The album that redefined punk rock. The post How Green Day navigated their overnight skyrocket to stardom: “We were entering an arena of bands we didn’t like” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

It’s always good to listen to people in their own language‚ in their own words. Memri.org‚ the website of MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) provides that ability for those of us not fluent in Arabic or Parsi‚ the languages that the purveyors of terror in the Middle East mostly employ. When they speak in English‚ they modify their content to keep in place the illusion of moderation‚ although‚ as they believe they are riding a worldwide wave of hatred‚ they feel less need for duplicity today than even a few months ago.  They do not buy that the people who practice terror and profess the desire to exterminate the Jews deserve any support from the country that crushed the Nazis. So looking at MEMRI’s website‚ translated from the Arabic‚ here is what Ali Baraka‚ the Hamas official in charge of “National Relations Abroad‚” had to say on Hezbollah’s Lebanese TV station‚ trying to encourage Hezbollah to join in the attack: Times have changed. We will not return to how we were prior to October 7. Israel is fragile … We can repeat October 7 many times‚ because once you storm‚ they collapse. This is how it works with Israel. They fight you from afar … They did not expect a ground assault‚ because they couldn’t imagine that any Arab would dare to attack them. They were bullheaded because of how they defeated the Arab armies. But today‚ things have changed. Today‚ the Arab fighters storm in. They stormed [the Gaza Envelope] and tomorrow‚ they will storm the Galilee. They will storm in from wherever they can. We can defeat them. The world has changed.    There is no reason not to believe Baraka about Hamas’s aim. They seek a ceasefire to continue the war from a better position. They are not interested in taking steps towards peace‚ save for a peace brought about by the absence of Jews. They need a ceasefire only because their army and their multi-billion-dollar tunnels-of-terror empire are being methodically destroyed. They rely on a West seeking only comfort and appeasement to snatch them from defeat and to award them a resounding victory. Like Arafat from Beirut‚ they seek salvation from the hands of the West they despise‚ but whom they find very useful. (READ MORE from Shmuel Klatzkin: The Story of Oct. 7 Is the Same as the Story of Dec. 7) For American consumption‚ Hamas emphasizes not their non-negotiable commitment to wiping out the Jews‚ but their own suffering. With crumbling control‚ they somehow manage to keep precise tabs on casualties‚ who seem to be all civilians‚ and almost entirely women and children. Their fellow-travelers in the American mainstream media do their best to transmit the Hamas message‚ that is‚ the English-language version of it. How cruel it is to keep fighting the murderers that have made an entire civilian population its human shield. How immoral it is to let the ones who have never felt bound by any law enforce observance of law on those they slaughtered and raped.  The Administration would like to run with this Hamas line and believe enough Americans will accept it if they airbrush it just right while simultaneously turning up the slander of Netanyahu. Curious to see how thorough the whitewashing of Hamas has become. I did a Google search for Ali Baraka‚ to see how much the legacy media covered his damning statements. MEMRI was listed‚ and so was the Jerusalem Post. But on that the entire long first page of Google hits‚ only NBC popped up‚ way at the bottom — but its quote from Baraka was only his denial that Iran had anything to do with October 7. Nothing to spoil the airbrushed image that the government is pushing through its media allies. This is not new. The New York Times of the ’30s and ’40s pooh-poohed Stalin’s starvation of Ukraine as merest fantasy and buried the emerging reports of the Nazi’s organized extermination of European Jewry ten pages deep. Others followed suit.  The story doesn’t suit them today either. The line from the Bidenaughts and Obamaniks who are fashioning our foreign policy and are crafting the Democrat platform is that Hamas is not all that dangerous‚ and it can be contained if only we give it and its allies more power. Let’s say — an independent state. And free all the murderers convicted in open court of executions of Israeli civilians. And‚ of course‚ freeing all those captured in the October 7 orgy of sexualized terror. That will surely result in peace‚ won’t it? Who could object to that? Years ago‚ when the bumbling Brits thought they could toss a few little countries to Hitler and buy themselves peace‚ Churchill indicted the leaders of his own party in the House of Commons with brutal honesty: “You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor‚ and you will have war.” That stung back then. But today‚ one can sense the sneers among the powerful in the government and the media. Honor? An oppressive construct‚ a racist concept (of course‚ where Orwell had noted in the ’40s that the term “fascist” was now used to indicate merely something you don’t like‚ we note the same today for “racist”). Comfort and power‚ as long as they can last‚ and as long as the consequences of our policies can be safely outsourced to someone else. This last is key. Open wide the borders‚ because those in power suffer last from the consequences that those poor rubes in Texas and assorted backwaters are drowning in. Stop all pipelines‚ sabotage the thriving development of natural gas‚ and undercut the petroleum industry‚ because they can afford the higher prices or the Teslas they buy with subsidies from the American taxpayers. Turn the FBI and national intelligence into active political players‚ because its only the other side of who is being hurt. (READ MORE: Complicit Media Wants Israel to Spare the Children) And if we can get reelected by pointing to a “peace” no matter how phony and transient‚ well‚ hey‚ it’s only Israel who will suffer‚ its deterrence shattered‚ its enemies encouraged. It’s a very old story for Jews in Israel. When Britain found that there was a growing and violent resistance to an independent Jewish presence in Israel‚ their first reaction was to put limits on the rights of Jews to immigrate and to buy land. The idea was that concessions are the best way to peace. The original Palestine Mandate which was to be the Jewish National Home under the San Remo Treaty after World War I‚ was to include all of Jordan as well as all the land between the river and the sea‚ as long as the civil rights of non-Jews would be respected. To buy peace‚ about 75 percent of the territory was lopped off and Jews were forbidden by law to buy land there and settle.  Peace resulted? Not so much. The cry in the Arab street was “The government is with us‚” and riots increased until Jewish communities were subject to mass murder‚ rape‚ and expulsion as in Hebron in 1929. Hamas knows it has some support in America. It has good reason to believe that if it plays its cards right‚ the Administration will start to portray Israel as intransigent‚ will interfere in Israel’s politics to oust Netanyahu‚ and will accept anything that can be passed off however temporarily as a solution — because they won’t suffer the consequences of their sabotage. So they think. And so they and their media hide the truth that Ali Baraka let loose.  But there are too many Americans who have been left holding the bags of consequences for them not to see and not to know what is happening right now. (READ MORE: First‚ De-Nazify Gaza) Those Americans still stand for things like honor‚ freedom from extermination‚ love of peace‚ protection of basic civil rights‚ and the need for security. They know exactly what is going on or will recognize it when shown. They are tired of being fooled. They are not going to be fooled. They do not buy that the people who practice terror and profess the desire to exterminate the Jews deserve any support from the country that crushed the Nazis and ended their Holocaust.  They will not tolerate any party that will give a pass to Hitler’s spiritual heirs.    The post The American People Know the Real Hamas appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Old Dominion’s Catholic bishops are calling on lawmakers to halt assisted suicide bills working their way through the state legislature. Bishops Michael Burbidge of the diocese of Arlington and Barry Knestout of the diocese of Richmond issued a statement last week warning against the moral and societal decay assisted suicide will usher in if legalized. “Every suicide is a tragedy‚” the bishops wrote. “Assisted suicide facilitates tragedies and makes the most vulnerable even more vulnerable. Legalizing it would place the lives of people with disabilities‚ people with mental illnesses‚ the elderly‚ and those unable to afford healthcare — among others — at heightened risk of deadly harm.” As floor debates on the legislation are imminent in the Virginia Senate and House‚ Burbidge and Knestout pointed to the harm already done in the states where assisted suicide is legal. “For example‚” the bishops said‚ “insurance companies have denied coverage for cancer treatment and other life-saving procedures but offered to pay for cheaper suicide drugs instead. And in Oregon‚ only 3.3 percent of the patients who died by assisted suicide since its legalization in 1998 were referred for psychiatric evaluation.” It is Christianity … which gives meaning and purpose to not only pain but also life and even death. Thus far‚ California‚ Colorado‚ Oregon‚ Vermont‚ New Mexico‚ Maine‚ New Jersey‚ Hawaii‚ Washington state‚ and Washington‚ D.C. legally permit euthanasia. Other nations also showcase the dystopian horrors of assisted suicide. In Canada‚ “Medical Assistance in Dying” was legalized in 2016 and has been rapidly expanded since then. Initially available only to those suffering terminal illness‚ euthanasia in Canada is now on offer to those suffering painful-but-curable diseases and disabilities‚ too. The ruling Liberal Party is pushing an expansion to allow for the assisted suicide of the mentally ill. In 2022‚ a healthcare worker suggested a Canadian military veteran euthanize himself when he sought assistance for his PTSD. The Catholic Church has long opposed euthanasia — for a whole host of reasons. The Catechism of the Catholic Church bluntly declares that euthanasia is “morally unacceptable.” It is also noted that the good intention of easing suffering does not mitigate the moral repugnance of euthanasia: “The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act‚ which must always be forbidden and excluded.” (READ MORE from S.A. McCarthy: Discredited: Senators Question FBI on Anti-Catholic Richmond Memo) The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF)‚ the Vatican’s doctrine office‚ explained in 1980 the fundamental issue with euthanasia‚ saying‚ “The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act‚ which must always be forbidden and excluded.” The CDF also clarified the antidote to the moral poison of euthanasia: “What a sick person needs‚ besides medical care‚ is love‚ the human and supernatural warmth with which the sick person can and ought to be surrounded by all those close to him or her‚ parents and children‚ doctors and nurses.” From a purely societal point of view‚ euthanasia’s chief danger is turning a seeming mercy into a convenience. What begins as offering an escape from pain and suffering quickly — as the examples of Canada and Australia evince with brutal vividness — descends into demanding an end to pain and suffering on any terms. It is no longer a matter of hastening one past excruciating pain and on to a certain and even an impending death‚ but offering death as a quick and easy way out of pain‚ no matter how long off death is. There is also‚ of course‚ a financial factor. It may be more convenient and even profitable to end a suffering family member’s life than to pay for an extended hospital and hospice stay; insurance companies certainly seem to think so. (READ MORE: Strangers in a Strange Land: The Catholic Church and Immigration) Christianity also has its answer to what C.S. Lewis called “the problem of pain.” Again‚ the CDF explained‚ “According to Christian teaching … suffering‚ especially suffering during the last moments of life‚ has a special place in God’s saving plan; it is in fact a sharing in Christ’s passion and a union with the redeeming sacrifice which He offered in obedience to the Father’s will.” Addressing suffering‚ Lewis explained‚ in terms more salt-of-the-earth: We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures‚ speaks in our conscience‚ but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world … No doubt pain as God’s megaphone is a terrible instrument; it may lead to final and unrepented rebellion. But it gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. it removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of the rebel soul. In short‚ suffering serves a purpose for the soul. Even the secular world may conclude that euthanasia’s promise of mercy is quickly soured‚ but‚ since it ignores or denies the reality of the soul‚ is still left with the problem of pain. It is Christianity — and in particular Christ’s suffering and death on the cross — which gives meaning and purpose to not only pain but also life and even death. To that end‚ Virginia’s bishops have asked the faithful of their dioceses to sign a petition to state legislators expressing their opposition to legalized assisted suicide. The post Virginia’s Bishops Speak Out Against Euthanasia appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Mike Rowe‚ the Dirty Jobs star and host of How America Works‚ has recently unloaded on Gen Z‚ the age cohort born somewhere between the mid-1990s through 2010 and sometimes known as “zoomers.” Rowe said that the importance of hard work is on the way out‚ and we have seen the last days of a work ethic being a virtue. He said that work ethic‚ personal responsibility‚ delayed gratification‚ and a decent attitude were expected in the workplace‚ and those days are gone.  Gen Zers never had a paper route. Delivering the Buffalo Evening News dry‚ on time‚ and left exactly in the right place for my customers‚ who regularly expressed exceptionally high expectations for me‚ forged my work ethic. The weekly charge was 55 cents‚ and I was taught to have change for a dollar in my hand when approaching every house. My mom would say‚ “It is wrong to force people to give you a tip because you don’t have change for their dollar bill. Present the 45 cents‚ and if they say keep the change‚ sincerely thank them.” I was ridiculed each week for getting change by the store owner where I picked up my papers. The owner said‚ “Take their money‚” to which I responded‚ “No sir‚ it’s not the right thing to do.” When reconciling each account on collection days‚ I had to show my mom that the collected amount was correct down to the last penny. All of this helped to define my character‚ integrity‚ and work ethic. The well-established and long-standing virtue of hard work may be a fleeting memory of previous generations. My Baby Boomer generation represents the children of the Greatest Generation. Both my parents lived through the Great Depression. As Boomers‚ we were expected to work hard at an early age‚ believed in being loyal to one’s employer by giving more than a full day’s work‚ and believed in an employment philosophy of paying your dues. Growing up in my neighborhood meant doing daily chores‚ taking a paper route‚ mowing lawns‚ doing odd jobs‚ and having a job on Saturdays. This all began for us at the age of 14. On top of that‚ we took every opportunity to play outside‚ no matter the weather‚ learning the hard lessons of life. We loved real competition through Little League football and baseball‚ “Punt‚ Pass‚ and Kick” competitions‚ Junior Olympic Wrestling‚ and basketball open gyms. This expected work ethic continued into our high school and college years‚ when we were now juggling many more responsibilities and jobs in the midst of academic and sports aspirations. (READ MORE from Jim Thrasher: Joe Biden — The Definition of the Peter Principle) Times have changed. It has become apparent that Gen Zers do not have this same work ethic. Gen Z has prompted a warning that societal norms are changing‚ and the importance of hard work is on its way out. A number of factors have brought about this change. A contributing factor is the upbringing of Gen Zers. This generation has had everything scheduled for them and given to them. Their helicopter parents have wanted to know who‚ what‚ where‚ why‚ and how about every aspect of their child’s life. Gen Zers have created their own protective home cocoons‚ and social media has become their reality. They have experienced sports without a score‚ COVID isolation‚ school shootings‚ participation trophies‚ mental health struggles‚ no responsibilities at home‚ an obsession with computer games‚ and CRT‚ DEI‚ and Woke philosophies. These influential factors have truly affected them and their work ethic. Gen Z is currently being hammered for its abysmal work ethic. There are major concerns about the newest entrants to the workforce. This assessment is being validated by educators‚ recruiters‚ employers‚ and recent survey data. Educators have described this generation as the entitled generation‚ unwilling to put in the time and effort to achieve its full potential. Intelligent.com found that over 50 percent of employers and recruiters think that Gen Zers have inappropriate work attitudes and present unprofessional behavior in the recruiting process. A Resumebuilder.com survey reveals that 74 percent of business leaders report that Gen Z is more difficult to work with than any other generation. Survey data of these very transparent Gen Zers paints a troubling picture. They describe their expectations as: high pay with fewer hours‚ more paid time off‚ a newly defined work-life balance‚ immediate earnings of $75‚000 to $100‚000 right out of college‚ flexible hours‚ working remotely‚ and immediate job recognition and rewards. In the realm of work‚ they describe themselves as having a lack of initiative‚ short attention spans‚ limited interpersonal skills‚ no moorings‚ being depressed and burnt out (more than half of Gen Zers either have been diagnosed with or have been treated for a mental health issue)‚ and having lost a sense of motivation and determination. (READ MORE: What’s Up With All the Labor Strikes?) The well-established and long-standing virtue of hard work may be a fleeting memory of previous generations. The initial societal effect of a disappearing work ethic is being felt‚ and the long-term impact could be devastating. Is there a silver lining in this devastating description of Gen Z? Well‚ not all Gen Zers meet this profile‚ which presents an incredible window of opportunity to those who are hard-working‚ responsible‚ motivated‚ and mature. These individuals will noticeably stand out amongst their peers‚ will be highly sought after by employers‚ and will have limitless possibilities in the marketplace. The post Gen Z — What’s a Paper Route? appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

How far Lord Minamoto no Muneyuki had fallen. His grandfather was the former Emperor Kōkō‚ and his father the Imperial Prince Koretada‚ yet in the year 894 A.D. Muneyuki found himself reduced to commoner status by his uncle‚ the reigning Emperor Uda‚ and would spend the remainder of his years as a courtier and minor official of the Lower Grade of Senior Fourth Rank. It was a precipitous fall from grace‚ the shame of which he would have felt keenly in all the fibers of his organism. Such reduced circumstances did‚ however‚ provide him with the spare time needed to produce classical waka poetry‚ so Muneyuki’s place in history was secured after all‚ not by his illustrious ancestry‚ his magistracies‚ his provincial governorships‚ or his time as Master of the Right Capital Office‚ but by his collection of carefully-polished poetic jewels‚ the Muneyuki ShÅ«‚ and his literary correspondence with fellow waka poets Ki no Tsurayuki and Lady Ise. One of Muneyuki’s most finely-wrought works‚ on a melancholic winter theme‚ would be included as the 28th entry in the classical anthology Hyakunin Isshu‚ or One Hundred Poems‚ One Poem Each:     山里は 冬ぞさびしさ まさりける 人めも草も かれぬと思へば Yama-zato wa Fuyu zo sabishisa Masarikeru Hito-me mo kusa mo Karenu to omoeba A mountain village In wintertime‚ so lonely and cold The grasses and the people Have grown withered and distant So my thoughts run It was evidently still winter in Lord Muneyuki’s weary heart as he reflected upon the miseries of the hibernal season of the calendar‚ and of his life. For Kawabata‚ there was an invigorating beauty to be found in the supposed desolation of the Snow Country’s winter-blasted landscape. In 1835‚ the ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai would illustrate Muneyuki’s poem as part of his last‚ sadly unfinished print series based on the Hyakunin Isshu anthology. Whereas the Heian period poet had emphasized the isolation of wintertide‚ the Edo period artist’s color woodblock print depicted a group of five hunters or foresters — or possibly bandits — sporting straw sandals‚ straw leggings‚ and indigo-dyed cotton tunics‚ all huddled around a bonfire blazing beneath the eaves of a snow-encrusted hut. The smoke from the fire wafts up and away‚ the thick undulating billows subtly suggestive of the ever-present threat of an avalanche. It is a menacing landscape‚ reminiscent of the eight Buddhist freezing hells‚ which include Arbuda (where your skin blisters)‚ Atata (where you shiver ceaselessly)‚ Uptala (where your skin turns as blue as a blue water lily)‚ and finally Mahapadma (where your icebound body finally shatters into a thousands shards of jagged glinting flesh). (READ MORE from Matthew Omelesky: Aristotle Never Existed?: The Chinese Aversion to History) We should bear in mind that both Minamoto no Muneyuki and Katsushika Hokusai were city-dwellers. The former hailed from Kyoto‚ and his notion of an isolated winter hamlet was drawn from the nearby communities of Mount Atago‚ Mount Hiei‚ and the Kitayama Mountains north of the ancient capital. The latter was from Edo (later Tokyo)‚ and preferred summertime‚ as evidenced by his illustrations of Edo’s shimmering midsummer days and nights‚ including one of his most skillful surimono woodblock prints‚ Cage of Fireflies at Dawn in Summer (1800). Even Hokusai’s beautiful and (literally) haunting jisei‚ or farewell poem‚ composed shortly before his death‚ assures us that ひと魂で ゆくきさんじや 夏の原 Hitodama de Yukukisanji ya Natsu no hara As a ghost Shall I lightly tread  On summer fields Muneyuki and Hokusai shared a bleak vision of winter — with its barren landscapes‚ weather-imposed isolation‚ skin-chafing wind‚ empty larders‚ creeping frostbite — that was the product of lifetimes spent in humid subtropical zones. Yet farther to the north‚ in Japan’s Snow Country‚ attitudes towards winter are necessarily more nuanced. ***** Known prosaically as the gōsetsu chitai‚ or “heavy snow area‚” and rather more euphoniously as the yukiguni‚ or “snow country‚” the region situated between the Japanese Alps and the Sea of Japan‚ running from Japan’s Fukui to Akita prefectures‚ contains some of the snowiest places on the planet. The cities of Tokamachi and Aomori‚ for example‚ can receive 460 and 312 inches of snow annually‚ respectively‚ while the most elevated terrain in the Hida Mountains is blanketed with a staggering 1‚500 inches of snow per year. At the height of winter‚ Japan’s snow-belt is marked by altogether otherworldly landscapes‚ particularly at sites like Mount Zaō‚ where horizontal icicles and falling snow turn ordinary conifers into ghastly juhyō‚ the famous “snow monsters” that gather on the slopes like an army of pallid ghosts. Perhaps the most enduring portrayal of this region was provided by Yasunari Kawabata‚ whose novel Yukiguni‚ or Snow Country‚ was initially serialized between 1935 and 1937 in the BungeishunjÅ« and Kaizō magazines‚ before appearing in its final form in 1948. Kawabata’s masterpiece‚ set in the hot spring resort town of Yuzawa‚ begins with the immortal lines 国境の長いトンネルを抜けると雪国であった。夜の底が白くなった。 Kokkyō no nagai tonneru wo nukeru to‚ yukiguni de atta. Yoru no soko ga shiroku natta. Edward Seidensticker‚ in his 1956 English translation‚ rendered this as‚ “The train came out of the long tunnel into the snow country. The earth lay white under the night sky‚” though since the word “train” does not actually appear here‚ a more accurate interpretation might be: “When I passed through the long tunnel at the provincial border‚ I found myself in snow country.” And Kawabata’s second sentence literally refers to the “bottom of the night‚” while making no reference to the earth‚ so “the depths of night were bathed in white” might be preferable‚ in an attempt to preserve at least something of the original’s exquisite rhyme. Even if his translation was occasionally loose‚ Seidensticker was a sensitive interpreter of Kawabata’s artistry‚ noting in his introduction to Snow Country that  Kawabata has been put‚ I think rightly‚ in a literary line that can be traced back to seventeenth-century haiku masters. Haiku are tiny seventeen-syllable poems that seek to convey a sudden awareness of beauty by a mating of opposite or incongruous terms. Thus the classical haiku characteristically fuses motion and stillness. Similarly Kawabata relies very heavily on a mingling of the senses. In Snow Country we come upon the roaring silence of a winter night‚ for instance‚ or the round softness of the sound of running water‚ or‚ in a somewhat more elaborate figure‚ the sound of a bell‚ far back in the singing of a teakettle‚ suddenly becomes a woman’s feet. From his memorable first sentences to the novel’s forceful finale — “As he caught his footing‚ his head fell back‚ and the Milky Way flowed down inside him with a roar” — Kawabata highlighted these sudden flashes of disconcerting beauty. Early in the narrative‚ the protagonist Shimamura‚ a cosmopolitan Tokyo dilettante and connoisseur of Western ballet‚ enters into a very different world‚ a forest of sugi‚ or Japanese cedar‚ in which the evergreens threw up their trunks in perfectly straight lines‚ so high that he could see the tops only by arching his back. The dark needles blocked out the sky‚ and the stillness seemed to be singing quietly. The trunk against which Shimamura leaned was the oldest of all. For some reason all the branches on the north side had withered‚ and their tips broken and fallen‚ they looked like stakes driven into the trunk with their sharp ends out‚ to make a terrible weapon for some god. For Kawabata‚ there was an invigorating beauty to be found in the supposed desolation of the Snow Country’s winter-blasted landscape. Writing in Japan‚ the Beautiful and Myself (1969)‚ Kawabata described how the excitement of beauty calls forth strong fellow feelings‚ yearnings for companionship‚ and the word “comrade” can be taken to mean “human being.” The snow‚ the moon‚ the blossoms‚ words expressive of the seasons as they move one into another‚ include in the Japanese tradition the beauty of mountains and rivers and grasses and trees‚ of all the myriad manifestations of nature‚ of human feelings as well. And he identified with the late Heian period poet Saigyō Hōshi‚ of whom it was said “cherry blossoms‚ the cuckoo‚ the moon‚ snow: confronted with all the manifold forms of nature‚ his eyes and his ears were filled with emptiness … My own works [Kawabata added] have been described as works of emptiness‚ but it is not to be taken for the nihilism of the West.”  Of all the books in my personal library‚ among the most cherished is my well-thumbed copy of Suzuki Bokushi’s Hokuetsu Seppu (北越雪譜)‚ or Snow Stories from North Etsu Province. In Japanese aesthetics‚ the term yÅ«gen‚ literally “dim” or “deep” but indicating something more like “mysterious insight‚” describes an emotional response to the beauty of the universe that leaves one at a loss for words — the consummate challenge for a logocentric novelist. Kawabata succeeded admirably in the regard‚ as when Shimamura first catches a glimpse of Snow Country from the window of his train: In the depths of the mirror the evening landscape moved by‚ the mirror and the reflected figures like motion pictures superimposed on the other. The figures and the background were unrelated‚ and yet the figures‚ transparent and intangible‚ and the background‚ dim in the gathering darkness‚ melted together into a sort of symbolic world not of this world. The visual equivalent of Kawabata’s prose can be found in the works of the Muromachi period Zen monk and painter SesshÅ« Tōyō. I am thinking in particular of his Winter Landscape‚ executed in 1470 and now on display in the Tokyo National Museum. Using nothing more than the soot from burnt pine twigs‚ a touch of resin‚ a sheet of washi paper‚ and his trusty brush‚ SesshÅ« captured that preternatural feeling of midwinter yÅ«gen. Using quick‚ jagged brushstrokes‚ and almost completely eschewing curvilinear forms‚ the Zen monk depicted a modest temple nestled in the foothills of an imposing cliff‚ with the entire landscape enshrouded in what Kawabata would later call “a faint white mist‚ as though lighted by the Milky Way.” (READ MORE: November Nights: The Legacy of Henry Chapman Mercer) Towards the bottom of this consummate example of sumi-e ink painting‚ we catch a glimpse of a figure in a broad hat‚ his outline produced by only a dozen or so short‚ impossibly confident brushstrokes‚ as he stoically mounts a winding flight of steps towards the temple. The overall effect is not as harsh as in Hokusai’s Hyakunin Isshu winter scene‚ but a foreboding atmosphere prevails‚ produced by the plunging‚ barbed lines that represent the rocky face of the soaring cliff‚ and the weathered‚ withered tree limbs that would indeed “make a terrible weapon for some god.” Once again‚ it is worth noting that Yasunari Kawabata was born in Osaka‚ lived in Tokyo and Kamakura‚ and died in Kanagawa‚ while SesshÅ« Tōyō was born in what is now Okayama Prefecture‚ trained at the Shōkoku-ji Temple in Kyoto‚ and left this world at the Tōkō-ji Temple in the city of Hagi‚ all very far from Snow Country. They were sensitive observers of the yukiguni region and its mysterious profundity‚ more sensitive than Minamoto no Muneyuki and Katsushika Hokusai‚ I would suggest‚ but they were not natives of Snow Country either‚ and while they have taken us further into that region‚ we have not yet arrived at its heart. To get there‚ we will need another guide: Suzuki Bokushi‚ the nineteenth-century textile merchant‚ ethnographer‚ natural historian‚ and poet who made it his life’s work to chronicle life in Japan’s snow north. ***** Of all the books in my personal library‚ among the most cherished is my well-thumbed copy of Suzuki Bokushi’s Hokuetsu Seppu (北越雪譜)‚ or Snow Stories from North Etsu Province‚ which appeared in 1986‚ in an unfortunately now out-of-print English translation by Jeffrey Hunter and Rose Lesser‚ as Snow Country Tales: Life in the Other Japan. The scion of a family of wealthy cloth merchants‚ Bokushi was born in 1770 in the town of Shiozawa‚ which straddled the old Mikuni highways and is presently incorporated into the mountain town of Minamiuonuma in Niigata Prefecture. Bokushi had been blessed with congenital wealth but not with samurai status‚ and sought to better his station in life through literary endeavors‚ making contacts with the late Edo-period intelligentsia and exchanging haikus with poets. For some forty years he worked on his magnum opus‚ Hokuetsu Seppu‚ a sprawling work of human geography and natural history published in two volumes‚ the first appearing in 1837‚ and the second in 1841‚ just before his death the following year. Bokushi took pains to acknowledge the challenges nature poses in this inhospitable terrain. “We exhaust ourselves and our purses‚” he wrote‚ and “undergo a thousand pains and discomforts‚ all because of the snow. The great extent of our sufferings will be revealed to you as this work unfolds.” He tells of the immense efforts required to clear away the huge snowfalls‚ “a far from elegant task‚” and the so-called “snow womb” tunnels that enable townsfolk to move about. (These days the largest snow womb‚ the Yuki no Otani or “Great Valley of Snow‚” can be found along the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route‚ running some 1‚620 feet between sixty-six feet-high walls of snow.) He tells of the dangerous mizu agari‚ or “rising water‚” when villages located near rivers experience devastating floods after the first snowfall of the season. And of course he tells of snow whirlwinds and avalanches. “What frightening things avalanches are‚” Bokushi warns‚ so violent that “their victims may have their heads and limbs torn right off.” Life in Snow Country may have been precarious‚ but it was not devoid of pleasures‚ like the theatricals in the snow Bokushi detailed with such enthusiasm. Before the performances‚ the actors would “gather together and go to the river to pray for clear skies by breaking through the ice and dousing themselves with the icy waters‚” and during performances “little girls plied the crowd calling ‘Ice‚ ice!’ Green leaves lined their baskets‚ which were filled with lumps of frozen snow that they were selling as a refreshment. How marvelous‚ I thought: selling ice instead of tea!” The weather was no impediment to religious celebrations like the Blossom-Water Festival‚ held in honor of newly-wed couples‚ when well-wishers would gather together as the bridegroom was to be splashed with frigid water‚ masked dancers cavorted with wooden pestles decorated as phalluses‚ and the valleys resounded with joyous song: Happy‚ happy be the young pine tree. Your branches flourish‚ Your needles grow thick. For Bokushi and his fellow Snow Country-dwellers‚ the winter landscape was far from dead. They played shuttlecock and battledore in the snow‚ ate yaki onigiri (roasted rice-balls) in the middle of blizzards‚ and produced some of the finest textiles in the world‚ ojiya chijimi‚ by bleaching ramie cloth in the snowfields. They hunted bears‚ foxes‚ and deer in the snow‚ cautiously avoided wolves‚ followed the life cycle of salmon‚ and kept an eye out for the feeding grounds of migratory snow geese. (READ MORE: A Dialogue With the Dead: Gary Saul Morson’s Wonder Confronts Certainty) Look closely‚ Bokushi urges the reader‚ and you will see signs of life everywhere‚ even in the snow itself. “We have snow insects in Echigo‚” he noted‚ which “begin to make their appearance in the snow at the beginning of the year‚ and when the snow melts they‚ too‚ disappear‚ their life cycle bound to the snows.” (I am aware of the dance of the delicate yukimushi‚ or snow bugs‚ members of the aphid genus Prociphilus and harbingers of Japan’s first seasonal snows‚ but I am unsure precisely which insects Bokushi is referring to here‚ though I will defer to his natural historical expertise.) And beyond the pale of civilization lurked supernatural entities‚ or yōkai‚ including ghosts‚ ape-like beasts‚ and a flying cat-demon with a flaming tail that was vanquished by the heroic Abbot Hokko back in the sixteenth century. Still‚ it is never lonely‚ if you know where to look‚ and remain open to the spirit of yÅ«gen and the essence of the landscape. For Yasunari Kawabata‚ the northern Snow Country evoked feelings of emptiness and nothingness‚ related to the concept of yohaku (“empty space”) in a painting or textile‚ or the ma (“pause”) in a shakuhachi bamboo flute composition. The Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han‚ in his 2007 essay collection Absence: On the Culture and Philosophy of the Far East‚ followed suit‚ contrasting the quintessentially Asian “culture of absencing” with “occidental culture‚ which is centered on essence.” There is some truth to this contradistinction‚ and I am reluctant to find myself at odds with Kawabata and Han‚ but we cannot look at Japan solely through the lens of Zen Buddhism. After all‚ the indigenous religion of that country‚ Shintō‚ is not predicated on absence but on essence‚ in the form of the supernatural entities‚ or kami‚  who inhabit all things. In Bokushi’s Hokuetsu Seppu‚ we encounter a society that does not view its environment as empty‚ but fiercely alive‚ in spite of the relentless assaults of nature. Winter is not a dead season. Writing in The People’s Paper on November 25‚ 1934‚ the Czech writer Karel ÄŒapek cautioned his readership that We look at it only from a human‚ or in other words wrong‚ perspective when we say that in autumn nature resigns herself to dying‚ or bunkum like that. First‚ nature is lucky because nine times out of ten she doesn’t die‚ and second‚ she doesn’t indulge in such a sentimental weakness as resignation. Quite the opposite‚ she goes at it‚ incredibly active and determined‚ as if she meant to say: What kind of talk’s this! We must get ready; we must gather and mobilize all our strength to be able to defend ourselves. It’s impossible without sacrifices‚ we’ll give up all our foliage‚ we’ll tighten our metabolic belts‚ we’ll draw our glucose‚ starch‚ and all those chemical compounds into our roots. To work‚ to work! Grieving and lamenting won’t help. It may hit us any minute now‚ but when it does‚ it will find us with ripened wood and capable of endurance‚ but capable of sprouting‚ too‚ and fit to flower the moment we get out of the blasted winter. To persevere and have the groundwork done for next spring‚ that’s our watchword. Determination‚ endurance‚ perseverance — all might serve equally well as watchwords for the denizens of Japan’s Snow Country‚ past and present. At times‚ even a lifelong resident of the yukiguni like Suzuki Bokushi might lament how  buried as the houses are in snow‚ they are so dark it is hard to see your hand in front of your face. Though we have been born and raised in this world and dwell here year after year‚ we still grow depressed and dazed buried under the snow‚ and it is not by any means pleasant. When‚ halfway through spring‚ we clear away the snow and for the first time in months the sun’s rays come flooding brilliantly into our lives‚ we feel as if we have come out at last into the human world again. Snow Country in winter is in some ways estranged from the human world‚ whereas what Bokushi calls the “rich and prosperous cities” are “graced year after year with the bright green and white of willows and plums.” That is not because the yukiguni is a land of withered indifference‚ or pristine emptiness‚ but because it is a land full — to brimming over — with kami and yōkai‚ and dominated by the forces of nature. It is there that the Fires of Hell Valley burn mysteriously in the distance while great icicles grow indoors‚ dragon lights flicker like fireflies about the summit of Mount Yone while boulders lie stacked like “twisting dragons and raging tigers‚ a scene too strange and wonderful to describe‚” and the Heavenly River of the Milky Way arches overhead‚ and then flows down your throat with a celestial roar. A mountain village in wintertime may be cold‚ as Lord Minamoto no Muneyuki rightly observed‚ and the grass withered‚ and visitors absent. Still‚ it is never lonely‚ if you know where to look‚ and remain open to the spirit of yÅ«gen and the essence of the landscape. The post Snow Country in Japan appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.