画像

夏を逃れて北へ。オホーツク海はしずかな海だった。地図を見れば、それがどれほど広大な内海かは一目瞭然。 North-bound to escape the summer. The Sea of Okhotsk is sublimely calm. Take a look at the map and you will know how vast this inland sea is.

ちょうど提灯祭りの時期だった。街路におびただしい提灯が飾られ、夢のような夜道。しずけさそのものが音楽。台南にて。 It was the time of the Lantern Festival. Countless lanterns floating above the streets, creating a dreamlike night... The silence plays its own music. In Tainan.

どういう物語なのだろう。あざやかな色の浮き彫りが心をくすぐる。謎めいて、楽しい。むかしの中国を知りたくなる。台南の街角で。右の女性は民間信仰の対象、陳靖姑。 What kind of story is it telling? The vividly colored reliefs tickle my imagination. At the same time mysterious and delightful, it makes me want to learn more about ancient China. Found on a street corner in Tainan. The lady on the right is the Chinese deity Chen Jinggu.

峠近くの小さな池の水中に、ぼんやりした白い塊がいくつか。クロサンショウウオの卵だって。初めて見た、見られてよかった！ In the water of a small pond near the mountain pass, I saw several cloudy white clumps. I was told they were black salamander eggs. It was my first sighting of them!

初夏の山形の山道で出遭ったふしぎな花。葉緑素をもたず、その白さは幽霊じみている。菌類から栄養をもらって生きている、その名はぎんりょうそう（銀竜草）だって。 I came across this spooky-looking flower on a mountain path in Yamagata in May. It lacks chlorophyll and its whiteness is ghostly. It draws nutrients from fungi. It’s called "Silver Dragon Grass” in Japanese and the English name I think is Indian Pipe. A friend told me it was Emily Dickinson’s favorite flower!

民家を改造してこんなに瀟洒な書店に？　地下室の使い方がうまいなあ。台南にて。 Wow, they turned a private home into such a stylish bookstore? The good use of the basement is quite impressive. In Tainan.

不穏、どこか不穏。いましがた何かが起きたが、その何かがわからない台北の夜。 Something suspicious is going on, very unsettling. I’m sure something just happened, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it was. A night in Taipei.

以前から食べてみたいと思っていたのが鵞鳥料理。ふつうの白い肉と、砂肝のスライスか。あひるよりさらに大型だが、美味。 I'd always wanted to try goose dishes! This plate consisted of regular white meat and sliced gizzards. They're even larger than ducks, but ono (delicious), eh?

台北にやってきた！　いつになっても見慣れない漢字がある。いずれ調べようと思い、そのまま忘れる。いつか学ばなくちゃ。 In Taipei again! I keep encountering unfamiliar characters. I’ve always meant to look them up, then forgotten. Will I one day know their meanings?

アムステルダム、それはカオスモスの都市。自分を見失え。 Amsterdam is a world city. It’s a city of chaosmos. Lose yourself in the crowd.