marshland, olden, barren, unadventurous.A C.I.A. Black Site Is a Touchy Subject for Lithuania.European court rulings said that the country, a U.S. ally, had housed a covert C.I.A. prison. But the issue has been shrouded in official secrecy.

A C.I.A. Black Site Is a Touchy Subject for Lithuania

European court rulings said that the country, a U.S. ally, had housed a covert C.I.A. prison. But the issue has been shrouded in official secrecy.

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Cultural Developments
The land was not proving to be culturally barren or intellectually unadventurous at this time.

unadventurous

The adjective has one meaning:

Meaning #1: lacking in boldness
Antonym: adventurous (meaning #1)


barren Show phonetics
adjective
1 unable to produce plants or fruit:
We drove through a barren, rocky landscape.
Compare fertile (LAND).

2 LITERARY unable to have babies
Compare fertile (REPRODUCTION).

3 not productive:
She became very depressed during the barren years when she was unable to paint.
Compare fertile (IMAGINATIVE).

Geese's exodus a reminder of our inhospitality

12/03/2007

During the recent cold spell, I visited the Izunuma-Uchinuma marshland in Miyagi Prefecture, where migratory birds are known to winter every year. Snow swirled down from the low-hung clouds, shrouding the barren fields and forests in white. The marsh waters rippled in icy winds. According to the locals, winter has arrived early this year.

Swans are graceful. But magan, or white-fronted geese, evoke a special sentiment when they fly in a line. These geese are also called kari or karigane in old Japanese. At the beginning of November, there were already more than 60,000 of them at the Izunuma-Uchinuma marshland. Over 80 percent of the birds that come from as far away as the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East rest their wings here and await the arrival of spring.

The haiku poet Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), whose works were often characterized by his compassion for the vulnerable, had these warm words of welcome for the noble visitors: "From today/ You are Japanese geese/ Sleep comfortably." I am sure this is a sentiment we in the 21st century can also relate to.

However, the reality seems to be that the places where those migratory birds can "sleep comfortably" are diminishing steadily.

In the past, the birds could be found wintering in various regions of Japan, including Kanto. But the destruction of nature from urban development has resulted in the concentration of the migratory bird population around the Izunuma marshland.

"This population concentration here is not really desirable," noted Tetsuo Shimada, 38, who started observing the birds 13 years ago.

When Shimada started, there were only 20,000 to 30,000 visitors--less than half their numbers today. The sight of the birds taking flight all at once at dawn is quite impressive, but such positive feelings are marred by the realization that all these birds are here because their other traditional winter habitats are no longer environmentally suitable.

From the olden days, Japanese thought of geese in autumn skies as bearers of messages from their loved ones and dear old friends living far away. From this derived the old Japanese word gansho, which means a letter. Gansho is written with the Chinese characters for "goose" and "writing."

It would be inhospitable of us to neglect to offer comfortable winter accommodation to these annual messengers.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 25(IHT/Asahi: December 3,2007)

olden Show phonetics
adjective [before noun] OLD USE OR LITERARY
from a long time ago:
We didn't have things like televisions and computers in the olden days.
In olden times, people rarely travelled.

marsh・land

湿地帯.

noun [C or U]
an area of marsh ( ━━ n. 沼沢; 低湿地.)