the town of merchant and riverside: Oumi-hachiman 1

＜　Hachiman canal　＞

In late April, I went to Oumi-hachiman in which there is the historical scenery of the town.

Here is a tourist spot that was known for the old houses of merchant and the canal.

That day was blessed with fine weather and a guide, and I had a good time.

4月下旬、歴史を感じさせる近江八幡に行きました。

ここは古い商家の街並みと掘りで知られた観光地です。

快晴とガイドに恵まれて、楽しい1日を過ごしました。

＜　Upper map: red mark is Oumi-hachiman, Shiga prefecture. Lower photo: I walked inside a red frame.　＞

At lower photo, a town spreads at the foot of Hachiman hill where is in center, and Lake Biwa is visible beyond it.

A green bent line in it is Hachiman canal, and the riverside area spreads to Lake Biwa.

下の写真で、中央の八幡山麓に町が広がり、奥に琵琶湖が見える。

折れ曲がった緑の線が八幡堀で、琵琶湖側には水郷が広がっています。

＜　Shin-machi street　＞

There are the streets of the Oumi merchant who played an active part from Edo period to Meiji period.

Beyond 400 years, I felt the Oumi merchant's breath.

Hachiman hill is visible to the back.

Hidetugu Toyotomi, chief adviser to the Emperor, lived in the castle of the summit.

Beginning of this town is that he gathered merchants and protected.

These merchants have moved from the foot of Azuchi Castle that Nobunaga built about 5 km away from here.

This east shore of Lake Biwa had been important as a lodgement of east-west transportation by land and north-south water transport for many years.

江戸時代から明治時代に活躍した近江商人の商家が並ぶ。

４００年の時を越えて、近江商人の息吹が感じられる。

奥に八幡山が見えるが、この山頂に関白豊臣秀次が居を構え、商人を集め庇護したのが、この町の興りです。

この商人達は５ｋｍほど離れた信長の建てた安土城城下から移転して来た。

琵琶湖東岸のこの地は、古くから東西の陸運と南北の水運の要衝地だったのです。

＜　Hachiman canal　＞

Those days, Hachiman canal which leads to Lake Biwa was crowded with water transport, and played a role of the moat of a castle.

当時、琵琶湖に通じる八幡堀は水運で賑わい、城の外堀の役割を担った。

＜　Left photo: while shooting Hachiman canal . Right photo: One scene of drama Mito Komon　＞

＜　upper photo: Hakuunnkann. Lower phpto:  Vories, Mentholatum, Kwansei Gakuin University ＞

At the early Meiji period, the Hakuunnkann is a school that Oumi merchants built and managed.

Vories who had been invited from the United States as an English teacher, played an active part in a Christianity evangelist, a philanthropist, an architect, and a business person.

He met MacArthur after the war and advised on Tenno system continuation of Japan.

Thus, the Oumi merchant's spirit has induced the further deployment.

Next time is followed.

明治初期、白雲館は近江商人の寄付で建てられ運営された学校です。

英語教師としてアメリカから招かれたヴォーリズは、キリスト教伝道者、慈善家、さらに建築家、製薬事業家として活躍することになりました。

彼は戦後マッカーサーと会い、日本の天皇制存続のアドバイスをしている。

このように近江商人の心意気が、更なる展開を生んだのです。

次回に続きます.

Something is strange 17: rising share prices 2

 

Why does the collapse of the bubble economy repeat?

Worryingly, In order to lower unemployment rate, the government is forced to take economic stimulus measure.

The government must depend on the monetary policy for it, because without expense.

And the control of overheating economy is difficult, and many of it becomes a bubble economy.

I do not know the economist or central bank governor who stopped ever a bubble economy burst.

But just maybe, thanks to be managed by the Governor of the Bank of Japan, the influence of the Lehman shock was slight.

The statement is dangerous even if there is a person who noticed it.

Moreover he will be abused.

Because, many people who are absorbed in the speculation and instigate it lose a large amount fund in one night.

なぜバブル崩壊の悪循環から抜け出せないのか？

厄介なのは、失業率を下げる為に政府は景気刺激策を取らざるを得ない。

それを出費の無い金融政策に頼ることになる。

かつ景気過熱の制御が難しく、多くはバブルになる。

かつてバブル崩壊を抑えた経済学者や中央銀行総裁を私は知らない。

ひょっとして日銀総裁が腐心したので、リーマンショックの影響が軽微で済んだのか。

実は気づく人はいても、発言は危険ですし、また非難されもするのです。

投機に熱狂し、煽る人々は巨額資金を一夜にして失うのですから。

How is this present condition in Japan?

This time, Abe Administration practiced the induction of inflation and the historical monetary relaxation.

The funds that the Bank of Japan scattered around are concentrating on equity market, and it is soaring.

Soon the first step was achieved and it became a memorable year.

It is so good that interest rates react instantly.

As of May 17, the aggregate market price of the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange was 442 trillion yen (1 dollar is 102 yen), and it in front of the bubble economy burst of 1989 was 590 trillion yen.

Do you think it is leeway or eve?

現状はどうか？

今回、安倍政権はインフレ誘導と歴史的な金融緩和に舵を切りました。

日銀がばらまく資金が株に集中し高騰している。

早速、第一段階が達成され、記念すべき年となりました。

金利が即反応するほどに好調です。

５月１７日現在、東証一部の時価総額は４４２兆円(1ドルは１０２円)で、バブル崩壊直前の８９年最高額は５９０兆円でした。

まだ余裕と見るか、直前と見るのか？

What is background of the rising share prices?

この株高の背景にあるもの・・？

＜　Dow Jones Indexes, Nikkei Index, dollar-yen rate  ＞

The exchange rate reversed at the end of 2011, and cheap yen has started.

That was because the monetary crisis of EU had become calm.

The U.S. performed large monetary relaxation, and the rising share prices entered into 4th year.

２０１１年末に為替相場が反転し円安が始まっています。

EUが金融危機を乗り越えたのが切っ掛けでした。

米国は大幅な金融緩和を行い、株価上昇が４年目に入りました。

＜　Transition of the aggregate market price of world’s main stock markets, from 2007 to 2013　＞

The share prices in the world are obviously rising in concurrence with NY Dow.

A huge amount of speculative funds has been injected into stocks in the world, and Japan is only a mere part.

一目瞭然ですが、NYダウと軌を一にして世界の株価が上昇している。

世界の膨大な投機資金が株に注入され、日本はほんの一部にすぎない。

Two prominent economist's advice, brief 

From “ A short history of financial euphoria” by economist Galbraith

“ There is nothing comparable to the world of finance that disregards its history.”

“ Although some peoples are proudly happy with having found out the novel means of finance, after all, it is …. ”

From articles in New York Times by economist Krugman

"The EU crisis was the result of the housing bubble which the commercial bank in EU lent a hand in Southern Europe."

" Abenomics of Japan is effective as a business stimulating measure."

On May 10, “ Still, Japan and the U.S. are not a bubble.”

I wish that your property and the life are safe!

著名な経済学者の助言、要約

経済学者ガルブレイス著「バブルの物語」より

「金融の世界ぐらい歴史をひどく無視するものはない」

「金融の手段について、一見新奇で大発見して得意になるが、結局は・・・」

経済学者クルーグマン、NYタイムズより

「今回のEU危機は、南欧に銀行が手を貸した住宅バブルのせいだ」

「アベノミックスは景気刺激策として有効だ」

5／10付「日米共にまだバブルではない」

皆さんの財産と生活が安全でありますように・・・

Something is strange 16: rising share prices

Now, Japan has been seething with rising share prices after a long time.

But I worry a little about it.

It is a bubble economy burst.

A stock plunge occurred in Japan, 1989.

Since then, the economic growth rate of an average of 5% has fallen from 0 to 1 % for 20 years or more.

In further 2007, the Lehman shock happened.

現在、日本は久しぶりの株価高騰に沸いています。

しかし私には気がかりがあります。

それはバブル崩壊です。

１９８９年に株価暴落が起きました。

平均５％の経済成長率は、それを境に２０年以上１～０％まで落ち込みました。

さらに２００７年、リーマンショックが追い打ちをかけました。

＜　a transition of the Nikkei Stock Average　＞

After the bubble economy burst in 1989, an average 150 trillion yen (30% of GDP) value had been disappearing every year, and it continued nine years.

In 1989, the amount of domestic asset evaluation was 457 trillion yen, and the price of GDP was 409 trillion yen.

Is the bubble a fate?  Must we live with it?

The damage is too serious.

There are those who increase assets sharply, but on the other hand, those who reduce occur one after another.

100 trillion yen transfers lightly in the domestic market, and a part of it becomes defaults.

It has happened every about ten years repeatedly.

８９年のバブル崩壊後、株と土地は毎年平均１５０兆円（ＧＤＰの３０％）の価値が消えて行き、9年間も続いた。

８９年の最盛期、国内の資産評価額は４５７兆円、その年のＧＤＰは４０９兆円でした。

（上記数値は「ゼミナール日本経済入門２００５年版」より）

バブルは宿命であり、受け入れざるを得ないのでしょうか？

その損害はあまりにも甚大です。

資産を大幅に増やす人がいる反面、減らす人が続出し、国内で軽く百兆円が移転し、一部は返済不能になる。

概ね１０年毎に繰り返し発生しています。

What is the problem of the bubble?

A huge amount of debt remains, and people must be paying it.

It becomes the fetters of the next development over a long period of time.

Furthermore, in order to fill a gap between the bulging annual expenditure and the massive decrease in annual tax revenue, public investment and issue of bond are performed boundlessly.

As a result, the immense outstanding obligation stacks.

This makes a national finance rigid too.

バブルの何が問題なのか？

巨額負債が残り、国民がそれを負担せざるを得ず、長期にわたり次の発展への足枷となります。

さらに膨れあがった歳出と、大幅な税収減との差を埋める為に、公共投資と公債発行が際限なく行われ、その結果、莫大な債務残高が積み上がります。

これが国の財政をまた身動き出来ないものにします。

＜　revenue, expenditure and amount of government bond issuance in Japan, 1984~

2010 year、red: expenditure, dark blue: revenue, green: bond issuance 　＞

Not only that.

The profits of speculation have been concentrated on the rich class that has a large amount fund more.

This makes additionally the consumption downturn, and speculative money expansion.

And it causes the return of bubble and the economic discrepancy.

From the 1980s, this tidal current has advanced in the world and is increasing more and more.

The statesman and economist who are going to accuse and prevent this are few.

Next time, it is followed.

それだけではありません。

投機の利益は、より巨額資金を持つ富裕階層に集中します。

これは更なる消費の低迷と投機マネーの膨張を促し、バブルの再来と経済格差を招きます。

この潮流は、１９８０年代から世界で進行し、益々増大しています。

これを告発し阻止しようとする為政者や経済学者はほんの一握りです。

次回に続きます。

Something is strange 15： Osaka Mayor Hashimoto is amazing

<  Hashimoto is right side  >

I was evaluating Mayor Hashimoto's capability highly.

He is excellent in insight and judgment.

I expected him, though I have felt a shade of anxiety.

There were some persons who compare him to dictator Hitler.

Although he also has had a habit of discarding the socially weak and hawks, but in order to change old-style political system, I thought that his force was required.

私は橋下知事の能力を高く評価していた。

彼は洞察力や判断力が優れている。

私は一抹の不安を感じながらも期待していた。

彼を独裁者ヒトラーになぞらえる人もいた。

彼には弱者切り捨て、タカ派の面もあるが、旧態依然とした政治を改革するには、彼の強引さは必要だと思っていました。

" Anyone must understand that the military's comfort-women was required."

His utterance is uncanny.

Many rascalities are performed in the war all over the world, and he says that it is only one of the necessary evils.

" Because the Japanese have been incorruptible unlike foreign country, didn't execute the rascality in battle area.” 

There are people believing so.

On the other hand, in the West, the group behavior of Japanese soldier was looked unusual.

He denied, " The rascality act did not exist" and admitted that it is the range of common sense.

It may develop to " Taking women by force were required."

Although his intention is different from it, the influence is great.

「慰安婦制度は必要なのは誰だってわかる。」彼の発言が凄い！  

彼は多くの非道が世界中の戦争で行われており、必要悪の一つに過ぎないと言います。

「他国と違って日本人は清廉潔白であり、非道なことをするはずがない。」と信じる人々がいます。

一方、西欧から見れば、日本兵の集団行動は異常に見えます。

彼は「非道はなかった」を否定し、それは常識の範囲だとしたのです。

さらに「彼女らの強制連行は必要だった」へと展開するかもしれない。

彼の意図とは違うが、その影響は大きい。

＜　a comfort woman statue and an American Mayer　＞

From a slightly different angle

If it was older days, there were many unjust acts and much disregard for human rights. it is sure.　

However, there have been people's efforts little by little, and it is improved.

This problem is that he was trying the daring utterance that many politicians avoid usually.

He wants to serve as the mouthpiece of people that have disallowed the past aggression of Japan.

A thing that I was worried was that he emphasizes an ultra nationalism tendency.

In present Japan, the ultra nationalism is strongly connected with conservatism, and becomes hostile to the neighboring country.

At the beginning, Hitler pretended a friend of workers.

Escalating into conflict, he partnered with conservative class that has a funding ability and a military strength.

And he had a nation in his hands.

Our history has shown it.

Our democracy is denied soon and a possibility of miserable conclusion becomes high.

少し見方を変えましょう。

昔は非道なこと、人権無視が確かに多く行われていました。

しかし少しづつながら、人々の努力があって改善されて来ました。

問題は、普通、政治家が避ける発言を敢えてしていることです。

彼は日本の侵略行為を認めない立場を代弁したかった。

私が、当初抱いていた不安とは、彼が国粋主義傾向を露わにすることでした。

今の日本では、国粋主義が保守と強く結びつき、隣国に敵対的になります。

ヒトラーは当初、労働者の味方の立場を装うこともありました。

しかし対立が激化すると、軍事力と資金力のある保守層と手を握りました。

そして彼は国家を我が手中に収めたのです。

このことは歴史が示しており、やがて民主主義が否定され、悲惨な帰結を迎える可能性が高くなります。

＜　a march of battle of Imphal　＞

Anthropologist Emanuel Todd indicated that Japan and Germany have the strong tendency.

人類学者エマニエル・トドは、この傾向が強いのは日本とドイツだと指摘しています。

Birth of primitive art １７： It might tell us something.

＜　The color of earth people's skin　＞

This series of "Birth of primitive art " is finished in this time.

We look at things that people of ３００００ years ago left and have more than one interpretation today.

I feel that the secret of human-beings evolution and a still more important suggestion are hidden in them.

今回で、「原初美術の誕生」の連載を終えます。

数万年前の人々が残し、解釈が定まっていない物を見ます。

それらには、人類進化の秘密、さらに重要な示唆が隠されているような気がする。

＜　Left fig.: making negative hand shape. Right fig.: the hand shape ＞

These hand shapes were painted 20,000 years ago in a cave, France.

Many kind of pattern were painted bending finger as indicated.

These are found all over the world at 15% of ruins in 13000～35000 years ago.

It may show the number.

There are peoples who count number of heads until 20 using the finger of his hand within the reindeer nomad in Siberia.

この手形はフランスの洞窟に2万年前描かれたものです。

図のように指を曲げて、幾通りもの指が欠けたパターンを描いたようです。

世界中で、３５０００～１３０００年前の遺跡の１５％で見つかっています。

これは数字を示しているらしい。

シベリアのトナカイ遊牧民には、手の指を使い２０まで頭数を数える人々がいる。

＜　partial diagrammatic view, Venus of Laussel, France, 25000 years ago　＞

This Venus has a horn of the bison on which the lines of 13 was engraved.

The lines probably show a number of the moons for one year, and some days.

このビーナスは１３の線が刻まれたバイソンの角を持っている。

この刻線は１年間の月数か何か日数を示しているらしい。

＜　a board made from a bone, France, 28000 years ago　＞

Many symbols that have segregated and been continuing probably show phases of the moon.

描き分けられた図形が連続しており、月の満ち欠けを示していると考えられる。

＜ The symbols of rock arts of the prehistoric age、by Bradshaw Foundation ＞

The symbols were drawn repeatedly in 146 caves in France.

Surprisingly, the same as the symbols had appeared all over the world.

The symbols were drawn 13000～35000 years ago.

Within the 26 symbols, there are 15 symbols that are found at 15% or more of all the ruins.

The zig-zag sign at the right lower was found in Australia, the north-south United States, India, and inside and Southern Africa.

The symbols were drawn 13000～20000 years ago.

この記号はフランスの洞窟壁画（１４６箇所）に頻繁に描かれていたものです。

驚くことに世界中にこれと同じ記号が出現しているのです。

この記号群は３５０００～１３０００年前に描かれたものです。

この２６個の記号中、全遺跡の１５％以上で見つかったものは１５個あります。

右下のジグザグ記号はオーストラリア、南北アメリカ、インド、中・南部アフリカで見つかっています。

それが描かれた時期は２００００～１３０００年前の期間です。

What would these mean?

They had already treated the number.

With that、The number of game animal was counted, the calendar was recorded and the period like childbirth was possibly measured.

They have recognized surrounding nature abstractly, and were thinking of it and expressing it.

Their capability to express fine arts and the symbols suddenly did not appeared in glacial epoch of Europe.

I think that people in those days were unable to tell the symbols to all each continent.

Those days, all people that had diffused on the earth must have had the same intelligence and feeling.

Because human beings had been adapted to the climate for the past 10,000 years at most, the color of skin changed, and the race was birthed.

Europe of the glacial epoch enabled the settlement of group, and explosion of fine arts was induced, and disappeared by warming.

That's just about it.

Thank you for reading this series until the last.

これらは何を意味するのでしょうか？

彼らは既に数字を扱っていたのです。

それにより狩猟動物の頭数を数え、暦を記録し、出産のような時期を計っていたのかもしれません。

自然を抽象的に認識し、思考し、表現していたのです。

美術や記号を表現する能力はヨーロッパの氷河期に突如として出現したのではないのです。

当時の人々が、各大陸の隅々まで記号を伝えるのは不可能です。

地球上に展開していた当時の人々は、すべて同じ知能と感情を持っていたのです。

高々ここ１万年間の気候に順応したことにより、肌の色が変わり、人種が生まれたのです。

氷河期のヨーロッパが集団定住を可能にし、美術の爆発を生み、そして温暖化共に消え去った。

それだけのことなのです。

連載を最後までお読みいただきありがとうございました。