So the big culture news is that 3 square millimeters of a wall painting inside the probably-Asuka-period Takamatsuzaka kofun (高松塚古墳) has been irreparably damaged.

According to the agency [of Cultural Affairs], the pigment of the mural, titled, "Toheki Joshi Gunzo," [東壁女子群像] — better known as "Asuka Bijin" [飛鳥美人] (Asuka beauties) — was damaged apparently by a machine during an analysis on the mural's pigment on Nov. 25. The damaged part measured about 3 millimeters in length and 1 millimeter in width.

"I believe in Japan. Japan has made my fortune. And I preserved this mural in the Japanese way. I gave archaeologists freedom to examine her, but—I told them never to dishonor her. They analysed her pigment, stayed up late. I didn't protest. Two weeks later, they used a machine, scraped her like an animal. Her paint was damaged, one millimeter by three. She couldn't weep, because, well, she is a painting. But I wept. She was the light of my life—an Asuka beauty. Now she will never be beautiful again.

"I—I went to my supervisor, like a good bureaucrat. The archaeologists were given a stern warning. A warning! That's when I said to my colleague, 'For justice, we must go to Don Buracocco.'"

"Yoshiya, Yoshiya... What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? Why didn't you come to me first? No, I understand. You found paradise in Nara prefecture, had a good trade, made a good living. The agency protected you, and there was paperwork. You didn't need a friend like me.

"But now you come to me and say, 'Don Buracocco, give me justice.' You don't ask with respect. You don't even think to call me Sempai..."

In other news, open (Japanese) book thread at Néojaponisme!

Updated! Thanks, Oidon. I have however left the Mainichi to stew in their suboptimal orthography.