"Jesus went up into the temple, and taught"

Sagami Bay, Near Tokyo






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Joh 7:12 And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.
Joh 7:13 Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.
Joh 7:14 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.
Joh 7:15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
Joh 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
Joh 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
Joh 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

"Making the word of God of none effect"

The Sumida River, Tokyo






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Mar 7:11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
Mar 7:12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
Mar 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
Mar 7:14 And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:

"good gifts unto your children"

The Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Bay







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Mat 7:10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
Mat 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

"will he give him a stone?"

Tokyo Bay







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Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Mat 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Mat 7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Mat 7:9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

"that creepeth upon the earth" - Mt. Fuji Radar

The Tokyo Tower (333 meters high)

Mt. Fuji Radar

A young man in his early 20s reached the summit of Mt. Fuji riding on bulldozers 49 years ago.

His uncle ran a construction company in charge of installing a weather radar in a meteorological observatory built at the top of the highest mountain in Japan (3,376 metes).

So, the young man was allowed to get on a bulldozer carrying material for the construction.   It was a big bulldozer when they started from the foot of Mt. Fuji.  But at some point on the ridge, they changed it to a smaller bulldozer.  The slope became so acute that the young man found that a half of the body of the special vehicle was hanging from a narrow path to a deep and sharp precipice.  He could barely enjoy the mountain view.

It took seven hours for them to reach a construction site on the mountain peak.  The young man payed homage at a shrine built there (Mt. Fuji is a holy mountain for shintoism) and looked on the meteorological observatory.  He also checked remaining snow.

In descending Mt. Fuji, he used his feet, almost running down the steep ramp.  In 90 minutes, he reached a gentle slope.  But he got altitude illness to be down in a party of his uncle's company.

The radar on the top of Mt. Fuji had been used till 1999.  It was the weather radar installed at the highest altitude in the world when it was set.  In 2000, it was registered in the list of IEEE Milestones which record break-through events in the electric and electronic fields.

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Gen 7:6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
Gen 7:7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
Gen 7:8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
Gen 7:9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

"God, that comforteth those that are cast down"

National Assembly Bldg., Tokyo








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2Co 7:5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.
2Co 7:6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
2Co 7:7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.

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

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

Japanese Upper House Election

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

"out of thy country, and from thy kindred"

A Shinto Shrine Situated around Tokyo









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

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

The Tokyo Railroad Station

 Istanbul for 2020

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

But there is one big rival city Tokyo.

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

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

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

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



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

"he entered into Capernaum"

Tokyo






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

"and laid it in a tomb"

Entrance Bridge to the Imperial Palace, Tokyo







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

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

A Public Park on Tokyo Bay, Remnants of Samurai Era

The Poorer, The More Blessed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

A Public Park on Tokyo Bay

Extreme Malfunction of Information System

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

"seeking for Jesus" - Ominous Supermoons

Haneda International Airport, Tokyo

Ominous Supermoons

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

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

Mt. Fuji and Tokyo Tower

FRB vs BOJ

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

Tokyo Bay

Shogun and Emperor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

"treasures upon earth" - Afghan Children

Prime Minister Office of Japan, Tokyo

Afghan Children

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

Afghanistan War: Children Casualties Spike 

By KAY JOHNSON 06/13/13 10:08 AM 

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

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

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

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

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


June 13, 2013, 10:42 AM 

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

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

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


Afghan schools to reopen--to girls too 

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

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

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

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

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

Afghan children killed in 'NATO airstrike' 

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

Last Modified: 08 Apr 2013 07:42 

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

Streets behind Prime Minister's Office, Tokyo

One Alarmed at Pearl Harbor Attack

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The book Motoko Tkugawa (1907-1989) wrote

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

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

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

Shinbashi, Tokyo, in the Rain

Showa Emperor's Daughter

Showa Emperor (Emperor Hirohito) had seven children.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

"That it is Elias" - Classical Chinese in Japan

A Public Park on Tokyo Bay

Classical Chinese in Japan

Classical Chinese has been well learnt by Japanese.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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






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