Eating Japanese in Namibia made me think of, well, eating Japanese in Japan. Above is a 11/24/18 photo of a dinner at Taiyoshi Hyakuban, a restaurant converted from an Osaka whorehouse. On the left is Yoko (whose last name I can't recall), the editor of the Japanese editon of my Postcards from the End of America. On the right is sociologist Masahiko Kishi, who introduced and interviewed me at an Osaka bookstore.
Mieko Kawakami was supposed to appear with me at the bookstore, but some nutcase said online he would show up to stab her. As a very famous writer who's also gorgeous, Mieko attracts many lovelorn and sexually frustrated admirers. Maybe in the next life, I can come back as Mieko Kawakami!
Osaka is a magical city. If money wasn't an issue and I could live anywhere, Osaka would be very high on my list.
If you wonder why I sometimes lose my patience with the morons at Unz, it's because, like all sane people, I prefer to deal with civilized human beings.
14 comments:
That must have been a satisfying evening: getting your book translated into Japanese, reading from it in Osaka, and then going out for nice meal in an exotic land with enthusiastic foreigners who appreciated your work. Your professional world was clearly widening with your recognition and that had to of felt great.
I know now, thirteen years after your being published in Japan, that you can't get a publisher in the USA as a consequence of your outspoken criticism of Jewish destructive influences worldwide. Has your inability to get published also gone worldwide? Has the publishing door also been closed to you in Japan, in China, in the Muslim world?
Do you think it's possible to write a book so good that you'll be able to break through the gatekeepers who are blocking your work?
Hi Martin,
I have two books published in Japan. The photo above was only from 2018. I have one book published in Italy, and one in Mexico. I haven't been translated much.
Before I was canceled, a Danish translator said he was working on a book of my poems, but I haven't heard from him since.
About four years ago, I was interviewed by an Arabic newspaper out of London, and that was my last time I was interviewed as a literary writer.
My focus is to keep writing, until I'm too exhausted to do so. Worrying about getting books published would be too distracting, and take too much of my energy. It's enough of a grind just to write.
Linh
Hi Martin,
Every so often, some wokesters would cite my "Blacks, Jews and You" as definitive evidence that I'm "anti-black," "antisemitic" and basically a monster. There's nothing in it I'd retract.
When it comes to Jews, I'm not against anyone born Jewish but only Jewish thinking, even if it's brandished by an Arab or a Vietnamese.
I've discussed black crime and relative failure in many areas compared to other races, but so have W.E.B. Du Bois, Thomas Sowell, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, etc.
Linh
Hi Martin,
I just saw why you said "thirteen years after." I typed 11/24/08 when I meant 11/24/18! Sorry about that.
It's hard to keep track of time. 2008 seems like yesterday.
Linh
Hi Linh,
I understand how being distracted over getting your books published would sap your energy/spirit, taking power away from your writing; that happening would hand your cancellers a win. The best thing an artist can do is continue with their art, to improve upon it.
There has got to be a great movie in the stories you've written, in the story of your life; I just hope that you're the one who writes it - not someone else years later - and that you get the recognition that you deserve in time for you to be able to enjoy it.
I often think of Vincent van Gogh (usually when I pass by the building abutting the rail line down my street where he rented a dismal room during his brief time in Brussels) and how he got shortchanged by a fate that gave him all the talents he had yet none of the rewards/recognition from it that would have added comfort, both physical and mental, to his life.
I got a feeling you'll have your Jack Kerouac moment where suddenly "BOOM!" you're famous. With a little luck you'll be around to see it.
Hi Martin,
Have you seen The Lover, or maybe read the book? Duras wrote the same story three times! In The Sea Wall, The North China Lover then, finally, The Lover. This sexual affair with a much older guy when Duras was very young clearly haunted her, but she only wrote about him as an old woman.
Anyway, the aura around this guy is considerable, especially after the movie comes out, with suave and handsome Tony Leung as The Lover.
Since The Lover's house is preserved in Sa Dec, Vietnam, thousands of tourists go there, especially French ones. Inside, there are a couple of photos of this mythical Lover, but what tourists discover, to their embarassment, if not horror, is one ugly dude, with no resemblance to Tony Leung, or to how he's described by Duras.
If my story is ever written, perhaps they can give me a similar transformation!
I'm just kidding, of course. Narcissism is tiresome and ugly. Worse, it distracts from the work, which is challenging enough, and most likely will be forgotten anyway, despite one's best effort.
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," my rabbi reminds me constantly. Actually, he says, "You must be one stupid fuck for not knowing how to make any money! Are you sure you're Jewish?"
Linh
LD,
Def not a Yid. I'd help you make some shekels, but we all know that's anathema to you, and we know why (you innumeracy is just a cop out)--but we won't go there since it puts your dirty knickers in an even tighter twist which ends in another attack (not counter if it's the truth, kindly offered).
The offer like all of them still stands. Short & easy answer is put some paper/digital currency into physical precious metals (silver preferred, then gold). Not only will that help you weather these storms, but PHYSICAL PMs are Jewish Banksters' Kryptonite. Just like Superman was a Krypton, the "Silvers" and "Golds" are defeated by Silver and Gold ;)
Hi Anonymous,
They've suppressed gold for more than a decade now. Millions of people own paper gold with no gold to back it up. When do you think this racket will finally blow up?
All the Vietnamese boat people got out because of gold. Orientals and Indians are gold bugs. Any Oriental neighborhood in the US will have these jewelry stores, to sell gold mostly. Orientals and Indians know all about gold as real wealth.
Linh
A belated Merry Christmas to you, Linh! May you have a prosperous and rewarding New Year! God bless!
Hi Wanda,
Many thanks! I hope you had a pleasant Christmas.
It's very mellow in Namibia. The weather is also mild. It's 56F as I'm writing this. Most people here have gone back to their villages, a yearly ritual.
Here's to a much saner 2022. Like everyone, I've had more than enough of this madness!
Linh
Say I wondered if I might have previously met your fellow commenter Wanda in LA at The Golden Fleece over drinks. Reading her blog If you're going my way I'll walk with you she sounds familiar, like someone I knew/know. Too bad her exquisite outpost of sexy ballsy and deeply cultured site takes no comments.
You draw an interesting group here Linh.
Kudos 2U
That Mieko is one beautiful Japanese lady.
So, are your articles no longer going to be reproduced at Unz?
Hi Zeno,
Without going into detail, yes, I'm done there. It's best for everybody involved, especially me.
Linh
Hi Linh,
I never heard of The Lovers, but I gotta laugh when I picture the disappointment/disgust in the faces of all those older French ladies when they're hit with a reality bomb in Sa Dec. It's kinda like when millions of American women were shocked to find out that Rock Hudson (may he rest in peace) liked dick as much as they did.
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."
Yeah, no matter what, in the end we're dead. Life is a fantastic gift, the best you can do with your life is to enjoy it while it lasts.
Your work resonates, it'll be around long after you and I are gone.
Keep on keeping on.
Martin
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