June 14th. Incorporating philosophy into daily life. People like Akiko Ikeda and Hiroshi Mori. Reading a book I didn't return.

Today's weight is 64.8kg, body fat 13.1%. Hmm, should I really drop it into the 63kg range...?
Well, it is dropping steadily, though...

Yesterday, there was rain and strong winds, so I decided not to go to the library (it takes about 8,000 steps round trip on foot). Until now, I would walk vigorously even in bad weather, but I've learned recently that it's too tough when it's cold and raining (I don't mind the heat yet). If there hadn't been any wind, I might have gone anyway.

In the end, it seems that was the right decision. The fact that my folding umbrella flipped inside out in the wind was also a factor. Well, if my load were light and my cold/rain protection were perfect, I might have gone, but I decided not to push it.

As a secondary benefit, I was able to make progress on a book I hadn't finished reading. This is also a matter of timing; if the weather had been nice, I might not have read this book at all. The book I didn't return is Hiroshi Mori's "Michi Naki Michi" (Pathless Unknown). It was published in 2017, but it is a collection of pieces that were originally published in a magazine that suspended (or ceased?) publication, and then were revived on the web after some time. I like Hiroshi Mori's essays, and I feel like I've read most of them.

How should I put it? The fact that Mr. Mori simply writes about what he thinks without forcing himself and in accordance with his own nature really strikes a chord with my so-called "humanities brain." Mr. Mori says he likes the conceptual part of mathematics rather than the calculations, and that he is terrible at Japanese language studies. He must have a brain that is the opposite of mine, which makes me want to scream and feels like my head is boiling when I do math (even though I hate it so much, I want to praise myself for the fact that I did it to a certain extent, as if my life depended on it). Reading things from someone with a similar brain (perhaps a literary scholar's brain is closest to mine) is less fresh than reading thoughts that come from a completely different way of thinking.

I used to love Japanese language class. That was because it didn't feel like "studying" at all (I could read kanji, but I couldn't write them). Mr. Mori must have spent his time at Tokai Junior and Senior High School in Nagoya with the opposite feeling. I am not a graduate of Tokai Junior/Senior High (I'm from Kobe), but that place has an atmosphere where "the guy who can do math is the king" that is far too intense.

I feel like Mr. Mori's wife probably has a typical humanities brain. That's why, even after being together for over 30 years, he says he is "still not used to her" and is "surprised by her way of thinking." Hearing his idea that it is best for both parties to be free and not to infringe on each other's freedom makes me feel refreshed, in a way.

Yes, if it were me, I would think, "If I say 'I'm still not used to her' about someone I've been with for 30 years in a public place, wouldn't she be hurt?" and I would hesitate to write it even if I really thought so. But when I hear (read) that Mr. Mori lives his life valuing the idea of "not encroaching on each other's freedom," I think that it's actually more airy and easier for both of them.

This is just one example, but I suppose this is the "pleasure of reading Hiroshi Mori."

I love Akiko Ikeda, and I think she also has a "philosophical brain." Similar to Mr. Mori's "science brain," from the perspective of my "thoroughly humanities brain," her words also strike me as fresh.

A philosophical brain is likely a type of humanities brain, but I am terrible at logic. I only have emotions, atmosphere, and a sense of casualness. I couldn't handle Hideo Kobayashi, whom Ikeda-san admired, at all when I was in high school. Mr. Mori was born in 1957 and Ikeda-san in 1960; although generational theory is something Ikeda-san disliked, they are close in age.

I brought this book from my empty house the other day, which is a copy of a part of the debut work that Ikeda-san published through Kawade Shobo Shinsha on August 1, 1987 (which she later took out of print herself), titled "A Theory of 'Yuho Haniya' by the Second-to-Last Reader."

I don't fully understand the details, but although Ikeda-san was close to Haniya-san in his later years, it seems there were various troublesome human relationships around Haniya-san, who was a celebrity, especially because it was his later years. I understand that she took it out of print as a result of that, and not because of the content itself.

The current used price is in the 3,000 yen range, but as a poor person, I couldn't easily buy it (it was probably a bit more expensive before), so I borrowed it from the library and copied a part of it.

Looking at my Amazon history, I did successfully purchase a used copy in 2016, but since the copied book caught my eye, I brought it to Tokyo.

I will quote from the beginning.

"When Heidegger asked 'What commands thinking?', the philosophers of early Greece were revived there, transcending the two-thousand-year history of 'oblivion.' And in the appendix to the seventh chapter of 'Seirei' (Spirits of the Dead), 'In Addition to the Last Judgment,' Haniya says: A small number of readers will feel the task borne by the Miwa brothers in the twentieth century. And the last reader of that small number of readers must be 'existence' itself."

Akiko Ikeda, "A Theory of 'Yuho Haniya' by the Second-to-Last Reader," P.7

Haniya says that 'existence' itself feels the task borne by the Miwa brothers in 'Seirei' (perhaps that is indeed 'what commands thinking?'). Sitting in the seat just before that existence is Akiko Ikeda. She is the priestess of philosophy, that very person.

(Omitted) However, as long as the spirit is spirit, and as long as thought maintains its rigor, it is rather more appropriate to say that it is the presentation of the structure of existence, that is, the law of identity A=A, which always appears equally as the final task.

Ibid., P.7

Ikeda-san defines the positioning of her own 'short essay' this way. Well, to be honest, I am about to drop out because I haven't read Haniya's 'Seirei' at all at the 'law of identity A=A' part (´;ω;｀), but if it is about the structure of existence, I think to myself, is it something close to 'One,' where everything becomes one?

(Even though I call myself a fan, it's been a while since I read Ikeda-san)


Michi Naki Michi
Author: Hiroshi Mori

Bestsellers


A Theory of Yuho Haniya by the Second-to-Last Reader (the BUNGEI TREASURY)
Author: Akiko Ikeda

Kawade Shobo Shinsha