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发表于 2012-1-31 10:35:44
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本帖最后由 cantarella 于 2012-2-1 11:05 编辑
I was still in a new year celebratory mood when I realized the first month of 2012 is almost at an end. This made me wonder how things in Japan will work out this year.
Allow me to offer some quotable quotes by which to remember January as we wait for spring to breathe new life into us all.
At dawn on New Year's Day, many residents of disaster-stricken Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, watched the sun rise from the "miracle" pine tree that was left standing despite the giant tsunami spawned by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Yoshihisa Suzuki, who heads a group to protect the Takata Matsubara pine grove, said: "I wish to say thank you to the pine tree that kept giving us hope, courage and encouragement. I want this year to be a good one, with us working hard toward reconstruction."
Jan. 17 marked the 17th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake. It was also the first anniversary to be marked since the March 11 disaster of last year.
A survivor of the Hanshin earthquake, Masumi Kaneda, 52, of Kobe, commemorated the anniversary with residents of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. At daybreak, she told Shinichi Endo, 43, who lost three children in the March 11 disaster: "Look, this is how dawn breaks. Please take a new step forward for the future."
Michael Woodford, the former president of Olympus Corp. who has been accusing the company of dubious accounting practices, slammed major shareholders for not criticizing the Olympus management and allowing directors to stay on the board.
"For anyone looking in, this looks like 'Alice in Wonderland,'" a frustrated Woodford said before he returned to Britain.
Two intellectuals voiced shared apprehensions about the Japanese people's group mentality.
Writer Kazutoshi Hando said: "Actually, the Japanese like to make a choice between the two. They tend to stampede to one direction and are apt to fall under group hypnosis. Once a sense of stagnation develops, they pin their hopes on the advent of a strong leader."
Economic commentator Katsuto Uchihashi said: "If (the people) try to satisfy their thirst for 'politics to let off pent-up frustration,' the politics of the 1930s will be repeated."
The following tanka by Michiaki Suzuki ran in The Asahi Shimbun's tanka column: "Like the character 'tan' of 'gantan' (New Year's Day)/ The first sunrise of the year/ Rises from the ocean of Ogasawara." (The character is made up of the radical for sun over a horizontal line.) The sun rises again over the horizon. |
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