The View from the Towers 塔からの眺め A web log by Nigel Ruddock of life in Germany as an expat, with excursions to Japan and the UK.

Month: November 2025

  • Who is Jack? ジャックって誰ですか？

    November 26th 2025年11月26日

    It was a day when it would have been probably better to stay under the duvet.

    👉 It was cold enough….

    寒い朝だった。布団の中は暖かかったのに。どうして起きなきゃいけないの？

    👉 But I had a violinist coming first thing. I had given her instrument the full make-over, so was interested to hear how she would react. Of course after two or three notes I could tell she was not happy with something. It was the strings. Not her taste. Ok, so I changed all the strings. Result? A happy smile. Good. Now it was time to pay. This is usually dealt with pretty quickly, thanks to my card terminal…..

    今朝はすべてがうまくいかなかった ☹️

    👉 However when I activated it, for some insane reason it wanted me to log in and identify myself….bla bla bla…What, whilst a customer is waiting? Oh, give us a break. “I’ll give you the bill and you can do a bank transfer ” I said. I reached for the printer. Great. Today of all days it decided to run out of toner. …….☹️

    カードリーダーが動作せず、プリンターのインクが切れました…。……..🙄

    My customer saved the day by transferring the money immediately on her mobile. Phew!

    Ah, at last, now I can go for that morning walk. I glanced out of the window to check the weather….What the.…⁉️…the nearby tower block was emitting black smoke…..

    助けて！あそこで何が起こっているの？

    You feel very alone at moments like this. Are you the only person to have noticed this? All was quiet. Quick! call the fire brigade!…..but where is my mobile 🤳???? whilst frantically searching, the reliable, solid landline caught my eye ☎️.

    I was on to the fire department in seconds. The man at the other end didn’t ask me anything. He just said: “Weserstr. Wohnblock on fire, yes….is there anyone on the roof?….” (luckily not). Seconds later I heard the sirens. Phew 😮‍💨.

    That’s quite enough for one morning I thought. Ignoring everything else I pulled on a winter jacket and walked out into the freezing, but glorious sunshine.

    Winter has hit Europe. My Italian correspondent, Ciara, is driving to Rome to sing in a massed gathering for St. Cecilia’s day….

    ヨーロッパに冬が到来。イタリア特派員Mzは聖セシリア祭のためにローマへ向かう途中です。

    And whilst sunlight filters through the trees in Tochigi…Komorebi { 木漏れ日 }…….the next day in Hessen is far from bright….

    栃木とヘッセン!

    But wait. All is not lost. Blue skies are possible, and the pigeons in Darmstadt know where to enjoy it – under the gaze of Ludwig I, Grossherzog von Hessen und bei Rhein….

    鳩はどこに座るべきか知っています…ダルムシュタット

    When he came down from his pillar he looked like this…

    He was quite an open-minded fellow, and supported the arts. The opening up of Japan was a bit after his time, but I think he would have appreciated Japanese culture….

    フランクフルトの日本蚤の市でティーポットと本を売りました

    Even if it was only a Nomi no ichi – a flea market….

    https://japanisch-kulturzentrum.de/veranstaltungen/

    Yes, I’m back in my old haunt – the Japanese Cultural Centre in Frankfurt….🎏

    It’s a nice opportunityto chat.

    “Who did you fly with on your last trip to Japan?” 🛬 Finnair? Lufthansa? JAL?

    How many yen did you get for your Euros 💴( a lot!)

    “so on return you also find Frankfurt dirty and loud? 💩

    “so desu ne……🙄” ( *so it was, yes….)

    👉 Jack. Not a name you often hear these days. But when I was little the adults would talk about someone called Jack Frost. He seemed to be a rather spiky, mischievous character who came in the early hours of the morning and disappeared as soon as the sun rose…..

    イギリスでは「ジャックフロスト」(Jack Frost) が霜をもたらす……..🥶

    He’s still around….

    leaving a trail of spiky beauty……

    Anyone for frozen toadstool, accompanied perhaps by a crispy Chardonnay?…….

    What? You’re going hiking in this weather?

    こんな天気でハイキングに行くんですか？

    👉 I remembered the old adage……”There is no such thing a bad weather, there is only unsuitable clothing”

    And anyway, I have a nice warm winter jacket and a woolly hat……and I knew that the walk Yorgos had planned for Sunday would include a warm meal at the end.

    It’s wonderful 😊to be up in the Taunus hills, crunching through the frost but feeling warm inside…

    冬のジャケットとウールの帽子を着て暖かいです……😊

    The sheep looked quite comfortable…

    羊たちは暖かいですね！☺️

    “Guten Tag…”

    こんにちは!

    However, not a day for a dip in the pool ……

    私たちは泳ぎに行かなかった………..

    no, no….

    👉 In these hills you will always find a hut for walkers. There will be somewhere to sit down and the floor is dry…..

    ハイカー用の小屋

    But hang on….. this doesn’t look too friendly…..

    Photo > Phe ここは友好的な場所ではないようだ ………😯

    This is what physicists do on their days off. When they get tired of particle acceleration they go to see some tangible white particles – snow. To find them you have to go up to the Grosser Feldberg (the highest hill in the Taunus range)….I’m glad she didn’t get lost or eaten by a Grizzly bear…….🧸

    Photo> Phe

    👉 Well, that’s all from the Towers this week. As I write this my friends across the road have decided to dig another hole. They are good at that……..

    家の近くでまた穴を掘っています。穴掘りが本当に上手ですね🙄

    Thank you for reading, and feel free to forward on to anyone who might be interested.

    読んでくれてありがとう！。ご興味がある方にはお気軽に転送してください。

    See you またね 🥶

    nigelwruddock@gmail.com

    The End

    ⛄

    終わり

  • 🎹 “And that’s where the piano comes in” 「そこでピアノが登場するんです… 」

    November 18th 2025年11月18日

    As is typical for this season in Germany, the day starts with that drippy feeling….

    11月の朝に水が滴る..💧

    …..but the goods must be delivered…….

    列車は商品を運びます…..

    …and the buildings must be built (they start at 7am every day)……

    ….そしてビルダーは午前7時に開始します…!

    And the Gingko must make a blaze before the winter…..

    素敵なイチョウ

    This wild rose has not yet given up….

    このバラは11月でもまだ咲いています！

    A flash of defiant colour …..

    暖かい色

    Meanwhile, far away, in the warmth of a city hall in Kanagawa, 友子 san is playing in a community orchestra….

    神奈川で第一ヴァイオリンを演奏する智子さん

    Back in Langen. Here’s me waiting for the next customer……no time to tune up, just sit down and play an Irish 🍀 tune. Simply doing something that makes me feel good that’s all……………..

    🎧recommended….

    お客様を待っている間にアイルランドの曲を演奏しています 🍀 ヘッドフォン推奨 🎧

    I can’t find my kindle. Yes, it’s in my flat somewhere, and I’ve been looking in every nook and cranny for it. Ironically, instead of finding this state-of-the-art device, I stumble across a small catalogue picked up in a second-hand bookshop in Cardiff many years ago. It was printed in 1870, and lists the musical instruments in possesion of the “South Kensington Museum”, aka the V&A .

    Kindleを探しているのですが、皮肉なことに、このとても古いカタログを見つけました

    The loan record has one entry: the “S (?) of Art Cardiff. Date of issue: 21.2.71 (ie 1871). Date of Return :When recalled ( never….)

    1871年2月21日

    Amongst the copper plate engravings of instruments of Asia, I found this plate of a Koto…(the artist doesn’t seem to have seen many Japanese women in his lifetime!)

    このアーティストは日本人に会ったことがないと思います！

    …..and one of a Biwa “a kind of lute”…(bought, Paris Exhibition 1867). This must have been during the “japonismus” fashion that gripped Europe in the 19thc.

    Imagine my surprise then, when almost on the same day, Scott posts this picture on Instagram….

    He is accompanying a Biwa player on the organ!

    Enyo-san is giving a recital next Thursday, Nov. 20th, at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. In Chinese this instrument is called a pipa, apparently. Well if you’re in Tokyo just now…..

    One last curious note on this museum catalogue. The list of donors and lenders…….At the top we see His Highness The Viceroy of Egypt. Heavens, who was that? Well, as the British hadn’t taken over Egypt yet at that time (they did in 1882), this must be Is’mail Pasha of Egypt, Khedive (Viceroy) of Egypt and Sudan from 1863 to 1879.

    このコレクションのためにエジプト総督が楽器を寄贈しました。

    Known as Is’mail the magnificent, he led Egypt into such severe debt with his economic policies that he was forced to sell off his shares in the Suez canal (to the advantage of Britain of course, the canal being the life-line to India)…

    The other names would not be out of place in an Agatha Christie novel…..(!)

    I still haven’t found the kindle. But what also came to light was some early Japanese revision notes. On the subject of counting. Now counting in Japanese is not easy, as it depends on the shape of the object which you are counting. Thus apples and small compact objects have their own system – ” there are 2 apples” is : Ringo (apple) ga (particle) nikko (specifically 2 apples and not bottles of beer) arimasu (there are).

    日本語の数え方に関する復習ノートも見つけました!

    Many moons ago, when I first came to Germany as a violinmaker, a rather eager young journalist asked me that classic question “und was hat Sie hierher gezogen?” (what brought you to Germany?)

    “Kaffe und Kuchen” I replied. I am still at it, over 30 years later…..

    photo: Olexandra. フランクフルトのボッケンハイムでコーヒーとケーキ

    I am smiling here, but an hour beforehand I was furious. Furious at the Shirn Art Gallery. I had arranged to meet up with a friend there. On arrival at said Art gallery (Just near the cathedral) I was met by metres of high metal fencing. Only when I found the entrance to the Music school (who share the same premises) did I notice a rather pathetic A4 notice stuck to the door informing me that the Schirn had temporarily moved to the other side of Frankfurt at Bockenheim. Wow! Thank you Music School, but not the Schirn, who had left no sign as to their whereabouts. I checked the website. The first thing you see is this:

    As a mother-tongue genuine article Englishman, I took this headline at face value. (” so where is that then, please?”) But the dropped pin symbol and the co-ordinates where just there for decoration. Useless 😡. I later discovered that this was the name of an Exhibition, not a helpful signpost. I have since written a letter of complaint to the Museum Director. When I actually got to the new site the confusion just continued (there are two entrances). We eschewed the musuem café for a local one nearby ☕.

    The exhibition is all about Suzanne Duschamp, a rather neglected figure in the Dada movement. This arose at the beginning of the 20thc. as an anti-war, anti-art, anti-a lot of things movement. Here are just a few impressions….

    Dadaism was probably also anti-the-heavy-solidity of Jugendstil. I had walked past a classic example in Darmstadt the day before…The obelisk in memory of Princess Alice, who was, incidentally, British.

    The full inscription reads “Der Unvergesslichen Großherzogin von Hessen und bei Rhein / In Verehrung Liebe und Dankbarkeit / Gewidmet von Frauen und Jungfrauen Hessens / Errichtet im Jahre 1902.

    From the base of the monument you get a view of the Staatstheater Darmstadt, which was unkindly nicknamed the petrol station (or words to that effect in German) by those who work there. I like it, but it’s going to need a facelift soon…

    ダルムシュタット劇場は、意地悪くガソリンスタンドに例えられてきました…。

    Petrol station or not, it is the home of some fine opera and regular chamber music recitals. That’s why I was there. For Brahms’ string sextet 🎵 Sublime……It reminded me of how much I miss playing chamber music…..Thank you Sarah, 1st violin, for the invitation 🙏

    ブラームスの弦楽六重奏曲を聴きました。崇高な音楽です！

    So, before I leave you, I have to finish off my rant. In English it’s called letting off steam ……..

    Living in Germany, It is a regular source of irritation for me to see English being used just because people think it’s cool, eye-catching or whatever. you can’t avoid it……here are some common ones…..

    • Download (Downloaden or Herunterladen)
    • Event (Veranstaltung)
    • Team (Mannschaft)
    • Oh my God (Ach mein Gott)
    • Streaming (Strömen)
    • Highlight (Höhepunkt)
    • Sorry (Entschuldigen Sie bitte)
    • Online-deal (Geschäft übers Internet)
    • TV-Box (Fernseher Kasten)
    • Upgrade (nachrüsten)
    • Grumpy old man (haven’t seen this one yet 😄)

    Well, that’s it for this week.

    Thank you for reading, and feel free to forward on to anyone who might be interested.

    読んでくれてありがとう！。ご興味がある方にはお気軽に転送してください。

    See you またね 🙋‍♂️

    https://www.instagram.com/nigelruddock/

    nigelwruddock@gmail.com

    The End

    🍰

    終わり

    p.s. Stop press……this Saturday…..get your bargain…..The Japanese Fleamarket / Japanischer Flohmarkt (蚤の市) in Frankfurt

    👺 https://japanisch-kulturzentrum.de/2025/10/02/japanischer-flohmarkt-3/

  • 🚏 Buses and Basses 🎶バスとベース

    November 11th 2025年11月11日

    秋。ドイツ

    They rumble past my house every day. But I never use them. Buses. Why? because I have a bicycle and am only 7 mins. walk from the station.

    But suddenly I have to get somewhere with my ‘cello. I can’t fly…..🪽………

    チェロを持って飛行機に乗ることができないので、バスが必要です 😄

    ………and the car is in another town…….it’s too far to walk, and the bicycle is a no-go..

    So a bus it is – a novelty for me. In Japan I would be filming out of the window. So why not here? ………in Langen?

    バスはたった5分遅れただけだった…すごい！💨

    ….and it was only 5 mins late…..I noticed how much more sociable it is to travel by bus. It seems that if you are standing at a wind-swept bus stop then it is legit to talk to a stranger in the same predicament. The passengers are mostly young people, local workers (“we always take this bus…we work over there….”) and old age pensioners. Plus the occasional stressed mother with a pram and a bawling infant 🍼

    I was smoothly delivered to my destination without fuss and bother. Well, well.

    ランゲンでの快適なバスの旅

    Sometimes it is the bus stop which remains unchanged when you demolish one building and put up another its place. Just down the road from me there used to be a detached house with a garden. Then came the developers…….This seems to happen a lot where I live. In the following two photos note the bus stop…before and after…..(use the slider in the middle)

    2022-2025

    Isn’t it funny how rubber bands sort of fossilize and get hard….

    輪ゴムが劣化してしまいます…。

    …what you need is some nice strong ones…..

    丈夫な輪ゴムだ…素晴らしい…でも待てよ…なんだか少し海の匂いがするぞ？

    But there’s something fishy going on here. They are not very strong and are very salty…….hmmm…..I fear we have a case of squid here….

    ああ、なるほど………….

    yes, “smoked mellow squid….great as a snack too!…” not recommended for use with stationary. haha😄.

    I thought I knew most of the palaces in my area, but obviously none of my walks have taken me north of Koblenz. Here I spent two nights for our choir rehearsal weekend,

    エンダー城。ミュージカルアカデミー …….🤴

    yes, I am a bass…..🎵

    ……..singing Mendelssohn, Balfour-Gardiner (yes!), Rheinberger and others.

    Our rehearsal room in Schloss Engers looked directly out onto the river Rhine, meaning that ships cruised into view behind the conductor’s back!…..a rehearsal break…

    リハーサル休憩……….☕

    Grabbing a cup of coffee I was greeted by some strange little figures in the corridor…….

    廊下に小さな人たちがいる……

    ………sort of close-up baroque you could say……

    …the terrace on the Rhein…..

    ライン川

    ….complete with a little “feature”…..

    For future reference I took note of the great cycle path……

    たぶん夏には自転車でここに来るでしょう。……………………………🚴💨

    It was my father’s birthday last week. He passed away 3 years ago and deserves a picture in this blog…..he was the best father I could ever have hoped for.

    Reginald Treacy Ruddock 1923 – 2023

    Thank you

    先週は父の誕生日でした。父は3年前に亡くなりました。彼は素晴らしい父親でした。🙏 Cornwall, UK, 1971

    Well, here I end my blog this week.

    Thank you for reading, and feel free to forward on to anyone who might be interested.

    読んでくれてありがとう！。ご興味がある方にはお気軽に転送してください。

    See you またね 🎻

    https://www.instagram.com/nigelruddock/

    nigelwruddock@gmail.com

  • 💀 Día del los Muertos 死者の日

    3rd November 2025 年11月3日

    It’s ironic really. Here’s me, a violinmaker surrounded by instruments, and I can’t find a ‘cello which I really like……

    どのチェロを弾けばいいでしょうか

    It’s that lovely slow movement from Mendelssohn’s 1st piano trio which is bugging me. Surely the A string on this ‘cello could sound better 🎵 ?

    My eye turns to a ‘cello which I made in my Wiesbaden days. Gathering dust in the corner. Needs a new soundpost. Back then I fitted it with a Stahlhammer metal spike. I’m disillusioned with that now, but I can’t get it out.

    Oh come on! With a few bangs of a hammer 🔨 out it comes. At last. Now I fit in a new carbon spike, fit in a new soundpost, and, because I can’t think of anything else, give the instrument a Jargar A string. Now I would never normally use this string, but It just happened to be there..

    私は自分のチェロの一つから埃を拭き取る。

    Next I rehaired my favourite Richard Grünke bow 🏹

    Now I tune up.🎶 Where on earth did all these tuning forks come from? Must be an occupational hazard…..

    これらの音叉は一体どこから来たのだろうか？

    Sit down. Bow meets string. At once the ‘cello springs to life. Oh wow! 💥 This is fun. It is so responsive! But a bit brash. Needs breaking in, like a wild horse. Suddenly my slumbering passion for chamber music takes a quantum leap forward out of the darkness. Can’t wait to meet up with my Kammermusik colleagues……

    ともこさんはバイオリンのパートを練習しています。

    Then there’s all that ‘cello and piano music just waiting to be resurrected…………..

    チェロとピアノのための楽曲は本当にたくさんあります！

    Meanwhile, Outside my house the work is starting. The men arrive at the crack of dawn. They grasp take-away coffees bought from the bakery across the road. Maybe they glance up at the sky, but the crane has already made its first whirring sound so it is time to start.

    一方、作業は屋外で始まる。

    “harte Arbeit” says the foreman, when I later find him having a break sitting in his van by my entrance. “Eine Monat” he says…..“dann is fertig”. I think he means the basic shell of the building. I`ll believe it when I see it…….

    それは大変な仕事だ!

    I’ve never in my life known anyone from Mexico, but thanks to hiking that’s all changed. So it was that I found myself on the Día del los Muertos, the 1st November, at the Catrinas and Catrines parade in Frankfurt. Apparently on this day the spirits of the departed return, and you do your best to welcome them. And that means creating little altars for them, dressing up and putting on the music. A celebration in other words. Nothing morbid. Laura and her friend had even brought a Mexican dog with them…..

    メキシコ人の友人が「死者の日」のお祝いに招待してくれた。

    And then off the parade went, starting at the Festhalle and heading towards Bockenheim…….

    It seems nothing can dampen the Mexican spirit…even a wet German November……..

    残念ながら天気は悪かった…でも、メキシコ人を止めるものは何もない！

    Time for an orbital (!) shift to Japan, where my local correspondent has been enjoying some non-Japanese food in Yokohama. Yes, here you see some yummy steamed buns – Xiao Long Bao……..

    in one of Yokohama’s many yummy restaurants……

    私の東京特派員は横浜に行ったことがある。

    When there is mention of Yokohama I have to think of the NYK Hikawamaru…always waiting there each time I return…….

    I find this ship fascinating because of all it has been through….and what it’s passenger lists reveal. Under the militarism of the Showa era, in 1932, Charlie Chaplain used it on part of his world tour. Emperor Hirohito’s would-be assassin from Korea, Lee Bong-chang, used it a year later…then the founder of Judo, Kano Jigoro. Hundreds of Lithuanian Jews used it to flee the Nazis (via Vladivostock) in 1940-41.

    氷川丸

    As it was only one of two Japanese ships left at the end of WWII (when it was converted to a hospital ship), it was used as a cargo ship until the 1950s, when it was converted back to a cruise liner. It is now gracefully retired in a far corner of Yokohama’s Minato Mirai みなとみらい – “Port of the future”.

    Musicians of the future. I find that music students are never at a loss when it comes to imaginative new projects. Here I am in the fantastic new Wolfgang Rihm Saal at the Karlsruhe Musikhochschule.

    私は息子がオペラで歌うのを見に行った。

    The opera is called “Haus Wahnsinn” (House of Madness), and we are being swept seamlessly through a compilation of Gluck, Rossini, Wagner and Rihm, exposing currents of power, authoritarianism, dreams of freedom, conflicts of generation….. Heady stuff.

    ジョシュア・ラドック…赤いスーツを着ています！

    Family interest has brought me here of course. But wow, budding opera singers, the lot of them…..

    ……and supported by a really good orchestra (with an orchestral pit the envy of many an opera house!). Lots of juicy ‘cello lines in the Wagner “Tannhäuser” excerpts naturally…..

    Curtain call at the Première……….here is some background to the whole project….https://riwa26.de/dokumentation/timeline/

    カーテンコール。なんて素晴らしい夜だったのでしょう。

    Well, that’s all for now.

    Thank you for reading, and feel free to forward on to anyone who might be interested.

    読んでくれてありがとう！。ご興味がある方にはお気軽に転送してください。

    See you またね 🎻

    nigelwruddock@gmail.com

    The End

    ♦️

    終わり