The New Year break has gone by in the blink of an eye.
again.
Japanese used to have a way to celebrate the new year. It was the most important time of the year. And the most important thing a person could do was... nothing. Sit quietly, eat a little food that was already made so that no one would have to be working in the kitchen. Maybe later, put on your new kimono, visit a friend, or the local shrine. It was a supremely quiet time. No one driving. No one hurrying around. No stores open, of course.
New Year was that "ma," that quiet time in the Japanese, type A, frenetic year. A pause. A space.
I have been here. I have watched Japan loose its quiet space, watched it disappear from the paintings, from the music, from the films, and from the New Year.
It's like a punchline in a new haiku - "Where did nothing go?"
