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

Toward  the Tokyo Station

Intention of God

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

Scenes in the Suburbs of Tokyo

Canary and Cat

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

Tokyo

Nixon in Japan in 1953

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

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

Tokyo






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

"Stretch forth thy hand" - Japanese Constitution

Tokyo Bay

Japanese Constitution

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

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

May 3, 1947:
New Japanese constitution goes into effect

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

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

Tokyo

Top Secret in 1969

After WWII, the US occupied Okinawa.

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

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

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

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

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

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

TOP SECRET 

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

United States President: 

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

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

Japanese Prime Minister: 

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

Washington,D.C., November 21, 1969 

(signature) Richard Nixon
(signature) Eisaku Sato

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

"your Father knoweth what things ye have need of"

South of Fukushina Prefecture







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Mat 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

"power over unclean spirits" - The Other World

Streets in Southern Tokyo Urban Core

The Other World

There is one big question about this universe.

It is believed that this universe has a size or it has limits or borders.

Then what exists beyond the borders of this material universe?

Is this world a kind of goldfish bowl?  Then who is watching this goldfish bowl?

If you believe in God, the answer might be easy.  The God is watching this universe and human beings on the earth.  But specifically what world is it that exists outside this material universe?

Of course our material universe can be part of a greater material universe with higher dimensions and infinite energy.

But above anything material, including our world, there must be the universe of concepts, ideas and logic.  And above this abstract universe, there must be a world of spirits.

Anyway, what can be seen and observed is made of what cannot be seen and observed as the Bible so teaches.

We do not need to be afraid of what is beyond this world.  And our existence includes not only the material body but also a soul which can live outside this material world.  






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Mar 6:7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;

"the body of sin might be destroyed" - A Japanese Who Met Lincoln

Subway Station & Parliament Street, Tokyo, Japan

A Japanese Who Met Lincoln

There was one Japanese who met and shook President Lincoln by the hand in 1862.

It was Hikozo Hamada who was also known as Joseph Heco since he acquired nationality of America in 1858.

In October 1850, when Hikozo was 13-years old and called Hikotaro, he joined a voyage of a cargo ship from a port in Western Japan to Edo (presently called Tokyo).  When the 17 crew was returning on board the ship, a great tempest attacked it to carry the Japanese ship off coasts of Japan far and far to the east on the Pacific Ocean.

But they were rescued by an American commercial ship called the Auckland sailing from Hong Kong/Shanghai to San Francisco.  The American ship arrived at San Francisco in February 1851.

Then the 17 Japanese mariners were sent by the US Government to Hong Kong and then Macau via Hawaii in March 1852.  But the Japanese captain leading the group died from a disease in Hawaii.  So, the 16 poor Japanese sailors arrived at Hong Kong, waiting for black ships of Commodore Perry of the US Navy.

Commodore Perry was ordered to sail to Japan and conclude a diplomatic tie with Japan governed by the samurai shogun, though Japan had been a nation of isolation over centuries.  (As samurai leaders did not like Christian influence in the Japanese society, they closed the country except to China and the Netherlands in the early 17th century.)  Perry wanted to use the 16 Japanese mariners as a means to make communications easier with the shogun government in Edo.  Samurais would not have been alarmed so much, if his fleet should have kindly handed victims of a Japanese wrecked vessel.

But the arrival of Perry's fleet was delayed.  So, through various incidents, all the Japanese mariners, except one, ran away from an American naval ship where they were staying in the port of Macau.  (Most of them could finally return to Japan on board a Chinese ship.)
  
But Hikozo and other two Japanese got on board a ship heading for California with an American who wanted to work and  make fortune in California.  In California Hikozo worked honestly and hard to be known to a prominent banker called Saunders who also served as the head of the custom house in San Francisco.

This banker eventually took Hikozo with him to the East as Saunders' family lived in Baltimore.  Hikozo was truly lucky to be helped by this kind banker.  He went to school and church staying in the house of the banker.  Then he was baptized, following advice of the wife of Saunders.   And then he was naturalized in the US in 1858, since Saunders recommended Hikozo to do so for his future return to Japan as the samurai government of Japan did not allow Japanese who converted Christianity abroad to return home.

And subsequently Hikozo found a job in a ship sailing to Japan, so that he left the Saunders in Baltimore and went back to San Francisco and to Japan eventually in 1859.

When he came back to Japan, Hikozo was personally employed by Townsend Harris, the first United States Consul General to Japan.  Hikozo worked as interpreter to be involved in some significant diplomatic occasions.  But some samurai factions and samurai feudal lords were against the policy of the shogun government to open the nation.  So, some samurai launched terror on foreigners and their servants who then mostly lived in a restricted port area near Edo.

Hikozo could have been a target of terror since he looked like a betrayer to the eyes of such anti-Western samurais. So, Hikozo decided to sail back to the US for the time being.  He actually left Japan in 1861.

On this occasion Hikozo got big support from key citizens in San Francisco.  They recommended Hikozo to travel to the East and get a reasonable job from the Federal Government.  So, Hikozo traveled to Washington DC and New York with some help from a Senator and his old mentor Saunders. In this course, Hikozo was introduced to Secretary of State Seward and President Lincoln in 1862.  Hikozo was officially appointed to a translator of the US consular office in Japan.  Accordingly Hikozo sailed back to Japan while President Lincoln was fighting the Civil War.

Hikozo came back to Japan in October in 1862, but he left the consular office in September 1863.  Since then, Hikozo made his own business or he was sometimes employed by prominent Western and Japanese merchants.  He once even worked in the Ministry of Finance of the Japanese Government.  But Hikozo never traveled to the US anymore.  He didn't even become a leading figure in the Japanese society though he acquired many such influential friends.  Hikozo opted to live rather quietly in his later life in Tokyo.

Hikozo adopted a Japanese surname, Hamada, and married a Japanese woman.  He eventually died in Tokyo in 1897 at the age of 60, though he was still an American legally.

Hikozo wrote two books in his life time: one in Japanese in 1863 and another in English in 1895.    

(As Hikozo could read but could not fully write decent written Japanese, it is thought that he gave dictation when he prepared a draft of the above Japanese book.)

In the English book titled the Narrative of a Japanese, he presented a letter he received from US Secretary of State Seward as a response to an emergency letter Hikozo wrote to Seaward when he heard of the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865.

The narrative of a Japanese; what he has seen and the people he has met in the course of the last forty years./Chapter 5. 

July. In the course of this month we heard of the murder of President Lincoln, and of the attack on Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, in Washington. Upon receipt of this intelligence, I at once wrote to Mr. Seward, tendering my sincere condolence to him, and through him to President Lincoln's family. In reply I received the following autograph letter.

Washington Sept. 25, 1865
My dear Mr Heco,
I have just received
your letter of the 31st of July and
I thank you for remembering
me among the troubled concerns
yet in the midst of the pleasing
 ? of your far away native
Home. Our father in Heaven
has allowed our country to
be afflicted, but He has never–
theless remembered mercy, and
our nation is rescued from danger.
He has been pleased to visit
me with trials, but he has
graciously enabled me to
pass through them. Let us in
all things submit ourselves to
his will. He is omniscient and
omnipotent, we are blind and
powerless.
Faithfully your friend
William H. Seward
Joseph Heco Esquire
Kanagawa
 ? of ?

And one Japanese mariner, Sentaro or Senpachi, who sailed to Japan with Commodore Perry in 1853 would not return to Japan on the occasion.  But years later, he came back to Japan with a family of an American missionary priest as a kind of American, too.  Senpachi was later personally employed by an American professor who came to Japan for teaching.  Senpachi died in Tokyo in 1874, of course, as a Japanese.

(Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Heco ;

http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/heco_1950_2vol.shtml ;

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_narrative_of_a_Japanese;_what_he_has_seen_and_the_people_he_has_met_in_the_course_of_the_last_forty_years./Chapter_5)


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Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

"a pair of balances in his hand" - God's Handball

National Assembly Diet Bldg. Street, Tokyo, Japan

God's Handball

The Japanese national soccer team was about to lose the game against Australia.

The Australian team got one goal 10 minutes before the end of the 90 minute game.  But Japan took a PK chance to deliver an equalizer at the 91 minute point in an extension period.

This tied game has qualified Japan for taking part in the 2014 World Cup Games in Brazil.

Japan has become the first country to be authorized for joining the 2014 World Cup.

As the game was held in the Saitama Soccer Stadium situated in the suburbs of Tokyo last night, this sport news has become a major topic in Japan today.

But how could the Japanese team take a PK chance?  It was because an Australian player committed a handball in their penalty area.  So Japanese soccer fans have today call it "God's Hand."

Japan 1st team to qualify for 2014 World Cup

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Japan became the first team to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, tying Australia 1-1 Tuesday night on Keisuke Honda’s penalty kick in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.

Before a crowd of 62,172, Tommy Oar put Australia ahead in the 82nd minute. But Matthew McKay’s hand ball set up the penalty kick for Honda, who beat goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer with a left-footed shot to the top corner.

http://www.boston.com/sports/soccer/2013/06/04/japan-becomes-team-reach-world-cup/8Ms9ivhR3LVPI7DVbZM4WK/story.html


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Rev 6:5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
Rev 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

"to the ministry of the word" - The Pyramid and The Ark of the Covenant

From and to North of Tokyo City Core

The Pyramid and The Ark of the Covenant

One piece of interesting account about the Bible and the Great Pyramid of Gaza:.

The Connection Between the Pyramid and the Ark of the Covenant

“This seems unlikely. Rather, it is more likely that the Holy of Holies and the Ark were relics from an earlier time, and were taken out of Egypt by the fleeing Israelites. The Ark is said to have once been kept in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid. The famous 'lidless' coffin of Cheops was in actuality the receptacle for the Ark of the Covanant.”

The capacity of the Ark, based on its Biblical measurements, was 71,282 cubic inches, while the measure for the granite container in the King's Chamber is 71,290 cublic inches. In 1955, Dr. Alfred Rutherford of the Institute of Pyramidology in Illinois performed an experiment in which he re-assembled the pieces of an exact replica of the Ark inside the King's Chamber and lowered it into the Chamber's stone box. It fit remarkably well, with a relatively uniform half-inch clearance on all four sides of the replica. Not without significance is the fact that the dimensions of the King's Chamber itself form a double-cube—precisely the same dimensional configuration of the Hebrew Tabernacle Holy of Holies.

http://www.solomonstemple.com/2010/09/the-connection-between-the-pyramid-and-the-ark-of-the-covenant/

So believers should be reminded of the Holy Hebrew Tabernacle whenever they see the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid built by King Khufu.

Anyway the Pyramid is older than Abraham.

But we might be allowed to imagine how Judaism is old roughly since King Khufu is roughly 600 years older than Abraham.


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Act 6:1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
Act 6:2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
Act 6:3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
Act 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
Act 6:5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

"his days shall be an hundred and twenty years" - Money Economy and Christ Jesus

Running Around Tokyo

Money Economy and Christ Jesus

One thing very impressive about the Gospels is that money was already widely used in the era of Christ Jesus.

If His work had been done in society where money or coins were not yet common, the story of Christ Jesus must have looked very remote from situations where subsequent readers of the Bible, including present-day ones, lived.

The fact that money was so visibly used in the era of Christ Jesus makes the Gospels so familiar and close to modern readers.

If money had not been used on a daily base in Palestine 2000 years ago, the story of Christ Jesus must have looked so ancient and thus very remote to modern readers.

In other word, one of major conditions concerned with why the Son of the God should come to this human world 2000 years ago is related to use of money by human beings as the way of handling wealth.


So, the following word of Christ Jesus is so meaningful: "Man cannot serve both God and Mammon.



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Gen 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
Gen 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Gen 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

"and his disciples follow him" - Africa and Japan

Tokyo, Japan

Africa and Japan

Japan invites leaders of 50 or more African countries to discuss development of Africa.

This conference has been held once in five years since 1993.

But it is true that nowadays China invests in Africa twice more than Japan and even South Korea does as much as Japan does in Africa.

However, African leaders might find other merits in Japan's aid to them than simply monetary and economic aid.

Anyway technologies and business systems China and South Korea now exercise are almost all imported from Japan.  African leaders might discover underlying cultural conditions of those modern economic tools and engines in Japan.

Japan can truly present to Africa how to adopt modern science and technology which were originated and developed in Europe and North America.




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Mar 6:1 And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
Mar 6:2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
Mar 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
Mar 6:4 But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

"If I bear witness of myself" - Sincerity and Humor

Mt. Aizu-Bandai, East Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, in Early May

Sincerity and Humor

Words Japanese like are efforts (doryoku), sincerity (seijitsu), gratitude (kansya/arigato), and so on.

But it is said that Russians include humor in words they like.

And it is beyond Japanese imagination that some foreigners like the word humor.  Of course, the concept humor can be found in the original Japanese culture, but usually we use the English word humor, though in Japanese pronunciation, as it is to mean humor.

Under influence of Buddhism and Confucianism, humor has not been respected in Japan.

And in the Bible, I cannot find many occasions where Christ Jesus showed or expressed His sense of humor.

So, humor might be a kind of luxury for those who need help from Christ Jesus and the God.  Some rich and happy people might enjoy humor in a different manner from some poor and unhappy people.  Humor might work to make a rich man forget his sin.



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Joh 5:31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
Joh 5:32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.

"the will of the Father" - Tokyo Stock Exchange Targeted

Tokyo Stock Exchange Targeted

The Nikkei 225 Index of the Tokyo Stick Market has been in an upward trend since the regime change which occurred in last December.

New Prime Minister Abe changed the governor of the Bank of Japan from Shirakawa to Kuroda who has cooperated with PM Abe to realize a reasonable exit from the 15-year long deflation of the Japanese economy.

Governor Kuroda decided to purchase Gov. bonds from the market and financial institutions almost twice more than in the era of Shirakawa.  After selling bonds they have to the Bank of Japan, Japanese banks must naturally buy stocks in the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In addition, this huge supply of the yen to the market has led the exchange market to the weaker yen against the US dollar.  Accordingly, prices of stocks of Japanese exporters have been increased, further pushing up the benchmark index of the stock market.

But, recently, it fell 1,000 yen last Thursday and 700 yen today while the index is still around 14,000 yen, almost 500 yen higher than when Shinzo Abe assumed PM office last December.  Anyway, there is a kind of shock and awe among Japanese investors, since foreign investors who buy and sell stocks in the Tokyo market account for 60% of all.

Maybe it is time fore the God to interfere for some serious reasons.

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Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

"if thy right eye offend thee" - Japan and Korea before 1910

North of Tokyo Prefecture

Japan and Korea before 1910

It is important for Americans with Korean and Chinese acquaintances to learn more about the history of East Asia in these centuries:

The process of proto-industrialization grew inline with advances in the agricultural sector. In both Korea and Japan, resources for investment - both human and physical - from the agricultural sector were mobilized for the development of the manufacturing sector (Francks 1999:10). However, in Korea, this occurred mostly in the 20th century. Further, Japan underwent a "Green Revolution" in the last quarter of the 19th century, introducing new agricultural techniques, fertilizers, and high-yielding seed varieties (p.30). Some of these innovations were ported from Japan to Korea, but here too only in the 20th century.  

Advances in agriculture not only lead to accumulation of capital but also contributed to the general development and integration of markets (Tipton 1998:ch.3). This, in turn, affects the way in which individuals interact with each other. As Clark points out (2007: 262), "by 1800 Japan was the closest of the Asian economies to England in terms of social characteristics". A significant increase in village schools occurred during the 19th century, with thousand of them popping up across the country (Nakamura in Clark 2007: 263). As a result, "Literacy rate for men estimated at 40-50 percent by the time of the Meiji Restoration of 1868, and a rate for women of 13-17% percent" (Passin in Clark 2007: 263). In Korea, male literacy in seventeenth century Korea was "probably high by premodern standards, and most likely increased in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries" (Seth 2006: 134). Still, while not much data is available about Korean literacy rates at the end of the 19th century, later records from the early period of the Japanese occupation (1910 and onwards) imply a significantly lower number of schools and overall literacy levels in Korea (Chung 2006: 114).  

...

Confucianism influenced many aspects of Japanese society, including moral code of the Samurai class (Tai 1989: 75). However, due to the diversity of its influence and the subsequent development outcomes (in places such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan) it cannot be considered a substantive factor. In addition, as Fogel points out (1996: 430-434), while "Confucianism enjoyed a significant rejuvenation" during the Tokugawa era, "Korea, China, and Vietnam were far more profoundly ʻConfucianʼ social orders than Japan". Indeed, Chung points out that "Koreans were perhaps even more steeped" in Confucian traditions than the Chinese themselves. He asserts that this adversely affected Koreaʼs economic growth by discouraging economic aspiration, de- emphasising the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship, undervaluing work (as opposed to learning for the sake of learning), and served as a disincentive for capital formation (1989:160-161).

http://www.drorism.com/2010/12/the-19th-century-origins-of-japanese-and-korean-development.html

Without help from Japan, Korea looked doomed.  The king and noblemen in Korea had no ability and no intention to modernize or westernize its society and industry to cope with the Russian Empire, European powers, and the US.  But Japan was determined to cope with those invading powers.

In this context, the relationship between the two countries should be reviewed.

At the end of the 16th century, the Bunroku-Keicho War broke off the relationship between Korea and Japan.　However, the Tokugawa shogunate started trading again with Korea by concluding the Giyu treaty with the So clan of Tsushima Island in 1609 and established a relationship of almost equality through mutual visits of Korean messengers. Tsushinshi were sent from the Korean side to pay homage to a new shogun or to celebrate the birth of an heir to a shogun. Korean envoys were provided with the same role as an envoy to bring tributes to a Chinese emperor or was used for showing the prestige of Tokugawa shogunate. 

Korea in the 19th century: A severe conflict between at court between Heungseon Daewongun, the biological father of Gojong (king of the Joseon Dynasty), and Gojong's wife Queen Min continued. In 1882, Daewongun was seized by the Qing Dynasty China troops, and confined in Tianjin City (Jingo Incident). The Min family including Queen Min assumed authority, but relations between Japan and Korea did not turn better. Queen Min were changing their policies from pro-Japanese to Qing Dynasty China. In the Sino-Japanese War, When Japan beat China in 1895, the Treaty of Shimonoseki was concluded, and removed China's sovereignty Korea.[51] The Korea moved closer to Russia. Japan became alarmed when Russia enhanced its grip and influence over the Korean peninsula by acquiring vital state assets such as the mining rights in Chongsong and Gyeongwon sold off by Queen Min, timber rights in the north, and tariff rights, and purchased back and restored many of these. (The assassination of Queen Min occurred during this period).   

From a Japanese point of view, Koreans who had been subject to Chinese empires for centuries would have been easily conquered by Russians if they had been left alone.

So, the Empire of Japan had to work on Korean leaders to persuade them to tie up with Japan and defend East Asia from the Russian Empire.  But Korea was not in a state where it could act like a civilized nation.  The Korean society was split between poor and illiterate farmers and the irresponsible Confucius-addicted noble class.  They were virtually waiting for colonization by Russians if not by the UK or France.

Korea had once enjoyed great culture but they had been spoiled by influence of rotten Chinese dynasties over centuries.  They had no resources, unlike Japan, needed for modernization and Westernization.  They needed Japanese interference which however they could not make the best use of.

That is mostly why the Korean Empire had to be annexed to the Empire of Japan in 1910.


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Mat 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

"I shall be whole" - Except the God

Shinjuku Area, Tokyo

Except the God

You have to think of your success and happiness.

You have to earn and keep money in banks.

And you have to behave wisely among people,

These are teaching commonly observed in this world.

But Christ Jesus told to think of success and happiness of your neighbors, accumulate your wealth in Heaven or make the best use of it for good cause, and behave like a dove and a snake.

So, even Christ Jesus gave instruction to behave wisely in society.

It is probably because every natural law equally applies to everybody, including followers of Christ and enemies of Christ.  And the God applies His moral criteria equally to everybody, including followers of Christ and enemies of Christ. 

Accordingly, in any moment, you are not entitled to enjoy your life, which is only once, while your neighbors don't.

Then, who can enjoy his life except the God?

Now you know how terrible it is for you to enjoy your life while the God hasn't yet.



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Mar 5:28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

"shalt not commit adultery" - Controversial Three in Japan

Downtown Tokyo

Controversial Three in Japan

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto is a lawyer who had clients in catering establishment situated in a prostitution district and a gangster-like money lending business in Osaka Prefecture.

But as he happened to make TV appearance so much, some politicians including Shinzo Abe picked up him as a young and rising star in the Japanese politics.

Osaka voters were not fully informed of Hashimoto's dark linkage with gangsters or a kind of gangsters.  But they thought Hashimoto was a lawyer making business with some decent clients, such as Sony and Panasonic.  Besides, Hashimoto graduated from a famous Osaka high-school and then from Waseda University, a first-rate private university in Japan.  So, voters of Osaka Prefecture elected Hashimoto as Governor of Osaka Prefecture, and then after his strategic resignation from the governor's office voters of Osaka City elected him as Mayor of Osaka City.

Hashimoto's relatives include some gangsters or ex-gangsters.  One of his close friends is an ex-popular comedian who was purged from TV business due to his association with the Yamaguchi-Gumi Mafia group, the largest gangster syndicate in Japan.  

But as Hashimoto enjoyed a very high supporting rate till the last year, some national lawmakers tied up with him.  One of them is incumbent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, though their relationship was mostly developed when the LDP, a party where Abe belongs, was an opposition party before December 2013.  Now it looks like that as Abe has become prime minister again (he was PM in 2006 and 2007, too), Abe does not need Hashimoto so much.

And another politician who is using Hashimoto is ex-Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara who is 80-years old.  Ishihara's eldest son Nobuteru was defeated by Abe last year in the election to choose the head of the LDP.  So, father Ishihara came back to the national assembly to form a new party called, Ishin-no Kai, and set up Hashimoto as the co-president of the Ishin-no Kai Party.

So, three controversial very conservative politicians, Hashimito, Abe, and Ishihara, are trying to lead Japan to a controversial direction.  One of byproducts of their movement is a stupid remark by Hashimoto on women who provided services for soldiers in WWII.  

But this kind of matter should not be handled by a gangster-related guy, such as Hashimoto.




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Mat 5:26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Mat 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

"first be reconciled to thy brother" - Recent Senkaku Situations

Imperial Palace Plaza Park Area, Tokyo

Recent Senkaku Situations

###

By Malcolm Foster, Associated Press | Associated Press – Fri, Sep 14, 2012 9:11 AM EDT

Japanese, Chinese ships exchange island warnings
Japanese, Chinese ships exchange warnings near disputed islands as tension mounts

TOKYO (AP) -- Chinese and Japanese government ships exchanged warnings Friday in waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea, while Tokyo called on Beijing to protect its citizens amid anti-Japan protests and reported assaults in China.
Tensions between the Asian giants have flared anew after the Japanese government bought the islands from their private Japanese owners this week. The uninhabited islands, claimed by both countries as well as Taiwan, have become a rallying point for nationalists on both sides.

In response to Japan's purchase, China on Friday sent six surveillance ships into what Japan says are its territorial waters around the islands, called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China. Japanese coast guard ships radioed warnings to the Chinese vessels and two or three moved out of the territorial waters, said Yasuhiko Oku, a Japanese coast guard official.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/japanese-chinese-ships-exchange-island-131148228.html

###

Chinese ships circle near Senkaku islands, Japan protests violation


By Associated Press on January 8, 2013

The Japanese Government summoned the Chinese Ambassador on Tuesday to protest four Chinese maritime surveillance ships that steamed around in waters for half a day near disputed islands claimed by both countries.

The uninhabited outcroppings in the East China Sea, called Senkakus in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, are controlled by Japan but are also claimed by Beijing and Taiwan.

Deputy Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki called Ambassador Cheng Yonghua to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the four Chinese Government ships remained in waters off the islands for about 13 hours on Monday until just after midnight on early Tuesday, said Masaru Sato, a ministry official.


http://www.niticentral.com/2013/01/08/chinese-ships-circle-near-senkaku-islands-japan-protests-violation-36298.html

###

01/19/2013 11:53

Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Three Chinese ships entered in Japanese territorial waters today near the Senkaku / Diaoyu islands disputed between Tokyo and Beijing. The violation comes only a few hours from a warning issued by the United States, urging Beijing not to challenge the sovereignty of Tokyo.


http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Chinese-ships-in-the-waters-of-the-Senkaku-/-Diaoyu.-Clinton-issues-warning-26911.html

###

Japan Coast Guard reports Chinese ships in Senkaku waters
posted on APRIL 16, 2013 by ADAM WESTLAKE

Continuing China’s preferred method of protesting against Japan’s ownership of the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, three Beijing patrol ships entered the waters around the territory on Tuesday morning, reported the Japan Coast Guard. While Japan’s nationalization of the islands took place in September of this year, escalating the tensions with China in the months that have followed, Beijing ships continue to routinely enter Japanese territorial waters without permission, usually at least several times a month.

http://japandailypress.com/japan-coast-guard-reports-chinese-ships-in-senkaku-waters-1627063

###

Chinese fighter jets swarming near Senkaku islands


TOKYO: Chinese military planes, mostly fighter jets, made more than 40 flights close to Tokyo-controlled islands at the centre of a territorial dispute on a single day this week, a press report said Saturday.

The flights took place on Tuesday, when eight Chinese marine surveillance ships entered the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone off the islands in the East China Sea, which Japan calls the Senkakus and China calls the Diaoyus, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported.

Last Edited by The Tauremini on 04/27/2013 10:38 PM

###

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/dxo186556_001/e/4b8c531100e64703d879b05847a3a2cf

http://sakuya7.iza.ne.jp/blog/entry/3012371/



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Mat 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

"your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness" - God and America

Kasumi-ga-seki, Tokyo

God and America

There is one reasonable writing about God and America:

Monday, May. 13, 2013 

Is God warning America? 

God is waiting and giving people the opportunity to turn to him. He warned America on 9-11, but America refused to acknowledge God! How many 9-11s and Boston bombings will it take before America turns back to God and his word? If we continue to go against his word and follow our own self-centered desires, he will bring judgment. 

God does not enjoy destroying the wicked, but he must punish sin. Water was used in Noah's time, and fire was used for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Scientific evidence proves these things to be true! Look how the family is being affected. Allowing abortions and homosexuality in our society has only brought decay, and moral values don't exist anymore. Sin is only breeding more hatred and discord within America. Those who don't believe in God will deny his judgment. 

We were once a nation under God, and we thrived. Look at us now! America needs to repent and acknowledge the God of our fathers. Pray for America. 

CARMEN BROWN
Modesto
http://www.modbee.com/2013/05/13/2713937/is-god-warning-america.html

But there seem to be many who live in the domain of the Devil who pretends to be God to them:

When I was much younger my father wore a belt buckle that said the following:  “God, Guns & Guts Made America Free”.  For me it was more than the words themselves, it was the message that they represented which I identified with. 

In my formative years I recall a good balance between Faith and Patriotism.  Not only do I consider myself a God fearing individual but someone committed to the freedoms and liberties afforded here within the United States of America.  This is not to suggest there is either a religious or secular perfection but rather the pursuit of it.  For this reason I post articles for consideration and discussion. 

Within the United States of America there are many tenants that make the country unique allowing this national experiment to work.  Among them are what I’ve accepted as the Key 3 that allow for the continuation of this great effort.  They are God, Guns and Guts.  In addition to the content below I invite you to also visit this cite which is dedicated to the continuation of this work: 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” - The Declaration of Independence of the United States 

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

http://godgunsguts.com/

God and Americans is the truly big issue to be addressed as soon as possible.


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Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.