Why less COVID-19 in Japan ?
The world is wondering why the number cases of COVID-19 in Japan was far less than the other country despite their society has also very aged population like Italy and having a lots of Chinese visitors ?
The observations made by the net people and me were, (1) Japanese is not a kind of people of hug and kiss but make a bow while standing meters away. Because of they are very conscious about the hygiene, which was originated from their Shinto religion which demand the absolute cleanness. ( Non-Japanese may not know that in behind, they clean their hand with wet tissue after made a shake hand with others, and wash the hand after touch the bank note. —– Taking off their shoes on the door step typify the base line, so does eating the individually served food with a chopstick. ) (2) In the same context, when Japanese came back to their home, first they wash their hand and gurgle with plenty water. Then take a bath to wash off any filth remained on the body. (Then, time to time they visit the Shinto Shrine to cleanse and purify their spirit.)
All those almost imprinted into their subconsciousness level of the Japanese ethos which was avoid touching foreign body or not to have a close contact with it, naturally prevented the spread of the virus from the begining. = Japanese didn’t need to be told to do so by the government but doing it by themselves without even aware of it ! (While having this metality deep in their mind, to adapt the Zen idea of Mushin = Mind of nomind has no dificulty to them at all)
While having even the Olympic Game postponed due to the many of the country couldn’t have their own athletes selected through the competition neither able to have enough training, the effect to the Japanese socioeconomic situation is immesurable.
So far, mentally, the Japanese seems to cope with the situation, but having no income from their closed down shop or factory, life is hard. Now, how Japanese government could navigate this situation is the burning issue. (The situation in China is even worse, in any moment they could have national scale violent uprising started which could disintegrates their communist government.) >>>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b27T9jHMzb8 >>>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLKuStsHuJI >>>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PonD6sTbO3M
——— I received many phone calls from the friends who is anxious about me = thank you very much to all of you = may be I’m the oldest person (except to the OBs of my Japanese Alpine Club) and seen to be the most vulnerable link in the circle though, thanks goodness, so far I’m OK.
——- One of my friend said that he did have the COVID-19 and recovered = when having had it, he said that he noticed that he got his sense of smell and the taste were lost. (and now regained them) = = = So, if you noticed such symptom on top of temperature, coughing etc, it must be the C-19 = Prepare against it ! (either go to a doctor or take a good treatment) —– TAKE CARE !
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Moon for a Test
It seems, the Moon on the 8th of March was a full moon (or so) = So, I clicked my camera, happen to be a Sony A7R-IV—– with a Zeiss 55mm, Olympus PenF 38mm, Pentax 110 Auto 24mm and a Nikkor 50mm F1.2.
It was an interesting test session for the lens and the camera.
Apparently, Nikkor showed much sharper image than a Zeiss Sonner lens but there was a reason behind = AF lens on A7R-4 on Manual Exposure setting worked pretty badly = Auto Focus didn’t work, neither Focus Magnifier was there. (Focus magnifier on the A7R was very effective but not on this latest model ( = where is the Button ? ? ? = I found that the AF-on button needed to be customized !) —– Sony might be making their camera not friendly with anything other than their genuin Sony Lens. – If so, why Sony-Zeiss Sonner didn’t focus Moon ?)
You would say that to take picture of the Moon with 50mm lens was the crazy idea. THOUGH, the 60 MP Sony A7R-4 image sensor should be capable to be enlarged to such extent. And this picture demonstrated it well. (It’s works as long as the lens was good !) (You can see a proper Moon shot here )
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Early Magnolia 2020
I featured this flower twice (?) before using another fuzzy lenses. But, it seems the people takes the flower branch home there is no branch left on the lower part of the tree, and made me very difficult to take picture. (So, I needed to resort with something special measure. 😀 )
Those following five pictures were taken by the other homemade lens “Pla-B” Lens” —– though, with the bad weather I trid three times to get a kind of results. 😀
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Is this ZEN or nuts. (2)
I’ve put this picture before though, this IS too iconic and deserve to have its own post.
You may think, that was his display of his EGO, but you were wrong. Think, if he got ordinary mind of ordinary citizen, or common EGO such as the collective unconscious, do you think can he do the public display like that ?
Too often, this was the case that the other people misunderstood the Japanese mentality. = It was not a matter of EGO but, he was just playing the role without his own SELF. And he might have taken the role without having any order or others suggestion. = it might come like a revelation = Oh’ I got it, I’ll do.
So, a Chameleon pearched on his head. = pretty impressive !
Thousands of the people took the role to volunteer the rescue work after the disaster in such a way. —– In the same way, often the people take their work / job to became a man of “research” or a man of “the convenient store” what so ever. And that was the reason why others hear the story of “How the researcher dedicated his life to discover or develop the scientific something.”
And here again, it was not a kind of the intended dedication. But, he just took the role, since there was nothing else in sight = so, he was just doing the subject on front of him. This mental process was in fact the mechanism of the ZEN of which the key word was No-SELF. Since No-SELF = there couldn’t be any intension. = Just do it !
The matter of whether this person doing IS ZEN or not, rely on if he can be selfless when he deals with other than his Chameleon.
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Hi-ISO noise
Till now, I thought that the noise caused by Hi-ISO setting was just a nuisance, or necessary evil though, I became aware, in certain case, it could be an useful tool.
(ISO represent the degree of amplification of the signal —– any electronic signal would produce the noise when it was intensively amplified = whether it was audio signal, or light signal from the image sensor, when they were amplified, the residual charge in the circuit line etc etc were also amplified hence those noise was superimposed onto the main signal. — you may say why the digital signal has noise = the output signal of image sensor IS analog, until they were AD converted. = Here, in the AD converter, the depth of 12 or 14 bit etc decide the quality of the image. = one bit more mean twice as much process will be needed for each pixel of the image sensor ! = You see how enormous the task is = That’s why almost all digital camera is Japanese (inside of Leica is Panasonic) and almost all image sensor is Sony —– Who else would bother to take such awkward task in the world. 😀 )
Even among the oil paint, many different styles = so, in the soft paintery effect photography, there could be a grainy style —– looks not too bad.
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Morning Sky – Dec’19
This one was by the Fragmented lens on Nikon Z. (Camera itself set the ISO to 12800 (not me) = So, the noise was too high — still, as an image, it wasn’t too bad. Unlike a soft smooth image, the roughened up texture showed quite strong impact. I like it.
This image was too murky though, that was what this homemade lens was made for.
Only a decent lens in this post = Zeiss Distagon —– costed me a bit. 😀
Small part of disposable camera lens makes not too bad image !
This Pentax lens itself IS a pretty good decent lens, even if it was for 110 size camera but mounted on a full size mirrorless Nikon Z.
We can take picture in any excuse. Nothing hinder us to be creative.
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1/4 lens !
After two attempt of two 1/2 double lens, it would go to even 1/4, naturally. (Anyway, it was only a matter of hacksaw and a glue work. And it was what an Otaku lives for. 😀 )
The plastic lens was mounted to the Sony A7R camera (yet the lens can be attached to the Nikon Z as well.)
So, this homemade lens will produce the image even worse than those W-lens A or B ! 😀 —– can you guess how happy I am. Ha Ha Ha 😀
In case, if anyone wanted to see more natural image for a comparison, those are the images from the ordinary (?) 110 Pentax 24mm lens on the Nikon Z.
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Archery Contest — Zen ? ? ?
There is an annual Archery Contest in a Japanese Buddhists Temple = Sanjyu-sangen-do, Kyoto. (If you are interested in its details, please google > Toshi-ya, Sanjyu-sangen-do ) (the Viz here is the Female Archer’s day’)
What I want to talk about here is not about its history or meaning, but the way how Japanese Archery / Kyu-do was done.
From the Viz here, you must be realised that the Japanese Kyu-do mount the Arrow outside of the Bow, and not aiming the Arrow while watching its direction from the back. Unlike a western archery, cross-bow, or a riful gun there is no “sight” to aim the target. The eyes, the head of archer is the other side. So, you might be wondering how the archer could aim the Arrow to the target ?
Training is to train the body function, its power and the coordination to higher level. —– In the case of Karate, (say, hit an opponent by a fist) the movement and the control is rather simple as it is the matter of the hand’s movement. Though, if it involve a weapon, the coordination has to become a bit more complicated as the movement became indirect. — still, like cutting a lemon, the body (hand) need to keep the knife steady and make its movement constant, while involving rather small number of the muscles, while having the straight feedback of the each movement through the eyes. (On this “cutting lemon” arrangement, even a direction of the knife blade could be changed while the blade is in the middle of lemon.)
Though, the Japanese Kyu-do’s control is incredibly indirect. Certainly the Archer is seeing the target and stand towards the target though, we can not see any further details of the control, how minute adjustment of the angle was transelated into the arm’s muscle or body position etc.
In this field, a book [ZEN in the ART of ARCHERY] by Eugen Herrigel has almost historical significance. (—– though, as the Kyu-do has no mechanical system of the “Control”, neither Zen use the verbal communication to explain how, the book wouldn’t give you any answer how the arrow could hit the tail of the first arrow. But only hinting something spiritual made the arrow to fly.)
In Zen term, it is the state of the Ichijo = Body and the Mind, the Bow and the Arrow, the target, and even the air all became one by abandoning all those. In Buddhists term, it was absorbed by Dharma. = By abandoning all the aim or thought to hit, obtaining the natural control of the Dharma = this paradox IS the core of the Zen Buddhism.
In This extent, the Book by Eugen Herrigel was a very rare and important guide book to learn the Zen. To learn the Zen, an innocent, naive man could not able to learn anything by sitting. Because there wouldn’t be any explanation of Zen let alone what the sitting for. Yet still, that book explain, how to negate the own Ego by exactry follow and copy the way to do the Kyu-do. And the way to abondan even the intention to hit = to become the Void oneself. (The book was written by the outsider = not by Zen monk, hence the trade secret has been exposed ! ) So, the reader could able to learn the mechanism of the Zen.
However, if it was looked at more demystified angle, the control of the Kyu-do might be somewhat similar to the Skiing. Control of the ski board couldn’t be done by just the legs but needs to have all the coordination of the whole body, on top of the snow condition and the topography, even the weather. Then the certain aim or a mind goes to the ski, yet still, we are not skiing while thinking how to ski. There may not be a kind of “The Mind of Ski” —– it could be empty. But, without having any thinking of control, if the aim was goes left, the ski goes left. There may not be any mythical control behind still, in the certain level of advanced skill, whole control of ski or Kyu-do could be done in the almost God’s hand level. —– This advancement could be achieved also under the Zen approach, still, make it thankful to the mythical Dharma or just a physical advancement would be a matter of one’s belief.
—– So, it was the same situation, when I was making aluminium sculpture “Buddha 2009” I needed to find the aluminium pipes for the material, then I found a lots of discarded pipes from a construction site = its always like this happen on me. (What I’m doing synchronise with Dharma —– or they help me) .
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Cicada ?
I don’t think we can see a cicada in this country —– other than a its tiny cousin called Froghopper. —– still, I never seen such highly decorated costume on them ! = I was very impressed !
While tidying up the desk I found a small dead insect among the dust. For most of the eyes, this small bit may not have any significant meaning though, I came from the country where the noise of cicada singing fill the air of sommer all the time (even in Tokyo area) I wouldn’t miss “I know you well” —– the insect was not exactry a cicada but a kind of froghopper. Still, they got the typical same shape.
So, the 25 mm 110 Instamatic Camera lens, reverse mounted to the can which can give about x6 magnification = the result wasn’t too bad for a cost nothing junk —– (may be I should give a helicoid focus on top for a ease of focusing.)
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W 1/2 lens
Here, [W] didn’t mean 2 indivisual lens. = Both of the half cutted lens. Ideally, the soft image should have the nice halo around the sharp core image —– if there was no sharp core image, it was just an obscure bad lens image. = So, how about the one lens was divided into two and the one half makes focused image and the other was making out of focus bokeh on the same one picture ?
From a Kodak (one time use ) Fun camera, the lens panell was cutted-out.
Cut an ordinary lens to optically functioning 2 separate half was not very easy. So, I did it with disposable (one time use) camera’s lens. = Cut it into half (Photo left) and mounted the one half to normal position and the other half to out of focus position (Photo middle). —– (Then I noticed that the lens I experimented makes rather nasty ring bokeh when it was out of focus —– I needed to search more.)
This W lens is efectively a w-focus lens. I experimented many w-focus image done by double exposure, or lens shift. But here I took a drastic approach to use cutted two halves lenses. —– I think, it wasn’t too bad idea. The work I took was rather awkward though on the end it was well rewarded. ( = I think —– anyhow, I got prenty one time use camera junk to try again and again 😀 )
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