That was 20 years ago. I remember it clearly now, because it was one of the most profound impressions in my life. One summer I was travelling on the north-west coast of Scotland, at a place called Ayotia, to visit the cottage of the peasant poet Burns. That part of the landscape like the inland sea of Japan more twists and turns. The bay juts out into the mountains into numerous lakes with green water and green hills. The lake and the mountains were always quiet and desolate, and it was not e...