日本における「老女」伝承

This paper explores the lives of elderly women in the early modern period of Japanese history by examining and comparing various images of "rōjo" in Japanese legend. Unlike the generally positive image of "rō-ō" or elderly men, the image of "rōjo" in Japanese legend is sometimes touched by gloom and eeriness. For example, "yamamba" one of the well-known types of the legendary "rōjo," is depicted as eerie and ghostly.To illuminate this ambivalent image of "rōjo" in Japanese legend, I will examine three different types of "rōjo" in Noh plays of Medieval Japan. The first type is the "rōjo" in "Yamamba," a Noh play written by Zeami. The second type appears in "Takasago," another Noh play by Zeami. The third type is the protagonist of the masterpiece, "Obasute."The first type, the "rōjo" in "Yamamba," gives a strong impression of a specter or a demon. By contrast, the second type, the "rōjo" in "Takasago," is accompanied by the "rō-ō" or an older man and represents the "rōjo" as an indispensabe half of the long-lasting marital partnership. The third type of "rōjo" is a grandmother abandoned by her relatives. She is the "rōjo" in the famous "Obasute" story.The paper also addresses the dichotomization of "rōjo" into the gentle "ouna" and the frightening "uba" and considers how this dichotomy is related to the three types of "rōjo" mentioned above

Forgiving the Dead : Historical Consciousness in Civilizations That Do and Civilizations That Do Not

Historical Consciousness, Historiography, and Modern Japanese Values, 2002年10月末-11月, カナダ, アルバータ州バン

Atmosfera ir religija: Hermanno Schmitzo fenomenologija ir lyginamojo religijos tyrimo galimybė

[full article, abstract in English; abstract in Lithuanian] On the basis of his phenomenological theory of body and emotion, and especially his concept of emotion as atmosphere, Hermann Schmitz (1928–) defines religion as “behavior derived from affectedness by the divine,” i.e., communication with a powerful atmosphere overwhelming human beings. This definition enables us to explore religion in a broader context, such as dwelling, daily practice, rituals, architecture, art, etc. From this perspective, religion cannot be confined to the fields of theory, practice, institution, or convention but covers a much richer field in life. On the other hand, this view means that our daily existence is more profoundly related to the religious. This makes it understandable why new religious movements appear repeatedly, and why social phenomena appear that are not called religions but have some religious aspects even in a modern, secularized society. In this way, the theory of atmosphere can give us insight into the general necessity of the religious for human existence in each culture. Schmitz’s phenomenology of religion has, therefore, its advantage in the analysis of folk religion, which is rooted more deeply in folk culture and such of its aspects as customs, festivals, and folklore. This article will address some characteristics of Japanese folk religion and then compare monotheism with polytheism.[straipsnis ir santrauka anglų kalba, santrauka lietuvių kalba] Remdamasis fenomenologine kūno ir emocijų samprata, ypač savąja emocijos kaip atmosferos samprata, Hermannas Schmitzas (1928–) apibrėžia religiją kaip „elgesį, kylantį iš buvimo paveiktam dieviškumo“, t. y. bendravimo su galinga atmosfera, apglobiančia žmogiškąsias būtybes. Šis apibrėžimas leidžia mums tyrinėti religiją platesniame – gyvenimo-kur, kasdienės praktikos, ritualų, architektūros, meno ir t. t. – kontekste. Žvelgiant iš šios perspektyvos, religija negali būti apribota teorijos, praktikos, institucijos ar formalios tvarkos sritimi, bet apima daug turtingesnį mūsų gyvenimo lauką. Kita vertus, šis požiūris reiškia, kad mūsų kasdienė egzistencija kur kas giliau susijusi su religiškumu. Tai leidžia suprasti, kodėl vis iškyla naujų religinių judėjimų ir kodėl pasirodo socialinių fenomenų, kurie nevadinami religiniais, tačiau turi religinių aspektų netgi modernioje, sekuliarioje visuomenėje. Straipsnyje teigiama, kad atmosferos teorija gali leisti mums įžvelgti bendrą žmogiškoje egzistencijoje glūdintį religiškumo poreikį, aptinkamą kiekvienoje kultūroje. Taigi Schmitzo religijos fenomenologija yra pranašesnė analizuojant liaudiškąją religiją, kuri įsišaknijusi kur kas giliau liaudiškoje kultūroje, kaip antai papročiai, šventės ir tautosaka. Straipsnyje svarstomi kai kurie japonų liaudiškosios religijos bruožai, o paskui liaudiškosios religijos požiūriu palyginamos monoteizmo ir politeizmo tendencijos krikščionybėje ir japonų religijoje

Experimental approaches to evaluate activities of cytochromes P450 3A

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) is a heme protein oxidizing various xenobiotics, as well as endogenous substrates. Understanding which CYP enzymes are involved in metabolic activation and/or detoxication of different compounds is important in the assessment of an individual's susceptibility to the toxic action of these substances. Therefore, investigation which of several in vitro experimental models are appropriate to mimic metabolism of xenobiotics in organisms is the major challenge for research of many laboratories. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of different in vitro systems containing individual enzymes of the mixed-function monooxygenase system to oxidize two model substrates of CYP3A enzymes, exogenous and endogenous compounds, α-naphtoflavone (α-NF) and testosterone, respectively. Several different enzymatic systems containing CYP3A enzymes were utilized in the study: (i) human hepatic microsomes rich in CYP3A4, (ii) hepatic microsomes of rabbits treated with a CYP3A6 inducer, rifampicine, (iii) microsomes of Baculovirus transfected insect cells containing recombinant human CYP3A4 and NADPH:CYP reductase with or without cytochrome b5 (Supersomes™), (iv) membranes isolated from of Escherichia coli, containing recombinant human CYP3A4 and cytochrome b5, and (v) purified human CYP3A4 or rabbit CYP3A6 reconstituted with NADPH:CYP reductase with or without cytochrome b5 in liposomes. The most efficient systems oxidizing both compounds were Supersomes™ containing human CYP3A4 and cytochrome b5. The results presented in this study demonstrate the suitability of the supersomal CYP3A4 systems for studies investigating oxidation of testosterone and α-NF in vitro

Regulation of Hemocytes in Drosophila Requires dappled Cytochrome b5

A major category of mutant hematopoietic phenotypes in Drosophila is melanotic tumors or nodules, which consist of abnormal and overproliferated blood cells, similar to granulomas. Our analyses of the melanotic mutant dappled have revealed a novel type of gene involved in blood cell regulation. The dappled gene is an essential gene that encodes cytochrome b5, a conserved hemoprotein that participates in electron transfer in multiple biochemical reactions and pathways. Viable mutations of dappled cause melanotic nodules and hemocyte misregulation during both hematopoietic waves of development. The sexes are similarly affected, but hemocyte number is different in females and males of both mutants and wild type. Additionally, initial tests show that curcumin enhances the dappled melanotic phenotype and establish screening of endogenous and xenobiotic compounds as a route for analysis of cytochrome b5 function. Overall, dappled provides a tractable genetic model for cytochrome b5, which has been difficult to study in higher organisms

Conférence de M. Tetsuo Yamaori

Yamaori Tetsuo. Conférence de M. Tetsuo Yamaori. In: École pratique des hautes études, Section des sciences religieuses. Annuaire. Tome 105, 1996-1997. 1996. pp. 165-167