Amanda Berke (CAS '22) The Battle Against Meaningless Things<\/em> by Yosuke Tanaka<\/h4><\/p>\nThe Battle Against Meaningless Things<\/strong><\/p>\nby Yosuke Tanaka<\/strong><\/p>\ntranslated by Amanda Berke<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
In the beginning, there was chaos.
\nNo, that\u2019s not quite right.
\nIn the beginning, there was nothing.
\nIt was a spacious, deserted emptiness.
\nTime slipped by, two years specifically. A desk was carried in, then a bed,
\na computer, a shelf, chairs (two of them), a folding table,
\nan electric piano, a fax machine, and lots of newspapers.
\nBooks. Magazines. Playbills. Envelopes. CDs. Faxes from someone.
\nLetters from someone else. Unimportant things. Important things.
\nThings that may become important.
\n(Meaningless things
\nnow filling every available space.<\/p>\n
The act of reorganization
\nis not unlike excavating a mountain.
\nI piled various objects, one by one, upon the mountainside-
\nbecause they were useful, because they were important, because I enjoyed them-
\nand because at some point I loved them,
\nI guess they become that much more difficult to discard.
\nPapers are harder to deal with than books, this is a well-known fact, so I decided to leave the books alone.
\nI chose to do battle only with the mountain of documents.
\nHowever, as I transformed them into orderly rectangles, that is,
\nas I bound them into their true forms, as
\nnovels
\nand
\nnotebooks
\nand
\nfolders
\nand
\ntwo-ring binders
\nand
\nweekly photo magazines,
\nthey became even harder to handle.
\nThey seemed heavier
\nand more depressing, somehow.<\/p>\n
I love two ring binders and organizers.
\nJust one click of that classic two-hole punch, together with
\nthe satisfying snap of the metal hardware, and I\u2019m filled with a pleasant sort of feeling
\nas the paper documents are arranged into itemized, colored files. It all
\nbecomes beautifully tidy. I line up the largest binders in
\na row on my office desk (bookends included), but they fall ungracefully left and right.
\nI push from the left, they fall to the right; I push from the right, they fall to the left.
\nThey tumble down, a study in physics \u2013
\ntriggering an avalanche (a cascade of snow.) across the surface of my desk
\n(Meaningless things
\nnow a mountain strewn across my floor.<\/p>\n
I almost started crying when I dropped my bicycle key on the ground.
\nI only dropped it, but
\nit seemed to be absorbed into the floorboards.
\nEvery fallen thing, every file, every book, every piece of trash,
\none by one I checked them all, moving each to a new place.
\nThe bag was only half full, but
\nI even went so far as to disassemble my Hitachi home vacuum cleaner
\nin order to inspect the insides, until \u2013
\nah, it\u2019s getting dark out. And now I can\u2019t even ride my bike.
\nOne thing after another, that\u2019s how life goes to pieces.
\nIn my distraction I lean against the tower of books, which collapses again,
\nscattering across the floor of the room.<\/p>\n
A multitude of things
\nspread out before my eyes.
\nWhat the hell is this insipid feeling?
\nEverything has a name written on it,
\n\u201cShinch\u014d Japanese Dictionary,\u201d for example,
\n\u201cBungakukai Monthly,\u201d for example,
\nbut I can no longer grasp the spatial or temporal relationship between
\nShinch\u014d Japanese Dictionary and Bungakukai Monthly and this room and the time I\u2019ve spent in it.
\nLove and courage.
\nCourage and strength.
\nThose are the real essentials. Oh, I\u2019d like to go out and join hands with every person in the world,
\nand talk to my heart\u2019s content about the battle against meaningless things. To clear out some of
\nthis wasteland.<\/p>\n
From the other side of the room, suddenly:
\n\u201cLet\u2019s keep the mountain clean by taking home our trash!\u201d
\nThe letters catch my eye.
\nA paper bag from ICI Ishii Sports. I got it when I rode my bike to Jimbocho
\nto buy some supplies for climbing Mt Okukuji Nantai.
\nThe problem today is what happens after I\u2019ve brought my trash back home.
\nMaybe the garbage rises in a sloppy stack as I avert my eyes from other problems,
\nescaping instead into meaninglessness.
\nWhen to get married, for example.
\nWhen to go to the dentist,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 for example.<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t it so hot in the summer? I bought a drink cart, very functional.
\nIt\u2019s a convenient size, and it even has two nice drawers.
\nThe top is heat-proof, too!
\nIt uses a material
\ncalled melamine.<\/p>\n
Yes, that will do fine. There, on the top of the cart, the only empty surface;
\nI rest my chin on my hand
\nand wait in a daze as summer passes by.<\/p>\n
The Battle Against Meaningless Things<\/strong><\/p>\n by Yosuke Tanaka<\/strong><\/p>\n translated by Amanda Berke<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the beginning, there was chaos. The act of reorganization I love two ring binders and organizers. I almost started crying when I dropped my bicycle key on the ground. A multitude of things From the other side of the room, suddenly: Isn\u2019t it so hot in the summer? I bought a drink cart, very functional. Yes, that will do fine. There, on the top of the cart, the only empty surface;
\nNo, that\u2019s not quite right.
\nIn the beginning, there was nothing.
\nIt was a spacious, deserted emptiness.
\nTime slipped by, two years specifically. A desk was carried in, then a bed,
\na computer, a shelf, chairs (two of them), a folding table,
\nan electric piano, a fax machine, and lots of newspapers.
\nBooks. Magazines. Playbills. Envelopes. CDs. Faxes from someone.
\nLetters from someone else. Unimportant things. Important things.
\nThings that may become important.
\n(Meaningless things
\nnow filling every available space.<\/p>\n
\nis not unlike excavating a mountain.
\nI piled various objects, one by one, upon the mountainside-
\nbecause they were useful, because they were important, because I enjoyed them-
\nand because at some point I loved them,
\nI guess they become that much more difficult to discard.
\nPapers are harder to deal with than books, this is a well-known fact, so I decided to leave the books alone.
\nI chose to do battle only with the mountain of documents.
\nHowever, as I transformed them into orderly rectangles, that is,
\nas I bound them into their true forms, as
\nnovels
\nand
\nnotebooks
\nand
\nfolders
\nand
\ntwo-ring binders
\nand
\nweekly photo magazines,
\nthey became even harder to handle.
\nThey seemed heavier
\nand more depressing, somehow.<\/p>\n
\nJust one click of that classic two-hole punch, together with
\nthe satisfying snap of the metal hardware, and I\u2019m filled with a pleasant sort of feeling
\nas the paper documents are arranged into itemized, colored files. It all
\nbecomes beautifully tidy. I line up the largest binders in
\na row on my office desk (bookends included), but they fall ungracefully left and right.
\nI push from the left, they fall to the right; I push from the right, they fall to the left.
\nThey tumble down, a study in physics \u2013
\ntriggering an avalanche (a cascade of snow.) across the surface of my desk
\n(Meaningless things
\nnow a mountain strewn across my floor.<\/p>\n
\nI only dropped it, but
\nit seemed to be absorbed into the floorboards.
\nEvery fallen thing, every file, every book, every piece of trash,
\none by one I checked them all, moving each to a new place.
\nThe bag was only half full, but
\nI even went so far as to disassemble my Hitachi home vacuum cleaner
\nin order to inspect the insides, until \u2013
\nah, it\u2019s getting dark out. And now I can\u2019t even ride my bike.
\nOne thing after another, that\u2019s how life goes to pieces.
\nIn my distraction I lean against the tower of books, which collapses again,
\nscattering across the floor of the room.<\/p>\n
\nspread out before my eyes.
\nWhat the hell is this insipid feeling?
\nEverything has a name written on it,
\n\u201cShinch\u014d Japanese Dictionary,\u201d for example,
\n\u201cBungakukai Monthly,\u201d for example,
\nbut I can no longer grasp the spatial or temporal relationship between
\nShinch\u014d Japanese Dictionary and Bungakukai Monthly and this room and the time I\u2019ve spent in it.
\nLove and courage.
\nCourage and strength.
\nThose are the real essentials. Oh, I\u2019d like to go out and join hands with every person in the world,
\nand talk to my heart\u2019s content about the battle against meaningless things. To clear out some of
\nthis wasteland.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cLet\u2019s keep the mountain clean by taking home our trash!\u201d
\nThe letters catch my eye.
\nA paper bag from ICI Ishii Sports. I got it when I rode my bike to Jimbocho
\nto buy some supplies for climbing Mt Okukuji Nantai.
\nThe problem today is what happens after I\u2019ve brought my trash back home.
\nMaybe the garbage rises in a sloppy stack as I avert my eyes from other problems,
\nescaping instead into meaninglessness.
\nWhen to get married, for example.
\nWhen to go to the dentist,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 for example.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s a convenient size, and it even has two nice drawers.
\nThe top is heat-proof, too!
\nIt uses a material
\ncalled melamine.<\/p>\n
\nI rest my chin on my hand
\nand wait in a daze as summer passes by.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"\/translation\/files\/2021\/03\/0001-491x636.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"\/translation\/files\/2021\/03\/0002-491x636.jpg\")
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