Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts

Saturday 18 July 2015

Scottish Samurai


Thomas Blake Glover 1838 – 1911. Indsutrialist and etrepeneur, traavelled to Japan in 1859 and later imported the first steam locomotive. He helped to establish the Misubushi Shipyard and receivedd the Order of the Rising Sun from the emperor in 1908. He was the Victorian Scotsman credited with helping to make Japan a modern industrial nation.



He was the Victorian Scotsman credited with helping to make Japan a modern industrial nation. A new exhibit Aberdeen’s Maritime Museum and a visitor trail exploring the life of Glover have been created to highlight the Scot’s place in Scottish-Japanese history. The booklet and trail were presented to the custodians of Thomas Glover House and Gardens in Nagasaki by the Cabinet secretary for culture, Europe and external affairs, Fiona Hyslop.

Japan and Scotland are celebrating the "Scottish Samurai" for helping to unite different cultures across the seas - Thomas Glover. - http://www.japantimes.co./the-scot-who-shaped-japan/

Thursday 28 August 2014

Huruki Murakami at Edinburgh



There was a definite hushed awe over Murakami's rare appearance at a book festival.  Twenty years ago he started the ‘Wind Up Bird Chronicles’.  He usually writes in the first person narrative and he said he was uncomfortable with using the third person - that he didn't want to look down at people, but to rather stand on the same level as his characters; it was more democratic he thought. He said his writing has been a long journey.
His first novel appeared in 1979.  He appeared unassuming and reclusive - he said that he wished to be a quiet person and to live a quiet life. He wrote about extraordinarily strange people and events though!.

He appreciated strong interferences to push the story forward.  He enjoyed irony he said and many of his stories are terrifying and scary.  He spoke of the bloody histories and the collective memories of history and he thought that everybody is cursed and poisoned by the past. The Manchurian history was important for his writing. 

The Well. He spoke of his lifetime dream to be sitting at the bottom of the well where he was super heavy. The water might be coming up. He wrote of nightmares and odd unrealistic coincidences and he said that strange coincidences happened to him.

Questions. He said that the translation of his books were good.
He said that  his stories were not planned and that he had no idea where the story was going. 'It is not fun to know the conclusions. I like to think, what's going to happen today. I like to be spontaneous.
'Imagination is an animal I keep alive.'

He said that once a book is gone, it is gone. 
Why were his characters so sad? I didn't notice he replied, Everybody is sad.
He said he liked to write to music that runs through the novel.' I need music to write on - the harmony and rhythm is important to me to keep the readers reading. I need music.'

I am always looking for the right music to help to me write.,

Murakami is a serene and humble man.