Reading Again

For some reason, it never occurred to me to read an interesting book on the train in Japan. I've only ever had Japanese textbooks, music, and magazines with me.

I went to Minato's main library yesterday--the one across from city hall--and picked up a small, illustrated book of Japanese rakugo (comic storytelling) and read it very quickly on the train just traveling to and from meeting my friend Emi. I really enjoyed them. I guess they're kind of like folk tales, but meant to entertain more than to educate.

For example, the introduction to one of the stories was about a rich guy who decided that he didn't need eight servants, so he got rid of half. Then he realized four was too many, so he got rid of two. Then, he realized he and his wife didn't need servants after all, so he fired them too. Then he thought that his wife was a burden, so he divorced her. Finally, he thought he was a burden too, so he hanged himself.

The other stories (including the actual story that followed this introduction) aren't as dark as this, but they have a similar sense of absurd humor, which I love.

Nearly all the stories had a lazy, good-for-nothing character in it. It makes me think that effort and hard work are part and parcel of Japanese culture. The few Japanese dramas I've seen also emphasize effort and hard work. I guess it makes sense, then, that this is a society where people suffer from "karoshi," death from (over)work. They work these crazy long hours, are expected to drink a lot many nights a week, sleep (or try to) on the trains, and for lunch, eat Yoshinoya or Sukiya--the McDonald's of beef bowls. And a beef bowl is exactly what it sounds like--a large bowl of fatty beef with a few slices of onions in a soy-based sauce, over rice. It's cheap (only about 250-380 yen, depending what you get) and fast, but not terribly good for you, as you can imagine.

Anyway, the little rakugo book reminded me how much I loved reading when I was younger, and how I should really get back into it.

Today, I started reading "Birthday Stories," an anthology of short stories edited by Haruki Murakami. He has a story in it too, which I'm looking forward to reading because I'd never read anything of his before. Maybe I'll start reading more Japanese authors.

Oh, and speaking of Murakami, Google's search engine page yesterday featured Takashi Murakami's artwork. I wonder why. Was it his birthday or something? I love a lot of his artwork from what I've seen at the Brooklyn Art Museum a few years ago--very cute.

I realized recently that I don't like most art museums. Unless I'm looking at (being in/under/around) sculptures, installations, or architecture, I get very bored and want to go home. Has anyone else experienced this?