Aside<\/em><\/i>: I think Kenko would have approved of Google, that digital enabler of idleness.)<\/p>\nThe title was appealing, although anybody who was industrious enough to produce a book evidently was not living down to his principles. Kenko is a Sei Shonagon wannabe but, where she is always charming even when she is being obnoxious, he is sometimes charming and sometimes obnoxious but never both at the same time. I always prohibit extensive quotations in papers that my students produce, as a form of intellectual indolence, but nobody is grading my own essay in idleness, so here is a sample. Note that the ratio of charming to obnoxious (which I have preserved) is sufficiently high that it should not deter you from reading the entire volume.<\/p>\n
KENKO THE CHARMING<\/strong><\/p>\nHow delightful it would be to converse intimately with someone of the same mind, sharing with him the pleasures of uninhibited conversation on the amusing and foolish things of this world, but such friends are hard to find.<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/e\/e6\/Painting_of_Yoshida_Kenko_by_Utagawa_Hiroshige.jpg\/250px-Painting_of_Yoshida_Kenko_by_Utagawa_Hiroshige.jpg\")
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As spring deepens, mists spread over the landscape and the cherry blossoms seem ready to open, only for steady rains and winds to scatter precipitously. The heart is subject to incessant pangs of emotion\u2026<\/em><\/i><\/p>\nIt shows true friendship to offer gifts even when there is no occasion, saying simply, \u201cThis is for you.\u201d<\/em><\/i><\/p>\nIf man were never to fade away like the dews of Adashino, never to vanish like the smoke over Toribeyama, but lingered on forever in the world, how things would lose their power to move us!\u00a0\u00a0The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty.<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n[Image by Utagawa]<\/em><\/p>\nKENKO THE OBNOXIOUS<\/strong><\/p>\nIn a world without women it would not make any difference what kind of clothes or hat a man wore; nobody would take the trouble to dress properly. One might wonder, then, what exalted creatures women must be to inspire such fear in men.\u00a0In fact, women are all perverse by nature. Even if such a thing as an intelligent woman existed, she would surely prove to be aloof and unendearing.<\/em><\/i><\/p>\nCAVEAT (this is Latin for \u201cwarning\u201d)<\/p>\n
Reading works from the Heian dynasty produces an unavoidable side effect, a compulsion to indulge in writing haikus.\u00a0It should be resisted.<\/p>\n
At half past midnight<\/em><\/strong><\/span>
\nA lone bird sings with longing<\/em><\/strong><\/span>
\nOf snow-covered hills<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n![\"Utagawa](\"https:\/\/www.masterpiece-of-japanese-culture.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/No.048.jpg\")
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Sushi in Boston means O Ya, sushi in New York means Soto, and sushi in Maine means Miyake of Portland.\u00a0However,\u00a0\u00a0I am not intolerant, so I did not hesitate to meet a cordial Asian Studies Professor (ASP) for lunch at Little Tokyo restaurant,\u00a0in \u201cdowntown\u201d Brunswick.\u00a0My theory is that, in the absence of other information, one should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[15],"class_list":{"0":"post-194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-a-few-of-my-favourite-things","7":"tag-literary-musings","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/zorina-khan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/zorina-khan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/zorina-khan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/zorina-khan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/zorina-khan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/zorina-khan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/zorina-khan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/zorina-khan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/zorina-khan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Japanese](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/10160656\/sei-shonagon_torii_kiyonaga-697x1024.jpg\")
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