After a long time, a friend who graduated from Kyoto University visited my house the day before yesterday.
It was a very welcome visit, like a Christmas Eve present.
During our conversation about all things under heaven, we discussed how I came to publish my book.
My book was on the bookshelf.
The cover design was decided upon when I was in Kitano Hospital.
Kitano Hospital is a large hospital equivalent to the Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine.
In the style of "The White Tower," the head of the department and five or six young doctors would go around to each patient's room.
When the publisher sent me several ideas for the cover design, the second round of visits took place.
When I was talking about which one I should choose, one of the young doctors said:
"Kisara-san, would you let me do it? I'm good at this sort of thing."
I immediately left it in his hands.
I told the acquaintance at the beginning of this story that this was the cover.
This morning, while thinking about how grateful I was for yesterday's visit, I turned the pages of my book for the first time in a long time.
I have always felt embarrassed about my books.
That's why I didn't read them that often.
I realized again that this was also a significant loss.
For about a year, my book was on the social science and economics shelf at the main Kinokuniya Umeda store, alongside books by such leading commentators as the late Taichi Sakaiya and Yoichi Takahashi.
The person in charge at Kinokuniya said that although my book was not likely to be a bestseller, it would sell a certain number of copies, so it was displayed on the shelf.
One day, I noticed it had disappeared from the shelf, so I asked the person in charge why.
He replied, "I was confident that it would sell a certain number of copies, but it didn't sell as well as I had expected..."
As readers will know, this was a completely natural result.
The reason is that I am a completely unknown figure in journalism.
What's more, I appeared under the pen name of Akutagawa Kenji, which I had no choice but to do for reasons that my close acquaintances and readers are well aware of.
If I had appeared under my real name, the many acquaintances and friends I have made through business would have bought the book.
I announced in this column on June 1st, 2011, that the book would be published on December 1st.
I wrote an introduction to the book and published it.
At this point, if you searched for "the turntable of civilization," you would find over 20 million hits, with pages 1 to 70 filled with chapters in various languages from this column.
However, the criminal in question created over 100 blogs on each blog management company, such as "driving agency" and "secretarial agency," and began a crime of reverse SEO attack against this column.
After writing blogs with stupid and incoherent content, they posted blogs that published each chapter of this column without permission.
They filled up pages 1 to 10 of the search results with such things.
Immediately, the number of searches for this column dropped sharply to 1/100.
Furthermore, this criminal started committing outrageous crimes on Twitter, such as saying things like "Kisara-san, the vicious writer who is also known as Akutagawa Kenji" and "Kisara-san, the vicious real estate agent who is also known as Akutagawa Kenji."
Simply put, a genuine Japanese sweets shop was in the corner of a completely unknown shopping district.
It is the age of the Internet.
Everyone has a smartphone.
If a criminal like this were to write slanderous comments such as "the ingredients in that shop are made from ○○," that Japanese sweets shop would go bankrupt instantly.
I was made keenly aware of this when I re-read this book.
As the person in charge at Kinokuniya Umeda Main Store saw, this book is a masterpiece.
The fact that this masterpiece was buried by the criminal in question is an unforgivable crime against the world and humanity in the 21st century.
It was a very welcome visit, like a Christmas Eve present.
During our conversation about all things under heaven, we discussed how I came to publish my book.
My book was on the bookshelf.
The cover design was decided upon when I was in Kitano Hospital.
Kitano Hospital is a large hospital equivalent to the Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine.
In the style of "The White Tower," the head of the department and five or six young doctors would go around to each patient's room.
When the publisher sent me several ideas for the cover design, the second round of visits took place.
When I was talking about which one I should choose, one of the young doctors said:
"Kisara-san, would you let me do it? I'm good at this sort of thing."
I immediately left it in his hands.
I told the acquaintance at the beginning of this story that this was the cover.
This morning, while thinking about how grateful I was for yesterday's visit, I turned the pages of my book for the first time in a long time.
I have always felt embarrassed about my books.
That's why I didn't read them that often.
I realized again that this was also a significant loss.
For about a year, my book was on the social science and economics shelf at the main Kinokuniya Umeda store, alongside books by such leading commentators as the late Taichi Sakaiya and Yoichi Takahashi.
The person in charge at Kinokuniya said that although my book was not likely to be a bestseller, it would sell a certain number of copies, so it was displayed on the shelf.
One day, I noticed it had disappeared from the shelf, so I asked the person in charge why.
He replied, "I was confident that it would sell a certain number of copies, but it didn't sell as well as I had expected..."
As readers will know, this was a completely natural result.
The reason is that I am a completely unknown figure in journalism.
What's more, I appeared under the pen name of Akutagawa Kenji, which I had no choice but to do for reasons that my close acquaintances and readers are well aware of.
If I had appeared under my real name, the many acquaintances and friends I have made through business would have bought the book.
I announced in this column on June 1st, 2011, that the book would be published on December 1st.
I wrote an introduction to the book and published it.
At this point, if you searched for "the turntable of civilization," you would find over 20 million hits, with pages 1 to 70 filled with chapters in various languages from this column.
However, the criminal in question created over 100 blogs on each blog management company, such as "driving agency" and "secretarial agency," and began a crime of reverse SEO attack against this column.
After writing blogs with stupid and incoherent content, they posted blogs that published each chapter of this column without permission.
They filled up pages 1 to 10 of the search results with such things.
Immediately, the number of searches for this column dropped sharply to 1/100.
Furthermore, this criminal started committing outrageous crimes on Twitter, such as saying things like "Kisara-san, the vicious writer who is also known as Akutagawa Kenji" and "Kisara-san, the vicious real estate agent who is also known as Akutagawa Kenji."
Simply put, a genuine Japanese sweets shop was in the corner of a completely unknown shopping district.
It is the age of the Internet.
Everyone has a smartphone.
If a criminal like this were to write slanderous comments such as "the ingredients in that shop are made from ○○," that Japanese sweets shop would go bankrupt instantly.
I was made keenly aware of this when I re-read this book.
As the person in charge at Kinokuniya Umeda Main Store saw, this book is a masterpiece.
The fact that this masterpiece was buried by the criminal in question is an unforgivable crime against the world and humanity in the 21st century.
I revere the gods and Buddha but don't rely on them. 2011/3/24
I went to bed earlier last night and woke up earlier than usual.
Watching TV, I thought that up until now, TV (mainly commercial TV) has been full of politicians giving press conferences and impromptu interviews, with the five major TV networks and newspaper companies all swarming around to cover them. Then there are the comedy shows.
Even if you define variety shows as comedy shows, there's not much difference.
And then there are the formulaic dramas.
Japan is made up of a group of companies that occupy the top share of the world market in various fields.
These companies work hard day and night across the globe, and they are the core of the nation.
If you were to take it to the extreme, you could say that politics assists the activities of these companies and their various workers.
The idea of the government being above the people is putting the cart before the horse.
The police are necessary because it is human nature not to eliminate the existence of villains.
Essentially, they are a necessary evil.
However, if the police and prosecutors were to go in the direction of saying they are the ones who make the country, then it would be the end.
It is natural for a watchdog to bark, but it is impossible for them to sit in the middle of the alcove, thinking they are the master.
The same thing can be said about the country.
All the workers whose labor produces the food and profits for the people are the masters, and it would not be an exaggeration to call those who eat on the taxes paid by the workers watchdogs.
(The state is a watchdog to protect the workers of its own country) ... my musings this morning.
All they have are politicians' faces and comedy shows, and their husbands have no lives.
What are the masters doing?
What problems do they have?
What is the situation in foreign countries like right now?
What are other countries thinking?
Where are the business opportunities?
Etc.
There must be a considerable amount of material to broadcast.
Furthermore, the economy is a living thing that changes daily, so there must be an infinite amount of material to cover, so much so that it is impossible to keep up with making programs.
Furthermore, we must also talk about human philosophy and principles as the starting point of business.
Television and newspapers are supposed to be busy workplaces where there is no time to stand still.
If you can't see the boss at all, and all you see is the guard dog and the entertainment artists, it's only natural that you won't be able to see what needs to be done.
Even the workers and the elite doing their jobs while watching the big picture make up less than 10% of the workforce, and 90% can only see what's happening in their area.
The role of the media is to report on the state of affairs in Japan (covering all areas), the situation in other countries, the history of the policies that have been implemented, and the public sentiment that has arisen from this, etc.
Twenty years or more of showing only the faces of politicians and comedians have produced the Japan that existed before March 11th.
It is a Japan that has been mired in the first long-term deflation in the history of developed countries.
The only energetic people were the politicians, comedians, and TV people, and that's why.
If you can't establish yourself as honest and perceive the world correctly, your life will be like the demons and monsters lurking in the darkness.
All kinds of evil will creep in, and not only will you waste your one life, but in the end, there will be nothing but war.
Musashi Miyamoto said:
"I revere God and Buddha but don't rely on them."
2024/12/2 in Kyoto
