(Pictures presented here were taken and presented with approval of the Railway Museum) "I Watched TV Today; Oh, Boy!"
("J'ai regardé la télévision aujourd'hui. Oh, Garçon!")
1. Las Vegas Harmed Sumo Tradition
Sumo wresting is still regarded as a very special, if not so holy, kind of sport and entertainment that preserves Japanese traditional virtue still live among people.
But, a young sumo wrestler was, several months ago, killed by a lord and senior wrestlers in the stable he belonged to, since his behavior had invoked anger among them.
(This incident has raised a strong concern about death investigation and a need to strengthen the police in terms of this function and capacity.)
A sumo grand champion, who is one of foreign sumo wrestlers in Japan today, has been accused of his behavior neglecting grand champion's duty of setting an example.
Even a few years ago, brothers, who both had been grand champions, fought over succession of property in the stable where their late father had been the lord.
Once, over the sumo wrestlers' community, the virtue of Japanese tradition presided; but now the principle of market mechanism seems to be eroding their value system.
I suppose their tour to, and sumo practices in, Las Vegas conducted in 2005 had a specific influence on the sumo wrestlers' community, not only on young wrestlers but also on grand champions and their lords.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2184040
"... Yoshida told the wrestlers to put on a show.
"I told them, 'I want you to entertain the people.' I want speed," he said. "In Japan, they would keep everything inside. I told them, 'If you lose, I want to see it on your face.'...."
Now, the sumo community in Japan needs a new guiding principle to revive whatever virtue they inherited from history of people.
2. The Movie "Samurai"
In 1965, movie director Kihachi Okamoto made a film featuring actor Toshiro Mifune as a samurai who assassinated the chief minister of the Tokugawa samurai regime presided over by the Tokugawa Tycoon (Barbarian Subduing Generalissimo or "Sei-i Tai-Shougun"), namely the head of all the samurai class.
(http://www.amazon.co.jp/o/ASIN/B000VH3FCC/503-0279265-1971963?SubscriptionId=1PGV4GGGAXZ1AMXAKKG2 )
This story is based on a historic assassination of samurai chief minister Naosuke Ii in 1860, which led to loss of dignity and prestige of the Tokugawa regime.
Accordingly, anti-mainstream samurais from local regions won a civil war to demolish the Tokugawa samurai regime, thus realizing the Meiji Restoration and full Westernization.
But, as they destroyed the system and order of the samurai class by driving out their head or Generalissimo, they needed someone to serve, if nominally.
So, they invited the Emperor from Kyoto to Tokyo, restoring and adopting the older order of the Emperor system, putting an end to tradition of samurai regimes that had continued for 700 years.
3. Sub-prime Loan Crisis
Before I enjoyed the movie "Samurai" on an NHK satellite TV channel last night, I surely checked Ms. Hiroko Kuniya's non-nonsense reporting program.
The agenda of the night was influences of US sub-prime loan problems on Japan.
Put simply, Japanese businesses are now finding a way to decrease dependency on the US market.
If two million US citizens cannot pay, say, a 200,000 dollar loan each, the total default amount will be 400 billion dollars.
If these 400 billion dollars were divided, put into securitization, and sold to various financial institutes, they could not recover the money they used to purchase these securities backed by sub-prime loan lenders and borrowers eventually.
Of course, the key factor in this problem is a decrease in the estimated value of American houses and credit based on the estimated value, namely American dream.
Now US citizens have to find another guiding principle to revive the "American dream" which must be rooted in their faith in God.
* * *
If people have been well dealing with economy of one nation, they still need a new principle or philosophy to deal with global economy.
If people have been well dealing with climate of one nation, they still need a new principle or philosophy to deal with global warming.
That is why I am telling you not to solely rely on the CO2 theory without due reflection.
First of all, you need a new principle or philosophy to deal with global warming.
That is why I am telling you that CO2 emitted without heat may not be a critical threat (due to its meager share in the air), but man-made heat generators, such as power generation facilities, factory engines, cars, and electric devices, are really causing disturbance to global climate, since its accumulated and uninterrupted heat-generation is overcoming the cooling system in the nature and the atmosphere that works via water vapor, even if effects of sunspots are not overwhelmingly critical.
(In whatever profession, you need a guiding principle to be successful, materially or spiritually.
Especially, in the medical community and the criminal investigation or law enforcement field, they need a very stern guiding principle, since they have to deal with human life.
But, what guiding principle do you think you need?
So, I can say, "Objection to this party, since God is not here," even if you are involved.)
"THE TEACHING OF ANCESTORS"
(Falscher Gottesdienst)