I met Riko Ogawa through a senior editor in Tokyo who made a book for her called Memories of Sounds, and when he first read the manuscript, he told me: "This book is very similar to the situation of your bilingual writing, and it is worth reading." So, when the original Japanese book was published, I read it in one breath and didn't stop.
Ritsuko Ogawa is a professional jazz pianist and the head of the Panasonic audio brand. In other words, one identity is the artist, which needs sensibility; the other identity is the craftsman and the manufacturer, which needs rationality. Such a mix-and-match, although it will appear in different fields and different dimensions, once it is integrated, you will find a lot of confusion. Especially for a Japanese woman, how to face the professional life, how to face the art, society and family? Then, about four years ago, in the fall, the senior editor and I had dinner with Ritsuko Ogawa, and the topic of conversation affected the word "female power."
In fact, the word "feminine power" was nominated for the Japan New Language and Buzzword Awards as early as heisei 21 (2009), and I originally thought that this was just a popular social phenomenon, but until the Reiwa era, the word still appeared in many fields, especially when it came to the self-reliance of Japanese women and their careers, and the vocabulary of "feminine power" increased significantly. On the one hand, this emphasizes women's positive attitude towards life, and on the other hand, it also explains the change in Japanese society's perception of women. Compared with conventional wisdom, the process of change, while not so radical, is indeed moving forward. Of course, the use of the term "feminine power" is sometimes linked to feminism, and it presents a complex side in the Context of the Japanese language. However, from the perspective of the context of contemporary Japanese society, if you can plan a set of books similar to "Memories of Sounds", especially as a personal narrative of Japanese women, whether it is the details or the humanistic feelings displayed, it will be a true portrayal of Japanese social culture. As non-fiction texts, especially women's documentary texts, give people a soft power. Therefore, after "Memories of Sound", I continued to plan two books, Keimiko Inagaki," "Fifty Years Old, I Resigned" and Yuko Kuniya's "I Am the Anchor", which together formed the Japanese Women's Force Trio, which has now been published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House.
Now let's go back to "Memories of Sound", after the release of the Chinese editions of the three books, as a publishing planner, the dialogue with the author made me feel that the content behind the text can be deepened through the expression of the other party, which may be a kind of emotionally driven area. In particular, I will record the conversation with Ritsuko Ogawa for the benefit of the reader.
Sensibility is an antenna for people to sense the outside world
Mao Danqing (hereinafter referred to as Mao): As a jazz pianist, you have a full sense of sensibility for music, especially including absolute sound sense, which is needed everywhere. Compared with sensibility, if your style and leading the company team to complete the relevant audio products are rational, then how can you make the two kinds of thinking of sensibility and rationality stand side by side? It may be difficult. Here, please first talk about human sensibility and its importance.
Ritsuko Ogawa (hereinafter referred to as Ogawa): The so-called sensibility is an antenna and the degree of induction that people perceive to the outside world. We all have this antenna, but how to improve the sensitivity is the key, and these links exist in our daily lives and consciousness. In my personal case, no matter how small things are, as long as there are new discoveries and new gains, people will be moved. That is to say, start from the small daily things, accumulate less into more, and improve your inner sensitivity. However, if the daily life is too monotonous, the sensitivity cannot be improved. This requires us to inject some changes into our daily lives, including our lifestyle. For example, when making a cup of tea, using this teacup today and offering a cup of Japanese matcha today are really small things, but they need to be injected with change. Even if you commute to work every day, you don't have to take only one road, you can choose another one. For example, I lived in Kyoto for a while, and taking a detour in Kyoto, you may encounter a statue of Jizo Bodhisattva, which has never been seen before, and it is very open. Although this is a small thing, the sensitivity of the antenna in the heart will be improved. Even when rational thinking is required at work, I am aware of the signs of change, which are the sensibilities as I understand them and the areas in which they affect.
At this time, it is indeed very careful to listen, dripping water
Mao: Personally, I'm most interested in the world of sound, and you're personally most interested in going into the Ruling House (listening to the sounds emitted by the sound equipment in a room to decide whether to mass-produce the sound.) The scene at the last stage of the sound-making process, commonly known as the "Ruling House of Sound"), is not bothered by the surroundings, but is just listening carefully. It may not be appropriate for me to ask this, are you not thinking about anything, just immersing yourself in the sound? What kind of state is it?
Ogawa: This is my verdict against Yin. Because it is directly related to whether to put into large-scale production, it is necessary to come up with the strictest judgment. The longest time was about two hours, and I listened to various types of music all the time. At first, I just feel the sound of this violin? How does this piano sound? What is the singer's voice? At this time, it is indeed very careful to listen, dripping water. Is the sound good? Is there something wrong? Although this is a state of rational thinking, whether I can finally decide whether this sound can touch my heart or not. No matter what people say, "Ogawa, all the measurements show that this sound is great." "But if this tone doesn't touch my heart, I won't give OK."
Mao: It seems that this is a world of sensibility, and doesn't it have much to do with measurements and data?
Ogawa: Of course, all the data is prepared after measurement, but on the basis of these data, I still have to decide at a higher level and higher dimensions, and in the end I can only see if the sound can hit my heart.
Mao: The verdict on the sound turned out to be like this. However, the piano needs to be slid by the fingers, what does this have to do with the sound in the audition? Does the violin require the movement of the wrist and the arm, does this mean that there is some relationship between the human body movement and the sound? What do you think about that?
Ogawa: There is a relationship between them. When I was practicing, I initially started from the sense of hearing and the sensation of the limbs, and then I found that the sound was sometimes very strange, so I immediately corrected my body movements, and the tone was strange again, so I corrected the body movements, and the cycle began, and in this way I ascended to a higher realm. I think sports athletes are like this, when they are promoted to a certain extent, people will enter a "zone" (ZONE), and once they enter the "zone", including the body and the heart, they will become one. At this time, it depends on whether we can enter this area, and at the same time, as a performer, we will also imagine whether our own sound can be conveyed to the audience.
Fiction and music and bilingual writing
Mao: It's all a world of art. For example, a novelist writes a novel. The so-called novel is the story, and of course there is a stylistic framework. The story should establish a protagonist. Sometimes, however, although the novelist's initial idea is to let the protagonist die, the protagonist does not die, how can not die, and even at the end of the novel is still not dead. Although the novel is fictional, once the protagonist is established, he or she himself will be given life and at the same time launch a counterattack against the novelist himself. Therefore, the more a good novelist cannot control the protagonist, the better the novel will be written. Conversely, the more novelists who can control the protagonist, they often cannot write good novels. What about the world of sound? Is it completely controllable, or can not be controlled, a little uncontrollable good?
Ogawa: This can only be understood in the end. For example, every year I work with the symphony orchestra and play the piano in a concert hall of thousands of people, although I have practiced the piano impeccablely, although I can enter my own zone when playing, but sometimes there is a sudden "Oops, oops", how to make this sound, this is really beyond my control. This is the same reason as Mr. Mao just said about the protagonist's counterattack. Why this sound is coming out, I really don't understand. After playing, if you think about it, such a scene will appear. At the same time, being able to have such a scene is the real sound.
Mao: It is precisely because of this sense of violation that there is a real and strong you. My writing role is in Japanese, which is a foreign language for me. Native Chinese and Japanese are like a boxing battle. If I had been writing in Japanese, my native language would have been injured, which means that the two cannot go hand in hand. Without one side leading, the other side can't keep up, so I'll let Japanese take a break today and come back to work tomorrow. When I read "Memory of Sound", I deeply felt that the scene as an audio product and the scene as an artist coexisted, and the two were not opposed, but fused. If you feel like you have such moments, please introduce them. I think you're bound to experience a moment of rational and emotional bonding.
Ogawa: Yes. I have a strong idea when I play, I want to play like this, I want to play this sound. At the same time, for example, when developing audio products, I wanted to make such sounds and such sounds, so I would communicate my ideas to all the members of the team. Of course, this communication is in language, but it is difficult to get everyone into one zone at the same time. Still, I'll explain it to everyone, go out of my way, break through one by one, and tell everyone what I mean. And so, eventually, the sound I want to hear will come. This time is the same as when I played. Compared to me personally, this is the harvest of the team, and the joy I get is of course multiplied. (Editor-in-charge: Sun Xiaoning)