Aussie: So, I overheard my colleagues using the word ひっぱりだこ (hipparidako), to describe ピコ太郎 (Piko-tarō, the comedian / singer behind the recent YouTube phenomenon, the “PPAP” song), but what does it mean?
You: Ah yes, ピコ太郎 would certainly be ひっぱりだこ right now. The word ひっぱりだこ is used to describe someone who is “in high demand” or “being pulled in all directions”. So, in this case with ピコ太郎, he would be highly sought-after by various TV programs, radio stations and variety shows right now due to his popularity.
A: Oh! I see. So the ひっぱり part comes from the word ひっぱる (hipparu, ‘to pull’)?
Japanese-American artist sees ‘Silence’ as antidote to superficiality
Kathryn Jean LopezFebruary 4, 2017 CRUX CONTRIBUTOR
Pope Francis looks at a painting given to him as a gift from director Martin Scorsese, center, on the occasion of their private audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. Francis has met with Scorsese, whose new film, “Silence,” about Jesuit missionaries in 17th-century Japan, was screened this week in Rome. (Credit: L’Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP.)
Makoto Fujimura, a Japanese-American artist who collaborated with Martin Scorsese on the film “Silence” about Jesuit missionaries in Japan, says the film helps us understand that “soft diplomacy” is far more effective than actual wars in changing hearts and minds.
Makoto Fujimura is concerned with the beauty that can be found in hiddenness and contemplation. He’s an artist close to the Martin Scorsese movie “Silence,” about Jesuit missionaries in Japan, and who’s written a book called Silence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of Suffering.
In it, he writes: “Willingness to spend time truly seeing can change how we view the world, moving us away from our fast-food culture of superficially scanning what we see and become surfeited with images that do not delve below the surface.” cruxnow.com/interviews/2017/02/04/japanese-american-artist-sees-silence-antidote-superficiality/