Interlude: Einstein visited Japan in 1922
A funny picture and funnier comments!
Einstein, together with his second wife Elsa, visited Japan in 1922 (on board Kitano-maru, from Marseille); he knew he was awarded the Nobel Prize (physics) during this trip. But that's not the point here. Look at the following picture in some Japanese restaurant, with Geisha girls; it's funny, but the comments under this picture are even funnier: "A.E. and Elsa with others at a tea ceremony, Japan, 1922" (p. 79).
Come ooon, the editor must be compleeetely ignorant of Japanese culture, despite this book is published in San Francisco! This cannot be a tea ceremony, because they are just about to toast with Japanese sake! Where is tea? Where is the host, making tea? We can see only a bowl of Japanese clean soup (the right-most on the small table in front of Einstein, black), sashimi (slices of raw fish), a glass of beer, and other dishes. And, of course, no geisha girls for a tea ceremony! No coordinate transoformation can change a dinner party into a tea ceremony!
Last modified August 25, 2000. (c) Soshichi Uchii