Moon

Masahiko Kuzuoka

Director of Tsukishima Tower Clinic, 1983 Medicine

It has already been 20 years since I opened my practice in Tsukishima. Having been a hospital doctor in surgery, I was past my mid-40s and felt that I wanted to move from a position of treating cancer to one of detecting as many cancer patients as possible. The first year I opened happened to be the year of the Sumiyoshi Shrine Grand Festival, held once every three years. In the sweltering midsummer heat, many residents paraded through the neighborhoods of Tsukuda and Tsukishima, carrying portable shrines (mikoshi) to rhythmic chants while people around them splashed water on them for encouragement—it was a magnificent sight. Thanks to that, on the Monday after the festival, my clinic—which had been quiet since its recent opening—became lively with people who had been injured or felt unwell during the festival.

Monjayaki is famous in Tsukishima, but I only go about once a year. Some shops have long lines while others don't, but I wonder if there is really that much of a difference? Personally, I prefer shops where the staff cooks quickly for you rather than cooking it myself. Currently, high-rise condominiums are being built one after another due to redevelopment in Tsukishima, but on the other hand, it is quite lonely to see the old townscape gradually disappearing.

Hizuki Isogai

Owner of Shimizu Kobundo Shobo, Lecturer at Prefectural University of Hiroshima Graduate School of Business Administration, 2004 Policy Management, 2007 Graduate School of Media and Governance Master's

During my student days, I frequently visited Nunavut in the Canadian Arctic. At the time, aspiring to be a cultural anthropologist, I stayed in a village of about 300 people and spent a lot of time with my Inuit friends, who are hunter-gatherers.

One day in late summer, I went hunting with my host family. While not quite the midnight sun, the days in the Far North are long in summer, and we would chase beluga whales and seals in a small boat from morning until night. In a crystal-clear world that felt like the edge of the horizon, the sun would hide horizontally, and moonlight would begin to illuminate the waves.

The indigenous Inuit, who have faced a harsh natural environment, have cultivated their own unique view of nature. Many myths related to animals, the sea, and the sun exist and have been passed down. Speaking of the moon, there is a god named Igaluk, and they told me stories they had heard from their ancestors on the way back from hunting.

While listening to such stories, I also talked about the origin of my own name. My name is associated with the sun and the moon, which resonated with their folklore. Gratefully, many people accepted me with a sense of familiarity just because of my name, and I felt thankful to my parents for naming me so.

Satoru Makino

Representative of ERC Institute, 2009 Economics

Do you know the meaning behind the design of the Singapore flag?

Red symbolizes universal brotherhood and equality, while white symbolizes everlasting purity and virtue. The five stars represent the ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice, and equality.

The moon is expressed as a symbol connecting the past, present, and future. From darkness (the new moon), it gradually increases in light until it reaches the full moon. Similarly, Singapore has achieved rapid economic growth since independence, but it continues to progress every day, aiming for the "full moon" to achieve further development and its five ideals.

I like this concept very much. This is because having goals and ideals gives energy to daily life, allowing one to perceive the difficulties and failures that occur as valuable experiences for fulfilling those ideals.

It is easier said than done. In fact, there are days when I feel broken and shut myself away for a few days, but by remembering my goals and ideals each time, I have managed to get by happily, and I believe I can continue to do so.

Yoko Maruyama

Special Researcher at Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Music, 2009 Letters, 2011 Letters Master's

The keyword is "Moon." I groaned when asked to write a piece about Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata. This is a common nickname that spread because the writer Rellstab associated the first movement with Lake Lucerne under the moonlight; it has nothing to do with the composer. From the fierce final movement, doesn't one hear a torrential rain striking the earth rather than droplets of light spilled by a silvery moon?

However, Beethoven would likely have jumped at a scientific feat like the moon landing. After all, one can imagine him with his eyes sparkling like a young boy's at the sight of unknown technology.

Pianos in Vienna at the time the "Moonlight" was composed generally did not have pedals; knee levers served the role of pedals. As evidence, there are no "pedal" instructions in the "Moonlight." Later, the composer acquired a piano from the Erard company in Paris, which had pedals and allowed for rich resonance and wide dynamic changes. The "Waldstein" and "Appassionata" sonatas born from this are filled with pedal instructions and powerful acoustics. He was a man who jumped at the latest device models.

Mr. Beethoven, how about a trip to the moon? If music could be heard in space, what kind of piece would you compose?