Quick Question

Japan Glimpsed is 20 this year. For most of its life, it hasn't drawn many readers. However, in August, 2026, over 58K (well over 10% of the grand total) visited the blog. I'm curious to know why. Also, I'm almost nostalgic for the Viagra ads.

芥川: Remarkable Beginnings

Some months ago I read my first Akutagawa story in Japanese, "Rashomon". I've always been an avid reader, but I had never come across anything as striking and economical as Akutagawa's opening lines (not Dickens, or Shakespeare, nor Hemingway) ある日の暮方の事である。一人の下人が、羅生門の下で雨やみを待っていた。広い門の下には、この男のほかに誰もいない。ただ、所々丹塗の剥た、大きな円柱に、蟋蟀が一匹とまっている。 The rainy evening, the vermilion paint cracked and flaking on this imposing gate (広い門) in Heian Kyoto, deserted except for the protagonist (下人、a traditional class of outcast) waiting for a lull in the weather. Except there is a single grasshopper on the large upright of the 門、or gate. (Fitting companion for a 下人。) If not atmospheric, what? The vivid suggestiveness, the economy, and the incongruousness of the キリギリス (螽斯、a different rendering) in these opening lines... Have you ever come across anything like them? Has the grasshopper ever had such a brief but significant role in fiction? (Without the grasshopper and the flaking lacquer, the opening just wouldn't work.) Anyway, I've been hooked on Akutagawa since. So, the キリギリス must have serenaded our hero: Check out this video, "キリギリス 鳴き声" https://share.google/yFC06pQ4aCDK6aGaV