Here are some of the best ‘haikus’ I received last Autumn in the Japanese Course of Chinese Faculty at Star College in Harbin, China. Enjoy the world-shortest verses which express the writers’ mind and the changing environment in which he or she lives.
Spring is here: almost everyone is out taking a walk.
--- Jia Haonan
Ever cherished but short-lived is our youthfulness.
--- Guo Tian-yi
Among friends the principles of trust should abound.
--- Chu Yuhang
Reflected up-side-down upon the surface of the lake is your face.
--- Ning Yue
Right at this moment, I long to be with you, my beloved!
--- Wang Yuting
Translation is done to transfer the meaning, rather than the form (number of syllables). (Translation is by Jiro Numano, the teacher)
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Preparatory note of apology for 731st force operations
A Japanese language teacher in Harbin, I am planning to visit “The Site of the Japanese Army’s 731st Force” in March. The site is notorious for its operations of developing, experimenting and producing chemical weaponry during the last years of World War II. The force experimented various poison gases with civil living humans. The number amounted to 3,000 according to Chinese sources. I prepared a statement of apology in Chinese. The following is an English translation.
“As a Japanese, I feel very sorry for the fact that Japanese army developed such grievous weaponry, and that victimized countless citizens in its process. I should like to apologize those victims and their families from the bottom of my heart. I know that there is no room for any excuse. I am really sorry. I suppose the wound the Chinese people suffered and the grudge as well as unpleasant feelings you have toward Japan would not disappear easily. Though I was not involved in the damaging operations directly, I wish I could make up for the harm in the range of my capacity. And as one of the pro-China Japanese, I would like to cherish the close affinity I feel toward Chinese people and try to advance harmonious and cooperative relationships between the two nations.”
“As a Japanese, I feel very sorry for the fact that Japanese army developed such grievous weaponry, and that victimized countless citizens in its process. I should like to apologize those victims and their families from the bottom of my heart. I know that there is no room for any excuse. I am really sorry. I suppose the wound the Chinese people suffered and the grudge as well as unpleasant feelings you have toward Japan would not disappear easily. Though I was not involved in the damaging operations directly, I wish I could make up for the harm in the range of my capacity. And as one of the pro-China Japanese, I would like to cherish the close affinity I feel toward Chinese people and try to advance harmonious and cooperative relationships between the two nations.”
Friday, January 22, 2010
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