyo-e Prints Special Exhibit) at the 「江戸東京博物館」 (“Edo-Tokyo Museum“).
I like Japanese 浮世絵 (Ukiyo-e woodblock print) art. I have a few posts about exhibits I’ve seen before (click here to read one I wrote almost exactly twelve months ago).
But this exhibit was different.
Traditional 浮世絵 (woodblock print) art was done from the 江戸時代 (Edo era (17th – mid 19th centuries)) until the 明治時代 (Meiji era (1868 – 1912 (Japan’s modernization period))).
During the 明治時代 (Meiji era), traditional arts such as 浮世絵 (woodblock prints) began losing popularity because they were seen as dated and old-fashioned…and Japan was in a rush to “modernize” during this period.
But, ironically, while Japanese people were losing interest in 浮世絵 (woodblock prints), they were becoming chic and popular in America and Europe during these years.
So during Japan’s 大正時代 (Taisho era (1912 – 1926)) until the first half of the 昭和時代 (Showa era (1926 – 1989), a new, modern style of 浮世絵 (woodblock prints) emerged.
They’re called 「新版画」 (“Shin-hanga“…or “New style prints”).
Due to the popularity of 新版画 (Shin-hanga) in America and Europe during these years, many American and European artists came to Tokyo to learn the art of 新版画 (Shin-hanga) from the “masters”.
So the exhibit that I went to today had art by Japanese 新版画 (Shin-hanga) artists…as well as Japanese-style Shin-hanga prints by American and European artists.
It was very interesting!
Unfortunately after World War II, Japanese society changed alot and now there are very few 浮世絵 (ukiyo-e) or 新版画 (shin-hanga) artists today.
But there is good news, it seems that 新版画 (Shin-hanga) is currently becoming popular again both in Japan and overseas…so maybe more artists will study the craft and keep this tradition alive.
「増上寺の雪」 ("Zojoji Temple in Snow") by Kawase Hasui (昭和２８年 (1953))
「東京タワー」 ("Tokyo Tower") by Kasamatsu Shiro (昭和３４年 (1959))
「両国橋」 ("Ryogoku Bridge") by French artist Noel Nouet (昭和１１年 (1936))
Tokyo Five 
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