Current location:Planet Patch news portal > travel
VOX POPULI: Some celebrate while others ponder time and space on leap day
Planet Patch news portal2024-05-18 00:38:37【travel】7People 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://slovakia.boluescortbayan.net/article-76d099918.html
Very good!(2589)
Related articles
- Houston storms: At least 4 killed, power cut in 900,000 homes
- Xi Calls for New, Greater Contributions to Advancing Cause of Women and Children
- Tencent's AI technology to find pulsars 'FASTER'
- Temperature monitoring implemented to reduce loss of grain in N China's Tianjin
- AP Week in Pictures: Global
- China remains biggest export country for German electrical, digital industry in 2021
- Over 5 bln USD of tentative deals inked at east China digital trade expo
- China launches new satellite group
- Terrifying moment knife
- Huawei's new mobile OS coming on June 2
Popular articles
Recommended
Human rights group urges Thailand to stop forcing dissidents to return home
EU set to fine Apple $540 mln for unfair play
Air travel surges thanks to Spring Festival and visa policies
Hainan eyes bigger role in nation's opening
US prisoners are being assigned dangerous jobs. But what happens if they are hurt or killed?
China prepares to launch space station core module
World Conference on Integrated Circuits 2022 kicks off in China's Hefei
Cotton harvest season starts in Xinjiang
Links
- Relegation
- David Pryor, former Arkansas governor, senator, dies at 89
- North Carolina officer fatally shoots man suspected of killing other man
- Councilwoman chosen as new Fort Wayne mayor, its 1st Black leader, in caucus to replace late mayor
- As Taylor Swift reveals her heartbreak after two
- Francisco Lindor slugs tiebreaking 2
- About 1,300 people from Myanmar flee into Thailand after clashes broke out in a key border town
- Director Romeo Castellucci drops out of Brussels Ring Cycle halfway through because of money, time
- Trump picks up more national delegates as the only choice for Wyoming Republicans
- Napoli coach apologizes to fans after lackluster loss at Empoli worsens title defense