A Month in the Country, by J.L. Carr

A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr (1912-1994) is a wonderful pastoral novella, which in the compass of just a hundred pages does as much as other books that are five times as thick. Although the novel also deals with "romantic regret," and despite the elegiac undertone, the overall impression is one of happiness, a rare commodity in literature.

[The parish church of St Materiana's in Tintagel, Cornwall. Construction of the church may have been started in the 11th or early 12th century.
This is not the church in the story, which is set in Yorkshire, but the grave outside the churchyard wall in the novella was suggested by Tintagel where a number of early graves were encountered at Trecarne Lands and excavated]

The story takes place in the gorgeous summer of 1920 when art historian Tom Birkin comes to the sleepy village of Oxgodby to restore a medieval church mural that is hidden under a coat of plaster. Birkin himself is just as much in need of restoration, for he has crawled shell-shocked out of the trenches of the First World War, and also his marriage is in shambles. He has come to the countryside, in this wonderful summer, to be healed.

Coincidentally, another war veteran, John Moon, is doing an archaeological survey in the field next to the church. He has been hired to find and dig up the remains of a church forebear. The two men become acquaintances in a very British way, a quiet fellowship of tea and smokes. In the end, their jobs are shown to be closely connected: on the Last Judgment painting Birkin is restoring to the light of day, there is a man falling down into Hell, and Moon discovers the forebears' grave in the field outside the church walls, the place where infidels were buried. The slow revelation of this mystery at the crossroads of art and archaeology deepens the interest of the novel.

Birkin also meets people from the village. Curious to see the stranger who has come from London to this out of the way place, Kathie Ellerbeck, the 15-year-old daughter of the stationmaster comes time and again bouncing into the church and forces Birkin to join the Sunday dinners at her home, and also various community activities such as hay-making and church picnics. In this way, Birkin is gradually pulled out of himself. He looses his facial twitch, makes friends, returns to society.

[Poster of the film]

But the largest role here has Alice Keath, the wife of the unsympathetic vicar, a sensitive woman who seems buried in an incompatible marriage. She often comes to talk to Birkin and watch him work. Their discussions develop more and more layers of affinity and implication. In the end, both are in love with the other but unable to confess it. It is only shown in the blushes flaming Alice’s cheeks. Towards the end of the story, before Birkin’s departure, there is a moving scene up in the church tower where Birkin has been lodging, in which they nearly kiss. “Then everything would have been different. My life, hers.” But nothing happens. The next day Birkin returns to London and they never meet again.

The beautiful summer is over. Birkin leaves with resignation but also with happy memories. Memories that are insignificant to others, but doubly precious to the person who experienced the events that gave rise to them. Memories that are just as fleeting as life, because they die with us. But until then, they can be  a valuable source of contentment - that is what J.L. Carr seems to want to tell us in this delicate novella.

Filmed in 1987 by Pat O'Connor, with Colin Firth as Birkin and Natasha Richardson as Alice. The excellent (but also almost unknown) film follows the book closely and deftly brings out the inner landscapes.

Photo of Tintagel church: Herbythyme, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Masters: Kawashima Yuzo (film director)

Kawashima Yuzo (1918-1963;川島雄三) came from Mutsu in Aomori and was educated at Meiji university in Tokyo. He entered the Shochiku Studios in 1938 and became an assistant to the great classical director Kinoshita Keisuke. Kawashima made his first own film in 1944, and continued after the war at Shochiku with a number of comedies. These were second features (the second and least important film on a bill of two) and not very well received.

In order to improve his opportunities, in 1955 Kawashima moved to Nikkatsu, where he received better treatment and indeed made his best films, such as Bakumatsu Taiyoden (1957), which was voted the "fifth best Japanese film of all time" in an influential poll of the film magazine Kinema Junpo. In the early 1960s, he also worked for other studios and made some literary adaptations. He worked hard - before his sudden death in 1963 (Kawashima suffered from ALS), he made 51 films (during a career of only 19 years). Kawashima was the mentor of Imamura Shohei who worked under him as assistant director.

Kawashima is perhaps the greatest unknown in the West of all Japanese film directors I can think of, and one who least deserves it. His films are quirky, original, satirical, iconoclastic - and great fun. Kawashima's films are about people trying to survive in a world without morals. Kawashima was a forerunner of the Japanese New Wave and the connection between the classical directors of the fifties and the angry young men of the sixties. In fact, one of his last films, Beautiful Beast, which has been filmed from interesting angles in a claustrophobic environment, is very close to the New Wave.

In Japan, if only for the everlasting fame of Bakumatsu Taiyoden (that never made it to the West, yet), Kawashima is an established name and my local DVD rental shop even has a "Kawashima section." There is still a lot to discover, but that, after all, is one of the pleasures of Japanese film.

Selection of films:

• Burden of Love (Ai no onimotsu, 1955)
  Burlesque social satire about a government minister who advocates birth control (we are in the baby boom years here), even as all women in his family become pregnant one after the other. Kawashima's first success after his move to Nikkatsu.
• Our Town (Waga machi, 1956)
  An account of an Osaka suburb from the Meiji-period to the 1930s. Adept handling of a large number of characters in this comedy.
• Suzaki Paradise: Red Signal (Suzaki paradaisu: Akashingo, 1956)
  Satire set in Tokyo's seamy milieu of bars and brothels. A young couple has fled to Tokyo to marry. Looking for income and a roof above their head, they end up in the Suzaki brothel area - the woman only works in a bar at the entrance to the district, but even that makes her man madly jealous.
• The Shinagawa Path (Bakumatsu Taiyoden, 1957)
  Witty account of events in a brothel where reformers gather around the time of the Meiji restoration. Typically, they are interested in money and other things, rather than politics. A hustler (Frankie Sakai) who can't serve his debt is taken into custody by the owner of the establishment and has to work his debt off. Title also translated as "Sun Legend of the Last Days of the Shogunate." Script by Imamura Shohei and Kawashima Yuzo.
• Room to Let (Kashima ari, 1959)
• Hilarious portrait of Osaka low life. 
• Shadow of a Flower (Kaei, 1961)
  Touching study of the unhappy lives of bar hostesses, notable for the sympathy for their pain.
• Women Are Born Twice (Onna wa Nido Umareru, 1961) 
  Sensitive look at the condition of women after WWII, seen through the eyes of the geisha of a downtown area of Tokyo. Subtle delineation of character.
• The Temple of the Wild Geese (Gan no tera, 1962) 
  Film version of the novelistic masterwork of Mizukami Tsutomu about the destructive love triangle between a lecherous priest, an ex-geisha and a novice. Set in a Kyoto temple and full of atmosphere.
• Elegant Beast (Shitoyakana kedamono, 1962)
  Parents with two grown-up children make a living as fraudsters, turning to crime out of fear that the former years of utter poverty will return. Deceit, lies and surveillance determine the film. In Kawashima's hands the family becomes a symbol for Japan itself. Completely filmed inside the apartment of the parents, with many interesting camera angles (like Rear Window). Modernist style. With Wakao Ayako. The script was written by Shindo Kaneto.

Also see A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors by Alexander Jacoby (Stone Bridge Press, 2008) - an important resource.

I would recommend Elegant Beast, Temple of the Wild Geese, Women are Born Twice, Suzaki Paradise and The Shinagawa Path as the best of Kawashima's movies - with the exception of Temple of the Wild Geese, these are also the films that Imamura Shohei recommended for a retrospective at the Rotterdam Film Festival. 

Tarako Supagettei

Spaghetti flavored with Alaska pollock roe. たらこスパゲッティ。

Tarako resembles mentaiko; the difference is that in the case of mentaiko the roe has been chili-flavored, while tarako is only salted. So tarako has a softer flavor.

[Tarako Spaghetti]

It may seem extravagant to use fish eggs for spaghetti and from an Italian viewpoint it is certainly unorthodox. But foods like pizza and spaghetti, sandwiches, and of course now also sushi ("California rolls") have always been subject to fantasy arrangements when crossing cultural borders, and there is nothing wrong with that. Moreover, tarako spaghetti is in one word: delicious!

By the way, mentaiko spaghetti also exists.

Tarako is also used as a filling for a popular kind of onigiri (rice balls).

Trouble in Paradise (1932) by Lubitsch

Trouble in Paradise (1932) by Ernst Lubitsch is such a wonderful, charming film that it is difficult to do it justice in this short review. The film starts in Venice, with a shot of the famous canals, although we don't see tourists gliding through the city, but a boat collecting garbage. Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall), a suave gentleman thief, and Lily Vautier (Miriam Hopkins), a lady pickpocket, happen to meet here in a luxury hotel and steal each other's heart (plus some other stuff - Gaston has managed to remove Lily's garter from her thigh, which he doesn't return).

They decide to join hearts and techniques and a year later can be  found in Paris. Gaston has stolen the bejeweled bag of a beautiful  perfume company owner, Mme. Mariette Colet (Kay Francis), but when he sees an advertisement promising a finder's fee higher than the value of the bag, he returns it as the "honest finder." Already at the first meeting with the dark Mme. Colet, sparks are flying between them. Take the following conversation:

"If I were your father, which fortunately I am not,'' Gaston says, "and you made any attempt to handle your own business affairs, I would give you a good spanking - in a business way, of course.''
"What would you do if you were my secretary?''
"The same thing.''
"You're hired.''

In this way, Gaston is hired as Mme Colet's confidential secretary (under the alias of "Monsieur Laval") and he brings in Lily as his assistant. They are planning to rob the safe of Mme Colet and Gaston takes care that it is well stocked. But there is one hitch: Gaston and Mme. Colet have fallen in love. This is of course not to the taste of Gaston's soul mate in crime, Lily. Neither is it to the taste of popular Mme Colet's band of other suitors. Jealous, they start various rumors about "M. Laval" and of them now even remembers having met him in Venice, when he posed as a doctor. While his false identity is in danger, Gaston must choose between marriage with Mme. Colet and a getaway with the loot and Lily - although he rather would like to have it both ways...

The film is beautifully shot, the art-deco sets and costumes are incredible, the script is full of witty and racy dialogues, and everybody gives a wonderful performance. Unbelievable that this gracious movie was withdrawn from circulation between 1935 to 1968 because of Hollywood censorship (the infamous Hays code, which turned the U.S. film world into a sort of Kindergarten). It is not possible to come closer to perfection than in this intoxicating comedy...

Nameko (Mushrooms)

Nameko fungus. なめこ。Pholiota nameko. Sometimes called "butterscotch."

An autumn fungus that is unique to Japan. The name is derived from "namerako", "slimy." Ranges in color from bright orange to golden. The nameko mushroom grows in tight clusters and is cultivated in large quantities. The cap is 1 to 3 cm broad, the stem 5-8 cm long.

Has a slippery, gelatinous feel and a rich, earthy (some say nutty) flavor. The sliminess may surprise eaters outside Japan, but nameko really are delicious! The taste is mildly nutty.

[Nameko-soba]

Nameko is used in miso soup, in hot-pot dishes (nabemono) and in aemono (cooked salads). They can also be added to the soup of soba or udon - popular is "nameko-soba," where the soba noodles are eaten cold but covered with a mixture of nameko and daikon-oroshi (plus some shredded spring onions or shiso).

Does not keep well, so usually sold canned or bottled; in Japan also fresh, in plastic pouches. Rinse before use.

Torrents of Spring (1872) by Turgenev

Torrents of Spring (or "Spring Torrents;" 1872) was written by the Russian author Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883). Turgenev was born into a wealthy landowning family. He was the most cosmopolitan among Russian literati, studied in Germany and from the mid-fifties on, lived mainly in Europe. He was a pure artist who did not approve of moral or religious propaganda in literature and he was closer to Flaubert than to his countrymen Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.

[1989 film version]

Torrents of Spring is a novella on the theme of "romantic regret." Turgenev wrote it in his fifties and that is also the age of his protagonist, Dimitry Sanin, at the beginning of the story, when he finds a little cross in a drawer and is reminded of the great love of his youth. The story is then told in retrospect.

Sanin, a wealthy landowner in his early twenties, is returning to Russia from a tour in Italy. When he breaks his journey in the German city of Frankfurt, he has a chance encounter with the beautiful Gemma Roselli, who works in her family's patisserie. Dimitry falls hopelessly and deliriously in love with the pure, young woman.

Her nose was rather large, but handsome, aquiline-shaped; her upper lip was shaded by a light down; but then the colour of her face, smooth, uniform, like ivory or very pale milky amber, the wavering shimmer of her hair, like that of the Judith of Allorio in the Palazzo-Pitti; and above all, her eyes, dark-grey, with a black ring round the pupils, splendid, triumphant eyes. [...] Even in Italy he had never met anything like her!

He is warmly accepted into the small family (mother, daughter, son and an elderly manservant) because he has saved the life of Gemma's brother Emilio. In fact, Gemma is already engaged to Herr Kluber, a very stiff and strict young German with good prospects, but she is not averse to the attention Dimitry pays her. Dimitry wins the day when he defends Gemma's honor in a duel with a German soldier who has insulted her - the fiance is too cowardly to react, so exit Mr Kluber. Only the mother, Signora Roselli is not immediately convinced, as she worries about the financial future of her daughter. But she is won over when Dimitry promises to begin a new life in Frankfurt, and sell his Russian estates to get the necessary money. Having received assurances of Gemma's love, Dimitry feels himself at the highest pinnacle of human happiness. But here ends the fairy-tale.

Dimitry has a chance encounter with an old acquaintance, the weird Polozov, who is somewhat famous for the marriage he has made, with a rich and gorgeous woman who seems ill-matched to the pig-like husband. After Dimitry tells him about his circumstances, including his marriage plans, Polozov hints that his wife might be interested in Sannin's estates and invites him for a few days to Wiesbaden to clinch the deal. Maria Nikolaevna Polozov is vamp-like and intriguing personality, with an overwhelming femininity, a total contrast to the pure and almost childish Gemma (with whom Dimitry has never shared more than a simple kiss). What Dimitry doesn't know is that she has an understanding with her husband that she is free to take lovers. Husband and wife even bet on the success of the wife to seduce the naive Dimitry - the point of interest is the great love for Gemma of which Dimitry has been bragging: will Polozova be able to destroy that?

As it turns out, Dimitry is a relatively easy prey for the experienced seductress. She keeps putting off the final business talk to keep him longer in Wiesbaden - he has to attend on her at dinner, the theater, etc. - and then, during a ride in the forest (as in Madame Bovary), he falls for her, and becomes prey to a dark and destructive infatuation. He feels too ashamed to contact Gemma and tell her what has happened, so he silently sneaks out of her life. He even forgets her, for now he is the slave of Polozova:

'I am going where you will be, and will be with you till you drive me away,' he answered with despair and pressed close to him the hands of his sovereign. She freed her hands, laid them on his head, and clutched at his hair with her fingers. She slowly turned over and twisted the unresisting hair, drew herself up, her lips curled with triumph, while her eyes, wide and clear, almost white, expressed nothing but the ruthlessness and glutted joy of conquest. The hawk, as it clutches a captured bird, has eyes like that.

And then, thirty years later, Dimitry who has wasted his whole life running after Maria Nikolaevna Polozov, following her to various European cities, until he is freed by her death, finds the small cross Gemma gave him at their parting. He is consumed by remorse and regret...

[Pauline Viardot, Turgenev's great love]

P.S. There is an interesting parallel between the story and Turgenev's own life. Turgenev had a lifelong affair with the celebrated opera singer Pauline Viardot. He followed her throughout Europe and never married.

P.S. 2 Torrents of Spring was filmed in 1989 Jerzy Skolimowski (starring Timothy Hutton, Nastassja Kinski and Valeria Golino). The film competed for the Golden Palm Award at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.

Available as a Penguin and also free at Gutenberg.

See also:
Stories of Ivan Turgenev (1): Early Stories
Stories of Ivan Turgenev (2): Lyrical Stories
Stories of Ivan Turgenev (3): Late Stories

Mizukami Tsutomu (novelist)

Mizukami Tsutomu (1919 - 2004; 水上勉) was a literary author of fiction who often straddled the border of pure literature and more popular genres. More than ten of his novels were made into films, a sure sign of his popularity in his own country (strangely enough, these films mostly remained outside the Western "Japan canon"). When I lived as researcher in Kyoto in the early 1980s, I often saw his books in bookshops and on shelves of friends. In the West, he is almost unknown - it was only in 2008 that, coincidentally, translations appeared in both English and German of his masterwork, The Temple of the Wild Geese, and in English also of his novel Bamboo Dolls of Echizen. This neglect is strange, for Mizukami's greatest work has a certain obsessiveness in common with Tanizaki and Kawabata, and gives atmospheric depictions of the world of priests and geisha in Kyoto, as well as the poor countryside of the Wakasa area. It has also strong folkloristic elements.

By the way, the author's name can also be read as Minakami - that was in fact the pseudonym he used as a writer, but as he himself was not strict about it and "Mizukami" is the  pronunciation now usually used in Japan, we will keep to Mizukami.

Mizukami was born as the son of a shrine carpenter in the Wakasa region of Fukui Prefecture, on the Japan Sea coast above Kyoto. In his early teens, he became a novice in a Kyoto temple (a subtemple of Shokokuji), taking his vows in 1930. But the young Mizukami had a difficult time in the Zen establishment, moving from temple to temple. In 1932 he entered the Tojiin and went to nearby Hanazono Middle School, but had quite a turbulent relationship with the head priest whom he considered as corrupt. He left in 1936, after graduation.

Mizukami then entered Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto to study Japanese literature, but dropped out due to financial problems. It took a long time to get on his feet - he had thirty-six different jobs in this period, from vagrant peddler to clerk in a geta shop and manager of a mahjong parlor (which of course gave him the  life experience useful for a writer). Study with the author Uno Koji (1891-1961), known for his naturalistic novels in a personal style, led to his first autobiographical novel (The Song of the Frying Pan, 1948), but Mizukami was unable to support himself by writing for at least another decade. His breakthrough came in 1959 when he published an extremely popular mystery, Mist and Shadow. It was detective fiction with a social theme, a genre initiated by Matsumoto Seicho (Ten to Sen). In 1961 Mizukami wrote The Fangs of the Sea in the same vein, a mystery novel about the Minamata Disease, caused by environmental pollution, that won him the Mystery Writers' Club Prize. His most enduring popular work in this genre was Straits of Hunger from 1963.

Mizukami used the financial security provided by these mystery novels to step back into pure literature. The Temple of the Geese (1962) was based on his own temple experiences and won him the prestigious Naoki Prize - it has been filmed by Kawashima Yuzo and is generally considered as his masterwork. The years of literary and social apprenticeship now paid off.

In The Yugiri Brothel at Gobancho (1962) Mizukami wrote about a young girl from a poor family who is sold to become a geisha (Gobancho was a geisha district in Nishijin, Kyoto). In the same novel, he treats the burning of the Golden Pavilion from a different point of view than Mishima Yukio had done. Local color is very strong in The Bamboo Dolls of Echizen  ("Echizen" is the traditional name for Fukui Prefecture where Minakami was born), which won very high praise from Tanizaki in 1963. Minakami also excelled in the genre of the literary biography. His biography of his literary mentor Uno Koji won the Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1971, and his study of the 15th c. eccentric Zen-master Ikkyu was awarded the Tanizaki Prize in 1975.

Mizukami started only in his early forties as a full-time writer, but his output was tremendous: he wrote between 5 and 10 books a year, in the 1960s even 15. Already in 1968 his Selected Works were published by Shinchosha in six volumes. In 1976-78 followed his Collected Works in 26 volumes (Chuo Koronsha), and again in 16 volumes in 1995-97. Besides fiction (both high-brow and middle-brow, and often a mix of both), he also wrote travel essays, autobiographical reminiscences and popular books about Buddhism. Kyoto and its temples were a favorite subject. His travel essays were collected in 1982-83 by Heibonsha in eight volumes. Mizukami wrote in a beautiful literary style, but in his dialogues he also used dialect elements.

Here are some of his major works:

• The Temple of the Wild Geese (Gan no Tera, 1961). 
  Mizukami used thriller techniques in this semi-autobiographical novel, set in a Kyoto temple called "the Temple of the Wild Geese" because a famous painter has decorated the sliding doors with these birds. The story centers on Jinen, a thirteen-year old novice with a mysterious background. The orphaned son of a beggar, he has a grotesquely formed head and is generally unhappy and ashamed of his past. The priest of the temple, Jikai, has taken an ex-geisha from Gion, Satoko, into the temple.  In modern Japan, priests are allowed to marry, but playing around with geisha is of course a sign of lewdness in a priest. On top of that, Jikai is a notorious tippler. The lonely Jinen develops a crush on Satoko, and she does not completely discourage his youthful fancy. The unlikely love triangle leads to a brutal climax - Jikai disappears. Has he really departed on a walking tour of penance, as Jinen says? A story with great psychological depth and written in a beautiful style.
  
  The English translation was made by Dennis Washburn and published by Dalkey Archive Press in 2008 (also includes Bamboo Dolls of Echizen);  the German translation was made by Eduard Klopfenstein, also in 2008.
  
  The Temple of the Wild Geese was filmed in 1962 by Kawashima Yuzo (another Unknown Master) in vibrant black-and-white. Wakao Ayako plays the role of Satoko. Jinen is older than in the book, he is in Middle School and looks about eighteen - this makes the love triangle more probable.


• The Yugiri Brothel at Gobancho (Gobancho Yugiriro, 1963)
  A young woman from a poor family in Fukui is sold to the Yugiri geisha house in Nishijin, Kyoto. A rich merchant wants to be her lover, but she is already in love with a local boy who has become a novice in the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Out of frustration he in the end sets fire to the priceless structure...
  
  The Yugiri Brothel at Gobancho was filmed in 1963 by Tasaka Tomitaka (another Unknown Master).


• Bamboo Dolls of Echizen (Echizen Takeningyo, 1963)
  A young bamboo craftsman, Kisuke, takes his father's prostitute Tamae as a wife and insists on treating her as a mother - the two never become lovers. The story has weird Freudian overtones. Cared for by Tamae, Kisuke becomes a renowned craftsman, a maker of the bamboo dolls the region is famous for. Part folk tale and part social realism, set in the isolated rural scenery of Fukui Prefecture. Lots of local color, often of a primitive and ghostly nature.
  
  Bamboo Dolls of Echizen was translated by Dennis Washburn and published by Dalkey Archive Press in 2008 in the same volume as The Temple of the Wild Geese.
  
  Bamboo Dolls of Echizen was filmed in 1963 by Yoshimura Kozaburo (yes, another Unknown Master!) as a stylish melodrama. 

Anthologies of Japanese literature in English contain two further short stories by Mizukami: The Showa Anthology (2) contains "Mulberry Child" in the translation by Anthony H. Chambers, and Autumn Wind contains "Bamboo Flowers" in the translation by Lane Dunlop.

Films other than those mentioned above based on novels by Mizukami Tsutomu include: Mist and Shadows (Kiri to Kage) was filmed in 1961 by Isshi Teruo; The Story of Echigo (Echigo tsutsuishi oya shirazu) was filmed in 1964 by Imai Tadashi, and stars Mikuni Rentaro; Straits of Hunger (Kiga kaikyo, also titled "A Fugitive from the Past" in English) was filmed in 1965 by Uchida Tomu - a study of the dark underbelly of postwar society; Shadow of the Waves (Namikage) was filmed in 1965 by Toyoda Shiro; Clouds at Sunset (Akenegumo) in 1967 by Shinoda Masahiro; the same director also filmed Ballad of Orin (Hanare goze Orin) in 1977 - protagonist in both films was Iwashita Shima; and Father and Child (Chichi to Ko) by Hosaka Nobuhiko in 1983; in the same year followed The Legend of the White Snake (Hakujasho), another and more erotic take on the love triangle between a lustful priest - second wife - and novice, here with Koyanagi Rumiko.

Bach Cantates (15): Quinquagesima (BWV 22, 23, 127 & 159)

Quinquagesima is the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. It was also called Estomihi, or Shrove Sunday. The name "Quinquagesima" comes from the Latin "quinquagesimus" (fiftieth), referring to the fifty days before Easter, using an inclusive count that includes both Sundays. The name "Estomihi" comes from the beginning of the introit for this Sunday, "Esto mihi in Deum protectorem" (Psalm 31:3). This is the last Sunday before Lent, and Lent (like Advent) falls under Tempus Clausum, a penitential period focused on self-reflection, prayer, penance, and repentance, when no music was allowed in the church and there were no extravagant celebrations such as large weddings.

The reading for this Sunday is Luke 18:31-34: Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going to Jerusalem, and everything that was written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. But the disciples did not understand any of this. This passage foreshadows the themes of Lent and Holy Week.

There are four cantatas for this Sunday. "Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe," BWV 22, and "Du wahrer Gott und David's Son," BWV 23, were written as test pieces for the audition for the St. Thomas Cantorate in Leipzig; they were performed on the same day, one before and one after the sermon, and - although they were written while Bach was still employed in Kothen - are considered part of the first cantata cycle (Bach performed them again in 1724). "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott", BWV 127, written in 1725, is part of the chorale cantata cycle. "Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, BWV 159, belongs to the fourth cycle based on librettos by Picander; it focuses on the announcement of Jesus' suffering.

Readings:
1 Corinthians 13:1–13, Praise of love
Luke 18:31–43, Healing the blind near Jericho

Cantata Studies:
Bach Cantatas Website | Simon Crouch | Emmanuel Music | Julian Mincham | Wikipedia | Eduard van Hengel (in Dutch) | Bach Companion (Oxford U.P.) | Bach: The Learned Musician (Wolff) | Music in the Castle of Heaven (Gardiner)

[Nicolas Colombel - Christ Healing the Blind]

Cantatas:

• Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe, BWV 22, 7 February 1723
  
  (Arioso) e (Coro): "Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe" for choir, tenor and bass soloists, and orchestral tutti.
  Aria: "Mein Jesu, ziehe mich nach dir" for altus, oboe, and continuo.
  Recitativo: "Mein Jesu, ziehe mich, so werd ich laufen" for bass, strings, and continuo.
  Aria: "Mein alles in allem, mein ewiges Gut" for tenor, strings, and continuo.
  Choral: "Ertöt uns durch dein Güte" for choir, oboe, strings, and continuo.
  
  "Jesus Gathered the Twelve and Said"
  Text & translation
  
  Scored for three vocal soloists (an alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir (SATB), oboe, two violins, viola and basso continuo.
  
  One of two cantatas (with BWV 23) written as test pieces for an audition for the St. Thomas Cantorate in Leipzig. In other words, music that Bach wanted to impress with virtuosity, but since he didn't know the abilities of the local musicians, he plays it safe with only strings and oboe, leaving out the soprano solo. He also avoids da capo arias (arias in which the opening is repeated at the end) and secco recitatives (recitatives with only continuo accompaniment) - both of which were common in opera, but conservative members of the Leipzig Council believed that church music should not be mixed with theatrical frivolities. Bach's music pleased the council and he was eventually appointed.
  
  These two cantatas were intended for Estomihi Sunday. This is the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, and thus the last Sunday before Good Friday on which a cantata was performed, since tempus clausum was observed in Leipzig during the Passiontide.
  
  The text of the cantata closely follows the Gospel story of the healing of the blind man and the related proclamation of the suffering in Jerusalem, the reading assigned to Bach by the council. The unknown librettist concentrates on the proclamation of Jesus' suffering as he enters Jerusalem. 
  
  The opening of the first section is the bass arioso as the Vox Christi "Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, und es wird alles vollendet werden" - accompanied by a plaintive oboe figure, the voice moves up at "hinauf gehn". The halting fugal chorus describes the disciples' lack of understanding.
  
  The lilting alto aria with oboe accompaniment, "My Jesus, draw me after thee," is a personalization of the journey to Jerusalem, spoken in the voice of the congregation of Bach's day.
  
  The bass recitative refers to the rush to Golgotha, followed by a tenor aria in the role of the Evangelist, illustrating the joy of salvation - the failings of humanity that allowed the disciples to miss the meaning of Jesus' words have given way to joyful optimism. The aria is set in a typical "walking rhythm" (a dansante minuet).
  
  The beautiful closing chorale is the 5th and final verse of Elisabeth Cruciger's hymn "Lord Christ, the Son of God".
  
  Video: Netherlands Bach Society - Interview with conductor Sigiswald Kuijken & Lucia Swarts on the violoncello da spalla /
  J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)
  
  
  
  
• Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn, BWV 23, 7 February 1723
  
  Aria (Duetto): "Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn" for soprano & altus
  Recitativo: "Ach! gehe nicht vorüber" for tenor.
  (Coro): "Aller Augen warten, Herr" for choir.
  Chorale: "Christe, du Lamm Gottes" for choir.
  
  "You True God and David's Son"
  Text & translation
  
  Scored for soprano, alto and tenor, four-part choir, strings, 2 oboes, 3 trombones and continuo.
  
  This short cantata forms the second half of Bach's audition for cantor of the Thomas school, together with BWV 22. Bach performed both cantatas together at a service in Leipzig on February 7, 1723. The two works were commissioned by the city council as audition pieces to be played as part of Bach's application for a position in Leipzig. His music pleased the council and he was eventually appointed cantor there.
  
  The cantata is based on the parable of the blind man from Luke 18:42, and with it the announcement of the suffering in Jerusalem. On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus is approached by a blind beggar. Jesus restored his sight, saying "Your faith has been your salvation". In other words, this cantata is about faith and its rewards. The unknown lyricist initially addresses only the healing of the blind man, and only the final chorale leads to the Passion. The blind man's cry, "Thou son of David," is understood as a confession of Christ. The third movement generalizes that not only the blind man's eyes, but "all eyes" are waiting to be healed.
  
  In the opening duet for soprano and alto, the duality of Christ's human and divine identity is symbolized by two oboes d'amore (playing an addictive motive) and the two treble voices. The text itself is a plea for mercy, full of sadness.
  
  After a tenor recitative over which the instrumental chorale "Christe du Lamm Gottes" is placed (to extend the plea of the two blind men "Ach! gehe nicht vorüber" to the whole world), we have a wonderful chorus "Aller Augen warten", alternating with a tenor and bass duet. The dance-like music also seems to raise its eyes to heaven. The cantata ends with a profound choral fantasy, "Christe, du Lamm Gottes," a setting of the German Agnus Dei from the Lutheran mass. This is an older composition, possibly from the largely lost Weimar Passion of 1717. In 1725, Bach reused it as the final chorus of the second version of his St. John Passion.
  
  
  Video: Netherlands Bach Society - Interview with Kuijken and Swarts /
  J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)
  
  
  
  
• Herr Jesu Christ, wahr’ Mensch und Gott, BWV 127, 11 February 1725
  
  Choral: Herr Jesu Christ, wahr’ Mensch und Gott
  Rezitativ Tenor: Wenn alles sich zur letzten Zeit entsetzet
  Arie Soprano: Die Seele ruht in Jesu Händen
  Rezitativ und Arie Bass: Wenn einstens die Posaunen schallen
  Choral: Ach, Herr, vergib all unsre Schuld
  
  "Lord Jesus Christ, True Human and God"
  Text & translation
  
  Scored for three vocal soloists (soprano, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, trumpet, two recorders, two oboes, two violins, viola and basso continuo.
  
  Chorale Cantata. As we have seen, the prescribed readings for Sunday were the healing of a blind man and the related proclamation of the suffering in Jerusalem. The cantata text is based on "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr Mensch und Gott", the death song in eight verses by  Paul Eber (1562). The song fits the Gospel because it emphasizes the Passion, and the plea at the end of the first verse, "You want to be merciful to me as a sinner," is similar to the plea of the blind man. The song looks at Jesus' journey to Jerusalem as a model for the believer's journey to his own salvation. An unknown poet retained the first and last verses of the song verbatim and transformed the inner verses into a series of recitatives and arias.
  
  In the first movement, the chorale "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott" is accompanied in the orchestra by two other choral melodies, "Christe, du Lamm Gottes" and "O Haupt, voll Blut und Wunden". The reading for this day, about the healing of the blind man, is extended to Jesus' action as a savior at the moment of death and as a helper of the faithful at the heavenly judgment. The secco tenor recitative sings of "cold sweat of death," "stiff limbs," and a heart that finally breaks, but Bach keeps his music cool.
  
  The deeply tragic soprano aria sings of the soul resting securely in the hands of Jesus. Bach chose an unusual instrumentation for the first aria. The oboe plays the melody, supported by short chords in the recorders. In the middle section, the "funeral bells" are represented by pizzicato strings.
  
  The bass recitative and aria then vividly describe the Day of Judgment. The trumpet appears for the first time to accompany the text "When the trumpets sound one day." The unusual movement combines an accompagnato recitative with an aria. Bach contrasts the end of the world with the security of the faithful, expressed in the words and music of the chorale.
  
  The final chorale is a four-part movement that subtly responds to the text; for example, "our faith is always brave" is clarified by movement in the lower voices and artfully harmonized "until we fall asleep blissfully."
  
  Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)
  
  
  
  
• Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, BWV 159, 27 February 1729
  
  1. Arioso e recitativo (bass, alto): Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem – Komm, schaue doch, mein Sinn
  2. Aria e chorale (alto, soprano, oboe): Ich folge dir nach – Ich will hier bei dir stehen
  3. Recitativo (tenor): Nun will ich mich, mein Jesu
  4. Aria (bass, oboe): Es ist vollbracht
  5. Chorale: Jesu, deine Passion ist mir lauter Freude
  
  "Come Do Look My Senses"
  Text & translation
  
  Scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir only in the closing chorale, oboe, two violins, viola and basso continuo.
  
  The story of the Stations of the Cross told from the point of view of a soul (an alto) who tries to warn Jesus: "Be careful, your cross is waiting for you there!" The main themes of submission and suffering are emotional ones.
  
  The text focuses on the announcement of Jesus' suffering, which is seen as terrible (1), as an example to follow (2), as a reason to say goodbye to earthly pleasures (3), and finally as a reason to give thanks (4, 5). The cantata text was written by Picander, who also wrote the text for Bach's St. Matthew Passion, which was performed later that year on Good Friday. He included two stanzas from Passion hymns, Paul Gerhardt's "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" and a stanza from Paul Stockmann's "Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod" as the closing chorale.
  
  The first movement is a dialogue between bass and alto, with the bass as the voice of Christ quoting a line from the Gospel reading and the alto, the hesitant soul, representing his disciples who resent the announcement. "Wir gehn hinauf" again inspires a familiar walking rhythm. This kind of duet must have come as a shock to the Leipzig congregation - in Bach's day, sung dialogues were associated mainly with opera and would have seemed distasteful to the most devout worshipers.
  
  In the second movement, the expressive melodic lines of the alto are juxtaposed with the chorale over the melody of "Befiehl du deine Wege". The Soul begins, "Ich folge dir nach," while the first line of the chorale reads: "Ich will hier bei dir stehen" (I will stay here with you). The process of the alto beginning earlier and ending later than the chorale line is repeated for the other lines of the chorale, ending with the alto's "Und wenn du endlich scheiden mußt, sollst du dein Grab in mir erlangen" (And when you finally have to go, you will find your grave in me) being combined with the chorale's "Als dann will ich dich fassen in meinen Arm und Schoß" (Then I will hold you tightly in my arm and bosom).
  
  The later three movements follow the usual sequence of recitative, aria, and chorale. A secco recitative by the tenor first expresses the sorrow of the journey to death and then turns to the expectation of the final union with Jesus. The cantata culminates in the fourth movement, in which the vox Christi reflects the completion of the Passion: "Es ist vollbracht." The oboe introduces a meditative theme. The bass picks it up, and both rest on long sustained string chords. The middle section illustrates the words "Nun will ich eilen" with runs in the voice, oboe, and violins. A quasi da capo resumes the first motif, now on the words "Welt, gute Nacht". The aria has been described as a hauntingly affective reflection on Jesus' last words from the cross, with a beautiful oboe line.
  
  The cantata ends with a serene four-part setting of Stockmann's hymn summarizing the Passion: "Jesu, deine Passion ist mir lauter Freude" (Jesus, your Passion is pure joy to me).
  
  Video: Netherlands Bach Society - Interview conductor Van Veldhoven /
  J.S. Bach Foundation (St.Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)
  
  

Bach Cantata Index

Ueki Hitoshi (actor, singer, comedian)

Humor doesn't travel well, it's often said, and you'd be forgiven for thinking so when you look at the Japanese film scene. While Kurosawa and Ozu have become household names worldwide, and many samurai and yakuza genre films have been released with English subtitles, comedies seem to have a hard time breaking through the cultural barrier. The only exceptions are the long series It's Hard Being a Man, starring Atsumi Kiyoshi as Tora-san (1969-1995), and a few films by Itami Juzo. But there seem to be no comedies from the 1960s that have been subtitled and released outside of Japan. This is all the more unfortunate because such movies can tell you a lot about everyday life in Japan, both at home and in the office. The Toho company was very active in the humorous film genre, with the iconic actors Ueki Hitoshi and Morishige Hisaya. Here we will look at the movies made by Ueki Hitoshi.

Ueki Hitoshi (1926-2007) was a comedian, actor and singer representing the Japanese post-war miracle. Born into a family of priests in Mie Prefecture, he began his career as a singer and guitarist in Tokyo immediately after the war. He first became famous as a member of the Crazy Cats, a comic jazz band with Hana Hajime and Tani Kei. Their act was full of wacky gags a la the Marx Brothers. Ueki and the Crazy Cats also became a big hit on television. One of Ueki's most famous songs was Suudara bushi from 1962, with the nonsensical lyrics "I know it, but I can't stop.

Ueki made his film debut in Masamura Yasuzo's remake of The Woman Who Touched the Legs (1960), but his breakthrough came with his own feature, the classic comedy The Age of Irresponsibility in Japan (Nippon Musekinin Jidai, 1962). Here (as in most of Hitoshi Ueki's other movies) we also find his co-stars Hana Hajime and Tani Kei. This movie, in which Ueki played a wayward salaryman, was very much in the spirit of the times. Thanks to the hard work of its people, Japan was prospering again. The 1960s was the time of consumerism, of TVs, cars and "my homes". It was just before the Tokyo Olympics and the nation felt confident about the future. It was even possible to work a little less hard and enjoy life.

This is exactly what Ueki's salaryman type does. He is "genki," optimistic and energetic. While his colleagues sit yawning at their desks, he storms into the office, yells "Work, work," and starts working the phones to make a sales appointment with a big voice and a smile - his toothy grin has become his trademark. He is the archetype of the ideal employee. But he also has an "irresponsible" side: he doesn't care about small rules and procedures, sets his own time, jumps the hierarchy and uses very unusual methods to be successful. He boldly says what he thinks. Any real-life employee who tried to behave like Ueki would have been fired within seconds. But it was satisfying to see a guy on film breaking all the office rules! It gave the real salarymen of Japan the motivation to continue their grinding work.

The Age of Irresponsibility was so popular in Japan that more movies featuring Ueki were made at a rapid pace. There was another "irresponsibility" movie, Nippon Musekinin Yaro, the Irresponsible Guy of Japan (also 1962). Another group of Ueki films was created around the title "Nippon Ichi no XX Otoko", "The Best XX Man of Japan", starting with Nippon Ichi no Iro Otoko, The Sexiest Man of Japan, followed by Nippon Ichi no Gomasuri Otoko, The Greatest Flatterer of Japan (1965) and Nippon Ichi no Gorigan Otoko, The Greatest Pusher of Japan (1966). A total of ten of these movies were made by 1971. In all these movies, Ueki plays basically the same type of salaryman, and this was also true for a third series of movies with the word "Crazy" in it. While all the above mentioned Ueki movies had musical numbers (Ueki suddenly starts singing and dancing in the streets, a la Bollywood), in the "Crazy Series" the Crazy Cats band comes on stage and the music is more elaborate.  A good example is Honkon Kureeji Sakusen, Hong Kong Crazy Strategy (14 movies were made until 1971).

Finally, there is a fourth series in which the salaryman character of Ueki is transported to the past and runs around as a crazy salaryman samurai. A good example is Horafuki Taikoki, The Bluffing Hideyoshi. A total of four movies were made. Besides these series, Ueki also appeared in a number of other comedies during the same period. So the 60's can rightfully be called the crazy, irresponsible age of Ueki Hitoshi!

The director of many of these movies was Toho comic genre director Furusawa Kengo (and to a lesser extent Furosawa's colleague Tsuboshima Takashi). A popular female counterpart (or "Madonna" as the Japanese say) was Hama Mie, best known in the West for her role in James Bond's You Only Live Twice (1967).

In the 1970s the tide turned and Ueki Hitoshi lost his comic appeal. He had some quiet years as far as movies were concerned, but in the 1980s he appeared in many movies again, often in very different roles from the comedies of the 60s. For example, he played a very serious supporting role as General Fujimaki in Akira Kurosawa's Ran (1985). In the 90's his popularity was back, now mixed with nostalgia as his films started to appear on DVD. Like the ideal grandfather, always smiling, Ueki was a frequent guest on TV shows and was also asked to do almost countless TV commercials. He also continued to make movies, almost until his death in 2007 - the last movie he appeared in was Maiko Haaan, in which he played an elderly company owner from the Nishijin weaving district.

Ueki Hitoshi's comedies are symbolic of Japan's post-war white-collar era, and are great time capsules of Japanese homes and offices in the 1960s. They are the ideal films about the life of a salaryman. Why are they not better known outside Japan?

Japanese Film

Mirin

Mirin, the basic sweetener in the Japanese kitchen. みりん、味醂。

The term "mirin" is difficult to translate. It is, for example. often called "sweet cooking sake", but that is wrong. Mirin does not contain any sake and has not been fermented either.

[Mirin]

Mirin is produced by mixing steamed glutinous rice (the type used for mochi rice cakes) on which the koji mold has been cultivated, with shochu (Japanese distilled liquor). Instead of shochu it is also possible to use brewer's alcohol. The koji transforms the starch in the rice into glucose and over a period of 40 to 60 days a delicious sweetness develops. When the mirin is ready, it contains 13.5 to 14.5% alcohol and 40 to 50% sugar. The alcohol will evaporate during cooking.

There are several cheap "chemical" replacements on the market, so to make clear we have to do with real mirin, it is usually called "hon-mirin." You can also recognize it by the alcohol percentage of around 14% that is always on the bottle, and the light brown color, as a thin, golden syrup. The chemical replacements are lighter colored and contain less than 1% alcohol.

Mirin possesses a refined sweet taste and a delicious aroma. It also contains lots of umami and is therefore a much more refined sweetener than ordinary sugar.

Mirin is also used as ingredient for all kinds of dip sauces for noodles, for sweetening simmered dishes, for marinades, and the sauces for kabayaki and teriyaki, as well as for glazing grilled foods. Mirin also helps to mask the strong aromas of meat or fish.

In the past, mirin was sometimes also consumed as an alcoholic drink, by adding more shochu. It is still used as ingredient in otoso, the New Year's sake that has been spiced up with a herb mixture.

Su

Su

Rice vinegar

酢、米酢

Worldwide, the production of vinegar is linked to that of alcoholic beverages. In France, the term "vinaigre" literally means vin aigre or "sour wine." In Japan, vinegar is made from fermented rice, just like sake. Also the lees of rice (sakekasu) pressed out of the sake after fermentation is completed, can be used for making vinegar. In both cases, acetic acid bacteria are added for a further fermentation process where ethanol is turned into acetic acid, which is the main component of vinegar. This takes one to two months after which the vinegar is filtered and pasteurized. Acidity is only just over 4% and the taste is mild. Rice vinegar also contains amino acids as well as citric acid, malic acid, lactic acid and succinic acid. Another type of rice vinegar with an even deeper taste is made from brown rice and popularly called kurozu, "black vinegar."

Rice vinegar is mixed with other ingredients to create condiments for specific purposes (the general name for these is awasezu, seasoned rice vinegar):

• sushizu, or sushi vinegar used to make vinegared rice for sushi, by adding sugar, salt and (sometimes) mirin;
• amazu, sweet vinegar, by adding sugar
• nihaizu, by mixing vinegar and soy sauce in the proportion of 3:2
• sanbaizu, by mixing vinegar, mirin (or sugar) and soy sauce in the proportion of 3:2:1

Vinegar is used to make sunomono, a popular side dish consisting of cut cucumber, seaweed and sometimes pieces of octopus; it is also used in simmered dishes (nimono) and to make one type of pickles (tsukemono). It also serves to mitigate the strong odors of fish and meats and is added to dipping sauces for sashimi, grilled fish and one pot dishes (nabemono).

Japanese Masters: Masumura Yasuzo (film director)

Masumura Yasuzo (1924-1986, 増村保造) first caught my attention thanks to the several movies he made based on novels by Tanizaki and Kawabata. He was an older contemporary of Oshima Nagisa and is considered an iconoclastic forerunner of the New Wave in Japan.

Born in Kofu, Masumura was interested in film from an early age. As a high school student, he saw Kurosawa's Sanshiro Sugata three times. He studied law at Tokyo University, but dropped out to become an assistant director at Daiei Studios because he needed money - he would return to college and graduate in philosophy in 1949. He then won a scholarship to a famous film school in Rome (the Centro sperimentale di cinematografia), and after graduating worked on the Italian-Japanese co-production of Madame Butterfly. In 1953 he returned to Japan.

From 1955, Masumura worked at Daiei for Mizoguchi Kenji (assisting on the last three films of this great director) and then on three films for Ichikawa Kon. Although Masumura was later critical of Ichikawa's films, his work shows a considerable debt to the older director - if only in the frequent choice of literary sources. Masumura made his first movie, Kisses, in 1957. He stayed with Daiei until the company's demise, making about three films a year, for a total of 58 films.

Masumura's films are characterized by visual inventiveness and dark satire, often a strong indictment of social injustice and an unsentimental look at what it means to be human. You could say that his films, usually borrowing the vocabulary of genre film, show the cruel beauty of life. Social realism, which he learned in Italy, was not suitable for Japan, with its regimented society and lack of individual freedom, he says, so he opted for exaggeration. If I had to characterize his work in one word, I would choose "obsession. The fact that he often used literary sources, from Saikaku and Chikamatsu to Tanizaki and Kawabata, reveals a classical streak that links him to his "teacher", Ichikawa Kon.


Some of his most important films are

• Kisses (Kuchizuke, 1957)
  Known for its handheld, fluid camerawork, this first film is a cruel story of youth as Oshima would also make a few years later. A boy and girl meet in prison where they happen to visit their respective fathers. They decide to spend the day together and, after successfully gambling on a bicycle race, head for the beach.
• Giants and Toys (Kyojin to Gangu, 1958)
  A critique of the Economic Miracle and more vicious than the "Company President" films made around the same time by Morishige Hisaya. Still, there is no lack of humor in the endeavor of a sweets company to make an unknown girl with bad teeth into the star of their new commercial campaign. After a story by Kaiko Takeshi.
• Afraid to Die (Karakkaze-yaro, 1960)
  A mean yakuza film in the first place remarkable for having author Mishima Yukio in the main role. He plays a yakuza who has wounded the boss of another gang, and whatever he does, can't escape revenge. As befitting for Mishima, the death scene is the highlight of the film.
• Passion (Manji, 1964)
  This is a famous story by Tanizaki Junichiro, translated into English as "Quicksand." A bored middle-aged housewife (Kishida Kyoko of The Woman in the Dunes) falls obsessively in love with a young model (Wakao Ayako). When her husband and the fiance of the model also join the fray, we have the four arms of the Buddhist swastika and an emotional quicksand. By far the best among various films based on Manji.
• The Hoodlum Soldier (Heitai Yakuza, 1965)
  A cynical look at life in the barracks of the Japanese army in Manchuria as a miniature version of Japan itself with its suffocating hierarchies. The cruelty that characterized certain divisions of the Imperial Army leaps off the screen in the continual beatings that small-time sergeants enforce on their inferiors. The hoodlum soldier of the title is played by Katsu Shintaro, his good-willing mentor Akira by Tamura Takahiro. In the end, when told they will be sent to the killing fields of Leyte, they desert by stealing a train.
• The Red Angel (Akai Tenshi, 1966)
  A young angelic nurse played by Wakao Ayako serves in China during the war years. She is raped by her patients and when she complains, sent to the front lines. It is like a gruesome version of MASH. Amid the carnage, she falls in love with a morphine-addicted surgeon (Ashida Shinsuke). She also provides comfort to a soldier whose arms have both been amputated. A strange, but very human and engrossing film, perhaps Masumura's masterwork.
• The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka (Hanaoka Seishu no Tsuma, 1967). 
  Based on a novel by Ariyoshi Sawako ("The Doctor's Wife"), this is a period film about the first doctor (played by Ichikawa Raizo) who performs surgery using general anesthesia. His loving but neglected wife (Wakao Ayako) offers herself as a guinea pig for his experiments. Another study in obsession.
• A Fool's Love (Chijin no Ai, 1967)
  Based on the 1924 novel of the same name by Tanizaki Junichiro (translated as "Naomi"). Naomi is a modern girl, a "moga," who defies Japanese tradition in the way she dresses and behaves. She bobs her hair, prefers Western clothes, and tries to look like Hollywood star Mary Pickford. There is something "Eurasian" about her, and even her name, Naomi, is tantalizingly "Western". Joji, a thirty-something engineer, decides to take the fifteen-year-old barmaid of obscure origin into his home and train her to become his future "dream woman. Of course, the whole setup is just a transaction for Naomi, and she conquers Joji through a consciously calculated performance of Westerness. She continues to enslave Joji after he makes her his mistress (and becomes totally obsessed with her) - from a seemingly shy and naive young woman, Naomi transforms herself into a perfect monster, a kind of femme fatale who keeps the abjectly submissive Joji on a tight leash, guaranteeing her sexual freedom while Joji becomes totally enslaved.
  P.S. The translation of the title as "Love for an Idiot" given in Wikipedia is wrong. Joji is the idiot who loves Naomi, not the other way around.
  
• Blind Beast (Moju, 1969)
  A blind sculptor kidnaps a young fashion model and keeps her in his Dali-esque warehouse filled with huge sculptures of female body parts. His dream is to sculpt the perfect female form. Visually inventive, this is another tale of madness and obsession, after an original story by Edogawa Ranpo.
• Love Suicides at Sonezaki (Sonezaki Shinju, 1978)
  Based on the classic Joruri play by Chikamatsu, with Kaji Meiko ("Lady Snowblood") in the main role. A period piece that is lurid, bloody and gorgeous at the same time.

Other interesting films are The Precipice (Hyoheki, 1958) with Yamamoto Fujiko and based on a novel by Inoue Yasushi; The Woman who Touched the Legs (Ashi ni Sawatta Onna, 1960), a comedy about a female pickocket (Kyo Machiko) and a remake of a film by Ichikawa Kon; A False Student (Nise Daigakusei,  1960) based on a story by Oe Kenzaburo; The Life of an Amorous Man (Koshoku Ichidai Otoko, 1961) based on a novel by Edo-period master Iharu Saikaku; A Wife Confesses (Tsuma wa Kokuhaku suru, 1961), an existential film with Wakao Ayako; Tattoo (Irezumi, 1966) based on the well-known short story by Tanizaki, and again with Wakao Ayako; Thousand Cranes (Senbazuru, 1969), based on the eponymous novel by Kawabata Yasunari, and with Wakao Ayako and Kyo Machiko.

"The Sea, the Sea" (1978) by Iris Murdoch

Booker Prize winning The Sea, The Sea is a story of obsession. It is also a story about the unattainability of perfection in the human world.

Charles Arrowby has had a successful career in the London theater, as actor, playwright and director, but suddenly, at middle age, he decides to retire and become a recluse. He buys a remote house "Shruff End" on the rocks by the sea, a somewhat creepy place without electricity and other amenities, outside a small village. Seeking for peace and starting to write his reminiscences, fate has a new drama in store for him when he unexpectedly bumps into his childhood sweetheart, Hartley. She is now a plain housewife with a worn-out face, but the spark of love is rekindled in him. Not in her, by the way, as she was the one who left him in the past.

Hartley is married but seems not entirely happy with her simple husband Ben and Charles begins stalking her and sets his heart on destroying her marriage. His obsession grows to such ludicrous heights that he even kidnaps her and keeps her for several days prisoner in a small, windowless room in his rickety house. Hartley, however, makes perfectly clear that she is not interested, she has her own life, and her marriage may not be perfect, but it is her choice. At the heart of the novel lies Charles's inability to recognize the selfishness and egotism that propel him to these romantic shenanigans - also in the real world  he behaves like a theater director who thinks he can "stage" the lives of the people around him. He projects his own thoughts on others and does not realize that they may have a will of their own.

In the meantime, Charles' eccentric London friends have also started arriving, one after the other, to keep him company. He has never married, but there are a few ex-lovers who make their appearance again. Two such women are the actresses Lizzie and Rosina, who are still obsessed with Charles. In the past, Charles has broken up the marriage between Rosina and another actor, Peregrine, and then cruelly dropped her - showing how destructively the one-sided love of Charles works out on his relations. Peregrine also appears (and happens to find an opportunity for revenge), and another friend, Gilbert, who for a while acts as Charles' "house slave."

Washing up in Charles house is also the adopted son of Hartley, Titus, whom Charles tries to use as a tool to get closer to the woman of the dreams of his youth. But Titus proves to be a person with a strong mind of his own. Finally, there is Charles nephew James, with whom he has always felt some kind of competition. James is a sort of guru (we are in the 1970s after all) with vague Eastern / Buddhist leanings. But he is a crucial figure as he not only literally saves Charles' life, but also sets him on the path to realizing his follies.

Charles is not a wholly pleasant person. He is obstinate (we already see this in the way he writes about his ridiculous recipes in the beginning of the book), egoistic and dictatorial. A mitigating factor is that he has romantic ideals, but unfortunately these are directed in the wrong way. Charles tells the story, but the reader has to be careful for he is - as all narrators in modern literature in fact are - not very reliable. With the character traits outlined above, he is constantly whitewashing his actions and his own thoughts and preferences seem to constitute the whole universe.

Happily there is also a more pleasant protagonist in the book: the sea of the title. It is always present with its various moods, mysterious (Charles once imagines he sees a dragon) but also a practical place for exercise, and in the end both life-taking and life-giving.  The Sea, the Sea is a rich tapestry with interesting characters and deep philosophical connotations. Some reviewers have called the central story of Charles' obsession difficult to believe, but love is obsession, isn't it?

Karashi, Japanese mustard

Japanese mustard. からし、芥子。
(Brassica juncea)

Made from the crushed seeds of leaf mustard (Karashina, Brassica juncea). Came in the 10th c. from China to Japan, after which new types were developed.

[Brassica juncea]

Karashi is usually sold in powder form or paste form in tubes.

Karashi is used as a condiment with tonkatsu, oden, and shumai. These are all "new" dishes which entered Japanese cuisine in the 20th century, which again serves to show that in the case of traditional dishes no spices were used.

Karashi is also mixed with other condiments, for example with mayonnaise to make "karashi mayonnaise."

It is also used to make pickled Japanese eggplant, called karashi-nasu - a great side-dish with sake.

One of Kumamoto's regional dishes is karashi renkon - slices of lotus root of which the openings have been filled with karashi.

Illustration Wikipedia.

Japanese Food Dictionary

Bach Cantatas (14): Sexagesima Sunday (BWV 18, 181 & 126)

Sexagesima (Latin for "sixtieth") is the name given to the 2nd Sunday before Ash Wednesday. It falls less than 60 days before Easter -  the earliest Sexagesima can occur is January 25 and the latest is February 28, or February 29 in a leap year. There are three cantatas for this day. "Gleich wie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt, BWV 18, is a very early cantata from Weimar, probably from 1713 or 1714 (at the latest from 1715). In those years, Bach was still a court organist and chamber musician. The cantata was performed again in Leipzig on February 13, 1724 (with minor changes to the instrumentation) and is therefore part of the first cantata cycle. "Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister, BWV 181, was performed at the same Leipzig service in 1724 where Bach also repeated BWV 18 (one cantata before the sermon and one after the sermon). "Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort," BWV 126, dates from the following year and belongs to Bach's second cycle of chorale cantatas.

Readings: 
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 11:19 - 12:9, God's power is mighty in the week,
Luke 8:4–15, Parable of the Sower

Cantata Studies:
Bach Cantatas Website | Simon Crouch | Emmanuel Music | Julian Mincham | Wikipedia | Eduard van Hengel (in Dutch) | Bach Companion (Oxford U.P.) | Bach: The Learned Musician (Wolff) | Music in the Castle of Heaven (Gardiner)

[Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Parable of the Sower, 1557]

Cantatas:

1. Gleich wie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt, BWV 18, 1713 or 1714 or at the latest February 24, 1715
   
   Sinfonia
   Recitativo (Bass): Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt
   Recitativo & Chorale (Litany) (Soprano, Tenor, Bass, Chorus): Mein Gott, hier wird mein Herze sein
   Aria (Soprano): Mein Seelenschatz ist Gottes Wort
   Chorale: Ich bitt, o Herr, aus Herzens Grund
   
   "Just as the Rain and Snow Fall from Heaven"
   Text & translation
   
   Scored for soprano, tenor, bass), a four-part choir only in the chorales, four violas, cello, bassoon and basso continuo.
   
   This cantata is one of Bach's earliest. It was composed in Weimar to a text published in 1711 by Erdmann Neumeister (a pioneer in the use of recitative and aria in religious music). The text is based on the parable of the sower in Luke 8. The third movement is in the style of a sermon, combined with a litany by Martin Luther. As in all of his early cantatas, the instrumentation is unusual. Bach specifically calls for a bass group consisting of at least one bassoon, one cello, one violone, one organ, and four violas. There are no winds or high strings.
   
   The cantata begins with a sinfonia in Italian concerto form, played only by violas and continuo, leading to a magically dark sonority (as in the 6th Brandenburg Concerto). The leaping melody represents the falling rain and snow that nourish the earth and the seeds sown there. The dark color of the instruments also symbolizes stormy weather.
   
   The short secco bass recitative (the Vox Christi) is characterized by word painting on the same theme. The text quotes Isaiah: "For as the rain comes down and the snow from the heavens, ... so shall my word be..." (Isaiah 55:10-11), related to the Gospel about God's word as seed.
   
   In the following recitative, "My soul's treasure is God's word," with an interpolated litany by a rather fierce soprano, the poet combines warnings about the dangers of God's word in the style of a sermon with four lines of prayer from a litany by Martin Luther. This forms the spiritual heart of the cantata and is a very intense movement. The text is a paraphrase of the parable of the sower, in which Jesus compares God's message to the seed of a sower. When it is scattered over the earth, it produces different results. Some seed falls on fertile ground and produces a good harvest, while others are trampled, dry up, rot, or are forgotten. As the tenor and bass reflect on the biblical reading, the soprano interrupts again and again with a more general call for help. She sings a litany, a plea for help. Bach is quite experimental here, for example with the intricate melisma over the word "persecution" in the text sung by the tenor.
   
   The beautiful Italianate soprano aria, again accompanied only by the four violas in unison, is a personal reflection; the undulating soundscape imitates the "webs woven by the world and Satan. The final chorale is the eighth verse of Lazarus Spengler's hymn "Durch Adam's Fall ist ganz verderbt" (1524).
   
   Video: Netherlands Bach Society / J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)
   
   
   
   
2. Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister, BWV 181, February 13, 1724)
   
   Arie Bass: Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister
   Rezitativ Alto: O unglückselger Stand verkehrter Seelen
   Arie Tenor: Der schädlichen Dornen unendliche Zahl
   Rezitativ Soprano: Von diesen wird die Kraft erstickt
   Chor: Laß, Höchster, uns zu allen Zeiten
   
   "Scatterbrained, Frivolous People"
   Text & translation
   
   Scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), a four-part choir, trumpet, flauto traverso, oboe, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
   
   A short cantata (played during the same church service as BWV 18, the one before and the other after the sermon) based on the parable of the sower. The text of the cantata, by an unknown poet, is closely based on the Gospel. The obstacles to the sprouting of the seed, rocks and thorns, are supplemented by other biblical passages, such as a reference to Moses striking water from the rock and to the rock in front of Jesus' tomb. The cantata does not end with a chorale, but with a choral movement, a prayer that the Word of God may fall on fertile ground within us.
   
   A characteristic motif in staccato jumps dominates the initial bass aria, introduced by the instruments and then taken over by the voice. It illustrates the fluttering spirits, both the birds spoken of in the Gospel and the frivolous people. The second part mentions Belial, whose evil intervention is often deescribed in literature, for example in Milton's Paradise Lost.
   
   The alto recitative with continuo accompaniment compares the seed that fell on stony ground to hard-hearted unbelievers who die and go under the earth to await Christ's last word, when the rocks will be shattered and the tombs opened. The image of the breaking rocks is represented by an irregularly descending passage in the continuo.
   
   The original music for the obbligato instrument of the central tenor aria is unfortunately lost, but is often substituted by a solo violin. The tenor sings about the worries and worldly desires that threaten the Christian life, which are likened to thorns choking a growing plant. The music imitates the "poisonous thorns" and the "fire of hellish torment" through rapid repetitions.
   
   In the soprano recitative, the seed finally finds good soil. The most beautiful movement comes at the end: a joyful chorus (not a chorale!), probably borrowed from a festive cantata, since we also hear a trumpet. This chorus radiates joyful simplicity. Embedded in the chorus is a duet for soprano and alto.
   
   Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)
   
   
   
3. Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, BWV 126, February 4, 1725)
   
   1. Coro: Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort
   2. Aria (tenor): Sende deine Macht von oben
   3. Recitativo e chorale (alto, tenor): Der Menschen Gunst und Macht wird wenig nützen – Gott Heiliger Geist, du Tröster wert
   4. Aria (bass): Stürze zu Boden, schwülstige Stolze!
   5. Recitativo (tenor): So wird dein Wort und Wahrheit offenbar
   6. Chorale: Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich
   
   "Preserve Us, Lord, with Your Word"
   Text & translation
   
   Scored for three vocal soloists (alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, trumpet, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
   
   This rather aggressive and militant cantata, which calls on God to destroy his enemies and bring peace and salvation to his people, is one of Bach's most controversial compositions. The enemies of the time were the Papists and the Turks (the rivalry with the Ottoman Empire culminated in the Battle of Vienna in 1683, just before Bach's birth). The cantata text is based on Martin Luther's chorale "Keep us, O Lord, by thy word" (1542), in a compilation with other verses as they appeared as a unit in hymnals during Bach's time, two stanzas by Justus Jonas, and Luther's "Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich".
   
   The music has pandemonium-like qualities. The cantata begins with a stormy chorus with martial trumpets ("Thwart the murderous rage of the Pope and the Turk"). A distinctive element of the opening chorus is a four-note motif derived from the beginning of the chorale melody and repeated by the trumpet throughout the movement to keep the words "Preserve us, Lord" present. The singing voices are embedded in the independent orchestra.
   
   The two arias, with their downward movement, make clear that all salvation is to be seen as a gift coming from above, in which both the helping hand of God and the eschatological rejection of blasphemous opposition are manifested. The tenor aria is a prayer to arms, full of warlike fervor, intensified by two oboes. In the middle section, the words "delight" and "dispel" are illustrated by rapid vocal runs.
   
   The third section is again a chorale, interspersed with anguished recitatives by the alto and tenor. The bloodthirsty bass aria is accompanied by roaring arpeggios on the strings ("Hurl to the ground the pompous proud"). The imploring prayer for the preservation of the Word of God and the Church in all tribulations leads to the touching plea of the final chorale: "Grant us merciful peace.
   
   Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop - Contemplation
   
   

Bach Cantata Index

Mentaiko & Tarako

Salted, spicy Alaska pollock roe. 明太子。

The roe is salted and flavored with Japanese chili pepper (togarashi). Deep red in color. Also called Karashi-mentai(-ko).

[Mentaiko]

The normal Japanese name for the fish from which these eggs come, the Alaska pollock, is Sukotedara. So it is a type of tara, cod.  It is 60 cm long and lives in the cold northern waters. It is popular in stews and one-pot dishes (nabemono).

Sukotedara is also called mentai, from the Korean myonte. The custom to preserve the eggs of this fish with salt and add chili pepper for spiciness, in fact first appears in the 17th-18th c. in Korea, where such kimchi-type preservation methods were common (while Japan does not originally know any spicy foods). In the 20th c., traders from Hakata in Kyushu started to import this product to Japan. After the war, it was produced locally and became quite popular nationwide and now is considered as a "traditional"  specialty from Hakata. The spread nationwide was also helped by the opening of the Shinkansen line to Hakata/Fukuoka in 1975.

Mentaiko is eaten as it is as a side dish, although in that case it may also be lightly roasted. It is also used as the main ingredient in a popular type of chazuke. Finally, mentaiko is also a good accompaniment to sake. 

Mentaiko is also called loosely tarako, as after all it are cod's eggs. But in fact tarako in the first place refers to the cod eggs alone, without the chili flavoring that is typical of mentaiko.

Interesting use is made of mentaiko by using it as a spread on baguettes which are then toasted (mentaiko-furansu). Mentaiko can also be used to create an interesting type of spaghetti (mentaiko-supagetti); even more common in that case is the non-spicy type of tarako-supagetti.

"Madame Bovary" (1857) by Flaubert

Madame Bovary probably is the most beautifully written novel ever. Gustave Flaubert weighed his words on a gold scale, as if writing poetry and not prose. He sought the best words for the situation, wanting them to be unchangeable, and made so many revisions that he only advanced one or two pages a week. That style is the opposite of romantic - it is clinically realistic. Flaubert offers a painstaking description of bourgeois life in mid-19th c. France and along the way he transforms his sordid materials about adultery and suicide into something poetic.

The story is simple. Charles Bovary is a plodding, dull country doctor, practicing medicine in the environs of Rouen in Normandy (coincidentally, the city where Jeanne d'Arc was held captive and burned at the stake in 1431). He marries a farmer's daughter, the beautiful and very young Emma, who has been brought up in a convent and has received all her knowledge of the world from romantic tales.

But Charles is no prince on a white horse but a simple and practical man and after the birth of a little daughter, out of necessity Emma settles down to a life of boredom. Flaubert makes us acutely feel the meaninglessness and emptiness of her existence. Madame Bovary is in fact the greatest study in alienation and boredom in world literature. It is often thought of as an immoral novel about adultery like Lady Chatterley's Lover, but nothing could be farther from the truth. There was a process after the magazine publication, but Flaubert won and the novel has never been forbidden in its country of origin.

The bourgeois types that surround Emma Bovary in the village are not encouraging. They are all selfish and self-serving. Flaubert demonstrates how hypocritical moral standards are, concocted to support the status quo. The merchant and moneylender Lheureux purposefully lends Emma so much money and allows her to buy so many luxury goods on credit, that in the end he can claim Dr. Bovary's assets. Homais, the pompous apothecary, thinks he is a great scientist and pushes Dr. Bovary to operate on the clubfoot of the servant of a local inn, with disastrous results. And the notary tries to take sexual advantage of Emma's problems.

But Emma keeps dreaming and seeking a life of ecstasy, ignoring her adoring husband who leaves her unsatisfied. She becomes attached to a young clerk, Leon, who shares her romantic ideals, but Leon leaves the village before their relationship can develop. Then she meets Rodolphe, a wealthy bachelor who owns a nearby estate. He is a cynical womanizer, and Emma falls in his traps - they go horseback riding and make love in the forest. After that, they have frequent trysts, often in the garden of the Bovary house while the dear husband is already asleep. Emma even dreams of running away with Rodolphe - but by now, he has enough of her and sends her a cold note that the affair is over.

Emma almost dies from the shock, but she recovers and then boredom sets in again. She has bought expensive presents for Rodolphe and now is heavily in debt, a matter which she keeps hidden from her husband. Shopping, after all, is a way to find relief from boredom, consumption is an outlet for anxiety. Emma has fallen in the clutches of the merchant Lheureux, who cynically destroys the finances of the Bovary family.

By chance, she meets Leon again, in Rouen. She is now ready for him and the first consummation of their love takes place in a hired, closed carriage - they ask the coachman to they keep driving aimlessly through the city for hours one end. This is the erotic climax of the novel, but it is presented as a hiatus, for we are not allowed to see inside the carriage. After that, the pair has frequent trysts in a hotel in Rouen - Emma tells her husband the lie that she has to go into town once a week for a music lesson.

But in the end also Leon tires of his mistress - he has to think of his career - and just when their relation is breaking down, Emma is served with a bill for 8,000 francs from Lheureux, to be paid immediately. She panics, nobody will help her, she pleads in vain with both Rodolphe and Leon, and finally, at her wit's end, she eats a fistful of arsenic, stolen from Homais.

She dies a terrible death, described with clinical precision by Flaubert, whose father had been a medical doctor in Rouen. It is only after her death that Charles finds her love letters and learns about her adultery. He looses all interest in life and dies of a broken heart. The affairs of Homais, in the meantime, are  flourishing, he even manages to keep out a new doctor and claim the whole medical business in the area for himself.

Emma Bovary is of course a rather vain and silly woman, she is caught in the web of her own actions without the possibility of being saved. Still, we do care for her, because she is the only character in the novel who dreams of higher things and tries to flee from the sordidness around her. Emma is not an immoral woman - what her case demonstrates is that the culture around her itself has no values.

Texts: original French (Gutenberg); English (Gutenberg - the first English translation made by Eleanor Marx Aveling in 1898).

Madame Bovary has been filmed many times over. I am particularly fond of the 1991 version by Claude Chabrol, with Isabelle Huppert as Emma Bovary. Chabrol faithfully follows the novel, accelerating and braking where necessary. Huppert gives an excellent performance, with suitable detachment. That stance has been criticized in some reviews as "cold," but this is not a romantic tale a la Hollywood and I felt the film truthfully reflected the realistic (and therefore also detached) stance of the novel itself. The period atmosphere is also excellent.