"an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes" - Japanese Upper House Election

View from Tokyo Tower (National Diet Bldg. in the Middle)

Japanese Upper House Election

The Upper House Election of the Japanese National Diet (parliament) finally started.

The official election campaign period will be ended on July 20; voting on July 21 Sunday.

It is expected that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will overwhelmingly win.  His LDP party and its coalition Komeito Party will secure a majority in both the Houses.

It should be noted that the LDP was not in power when the great tsunami hit Japan in March 2011.  It was the liberal DPJ that was in charge of national administration of Japan when the M9.0 earthquake occurred and subsequently the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was attacked by 15-meter tsunamis to lose its function and suffer melt down of nuclear fuel.

A regime change from the DPJ Cabinet to the LDP Cabinet was realized in the general election held last December.  Voters found that socialistic DPJ politicians were not capable of handling this great scale of disaster.  So they voted for the conservative and capitalist LDP with hope that  LDP politicians would more professionally fix the situations and address the great problems caused the big disaster of a scale which could be only observed once in a thousand years.

This election is the first in Japan where the Internet use in campaigns is officially authorized.

PM Mr. Abe is actively using the Internet to boost a social mood in favor of the so-called Abenomics (meaning huge buying of government bonds by the Bank of Japan).        

Howeveｒ, the LDP seems to be more concerned with TV.  The ruling party LDP claimed that a certain TV station in Tokyo was biased and significantly anti-LDP, pointing at a certain news program in their complaint.  Maybe their president Mr. Abe might not like some commentator engaged in the program.

Anyway one thing and another, a summer drama in Japan is going on with many dreams flying around like fireflies.

The Upper House consists of 242 seats half of which are reelected in every three years.

To make sure, I am not a member of the House.



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Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Rev 7:5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

"out of thy country, and from thy kindred"

A Shinto Shrine Situated around Tokyo









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Act 7:1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so?
Act 7:2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
Act 7:3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
Act 7:4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

"with unwashen, hands, they found fault" - Istanbul for 2020

The Tokyo Railroad Station

 Istanbul for 2020

If Istanbul is slated to hold the 2020 Olympic Games, Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa should be encouraged to pursue peace and prosperity.

But there is one big rival city Tokyo.

Tokyo held the summer Olympics in 1964.  Then two other Asia cities followed Tokyo to show their economic and political success: Seoul in 1988 and Beijing in 2008.

So, once in 20 years the summer Olympics has been held in East Asia.  Therefore, Tokyo or other Japanese city, such as Hiroshima City or Fukushima City, may be allowed to hold the Olympics in 2024.

At present, Tokyo is not suitable for holding Olympic Games, because the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident is not yet completely fixed; Tokyo can be hit at any moment by a great in-land earthquake without full counter-measures being taken; Mt. Fuji 100 km from Tokyo can erupt at any moment without full counter-measures being taken; and Japan is now engaged in a very difficult task of getting rid of 15-year long deflation, a very unique economic phenomenon only seen in Japan among advanced countries.  
    
So, Tokyo must avoid hosting the Olympic Games in 2020.

Istanbul should be the first Olympics host nation in the Islamic world.  Though Turkey is not yet admitted to the EU membership, it must be allowed to host Olympics.



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Mar 7:1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.
Mar 7:2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
Mar 7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
Mar 7:4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
Mar 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
Mar 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Mar 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mar 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

"he entered into Capernaum"

Tokyo






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Luk 7:1 Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.
Luk 7:2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.
Luk 7:3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
Luk 7:4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:
Luk 7:5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.
Luk 7:6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:
Luk 7:7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.
Luk 7:8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Luk 7:9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

"and laid it in a tomb"

Entrance Bridge to the Imperial Palace, Tokyo







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Mar 6:25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.
Mar 6:26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.
Mar 6:27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
Mar 6:28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.
Mar 6:29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
Mar 6:30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.

"one cubit unto his stature" - The Poorer, The More Blessed

A Public Park on Tokyo Bay, Remnants of Samurai Era

The Poorer, The More Blessed

There are six billion to seven billion people in this world, though their lives can be categorized into hundreds or so types.

Of course, there is a type of life called one for authors, writers and leading intellectuals.  And sometimes their lives have nothing to do with those of ordinary people.  Some very successful or popular authors don't know any ways of living other than those for elite members of society.  Yet they try to teach something to ordinary readers.

They are like rabbis or teachers of the Law who were active 2000 years ago when Christ Jesus was alive as a human being.  If such elite members of a society could comprehend truth of the world and man, Christ Jesus should have first tried to get His disciples from those intellectuals of the era.  But in fact our Savior went out to communities of ordinary people to select some of them as His disciples.

It is rather a wonder that such biased elite members of society can write an insightful work handling humanity and human dramas.

But in most cases, reversely, those high-ranking authors and professors wonder, when reading some writings by poor people, that such low-key people can have such insightful views on humanity and human dramas.

Those elite authors and cultural figures tend to think that the poorer a man is, the more inept he is.  They think that a poor man in the poor street cannot understand difficult and deep meaning of  religion, philosophy, and literature.

But, the life itself is school of higher education.  What poor people need is a good teacher like Christ Jesus.   With love from Christ Jesus, a poor fisherman could grow up mentally to be the first Pope, the top leader even in the cultural domain.

Finally if a poor man can be more easily admitted for Heaven, he is more blessed than a rich and intellectual person.


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Mat 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Mat 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Mat 6:28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

"so did their fathers to the false prophets" - Extreme Malfunction of Information System

A Public Park on Tokyo Bay

Extreme Malfunction of Information System

Advanced weapons are dangerous not only for enemies but for owners of the weapons.

Technology can be stolen and it can diffuse over borders of nations.

When the US invented an atomic bomb, which developed to nuclear weapons, it faced the most serious situation in terms of the American national security after WWII, since the Soviet Union in real acquired this dangerous weapon to aim it at the US.

Now it is the information technology that is playing a decisive role in national defense of major countries.  If you can eavesdrop on every conversation of the US President and other politicians and secretly read all their e-mails, you will surely think that you can fully intimidate the US as you wish.  It is vice versa.  So, the US must be trying to eavesdrop on every conversation of its enemies and read e-mails of them without their knowledge.

But if any parts, including personnel, of the system being used for this secret war based on the information technology should go wrong, great confusion and turmoils will occur in society.

If it is gangsters who get such information, they would simply blackmail a government for money.  But if millions or a billion people in the world get or are given such information over the Internet, there would be devastating mess in a country which has been targeted or has suffered such malfunction of their information system.

Of course, for example, Cuba must not have a great system managing a great database of personal information of its people.  But some commercial and official databases in the US have a great amount of detailed personal information.  So, advanced countries are more vulnerable in this context.

In the 22nd century after the Third World War fought with the information technology, the world might be governed by less developed countries, like Cuba, Iraq, and Afghanistan, which should forbid use of any information technology, since the US must be already gone in a big mess caused by great leakage of all the personal information of all its people over the net.

Then mankind must be living peacefully like in the 15th century when Columbus reached the American Continent without use of computers and smart phones.  




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Luk 6:25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
Luk 6:26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
Luk 6:27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Luk 6:28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

"seeking for Jesus" - Ominous Supermoons

Haneda International Airport, Tokyo

Ominous Supermoons

Like 2000 yeas ago, the moon is orbiting the earth, though it looked very large on June 23 (JAPAN TIME) as the moon came a little closer to the earth or specifically 356,990 km far.

A similar phenomenon also occurred on March 19, 2011 as the moon was just 356,577 km away from the earth.  However, on March 11, 2011 an M9.0 earthquake occurred in the North Pacific Ocean off north east coast lines of Honsyu Island, Japan.

In addition, it also occurred in January 2005, but two weeks before, an M9.1 earthquake occurred off Sumatra Island, Indonesia, in December 2004.  

So, we had better be on alert in these weeks, since a supermoon phenomenon happened yesterday.

The Moon's distance varies each month between approximately 357,000 kilometers (222,000 mi) and 406,000 km (252,000 mi) due to its elliptical orbit around the Earth (distances given are center-to-center). 

According to NASA, a full moon at perigee is up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than one at its farthest point, or apogee.

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

Anyway that the sun and the moon alike look in the same apparent size from the earth is a proof that the God created this universe, since it is very rare that a planet in this galaxy or other has a moon or a secondary-planet which looks in the same apparent size of their sun or fixed star.




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Joh 6:24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.
Joh 6:25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?
Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

”it shall be for food for thee” - FRB vs BOJ

Mt. Fuji and Tokyo Tower

FRB vs BOJ

The fund balance of FRB has reached $2.5 trillion, three times larger than it was before the Lehman Shock.

However, as the nominal GDP of the US is $15 trillion, the balance accounts for just 15%.

On the other hand the Bank of Japan recorded 156 trillion yen of the balance in 2012, while Japan's GDP was a little less than 500 trillion yen ($5.5 trillion).  

So, the US seems to have twice more room than Japan for the limit of financial manipulation to cope with the current financial crisis.  Nonetheless the US dollar is the major key currency in the world.  FRB supply of money to the market must be more strictly controlled.

 Trend of Fund Balance of FRB (unit: billion dollar)

http://myeconomics-home.blogspot.jp/2012/12/frb.html

Trend of Gov. Bonds Held by Bank of Japan (unit: 100 million yen)

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/yatutade/GALLERY/show_image.html?id=37013178&no=2



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Gen 6:20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
Gen 6:21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
Gen 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

"forsake not the law of thy mother" - Shogun and Emperor

Tokyo Bay

Shogun and Emperor

The first ruler of Japan is historically believed to have presided over half of Japan from Yamato, a region now called Nara Prefecture, in the fourth century, though a queen of Yamato, named Himiko, was recorded as one of major rulers of Wa (presently Japan) in the third century in the Chinese historical book called the Records of the Three Kingdoms written at the end of the fourth century by a Chinese historian/bureaucrat called Chen Shou.

Till the late 12th century, the imperial court had sole political power over the Japanese archipelago except Hokkaido and Okinawa.  Emperors, one after another, and noblemen lived in Kyoto after having moved the capital from Nara to Kyoto in the late 8th century.

As time went by, the samurai class (a kind of warriors with administrative and cultural ability or feudal lords and their officials with the sword) gradually won power and finally set their capital in Kamakura, 500 km east of Kyoto and near Tokyo Bay, around 1200.  The top of the samurai class, or virtually the king of samurais, however was nominally appointed to the position of shogun by the emperor living in Kyoto.   In a sense, since then, a reigning shogun (or his delegate) and an emperor coexisted in Japan.  A shogun had actual political, administrative, and military power while an emperor kept authority in the traditional social regime, the class system of the elites, and religions and culture.

This balance started to end when the Tokugawa shogun government, established in Edo (presently Tokyo), started to open the nation and modernize Japan in the middle of the 19th century after the closure of the nation that had continued for about 250 years.

When the Tokugawa clan succeeded in taking over power all over Japan in the early 17th century, they had no strong enemies in Japan except Christians.  As missionary priests sent by the Vatican to East Asia could freely preach in Japan from the middle of the 15th century, there were comparatively many Catholics at the time.  But they were critically against the rule by sword.  The shogun took great pains to put them under control.  So, finally Tokugawa samurai leaders decided to close the nation to prevent a Vatican influence from coming into Japan.

But with arrival of an American naval fleet led by Commodore Perry at Tokyo Bay in 1853, the Tokugawa shogun government decided to open the nation, since they found superior arms and technology in American ships, including some steamships.  But it invoked great commotions in the Japanese society.  First, other samurai lords who were against making a diplomatic tie with the US and other Western nations started to fight the Tokugawa regime.  Those anti-Tokugawa samurais took the emperor in Kyoto on their side, thus justifying their act of rebellion against the samurai government in Edo.

After years of bloody strife, a decisive civil war eventually broke out in 1868.  But luckily it ended within a year with an overwhelming victory of the anti-shogun samurai camp.  They changed the name of the city Edo to Tokyo and founded a new government with the emperor at its center.  So, it was a kind of restoration of the political power of the emperor 700 years after it had lost it, though it was almost nominal power the emperor could win at this time.  Anyway history calls it Meiji Restoration as the new era was called Meiji by the imperial court.

In the Meiji era, samurais abolished their old fashion of looking and behaving and adopted western-style clothing and manners.  They didn't wear the topknot and swords anymore.

Nonetheless most of the new elites of Meiji Japan and the subsequent Empire of Japan were actually ex-samurais or children and grand children of ex-samurais.  That is why the Empire of Japan easily and rapidly trended toward militarism when the Great Depression began in 1929 and the diplomatic relationships with the US and China went wrong.

So, you cannot judge what the Imperial Army and Navy did during WWII without understanding spirits and philosophy of samurais, since the core of the Japanese society before the end of WWII was ruled by sword rather than classical imperial traditions.




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Pro 6:20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Pro 6:21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

"treasures upon earth" - Afghan Children

Prime Minister Office of Japan, Tokyo

Afghan Children

I have conviction that the God is watching poor people in Afghanistan, especially children.

Afghanistan War: Children Casualties Spike 

By KAY JOHNSON 06/13/13 10:08 AM 

At least 414 children were killed or injured in the first four months of this year, up 27 percent over the same period the previous year, UNICEF said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/13/afghanistan-war-children-casualties_n_3435285.html

Afghan refugee children, swim in muddy water created from a broken water pipe, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, June 17, 2013. 

Pakistan hosts over 1.6 million registered Afghans, the largest and most protracted refugee population in the world, according to the U.N. refugee agency. 

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/afghan-refugee-children-swim-muddy-water-created-broken-photo-061723689.html


June 13, 2013, 10:42 AM 

Number of kids killed in Afghanistan jumps, U.N. says

At least 414 children were killed or injured in the first four months of this year, up 27 percent over the same period the previous year, UNICEF said.
Of those, 121 children were killed and 293 were injured through April 30, UNICEF said in figures released Thursday.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57589130/number-of-kids-killed-in-afghanistan-jumps-u.n-says/


Afghan schools to reopen--to girls too 

March 20, 2002|By Patrick Kampert, Tribune staff reporter. 

Teachers are simply opening up the classrooms and inviting the children to come. And home schools that had been secret are now throwing open their doors to give kids a head start." 

The goal for Saturday's turnout is 1.5 million of the 10 million Afghan children under the age of 18. The curriculum, Ironside said, was developed by displaced Afghan educators over the last several years. (About 70 percent of teachers before the Taliban took control were women.)  

Under the Taliban, which controlled much of the country from 1996 to 2001, only 3 percent of girls had any kind of education, usually in home schools or in remote areas where the local commander was willing to look the other way. Sometimes, girls say, their brothers would teach them what they learned when they got home from school.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-03-20/features/0203190339_1_afghan-children-afghanistan-home-schools

Afghan children killed in 'NATO airstrike' 

President Hamid Karzai denounces reported death of 11 children by NATO forces in Kunar province and orders inquiry. 

Last Modified: 08 Apr 2013 07:42 

At least 11 children have reportedly been killed in a NATO airstrike in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan. 

The children were killed during a joint Afghan-NATO operation against Taliban fighters in the Shigal district of restive Kunar province bordering Pakistan late on Saturday, according to Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/04/20134712422926374.html

While Afghan children are suffering so much, rich Americans are enjoying their happy and rotten lives.  So, the God will punish rich Americans only for this reason.

http://schoolsuppliesforafghanchildren.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/using-my-pencil-for-more/

http://esterdad.zymichost.com/Album-Afghan-War-Children/slides/Afghan%20War%20Children%20(80).html



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Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

"thy Father, which seeth in secret" - One Alarmed at Pearl Harbor Attack

Streets behind Prime Minister's Office, Tokyo

One Alarmed at Pearl Harbor Attack

Almost all the citizens of the Empire of Japan were excited in great delight when they heard news that the Imperial Navy successfully attacked US naval bases in the Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in the early morning of  December 8, 1941, Japan Time.

But one noble-class woman got shocked and depressed.  Motoko Tokugawa thought the Empire could not win this war against the US.

She was born in 1907 in a family of the Japanese noble class.  Then she married a son of one of Tokugawa families who were once close relatives of the family of Tokugawa shogun, the ruler of Japan from the early 17th century to the middle of the 19th century.

Before WWII, she traveled Europe and the US to watch industrial development of Western society.  So, she could not believe that the Empire of Japan could compete with the US in terms of industrial output in making weapons.

Her husband also did not feel easy when he heard the news of the Pearl Harbor as he was then officer of the Imperial Navy.  He worried that if the US had taken Saipan the Empire would be fatally troubled.

But more interestingly the father of Motoko Tokugawa was a chamberlain for the crown prince of Taisho Emperor.  The crown prince later became Showa Emperor (Emperor Hirohito) who reigned the Empire from 1926 to 1989.  They once swam together in the sea around Tokyo.  The crown prince was proud that he could swim well than his guard, the father of Motoko Tokugawa.    

Anyway, it is very rare to find a record that somebody in Japan felt so alarmed when he or she heard the news of the Pearl Harbor attack, since most of the Japanese people had not been so well informed of the industrial potential of the United States in 1941.

Maybe the Emperor himself did not well comprehend the gap in industrial and scientific potential between the Empire of Japan and the US before WWII, since it was 1971 that the Emperor touched at Alaska and 1975 that he visited the White House.

The book Motoko Tkugawa (1907-1989) wrote

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E9%81%A0%E3%81%84%E3%81%86%E3%81%9F%E2%80%95%E5%BE%B3%E5%B7%9D%E4%BC%AF%E7%88%B5%E5%A4%AB%E4%BA%BA%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%83%E5%8D%81%E4%BA%94%E5%B9%B4-%E6%96%87%E6%98%A5%E6%96%87%E5%BA%AB-%E5%BE%B3%E5%B7%9D-%E5%85%83%E5%AD%90/dp/4167679299

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Mat 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
Mat 6:18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

"and laid hold upon John" - Showa Emperor's Daughter

Shinbashi, Tokyo, in the Rain

Showa Emperor's Daughter

Showa Emperor (Emperor Hirohito) had seven children.

The eldest child was Princess Teru (Shigeko) who was born in 1925.

The Princess married other member of the imperial noble clan in 1943 while the Empire of Japan was engaged in the war against the United States after the Pearl Harbor attack.

The father of her husband, Prince Morihiro Higashikuni, became the first and only member of the imperial family that became prime minister of Japan after the Empire of Japan surrendered to the US on August 15, 1945.

But as the headquarters of the the US military led by General MacArthur stationed in Tokyo instructed the Japanese Government to deprive most of members of the imperial family of their official titles and privileges, the Higashikuni family lost their imperial title.

So, in 1947, the eldest daughter of Showa Emperor became wife of a private citizen Morihiro Higashikuni.  They were also imposed heavy tax on.  So, they lost their big assets.  Shigeko Higashikuni started to earn money by selling eggs and handling some plastic goods.

But she died in 1961 due to cancer.  It is said that this tragedy gave a great shock to her parents, the emperor who later awfully demised in 1989 and the empress in 2000.    

So, incumbent Emperor of Japan has lived 52 years longer than his elder sister.

Incidentally, the imperial family of Japan has no surname or family name, since it is not expected that other family takes over the incumbent imperial family.  There has been only one imperial family in Japan since foundation of the nation.  And there must be the only one.

In China, it was a usual practice that one dynasty was defeated by other strong family who became the next imperial family in its history over 3000 years.  So, Chinese imperial families had family names.

Finally reigning Emperor is the fifth children and also the eldest son between Showa Emperor and Empress.

And of course a daughter of the emperor becomes a private citizen when she marries a private man by law today.


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





Mar 6:17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her.

"That it is Elias" - Classical Chinese in Japan

A Public Park on Tokyo Bay

Classical Chinese in Japan

Classical Chinese has been well learnt by Japanese.

Not only the elite class of Japanese but also some ordinary people have been educated, though to different levels, for leaning classic Chinese literature.  So, Japanese people in general have good knowledge about, for example, Analects of Confucius, if they cannot read classic Chinese.

Classical Chinese is the language of the classic literature from the Spring and Autumn period through to the end of the Han Dynasty, a written form of Old Chinese.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Chinese

But the modern Chinese language is substantially different from classical Chinese.  Chinese today cannot read those classic literature unless they are trained for reading classical Chinese.

One thing common between Japanese and Chinese is use of Kanji (Chinese) characters.  Though some Kanji characters were invented in Japan, Japanese still use tens of thousands of Chinese characters imported from China more than 1500 years ago as Japanese Kanji letters.

Japanese also invented Kana characters to express sound of Japanese original words and Kanji characters.  Kana is a kind of alphabets, consisting of 51 letters.

Before the Chinese Government introduced simplified Chinese, it was very difficult for ordinary Chinese and most of Chinese farmers to learn how to read and write.  It was almost impossible for them to read classical Chinese.  Only the elite Chinese in past dynasties or Chinese empires could enjoy the privilege of leaning classic literature and understanding its contents.

However in Japan, with help of Kana characters, contents of those Chinese classic literature were widely taught even in village temple schools for children.  Especially the noble class, Buddhist monks, and the samurai class of Japanese were fluent in reading and writing classical Chinese.

Before samurai Japan opened the nation in the middle of the 19th century to modernize Japan, a strong emphasis had been placed on learning classical Chinese in high education in Japan.   But when the Meiji era started with restoration of power of the emperor, Japan turned to the Western culture and science.

So, today, classical Chinese is not regraded as an important subject in Japanese academic communities, but a tradition for respect for classic Chinese literature still survives in the Japanese society.

That is why a Japanese can sometimes communicate with a Chinese by means of writing.






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Mar 6:14 And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
Mar 6:15 Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.

"Simon, (whom he also named Peter,)" - Intention of God

Toward  the Tokyo Station

Intention of God

Suppose that the God created this universe, including the sun, the moon, and our earth, then what is His purpose?

Then look around, and you can observe only bad guys, indecent guys, and unbelievers.

Is it an intention of the God: filling the earth with scoundrels?

Of course, the God must have foreseen that battles for survival would be common among living things on the earth.  But is it inevitable that such battles for survival would lead to emergence of evil in the human world?

Anyway by referring to non-nonsense religions, we could confirm that it is an intention of the God to have the good prevail on the earth despite various difficult conditions for human beings as living things.



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Luk 6:13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
Luk 6:14 Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
Luk 6:15 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes,
Luk 6:16 And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.

"filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves" - Canary and Cat

Scenes in the Suburbs of Tokyo

Canary and Cat

A professor of a university in Tokyo was sitting in the veranda of his Japanese-style house in the winter.

Then suddenly a canary flew onto a board of the veranda.   The professor just wanted to capture it.  But the small bird came near to him voluntarily.  So the professor thought that he had a birdcage kept somewhere in his house, and he thought he had to find it.  Then the canary voluntarily jumped into a storage room.  The professor could easily put the bird into an old birdcage.

He thought that the bird must have been hungry, so that he prepared some vegetable feed.  As the bird was watching him cutting some leaves, the canary started to chirp so busily.

In this way the family of the professor started to live with the stray canary.  Before this incident, they kept a cat which had already gone.  They felt somehow empty and void.  But now a small bird singing well became a new key player in their happy circle.

One day when a family member was trying to feed the canary, it got out of the cage and flew away into the winter sky.

But next day, a young cat wandered into the professor's home to stay there determinedly.  So, the family again got a pet which pleased them in their space for relaxation.

Of course, if a canary and a cat had been kept together by the professor, the former should have wished for leaving the house, flying high even into the cold winter sky.

But how could the canary know, a day before, that a cat was going to settle down in the house?

This episode was written in a collection of literary jottings by professor Torahiko Terada who died in Tokyo in 1935.  



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Joh 6:10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
Joh 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
Joh 6:12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
Joh 6:13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

"as we forgive our debtors" - Nixon in Japan in 1953

Tokyo

Nixon in Japan in 1953

In November 1953, then US Vice President Richard Nixon visited Japan.

On this occasion, Nixon expressed his opinion about the Pacifist Constitution of Japan.  Nixon said, "It was a big mistake for the US to have advised and requested Japan to adopt the Article 9 which forbids full-scale rearmament of Japan and denies the right of belligerency to the Japanese Government."  Indeed, though the Korean War (1950-1953) went into suspension of hostilities in July 1953, the US wanted to be physically and militarily supported by Japan in the Cold War.

Nixon was then asked by the Japanese Government led by Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida to visit and show respect for the Tokyo Yasukuni Shrine which enshrined souls of fallen soldiers of the Empire of Japan.  But Nixon declined the idea since the Empire lost war against the US and dissolved in 1945.

Then Nixon visited PM Yoshida at his home in Oiso facing the Pacific Ocean.  Yoshida asked Nixon if the US intended to officially establish diplomatic relationships with China led by the Chinese Communist Party.  Nixon didn't give a clear answer.  Indeed, communist leaders of China had sent so many soldiers to Korea to stop advancement of the US and allied forces from the south to the north in the Korean War.    

Shigeru Yoshida resigned as primer minister in December 1954.  Afterwards Yoshida's disciple Eisaku Sato became Japanese Prime Minister in 1964 to continue his premiership till 1972.  In 1969 Sato visited the White House to negotiate return of administrative authority over Okinawa from the US to Japan with President Nixon.  It went well smoothly.  President Nixon promised to return Okinawa to Japan without nuclear weapons kept in US military bases in Okinawa islands.  With this transaction, Japan concluded its efforts to restore territories which had been occupied by the US after WWII.  It was one of the biggest historic incidents for Japan after WWII.

As Nixon respected Yoshida, he must have trusted Sato, which must have been a key to good relationships between the two countries in the era of Nixon, though Nixon visited Beijing without prior-notification to Japan of his historic trip to China.  




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Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

"shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony"

Tokyo






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Mar 6:11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

"Stretch forth thy hand" - Japanese Constitution

Tokyo Bay

Japanese Constitution

When a country is defeated in a war and occupied by foreign powers, it would naturally change its constitution.

So, Japan changed its constitution after WWII.  And the new constitution was drastically revolutionary for the Japanese people, since it was drafted by young American officers who were stationed in Tokyo to be subject to General MacArthur.

May 3, 1947:
New Japanese constitution goes into effect

On May 3, 1947, Japan's postwar constitution goes into effect. The progressive constitution granted universal suffrage, stripped Emperor Hirohito of all but symbolic power, stipulated a bill of rights, abolished peerage, and outlawed Japan's right to make war. The document was largely the work of Supreme Allied Commander Douglas MacArthur and his occupation staff, who had prepared the draft in February 1946 after a Japanese attempt was deemed unacceptable.

As the defender of the Philippines from 1941 to 1942, and commander of Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific theater from 1942 to 1945, Douglas MacArthur was the most acclaimed American general in the war against Japan. On September 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, he presided over the official surrender of Japan. According to the terms of surrender, Emperor Hirohito and the Japanese government were subject to the authority of the Supreme Commander for Allied Powers in occupied Japan, a post filled by General MacArthur.

On September 8, Supreme Commander MacArthur made his way by automobile through the ruins of Tokyo to the American embassy, which would be his home for the next five and a half years. The occupation was to be a nominally Allied enterprise, but increasing Cold War division left Japan firmly in the American sphere of influence. From his General Headquarters, which overlooked the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo, MacArthur presided over an extremely productive reconstruction of Japanese government, industry, and society along American models. MacArthur was a gifted administrator, and his progressive reforms were for the most part welcomed by the Japanese people.

The most important reform carried out by the American occupation was the establishment of a new constitution to replace the 1889 Meiji Constitution. In early 1946, the Japanese government submitted a draft for a new constitution to the General Headquarters, but it was rejected for being too conservative. MacArthur ordered his young staff to draft their own version in one week. The document, submitted to the Japanese government on February 13, 1946, protected the civil liberties MacArthur had introduced and preserved the emperor, though he was stripped of power. Article 9 forbade the Japanese ever to wage war again.

Before Japan's defeat, Emperor Hirohito was officially regarded as Japan's absolute ruler and a quasi-divine figure. Although his authority was sharply limited in practice, he was consulted with by the Japanese government and approved of its expansionist policies from 1931 through World War II. Hirohito feared, with good reason, that he might be indicted as a war criminal and the Japanese imperial house abolished. MacArthur's constitution at least preserved the emperor as the "symbol of the state and of the unity of the people," so Hirohito offered his support. Many conservatives in the government were less enthusiastic, but on April 10, 1946, the new constitution was endorsed in popular elections that allowed Japanese women to vote for the first time. The final draft, slightly revised by the Japanese government, was made public one week later. On November 3, it was promulgated by the Diet--the Japanese parliament--and on May 3, 1947, it came into force. 

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/new-japanese-constitution-goes-into-effect

However, even before WWII the Empire of Japan had democracy better than that today observed in most of countries.  Universal suffrage was introduced and freedom of press was mostly assured.  Nonetheless, it was true that the Japanese people could not fully check the Imperial Army and Navy, since the Japanese society before WWII had been still a kind of extension of the samurai era where a strong class system prevailed with the samurai class at the top and the merchant class at the bottom.  What is more, the system of patriarchy was so strong that respect for individual freedom was weak in Japanese communities.  Under these conditions, when the nation faced very difficulty after the Great Depression, the Imperial military could assume leading power and influence on the whole Japanese society, suppressing democratic movement.

Therefore, there were necessary conditions in Japan that allowed the Japanese people to easily accept the new fully-democratic constitution drafted by US officers who even specified very liberal provisions in the constitution even the US Constitution had not yet adopted.      




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Luk 6:9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
Luk 6:10 And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

"five barley loaves, and two small fishes" - Top Secret in 1969

Tokyo

Top Secret in 1969

After WWII, the US occupied Okinawa.

Even after a peace treaty was signed by Japan and a majority of the allied nations, including the US, the US continued its occupation of Okinawa.

Okinawa Prefecture, consisting of scores of islands and situated in the south of the four major Japanese islands, was the only battle ground in the Japanese indigenous territory in the war between the Empire of Japan and the United States which was fought as part of WWII (1939-1945).

The Battle of Okinawa was waged from March to June of 1945.  The Empire of Japan deployed 116,400 troops and the US (and other allied forces) mobilized 548,0000 soldiers.  Eventually, more than 94,000 Japanese soldiers were killed (including 3,000 kamikaze soldiers); and more than 12,000 US soldiers died (72,000 wounded).  What is worse, 94,000 Okinawa citizens were involved and killed.

So, the US would not return Okinawa to Japan even after the Peace Treaty of San Francisco was signed in 1951, since the US lost so many soldiers in the Battle of Okinawa.  Besides, Okinawa is close to China and Taiwan, making it strategically valuable for the US.

But in 1969 then Japanese prime minister Eisaku Sato was determined to take back Okinawa.  However there is one problem.  The US had huge areas of American military bases in Okinawa.  What is worse, the US military had nuclear weapons in Okinawa, while the Japanese Government had publicly declared that it would never allow existence of American nuclear weapons in Japan.  Japan was the only nation in the world that suffered nuclear-bomb (atomic bomb) attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

The US had no intention to remove its nuclear weapons from Okinawa, as it was the era of the Vietnam War.  So, a secret treaty was concluded by US President Nixon and Japanese Prime Minister Sato.

TOP SECRET 

AGREED MINUTE TO JOINT COMMUNIQUE OF UNITED STATES PRESIDENT NIXON AND JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SATO ISSUED ON NOVEMBER 21, 1969 

United States President: 

As stated in our Joint Communique, it is the intension of the United States Government to remove all the nuclear weapons from Okinawa by the time of actual reversion of the administrative rights to Japan; and thereafter the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security and its related arrangements will apply to Okinawa, as described in the Joint Communique. 

However, in order to discharge effectively the international obligations assumed by the United States for the defense of countries in the Far East including Japan, in time of great emergency the United states Government will require the re-entry of nuclear weapons and transit rights in Okinawa with prior consultration with the Government of Japan. The united States Government would anticipate a favorable response. The United States Government also requires the standby retention and activation in time of great emergency of existing nuclear storage locations in Okinawa: Kadena, Naha, Henoko and Nike Hercules units. 

Japanese Prime Minister: 

The Government of Japan, appreciating the United States Government's requirements in time of great emergency stated above by the President, will meet these requirements without delay when such prior consultation takes place.
The President and the Prime Minister agreed that this Minute, in duplicate, be kept each only in the offices of the president and the Prime Minister and be treated in the strictest confidence between only the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Japan.  

Washington,D.C., November 21, 1969 

(signature) Richard Nixon
(signature) Eisaku Sato

One original sheet of this signed paper had been hidden in a desk of Sato in the prime minister office in Tokyo.  When Sato resigned as PM in 1972, he had his desk carried to his home with the secret sheet in it.

Eisaku Sato died in 1975 after he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974.  Then his wife died in 1987.  At the time their son, a politician, found this secret agreement in a drawer of the desk.

His son, Shinji Sato. requested the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take this paper and keep it properly.  But bureaucrats of the Ministry refused to handle it for the reason that the paper was not official but personal between Sato and Nixon.  They said that the Japanese Government had nothing to do with it.  And afterwards, the secret pact sheet was long kept personally by the son of Eisaku Sato.

It was 2009 that Mr. Shinji Sato made public the secret arrangement between his father and Richard Nixon, since a regime change occurred in Japan in 2009 from the pro-US LDP, to which Satos belonged, to the liberal DPJ through a general election.

Everybody has already gone that was involved in preparation of this secret treaty, but Mr. Henry Kissinger is still alive.  Mr. Kissinger was a major figure behind the scene in establishing this controversial treaty.  Incidentally, Kissinger's counterpart on the Japanese side was Kei Wakaizumi, but he committed a suicide in 1996 after suffering some moral, ideological or political pains related to this secret nuclear-weapon treaty.

Finally the most importantly, it is said that Okinawa people feel that they were sacrificed in WWII because Okinawa was the last region in the Japanese Archipelago that was officially integrated into the Empire of Japan, since Okinawa had been nominally an independent kingdom (Ryukyu Kingdom) till the 19th century.  It had even sent a tributary envoy to Chinese empires over the East China Sea over centuries.  Okinawa is a very unique part of Japan still today.



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Joh 6:8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,
Joh 6:9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
Joh 6:10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
Joh 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
Joh 6:12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
Joh 6:13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
Joh 6:14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.