[国际新闻] 【日本文化】无情的自然无常的日本

本帖最后由 Ampelmann 于 2011-3-24 09:50 编辑

地震、海啸、核危险，迫使日本人再次面对大自然的无情。BBC记者利文森说，灾难意识，深深地融入日本传统文化。人在德国社区  x" c' e6 d# @4 Y1 I4 `  j

地震来了，第一个迹象是嗡嗡、咔嗒咔嗒的声音。
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木架上，一排排底儿朝上的啤酒杯子左右晃动、互相撞击。人们先是降低了说话的音量，然后彻底安静下来，隔着菜碟对视。6 t! ?2 Q4 {- k% ]2 h5 l' Y* d/ h

酒吧服务生大声叫喊“赶快关上煤气”。6 k. x+ ^( l5 \0 B4 T, {2 D
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这是我第一次遇到地震时的情形。此前几天，我刚刚迁居日本。

这种现象很典型，地震一来，所有的人都估摸，这一次到底会有多严重？什么时候要跑到室外？是钻到桌子底下？还是站到门框下呢？我们都知道，门框下，是整个屋子支撑力最强的地点。# i$ O2 I8 {9 z9 m: l# A
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几秒钟后，颤动感消失了。人们继续聊天儿，寿司厨师又抡起了手中沉沉的刀。
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再过几秒钟，酒吧一角的电视屏幕上显出一条白色字幕，所有的频道无一例外。字幕通告地震的强度和震中位置。人在德国社区) n/ S$ S( ]1 m+ W

那一次，不是大地震。但是，日本人知道，迟早有一天会碰上大地震。问题是，什么时候呢？3 ~5 \4 o& [, s

日本民间流传着一种说法，地震前，动物会出现异常行为。比如，鲤鱼会跳出水面。日本政府曾经出资赞助一个试验项目，监测鲤鱼的活动，看看是否能用鲤鱼来预测地震。+ T, w8 m" @+ n2 z; G
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日本人随时随刻都在等着自然灾害的降临：洪水、飓风、火山喷发，时刻难忘的，当然就是地震和海啸了。

英文中，海啸一词是从日语音译而来的。这一点并非巧合。3 C( t: }; w& _2 Z: ]
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万物有灵人在德国社区) n( A( z  \6 b: c8 Q! d; w
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日本人信奉的神道教主张“万物有灵”，山山水水、草草木木都有神气；岩石深深的裂缝内有女神。仿佛，整个地球都是活的。
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日本坐落于火山地震带上。有国标之称的圆锥形富士山就是一座火山。% v2 L4 m/ J( {1 b  m8 q7 m% P! ^

滚烫的泉水从岩缝中喷发而出，给日本带来了“温泉王国”的美誉。

别府市有许多散发着浓烈硫磺气味的温泉，人称“地狱”。其中的“血池温泉”要算别府最有名的地狱了。一池血红、炽热的泉水，旁边站立着凶煞的守护神。! w6 V0 D, p+ a( m8 H

所有的日本人都知道，任何时候，大自然都有可能选择与他们作对。

1923年关东大地震给东京造成极大的破坏，一场大火席卷全城的木屋，估计共有14万人丧生。

此后，关东平原的人口越来越密集，大小城镇连成一片，从山区蔓延到海岸。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de" J- ?: i; U3 F5 _4 l0 `0 t/ a
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所有的日本人都清楚，深深的地下，地壳板块蕴藏的压力迟早要释放。
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所有的日本人都在作准备。学生和职员都要定期参加防震演习。
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演习十分逼真。当局会布置模拟起居室，里面摆好沙发、餐桌等家具。起居室少一面墙，方便人们观看。: K+ s9 t8 V9 i. O
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模拟起居室安在卡车上的晃动机上。演习开始，起居室左摇右晃，和在日本每隔几天就能感受到一次的地震差不多。
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窗帘跳舞，盘子在桌子上溜冰。然后，晃动越来越剧烈。餐具落到地下摔碎了，家具满屋子乱飞。4 ]: v: T; i" m

就是坐着旁观，心里都会打颤。而这不过是在模拟一次中级地震。
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无常之感

灾难意识，深深地融入日本传统文化。

日本文化推崇脆弱、短暂带来的“无常感”。从樱花被奉为国花就可见一斑。樱花，从枝头绽放到满地落英，不过几天的功夫。但是，她短暂的生命，却把大自然最美的一面呈现给人们。
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和樱花一样，武士，对生命好像也很“不在意”，维护武士道的荣誉更加重要。人在德国社区& t- q# z" `; x2 E6 E$ y9 ?, E
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“禅”，对竹子不惧压力、宁折不屈的品格大加推崇。

传统上，日本人选择建造轻盈的木屋作为民宅。他们说，地震了，木屋可能摇晃，但却不会轻易倒塌。* w0 C9 Z9 f! Q, n/ m$ p

历史上，东京曾经表现出不寻常的坚强。$ v- _; A$ L+ e/ A7 X
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1945年3月，关东大地震20多年后，美国B29轰炸机向满是木屋的东京投掷燃烧弹。一夜间，10万人丧身火海。; J( x7 D( A  T3 m& X" F
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1945年9月8日，一处为广岛原子弹爆炸难民提供的救助站中，一名妇女怀抱着她的孩子。

等着“大灾难”的降临，是日本人生活的一个组成部分。
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历史证明，鲤鱼帮不上忙。和人类一样，鲤鱼也无法预测，什么时候，大难即将临头。6 A$ @2 U( F6 ~' c  U. p2 h+ d3 t
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Japan: A fragile country at the mercy of nature

The world is reacting with shock at the huge quake and tsunami that has devastated Japan, but people there have learnt to expect natural disasters.
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The first indication was a humming and a rattling.
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Hundreds of upturned beer glasses on wooden shelves, shook from side to side, then knocked into each other. Conversation dimmed then stopped completely. Faces looked from one to another across the plates of tempura and sushi.人在德国社区& o% V. N- l8 q! L+ X

"Quick," shouted the barman, "turn off the gas."rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de8 a" R4 I: E+ a

It was my first experience of a tremor, just a few days after I had gone to live in Japan. And it was typical - everyone trying to gauge just how serious this quake was going to be.4 S  {3 K# [! Y& d0 ]/ c

When should we get up and try to run outdoors? Or would we have to dive under the tables? Or seek safety under a door frame - which we all knew was the strongest part of the room?

After a few seconds the tremor subsided, the conversation picked up, the sushi chef started wielding his heavy knife on the chopping block.8 a% _; e( v; ]8 x6 ]' e8 ~

Just a few seconds later, a white subtitle appeared on the TV in the corner - it was on all channels - indicating the size of the quake and the location of the epicentre.人在德国社区9 w* S8 i- ?3 X! Z

It was not the "big one". But everyone knew that one was coming.人在德国社区; n7 g2 [% n. Y! u
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The question was: when?
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Tradition held that animals and fish would act strangely ahead of a quake - carp, for example, would jump out of the water.
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The Japanese government even sponsored an experiment to monitor carp activity to see if they could be used to predict tremors.; U9 T' q5 i* F+ W
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Japanese people live with an ever-present expectation of natural disaster - floods, hurricanes, fires, and most of all earthquakes and the massive waves they can generate.
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Hell on earth?* B0 q. O; I4 Q5 {9 z& h

It is no coincidence that tsunami is a Japanese word.

The native religion, Shinto, is animist - speaking of the divine nature of trees and mountains, of goddesses who emerged from deep clefts in the rocks. The very earth can seem alive.
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The islands sit on a massive fault line and the classic image of the country is the perfect volcanic cone of Mount Fuji.3 F8 v" d3 Y4 W6 C! y! J

Boiling hot water steams up from cracks in the rocks, exploited for the natural hot springs that are one of the country's great wonders.人在德国社区  ?; K5 [2 Y: j; i

In the town of Beppu you can see pools of foul-smelling sulphuric waters that emerge from the earth. But the big draw is the dark red pool guarded by statues of ferocious, boggle-eyed deities. It is called Jigoku - Hell.7 {8 G  S; p3 o6 b8 x

All Japanese know that at any time the powers of the earth can turn against them.
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In 1923, the great Kanto earthquake devastated Tokyo.
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Fires raged across a city built of wooden houses, killing an estimated 140,000 people.. @8 C; A( H: y

Since then the population on the Kanto plain has grown massively in an interconnected series of cities from the mountains down to the sea.  j4 F: T) l. _
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Everyone knows that the pressure between the tectonic plates deep underground will be released sometime.人在德国社区8 U  U9 Q7 J$ m
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Everyone prepares. Schools and office workers take part in earthquake drills. And these are dramatic.

The authorities bring along a mock-up of a living room, complete with a sofa and a dining table, with one wall missing so you can see inside.

The whole room is mounted on a machine on a truck and gently the mechanism rocks the room from side to side - simulating the usual tremors that you feel every few days.
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Curtains sway and plates slide across tables.
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The movement gets stronger and stronger, wilder and wilder. Crockery smashes, the furniture is hurled about furiously.* J8 H" I& T/ V: _0 d1 M/ q
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Just watching, you can feel the panic rising in your stomach. And this is just a mock-up of a moderate quake.+ I* h" p2 R" d2 H& C
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Extraordinary resilience6 F. y, g1 }' i5 |& `3 q
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An ever-present sense of disaster is deeply woven into traditional ways.
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Japanese culture has long-prized fragility, impermanence, transience.

The cherry blossom is the most prized of all expressions of nature because it achieves such a brief perfection before falling carelessly.
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Samurai - so it was said - gave up their lives with similar carelessness, because their honour was more important.
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Zen teaching praised the way bamboo's flexibility gave it a special strength.

Subjected to force it sways and bends. It does not snap.
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The Japanese traditionally built their houses lightly out of wood and it is said this is so they would sway in an earthquake rather than simply collapse.

The city of Tokyo has shown extraordinary resilience.
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In March 1945, a couple of decades after the great earthquake, American B29s dropped incendiary bombs on the city of wooden houses." `; o' f' U" z3 y: J
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The resulting firestorm killed 100,000 people in the course of a single night., K- Q2 g  i7 r+ `( l  A) W- ^
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Waiting for the "big one" is a part of Japanese life and the carp, it turns out, are no help. They have no better idea of when a tremor will strike than the rest of us.

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