Happy Ending & Destiny

Happy Ending & Destiny

Chinese are said to be pessimistic at their core due to long history of upheaval and conflicts. Therefore, Indians, Iranians, Iraqis, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans might be all pessimistic apart from their outward gestures. Anyway, countries north of the Alps are younger.

But, Japanese are optimistic, though not tropical way, as nowadays half of Japan is covered by snow generated high on the Sea of Japan from cold air blown from Siberia. “When having finished well, everything is well” is a proverb Japanese like to hear.

In a Swedish film for children, a traveling entertainer met a boy having escaped from an orphans’ home.

After an adventure, the middle-aged street performer, or busker, brought the boy to a rich farm family, hoping that the family would adopt him. But the boy chose to travel with the busker.

So, the busker decided to trace a path to a home of a woman he had once lived together with. And, reconciliation and reunion were made well, so that they got together again and the boy was adopted by the couple. Truly happy ending! Indeed, it is said that children are a link between husband and wife.

It may, however, look too simple. Germans would make it more reasonable. British could make it more dramatic. Americans love to make it more dynamic and funnier. And, Japanese love to see more caring and sensitive emotion.

As for me, when I encounter straightforwardness and strength beyond expectation, I cannot help but admire them, which frankly speaking seldom happened.

In 2005, we have not observed here and there enough straightforwardness and strength, a kind that is potentially promising.

However, I believe that we came through the path to this crossover point, with training, enjoyment, and appreciation, while being led by Destiny.

“Nothing You Do for the Lord’s Service is Ever Useless”

A Teaching on Bonds at a Mountain Side

A Teaching on Bonds at a Mountain Side

Following is a personal memo only for those humbly and professionally concerned:

The amount of outstanding US government bond is 7.33 trillion dollars (879 trillion yen) as of the end of FY 2004 (which is also expected to reach 11.114 trillion dollars in FY 2010).

The amount of outstanding Japanese government bond planned for FY 2006 is 1.38 trillion dollars (165 trillion yen).

Japan has US government bonds worth of 0.7 trillion dollars as of February 2005.

Q: How can we solve a catastrophe many expect to happen in future?

A: Once thousands people gathered at a mountain side to listen to Jesus Christ. At lunch time, Jesus’ disciples asked him how to do with the people. Money they had was not enough to buy the crowd enough food. But Jesus ordered the disciples to have the people sit down and give them whatever fish or bread the disciples had.

As you know, a miracle happened. The crowd of people all ate enough and got satisfied.

The answer is that the people had come there with their own food. But, they hid their own food lest others stole it. However, as Jesus’ disciples started to give their own fish and bread, everyone began to take out their lunch box from a coat pocket, a bag, or a cart.

It is a miracle in that people with much food gave some of it to others who happened to have little or none. Otherwise, not all should be satisfied.

So, by applying Jesus’ teaching to government bonds of Japan and the U.S., we could happily solve the deficit problems once and for all.

I like to call this “a teaching on bonds at a mountain side,” if the Lord wishes.

Anyhow, poor people need money when the end of the year is really near.

“VICTORY IS COMPLETE”

Dr. Hawking and “i”

Dr. Hawking and “i”

Year 2005 was the Year of Physics. It is mainly related to Albert Einstein.

Anyhow, as the New Year’s Day is coming, we might refer to theories of the birth of the universe.

The most famous scientist in this field is Stephen William Hawking of the U.K.

According to his theory, our universe was born following the uncertainty principle. The principle tells there is a special condition on the product of energy and time. Even if the product should take a specific value, larger energy in a shorter period of time is allowed:

For a very small particle,
E x T = (6.6261 x 10^-34) / (2 x pi),
where E and T are a change of energy and time, respectively.

Following this principle, our universe was born in a very short period of time, getting over an energy barrier that had suppressed the birth of a universe.

The moment of the birth was too unusual to handle it reasonably and scientifically in its mathematical expression. So, Dr. Hawking introduced an idea of “imaginary time” into the mathematical expression, thus making smooth the flow of time back to the birth of the universe and beyond and, at the same time, that quantum leap possible.

(with "i" = (-1)^(1/2), i second, 2i seconds, and so on, instead of 1 second, 2 seconds,..; however, this method is common in quantum physics.)

As the meaning of quantum theory as well as Einstein’s theory is still controversial, his solution based on both the theories looks still so.

I believe mankind is yet to understand the truth of the birth of our universe.

But, this theory gives mankind a great courage. Even for a very short period of time, we are allowed to exercise great ability, though it might not create another universe.

As for “imaginary time,” apart from its use as mathematical agency, if God is real, everything should be real to the limit we are allowed to understand about our universe, including its birth and its state before the birth.

Beyond the limit, we are no longer human beings in any way.

“STOP YOUR DOUBTING AND BELIEVE”

Next Year is 2666 for Emperor

Next Year is 2666 for Emperor

In 91 B.C., the first official history book of China, the Shiji (called Shi-ki in Japanese), was established. The author is Sima Qian (called Shiba Sen in Japanese). It was the age of Earlier Han Dynasty.

And, remarkably, Chinese people have been traditionally called “Han people” up to this day in a little formal manner in Japan. The Chinese letter “Han” is pronounced as “Kan” by Japanese. And “Chinese character” is called “Kan-ji” in Japanese, likewise.

Japanese written language consists of Kan-ji and Kanas. Kanas were created by Japanese about 1000 years ago based on simplified Kan-ji to simply express sounds of spoken language. Kan-ji is ideogram, but Kanas are akin to alphabetic characters.

Therefore, if you do not know a meaning of Kan-ji a sound of which is expressed in English, you cannot fully recognize the meaning of the corresponding Chinese expression. In this sense, non-Chinese are meaning-blind to Chinese names. But, the only exception is Japanese (and some Koreans), since Japanese can understand meaning of most of Chinese Kan-ji characters which are nowadays a little different from the Japanese Kan-ji system.

In the seventh century, the Yamato regime (ancient Central Government of Japan) started to compile an official history which was completed in the eighth century. The history book was called Nihon-Shoki. The book was written in the Chinese language of that age. A similar example is found in that the Bible was first written in Greek in the early days of Christianity. Anyway then Chinese dynasty knew that Japan was not an uncivilized country without an official history book.

In China, when a dynasty was vanished, the succeeding dynasty established an official history about the precedent dynasty. Therefore the whole Chinese history consists of a number of independent official history books, each representing a single dynasty.

But, Japan has the only one official history book, Nihon-shoki, since the dynasty of Japan has never changed, which had been called the Yamato regime until Emperor moved to Tokyo from Kyoto in late 19th century.

When Emperor moved to Tokyo, the Shogun Government system ended. The Shogun is the head of warriors or samurais, but the title, Shogun, was officially endowed the samurai leader with by Emperor. Nonetheless, under the Shogun Government, Emperor had no power for collecting taxes and controlling military forces. In most cases, a Shogun decided allowance for an emperor. But, no Shoguns in Japanese history dared to abolish an emperor or take himself the position of Emperor.

It is because Emperor is holly existence, playing an indispensable role of Japanese traditional religion, Shinto.

Therefore, the first and last official history book of the Yamato Regime, namely classical Empire of Japan, includes myths.

According to Nihon-shoki, the first emperor in Japan was inaugurated 660 B.C. which became the starting point of years of Emperor.

When a world-leading fighter plane was officially adopted in 2600 in the year of Emperor, it was named Zero, since lower digits of the year were zeroes. It was indeed 1940 A.D.

So, the next year 2006 AD is 2666 in the year of Emperor of Japan.

(However there is another year system officially and widely used in Japan linked with the present emperor. According to it, the next year is "Heisei 18.")

Though Japan is the only country in the world now that has a person officially called Emperor in English, it is extremely rare that the year of Emperor is used in Japan except in Shinto religious practices.

When the end of the year gets near, you might like to refer to history; if so, I have served this way for you.

“THE MOON WILL BE AS BRIGHT AS THE SUN”

A Christmas Story about a Letter from Canada

A Christmas Story about a Letter from Canada

It is a letter to editorial this morning on the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper that I think to be very appropriate for this season.

A Japanese female college student learning in Canada wrote a letter to her friend in Japan. But, before sticking a stamp on it, she lost the letter somewhere, probably, in a campus.

She said, perhaps by international phone, to the friend that the letter should be most likely lying under a bench or somewhere with dust on. But she also added, maybe without or with expectation, that somebody might pick it up, stick a stamp on it, and drop it into a mailbox.

It actually so happened. The letter was marvelously picked up, carefully checked about its destination address, stuck an appropriate stamp on, dropped timely into a mailbox nearby or distant, and swiftly delivered to her friend in Japan.

And, most importantly, her friend who received the letter which had once been lost but discovered and dropped into a mailbox by an unknown person ventured to write a letter to editorial of the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper in Japan with spirit of thankfulness.

Of course, every reader knows that the very kind, unknown person in Canada should have little chance to read the words of gratitude on this Japanese newspaper.

This sort of kindness seems to be nowadays getting hard to find in urban areas in Japan. In the U.S., people might still be haunted by the anthrax incident.

Nonetheless, this story is very appropriate for the Christmas season. Something that was once lost has been found, making people very remote happier and thankful.

“DO NOT CONSIDER ANYTHING UNCLEAN THAT GOD HAS DECLARED CLEAN”

At Foreign Correspondents' Club in Tokyo after the 9/11 Hectic Election

At Foreign Correspondents' Club in Tokyo after the 9/11 Hectic Election

The most important incident this year in Japan was the September 11 election, maybe as with the election this month in Iraq for Iraqis.

In October, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan invited three ladies who were all newly elected for Japanese parliament called Diet. Each of them spoke English in the press conference as was highly expected.

Even criminals and terrorists speak English in England and America, but even the wisest doesn’t speak English in Japan. This has been truth in Japan, a country located far from Europe, America, and their colonies.

But, nowadays and especially in the trend of overwhelming internationalization as well as for security reasons after September 11 terror, Japanese like to and are virtually forced to speak English as much as possible if appropriate to deal with the world and the U.S.

The three new Diet members spoke English fairly well: one of them with her academic and diplomatic background, other based on her strong career in a key ministry of the Japanese Government, and the rest supported by her higher education in America.

Japanese media was also fascinatingly listening to them. According to a media report, Ms. Inoguchi spoke well as an aggressive professor but contents were a kind of fantasy and mere idealism, Ms. Katayama spoke well as a seasoned bureaucrat and contents were very substantial, and Ms. Sato was remarkably fluent with colloquial speech but contents were not impressive.

Yes, Kuniko was an ambitious international-relations professor with a flavor of high society, Satsuki was a well educated and trained bureaucrat, and Yukari was a highly ambitious career woman in the private sector, each with rich international experiences no ordinary Japanese voters might enjoy.

However, apparently, they are Japanese, born, raised, fostered, and given personal foundation in the Japanese society.

Successful Asians or Asians going to be wealthy speak English more fluently than Japanese. But, in most cases, those successful Asians are born rich in a former colony, which allows them to learn in environment where English is norm and standard.

With population of 120 million people most of whom had few occasions to speak with Europeans or Americans in their lifetime, it was a luxury for Japanese people to speak English well while all necessary Western documents were translated and available in Japan during its modernization and procedures to become the World’s most successful country as a racially homogeneous nation with its own independent language.

So, those three Japanese female Diet members spoke English reflecting this context, though nowadays many young Japanese are traveling to the world more casually speaking English. However, it seems still rare for Japanese to have a strong presence globally by manipulating substantial English.

Many Japanese ladies are today working all over the world. But if those working outside Japan are superior to those working in Japan, the fate of Japan might be dim. (Tragedies of Africa and South Asia might be desparately rooted in this context.)

But, Japan seems to be still able to keep its most valuable girls within its territory like America does, no matter what English they speak in Tokyo or New York.

(In addition, one female Diet member now serving as Minister of Environment can speak Arabic. Through 9/11 election, she have really had go on to political stardom; but it is another story.)

“GOD’S WEAKNESS IS STRONGER THAN MAN’S STRENGTH”

The World’s Oldest Company in Japan Since the Sixth Century

The World’s Oldest Company in Japan Since the Sixth Century

If you don’t know the name, Prince Shotoku, you cannot be a Japanese.

Prince Shotoku was born in AD 574 in a horse box like Jesus Christ. According to official history, later he became a regent for Empress, or female Emperor, Suiko.

One of his great achievements was establishment of a temple named Shi-Ten-Ouji in Osaka.

To build up the temple, Prince Shotoku invited three carpenters from a country in the Korean Peninsula. One of them later became a founder of a building company called Kongou-Gumi specializing in construction of temples, shrines, and traditional buildings.

However, according to a recent news report, this Japan’s and World’s oldest company is going to be merged by other company, due to financial problems. So, a company called Kongou-Gumi is going to disappear in the proceeding of history. But Prince Shoutoku’s reputation will never change.

Prince Shoutoku once wrote an official letter to an Emperor in China, stating that his letter was meant to be delivered to the son of heaven in China as a greeting from the son of heaven in Japan. This expression provoked the Emperor in China, since he thought Japan was his subordinate.

However, since then, Japan firmly intended to be and keep independent of hegemony of China.

There are various reasons why Prince Shoutoku is so popular among Japanese people; and under his glory, even a company can enjoy 1,400 year operation.

Jesus Christ completely neglected hegemony of Roman Empire. However, I believe he also worked to assure independence of Israelites for more than 2000 years, even intagibly.

“BECAUSE WHOEVER IS NOT AGAINST YOU IS FOR YOU”

Zero Fighters High on Pearl Harbor in December 1941

Zero Fighters High on Pearl Harbor in December 1941

In December, before relaxing into the Christmas Season, if we may say so over diversity of religious practices, the Pearl Harbor Day looms over and over again even in the 21st century.

This year, the History Channel featured the historical incident. It was far better than the movie “Pearl Harbor” released in 2001 before the terrorist attacks of September 11 on New York and Washington DC.

The History Channel correctly depicted the Zero fighter plane the Imperial Japan’s Navy had mobilized in 1941 for the air attack, though the TV program’s main feature seems to be small-size attack submarines launched from mother submarines and expected to fire torpedoes against U.S. warships in the Pearl Harbor synchronously with the air raid.

Fairly before the Pearl Harbor attack, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Administration had been helping Chinese, mainly the Chinese Communist Party, fight against Imperial Japan’s army in mainland China. One renowned American general engaged in the operation in China reported that Japan had a fighter plane superior to any U.S. fighter planes; but this warning was laughed at, because no generals in Washington DC before the Pearl Harbor attack could believe that Japan had a capacity enough to design and build up such an excellent fighter plane.

Until the end of the World War II, Imperial Japan produced more than 10,000 Zero fighters, but it was only for a year or so that this fighter with outstanding maneuverability could overwhelm U.S. air fighters. American industrial power was then, in a sense, a hundred times larger than Imperial Japan’s.

Conversely, with one hundredth of the whole U.S. industrial power, Imperial Japan had yet a chance to completely wipe out U.S. military forces from the Pacific Ocean in 1941, if she could have successfully operated its excellent war machine, the world’s number one battle ships and Zero fighters.

When then U.S. Navy discovered the tactics to cope with and overwhelm merits of the Zero fighter in 1942, the fate of the Empire of Great Japan was almost decided. In August 1945, there were even no shadows of Zero fighters in the sky high on Hiroshima.

There is another profound fact that the History Channel did not mention. The engine of the Zero fighter was, of course, made in Japan. But, several years before the war erupted, some American engineers were hired by a Japanese plane maker. Those American engineers helped Japanese engineers design a new model of engines which was eventually built into the Zero fighter. Moreover, it is also said that the external shape of this symbolic fighter plane had been borrowed from a certain American plane at the time. American originality and Japanese adaptation thus worked well.

I don’t know how many people in the world, including Chinese communist leaders, got pleased before Xmas in 1941 with the report from the Pearl Harbor heralding the war between Imperial Japan and America.

As history tells, since then, many colonies and semi-colonies in Asia got independent while America has been following the path of wars, from Korea to Vietnam, Afghanistan, and to Iraq, all of which might be regarded as aftermath of the Pacific War meaning the Pacific stage of WWII in Japan.

After the World War II, the U.S. tried to prevent the Japanese air industry from rising from ashes. However, it seems that Japan carefully avoided the collision course once it had been pushed into, but found a new arena of competition, cars and electronics.

As the disparity between Japanese industry and U.S. industry is not one to one hundred now, it is more important that both the countries keep peace ever and forever.

“I HAVE NOT COME TO CALL RESPECTABLE PEOPLE, BUT OUTCASTS”

610,000 Shares Each for 1 Yen at TSE

610,000 Shares Each for 1 Yen at TSE (or One for 610,000)

It actually happened that a staff member of Mizuho Securities Co. tried to sell 610,000 shares of a recruitment company for one yen.

It had been intended to be an order to sell one share of the recruitment company for 610,000 yen (roughly 5,000 dollars).

The wrong order was sent electronically from a PC in office of the securities company to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). But no safeguard or any error prevention schemes worked well.

What is worse, it was found that the staff of the security company who sent the wrong order ignored a warning on the PC screen, since such a warning was very common in daily transactions.

His or her colleagues found the mistake one minute and a half later, but it was too late. The TSE system received it without desired check, and the wrong order was open and accessible by all the traders including many day traders.

People concerned with the financial industry believe the loss incurred by Mizuho Securities could well exceed 30 billion yen (roughly 250 million dollars), because there have not been in fact such a large number of stocks of the recruitment company in the market. The number of the recruitment company’s outstanding shares was and is still merely 14,500.

That was a simple mistake to input two figures into wrong fields: Stock Volume and Unit Price.

This is very akin to applying a method so called selling forward. But, as the above incident tells, it could be a weapon to disrupt economy of a country. If you could successfully place an order of selling 1,000 trillion shares of a very popular company for one dollar, it could trigger a chain of mega confusion.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange, with its recent aggregate market value of 500 trillion yen or more than four trillion dollars, is one of the three most influential money markets in the world, occupying an intermediate position between the New York Stock Exchange (with 13 trillion dollars) and London's City (with three trillion dollars).

But people concerned with TSE seem no to be alerted enough by incidents in September 2001 and July 2005. It is the very thing that has been truly proven.

All I can say for you is “Don’t trust a system until you thoroughly review its codes and operation practices at site by yourself, or don’t trust it at all.”

As for me, I hate to trust figures so called an amount of money.

“DO IT ALL FOR GOD’S GLORY”

Best Gift Intangible, Absolutely

Best Gift Intangible, Absolutely

Ambition might be one of best gifts, especially in the so-called Christmas season.

In 1877, William Smith Clark said, “Boys, be ambitious like this old man!” on his leave from an agricultural school (currently Hokkaido University) in Japan.

He had been invited by then Japanese (Meiji) government, while he was the president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College. He spent only a year in Japan training youth in the northern island Hokkaido, but he has been long respected, literally over centuries beyond the war, by the Japanese people mainly due to his gift, “Boys be ambitious!”　

The next chairman of the Japan Business Federation will be Fujio Mitarai, President & CEO, Canon Inc.

According to Financial Times/ PricewaterhouseCoopers World's Most Respected Companies survey (based on interviews with more than 1,000 respondents who are mainly CEOs across 25 countries), the ranking of World’s Most Respected Business Leaders 2004 was as follows:

1: Bill Gates (Microsoft)
2: Jack Welch (formerly of General Electric)
3: Carlos Ghosn (Nissan)
4: Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)
5: Michael Dell (Dell)
6: Hiroshi Okuda (Toyota)
7: Jeffrey Immeit (General Electric)
8: Carly Fiorina (Hewlett-Packard)
9: Steve Jobs (Apple)
10: Fujio Mitarai (Canon)

Among these top 10s, three figures are from Japan-based companies. And Mr. Okuda is the incumbent chairman of the Japan Business Federation.

So, there might be no wonder that Mr. Mitarai is going to succeed Mr. Okuda to preside over the one of the most powerful organizations, called Keidan-Ren, in Japan.

However, it is unknown as Mr. Miatari was appreciated so high in 2004 globally as well as in America, he is going to be a leader in Japan in 2006.

After all, we had better give children an intangible gift, such as ambition.

If they end up as a business leader who is usually soon forgotten or an educator who has a chance to be commemorated over centuries, it is better than ending up as a wirepuller behind a scam or atrocity.

“HE GIVES GENEROUSLY TO THE NEEDY”

Tariq Aziz and Saddam Hussein to be Alive

Tariq Aziz and Saddam Hussein to be Alive

It was an incident in 1980’s. An innocent Japanese businessman was arrested in Iraq and put into a hopeless prison.

His family and his employer in Japan tried hard to rescue him.

The police of Saddam Hussein’s government accused the businessman of using bribery in order to make a favorable impression on a certain Iraqi official by sending a gift to his daughter hospitalized for a difficult illness.

However, the gift was from pure sympathy and for friendship, which had been beforehand confirmed legally safe by his local colleague who was in question.

Eventually, the family had successfully managed to appeal to then Prime Minister of Japan, Yasuhiro Nakasone, who was regarded as a friend of Ronald Reagan’s, then U.S. President.

And, to cut a long story short, then Japanese foreign minister Shintarou Abe, during his visit to Iraq, asked then Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz to release the innocent businessman. It was just a simple conversation in a car from an airport to Baghdad.

Accordingly, the businessman was released and came back to office in Tokyo, in one piece. He and his wife expressed their thanks to the prime minister in person. And then, the story has been long forgotten, while Mr. Nakasone alone is still active.

I don’t know if this event was carried out all under the gaze of Allah.

However, it is an undeniable fact that both Tariq Aziz and Saddam Hussein are alive though being put under arrest. And I don’t think it is possible unless Allah takes something into His account.

Of course, I am not in a position to inquire of Saddam Hussein as to whether he had been informed of the Japanese businessman to be liberated by Tariq Aziz, on one day in 1980’s.

Anyway Christmas is near. Any emancipation could be a good gift to human beings blindly struggling in this terrible world.

“WE DID NOT GIVE IN TO THEM FOR A MINUTE”

A Story on a Xmas Gift

A Story on a Xmas Gift

Once I heard a story about a poor boy on a street.

He was shouting “Give me a dollar! I will give you back two dollars!”

A poor boy on a street in America was endlessly shouting “Give me one. I will give back to you two.”

Of course, most of citizens would neglect him.

Otherwise, they might hate to see such a poor trick on a street of America.

But, so long as not in conflict with law, we may give him three dollars, saying “One for your reclamation. Two for what you will return to me. So, take three.”

I don’t know if Jesus Christ would be glad with this charity.

Anyhow, Christmas is near.

“WHO KNOWS THE MIND OF THE LORD”

Yes, Demise of Rosa Parks was Reported as They Wished

Yes, Demise of Rosa Parks was Reported as They Wished

For some, it might be interesting to see if the death of Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was informed in Japan. Yes, the news has been informed through media above reproach. As you should know, historically Japan has never brought Africans by force to her territory so as to exploit them as slaves, and thus the news is very remote to the people.

However, it is said that Japanese immigrant workers to the U.S. or the first generation of Japanese Americans a century or more ago were forced to work at a level lower than that occupied by African Americans. They were also put under Chinese emigrants.

But, most importantly, African Americans were very unlucky because they had been deprived of their cultural traditions from the beginning; Chinese immigrants had no well-established mother nation behind them until 1980’s when Deng Xiaoping got control of the Communist Party; but Japan was and has been always there well established and educating the people so as to equip them with higher cultural capability.

Nonetheless, Japanese immigrant workers to the U.S. had been neither taken care of nor expected to be something in America by their mother country, that is, Imperial Japan.

It must be very difficult for African Americans to succeed in America. It should be also difficult for Chinese Americans to achieve something more than establishing their individual positions depending on their talent. However, in this context, Japanese Americans should have, under an ordinary scenario supported by their mother Empire, had a better chance to gain a foothold in America. But Imperial Japan had never had such a scheme as would allow for that kind of scenarios.

Rosa Parks, at her historic moment, could neither be a Japanese American with potential assets nor a Chinese American with worldly wisdom. But she must be truly one of African American Ladies who could wholly resort to the God.

“God Has Shown This World’s Wisdom is Foolishness”

A 9/11 Consideration: Whose Hand’s Writing on the Big Wall in 1945 and 2001 ?

A 9/11 Consideration: Whose Hand’s Writing on the Big Wall in 1945 and 2001 ?

As everyone should know, on July 28, 1945, a B-25 bomber plane hit the 79th floor of the Empire State Building. It killed 14 people in the then tallest skyscraper in New York or the world.

While being informed so, however, nobody thought that it might be a hand-writing on the wall. That is, a hand writing which is telling American people beforehand that something horrible might happen soon somewhere from the sky using American military planes. It was then only Imperial Japan that was continuing war with the U.S. So, now we could interpret it as a sign of coming atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by B29 bombers, which actually happened in August 1945.

Most of learned people, on the last turn of the century, selected the atomic bomb attacks on the Empire of Great Japan by the U.S. military as the most important news or events in the 20th century.

Now, we may wonder whether it was, too, a hand-writing on the wall that the World Trade Center (WTC) towers crumbled after being hit by jet planes, each of which terrorists took control on.

In the summer of 1945, American people were given a very slim chance or too short notice to stop the atrocity on Hiroshima and Nagasaki if they had wished, as the hand-writing was given just days before the attacks.

Now, four years have passed since the destruction of WTC in 2001. We have been given a plenty of time to consider what the new hand-writing on the wall, if allowed to call so, stands for.

Will it be something most of learned people, on the next turn of the century, select as the most important news or events in the 21th century?

What I mean is that I don’t think the collapse of WTC is to be the most important news or events for the 21th century, as with a case of the collision of a B25 bomber with the Empire State Building in July 1945 for the 20th century.

Nonetheless, If, contrary to the nightmare, the kingdom of God should come before the 22nd century, we might be allowed to say that it has turned out to be another kind of omens despite so many (heroic) sacrifices. But, of course, such a kingdom is not tangible.

“AS IT IS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF PROPHETS.”

Kingdom of God is Not Tangible, Proven Again

Kingdom of God is Not Tangible, Proven Again

While many people were enjoying various sports, as it is a season good for sports, a kind of unspeakable crimes were being reported in Japan.

It is provision of flats with insufficient iron-bar reinforcement. A couple of or more builders and contractors are suspected of having ordered their common subcontractor, namely a first-class architect officially qualified, to prepare cooked-up design documents for official inspection which is also a focus of suspicion. As a result, there are now scores of defective condominium buildings and hotels being used or sold while the fact has been hidden. (The total number of multistory apartments in Tokyo Prefecture is said to be about 1.3 million, including all the types and sizes.)

If an earthquake with intensity 5 upper hits the Tokyo area, those buildings are believed to collapse. It means that we will surely have hundreds of innocent casualties due to this fraud, during lifetime of those buildings.

Property companies and contractors concerned did it for the purpose of reducing costs and hence increasing profits.

Now, they are going to build a new skyscraper in New York. The World Trade Center towers that once occupied the place to be used will be surpassed in terms of the height by this Freedom Tower expected to be the world tallest with its height of 1776 ft (541m).

The World Trade Center towers were designed by a Japanese American; but the new skyscraper by a Jewish American, symbolically to some.

In order for the new symbol tower in New York to be constructed and completed safely and securely, they may need a strong audit system as well as peace or complete victory over terror.

“GOD NEVER LIVES IN A BUILDING MAN MADE.”

Thanks Rendered by Catherine to God after Marathon Relay Race Today

Thanks Rendered by Catherine to God after Marathon Relay Race Today

The marathon relay race was recently officially recognized as a legitimate race that could claim the authentic world record and so on.

The whole marathon course is divided in to six sections: 5 kilo meters, 10 Km, 5 Km, 10 Km, 5 Km, and the last 7.195 Km. So, one team needs six athletes.

Today, both the male and female Kenya teams won the race, respectively, hosted by Chiba Prefecture, north of the Tokyo Bay.

The female England team was the seventh, though Paula Radcliffe, despite being in a little difficult conditions, put on a strong spurt in the second section so as to pull up the position of her team from the ninth to the fourth. She later said, in an interview, that she had made a stupid spurt after receiving a sash or a special baton (, which is why she could not bring her team to the third position in the section). It is perhaps because there were a few runners just in front of her, a rare situation for her.

Naoko Takahashi and Mizuki Noguchi, two Olympic gold medalists, did not join the race, but they also played an important role each in the proceeding of the event as well as live national TV broadcast.

Naoko Takahashi said, on TV screen, that she had a dinner with Paula Radcliffe after the Women’s Tokyo Marathon and got her sign on her picture. Naoko Takahashi said, “I will display the picture in my room for commemoration and stimulation.”

Today’s victory of Kenyan female team might be largely ascribed to Catherine Ndereba who took a charge in the fourth section, in terms of fighting spirit. Other five members of her team have been living in Japan for, at least, a few years, learning, working and training.

The second team was Ethiopian, though Elfenesh Alemu did not join the race. They have also some members living in Japan.

Japanese woman team finished the race in the fourth next to the Russian team that, reportedly, had hard training as a team before this competition. The Japanese team could not even set a new record for themselves, though they could overwhelm the Chinese woman team, an Asian record holder since 1998.

But, nobody in huge audience, lining up along the course for 42.195 Km, did not look disappointed at all. The two fastest female marathon runners, Paula and Catherine, satisfied people, though this is not the first time for both of them to join the marathon relay race in Chiba: Paula the second time and Catherine the third time or so.

Paula and Catherine have had good lessons in Japan before or during their remarkable success through races in the world, which is still going on.

What compelled me into reporting today’s race is, however, Catherine’s comments in an interview after the race. In it, she openly rendered thanks to God on TV. Such a comment is rarely heard in Japan.

I think now there is a strong probability of Catherine’s victory in Beijing 2008, though I don’t know how others might show their gratitude to God whose picture no one has.

“AT THE VERY MOMENT THE WOMAN BECAME WELL.”

Until the Tokyo Women's Marathon This Fall

Until the Tokyo Women's Marathon This Fall

She was the best and the number one marathon runner with the gold medal in the Sydney Olympic games in 2000 and the then world record in 2001.

Yes, she was the only Japanese female gold medalist in track and field in Olympic Games. And she was the first female runner in the history who could break the 2-hour, 20-minute time barrier.

Paula Radcliffe, Catherine Ndereba, and Mizuki Noguchi came all after Naoko Takahashi.

Naoko failed to be qualified for entry to 2004 Athens Olympic Games, since she had crossed the finish line in the 2003 Tokyo Female’s Marathon next to the winner Elfenesh Alemu who eventually became the fourth in Athens. It was apparent that Naoko had failed to manage the race, resulting in very common record. So, Japan Association of Athletics Federations chose not to send Naoko to Athens.

However, the gold medal of Female’s Marathon in Athens 2004 was won by another Japanese runner, Mizuki Noguchi who later set the world’s third fastest record, next to that of Paula and Catherine.

Naoko’s bad luck continued with physical injuries, minor but critical for a race, as well as some management problems until the Tokyo Women's Marathon in the fall of 2005. She has won this race, risking her career as an athlete, conquering another minor physical injury, putting on a good spurt and leaving Elfenesh this time well behind.

Put simply, we saw deplorable commercialism rampaging around her during her glorious days. We were afraid that too much commercialism might spoil the good-natured female runner. Moreover, it is said that there had been a plan to have her run for national election some time.

It is still unknown, of course, who will win this competition in Beijin in 2008. Africans are superb, Europeans are excellent, but Japanese girls have at least won the gold medals in last two consecutive competitions, each in Sydney and Athens.

5.6 Giga-Bits Per Second

5.6 Giga-Bits Per Second

They announced, on November 17, that they succeeded in transmitting data at the rate of 5.6 giga-bits per second over the distance of about 36,000 Km.

This is, as of now, the world record.

A Japanese team, consisting of researchers of the University of Tokyo and other R&D bodies, surpassed the former world record the California Institute of Technology attained this January.

The technical trial was conducted with the next generation Internet protocol IPv6.

Everybody using the Internet might be concerned with this report, or you may continue to use the Internet without knowing the world record on it.

There are many things on which Japan is not No.1 in the world.

Nonetheless, if any country has such a world record, Japan appreciate efforts and endeavors the people of the country have made.

Especially, Japan does so, when such a country does not have any original Western cultural or religious traditions as are observed in the U.S.

So, we hope that someday a team of Iraq or Afghanistan might establish another world record, for example, in the field of Internet transmission performance. They should not abuse human resources in any way, including acts of terror.

“BEST OF ALL, HOWEVER, IS THE FOLLOWING WAY: LOVE.”

He Did Not Fall !

He Did Not Fall !

President Bush presented prime minister Koizumi with a Segway, encouraging the prime minister to get on it and move around in the Japan’s State Guesthouse in Kyoto.

Prime minister Koizumi rode and maneuvered the Segway for one meter distance.

Most importantly, prime minister Koizumi did not fall, in order to please president Bush, whether intentionally or accidentally.

Anyway, it is an American who invented the intelligent, personal, and stand-up scooter, but not anyone in poor countries, like Afghanistan, who could have made his country richer with this invention.

“HE BOUGHT YOU FOR A PRICE.”

Her Right Leg was Lost !

Her Right Leg was Lost !

In an advertising edition of the Mainichi Shimbun Newspaper, a picture of a five years old girl sitting on a chair was displayed.

Her right leg was lost due to the great earthquake that recently hit northern Pakistan.

When a cameraman tried to take her picture, she moved the hand to her clothing over the legs to make herself ready. Then she discovered again that her leg had gone and cried.

Later, I remembered a scene of a picture filmed or produced by an Afghan lady, which featured Kandahar. In the scene, many artificial legs were falling from the sky. There were and are still many mines and victims in Afghanistan. And some international body was, reportely, distributing artificial legs there.

There have been some coincidences, concerning the region, too significant to neglect. Al Qaeda has been somewhere around it. Coalition forces have been operating near there. Pakistan has been a focus of international analyses in terms of nuclear issues, border issues as well as terrorist issues.

As the God of those victims, including the said girl, is Allah, I hope that Allah let mercy fall on the ground of those devastated areas.

If your God is Jesus Christ, I hope that Jesus Christ let mercy fall on the ground of those devastated areas.

“Jesus, the Light of the World.”

Bhutan, Maldives, and Afghanistan to be Appraised

Bhutan, Maldives, and Afghanistan to be Appraised　

In 1977, the Conference on International Economic Cooperation was held in Paris. Japan pledged to double its Official Development Assistance (ODA) in five years, at the conference table.

Now, in terms of ratios of contributions from major countries to the United Nations, Japan accounts for 19.5%, China accounts for 2.1%, and Germany accounts for 8.7%.

The United States of America accounts for 22.0%.

On the other hand, as for the ratio of Gross National Income (GNI) of each country in the world total, Japan accounts for 11.8%, China accounts for 4.2%, and Germany accounts for 6.2%.

The United States of America accounts for 30.5%.

Japan’s contribution to other world cooperative organizations, such as UNESCO, is almost and invariably 20% or so to the total of each organization’s receipt.

Japan’s overseas aids have been mainly directed to other Asian countries, including China. However, those Asian countries, this summer, blocked Japan’s intension to take up a post as a new permanent member of the Security Council. China led by Chinese Communist Party played a major role in these international machinations.

Nonetheless, there are exceptions: Kingdom of Bhutan, Republic of Maldives, and Afghanistan supported a resolution Japan and other G4 countries proposed for reforming the United Nations. If it had been adopted, new permanent memberships of the Security Council should have been assured for Japan, Germany, India, and Brazil.

And the world must be at least getting safer.

“I WOULD REBUILD ITS RUINS AND MAKE IT STRONG AGAIN.”

A Little Local News Far from Paris

A Little Local News Far from Paris

Boys were playing baseball in playground of an elementary school.
Somebody hit a ball high and far, which hit a car.
The owner of the car happened to be a member of gangsters.

So, some staff member of the city office and its education board got in charge of settling disputes over the car damage.

Negotiations were held in a room of the education board as well as in a house of the car owner, a member of gangsters.

In each occasion of this difficult negotiation, a member of a right-wing but minor political body was present to support the car owner, a member of gangsters.

Anyhow, an agreement was reached by both the party. The deal was done.

But, later, it was found that a staff member of the city office paid 100,000 yen to the member of a right-wing political body when a meeting was held in a house of the car owner, a member of gangsters.

Citizens were surprised at and got angry with such antisocial act of the municipal worker, namely, paying unjustifiable money to the member of a right-wing political body. It is because it is well known that being a member of a right-wing political body means usually living on violence, threat, and intimidation to ordinary people and businesses.

The municipal worker said that the money, 100,000 yen or roughly US$1000, was not from a city budget but at his own expense.

Even in Japan, this kind of deplorable things could happen. Then what atrocity would happen in Paris?

“WHEN I AM WEAK, I AM STRONGER.”

Little Known Fact between Iraq and Japan

Little Known Fact between Iraq and Japan

This is another fact Americans will never know, perhaps, forever.

In a negotiation recently conducted between Iraq and Japan, Japan agreed to discharge Iraq from most of debts it owes to Japan.

Specifically Japan is to abandon 80 percent of its receivable, including delay damages, which totally amounts to $7.3 billion.

In December 2004, the U.S. agreed to provide full debt forgiveness for Iraq, the total amount of which was $4.1 billion.

We know that the U.S. military suffers 2000 dead in Iraq. No wealth can compensate it.

What we are worried about is that Americans might eventually wonder, not in serenity, what Iraq and Japan are doing nowadays while Japan is an allied partner by treaty.

"YOU WILL SEE MUCH GREATER THINGS THAN THIS !"

The Pearl Harbor Attacks and The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks on a Sheet

The Pearl Harbor Attacks and The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks on a Sheet

In an appendix portion of a Sunday version of the Mainichi Suimbun newspaper, I found interesting comments by two Japanese; each traveled to America recently and a few years ago, respectively.

One to the Pearl Harbor for sight seeing or coverage for his series of essay. Another to New York for supervising his show in Broadway in 2001.

At the Pearl harbor memorial site, the author met a Japanese professional cameraman who told that Americans had changed since September 11, 2001. Many Americans have come to visit the memorial site. The author dropped in a bookshop where a video featuring WWII veterans was played. He saw an old man telling that the memorial site was the place to communicate not in a formal manner but as a human being to a human being.

Later, when the author tried to enter a certain hall, he was surprised at finding the very person in the video now being in charge of guiding him into the inside. The old veteran has been practicing his philosophy, while undoubtedly he can discern a Japanese from other races.

In another comment, a famous, Japanese stage director wrote that he got a call, in a hotel room, from an American manager in the morning of the first day of his show in New York. It was a week after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. The American manager wanted to get consent from the stage director on marginally changing a sequence of the show. It is for players to sing the God Bless America on the stage.

The Japanese stage director didn’t like such an idea that the concept of God is bound by any interests of a certain country, in this case the United States of America. God is universal, but the U.S. is not. However, the manager’s idea was adopted and players sang the God Bless America. 　

On a sheet of a Japanese newspaper, two topics were offered this way, side by side. The Pearl Harbor attacks and the 9/11 terrorist attacks seem to be yet remembered all through the 21st century in some way of comparison. No Japanese find any similarity, between the two attack incidents, that is against Japan's honor. And, I hope that it prevails among Americans, too.

“AND THIS WAS HOW WE ALL GOT SAFELY ASHORE.”

Remember Pearl Harbor, Remember Fuchida, and Remember DeShazer

Remember Pearl Harbor, Remember Fuchida, and Remember DeShazer

In the summer of 2001, the movie “Pearl Harbor” was screened here and there. It was interesting in that it also featured the "Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.”

However, I was disappointed to see that American paradigm on “Remember Pearl Harbor” did not change favorably to peace of the world, even in the summer of 2001. And, some others might feel very uncomfortable seeing that.

And then the Al Qaede’s attacks on American civilians and Pentagon were reported at the beginning of autumn of 2001.

To our astonishment, they associated the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 with the Pearl Harbor military attacks in 1941.

In first place, the phrase “Remember Pearl Harbor” should mean a misstep or an omission of then President Roosevelt because he neglected a need to have informed American citizens that a war was so near and imminent due to his administration’s strategy to drive the Imperial Japan into a corner where she had no choice but surrender without fight or war without hope.

Japanese pilots were ordered to destroy American navy and army facilities in Hawaii but not to intentionally kill American citizens, just like American soldiers now in Iraq and Afghanistan being ordered so. The attacks were intended to inform American people that if their government continued to drive so unfairly Imperial Japan to a corner, they had to suffer a fierce war she tried to proclaim just in time, however, unfortunately in vain. And, this is the last chance to resume negotiations on restoration of sound relationships between Imperial Japan and the United States that is expected to take this message in earnest now that their past policy brought destruction on the military bases in Hawaii.

But, this naïve anticipation with an irresponsible strategy was completely betrayed. In first place, Imperial Japan had been allied with Nazis Germany that killed six million innocent Jews. Moreover, Imperial Japan had long interfered in civil wars in China, mainly, between the Communist Party and the Nationalist Party, deciding that she had take on control of the long-plagued mainland China after all.

The atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima in 1945 was intentionally aimed at killing Japanese civilians, which could not balance with pure military operation against the opposite military in the Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The Pacific War ended long time ago. And now, Japan and the U.S. have been maintaining reasonably sound relationships, owing to so many victims some of whom on Japan’s side have been enshrined in that famous and controversial Yasukuni Shrine of the Shinto religion in Tokyo.

Navy Commander Fuchida who had led the entire air squadrons from aircraft carriers to the Pearl Harbor in 1941 converted to Christianity after the war. It is because he met with and was highly moved by former U.S. bombardier DeShazer who had participated in the Doolittle Air Raid on Tokyo in 1942 which had been conducted as a heroic retaliation to the Pearl Habor attack as depicted in the movie.

When former navy captain Fuchida met Jacob DeShazer, Mr. DeShazer was working as a missionary in Tokyo since he had been freed from a state of prisoner of war follwoing unconditional surrender of the Empire of Japan.

To our astonishment, Mr. Fuchida also became a Chiristian missionary in Japan and further traveled to the United Sates preaching there for several years.

Coming back to Japan, Mitsuo Fuchida died in peace at age 74 in 1976 in his home town in Nara Prefecture.

Can we expect any such story from the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Anyhow, the two “surprise attacks” are so different as Islam and Shinto-ism are. Nonetheless, eventually there might appear such hidden heroes even when the war on terror ends.

“FOR HE WHO IS LEAST AMONG YOU WILL BE THE GREATEST.”

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

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

EPISODE X of Panasonic with a joke on Sony

EPISODE X of Panasonic with a joke on Sony

There is a joke about Sony. One day somebody in Japan came to think that most Americans should think that Sony was originally founded in the U.S. by a certain American. So, a crew of TV reporters and staff members flew to American and asked people there what nationality they think Sony Headquarters has. One jogger, a young lady, answered “American” and ran away, while smiling at and hinting to the crew that she knew it is "Japanese" just like the crew is. So, they gave up and came back to Japan to report it as was.

In Japan, Matsushita, known by its logo “Panasonic,” is regarded as a rival company to Sony.

The founder of Matsushita conglomerate was a unique person. Even while he was alive and active in business, business people called him “a god of sale and management.”

One day when Kounosuke Matsushita, who had established his first Matsushita company in 1918, was traveling by super-express train from Tokyo to Osaka where its headquarters is located, he happened to sit next to a person who said that he had come back from America recently.

The person said that he had learnt a lot in Harvard Business School. So, he went on explaining various modern economic theories to this prominent business leader.

When the Shinkansen express train arrived at Osaka, Mr. Matsushita, as a strict grader, said coolly to the proud person, “After all, what you have learnt is do it smart" and left him without offering anything.

This story was recently introduced in a booklet a research body founded by Mr. Matsushita issues periodically.

The Matsushita conglomerate has 20,000 employees in the U.S. There might be some who learnt a lot in Harvard Business School. So, this episode might be interesting to them.

The late Matsushita also founded a special institution aimed at fostering politicians. One graduate of this institute was selected by vote as new leader of the largest party in opposition in its plenary meeting consisting of all the National Diet members of the party, which was held after defeat in September 11’s election.

As Harvard Business School is not appreciated by some top executives, such an institute for fostering politicians, especially founded by a business tycoon, might not be appreciated.

But, of course, in a despotic state like former Iraq, the Soviet Union, and present China, such an institute for fostering politicians must be a must.

“YOU MUST WIN YOUR CASE WHEN YOU ARE TRIED.”

Tsunami Lessons in 1964 and 2004

Tsunami Lessons in 1964 and 2004 for Reconciliation

On March 28, 1964, an earthquake occurred in Alaska. It caused a Pacific-wide tsunami that took the lives of more than 122 people. In May of the year, PLO was founded in Palestine; in August, the Ton Kin Gulf incident occurred in North Vietnam; and the summer Olympic Games were held in Tokyo, Japan.

In a sense, the tsunami in 1964 looks like having given a special sign of the age.

Apart from the cold war against the Soviet Union, the U.S. had had to take on three major international issues for decades since then: the Middle East issue, the Viet Nam War, and the competition against emerging Japanese economy.

All these tree elements of the challenge the U.S. would have had to face had emerged clearly after the tsunami in Alaska.

Now, Chairman Arafat was gone, the unified Viet Nam was trying to be friendly, and Japan is well cooperating with the U.S. in the war on terror proceeding in the oil-rich Middle East.

In October of 1964, as Tokyo Olympic games started, a new super-express train “Shinkansen” was commercially introduced in Japan. It ran at 200Km/h then, though nowadays it runs at 300Km/h or 187 miles per hour.

To operate this then-most-advanced railroad system, they needed not only hardware but also software which should run on an IBM general-purpose computer available in that age.

U.S. engineers in those days did not expect Japanese engineers to write codes, by their own ability, necessary to control the bullet train. But, they succeeded in making programs, which put U.S. engineers on alert. And, in America, one technical periodical featured an article titled “Tsunami” in which they discussed how threatening the ability of Japanese engineers was in terms of computer technology competition.

Though two countries are still severely competing in the field of supercomputers, neither Japan-originated OS nor Japanese-originated processors have become a mainstream of the global industry just like its language.

In 2004, the great tsunami occurred near Sumatra Island in the Indian Ocean.

However, I have not heard of any article, with a title of “Tsunami,” being issued in these days, to my and Indian’s relief.

But, it is interesting to know that Indians are now making big success in computer-related jobs in the U.S. They account for 30 percent of NASA engineers, 40 percent of Microsoft Company engineers, 28 percent of IBM engineers, 17 percent of Intel engineers, and 13 percent of Xerox engineers.

The U.S. might learn a lesson from the tsunami in 1964, and they might be handling the similar case more conciliatorily in 2004 and up to this day.

This is an example of tsunami lessons. But still we may have to argue about earthquake lessons as well as hurricane lessons, if God wishes.

“JESUS CALLS FOUR FISHERMEN.”

Around the Fourth Anniversary of September 11

They are the things that could happen once in decades. But why should they occur in these days?

The hurricanes that recently hit the coastal area of the Gulf of Mexico looked focusing on energy industry there rather than poor people in New Orleans. The U.S. President is known to have a strong tie with the industry.

The great earthquake that recently hit the northern territory of Pakistan looked as if focusing on hideouts of international terrorists rather than poor people in Kashmir. Usama BinLaden escaped US attacks and is believed to hide somewhere in the boarder area between Afghanistan and Pakistan or near Kashmir.

It must be truly a rare phenomenon that two big hurricanes, each with a significant magnitude, attacked the adjacent areas in a series within a short time span. It could happen once in decades; but why must it come about around the fourth anniversary of September 11 since 2001?

The recent earthquakes that hit Turkey, Iran, and West India might be ominous for the Great North Pakistan Earthquake as well as the Great Sumatra Tsunami, all of which were caused by the Indian Ocean Plate moving northward against the Eurasian Continent in a time span of millions of years. But why should they happen in the era of conflicts between terrorists from Islamic states and nations of the Christian world?

We have to do our best to save, help, and support victims. But, after all, we have to learn lessons.

Turkey has been trying hard to join EU, a sort of materially blessed countries club, while its neighbors, including Kurds, are suffering violence. Iran is trying hard to be equipped with nuclear weapons, while its neighbors, including Kurds and Afghans, are suffering violence. India is armed with nuclear arsenals, while fighting against Pakistan for so long. Indonesia is full of insurgencies, including Bali bombings. And, Pakistan, armed with nuclear arsenals and being responsible for situations in Afghanistan, seems apparently full of serious problems in terms of international terrorists who are highly suspected of having supervised after-9/11 bombings in Madrid, London, the Sinai Peninsula, and Bali Island.

On the other hand, the U.S. is too rich and too much armed with nuclear capability.

It is a big disappointment if the God is not concerned with the situation of the present world as above described.

But, if those natural calamities are the only answer we could get, it is horrible and I have to think of my sins so far committed here and there in these years, though I have nothing to do with nuclear weapons.

Anyhow, the God is Almighty who gives and takes away human lives as He wishes. (Everybody’s life belongs to the God, though his/her will and emotion might belong to the person.)

So, at least, I urge those nations and possible terrorists to abandon or abolish atomic bombs, if they have been trying hard to obtain and keep them.

“WHAT I TEACH YOU IS NOT MY TEACHING, BUT OF GOD, WHO SENT ME.”

With Love to Moscow and Saint Petersburg for the Summer of 2005

With Love to Moscow and Saint Petersburg for the Summer of 2005

This summer an old Japanese lady went to Russia for sight-seeing.

Then, after coming back to Japan, she wrote a letter to editorial of a certain newspaper.

She met very kind people in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. People in these cities kindly helped this Japanese lady in her 70’s in a subway train as well as in a museum. She was so moved inside that she ventured to inform the Japanese public of her happy experiences in Russia,

Russia, generally speaking, is not regarded as a friend of Japan. Russia still occupies four islands located in the north of Hokkaido faced with the Sea of Okhotsk and the North Pacific Ocean. The Soviet Union invaded those islands just after the end of WWII. Japan has been protesting against their occupation.

To understand the history of Far East and relationships between Japan and China as well as North Korea, you must learn relationship between Japan and Russia.

But, of course, there are some, among the Japanese, that love Russian culture and really long to see famous Russian works of art on site.

So, she went there, got satisfied, and what’s more, found people there to be pleasantly kind to her.

Now, we know that there are nice people in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. And we are very thankful to them for their kindness to an old lady from Japan.

Moreover, I am hoping that there will absolutely be no natural disasters in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

So, let’s be kind to any old ladies coming to our or your city with good wishes, in order to avoid any natural tragedies, including an earthquake and a hurricane, and show our reverence for the God.

“HAPPY IS THE PERSON WHOSE SINS THE LORD WILL NOT KEEP ACCOUNT OF !”

Civil War, War on Terror, and New Orleans

Civil War, War on Terror, and New Orleans

What does the God say about natural disasters?

You don’t have to ask this question of any other persons who might happen to call themselves priest, reverend, or father. You are as great as those so titled or as bad as those with such a title. While the God has created you as a complete human being who can, and must, directly obey and listen to the God, if you give such an honor to those with such a man-made title, it is tantamount to downright rudeness to the God. As the God loves you, He gives you the honor of asking or listening to the God, which you should respect.

In this sense, the religion Islam seems to be better than Christianity. And, as there is no such a thing as Pope, traditionally a friend of the rich rather than the poor, in Judaism, the Jewish religion might be also better.

It is logical consequence, but still you can be a nice person while loving the Pope or a priest as your neighbor; but don’t forget to love the God more.

However, there is one greatness in American Christianity, which has been supported by African Americans for so long.

If a slave being treated very badly even to his death still believes in the same religion as the one his master believes in, it can be a true one. And, after emancipation, if they still believe in the religion, it is better.

Today, African Americans are given freedom to say anything about religion. They can say that Christianity is wrong because it had been the religion of those who once abused slaves in the Southern States. But, they don’t say so, at least a majority of them don’t.

It is the Civil War that gave great belief to African Americans. In the war, so many European American soldiers each died a terrible death because of their abusing African Americans, in a religious interpretation. Yes, this is just one (but not only) religious interpretation of the Civil War, and yours might be very different as with that concerned with 9/11. But, it also gives the answer to a question why African Americans still believe in the same religion as the one European Americans do. The God showed justice being done for African Americans in the great Civil War in the era of Abraham Lincoln.

Wars are not, generally speaking, regarded as Act of God.

But, what about Act of God, for example, that recently came to New Orleans?

Did it give belief to anybody? Did it strengthen belief of anybody? Did it foster belief of anybody, like the Civil War in 1980’s?

In ancient days, so many natural disasters caused so much belief in human beings. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all related to this fact.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 led to erosion in FEMA, which caused this tragedy in New Orleans. This sequence is still going on. It is just like the history where the war against Imperial Japan had led to the Korean War and the Vietnam War later.

The sequence might stop somewhere if many God-loving people come to their right sense.

Anyhow, the God seems to have chosen New Orleans, a city of African Americans, to tell the world his concern about the war on terror, even sacrificing many lives of God-loving people there. (In addition, a lot of Muslims are being killed nowadays in Iraq under the God’s gaze, which might be your concern.)

“WHOEVER WANTS TO BOAST MUST BOAST OF WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE.”

Act of God, Yes, It Is

Act of God, Yes, It Is

Everybody in the world has watched the tragedy the hurricane brought on New Orleans.

You cannot bring human justice to the God, or the God to human justice, no matter how badly you are damaged by act of God. It is because it is the God that gives life to, and take life from, a human soul. In this context, truly there is no such a thing as human tragedy in Heaven.

As President Bush put, this is the fourth September 11 since 2001. And the time is passing.

But if the devastating hurricane had come one year earlier in September, would Mr. Bush have been reelected for his second term? Then, you might see something like a divine plan in this sequence.

In Japan, September 11’s general election gave a big surprise to the people. Prime Minister Koizumi won an overwhelming victory with his party and an allied party combined taking two thirds of the lower house of the national assembly. He was supported by a majority of voters, while the U.S. president seems to be loosing his ground.

A kind of paradigm change occurred after 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Very many Americans began to show the flag everywhere. And, the change led to the War on Terror.

Now, the 9/11 election result in Japan and the hurricane tragedy in the U.S. must lead to another paradigm change, respectively.

It may result in respect for initiative by a people-loving leader, or respect for poor people in the world’s richest and strongest country.

“DO NOT BE STUBBORN LIKE YOUR ANCESTORS.”

September 11 Election in Japan

September 11 Election in Japan

This year, 2005, September 11 will be a big day in Japan. General election is scheduled on the day. It is a result of September 11 2001’s attacks on America.

Or more directly, it is a result of July 7 2005’s attacks in London.

Japanese prime minister was attending G8 Summit when bombs blasted in the tube underground subway systems in London. The attacks were apparently planned to coincide with the Summit meeting being held in Scotland. They also seemed to be aimed at the prime minister of the U.K. Later the British prime minister made clear that he would not seek another term of office and also eventually resign as a parliament member.

Japanese prime minister observed all these incidents and shocks expressed by other world leaders. The U.S. President looked very alarmed there, too.

Just before the Japanese prime minister left for the G8 summit, bills for privatization of postal service narrowly passed the lower house of the Diet, Japanese national assembly. So he could save his face in the summit. But, when he came back to Japan, his bills were rejected in the upper house of the Diet due to factional insurgence in his party.

Logically, as the bills on which his cause of being a prime minister relies were rejected, he had to resign as prime minister. These bills embody his public promise and take a crucial position in his political career.

There have been some strong politicians in the Liberal Democratic Party who are against the prime minister. They seemed to offer a decisive challenge to the prime minister this time by voting against the bills. So, logically the prime minister should have announced his resignation, since he could not even get parliamentary approval on the bills he committed himself so much on. But, instead, he dissolved the Lower House, partly because no snap election is possible with the Upper House.

I sense something extraordinary behind his determination. Politically he was under attack just like the British prime minister. He must know that he was targeted. There are three choices for him to take: resignation, compromise and continuation of his administration, or election fight. His choice was the last one without hesitation just like the U.S. president in September 2001 having no choice but act as the commander in chief of the U.S. military.

The sequence is like this: 9/11 terror attacks, 7/7 terror attacks, and 9/11 general election.

If the incumbent prime minister of Japan is defeated in the coming election, troops of Japanese Self-Defense Force stationed in Iraq for humanitarian aids will be withdrawn this December. If he wins, the troops will most probably remain until the U.S. government turns down its request for anti-terror cooperation in Iraq.

Four years prior to 2001, that is, September 11, 1997, the government of Iraq at the time submitted to the United Nations documents fully disclosing the details of its past biological weapons program.

In 1997, Usama Bin Laden accepted an interview by CNN, telling that his followers attacked U.S. troops in Somalia in 1993 which is four years prior to 1997.

Everything can be regarded as coincidence including one’s own birth, but there is a kind of undeniable quasi-periodic trait in human activities and movements. Sometimes it can be four years, as is described above.

“DO YOU BELIEVE THAT I CAN HEAL YOU ?”

August 6, 1945 High on Hiroshima

August 6, 1945 High on Hiroshima

A Japanese reporter somewhere in Afghanistan or Pakistan, or at the border between the two countries, was approached to by a local man. The reporter was asked if he would be interested in buying nuclear material. The local guy said there was some reserve of material to be used for a nuclear weapon or some dirty bomb.

As the Japanese reporter declined the offer, the local business man, of whatsoever kind, offered another item, a statute of Buddha, a kind being lost, discovered, and hidden somewhere. Naturally, the Japanese reporter got embarrassed.

It might be a just common incident on a dusty road running through a shanty, makeshift, war-torn town with many people looking like refugees, smugglers, relatives of Mujahadeens, peddlers, spies, or local mad men.

This August 6 is the Hiroshima day in Japan. There are usually some TV programs focused on the atomic-bomb attack on Hiroshima by U.S. Air Force in 1945.

This year, in one TV program, they invited an ex-US air soldier who had been on board of a B-29 bomber attacking Hiroshima and taken that famous atomic-bomb cloud picture generated just after explosion.

The American said in a sense that the Hiroshima attack was balanced with “Remember Pearl Harbor.”

I suppose that every terrorist in the world knows that once atomic bombs were actually used in a real war. And, the first case was done in Hiroshima, a then-military city located in western Japan.

Today, there is a nice war-memorial museum in Hiroshima. Before any terrorists decide to resort to nuclear weapons, they should come to Hiroshima to visit the museum. Not after the attack, like an American, but they should come before.

(Source of Information: The Asahi Shimbun newspaper)

“LET MY PEOPLE LIVE IN PEACE.”

Japan, France, Pakistan and Who?

A nightmare about terror is a nuclear-bomb attack by a truly-crazy terrorist.

If it happens, Japan might be linked with the origin of Plutonium to be abused.

It is well known that Japan relies on France for fuel reprocessing. Nuclear fuels used in Japanese atomic reactors are sent to a French company for reprocessing. The French company is also known for its indiscriminate handling of nuclear fuels for use of private power generation as well as military weapons.

The French company has a strong tie with other European companies dealing with nuclear fuels and weapons. One of them is a former employer of the famous Pakistani physicist who has been a focus of international investigation of illegal leakage of atomic bomb information.

Once, Germany also had contracts with the French company for fuel reprocessing. But, since Germany decided to stop its nuclear energy program, Japan has been a major client to the French company.

Therefore, if not only information on a nuclear bomb but also nuclear materials are leaked, the materials are most likely of Japanese origin.

But, now, China has a plan to rapidly increase the number of its nuclear power plants. Soon, it will have 30 plus new atomic power stations. France is involved in China’s nuclear energy programs, too.

Nothing is clear in this entangled, global nuclear business networks. But, one thing sure is that Japan has no intention to have nuclear weapons. Japan is not proud of having conquered tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but it knows that no people can keep themselves sane if they are so victimized.

This is the time for people to talk about the degree of madness of terror and arrogance of rich people enjoying wealth their lucrative nuclear business has produced so far.

“I AM THE LOARD AND I DO NOT CHANGE.”

Japan, Madrid, London, and Pakistan

A big train accident occurred in Pakistan, killing more than 100 passengers. It took place after the terror attacks in London. In April, a big train accident occurred in Amagasaki City located in western Japan, killing more than 100 commuters. It had taken place before the terror attacks in London.

There is, of course, no relevancy; they were just accidentally related to rail road. However, when Spain suffered from a terror attack on its train system last spring, we were very much alerted, wondered, and waited. Then this spring, the unbelievable accident occurred in Japan, smashing a train to an angled wall of a residential compound.

Yes, we were surprised, but the imaginary linkage between the Spain’s terror attack on trains and Japan’s train accident seemed very vague. Nonetheless, we were wondering if it was foretelling another terrible terror attack on trains somewhere in Europe or America.

Then, everything became clear when London was hit by four suicide-bomb-attackers. And, Pakistan’s train accident seemed to be decisive, since those terrorists in London were strongly linked with Pakistan.

Why, however, you might wonder, would the God give a warning especially to Japan in this context and in terms of terrorist attacks on trains? In 1995, a Japanese cult conducted attacks in Tokyo subway systems, using sarin gas and killing 11 people and injuring thousands of commuters. This incident gave a great shock to experts in this field all over the world.

Well, long before September 11, 2001, Japan had learned what such an attack in a large scale could be.

Many Japanese then also got shocked and some really repent their daily deeds in pursuit of selfish interests and profits.

Maybe, the God who observed it had a feeling to give a warning to some Japanese in terms of a similar kind of attacks somewhere in the world. If you doubt it, you should ask the God Almighty.

“HE THANKED GOD AND WAS GREATLY ENCOURAGED.”

It Began in Babylonia (currently sothern Iraq)

It Began in Babylonia (currently sothern Iraq)

In 2002, a Japanese professor of the University of Tokyo calculated pi (the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter) to 1.24 trillion decimal points using a Japanese supercomputer, which is of course extremely remarkable.

In 2005, a Japanese psychiatric counselor has recited pi to 83,432 decimal points, speaking from his memory, which is also globally remarkable.

In the 17th century, when Isaac Newton calculated pi to 16 decimal points, a Japanese mathematician and samurai Takakazu Seki also calculated pi to 16 decimal points independently in Japan.

Seki’s disciple Katahiro Tatebe calculated pi to 41 decimal points in 1722, which was reported in his book where he also presented (arcsin x) * (arcsin x) in a series presentation which was regrettably recorded as and has been believed today to be Euler’s discovery in 1737 in Europe.

There is surely a reason why Seki and Tatebe could show such expertise in then most worldly advanced mathematical skills. Though Japan had closed its door to the outer world from the early 17th century to the middle of the 19th century, part of Western science was introduced to Japan by some Westerners, especially Jesuit priests who had risked their lives to enter Japan and preach the gospel. Their missions were mostly blocked and eradicated by a samurai regime but their knowledge of European science was secretly respected.

Therefore, long before Japan opened its door to the world in 1868, it had already reached a high level of modern mathematics, at least, in terms of practical calculation even in the field of differential and integral calculus. In addition, a handy manual calculator, an abacus, was a very common tool among ordinary people in Japan since 17th century.

After Japan's opening the country, many Western professors were hired by Japanese government doing its best to catch up with Western civilization. Some professors taught Japanese students the theory of differential and integral calculus. They found that the theory seemed to be somehow new to their Japanese students but the students could calculate equations and produce right answers based on their traditional mathematical skill.

So, it is no wonder that Japanese mathematicians had contributed much to the solution of Fermat's last theorem (X^n + Y^n = Z^n; X = Y = Z = 0 if n >2), which was achieved by the English man Andrew Wiles in 1995.

(Still other Japanese mathematicians made significant contributions to understanding one of the most important problems of the last 300 years: the proof of Fermat's last theorem. In this endeavor, Yutaka Taniyama and Goro Shimura helped lay the groundwork that led to Andrew Wiles's (1953- ) 1994 proof of the validity of Fermat's last theorem. The Shimura-Taniyama conjecture, which describes the relationship between certain families of curves, proved key to solving this theorem.http://www.bookrags.com/research/the-contributions-of-japanese-mathe-scit-07123/)

However, the issue here is Pythagoras. Whose famous theory has been traditionally a key to obtaining a series expression of arctan x, a key function to calculate pi (= 4 * (1 – 1/3 + 1/5 – 1/7..) ).

Pi is a transcendental. This number cannot be expressed in the form of M/N using two integers. Also, the number x that satisfies the equation x * x = 2 is a transcendental.

In the age of Buddha, Confucius, and ancient Jew’s Babylonian captivity, such number as the square root of two was hard to comprehend. Pythagoras who loved integers so much was very unhappy to know existence of the type of numbers; thus he made it a secret kept only to his sect.

It is said that one of Pythagoras’ disciples who made public the existence of the transcendental was put to death by the sect. It is also said that Pythagoras himself was later excused by opponents to his sect.

It is a story of 2500 years ago. But, even today, some powerful people who love super-integers so much might try to make secret the very existence of a super- transcendental in any fields. For example, a leader of one religious sect might find such a thing in other religions, but he might be very unhappy. He might rather prefer to make it secret, which might create dangerous prejudice even in the 21st century.

Ancient Babylonians were great in that they left the oldest record of a value of pi, though there is a theory that very ancient Romans had recorded it prior to Babylonians’. In BC2000 or so, Babylonians found that pi = 25/8 = 3.125, while Egyptians found that pi = 256/81 = 3.1605. Their offspring should be treated more respectfully if our civilization still relies on pi.

There is long history in anything valuable. And you cannot make it secret. You had better recite it from memory to show your love to the transcendent existence of the Creator of Universe.



“CONQUARE EVIL WITH GOOD.”

As they didn’t know the world is a globe

A Japanese female reporter visited an event in California this March. The exhibition showed some materials related to atomic-bomb disasters in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

She met two Hispanic ladies in a hall of the exhibition. The two ladies were reading a piece of materials which were related to the Nagasaki atomic-bomb attack. So, the reporter wanted to know what the two ladies thought about it. But, she was astonished to be conversely asked by them about what Nagasaki and an atomic bomb meant.

This experience led to her quest of a lost report on Nagasaki that had been prepared by George Weller but rejected to be published by the Allied Headquarters stationed in Tokyo after the surrender of the Empire of Japan.

In Japan, it is said that nowadays there are some young people who do not know that Japan and the U.S. fought against each other in WWII. And even they do not know which side had won.

In April 1975, the Pol Pot faction occupied the capital of Cambodia. They were expelled out of Phnum Penh in January 1979 by Vietnamese forces and their Cambodian allies, but the faction is said to have killed one million people among eight million population of Cambodia during its occupation.

Once, a Japanese young man who had visited Cambodia and met Pol Pot soldiers wrote that when he happened to tell them, in a friendly occasion, that the earth is round they made a fool of him. “If the earth is a globe,” the soldiers said, “what becomes of people on the opposite side of the globe?”

This kind of story must be found among Rwandan people who participated in the great massacre in 1994 sacrificing almost million people, Chinese people who participated in the Great Culture Revolution in late 1960’s and early 70’s causing millions of victims, and German people who could not stop the great tragedy of six million Jews under the Hitler’s regime.

In addition, this kind of story might be found among terrorists and insurgents.

But, contemporary Americans and Japanese do not have any idea about Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as atomic bombs that are something more alarming to humankind.

According to a survey conducted by an organization of high reputation, the blast of an atomic bomb in Hiroshima as well as Nagasaki was chosen as the greatest news in the 20th century by learned persons.

Albert Einstein is one particular human being in the human history in that he changed a view of the universe forever, making Newton’s physics obsolete. He is also known for his letter to US President Roosevelt, recommending development of an atomic bomb to defeat Nazis.

But, it is said that Einstein had not been aware of possibility of chain reaction of atomic fission in Uranium and Plutonium, which made possible the building-up of an atomic bomb, until the theory was explained to him by other physicist who had taken an initiative of promoting the plan.

There are many who are innocent but so ignorant as to be manipulated by others with great knowledge. Even among the highest class of experts, there are some whose tiny lack of information led to a great misjudgment. Mighty weapons would make slim a chance of sincere negotiations.

Of course, those with great knowledge or sufficient information but without good intentions should be responsible if they manipulate others with less information so as to fulfill their personal desires.

Nonetheless, in order to avoid any future tragedy, we should let necessary information prevail among people concerned.

For example, if possible terrorist candidates know that how seven million Muslims are living peacefully in rich society of the U.S., they might reconsider their desperate mission and eventually give it up.

It is true, however, that not only German scientists but also Japanese ones had been studying possibility of creation of an atomic bomb during WWII. But if the Japanese people then had been informed that only the U.S. had scientific and engineering capacity to actually design and produce the bomb, probably Pearl Harbor attack should have been avoided.

It is not too late to provide useful information in good faith to avoid future tragedy probably having influence on millions.

(Source of information: The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper )

“THERE IS MORE HAPPINESS IN GIVING THAN IN RECEIVING.”

Have Dream for Peace

The legend of Normandy Landings in 1944 led to creation of various movies including “Private Ryan” (1998). However, Okinawa Landings in 1945 which are said to have surpassed the scale of US military mobilization for Normandy Landings have rarely become a subject of entertainment.

On March 26, 1945, 548,000 US troops with 1,500 US ships surrounding the Okinawa Islands began landing and invasion to seize the islands equally distanced to Taiwan, Shanghai, and the southern part of Mainland Japan. It took about two months for US military to finish the battle and establish occupation of the Okinawa Island with the longitudinal distance of 60 miles and located some 1000 miles south of Tokyo.

According to certain statistics, the Battle of Okinawa left 22,000 deaths and 26,000 neuropaths among US troops. The Empire of Japan lost about 100,000 soldiers and more than 150,000 Okinawa civilians.

About 2,000 kamikazes (suicide-attack fighter planes) in addition to fierce fighting on the ground put many US soldiers into mental disorder. In fact, US ships were well defended by more advanced weapon, kamikaze planes sank 26 US navy vessels and damaged 368 ships.

Today the U.S. holds many military bases in Okinawa, which are the largest in Asia-Pacific region. Without Okinawa bases, the US military capability would not sufficiently cover the Strait of Taiwan, Korean Peninsula, and channels between Japan and Russia.

Since 1945, there occurred Taiwan-China struggles, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the War on Afghanistan and Iraq. And unfortunately, the US bases in Okinawa with about 28,000 US troops have remained until today.

One of the reasons that the Empire of Japan attacked the Pearl Harbor in 1941 is that then Japanese government thought Japan would have died down sooner or later due to American embargo of oil. Then US government had stopped export of oil and other key products to the Empire of Japan for various reasons, while WWII had already begun in Europe.

After the Perl Harbor attack, the Imperial Forces of Japan advanced down to south and to oil fields in Indonesia colonized by the Netherlands through Malay Peninsula colonized by the U.K. It looks ironical that today new oil fields have been discovered and developed in the East China Sea, Sakhalin Island, Manchuria, and the offshore area of Vietnam.

Of course, if the Empire of Japan had not occupied Korean Peninsula and some part of mainland China, the Pacific War including the Battle of Okinawa could have been avoided.

In 1990, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait over oil field disputes, though Iraq has plenty of oil reserves. It triggered the Gulf War, created situations where Al-Qaeda began to operate, and the US War on Terror.

It is not clear how much one would learn form experiences of a big war. In the Pacific theater of WWII, Richard Nixon, JFK, and George H.W. Bush all participated. Though they were each the supreme commander of US forces in the era of the Cuban Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War, it is interesting how what they learnt during WWII affected their decision in each situation.

In any wat, it is good to have a reluctant commander, no matter how excellent their ability to lead the army is, when a dispute could be resolved through appropriate negotiations over oil.

Yesterday, a ceremony was held in Okinawa to commemorate victims of the Battle of Okinawa. As usual in this kind of ceremony, no arguments over cause of the war were discussed, but people, including Prime Minister attending there, just showed and shared the extreme sorrow and expressed their determination not to make a war again forever.

One Japanese general who fought and died in the Battle of Okinawa sent his last report to the headquarters in Tokyo, asking for special care for residents in Okinawa who had suffered so much and become true victims of the war. He did not mention any tactic or strategic matters except his request that the government should, after the war, take special measures to repay Okinawa people for their extreme sacrifice.

It was still a long way to the end of the war after Okinawa. But, a daughter of the general, after the war, happened to marry an American. In a sense, a dream for peace was realized at least between those who had had such a dream.

Now, the most important thing about Iraq where some Arabs and Americans are fighting, for whatever reasons, seems to be whether there are some who have a dream for peace.


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


APPENDIX. Pictures of the Battle of Okinawa

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/jjtaro_maru/20100713/1278977215

http://okinawa-labrador.seesaa.net/category/1933036-1.html

(The amphibious landing operation on Okinawa Island is of the largest scale in the history as the one using large military ships only, different from the Normandy Landings, dispatched over the Ocean.  The US and the UK navies mobilized total 22 aircraft carriers for the Battle of Okinawa.)

“YES, LET THEM MAKE PEACE WITH ME.”

Another Warning Surfaced from Nagasaki in 1945

Greece is called Hellas; and the nation Japan is called Nippon or Nihon by its people.

Nippon means Sun’s Rising Place, the sound of which changed to “Jipang” in the era of Marco Polo (the 13th century) and finally to “Japan” mostly in the West. But, the old imperial court of Japan has been traditionally called the Yamato Regime, for capitals of ancient Japan were mainly located in the Yamato Area (currently Nara Prefecture south of Kyoto).

When Japan built the world’s largest and strongest battle ship, it was named Yamato. The ship weighed 64,000t and was equipped with the nine 46.0cm battery guns. There were no matching counterparts in the US Navy in 1941 (USS New Jersey 48,000t with nine 40.6cm battery guns) when the Yamato was put into operation.

However, eventually, the Yamato was downed in 1945 during a kind of Kamikaze mission for the battle of Okinawa.

It has been a legendary battle ship, because the Yamato was and will remain to be the world’s largest and strongest battleship forever and ever, since the age of large battleships was gone once and for all during WWII.

The Yamato has been featured many times in various works of Japanese popular art. This year, it is said, another movie featuring the battleship is going to be released.

So, it was not an easy game for the US Navy to sweep away the Imperial Japan’s Navy during WWII. Even when a crew of a US submarine needed an emergency operation for appendicitis, a captain should be well aware of tactical situation.

April 2005, a man who had actually performed this kind of operation under the South China Sea in 1942 died in the U.S. His story was not new, since George Weller on board of the submarine reported it and got awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his work.

However, recently George Weller surfaced again and was focused upon in a Japanese newspaper. It was not for his Prize-winning reporting on the submarine hero but for his long-hidden report on Nagasaki, an atomic-bombed city the writer visited just after the surrender of the Empire of Japan.

Nagasaki, a historic port city known for tradition of Catholicism in Japan since the 16th century, is one of major shipbuilding cities, and it was so during WWII. George Weller came to the city to discover the scale of catastrophes of an atomic bomb. He checked situations in hospitals and recorded symptoms of victims suffering from horrible effect of radioactivity.

His report was sent for permission of publication to the Headquarter of the Allied forces in Tokyo but forbidden to be released. The report was not returned to George Weller and seemed to be lost somewhere. Censorship seemed to be exercised.

After George Weller died in 2002, his son found a copy of the report in Rome where the writer had lived his last days.

It is effect of radioactivity that should be hidden from the public eye. If American people had been alerted on fatal side-effect of an atomic bomb, further development of atomic bombs might have been hindered due to wide public opposition.

If the report had been made public in 1940’s, today’s issue on depleted uranium might have been avoided; and many modern US soldiers might have been relieved from the terrible side-effect.

Recently a very old, former FBI deputy director has also surfaced in the U.S. as a key information source to heroic reporters who pursued the plot linked to then President Nixon. George Weller and the former FBI deputy director seem to belong to the same generation.

The former’s secret was intended to be hidden forever, but the latter’s secret has been revealed by the very person himself 30 years after the notorious incident involoving resignation of President Nixon.

The two secrets might be just one of aftermath effects of the Pearl Harbor attack and the JFK assassination, respectively, both of which made the moment when people had first heard the news unforgettable for them.

“I APPEARED TO THOSE WHO WERE NOT LOOKING FOR ME.”

(Source of Information: The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper)