Current location:World Window news portal > world
VOX POPULI: Some celebrate while others ponder time and space on leap day
World Window news portal2024-05-21 08:12:42【world】0People have gathered around
IntroductionWhen author Mizuki Tsujimura was in elementary school, her teacher said to her, “You are 8 years old
When author Mizuki Tsujimura was in elementary school, her teacher said to her, “You are 8 years old, but actually you’re only 2.”
Tsujimura’s birthday is Feb. 29.
Back then, she did not quite know what a leap year meant.
But she remembers feeling sort of happy that she was “still only 2.”
She only gets to celebrate her birthday every four years.
However, she wrote in her contribution to Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun (an Asahi newspaper for elementary school children) that she was actually lucky to have that birthday because it was easy for all her friends to remember it.
“Even if I were to be reborn, I would still like to have this birthday,” she concluded.
Today, Feb. 29, is a leap day.
The human-set time span of one year is different from the flow of time created by the sun and the Earth.
The Earth is not a perfect sphere and the movements of heavenly bodies vacillate.
A leap day is for coordinating all these variables and “synchronizing” them somehow.
There used to be such a thing as a leap month.
In ancient Japan, the new moon, or the first day of the lunar month, was called “saku,” and one “sakubo-getsu” denoted the interval between one saku and the next.
In the traditional lunisolar calendar, one year consisted of 12 sakubo-getsu, which added up to 354 days.
And to that, a leap month was added from time to time.
Nature fluctuates but humans have always sought unwavering time.
Astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) discovered the law of the pendulum in the 16th century.
After pendulum clocks replaced sundials, there were quartz clocks, and now we have optical lattice clocks that are believed to be the most accurate timepiece ever made.
But what, exactly, is time?
When I think about deep space, I become scared by the utter diminutiveness of my existence.
A haiku by Hyakusui Inaba captures a sense of loneliness and heartbreak evoked by the impermanence of life.
It goes, “Loneliness makes me four-legged in a leap year.”
--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 29
* *
*Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Address of this article:http://www.samacharpostdainik.com/content-09a099982.html
Very good!(6644)
Related articles
- Jessica Biel CHOPS her long locks into a bob after book signing in Studio City
- China's booming online audio and video industry tops 1 billion users
- Nuclear power plant operator sanguine on renewable energy
- International hot air balloons festival opens in Gansu
- 'Constantly learning' Imanaga off to impressive start with the Chicago Cubs
- In pics: women wearing Burang clothes in Tibet
- Artists take part in art competition in Vancouver, Canada
- Colorful lights and lanterns light up to celebrate upcoming Lunar New Year in Singapore
- Travis Kelce downs whiskey shot on slice of bread at Kelce Jam without Taylor Swift
- More international flights for summer season
Popular articles
Recommended
Lynn Williams breaks NWSL goal
As China assures bright future, multinational firms eye win
Micron Tech cements bond with China
Xiaomi's first electric vehicle put on display, drawing crowds
Burglar hurled stolen mobile phones at police from the top of 60ft high roof during nine
Check out these water
Google hit with fine for breaching French news deal
Coal production in China reach historic highs last year
Links
- 2 killed, 21 injured in southwest China attack
- Ashley Graham reveals her custom Swarovski crystal
- Zendaya pulls out all the stops in THREE edgy ensembles
- Chinese, French experts seek multilateral future at global governance forum
- Dua Lipa puts on sultry show in silk and lace as she teams a plunging corset with low
- China unveils latest sci
- Michelle Williams puts on a leggy display in thigh
- Zendaya pulls out all the stops in THREE edgy ensembles
- More floods expected in China's Pearl River basin
- US paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion