"And lo a voice from heaven" - Norms in Society

Tokyo Imperial Palace Moat

Norms in Society

A notable Japanese pundit having a political influence was invited by Chinese wise men in Nanjing or Shanghai during the Sino-Japanese War before WWII.

They exchanged their views on the state of China where the Imperial Military was exchanging fire with Chinese troops for years.  One of old Chinese wise men said to the Japanese, "War in China is not fatal.  It happened so many times in the past. From the north, the west, the south, and the east different tribes once invaded China.  But, after battles a new dynasty was built and the Chinese society was rebuilt to survive and flourish. But Japanese were doing something extraordinarily wrong.  Japanese politicians and generals were demolishing the norm of the underground society of China."

The norm of the underground society is called Ro-ki, a Japanese classic word, though its Kanji expression is differently pronounced by Chinese. Ro means something or somebody lowly; Ki means discipline.

The old Chinese wise man lamented over Japanese arrogance.  Like the Chinese elites, Japanese politicians and generals took bribes from Chinese but they did not perform as expected.  In the Chinese underground society, there was a kind of rules about how the elite who received a bribe should behave.  The elite should distribute money among parties concerned, fellowmen, relatives, and so on while offering facility for those who paid a bribe.  But Japanese politicians and generals behaved like conquerors; they took a bribe as much as possible but would not afford facility.  So, some Chinese elites came to follow suit.   Morals in the underground society of China was being destroyed.  And if this level of the norm of the society had been destroyed, the whole society would have collapsed.  And rebuilding the society would become impossible as the foundation was destroyed.  No past conquerors or invaders of China had destroyed this traditional discipline in the underground society of China, but Japanese were doing it, the old Chinese pundit said.

This episode tells how Chinese intellectual persons regarded the Japanese military presence in China before and during WWII.  They did not think Chinese troops could defeat the Imperial Army and Navy, but they thought Japanese could not govern the Chinese people well, including the underground society.  And it was the US that put an end to this stalemate as the Imperial Navy attacked the US Navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941.

In addition, the norm in the upper society is called Sei-ki in Japanese classic expression.  Sei means something beautiful and pure.  Indeed the high society looks outwardly beautiful and clean.  If discipline of the upper society is damaged, the nation can be restored through a regime change or a revolution as long as the foundation of the society, that is, Ro-ki, is preserved.  Old rotten politicians, generals, business leaders, and supper-rich men can be replaced by new politicians, generals, business leaders, and super-rich men.  But truly rotten lowly people cannot be replaced by any others, which is the lesson from the lamenting of the old Chinese of wisdom.

Finally, I think the reason why the lowly people in China were losing their norm during the Sino-Japanese War before and during WWII was that the Imperial Military was so thoroughly dispelling and expelling the traditional Chinese elites from every city and town while demolishing their base of wealth and interest deeply rooted in the Chinese society.  But the Imperial Military had no room and time to provide new virtue, discipline, and education for poor Chinese people being abandoned by their central and local governments.

Conversely, it tells the Empire of Japan had no real intention to govern China before and during WWII.  The Empire just sent troops to the Chinese continent to fight against Chinese troops that had attacked Japanese troops stationed and citizens working in Shanghai (under administration and control of foreign powers) and other Japanese territories in the continent.

Now, didn't the US invasion of Iraq destroy Ro-ki or the norm of the lowly Iraqis?  Isn't the US invasion of Afghanistan destroying Ro-ki or the norm of the lowly Afghans?  On the other hand, how much can Islam protect poor Muslims as the norm in society against the American way of occupation and governance?  Put simply, it is war between Islam and American justice in terms of the norm of society.

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Mat 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

"Simon he surnamed Peter" - Ex-Intelligence Agent and Death-Row Inmates

Around the Imperial Palace of Japan

Ex-Intelligence Agent and Death-Row Inmates

One of the most popular authors or political journalists in Japan is Mr. Masaru Sato, an ex-intelligence officer of the Japanese Ministery of Foreign Affairs.

He was arrested and put into custody in 2002 due to involvement in a political scandal of pro-Russian conservative politician Mr. Muneo Suzuki.  But while spending 512 days in the Tokyo Detention House, he read many books, wrote a diary which was later published to become a best-seller, and observed people in the jail house including death-row inmates.

According to Mr. Sato, one death-row convict became a different type of animals on a different day.  One day he was a cat, an owl another day, which could be easily found as he cried or vocalized like such an animal.  Other convict cried, "Yes, I killed two, but the last one was not my real target. It was an accident.  I don't want to be executed!"  This person lost sanity of the mind and health of the body to be carried out on a stretch somewhere.

But there was one inmate who silently read books and looked communing with himself and reflecting his past.  Mr. Sato was highly impressed with an attitude of this death-row convict.  So, Mr. Sato asked a lawyer to find his family; then Mr. Sato wrote a letter to his mother describing how her son was spending his last days in the Tokyo Detention House.  Then the mother sent a letter showing gratitude to Mr. Sato who was occupying the attention of the society due to his  involvement in a certain criminal case of the notorious politician Mr. Muneo Suzuki (though they claim it is a political conspiracy to excommunicate them from the Japanese Government and political circles). 

In addition, Mr. Sato graduated from the School of Divinity of a certain Japanese university, a rare background for Japanese bureaucrats or ex-bureaucrats.

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Tonight I really saw Jupiter and Venus so close to each other, though it is not perfect conjunction or merging into one bright star like in 1818 and probably June of 2 BC.

Yet, something great or horrible can happen, folks, as I feel it for some reasons.

Finally, on June 17, 2 B.C., Jupiter and Venus, the two brightest objects in the night sky except for the moon, came so close that their disks appeared to touch. This exceptionally rare event could not have been missed by observers such as the Wise Men.

The Bible does not mention how many Wise Men there were or where they came from. (The tradition of three Wise Men developed from the Bible's description of three gifts -- gold, frankincense and myrrh.) It is reasonable to suppose that their journey took months, however, since they had to cross several hundred miles of desert to reach Jerusalem. If they were in Jerusalem before dawn on Dec. 25, 2 B.C., they would in fact have seen Jupiter almost directly over Bethlehem to the south. They could have traveled the five miles to Bethlehem and presented their gifts that day. By then Jesus would have been a child living with his parents in a house, not a baby in a manger. There is a reference not to an infant (brephos in the Greek) but to a toddler (paidion), indicating that the birth itself had been some months before.

This would mean Jesus was born in the spring or summer, which makes a better setting for Luke's account of the shepherds. In December in Judea it was too cold for sheep to graze in the open fields, and they were kept under shelter during the winter months, especially at night.

There is no conflict with the traditional date of Jesus' birth, because Dec. 25 was an arbitrary choice. Early Christians changed the date numerous times to avoid discovery by the Romans when persecution of Christianity was at its height. When Christianity finally became the official religion of the Roman Empire, the festival of Christmas on Dec. 25 observing the birth of Jesus replaced the pagan festival of Saturnalia at that time, which had celebrated the "rebirth of the sun" as the days got longer following the winter solstice.

Designating Jupiter or the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus as the Star of Bethlehem eliminates a number of problems, but probably neither is the last word on the subject. So little is known historically about the period when Jesus was born that new information may well provide a more accurate picture of what happened.
http://newsinfo.iu.edu/OCM/packages/bethstar.html 

We might not be wholly deserted by God.



Mar 3:16 And Simon he surnamed Peter;
Mar 3:17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:
Mar 3:18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,
Mar 3:19 And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.
Mar 3:20 And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

"power to heal sicknesses" - Cats Saved Islanders

Around Tokyo Imperial Palace

Cats Saved Islanders

The 3/11 Great Tsunami of Japan also hit a small island where 110 people, mostly aged persons, live.

The island is well known for cats.  There are more cats than residents of this fishing village.  Even tourists come to see cats while cultivation of oysters is the main industry of the island.

A 10-meter high tsunami of the last year destroyed oyster cultivation facilities.  People were lost in the tiny island as rescue and recovery work was slow in islands in the tsunami affected areas of east Japan.

So, some people came to think about cats, since almost 80 cats were found to survive the tsunami.  (Indeed, before the 3/11 Tsunami, 12,300 visitors came in a year to the island from the outside to see cats.)  They started to make cat goods, ask help on the Internet, and send back cat goods when receiving financial aid.    

It was estimated to need $1.25 million to rebuilt oyster cultivation facilities the Tsunami destroyed.  But this campaign could draw $1.87 million (150 million yen) from people all over Japan in months.  Each contributor received cat goods in exchange of their good will.  (They have already stopped receiving financial contribution as enough funds were collected.)

And now, people and cats are living peacefully in the island once hit by a great tsunami.

Tashirojima is a small island in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It lies in the Pacific Ocean off the Oshika Peninsula, to the west of Ajishima. It is an inhabited island, although the population is quite small (around 100 people, down from around 1000 people in the 1950s[1]). It has become known as "Cat Island" due to the large stray cat population that thrives as a result of the local belief that feeding cats will bring wealth and good fortune. The cat population is now larger than the human population on the island.

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

http://nyanpro.com/concept.html

http://blog.livedoor.jp/nyanpro/archives/5811057.html

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Mar 3:15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:

"Do violence to no man" - Christ Jesus King of the Homeless and Kings

Tokyo Imperial Palace Plaza Park (Old Samurai Shogun Castle)

Christ Jesus King of the Homeless and Kings

Everybody knows that Christ Jesus is the king of kings.

He is the lord of, say, Mr. Bill Gates, etc.

But you must also know that Christ Jesus is the king of the homeless, too.

So, it would please Him more if you think about homeless people more.

In what Bible verse does Jesus shelter a homeless person?

Answer:
If there is a Bible verse that says that, I couldn't find it.
Even Jesus Christ himself was basically homeless, as mentioned at:
Matthew 8:20--"But Jesus said to him: "Foxes have dens and birds of heaven have roosts, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay down his head.'"
If you find a verse saying that Jesus sheltered a homeless person, I'd like to know it myself.

Answer:
Maybe your thinking of Jesus' Parable of "The Good Samaritan" ?
10:30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 10:31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 10:32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 10:33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 10:34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Answer:
Matthew 25:34-35 "Then the King will say to those at His right, 'Come, my Father's blessed ones, receive your inheritance of the Kingdom which has been divinely intended for you ever since the creation of the world. For when I was hungry, you gave me food; when I was thirsty, you gave me drink; when I was homeless, you gave me a welcome.'"

Answer:
Just paraphrasing here, but He said "whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me." And yes, he was homeless for the three years of His ministry as mentioned above. Also , He reminded us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. There is a church in Maine with people living in it, now that is hearing and then doing. Visit the Related Link below ,

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/In_what_Bible_verse_does_Jesus_shelter_a_homeless_person

Christ Jesus made fishermen, tax collectors, and so on all homeless as He was.  Then this band of poor men started to march to Jerusalem where they took a humble supper in a house but slept outside.  However, after the biological death of Christ Jesus, those left did not live miserably as homeless persons.  But they seem to have been welcomed and respected by some people that believed in Christ Jesus.  Probably, ex-fishermen, ex-tax collectors, etc. must have lived in peace and grace though they once became homeless with Christ Jesus.

http://3riversepiscopal.blogspot.com/2011/05/youth-learn-lessons-about-hunger-and.html




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Luk 3:14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

"to be baptized of him" - Japan and Copper

Tokyo Imperial Palace Plaza Park (old Edo Castle of Shogun)

Japan and Copper 

In the 17th century when Japan was governed by the Tokugawa samurai clan, Japan was the largest exporter of copper.

The then largest copper refining plant in Japan, called Sumitomo Do-Fuki-Syo, was built in Osaka, 30-km southwest of Kyoto, in 1636.  Hundreds of workers were engaged in the plant surrounded by canals.  They produced copper wire bars for export to Southeast Asia via the port city Nagasaki.  In the late 17th century, the production of Japanese copper became the largest in the world, thus having a strong influence on copper prices in Europe as Adam Smith wrote in Wealth of Nations.  At the time Japan delivered 6,000 tons of copper bars one third of which was produced in the Sumitomo plant.

From this business, a big company syndicate called Sumitomo emerged.  Accordingly, when the samurai regime collapsed and modernization and Westernization of Japan started under the imperial regime in the late 19th century, the Sumitomo plant came to be used by the super rich Sumitomo clan.

The Sumitomo Mansion House Built in the Site of Old Sumitomo Do-Fuki-Syo

Japan also produced a great amount of silver and gold.  Vatican missionaries who visited Japan around 1600 all reported active business of producing and trading silver and gold in Japan at the time.  Even as symbolized by the Japanese sword, Japan also produced a great amount of iron, though, mainly in the form of  iron sand.

So, Japan has been historically a nation of metal.  If you know it, you might change your view on Japan.  In addition, Japan has also produced a sufficient amount of coal which became one of driving factors of industrialization of Japan since the late 19th century.

Anyway, the miracle of Japan in the 20th century was based on various factors such as Japanese spiritualism, higher and expansive education of the public, and tradition of the world-class metal industry which can be traced back to the 17th century.

Indeed, it is not easy for any developing country to rise and grow as another Japan.


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Today, it was found that a nuclear power plant in South Korea lost all the power sources for running its facilities for about 20 minutes a month ago.  The plant did not report the accident till today.

Without an M9.0 earthquake and a 15-meter high tsunami, a nuclear accident could occur.  The world must check every nuclear power plant for real.


Mat 3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
Mat 3:14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
Mat 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

"they should not make him known" - Origin of Seismology

Japanese Parliament (Diet) Bldg.

Origin of Seismology

Seismology began in Japan when a British scientist experienced an earthquake in Japan for the first time in his life:

John Milne (30 December 1850 – 31 July 1913[1]) [2] was the British geologist and mining engineer who worked on a horizontal seismograph.... 

Career in Japan (1875–1895)
Milne was hired by the Meiji government of the Empire of Japan as a foreign advisor and professor of mining and geology at the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo from 8 March 1876, where he worked under Henry Dyer and with William Edward Ayrton and John Perry. Partly from a sense of adventure and partly because he suffered from seasickness, he travelled overland across Siberia taking three months to reach Tokyo. In 1880, Sir James Alfred Ewing, Thomas Gray and John Milne, all British scientists working in Japan, began to study earthquakes following a very large tremor which struck the Yokohama area that year. They founded the Seismological Society of Japan (SSJ).[6] The society funded the invention of seismographs to detect and measure the strength of earthquakes. Although all three men worked as a team on the invention and use of seismographs, John Milne is generally credited with the invention of the horizontal pendulum seismograph in 1880.[7] Milne's instruments permitted him to detect different types of earthquake waves, and estimate velocities. In addition, the foreign professors trained Japanese students including Seikei Sekiya who would become, at the Imperial University, the first professor of seismology at any university in the world and his successor, Fusakichi Omori[8] who refined Milne's instruments to detect and record finer vibrations. 

Order of the Rising Sun
In June, 1895, Milne was commanded to attend a meeting with His Imperial Majesty Emperor Mutsuhito and following this, returned to England. Soon after his arrival he learned that the Emperor had conferred upon him a rare distinction, The Third Grade of the Order of the Rising Sun and a life pension of 1,000 yen. This was in recognition of Professor Milne's contributions to seismology during his long residence in Japan. 

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

So, although the Japanese people had experienced so many earthquakes, they did not study the natural phenomena in a scientific manner in a modern sense.  But a British scientist the Imperial Government hired became the pathfinder for the modern science seismology as he encountered a big earthquake in Japan.  As the UK is a country with less earthquakes, it is very interesting that a British scientist became the father of seismology.

In addition, John Milne married a Japanese woman.  He returned to England with his Japanese wife to continue his study on earthquakes.  However, after his death, the Japanese widow eventually returned to Japan.

http://www.japanjournals.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1321%3A2011-0901&catid=72%3Asurvivor&Itemid=103

The Earthquake Wave in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, on March 11, 2011
http://chamu.org/blog/?p=606

Continental Plates on Japan
http://hawkmoon269.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2011-07-10-1?newwindow=true

Detailed Plate and Trench Configuration with the 3/11 M9.0 Epicenter
http://www.niitsuma-geolab.net/archives/47


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A high school teacher in Fukushima City posted on a newspaper.

He sent his wife and a 6-year old son to other prefecture for fear of a radioactive influence on his family.  But he stays and continues his teaching in a high school of Fukushima Prefecture.

In his class, students talk, sometimes cynically, about official radiation checks on their bodies and financial compensation from TEPCO.  The teacher feels very embarrassed. He wonders what he can teach them.

The Fukushima Prefectural government office reports doses measured around its building everyday, which has been less than 1 micro Sieverets per hour since last spring.  But some journalist claims that the local officials first cleansed the plot exhaustively and then measured radiation doses many times till they got value less than 1 micro Sieverts per hour.  The official values they have reported cannot be thus trusted.



Mar 3:11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
Mar 3:12 And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.
Mar 3:13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.
Mar 3:14 And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
Mar 3:15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:

The First Anniversary of the 3/11 Disaster of Japan

The First Anniversary of the 3/11 Disaster of Japan

The Emperor of Japan, after leaving the hospital recently, today attended the ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of the 3/11 Disaster which took on 20,000 lives and made 300,000 citizens evacuees.

The M9.0 earthquake might have happened 50 years ago or might happen 50 years later, but it did occur last year.

Even we ourselves might have been born 500 years ago or might be born 500 years later, but we ourselves were born on the exact date.

But, one thing sure is that God must have know that the great earthquake would be set off in the North Pacific Ocean off Japanese Honsyu Island on March 11, 2011 from the beginning of the world.

So, we were born as He planned.  Christ Jesus was born as He planned.  And believers would not be afraid of their death as even Christ Jesus underwent His biological death.

All we have to do is become humble before God.

 http://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/851068/blog/22121168/

http://www.shimz.co.jp/theme/earthquake/outline.html

So, on March 11, 2011, three major earthquakes hit the coast lines of north east Japan: M9.0 at 14:46, M7.4 at 15:08 and M7.7 at 15:15.  In Tokyo the three big quakes were clearly felt on the day.  Most of houses and rooms in Tokyo had things and items fall on the floor from tables and shelves.

But the most impressive for me was the one that occurred four days later on March 15, 2011, around Mt. Fuji with the magnitude of M6.4.  It was so since Mt. Fuji is 100-km southwest of Tokyo.