＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<Added on 2020/11/28> The protagonist of “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”, Tanjiro Kamado, also fights demons with “Total Concentration Breathing”
Tanjiro Kamado, the protagonist of the currently hugely popular anime “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,” has a “superhuman sense of smell” and uses his advanced swordsmanship with “Total Concentration Breathing” to fight demons.
Tanjiro, who is aiming to join the Demon Slayer Corps, is taught by Makomo, a former student of his master, Urokodaki Sakonji, that humans can become as strong as demons by using the “Total Concentration Breathing” technique.
Breathing techniques are emphasized in Tai Chi, yoga, martial arts, and sports. By focusing on breathing slowly, the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system in the autonomic nervous system increases, improving blood flow.
When blood flow improves, intestinal activity and immune function are also activated, leading to a longer life. Makomo’s teachings to Tanjiro Kamado are truly sensible.
1. Kaoru Yumi, who still looks vibrant and youthful, practices the “Nishino-ryu breathing method”
Kaoru Yumi, who was popular for her role as “Kagerou Ogin” in the popular TV historical drama “Mito Komon,” is one year younger than us baby boomers, so she is 68 years old this year. She appeared on TV the other day, and I was surprised to see how lively and youthful she still is.
She said that the secret to her youthfulness is that she has always practiced the “Nishino style breathing method” that she learned from the “Nishino Ballet Company” that she studied with since she was a child.
She now runs her own dojo and teaches breathing techniques to middle-aged and elderly people. She also holds a fourth-degree black belt in Aikido.
2. Folk singer Akiko Kanazawa uses the “long, thin exhalation technique”
When Akiko Kanazawa, a folk song singer, made her debut, she was trained by her father, an amateur folk song singer, to “sing without putting out a candle.”
This was to enable her to sing folk songs with long, powerful rhythms by continuously exhaling a very small, thin breath. I remember hearing this in a TV commercial some time ago.
One way to calm yourself down when you are angry or excited is to take a short breath in and a long, slow exhale several times.
I always use this method to calm myself down before taking my blood pressure. If you find that your blood pressure is higher than normal the first time you measure it, try this method and it will definitely lower your blood pressure. This means that this breathing technique is effective in lowering your blood pressure.
3. Ninjas use breathing techniques to hide the presence of others
When it comes to “ninja,” many people may recall the storyteller “Sarutobi Sasuke” or Fujiko Fujio A’s (1934-2022) “Ninja Hattori-kun.” However, there seem to have been many ninjas, also known as “shinobi,” who engaged in unglamorous espionage activities, from the Sengoku period through to the Edo period.
These include Hattori Hanzo, the Koga clan, and the Iga clan. There are also female ninjas who appear in Chushingura, who infiltrated as maids or servants and conducted espionage activities. “Kunoichi「くノ一（くのいち）」” is a slang word derived from the kanji for “woman「女」.”
The “ninja” breathing technique is a breathing technique that “disappears the presence of people”, and was once demonstrated on television by a descendant of a ninja. In essence, it was “breathing that doesn’t make you feel the breathing of others”, meaning taking long, quiet breaths that make it impossible to tell if there are people around.
I think the technique is probably similar to the breathing techniques used by Kaoru Yumi and folk singer Akiko Kanazawa .
4. Yoga has 440 different breathing techniques
The breathing techniques of “yoga,” which originated in India and has a 5,000-year history, are also interesting. In yoga, it is said that humans obtain “life force” (energy) by ingesting the life element (prana) of the universe from air, light, earth, water, food, etc.
Among them, the “breathing method” of “air” is the most important, and there are apparently as many as 440 different breathing methods. Sitting naturally, “meditating,” and “breathing” deeply and quietly is something that is similar to “Zazen.”
Many people are familiar with the term “hyperventilation syndrome.” This is a condition in which the number of breaths increases abnormally unconsciously when you feel mental anxiety or tension.
There was a female Olympic swimmer who fell into this condition. Even when I watched it on TV, it was painful to watch. I think she was under such extreme mental pressure that she was about to be crushed.
5. My breathing technique
Every day, before I go to bed and go to sleep, I do the breathing exercise described above (take a short breath in and a long, thin breath out) several times. This helps me fall into a deep sleep quickly.Please give it a try.
Finally, I am impressed by the well-expressed statement by Ryosuke Miki, author of the book “Long Breath to Live to 120 Years Old.”
Former Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara is also said to have received instruction in long breath from Ryosuke Miki.