"committed all judgment unto the Son" - Money, People vs. God

A Corner of Tokyo...

 Money, People vs. God 

PART I: Democracy & Market Economy

The society consists of rich citizens and poor citizens.

They live under democracy and in the market economy like in Greece.  The issue can be simplified as a battle between the rich and the poor over how democracy and the market economy should be balanced.

With expansion of democracy, welfare of the poor grows to a point of saturation.  With deployment of the market economy, the poor gets more benefits, but they see a decline of their welfare after passing a certain level of diffusion of the market economy.

So, it is important that any authority make the rich accept the levels of democracy and the market economy that are best suited for maximization of poor men's benefits but allow the rich to enjoy a very moderate level of their wealth.


PART II: Wall Street vs. Democracy

When Christianity stopped growing in and Judaism came to fully adapt itself in the US society, Wall Street came to become a holy land of a new American religion of the rule of money.

MONDAY, APR 2, 2012 06:00 AM +0900
How billionaires destroy democracy
Wealthy Wall Streeters have rigged the economy and the government against the people. Here's how they did it
BY LINDA MCQUAIG AND NEIL BROOKS
...
The business elite is and always has been the most powerful force in U.S. politics, by virtue of its dominant role in the economy. But what is striking — and perhaps inspiring to revisit — is the extent to which the power of business was somewhat curtailed in the 1930–1970 period, and the extent to which this allowed policies favoring other members of society to flourish....

Powell laid out a comprehensive plan that bears an uncanny resemblance to what actually happened. He argued that business largely owned, funded, or had influence over the key media, religious, and academic institutions in society, and should use its leverage to counter what he perceived as the liberal, anti-business bias of these institutions. He advocated explicit business intervention in the political sphere, where he said the American businessman had become “truly the forgotten man.”...

Mark Hanna may well have identified a crude truth about American politics when he said “There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money and I can’t remember what the second is.” Perhaps the second thing, which the Republican strategist so casually forgot, is that it matters how widely money is distributed. We therefore offer up a corollary to Hanna’s rule: When money is distributed more equally in society, ordinary citizens speak with louder voices, making meaningful democracy possible.

http://www.salon.com/2012/04/01/how_billionaires_destroy_democracy/


PART III: Wall Street vs. God

If Democracy cannot suppress Wall Street-type of spirits, mankind has to resort to teaching of God.

But there are many biased guys who think they are followers of teaching of the God, while they do not look blessed at all by the God.

Religious Right Groups Ask God To Thwart Occupy Wall Street
Submitted by Brian Tashman on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 5:30pm 

While Religious Right leaders lauded tea party groups for taking to the streets, now they are asking for the government, and God, to crush the Occupy Wall Street movement. 

Earlier this week, the Family Research Council asked members to pray against "these raucus [sic] groups" and "ideological anarchists," asking for God to "harvest souls for Christ among them":

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/religious-right-groups-ask-god-thwart-occupy-wall-street




(to be continued...)



*** *** *** ***




Joh 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

"Thou shalt not kill" - An Old Folk Lore of Mt. Fuji

Tokyo Railways...

An Old Folk Lore of Mt. Fuji

There is an old folk tale in Japan concerning Mt. Fuji, the holiest, greatest, and highest mountain of Japan.

Mt. Fuji is situated facing Suruga Bay open to the Pacific Ocean.  On the left hand-side of the Bay, observed from the shore, is the Izu Peninsula.  And there was one mountain at the southern tip of the Peninsula called Mt. Mitake.  But it was forbidden to talk about Mt. Fuji when people climbed Mt. Mitake.  No one in Mt. Mitake talked about Mt. Fuji. It was because Mt. Mitake did not look so fine as Mt. Fuji.  Its shape was not so impressive as Mt. Fuji.  So, the spirit of Mt. Mitake envied Mt. Fuji.  Accordingly nobody talked about Mt. Fuji when climbing the mountain, since the female spirit of Mt. Fuji was a younger sister of the spirit of Mt. Mitake.

Further, the female spirit of Mt. Fuji had a younger sister in  a small mountain called Mt. Shimoda-Fuji in a town called Shimoda located  on the east shore at the southern part of the Izu Peninsula.  From Shimoda, Mt. Fuji was over the Peninsula and over Suruga Bay in the northwest.  But Mt. Shimoda-Fuji looked better than Mt. Fuji.  So, the spirit of Mt. Fuji did not like to see Mt. Shimoda-Fuji.  Accordingly, there placed was a tall mountain in the middle of the Izu Peninsula, so that Mt. Shimoda-Fuji could not be spotted from Mt. Fuji.

In this way, nobody mentioned much about Mt. Fuji in the southern part of the Izu Peninsula, since Mt. Fuji was envied by Mt. Mitake while envying Mt. Shimoda-Fuji due to their appearance. 

Then how does the Bible handle beauty or envy of women?

Beautiful Women of the Bible 

Sarah, as seen through Abraham's eyes, was “…a fair woman to look upon” (Genesis 12:11); Rebekah was described as “…very fair to look upon…” (Genesis 24:16); and Bathsheba, desired by King David, was said to be “…very beautiful to look upon” (2 Samuel 11:2). The ancient Hebrews apparently placed higher value on a woman's virtuous character and fertility than on physical beauty, but that's not to say that they didn't “look upon” a woman's beauty with an appreciative eye.
http://www.netplaces.com/women-of-the-bible/beautiful-women-of-the-bible/ 

But among women there must have been some tensions among themselves even they were following Christ all together.

Female followers

The Bible doesn't specify just how many women traveled with Jesus and his male disciples, but Luke records the names of a prominent few, and mentions there were "many others."

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household: Susanna: and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. (Luke 8:1-3)

Think about these remarkable words. Here were women not only associating with Jesus Christ and his male disciples, but traveling along with them. Also, notice that at least some of these women—possibly widows—had control of their own finances. It was out of their generosity that Jesus and his disciples were at least partially supported.

http://www.gci.org/jesus/women

So, Christ Jesus must have been very cautious in dealing with those women who followed Him travelling around ancient Israel.

Mark 7:20-23

And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

Christianity wasn't born on an "altar", but at a "table", where all participated.
The problem isn't women, but the Church.

http://iglesiadescalza.blogspot.jp/2011/07/womens-participation-in-church-demands.html

Yet, women all ran away from a tomb where Christ (in His temporary death) had been laid down and vanished.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

For this reason, as Christ Jesus had known that the women would run away, I suppose, He did not appoint beforehand any woman to a responsible position in the band of His followers.

But in fear and awe, no beauty of a woman counts, neither envy among women is induced.



(to be continued...)



*** *** *** ***




Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

"till all be fulfilled" - Zen Teacher Hakuin

Looking at Tokyo

Zen Teacher Hakuin

One of the most prestigious Zen monks of Japan is Hakuin who lived in the samurai era.

Hakuin Ekaku (1686 - 1768) was one of the most influential figures in Japanese Zen Buddhism. He revived the Rinzai school from a moribund period of stagnation, refocusing it on its traditionally rigorous training methods integrating meditation and koan practice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakuin_Ekaku

He was also unique as he draw many interesting ink paintings.

http://www.city.nakatsugawa.gifu.jp/wiki/%E6%9C%A8%E9%A1%8D%E3%83%BB%E7%99%BD%E9%9A%A0%E7%A6%85%E5%B8%AB%E6%9B%B8

http://samurai-ot-blog.blogspot.jp/2011/09/blog-post.html

One day a samurai came to see Hakuin as he wanted to know how wise famous Hakuin was.  So the samurai asked, "What and where are the paradise and the hell, Sir?"

Hakuin shouted at him, "Aren't you a samurai? Why should a samurai mind the paradise and the hell?  Be a samurai and behave like a samurai.  If you cannot, you are not a real samurai."  Hakuin continued to rail against the samurai without taking it easy on him.

So, the samurai got angry as he realized that Hakuin was having him in derision.  He drew a sword to really cut down the Buddhist priest reviling him so harshly like a demon full of malice.  But, at the moment, Hakuin shouted at him, "It is the hell!"  The samurai stopped his movement.  He saw Hakuin who looked august and grave.  Then the samurai hid the sword and prostrated himself before old priest Hakuin.  And, at the moment, Hakuin said, "It is the paradise!"

Then Hakuin broke into a big smile so majestically. 

*** *** *** ***



Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

"not that I am come to destroy the law" - Islam & Anglo Saxon Christianity

Around the Tokyo Station...

Islam & Anglo Saxon Christianity

It was when Christianity started to diffuse among Anglo Saxon tribes that Islam emerged in the Arabian Peninsula.  Both the incidents occurred around 600.

It was Pope Gregory I that promoted Christianity in Anglo Saxon and Germanic people.  　

Pope Gregory I (540 – 604), better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death. Gregory is well known for his writings, which were more prolific than those of any of his predecessors as pope.

Throughout the Middle Ages he was known as "the Father of Christian Worship" because of his exceptional efforts in revising the Roman worship of his day.

He is also known as St. Gregory the Dialogist in Eastern Orthodoxy because of his Dialogues. For this reason, English translations of Orthodox texts will sometimes list him as "Gregory Dialogus". He was the first of the popes to come from a monastic background...

Gregory is credited with re-energizing the Church's missionary work among the non-Christian peoples of northern Europe. He is most famous for sending a mission, often called the Gregorian mission, under Augustine of Canterbury, prior of Saint Andrew's, where he had perhaps succeeded Gregory, to evangelize the pagan Anglo-Saxons of England. The mission was successful, and it was from England that missionaries later set out for the Netherlands and Germany. The preaching of the Catholic faith and the elimination of all deviations from it was a key element in Gregory's worldview, and it constituted one of the major continuing policies of his pontificate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_I#Controversy_with_Eutychius

 The  founder of Islam was not a stranger to Christiainity:

Pre-Islamic
At the age of nine, Muhammad went to Syria with his uncle and had interactions with Christians. One important contact was with the Nestorian monk Bahira in Bosra, modern Syria who foretold to the adolescent Muhammad his future prophetic career.
Waraqah ibn Nawfal was a Nestorian monk,[2] Mecca's priest or preacher according to some sources. 

Meccan period
Waraqah is said to have believed in Muhammad as a prophet, but died as a Christian. After the early Sahaba ("Companions") faced intense persecution, Muhammad sent 90 of his followers to Abyssinia. There the Muslims were received by the Christian king Aṣḥama ibn Abjar. 

Medinian period
In 630 AD Muhammad received a Christian delegation from Najran in Medina. Debate with Christians ensued some days. Finally the Christians asked Muhammad for peace and he accepted. Muhammad extended the hand of friendship towards them, a treaty was signed and both parties left on friendly terms. 

Another Christian delegation this time from Iraq by Jesujab II was heading to Medina but Muhammad died before it arrived.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_and_Christianity

In other word, Muslims of today and (Anglo Saxon) Americans of today have almost the same traditions in their religion concerning the length of period of time.

But did God and Allah plan to have Muslims and Americans to confront with each other in the early 21st century?  Then Why?

*** *** *** ***




Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

"him that was possessed with the devil" - Laozi

Tokyo Streets...

Laozi

The most senior ancient philosopher of ancient China is Laozi as he legendarily taught Confucius.

Laozi was a philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching (often simply referred to as Laozi). His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of philosophical Taoism (pronounced as "Daoism")....  

The earliest reliable reference (circa 100 BCE) to Laozi is found in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) by Chinese historian Sima Qian (ca. 145–86 BCE), which combines a number of stories.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laozi

Laozi taught in the following way:

"If a way can be explained why it is the way of man, it cannot be a way."

"Those who have mastered the way of man would guide people without saying anything and doing anything."

"If a political leader does not appoint a clever or smart man to a higher position, people would not be driven by ambition to fight among themselves."

"You have to hide your talent and merit, if any, and behave like ordinary people."

"To live an ideal life, live like water."

"If you have distinguished yourself, you have to retire, which is a right way."

"If you create something, you should not possess it.  If you foster something, you should not control it.  This is an act of profound and exquisite virtue."

It is often pointed to that teaching of Laozi is close to Zen, a school of Buddhism which was originated in China of the 6th century.  Zen was imported to Japan around the 12th century and the Japanese version of Zen was established and flourished in a sense.

Some teachings of Zen are as follows:

"There is the only one moon in the sky, but its reflections can be found everywhere on the surface of water.  The teaching of the Buddha has prevailed in this way."

"Without mire, no beautiful flowers grow."

"Seated mediation is not a way to become the Buddha.  One himself is the Buddha originally and essentially.  Find the Buddha in yourself."

"Do not judge and assess a man.  But see directly his mind.  The mind is a mirror."

"Being of a man is of a temporary nature.  It will disappear someday."

"If you want to understand the essence of Zen, you have to wash and clean a bowl
 after you eat a meal with it."

"It is neither that a flag is moving nor that the wind is moving, but your mind is moving."

http://www.geocities.jp/micron_heads_vc/ryoko/saitama2.html
A Zen temple around Tokyo...




(to be continued...)


*** *** *** ***




Mar 5:15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
Mar 5:16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.
Mar 5:17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
Mar 5:18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.
Mar 5:19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.

"the shadow of Peter passing by might" - Japan during Great Depression

 In Tokyo Metropolitan Area

Japan during Great Depression

The Great Depression that started in 1929 in the US, of curse, affected the Empire of Japan.  But how?

1930: Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi was shot at by a terrorist in the Tokyo Station.

1931: The Manchurian Incident occurred, where Japanese military units and Chinese army troops exchanged fire, leading to establishment of the Empire of Manchuria (Manchukuo) as a satellite nation of the Empire of Japan.

1932: Former Minister of Finance Jun-no-suke Inoue was shot to death by a terrorist.  Ikuma Dan, the top of the Mistsui conglomerate, was shot to death by a terrorist.

Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai was shot to death by Imperial Naval officers associated with nationalistic terrorists (the May 15 Incident).

1933: The Empire of Japan withdrew from the League of Nations.

1936: A coup was attempted by 1,483 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army led by young officers who tried to forcibly replace top political and economic leaders of the Empire so as to solve political corruption and extreme poverty in rural areas.  They were soon suppressed partly due to anger of the emperor.  They killed Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan Makoto Saito, Minister of Finance Korekiyo Takahashi, and Inspectorate General of Military Training Jyotaro Watanabe. The insurgents wounded Prime Minister Keisuke Okada and Grand Chamberlain of Japan Kantaro Suzuki. (The February 26 Incident)

1937: The Second Sino-Japanese War started in a border area between the Republic of China and Manchukuo and also around Shanghai.

1940: The Tripartite Pact was concluded between Germany, Italy, and the Empire of Japan.

1941: The US froze assets the Empire of Japan held in the US and imposed trade embargo on export of crude oil and iron to the Empire, requesting withdrawal of Imperial troops from China.  Accordingly, the Imperial Navy attacked the US military bases in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (the Attack on Pearl Harbor). The Empire declared a state of war against the US, the UK, etc.

http://heirinzi.blogspot.jp/2011/02/blog-post_6768.html
The February 26 Incident in Tokyo of Snow in 1937

http://nevertolate860.blog129.fc2.com/blog-entry-1.html
The February 26 Incident in Tokyo of Snow in 1937

http://www.wisdom96.com/setsugen/shiryou/etc/CALENDAR/FEB/0226.HTML
The February 26 Incident in Tokyo of Snow in 1937

After the Great Depression started to influence the Empire of Japan, the Imperial Government tried cost reduction against military expenditures.  It meant losing a chance of promotion and  a shrinkage of the scope of their activities for young military officers.  They did not trust the Cabinet formed by civilian politicians elected through a democratic system which was growing in the Japanese society.  And they took note of importance and possibility of Manchuria for their future and expansion.  In Manchuria they could control the Manchurian Government and take major part in its defense.  But the Republic of China, as a successor of  the Qing Dynasty, wanted to take back Manchuria under its sovereignty.  So, the Imperial military had to fight against Chinese troops, if challenged by China, so as to keep Manchukuo under its control no matter how difficult to completely conquer and govern whole China.  And then, Chinese military decisively launched  an attack on Shanghai, an international city that belonged to Western powers and the Empire of Japan rather than to the Republic of China.  So, the Imperial military destroyed the Chinese troops around Shanghai and advanced to Nanjing, the then capital of China.  This movement alarmed the US.  China got support from the US.  The US froze Japanese assets in the US and stopped export of crude oil to the Empire.  And finally, this accidental and inevitable sequence of the incidents led eventually to the Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.  Of course, as the US wanted to join the UK to fight Nazi Germany at the time, it did not hesitate to start war against the Empire of Japan and Nazi Germany which were in alliance.

*** *** *** ***





Act 5:15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.

"all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years" - Early Sony

Trains Running around Tokyo

Early Sony

There was a small company in Tokyo immediately after WWII.

But it had some remarkable members in its board of directors, stakeholders, and executive advisers.  For example, they included an ex-minister of education, the former Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency, and an ex-chairman of the largest bank of Japan at the time.

The company is now called Sony.  But why could Sony, when it had only 10 or so engineers after WWII, get support from those  persons of great renown?

Sony was first launched by Masaru Ibuka (1908 - 1997) in 1946.  Ibuka was an inventor who got a great prize in an exposition held in Paris in 1930s with an invention he had devised when he was a student of Waseda University.  He had already launched his own company before WWII.  In business with the Imperial Navy of Japan, he came to know Akio Morita (1921 - 1999), a then engineering officer and a future co-founder of Sony.  After WWII, Ibuka started a new company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Industry) with several members.  As this company drew some attention from a newspaper, its activities were reported in the public.  Then, Morita, who was then living in his hometown far from Tokyo after leaving the Navy, read the newspaper to know his old and senior friend Ibuka was doing something interesting in Tokyo.  Morita soon joined Ibuka.     

This is a well-known story of the start of business leading to the foundation of Sony, the name officially adopted in 1958 for Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo.

But why could Sony, when it had only several engineers after WWII, get support from such  persons of great renown as the former Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency whose duty involved daily and direct communications with the emperor?

The mother of Ibuka had a friend since her university days who married a novelist.  As Ibuka lost his father when he was three years old, he in his childhood often went to the house of this novelist called Nomura to spend time.  As Nomura became successful, Ibuka continued to maintain this  association even after he graduated from the university.  And this Novelist had a country villa in Karuizawa, a popular resort area for rich citizens of Tokyo.  And at the next of Nomura's villa was a summer house of  a leader writer of The Asahi Shimbun newspaper named Maeda.  As Tamon Maeda had a daughter, young Ibuka was introduced to her to marry eventually in 1936.

Ibuka's father-in-law Maeda became the minister of education of the Japanese Government in 1945 after WWII.  But Maeda was later expelled from a public position by the General Headquarters led by General MacArthur, the supreme commander of the allied forces, due to his political standpoint during WWII.  Accordingly, Maeda decided to become president of Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo his son-in-law Ibuka established.

However, ex-minister of education Maeda had no experiences in business, so that he consulted his friend Michiji Tajima, a former banker who had once worked for the Bank of Japan and was to serve the emperor as the Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency from 1948 to 1953.  Tajima introduced to Maeda an ex-chairman of the largest bank of Japan at the time named Junshiro Mandai.  Further through social connections of Mandai, various influential people in Japan such as former prime minister of Japan Tanzan Ishibashi and future chairman of the Federation of Economic Organizations Taizo Ishisaka joined Sony as an executive or a stakeholder.

Therefore, before Sony became a big name in the industry in Japan as well as in the US, the emerging electronic maker had improbable leaders inside it who were notable members of the Japanese society.  So, it is natural that when executives and managers of Sony started to play an active role in the global market, they never felt timid.  Sony's executive officers were from the beginning so close to the upper society of Japan.  When Sony succeeded, even imperial family members came to look on the company office.  It is said that Emperor Showa knew Sony as a company his former Grand Steward Tajima led, since Tajima became chairman of the board of Sony actually. 

One of episodes that characterized these elite leaders of Sony is that the then chairman of Sony Michiji Tajima, when he was the Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency serving the emperor in the Imperial Palace, often used his own money but not public money for dinners and so on with politicians  and people concerned with the imperial house so as to save costs of the Agency and avoid accusation from the public against the imperial house account.  Indeed early Sony was supported by some Japanese elites who had traditional Japanese virtue.

1946
May
Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation), also known as Totsuko, established in Nihonbashi, Tokyo with start-up capital of 190,000 yen for the research and manufacture of telecommunications and measuring equipment. 

1947
Feb
Company head office and factory relocated to Shinagawa, Tokyo.
Oct
Successful commercialization and sales launch of Sony's “power megaphone.” 

1949
Sep
Completion of first magnetic tape recorder prototype. 

1950
Mar
Japan's first magnetite-coated, paper-based recording tape, “Soni-Tape,” launched.
May
Japan's first magnetic tape recorder, the G-Type, order launched. 

1954
May
Sendai plant established in Tagajo, near Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. (in April 1992 it was renamed Sendai Technology Center.)
Jul
Announcement of Japan's first PNP alloy-type transistor and germanium diode. 

1955
Feb
Decision made to use SONY logo on Totsuko products.
Aug
Totsuko listed on the OTC (over-the-counter) market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).
Sep
Japan's first transistor radio, the TR-55, launched. 

1958
Jan
Company name changed to Sony Corporation.
Dec
Sony listed on the TSE. 

1959
Jun
Formal announcement of research results leading to the negative-resistance “Esaki Diode” prototype. 

1960
Feb
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM) established in the United States.
May
World's first direct-view portable TV, the TV8-301, launched.

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/history.html

http://www.sony.co.jp/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/capsule/22/index.html
Sony America about 1960

(to be continued...)

*** *** *** ***




Gen 5:12 And Cainan lived seventy years and begat Mahalaleel:
Gen 5:13 And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

"for great is your reward in heaven" - Emperor Nintoku

A Tokyo Railroad

Emperor Nintoku

The three greatest tombs in the world are: the pyramid of Khufu in Egypt, the Mausoleum of First Emperor of Qin, China, and Emperor Nintoku's tomb in Japan.

Emperor Nintoku's tomb in Japan has a total length of 486 meters (1500 feet) and a height of 35 meters (110 feet).  The longest width is about 300 meters.  The total outer circumference outside the moat is about 2,718 meters (1.7 miles).

http://www.city.sakai.lg.jp/hakubutu/ninhya.html

http://www.geocities.jp/bane2161/nintokutennou.html

However there are no written records about how and when it was built in an area presently called Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture.  It is estimated that this emperor's tomb was constructed from the early to the middle 5th century.

Originally it must have looked as below, though depicted in the present environment:

http://pub.ne.jp/seagate/?entry_id=486944

But who was Emperor Nintoku?

Emperor Nintoku (257? - 399?) was the 16th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. 

No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 313–399.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Nintoku

Emperor Nintoku, one day, watched the capital from an upper floor of his palace.  But he could not see many smokes rising from kitchen furnaces of people's households.  People did not look like cooking  gorgeously at all.  Weather condition did not look favorable, either.   So, the emperor thought, "As we have launched military campaigns in many times to the Korean Peninsula, people must be exhausted.  Since the economic situation around the palace is so bad, how terrible it is far from the capital."

So, Emperor Nintoku decided to stop imposing tax and compulsory labor for three years.  The emperor also ordered to make rituals and other activities in the imperial court simple and economical.  And finally a climate was improved and agriculture production returned to a previous high level.  People came to have reasonable lives and their morale got strengthened.

Accordingly, Emperor Nintoku said, "Now people have become affluent again." But his empress said, "Who is affluent?.  Look at our palace and our clothing, all worn out and in rags." Nintoku defended, saying, "If people have become rich, we will be also rich naturally."  Yet, Emperor Nintoku decided to found a special agency to take care of living of his son and another agency to take care of living of the empress.

In September of the year, his subjects reported to the emperor that local countries fully recovered from the attrition.  Officials wanted to collect tax again.  But, Emperor Nintoku stopped application of taxation.

Further three years passed.  Then as winter came, Emperor Nintoku decided to revamp his palace.  But before the emperor issued an order, people came to work spontaneously to the palace.  The imperial palace was in this way restored to have splendor again.  So, people started to call Ninton the holy emperor.

This is a story about Emperor Nintoku recorded in the oldest imperial history/myth book called the Chronicles of Japan.

http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~chusan55/mukashi3/37mukashi.htm

*** *** *** ***



Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you" - Unit 731 in Manchuria

View from a Tokyo New Transportation System

Unit 731 in Manchuria

After WWII there was a medical doctor in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, who was so kind that he did not even request consultation fees to his neighbors.  The doctor especially took care of children nearby.

Shiro Ishii was a controversial man as he led a special unit of the Imperial Army in Manchuria to study biological warfare.  Accordingly, ex-medical lieutenant general Ishii could have been executed by the occupation forces which set the Far East Military Tribunal in Tokyo to judge Japanese war criminals after WWII.  Ishii during the war had reportedly ordered to use living prisoners of war, namely arrested Chinese, Manchus, Koreans, and even Russians, for experiments and tests to study effects of decease-causing bacteria on the human body.  It is said that his unit, called Unit 731, sacrificed 3,000 prisoners of war for human experimentation during WWII.  

Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II.... 

Unit 731 was based at the Pingfang district of Harbin, the largest city in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (now Northeast China)....

Many of the scientists involved in Unit 731 went on to prominent careers in post-war politics, academia, business, and medicine. Some were arrested by Soviet forces and tried at the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials; others surrendered to the American Forces. 

On 6 May 1947, Douglas MacArthur, as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, wrote to Washington that "additional data, possibly some statements from Ishii probably can be obtained by informing Japanese involved that information will be retained in intelligence channels and will not be employed as 'War Crimes' evidence." The deal was concluded in 1948.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731

But how precious Ishii's study was for the American military?

But once the war ended and Japan was under U.S. control, the victor became the vanquished. 

To avoid prosecution as war criminals, Ishii and his cohorts offered to share their data with U.S. officials in exchange for protection.

Ft. Detrick scientists Edwin Hill and Joseph Victor agreed the Unit 731 scientists’ lips would loosen if an immunity deal was on the table.

Colonel Murray Saunders, a Ft. Detrick military officer tasked to uncover information about Japan’s biological warfare program concurred, recommending that General Macarthur offer Unit 731’s perpetrators immunity.

While only a limited number of U.S. documents mention Unit 731, a documented link can be made from Saunders and Macarthur all the way up to President Truman.

A 2006 document released by the National Archives entitled "Researching Japanese War Crimes: Introductory Essays" details a 1950 memo describing clemency issues related to the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal.

The memo revealed that the U.S., at the time, was seeking ways to dismiss any new evidence against Japan that the Soviets might produce.

According to the Virginia-based nonprofit World Future Fund, Ishii’s Unit 731 "research" was meant to give the Japanese military an upper hand on the battlefield, but wound up benefiting the U.S. military instead.

The U.S. was secretly delighted to gain such information derived from experiments that they themselves were forbidden to perform, and even happier that the Soviets wouldn’t have access to Ishii’s results.

http://www.topsecretwriters.com/2012/01/unit-731-a-u-s-cover-up-of-cruelty/

It is said that one US medical officer got delighted that he obtained information that could be only gained through human experiment from former Unit 731 officers while such human experiment was impossible in the US.  American investigators from the beginning had no intention to arrest and execute Ishii and other officers of the Imperial Army involved in development of biological weapons.  Those American experts were more eager to produce reports with excellent academic results than to carry out punishment for those Japanese war criminals.

From 1945, when the Empire of Japan collapsed, to 1948, former lieutenant general Ishii was hiding in Japan with help not only from former military elites of the Empire but also from the US military.  Ishii even held funeral rites for himself in his hometown around Tokyo.  Those ex-Imperial military elites were afraid that Ishii's past might, if revealed to the public, involve them in persecution by the allied forces as identified war criminals.  The US military did not want to share the medical data Ishii could provide with the Soviet Union.  They all helped Ishii hide somewhere in Japan or specifically around Tokyo.

But Ishii's whereabouts became unknown between 1948 and 1958, a period of time when the Korean War was fought by the US military against North Korea, China, and virtually the USSR.

So, some people think that Shiro Ishii, an ex-Imperial medical lieutenant general, was secretly recruited by Americans to take part in some military operation in the Korean Peninsula during the Korean War.  There is a possibility that Ishii helped conduct a biological attack on communists in cooperation with an American special unit.  Even there is a rumor that Ishii was invited to some medical facilities in America run by the US Government.

In fact, one of Ishii's subordinate officers in the Imperial Army so strongly cooperated with American investigators as to become a friend of one of those Americans.  Their friendship continued so long while the ex-Imperial officer launched a blood bank as the first in this field in Japan.  Decades later, a company founded as an extension of this blood bank, however, started a trouble of providing blood derivatives for hospitals which were made from contaminated blood imported from the US and other countries.

In 1958 Ishii made his appearance in an alumni meeting of ex-young soldiers of the 731 Unit held in Tokyo.  He said to his former subordinates, "I know you suffered enough after WWII as you worked in Unit 731.  But now I want you to be proud of your past work.  Sometime in future, at appropriate timing, I will make public the great results of our study in Manchuria to the world..."

Then one year after this meeting, Ishii died of larynx cancer quietly in a Tokyo hospital, at the age of 67.

However the existence of the special unit 731 indicates the darkest side of the Imperial military of Japan, since it is believed that soldiers from Unit 731 were actually engaged in biological warfare against China during the war between 1937 and 1945.  It is also against international conventions to use prisoners of war as human guinea pigs.  Therefore, when Tokyo decided to surrender to the US and other allied nations in August 1945, Ishii and other leaders of Unit 731 ordered soldiers to destroy all the evidence for their secret operation in Manchuria.  But the most important evidence, general Ishii and other officers were not demolished.

http://tamutamu2011.kuronowish.com/731.htm
Aerial View of Unit 731 Headquarters in Manchuria


(to be continued...)


*** *** *** ***



Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

"for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" - America's Last Enemy, Shinto or Islam?

A Tokyo's Station Area...

America's Last Enemy, Shinto or Islam?

The true enemy in the Japan-US War, which was fought as part of WWII, was thought by General MacArthur and other US leaders to be the Japanese shinto religion.

Dec 15, 1945:
MacArthur orders end of Shinto as Japanese state religion

On this day, General Douglas MacArthur, in his capacity as Supreme Commander of Allied Powers in the Pacific, brings an end to Shintoism as Japan's established religion. The Shinto system included the belief that the emperor, in this case Hirohito, was divine.

On September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, MacArthur signed the instrument of Japanese surrender on behalf of the victorious Allies. Before the economic and political reforms the Allies devised for Japan's future could be enacted, however, the country had to be demilitarized. Step one in the plan to reform Japan entailed the demobilization of Japan's armed forces, and the return of all troops from abroad. Japan had had a long history of its foreign policy being dominated by the military, as evidenced by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoye's failed attempts to reform his government and being virtually pushed out of power by career army officer Hideki Tojo.

Step two was the dismantling of Shintoism as the Japanese national religion. Allied powers believed that serious democratic reforms, and a constitutional form of government, could not be put into place as long as the Japanese people looked to an emperor as their ultimate authority. Hirohito was forced to renounce his divine status, and his powers were severely limited—he was reduced to little more than a figurehead. And not merely religion, but even compulsory courses on ethics—the power to influence the Japanese population's traditional religious and moral duties—were wrenched from state control as part of a larger decentralization of all power.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/macarthur-orders-end-of-shinto-as-japanese-state-religion  

So, when the US and allied forces occupied Japan after WWII, their supreme commander General MacArthur made very strong efforts to weaken power of the religion shintoism in the Japanese society.  However, to effectively carry out his occupation mission and policies, the General needed a kind of help from the Emperor of Japan.  As long as the most influential person in Japan, the Emperor, acted following advice, suggestions, and intentions of the General Headquarters of the allied forces in Tokyo, the Japanese people accepted peacefully the occupation by foreign troops.  But, the religion of the imperial house is one school of shinto.  Accordingly, General MacArthur could not fully demolish the shinto system and traditions deeply rooted in the living of the Japanese people.  And in this context the notable Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo could survive this difficult era after WWII, though the Shrine enshrined fallen soldiers of the Empire of Japan.

The point at issue is that the US tried after WWII or while occupying Japan militarily to lessen the power and the influence the Japanese inherent religion shinto had, since shinto was regraded as the great source of courage and allegiance of tough Japanese soldiers.  But, the US has not systematically lessened the power and the influence of Islam in Iraq and Afghanistan, though it blindly purged the Taliban regime based on a stern school of Islam.  This is a big difference between America's occupation of Japan after WWII and that of Iraq and Afghanistan in the War on Terror.

BBC: Do you think the war against terror is really a war against Islam? Are Muslims being targeted by the war on terror?
Your reaction :
...If America avenges the terrible attack on their own people by killing far more people from Muslim countries, which it has done in Afghanistan and shortly will in Iraq, then it will be seen as a war on Muslims, and that Muslim life is worth less than American life. It will also increase not reduce terrorism.
Paul, England

When the War on the Pacific, as fought as part of WWII, ended, the US found that its true enemy is not good-natured Japanese people but shinto, a religion that gave effective power to Japanese militarists to control sternly Japanese soldiers and civilians.

But will the US, when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are ended, regard Islam as the true enemy of America?

On the other hand there are many Muslims in the US, though only very few shintoists in America.  America might come to draw a distinction between Islam in the US and Islam outside the US.

Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream
May 22, 2007

- A large majority of Muslim Americans believe that hard work pays off in this society. Fully 71% agree that most people who want to get ahead in the United States can make it if they are willing to work hard. 

- Based on data from this survey, along with available Census Bureau data on immigrants' nativity and nationality, the Pew Research Center estimates the total population of Muslims in the United States at 2.35 million.

- A majority of Muslim Americans (53%) say it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the United States since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Most also believe that the government "singles out" Muslims for increased surveillance and monitoring. 

- Relatively few Muslim Americans believe the U.S.-led war on terror is a sincere effort to reduce terrorism, and many doubt that Arabs were responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Just 40% of Muslim Americans say groups of Arabs carried out those attacks.

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/483/muslim-americans

From other point of a view, shinto is a religion for Japanese living in Japan.  If Japanese move to  America, they will become naturally less and less shinto.  But, Muslims are Muslims if they live in the US.  Or have they become an American version of Muslims?

One thing sure is that the US has not become safer from a military threat of Japan because it made strong efforts to decrease influence of shinto on the Japanese society after WWII.  The US has become safer as the Japanese people understood after WWII that America was based on American democracy and American Christianity the Japanese could understand and even respect.

Put simply, the War on Terror should be executed with intention to make American democracy and American Christianity fully respected by Muslims and poor Muslims in the world.

It means the key to American success in any war against a foreign country is more in its political system and religion than those in Islamic nations or even in China.

So, it also means the last enemy of America is something against its sound political system and religion that is inside the US.


*** ***

http://tokiy.jugem.jp/?eid=562
Emperor of Japan as Great Shinto Priest


*** *** *** ***




Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"they shall be called the children of God" - MacArthur vs. Ex-Prime Minister

A District of Tokyo Downtown

MacArthur vs. Ex-Prime Minister

There was one politician of the Empire of Japan who played a key role in the period of time leading to the Pearl Harbor Attack, since Konoe tried to avoid the war despite strong movement for the war in the imperial military.

Prince Fumimaro Konoe (1891 – 1945) was a politician in the Empire of Japan who served as the 34th, 38th and 39th Prime Minister of Japan and founder/leader of the Taisei Yokusankai....

While the Emperor received detailed reports from Sugiyama and Nagano about the operations in Southeast Asia and the attack of Pearl Harbor,[5] Prime Minister Konoe made one last desperate attempt to avoid war. That very evening, he arranged a secret dinner conference with American Ambassador Joseph Grew. He told Grew that he was prepared to travel to meet Roosevelt on a moment's notice. The ship had already been prepared. He was convinced that the United States and Japan could reach a true agreement, and when that happened, he would radio back to the palace, and the Emperor would issue a rescript ordering a complete halt to all aggressive activities.

Ambassador Grew was impressed with Konoe's sincerity. He cabled back, urging his superiors to advise Roosevelt to accept the summit proposal. The State Department continued to think that an open-ended summit was a waste of time. If Japan were serious, it would begin meaningful and detailed negotiations that would be affirmed at a summit. Konoe's last push for a diplomatic solution was taken in vain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumimaro_Konoe

One day when Konoe was prime minister of the Empire, a strange man came to meet him.  The man brought a big amount of paper money.  He said to Konoe, "I hope that you will use this money at your will."

So, Prime Minister Konoe got angry, forcing the strange man to leave immediately with his money.

However, at the time, Konoe worried about insufficient secret funds in the prime minister office, since he assumed the position in the middle of a fiscal year.  But later, the finance minister of his cabinet told Konoe that past prime ministers booked secret funds for the prime minister office as part of expenditures for the Imperial Army and Navy.  So, of course, Konoe started to follow suit.

Anyway Konoe was well known for his strict handling of money.

After the Empire of Japan surrendered, Konoe started to try to draft new Japanese Constitution.  Konoe met  General MacArthur, the supreme commander of the allied forces occupying Japan, to get consent and support for his effort.  But when General MacArthur knew that Konoe's draft or idea was to continue the imperial system as it had been before the end of WWII, General MacArthur changed his attitudes toward Konoe.  MacArthur ordered to arrest Konoe as a war criminal.  Then Fumimaro Konoe committed a suicide before being taken to a prison.

The new Japanese Constitution strongly reflects General MacArthur's idea that the emperor of Japan should be a symbol of unification of all the Japanese people but not a constitutional sovereign ruler like he had been in the Empire of Japan before the end of WWII.


*** *** *** ***




Mat 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

"thou unclean spirit" - Association with Dulles

A Water-Front Park in Tokyo

Association with Dulles

In the summer of 1945 or at the final phase of WWII, Japanese Imperial Navy officer Yoshiro Fujimura met secretly with Allen Dulles in Switzerland.

Fujimura believed the Empire of Japan could not change the tide.  As Germany surrendered, the Empire of Japan would be completely defeated.  So, he voluntarily started secret operation to negotiate with American Government agent Dulles aiming at finding a way to allow the Empire of Japan to surrender while saving its face and maintaining the imperial system.  He sent 35 telegram messages to Tokyo from Bern using a special cipher machine, to inform leaders of the Imperial Navy of contents of the meetings with Dulles and other American agents.

It was not only Fujimura that was engaged in secret operation to look for a way to put an end to the Japan-US war through communications with agent Dulles in the summer of 1945.  Imperial Army General Kiyotomi Okamoto was also separately working on Dulles in Switzerland in vain.

(However, Tokyo did not regard the secret operation in Switzerland as a hopeful channel.  The Imperial Government laid its hope in getting support from the Soviet Union in its effort to start negotiations with the US for termination of the war, without knowing that the USSR was determined to attack Japan soon.)

On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima, an industrial/military city of Japan, was attacked with an atomic bomb by the US air force.   On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union proclaimed war against the Empire of Japan; on the same day, Nagasaki, a major port city of Japan, was attacked with an atomic bomb by the US air force. On August 15, 1945, Emperor of Japan announced through radio broadcasting his decision to accept the Potsdam Declaration and thus surrender to the US (without conditions).

In Zurich, Swizterland, General Okamaoto committed a suicide, since he failed in his efforts to terminate the war without accepting the Potsdam Declaration that required unconditional surrender to the Empire.

Imperial Navy officer Fujimura also decided to commit a suicide.  After attending a funeral of General Okamaoto, Fujimura thought now it was his time to follow suit when he came back to Bern. Fujimura picked up a bag to put a handgun and two books in it: a work by Arnold Toynbee and Analects of Confucius.  He also had a capsule of potassium prussiate.  He took a train to Bernina; he got there in the evening and took a room.  He planned to jump into a crevasse of a glacier with the capsule in his mouth.

Next morning he met a herdboy who was leading cows to the foot of a mountain.  The boy said to Fujimura, "Will you come with me?"  So, Imperial officer Fujimura followed the boy to be amazed at the beautiful scenery.  Fujimura threw himself on the grass of a hill and started to read the book of Toynbee.  He was reading the book all day long.  Next morning again, he followed the boy to the mountain.  And on the fourth day, while reading the book, Fujimura thought that he owed many things to the world civilization so that he had to do something in return; he changed his mind and decided to live.  He threw the pistol and the capsule into a crevasse to go back to Bern and eventually to Japan. 

After WWII, ex-Imperial Navy officer Yoshiro Fujimura succeeded in business, trading equipment and so on.   In 1951 he wrote in a Japanese magazine his memories of the secret operation in Switzerland.  He even met with Allen Dulles in the US in 1953, who later became the Director of CIA.

However it is not known if Fujimura was involved in special activities in Japan to support Allen Dulles and CIA.  But, it is believed that introduction of nuclear technology from the US to Japan was promoted or supported by some Japanese associated with Allen Dulles and CIA.  

Allen Welsh Dulles (April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Welsh_Dulles

Today, it is thought that secret meetings of General Okamaoto and Lieutenant Colonel Fujimura with Dulles in Switzerland was not meaningless, since the US Government came to understand from reports sent by Dulles that the Japanese wanted maintenance of the imperial system as a condition for surrender above all.  In fact, the US Government neither requested abolition of the imperial system to Japan nor tried to question wartime responsibility of the Emperor.

http://www.ntv.co.jp/shitteru/next_oa/000528.html

Lieutenant Colonel Fujimura stationed in Germany had been ordered to return to Japan in 1944, getting on board a big submarine the Imperial Navy dispatched from Japan to a German base in France.  But the submarine I-52 was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean before it reached France from Japan.  Accordingly Fujimura moved to Bern, Switzerland, to help Japanese diplomats.  The submarine was found at the bottom of the sea, 5,240 meters below the surface, in 1998.



*** *** *** ***




Mar 5:8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
Mar 5:9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
Mar 5:10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
Mar 5:11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
Mar 5:12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
Mar 5:13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

"and filled both the ships" - The Japanese Constitution

A Tokyo View

The Japanese Constitution

After the Empire of Japan fell through the war against the US, General MacArthur, the supreme commander of the allied forces occupying Japan, indicated his idea about new Japanese Constitution.

Three basic points stated by Supreme Commander to be "musts" in constitutional revision. 

COPY 

SECRET 

I
Emperor is at the head of the state.
His succession is dynastic.
His duties and powers will be exercised in accordance with the Constitution and responsive to the basic will of the people as provided therein. 

II
War as a sovereign right of the nation is abolished. Japan renounces it as an instrumentality for settling its disputes and even for preserving its own security. It relies upon the higher ideals which are now stirring the world for its defense and its protection.
No Japanese Army, Navy, or Air Force will ever be authorized and no rights of belligerency will ever be conferred upon any Japanese force. 

III
The feudal system of Japan will cease.
No rights of peerage except those of the Imperial family will extend beyond the lives of those now existent.
No patent of nobility will from this time forth embody within itself any National or Civic power of government.
Pattern budget after British system. 

Copyright©2003-2004 National Diet Library All Rights Reserved.
http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/shiryo/03/072/072tx.html

MacArthur's idea was conveyed through his subjects to Japanese politicians in charge of drafting new Constitution.  And, eventually a draft of new Japanese Constitution was prepared by those Japanese in line with MacArthur's idea, which was passed by the Japanese parliament in 1946.

Since then, Japan has not modified any part of the Constitution which has the following features:
(1) Emperor is the symbol of unification of the Japanese people with only nominal and formal functions in politics.

(2) Democracy and human rights are assured the Japanese people of to the maximum extent.

(3) The Japanese Government renounces a right to make war and prepare military forces for war.

Put simply, this Constitution is completely opposite to militarism and totalitarianism the Japanese people badly suffered during WWII.  And, since its publication in 1946, no amendment has been made to any articles of the Constitution. Yet, it has been a big concern among the conservative camp in the Japanese political communities.  Most of conservative people want to change the Constitution, since the present version is heavily influenced by MacArthur's idea.  They think it is a shame to have such Constitution that is highly influenced by American rulers who occupied Japan after WWII. 

Nonetheless about half of Japanese voters do not find necessity to amend the Constitution.  It is probably because they do not trust nationalists, rightists, and conservative politicians.  For example, if you criticize the imperial house today, you do not feel any danger of  being attacked by nationalists.  But, if nationalists ideas should be put into new constitution, such freedom and sense of security might be lost.  Japanese voters are afraid that amending the Constitution following initiatives of rightists might result in provisions to be specified which would limit freedom they are now enjoying.  And, it is mostly rightists that want to amend the Constitution now.

Anyway as the memory of the defeat (accompanied by atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki) of the Empire of Japan in WWII is still so acute, most of Japanese voters do not want to give any chance to nationalists for their expansion.  Accordingly, most of the Japanese people are reluctant to effect constitutional change.  But, the conservative opposition party LDP is very willing to carry out amendment of the Constitution.  So, if a regime change should be achieved in the next general election, the LDP might propose a draft amendment to the parliament (called the Diet) sooner or later.

To make sure, the issue of amending the Constitution is closely linked to the Japan-U.S. Security Arrangements based on which the US has many military bases in Japan.  If Japan decides to defend Japan without relying on US military forces, including American nuclear capability, it must abolish Article 9 that restricts government functions to use military forces against enemy countries.  It means to regard the US as the same as other countries which can be an enemy or a threat to Japan in terms of national security.  Conversely, if Japan continues to view the US as a special friendly country that will join defense activities of Japan, there is no need to  repeal the present Constitution in terms of national security.

Other specifics of the current Japanese Constitution:

Prohibition of slavery: Guaranteed by Article 18. Involuntary servitude is only permitted as punishment for a crime.
Separation of Religion and State: The state is prohibited from granting privileges or political authority to a religion, or conducting religious education (Article 20).

Freedom of assembly, association, speech, and secrecy of communications: All guaranteed without qualification by Article 21, which forbids censorship.

Workers' rights: Work is declared both a right and obligation by Article 27 which also states that "standards for wages, hours, rest and other working conditions shall be fixed by law" and that children shall not be exploited. Workers have the right to participate in a trade union (Article 28).

Right to property: Guaranteed subject to the "public welfare". The state may take property for public use if it pays just compensation (Article 29). The state also has the right to levy taxes (Article 30).

Right to due process: Article 31 provides that no one may be punished "except according to procedure established by law". Article 32, which provides that "No person shall be denied the right of access to the courts," originally drafted to recognize criminal due process rights, is now understood as source of due process rights for civil and administrative law cases.[4]

Protection against unlawful detention: Article 33 provides that no one may be apprehended without an arrest warrant, save where caught in flagrante delicto. Article 34 guarantees habeas corpus, right to counsel, and right to be informed of charges. Article 40 enshrines the right to sue the state for wrongful detention.

Right to a fair trial: Article 37 guarantees the right to a public trial before an impartial tribunal with counsel for one's defence and compulsory access to witnesses.

Protection against self-incrimination: Article 38 provides that no one may be compelled to testify against themselves, that confessions obtained under duress are not admissible and that no one may be convicted solely on the basis of their own confession. Nevertheless, forced confessions still remain a common practice, according to some sources.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Japan

General MacArthur's Office in Tokyo (1945 - 1951)
http://blog.livedoor.jp/hikari2321/archives/51650141.html

*** *** *** ***






Luk 5:6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
Luk 5:7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
Luk 5:8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.