2023 年 2 月 17 日
".....When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me -
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be...." sang Paul McCartney back in 1970. Well, Mother Mary certainly never came to me (well, I doubt I ever invited her), but when in an "hour of darkness" there is a film I turn to for some confirmation of basic human values. This is "Our Little Sister", ( 海街 Umimachi Diary ) by Kore-eda Hirokazu.
" ....苦境に立たされている時
神聖なる母(聖母)が現れ
格言を伝えてくれた
「あるがままになさい」と.....”
Let It Be (1970) – ポール マッカートニー
さて、聖母は私のところに来たことはありません (まあ、私が彼女を招待したことはないと思いますが。) が、「暗闇の時」に、人生には前向きになれるものがある事を確認するために 私が頼る映画があります。
それは、是枝裕和 監督の「海街ダイアリー」です。
Three sisters live together in the old family house near Enoshima, south of Tokyo. They are all around their middle/late twenties - all working - (nurse, bank employee, running a sports shop) - all with relationships with various degrees of success. Their parents are divorced, and it is the death of their father which sets the film on its course. At the funeral they meet their half-sister, a teenager still at school and mature well beyond her age. They invite her to come and live with them in the family house in Kamakura, to which she readily agrees.
Eldest sister Sachi (Haruka Ayase) measures Suzu's height (Suzu Hirose). 妹の身長を記録
Not much of a plot, you might say. But this is not a plot-driven film. It is character-driven, and moves at a natural pace with exquisite attention to detail.
Little sister Suzu tries out a meal made by Chika (Kako Indo) すずがChikasの料理を試す
And as with a lot of Japanese film directors, Kore-eda is not afraid to dwell on ordinary events of life, be it a meal in the local fish café,
Sachiko (Jun Fubiki) gives some life advice to young Suzu レストランのオーナーは若いすずに人生のアドバイスをします
....the making of plum wine,
or the conversation in front of the home altar.
Eldest sister Sachi talks to little sister Suzu at the family altar 家族の祭壇で
Young Suzu is put into the local school, and here we see the camaraderie, the classroom gossip, and inevitably, first love.....
Suzu's tentative boyfriend (Futa - played by Oshiro Maeda) compliments her on her Kimono after the fireworks display 初恋
Typically in a Japanese film, the seasons play a significant role (If you ever plan a trip to Japan, look at the season before anything else).
Autumn 秋 provides the setting for a football match, Spring 春 the ride through a sakura "tunnel" on a bike, and summer 夏 the fireworks festival 花火大会.
The film is funny, gut-wrenching, heartwarming and beautifully filmed, with (on the whole) good acting throughout. There is even a scene for iconic actress Kirin Kiki (樹木 希林) as the grandmother, warning her eldest granddaughter that taking over care of a young sister will be difficult.....(....大変 !...)
This is a film to savour and return to, full of very believable characters. I even went as far as buying the hard-copy DVD.
Like a book which you take off the shelf when occasion demands.
必要なときに読む本のように https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Little_Sister
My "hour of darkness" came just past midnight last Thursday, 9th February, when I read the message from my brother that our father had passed away. It was not unexpected. He was 99, and had been in hospital for the last few days following a fall in his appartment. But however predictable it was, nothing could prepare me for this reality. Like marriage, or the birth of a child - you can read books about it or ask advice from friends, but with the real thing you ultimately have to weather it yourself.
私の「暗闇の時」は、先週の木曜日の真夜中過ぎに、「父が亡くなった」という兄からのメッセージを読んだ時に来ました。
これは、予想外の事ではありませんでした。
父は 99 歳で、アパートで転倒した後、数日間入院していました。
しかし、それがどれほど予測可能な事であったとしても、私自身はこの現実に備えることはできませんでした。
結婚や子供の誕生などは、本を読んだり、友達にアドバイスを求めたりすることはできますが、現実では、最終的には自分で乗り切らなければなりません。(Thank you Miki-san for translating).
Luckily I had been able to fly over to the UK at the beginning of the week to say goodbye to him. せんしゅう、びょういんをたずねてよかったです. My young adults came with me, which was very reassuring........
Together we negotiated the flights, the passport hitches (we were all travelling on different ones), the alarming unpredictability of the railways and the exhaustion. Family in Chichester and old friends in Scaynes Hill supported us......here we are in Purchases' restaurant in Chichester with my brother. Excellent food, though the staff were pushing the service a bit hard.....チチェスターの素晴らしい料理、しかし大げさな雰囲気
The weather was sunny and dry, so I slipped out to take some photos of the town where my father had lived for the last two years of his life, and where he had made many new friends.....Chichester.
The view from an English kitchen....イングリッシュキッチンからの眺め
A church-turned-restaurant in the high street.....この教会はレストランになっています
A strangely named road.....「リトル・ロンドン」🤔
The cloisters of the cathedral......回廊
a view through wrought iron.....鉄の扉
.....the calm precincts....落ち着いた境内
...and a general view of the cathedral itself. This is where we will have the funeral service for my father...a noble edifice indeed for such a humble man.
I found this photo of him from 1947 in his early 30's. He had that frizzy hair right until the end....ちち. He was a happy man. しあわせな 人 でした。 We loved him.
And here are my parents - the happy young couple - posing in Sussex with their first-born, in 1953. 最初の赤ちゃんを持つ私の両親. Sunshine all round 😊
He was a humble man 謙虚な けんきょ な人 . He devoted his life to what he was good at - teaching. In the classroom it was geography and mathematics, on the playing field it was cricket, rugby and hockey.すうがく や ちり や スポーツを おしえていました。 And he loved it so much that he stayed in the same school all his teaching life......40 年間 おなじ 学校で おしえていました。おしえることが好きでしたしじょうずでした.
Hurstpierpoint College, Sussex
"One day you are going to be just a memory for some people. So do your best to to create a good one " (Buddhist wisdom).
I know that my father will be a very good memory for many, many people. I thank him for that.
「ある日、あなたは誰かにとってただの思い出になるでしょう。だから、良いものを作るために最善を尽くしてください」（仏教の知恵）. 父は多くの人にとってとても良い思い出になることを私は知っています. 私は彼に感謝します。
R.I.P.
Reginald Treacy Ruddock 9.11.1923 - 9.2.2023
aged 99
Funeral Service
to be held at Chichester Cathedral, Chichester, West Sussex, UK at 2pm on Monday 6th March. If you can come I would love to see you there - it is a public event.
The burial will take place the next day at Cuckfield churchyard.
＜葬儀のご案内＞
私の父の葬儀が、下記の日時で執り行われます。
皆さんに ご参列いただければ幸いです。
Reginald Treacy Ruddock
9.11.1923 - 9.2.2023 享年 99歳
日時：3月6日（月曜日） 午後２時
場所：Chichester Cathedral, Chichester, West Sussex, UK
The good things in life: Going for a walk with friends. One thing Germany has in abundance is old castles. There seem to have been loads of Princes, Grafs, Barons - call them what you will, who have left huge piles of stones behind them. On Sunday our Meetup walk took us via three of them just north of Frankfurt: Kronberg (famous for its 'Cello festival), Falkenstein and Königstein. Here's Königstein....
Pretty impressive stuff. The tower was a steep climb, with many, many steps...塔にはたくさんの階段があります.....
so, worth a photo at the top....
...and from the top. You see those little ants down there? Those are my fellow hikers....the ones who didn't make it up the tower, that is......ハイカーの友達がそこにいます
A chat on the wall....
Former glory かつての栄光......
Smiles in the sunshine........
.....Y and J.....
Happy times 😊
Thank you for reading this 🙏.
Feel free to share it with friends if you like. よろしければ、リンクを友達と共有してください😊
I send out the blog pretty randomly to whoever I think might be interested. Either by email, LINE or WHATSAPP. If you don't want to be sent this blog, don't hesitate to tell me and I shall take you off the list. No problem.
この投稿を読んでいただきありがとうございます。 新しい投稿のお知らせを受け取りたい場合は、上部の購読フォームに記入してください。 ありがとう！Nigel.😊
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