Current location:Global Gateway news portal > opinions
VOX POPULI: Some celebrate while others ponder time and space on leap day
Global Gateway news portal2024-05-21 08:55:54【opinions】3People 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://kuwait.shellye-mcdaniel.com/news-65e499930.html
Very good!(9165)
Related articles
- Saudi Arabia is going to sponsor the WTA women's tennis rankings under a new partnership
- Reds' bullpen picks up after injured starter leaves, beats the Angels 3
- Man United back in another FA Cup final against Man City after narrowly avoiding humiliation
- Satellite image analysis: Iranian attack damaged Israeli air base
- The unstoppable duo of Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos
- Monaco wins 2
- Ukrainian and Western leaders welcome US aid package
- Israel, Iran show restraint. But for how long?
- Brazil replaces injured goalkeeper Ederson in Copa America squad
- Tesla cuts some US electric vehicle prices after difficult week
Popular articles
Recommended
Investigators return to Long Island home of Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect
Reds' bullpen picks up after injured starter leaves, beats the Angels 3
Suspect in killing of Idaho sheriff's deputy fatally shot by police, authorities say
Reds pitcher Frankie Montas injured in the first inning against the Angels
Brazil replaces injured goalkeeper Ederson in Copa America squad
Casey Mize throws 6 shutout innings for 1st win since 2021 as Tigers beat Twins 6
I auditioned for Britain's Got Talent ten years ago and it looks nothing like what you see on TV
Mitchell Parker throws 7 scoreless innings as Nats blank Astros 6
Links
- Patrick Bailey hits walk
- Schwarber and Harper lead Phillies' power display in 9
- Helen Skelton reveals the one question she detests being asked by 'mum
- REVEALED: OJ Simpson's official cause of death
- Russia arrests another suspect in the concert hall attack that killed 144
- Sacré blown! French police use knives to sink asylum seekers' boat in Dunkirk
- BBC and Sky Sports football presenter Alex Scott accepts surprising new job
- ACT Brumbies end Hurricanes' unbeaten run in Super Rugby Pacific
- An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
- Joey Ortiz homers, drives in 4 runs, including winner in the 11th inning, as Brewers top Yankees 7