TJ Expert (66)
Mudras – Hand Seals for Happiness Featured
Mudras – Hand Seals for Happiness
Let’s begin with an exercise. Either seated or standing, take one long, conscious breath–one deep inhale and exhale. Now, make a strong fist with both of your hands and hold it for a moment. Take a mental note as you squeeze your hands. How are you feeling? How is your breath? What feelings arise?
Hiroyuki Suzuki Photo Exhibit Interview #1
Hiroyuki Suzuki's camera lens has taken him to construction sites around the world in an ambition to capture the instability, energy, beauty and hope – he sees as intrinsic within these sites.
Hiroyuki Suzuki
TJ: How did you first get interested in photography?
Suzuki: I first became interested in photography 50 years ago when I was in the 5th grade of elementary school and was given a Konica Camera as a present. At the time I was also interested in painting. I was in Yaizu in Shizuoka Prefecture, which is a port city, so I often painted boats. Normally, people paint a boat in the center of a picture, but from the beginning I would use a non-standard composition. I might paint 2 boats in the painting, but for example, only part of one boat would be on left side of the painting and part of the other boat would appear on the right side of the painting, with a gap between the boats. It was not the usual focal point for a picture. I often use this same approach in my photos.
TJ: How would you describe your style of photography?
Suzuki: I wouldn’t say I have a specific style. I like to capture the moment. I play soccer, and I learned that if you want to score, you need to seize opportunities, and that’s what I do in my photography. In black and white photos, composition and light are important. I don’t need any colors. In my photos, the composition of my pictures is like my original style of paintings, and is not like that of other photographers.
6 Seconds: Passionate Relationship
Six Seconds to a Passionate Relationship
HOW long is it since you experienced a little excitement in your relationship? How long since you felt that romantic spark that made you long to get home to your partner, knowing that you would be greeted with love and affection? For many couples, these feelings are a distant memory. They seem to be drowned by routines and trivialities. We blame our hectic lifestyles for the lack of love and affection in our lives. Can we find a solution that our schedules can tolerate?
Bullying
A SUBJECT that unfortunately is on our minds today is bullying. Some children’s lives become a living hell because they’ve become the targets of a bully or several bullies. Death is the outcome in extreme cases. It is not unknown for a victim to commit suicide to escape from bullying. It appears to me that the attack on this outrage must be two pronged. We must help the victim and protect him physically and psychologically. And we must realize that the bully also desperately needs our help.
じめ”が深刻な社会問題となっています。いじめの標的となり、生き地獄の日々に耐えている子供がいます。死に至る場合さえあります。いじめを受 けている子供が地獄から逃れるために自殺 するのです。これについては2つのことを考えなければな らないと思います。いじめを受けている子供を助け、心身 ともに守ると同時に、いじめる側も助けを必要としている ことを理解する必要があります。
Synopsis of Haitian Art
Synopsis of Art by Artists of Haitian Descent in the Diaspora –– Part II
By Marcel Duret and Fred Thomas
One of Haiti’s greatest exports to the world is its beautiful art. To illustrate the four major trends of the Haitian diaspora as outlined in the 2013 Summer Issue of the Tokyo Journal, Haitian art experts Marcel Duret and Fred Thomas cast a closer look on the works of a few selected artists.
THE NAIVE VEIN
When looking at a naive painting a most striking element is the raw quality and directness of the composition and design. Everything is kept simple. What you see is what it is about. Lines and colors are combined to convey a clear image where each element appears necessary for the edification and justification of the whole. As few ornaments as possible are used, making the bluntness of expression look even more evident. The lack of artifice and hid- den meanings maximizes the connection between the picture and observers, many of who lose no time trying to decipher some cryptic iconography or unclear symbols that require initiation rites or specific knowledge. This simplicity can baffle onlookers who try so hard to complicate things based on their own bias or collective pool of references, instead of opening up their minds and let- ting themselves become impregnated by the unique visual and emotional experience that a primitive painting can achieve when it is made by someone genuinely awestricken by an inner vision or a natural phenomenon.
This simplicity sometimes appears in the flatness of shapes. It is as if the artists use some type of magnifying glass that enables them to bring forth every element of a scene as though each one is of equal importance. This way nothing is left behind for the benefit of the observer who can see the relevance of every item as it is conceived in the artist’s mind.The idea is not to judge but rather to take everything indiscriminately at face value.
Standing Up To Culture
Standing Up To Culture
By Daniel Yankelovich
IN a changing world, Japan and the United States face similar challenges even though our histories and cultures are very different. In both nations, the influence of tradition and culture is wearing thin while individual choice grows stronger. This places a heavy burden of responsibility on the individual, more than most people are comfortable with.
In late September, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe wrote an editorial in The Wall Street Journal 1, titled “Unleashing the Power of Womenomics.” He out- lined a series of policies for which the dual purpose is to boost women in the workforce significantly and thereby also raise fertility rates.
Prime Minister Abe is well aware that combining these two goals runs counter to the long-held belief that female participation in the labor force lowers fertility rates. He cites a number of government policies that would make his twin goals compatible. These include: expanded day-care and nursing-care services, flexible work arrangements and better pay for women.
文化への抵抗
ダニエル・ヤンケロビッチ
この変化の時代にあって、日本と米国は、歴史的文 化的背景が大いに異なるとはいえ、似たような問
題 に直面している。日米のいずれでも、伝統と文 化がすたれつつある一方で、個人の選択が優先されるよ うになっている。この流れにより、多くの人が望む以上 に個人に重い責任がのしかかっている。 この秋、ウォール・ストリート・ジャーナル紙に安部 晋三首相の寄稿があった。タイトルは「安部総理、ウィ メノミクスのパワーを解き放つ」。女性の雇用を大幅に増 やし出生率上昇を促す一連の政策をまとめたものだ。
この2つの目標を掲 げることが、女性の雇用増は出生率 を下げるという長く正しいとされてきた論理に反するこ とを、安部首相は十分承知している。そのうえで彼は、 この2つの目標を両立させるための多くの政策に言及し ている。デイケアや介護サービスの拡大、柔軟な就労形態、 女性の賃金増などである。
Yoga: A Wabi-sabi Contemplation
Yoga: A Wabi-sabi Contemplation
In today’s media-saturated world, we’re told that our bodies are not perfect. Everywhere we turn, we feel overwhelmed by the glorified ideals of male and female bodies. There is a sense that we need to live up to these deceiving expectations of beauty and this urges us to purchase more products and services to change our physical appearance or hide our supposed imperfections. It’s so easy to fall prey to this style of consumerism and targeted advertisements that it’s no wonder we get obsessed with looking young and perfect all the time.
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