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年賀状をもらって思うこと
「文字は人なり」という。
自筆の手紙には差出人の人となりが色濃く反映されることも多く、もうら側にもそれなりの楽しさがある。
しかし、昨今では手紙やはがきを書くためにパソコンを使うことが多くなっている。
筆者はその傾向が少し残念なようだ。
You've got nengajo!
As I read through this year's mountain of nengajo, or New Year's cards, I noted that the majority are now preprinted, from the image to the greeting to the addresses and occasionally even the sender's signature. Some were, in fact, difficult to distinguish from commercial junk mail. I've been watching this trend build over the years with particular interest.
During my first year in Tokyo, I struggled to learn how to write in Japanese. With encouragement from teachers and friends, I developed a modicum of confidence in my brushwork. I even sent out a few of my first nengajo before going off to spend the holidays in the countryside at my friend's home that first year.
On New Year's day, I rose at dawn. My breath was visible in the frosty air. The only sounds were those of birds outside and the steady breathing of my friend, still snug in her futon. Without waking her, I set off in search of a warm spot in the house. I found my friend's father, an early-riser like me, bundled up at the kotatsu with a cup of tea. I joined him. He was thumbing rhythmically through a huge stack of New Year's cards, most covered with graceful calligraphy. He stopped suddenly, pulled one card out, and said, "Whoa, I've never seen one this ugly!" That card was, of course, mine.
We had a good laugh about it at the time, but to this day, many years later, I have a sneaking suspicion that my cards still raise eyebrows. So why persist? Why bother writing something (perhaps badly) by hand when modern mail rarely requires any kind of handwriting at all?
Computerized correspondence, such as email and text messaging, has revolutionized, simplified, and globalized the way we communicate. No one I know wants to limit daily communications to the hassles of old snail mail, or the intrusiveness of phone calls. But at the same time, mail-on-demand, which is instantaneous and boiled down to cute abbreviations (EZ, UC?), is like fast food. It's cheap and convenient, but the content often lacks sustenance, and is dished out without much consideration for how it will be digested.
The days of eloquent epistles, the kind where you'd know the author by the unique loopings of letters on the envelope, are fading. I miss the creative elements of handmade missives, from paper stock — consider the variety of statements made simply by choosing to write on washi, onion skin, legal pad, or beer coaster — to fragrances, illustrations, and stamps. The art of letter writing really was, at one time, an art, or at the very least a testament to one's individuality and devotion. Japan has been exquisitely attuned to those ideals.
I sense that computer-generated mail cannot compete with handmade correspondence, just as a cheeseburger-to-go has no business at the table with a Michelin three-star feast, but the pressures of our current world push us toward instant gratification, at whatever cost. In order to respond to all the nengajo I receive, I may have to computerize addresses, at least. A good thing? Ask me L8R.
- You've got nengajo!
- メール着信を知らせる音声、"You've got mail!"のもじり。映画名"You've Got Mail"もこれに由来
- a modicum of 〜
- 少しの〜
- brushwork
- 筆使い
- going off
- 出掛ける
- frosty
- 凍てつく
- snug
- ぬくぬくとしている
- set off
- 動き始めた
- bundled up at the kotatsu
- 暖かく着込み、こたつに入って
- was thumbing rhythmically through 〜
- 〜をパラパラ調子よく繰っていた
- huge stack of 〜
- 〜の大きな山
- calligraphy
- 筆跡
- had a good laugh
- 大笑いした
- sneaking suspicion
- ひそかな疑い
- raise eyebrows
- 「え?」という気持ちにさせる
- correspondence
- 文書のやりとり
- hassles
- 面倒なこと
- snail mail
- 普通の郵便
- intrusiveness
- (人の生活に)押し入ること
- mail-on-demand
- 即時に使えるメールのメッセージのこと
- instantaneous
- 瞬時に送ることができる
- boiled down
- 短い
- EZ, UC?
- =Easy、You see?
- sustenance
- 栄養
- is dished out
- 配られる
- be digested
- 消化される
- epistles
- 書簡
- unique loopings
- 独特の丸み
- missives
- 書状
- paper stock
- 用紙
- onion skin
- 薄紙
- legal pad
- 罫線入りの黄色い紙
- fragrances
- 香り
- devotion
- 愛
- exquisitely
- 極めて
- (has been) attuned to 〜
- 〜に敏感だ
- cheeseburger-to-go
- テークアウトのチーズバーガー
- feast
- ごちそう
- gratification
- 満足
- at whatever cost
- どんな代償を払っても
- L8R
- =later