Steve Forrest

@sforrest.bsky.social

920 Followers 242 Following

Read teach eat run, bike write build. Traveller; always learning. Teaching (classical) Japanese at a public univ. in USA. Doing life and Japanese book history, etc. In diversity, strength; in equity, justice; in inclusion, an open welcome. LGBTQ+ 🏳️‍⚧️

lower right portion of opening page of vol. 3 of a woodblock printed Japanese book. Author's name Fukuzawa Yukichi 福沢諭吉 (tagged as compiler/editor _sanshū_ 纂輯) at bottom right, but next to it a red seal with six characters in seal script.
見開きの挿絵：「繁光、雨やどりして、ふたたび丹助千引にあふ」。
older Commer dormobile
Many shades of green in a view up the canal showing mostly a grassy broad trail, edged with ferns, tall trees at the right, dark canal waters a few feet down at the left, with forested bank on the other side of it--all under a bright late afternoon sky.
View of just post sunset sky, all streaks of cloud in orange and cream on a sky with a night gradient coming in from the top. Below is a mostly empty parking lot already getting dark -- a few cars are visible by reflections from their outlines, and beyond them a slihouetted treeline.
large butterfly with orange wings, dotted and barred in black, sitting with wings almost raised on a yellowed rhododendron leaf -- there are green leaves before and behind, and the butterfly is in a patch of open sun, with shaded branches beyond it.
screenshot of part of a page from woodblock-printed Japanese text, with highlight border round the word "yamazato" 山里 -- the second kanji has a voice mark to indicate the correct pronunciation.
View over a broad, still section of the dark waters of Chicopee river with a blockish stone construction jutting out from the wooded opposite bank, and a grassy island midstream. The sky is mostly cloudless.
Pine-needle covered small trail leading to to a railway line: a wispy bush with fresh green pinnate leaves has two pink, 5-petalled flowers with yellow centers.
view of a small woodland trail leading to a railway line: camera follows and pans right, showing a mother turkey walking away followed by three rather small chicks. The hen steps into a sunlit spot as they all continue to walk away.
View from a high rocky outcrop over an expanse of water under a clouded sky with sun coming in at right. The woods on the far side of the water are the ones I'm about to go and become lost in. The water is framed by pine needles at top, larger pine boughs at right, and beautifully sunlit fresh green saplings growing around the rock at left.
View across a pond in later afternoon sunlight, bright under a cloudy sky: the trees and grass on the far bank are reflected clearly in the still water. At top left there's a blurry flying creature, I think it's a deerfly -- they were everywhere, one got me on the knee just after I took this pic, ouf!
screenshot of preface writer's sign-off, reading, 「小金鶴成序」 plus a small sketch of a crane as described in tweet.
Basic trail bicycle (a Specialized Stumpjumper from the 1990s, I think) leaning against a roofed three-part sign board with information about the reservation. At left, stone steps lead up into sun dappled woods.
screenshot of two kanji, glossed as koshō こしやう, with the second one looking like 従, but the first one is a mystery
view of surface of a pond with a reflected blue sky, containing some low clouds and one small cloud floating above them (the whole image is upside down, so in the photo the solitary cloud is below the bank of cloud...).
broad woodland trail curving off to the right and on the left an abundant growth of mountain laurel bushes in bloom -- clusters of small white flowers, from ground level up to well beyond head height.
screenshot from National Institute of Japanese Literature with transient banner trailing the cursor. Banner reads , 祝！書誌データ件１００万件超！！ (Congratulations! More than one million bibliographic data searches done!!)
screen recording from National Institute of Japanese Literature showing that when you do a search or mouse-click on an an entry the cursor becomes a colorful banner with the words, 祝！書誌データ件１００万件超！！ (banner disappears after a couple of seconds).
reflection of a summer blue sky with small scattered clouds, glimpsed through branches of a tall tree, all reflected in a small pool by a woodland stream -- the image has been flipped vertically.
long, low, somewhat rusty railway bridge, spanning three concrete and stone supports across a junction of two rivers, whose joint, shallow waters fill the foreground; in the background trees and herbage and some buildings, all under a summery sky of mixed clouds with a plane trail visible too.
two stalks of flag iris each topped with a blue blossom, against a background of a grassy bed
screenshot of quoted tweet by UMass Amherst with ALT text for one image reading, "Four individuals stand together in academic regalia at Johns Hopkins University. They are posing on a stage, with a large screen in the background displaying partial text." The image actually shows Senior Vice Provost of Equity and Inclusion Wilmore Webley, Chancellor Javier Reyes, award recipient John Arigbede and Interim Graduate School Dean Beth Jakob -- at UMass Amherst.
close-up shot of small cluster of pink-edged apple blossoms, some still not open against fresh green leaves.
three fiddlehead ferns poking up from leaf covered forest floor in late afternoon sunlight
small box packet of civet poop roast coffee, with one individual sachet next to it
earlier page from same Japanese woodblock printed text, this time a full-page illustration. It shows a dragon-prowed boat heading directly toward the viewer, with seven passengers filling the center half of the scene, and a sail filling the top quarter. The passengers are tagged Russian 魯西亜, Prussian 普魯士, French 仏蘭西, Turkish 土耳其, Chinese 支那, Japanese 日本, and British 英吉利. The Japanese is a woman, the rest are men. The picture is labelled, Fellow Passengers from Seven Countries 七國人乗合. LINK to source: https://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/he14/he14_01260/index.html.
Japanese woodblock-printed book open to show the right-hand page, which has a decorative border with a strange (chimeric?) creature at the bottom and an eagle at the top. Text in Japanese reads, 題七国人乗合図 in a cartouche at top, then in roman letters a waka poem in five lines: nagaki yono tononemu lino minumezame naminorubuneno otonoyokikana.
Japanese woodblock printed book open showing one page with 12 columns of text; script is mixture of kana and kanji, with generous furigana, punctuation and voice marks. Top quarter of page is given over to illustration of episodes inscribed in lower 3/4. Episodes are numbered: the numbers 125 and 126 are visible.
large, brightly-colored and somewhat fantastical owl painted on the curving wall of a stairwell -- painting is signed "Nayana Thimmiah, 2018"
a George V pillar box, red with black base, standing at the edge of a shop forecourt on a damp September day in Cambridge. Some flowering weeds reach out over the tarmac of the forecourt; the shop sign reads "Go glass" and there are posted in the window reading, "We have moved. Visit our new class design and production center" followed by the address & phone number.
view along straight section of a rail trail under snow, lined by bare woods (but all trees have sticky snow on them), with track of a fat-tire bike stretching ahead, and two sets of hoof prints from horses that must have trotted along next to the bike??
late afternoon view of a snow covered trail (that I've just run down) curving up a slope into woodland -- it's all in shade, a bit gloomy, but the low sun is glinting in the treetops at right, and the sky visible through the trees is clear and still sunlit
宿王華よ、もし人あってこの薬王菩薩本品を聞けば、無量の功徳を得るであろう。もし女人がこの薬王菩薩本事品を聞いて信じれば、女人としての最後の生となるであろう。もし末法の世に、女人がこの経を聞きその教えの通りに修行すれば、命尽きてのち、阿弥陀仏の世界に行き、菩薩たちに囲まれ、蓮華の法座の上に生まれるだろう。愛欲、怒り、愚痴に悩まされず、また自惚れ、嫉妬にも囚われず、菩薩の神通力と不生不死の法を得るだろう。眼は清浄になるだろう。この清浄な眼で七十二のガンジス川の砂の数に等しい仏を見るだろう。諸仏は最高の賛辞を以って賞賛するだろう。 宿王華よ、もし人あってこの薬王菩薩本事品を聞き、歓び、讃えれば、この人は現世において、口から青蓮華の香を出し、身体の毛穴より栴檀の香を出すだろう。そして無量の功徳を得るだろう。宿王華よ、お前にこの薬王菩薩本事品を委ねよう。わたしの入滅ののちの末法の世に、この世に弘く流布し、この経を守れ。この経はこの世の人の良薬であり、この経を聞けば病はたちまちに消滅し、不老不死になるだろう。仏道を求めるものは、この経を持ち、信じる人を見れば、まさに尊敬の心を起こすべきである」 この薬王菩薩本字品を説いたとき、八万四千の菩薩たちは一切衆生の言葉を解する陀羅尼を得たのである。宝塔のなかの多宝如来は宿王華菩薩を誉めて言った。 「宿王華よ、よくぞ釈迦牟尼仏によい質問をしてくれた。一切衆生に大きな利益を与えたのである」
若有人聞是薬王菩薩本事品 者。亦得無量無辺功徳。若有女人聞是薬 王菩薩本事品。能受持者。尽是女身後不 復受。若如来滅後後五百歳中。若有女人。 聞是経典如説修行。於此命終。即住安 楽世界阿弥陀仏大菩薩衆圍繞住処。生蓮 華中宝座之上。不復為貪欲所悩。亦復 不為瞋恚愚癡所悩。亦復不為慢嫉 妬諸垢所悩。得菩薩神通無生法忍。得是 忍已。眼根清浄。以是清浄眼根。見七百万 二千億那由他恆河沙等諸仏如来。是時諸 仏遥共讃言。善哉善哉。善男子。汝能於釈 迦牟尼仏法中。受持讀誦思惟是経為他 人説。所得福徳無量無辺。火不能焼。水 不能漂。汝之功徳千仏共説不能令尽。 汝今已能破諸魔賊壞生死軍。諸余怨敵皆 悉摧滅。善男子。百千諸仏以神通力共守 護汝。於一切世間天人之中無如汝者。唯 除如来。其諸聲聞辟支仏乃至菩薩智慧禪 定。無有與汝等者。宿王華。此菩薩成就如 是功徳智慧之力。若有人聞是薬王菩薩本 事品。能随喜讃善者。是人現世口中常出青 蓮華香。身毛孔中。常出牛頭栴檀之香。
"If there is a person who, hearing this chapter on the Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King, is able to welcome it with joy and praise its excellence, then in this present existence this person's mouth will constantly emit the fragrance of the blue lotus flower, and the pores of his body will constantly emit the fragrance of ox-head sandalwood. His benefits will be such as have been described above. "For this reason, Constellation King Flower, I entrust this chapter on the Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King to you. After I pass into extinction, in the last five hundred period you must spread it abroad widely throughout Jambudvipa and never allowed to be cut off, nor must you allow evil devils, the devils' people, heavenly beings, dragons, yakshas or kumbhanda demons to seize the advantage! "Constellation King Flower, you must use your transcendental powers to guard and protect this sutra. Why? Because this sutra provides good medicine for the ills of the people of Jambudvipa. If a person who has an illness is able to hear this sutra, then his illness will be wiped out and he will know neither old age or death.
White VW Golf, roof still laden with snow (a yard stick stuck in the middle shows just over 15"), but with side cleared, on a driveway mostly clear. Two snow shovels, one orange, one black, are leaning on the car.
view along a straight road after a snow -- no colors, just shades of grey, it seems. At left a few trees and bushes are scattered along the road, and at right a line of telegraph poles march in single file. The sky is similarly monochromatic, shaded with cloudier patches.
looking straight up view of pale greyish sky beyond the crowns of three or four trees, leafless but half coated in snow
a clutch of large, mostly bright yellow softballs and smaller white(-ish) baseballs, nestled at the bottom of a pitching net on a bed of drab leaves. Some of the balls are not in very good condition, some look almost new. Not pictured: half a dozen golfballs (added just after I took the pic)
black Aston Martin DB3 in the parking area of a Welcome Break (motorway services), spotted last summer somewhere in England -- the sound as it rolled by was predictably gorgeous
Colour ukiyo-e print showing a man on a cantering horse; he is smoking a cigar, with a sword at his waist, and looking ahead eagerly. The print is titled "English person" 英吉利人 and is from the series Bushū Yokohama meisho zu (Famous Places of Yokohama in Bushū Province). Inset at top right is an image of a stone pergola? labelled Motomura.
view along an empty office corridor, only tilted 90 degrees so the ceiling lights are along the left wall, reflected in the shiny floor that has become the right wall
the chirashigaki poem from the final page (pastedown) of the MS, transcribed in Japanese script and in roman letters, thus: かく八可り　なくさ見草の　堂ねより盤　 い可てさくら無　も能おもひの花 kaku bakari nagusamigusa no tane yori ha ikade sakuramu mono-omohi no hana
double spread from a manuscript booklet written in light flowing hand, with right-hand page ending in a kaō 花押 signature, and left-hand page with a single poem
campus scene showing snow-bordered pathway leading past stone building (the Old Chapel, behind tall bare tree) with be-spired clock tower, and looming over it to great height the brick-clad library tower, fading into the mist that is descending
Autumn woodland scene in late afternoon sunlight: a narrow trails curls between trees and up a wooded bank
Monson Memorial hall, a 19th cent. stone building with bell tower and a lawn before it, and a flagpole out front -- the US flag flutters in a gentle breeze against and almost cloudless blue sky. Portapotties at lower right are for the racers, some of whom can be seen waiting around for the off.
A Delta airlines passenger jet docked at Terminal E on a cloudy late afternoon in Boston
composite screenshot of nishiki-e (polychrome woodblock print) triptych showing Kiyomori clutching his sword as he looks from his veranda at snow in his garden that appears to be skulls and skeletons. Behind him (at right, on the first third of the image) a lady attendant shrinks back -- above her is a cartouche with a brief description of the scene.
double-page spread b/w illustration with embedded text, from a children's book called _Kiyomori ichidaiki_ 『清盛一代記』. Picture shows Kiyomori seated on veranda looking out at heap of skulls with two skeletons nearby, one in armour, another raising a hand in his direction. The moon rises over a fence in the background. What looks like the kanji 一心 appear above the heap of skulls.
double-page spread illustration (b/w, with embedded text) showing at right a burly grizzled man seated leaning on a veranda rail, looking down over his garden, where (at left) there is a heap of smaller skulls and one giant skull with living eyes glaring back at him. The scene is dark, nighttime.
Back of race t-shirt with text reading, "50th Mt Greylock Road Race: As high as you can get in Massachusetts, 3491'."
Part of hallway with two of the white ceiling tiles replaced by plastic faux-tiles with drain tubing leading away toward the wall, and then descending into a large plastic bin. One other ceiling tile is water stained. Two benches are placed next to the bin -- perhaps the dripping sound will make for meditative moments as students sit waiting for class?
Black chain-link fence topped with wild cucumber vines. There are several immature spikey fruits and a profusion of slender starry white blossoms.
view across an open patch of wetland in late summer, with trees beyond. In the mid-distance and foreground, among reeds, grass, and other weeds, are clumps of large-leafed and purple-flower-crowned Joy Pye weed.
double-spread from (probably) 19th C. MS showing two pages of the table of contents -- each item is followed by a number, in a more or less orderly layout of four rather cramped rows on each page, but the script manages to retain a spacious elegance when you look at each individual item. Quite magical! Script is a mix of mostly non-cursive kanji and very fluid kana. Numbers run from 32 to 121, with numbering down the page, with 12 columns of text on each page.
sandstone tower photographed from below looking up so that it's lower window opening looks like a mouth open wide in dismay and its upper windows look like eyes open wide in disbelief.
A stone tower of three stories with unglazed arches, set in a small clearing among trees on top of a hill, against a hazy summer sky.
screencap of the opening paragraph of review of Akutagawa's Kappa, translated by Shiojiri. Full text of this portion: "Gulliver in a Kimono." Time, 0040781X, 8/25/1947, Vol. 50, Issue 8 In the days of the late Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, the "banzais" of sword-shaking Japanese drowned out their more intelligent countrymen. The world of the '30s and the '40s had no chance to learn that modern Japan has also produced a fair quota of writers, thinkers and even humorists. Last month the work of one of them, a 20-year-old novelette called Kappa, was first published in English translation. To American readers, Ryunosuke Akutagawa's satire seemed almost too good to have been written by a Japanese. Akutagawa's kappa are a race of Oriental leprechauns, seldom over three feet tall, with short, ugly faces and webbed hands and feet. Like chameleons, they can change the color of their skins at will. Other kappa marks are large beaks and kangaroo pouches. Eve Came First. The only known visitor to the kappa country is Patient No. 23 in an insane asylum near Tokyo, who claims to have lived for months in the land of the kappa. No. 23 found the kappa pleasant, if unpredictable people, with their traditions often the reverse of human customs. They believe, for example, that the first kappa was a woman, who could not abide living alone. God pitied her and, taking her brain, created a male companion. His only instructions to the new couple were to eat, multiply and live as expansively as possible. For later kappa women, a good man was harder to find. Under a firm system of courtship in reverse, she-kappa had to chase and capture their husbands. In these efforts they were often assisted by parents, brothers and sisters. ("Oh, how miserable the he-kappa is!").