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TOKYO POSTCARD

History Repeats

by Kenzaburo Oe

MARCH 28, 2011

By chance, the day before the earthquake, I wrote an article, which was published a few days later, in the morning edition of the Asahi Shimbun. The article was about a fisherman of my generation who had been exposed to radiation in 1954, during the hydrogen-bomb testing at Bikini Atoll. I first heard about him when I was nineteen. Later, he devoted his life to denouncing the myth of nuclear deterrence and the arrogance of those who advocated it. Was it a kind of sombre foreboding that led me to evoke that fisherman on the eve of the catastrophe? He has also fought against nuclear power plants and the risk that they pose. I have long contemplated the idea of looking at recent Japanese history through the prism of three groups of people: those who died in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, those who were exposed to the Bikini tests, and the victims of accidents at nuclear facilities. If you consider Japanese history through these stories, the tragedy is self-evident. Today, we can confirm that the risk of nuclear reactors has become a reality. However this unfolding disaster ends―and with all the respect I feel for the human effort deployed to contain it―its significance is not the least bit ambiguous: Japanese history has entered a new phase, and once again we must look at things through the eyes of the victims of nuclear power, of the men and the women who have proved their courage through suffering. The lesson that we learn from the current disaster will depend on whether those who survive it resolve not to repeat their mistakes. [Read More!]

Hedge fund star calls for Microsoft CEO to go

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Bill Rigby
NEW YORK/SEATTLE | Thu May 26, 2011 1:51am EDT

(Reuters) - Influential hedge fund manager David Einhorn has called for Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to step down, saying the world's largest software company's leader is stuck in the past. [Read More!]

ひとインタビュー

豆腐小僧シリーズ新作　小説家　京極夏彦さん

妖怪はどこから生まれた

きょうごく・なつひこ＝1963年北海道生まれ。世界妖怪協会、関東水木会会員。『魍魎の匣』で日本推理作家協会賞、『嗤う伊右衛門』で泉鏡花文学賞、『覘き小平次』で山本周五郎賞、『後巷説百物語』で直木賞を受賞。『豆腐小僧』はアニメ化され公開中。『豆腐小僧双六道中おやすみ』は角川書店。


　「妖怪はいない」

　妖怪ミステリーの第一人者が断言します。では、なぜ怪異にこだわるのか。新作『豆腐小僧双六道中おやすみ』では、まぬけなお化けの珍道中を軽妙に描き、妖怪の存在意義にも踏み込みます。

　「この時期にお化けなんて不謹慎と思われるかもしれませんが、お化けは本来、つらい現実を笑い飛ばす『強さ』から生まれたもの。物理的復興は急務ですが、笑顔を取り戻すための心の復興も大事だろうと思います」

　人間にとって妖怪とは―。

　「長い歴史の中で、数えきれない悲惨な出来事がありました。そうした負の現実と向き合い、受け入れ、笑いにまで昇華したものが妖怪なんです」しんぶん赤旗日曜版2011年５月22日号36面 [Read More!]

Heaven is a fairy tale, says physicist Hawking

LONDON | Mon May 16, 2011 1:34pm EDT

(Reuters Life!) - Heaven is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark, the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking said in an interview published on Monday. [Read More!]

Apple usurps Google as world's most valuable brand

LONDON | Mon May 9, 2011 3:43am EDT

(Reuters) - Apple has overtaken Google as the world's most valuable brand, ending a four-year reign by the Internet search leader, according to a new study by global brands agency Millward Brown. [Read More!]