"preaching in the wilderness of Judaea" - Religious Conditions in Modern Western History

The Sumida River, Tokyo

Religious Conditions in Modern Western History

Protestantism worked so well in some countries in Western Europe.

For example Calvinism prevailed from Switzerland to England after the religious reformation.

It is also interesting that Calvin was born in 1509, 17 years after the discovery of America by Columbus.

Contrary to general or prevailing understanding, Protestantism requested a stronger tie between individuals and God.  Catholicism was rather tolerant to lukewarm faith of people so long as they admitted and accepted the absolute authority of the Vatican.

But, Protestantism introduced a strong distinction between Heaven and this world.  The Vatican assumed that everything was under rule of God under the sun, and thus a Pope should govern nations and peoples like a Roman emperor.  Anyway peoples in Protestant countries came to concentrate on worldly matters, especially politics and economy, while leaving spiritual matters to the Bible or familiar churches.

It is said that this is the very key to success of the UK in developing democracy and promoting science and expanding business in the global scale.    

However, American people took some unique course in their living based on Christianity.  They started to work hard to earn money endlessly.  As if they had been ordered by God to make more money to prove their faith, they never hated money, business, and innovation.

That is why the great power was established in North America but not in South America with all the Catholic countries, though it had untapped natural resources as much as North American had at the beginning of its modern history.

And North America also has provided favorable society for Judaists whose religion does never forbid them pursuing any worldly wealth even beyond the material glory of King Solomon.

In this way the US has become the richest country in the world.

  
   


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Mat 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Mat 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

"the Son of man is Lord" - Aristotle and Theocracy

Tokyo Downtown and The Sumida River

Aristotle and Theocracy

Aristotle said that there are two types of equality.

One is numerical equity.  For example, the difference between two and one is equal to that between three and two.

Another is equity concerning value.  For example, the difference between the ratio of four over two is equal to the one of two over one.

According to Aristotle, a great teacher of Alexander the Great, a political system of a nation should be based on both the types of equality.

And, he extended his thought to the difference between democracy and oligarchy.  There are more troubles in oligarchy than in democracy.  It is because there will be more strife in oligarchy than in democracy.  Oligarch cannot get rid of conflicts among elite members of the political circle and those between the elites and the general public.  On the other hand, democracy is featured only by struggles between the elite and the general public.  However a majority of society do not necessarily make a better decision than the elite do.    

Anyway, if people do not admit that they are living under power or rule of God, they will surely fail in politics being exercised in any form of government.



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Mar 2:28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

"Have ye never read what David did" - PM Hashimoto and Okinawa

Old Town on Tokyo Bay

PM Hashimoto and Okinawa

In February 1996 or so, when Prime Minister of Japan Ryutaro Hashimoto fondled an idea of asking US President Bill Clinton to return the US Marines' Futenma base, Okinawa, to Japan, he called some high-ranking bureaucrats to the PM office.

Having heard the idea, an elite official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said to Hashimoto, "Sir, it is not a good idea!"  Another one of the Defense Agency (now the Ministry of Defense) also stressed, "Sir, it is too sudden for us to get prepared for this issue."

As a horrible assault on a school girl by US soldiers happened in Okinawa in 1995, Okinawa people were then strongly against the presence of US troops in Okinawa Island.  The Japanese Government was then taking every measure to soften anti-US sentiment in Okinawa.

US military bases in Okinawa Island facing China and Taiwan over the East China Sea have key strategic values.  No matter how much Okinawa people want to get rid of crimes and inconveniences US troops have brought on them, it is impossible to drive Americans out of the Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture among 47 ones in Japan.  Since June of 1945 when the Battle of Okinawa was fought by the US and the Empire of Japan, the US military have kept very wide and big bases, naval ports, and air stations in Okinawa.  The US Marine Corps has its air base in Futenma at almost the central part of the island.  The base is surrounded by residential areas, business streets, and schools, making it the most dangerous base in Okinawa or in the world.                

So, PM Hashimoto wanted to improve the situation in Okinawa.  He wanted to convince Okinawa people that his Cabinet was very much concerned about the plight Okinawa had to bear for national defense and security of Japan.  But as high-ranking officials of the Japanese Government suggested that it was too premature to take up the Futenma issue in the coming meeting with the US President, Hashimoto held back from this diplomatic idea.

The logic the elite officials took was that without full coordination and consent among officials on both the Japanese and American sides in charge of Japan-US security issues a negotiation between the Japanese prime minister and the US President about the US Marine Corps Base in Okinawa cannot be successful; if it fails, it will harm honor and reputation of Prime Minister Hashimoto, since the Media would surely report it.  

But in the (unofficial) meeting with President Clinton held in California, Clinton asked Hashimoto whether he had any other topics, after having discussed some main theme.  So, Hasimoto dared to bring up the Okinawa issue.  "Can we discuss whether the US can return a US Marines base in Okinawa to Japan?" said Hashimoto.  Clinton responded smartly to help Hasimoto save face.  Subsequently, US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma became an official issue between the two Governments.

And finally in April 1996, both the Governments agreed that the Futenma base should be totally returned to Japan in seven years, though the US Marine Corps could get an alternative base some less-populated place in Okinawa.

Though for various reasons still the US Marines continue to use the Futenma base, the direction has never been changed.  Incumbent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe intends to fulfill the plan to relocate the US Marine Corps base as soon as possible, though there some strong opposition from Okinawa people who request complete abolition of US Marine Corps' bases but not relocation.

Nonetheless, those Japanese elite bureaucrats who did not help PM Hashimoto launch the agenda on the Futenma base never showed regret, so lamentably, though they of course cooperated with PM Hashimoto for the Futenma project after the Clinton's decision to return the base to Japan in exchange of a new one to be established in an area posing less burdens to Okinawa.

The lesson is that the enemy of Okinawa is elite bureaucrats in Tokyo rather than the White House.


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Mar 2:24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
Mar 2:25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?
Mar 2:26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

"A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons" - Memory of Hershey's

Tokyo Subway Train

Memory of Hershey's

Decades ago, when a Japanese musician Masahi Sada was a school boy living in Nagasaki, he sometimes visited a humble museum for the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Attack.

As it was just about 15 years or so after the end of WWII, the museum was not so big and well facilitated. But it displayed real things, such as a burnt baby in the womb and fingers exposed to strong radiation.

The US attacked this port city in the southwest part of mainland Japan with an atomic bomb or a nuclear bomb on August 9, 1945.  A week later the Empire of Japan surrendered.  Today, the museum was replaced by a modern one with advanced equipment and sophisticated displays.    

So, the boy Masashi sometimes thought how terrible Americans were.  But in fact, after the end of WWII, many American naval ships came to Port Nagasaki.  And US sailors and soldiers were often seen walking on the streets of Nagasaki.  Masashi's friends and other children found that America soldiers were generous.  When poor Japanese children shouted at them, "Chocolate!" they gave casually chocolates and chewing gum .   However, Masashi could not simply follow other children.  He never joined them asking for snacks from US soldiers, though his family was not rich at all.  His father was moving around other cities for some jobs while his wife and children were waiting in Nagasaki still in the aftermath of the 1945 Atomic Bomb Attack.

One day, the flagship of the US 7th Fleet came into port Nagaski.  One of his friends was excited.  He said to Masashi, "A big ship has come.  Japanese are being invited to observe it on board.  We can get snacks as much as we want.  Let's go and join the ceremony!"

Masashi thought that he might find truth of the US military if he had been there.  It was the main ship of the US Fleet.  He could surely see how terrible American officers were, since they had dropped that horrible Atomic Bomb.

They went to a pier through a big yard of a huge destroyed factory. But as they got in the US naval shop with other Japanese citizens, Masashi found his friend changed his look.  His friend who was usually modest and humble suddenly changed to a kind of hunter.  He walked to US sailors without hesitation and asked for chocolates so boldly.  After getting some sweets, he further caught another sailor to ask for any snacks.

Masahi finally lost him in a large crowd.  He went inside the ship, walking narrow paths inside.  Some sailors passed by him without minding a poor Japanese school boy wandering inside the flagship.  Finally when he came back on the deck, his friend found Masahi, saying, "You have not yet captured chocolates at all, have you.  Ok!  I will get some for you.  See that black sailor.  A black soldier is always more generous than a white sailor."  Then he said loudly to the black sailor, "Give chocolate!"

So, his friend successfully received a bar of chocolate the black sailor tossed to him.   He said, "Thank you!" to the soldier who was smiling satisfactorily.  Then his friend gave the bar to Masahi, saying, "This is how you can get it.  Now we still have more chances to extract chocolate from them."

But Masashi soon left the ship leaving his friend.  He walked back thorough the yard facing the port.  When crossing a small iron bridge in the yard, he put the bar of chocolate on a guardrail.  He noticed a letter "Hershey's" on paper wrapper of the chocolate.  He thought that Americans on the naval ship didn't look cruel at all, but he still could not accept the chocolate, though his young brother and sister would have been glad if he had brought the bar home.

Now Masashi Sada is a successful musician in Japan.  He is good at lyric songs.  He performed a solo concert 4,000 times up to today.  He never sings war-related songs so far as I know.

Masashi Sada (1952-) is a Japanese singer, lyricist, composer, novelist, actor, and a film producer. 

Throughout his career as a musician, Sada released over 35 solo albums and 70 singles, and multiple live albums or compilations. Since the release of Shourou Nagashi published in 2001, Sada has also worked as a novelist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masashi_Sada

                  






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Luk 2:23 (As it is written in the law of the LORD, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
Luk 2:24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
Luk 2:25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
Luk 2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

"new wine must be put into new bottles" - Approaching to Zero at a Speed

A Tokyo Downtown Street

Approaching to Zero at a Speed

Regrading N^m,

If N　--> 0 is faster than m　--> 0, N^m　-->　0^m　=　0.

Then 0^0 = 0. 

On the other hand, if N　--> 0 is slower than m　--> 0, 

N^m　-->　N^0　=　1.

Then 0^0 = 1.

As for multiplication,
N x 0 = 0, while N is any given number.

Then, N = 0/0.

Accordingly zero divided by zero is not constant, as N = 1, 2, 3, ..., N.

However, regarding m/N,

If N　--> 0 is faster than m　--> 0, m/N　--> m/0.　

Then 0/0 = infinity. 

If N　--> 0 is slower than m　--> 0, m/N　--> 0/N.　

Then 0/0 = 0. 

But what if both N and m approaches zero at the same speed?  Maybe N has a higher priority than m in the case of N^m, but m might  have a higher priority than N in the case of m/N.




***  ***  ***  ***

Mar 2:22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.

"his name was called JESUS" - Anger of God

Old Downtown on Tokyo Bay

Anger of God

If God designed this universe, what was His purpose?

This material universe is designed so well.  There are a million of chances that this material universe could not be established if God's design had any mistakes.  And there are one billion chances that the human species could not emerge from the natural environment of the earth if God's design had any flaws..

No scientists, who are of course human beings, cannot achieve the same thing, allowing for the Big Bang of the universe and enabling formation of living things in a planet like the earth, if they could further develop their science.  But God made it as we see it today.  It is a super-great act to crate this material universe and realize evolution of living things to the level of humans.  So, it must have a concrete aim.  What is the intention of God to create this university now expanding over scores of billion light years and enable evolution of organisms to humankind?

Regardless of His intention, the world we see on the earth today is the fruit of the attempt of God.  This human world today is on the summit of proceedings of this enterprise of God.  But this world or humankind has been so much contaminated by vice and evil especially in these 2000 years.  And it is apparent that this state under the rule of evilness is against expectation of God.

As human beings fall short of expectation of God, God must be angry.  Teaching of God is not so much respected in the human world while God is the Creator of this universe.  Will God admit that His trial is failure?  Or will God directly take a decisive action against human beings to terminate their existence?

In theory, it is very likely that from the beginning there is a special mechanism embedded in this universe, the nature, or the human body or the mind and heart that would automatically start to work and destroy existence of human beings if they should fail God.

So, I am afraid that we, human species, are approaching the critical stage where such a fatal mechanism will start to work.  Indeed, it must be enough even for God to wait for 2000 years since He first appeared to human beings in Palestine when the Roman Empire occupied the region  to rule Israelis.

Put simply, this civilization of ours with ever growing power of science and technology can collapse due to wrong application of science and technology or wrong direction they are progressing.

The human species being evil should be destroyed or eradicated by God or through some secret mechanism God prepared from the beginning for this purpose.

But more significant is that people do not think this way at all.  They do not think that they are disliked by God.  They do not think that they can be crushed and purged like God would do to servants of Satan and Satan himself.  It is truly grave that people think that God will never destroy them if they act like henchmen of the Devil.    

Nonetheless God is omnipotent.  He will never fail.        




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Luk 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Luk 2:22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

"go into the land of Israel"

A Shinto Shrine in Tokyo Established in the 17th Century







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Mat 2:19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
Mat 2:20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
Mat 2:21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

"as long as they have the bridegroom" - Zero, Constant or Variable

Ueno Station, Tokyo

Zero, Constant or Variable

The number is a key to understanding how this universe was designed by God.

What is 0 to the power 0? 

The problem is similar to that with division by zero. No value can be assigned to 0 to the power 0 without running into contradictions. Thus 0 to the power 0 is undefined 

How could we define it? 0 to any positive power is 0, so 0 to the power 0 should be 0. But any positive number to the power 0 is 1, so 0 to the power 0 should be 1. We can't have it both ways. 

Underlying this argument is the same idea as was used in the attempt to define 0 divided by 0. Consider a to the power b and ask what happens as a and b both approach 0. Depending on the precise way this happens the power may assume any value in the limit.
http://www.math.utah.edu/~pa/math/0to0.html

They explain how any positive number to the power 0 gets 1 in the following way.

N^0 = N^(m-m) = N^m/N^m = 1

Specifically, if N = 2 and m = 3,
2^0 = 2^(3-3) = 2^3/2^3 = 8/8 = 1

So, it can be claimed that 0^0 = 0^(0-0) = 0^0/0^0 =1, no matter what value 0^0 has, since both the denominator and the numerator must have the same value 0^0, namely 0 to power 0.

But if 0 to power 0 is considered indefiniteness, 0^0 and 0^0 can have different values.  The above tautology can be effective only if the value of 0^0 is constant.

In other approach, for example, 8 = 2+2+2+2 = 2^3, but 0 = 0, 0+0, 0+0+0, 0+0+0+0, etc.  Therefore 0 = 0^1, 0^2, 0^3, 0^4, etc.  Since 0 is indefiniteness, 0^0 must be also indefiniteness.

But we may think that 2^m means 1x2x2x2...x2.

If so, when m=3, 2^3 = 1x2x2x2 = 8.  In this scheme, 2^0 = 1; 3^0 = 1; and N^0 = 1.

Even, 0^3 = 1x0x0x0 = 0.  Then, 0^0 = 1.  

Anyway, the number zero is essentially indefinite, since 0 = 0-0, 0-0-0, etc.

In contrast, 8/2 = 4, since 8-2-2-2-2 = 0 definitely.

But 0/0 = indefinite; if 0-0 =0, then 0/0 = 1; if 0-0-0 = 0, then 0/0 = 2, and so on.

You can subtract 0 from 0 any times.

So, we may well think that it is one that is the basis of the number system.  With one, only zero has meaning arithmetically. Then we might have to think as follows:
0^3 = 1x0x0x0 = 0.  Then, 0^0 = 1.

Even 0/0 = 1x0/1x0 = 1/1 = 1.

Today's arithmetic system seems to have two different systems in it: one to regard 0 simply as indefiniteness and another to regard 0 as 1x0 since 1 is the basis.

***

So, zero seems to be closer to God than one.

Zero as a state of naught is different from zero as a number for arithmetic operation.

What we can understand easily is the zero as a number for arithmetic operation supported by one, the basis.


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Mar 2:19 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

"and they shall prophesy" - Expected Disasters on Tokyo

Ginza Shopping Street, Tokyo

Expected Disasters on Tokyo

For 2020 the Tokyo Olympics is slated.

But there are some serious concerns about its safety.  Tokyo can suffer a local earthquake, probably of an M8 class, which might take on more than 20,000 lives and can be covered by inches of volcanic ashes if Mt. Fuji, 100 km west of Tokyo, should erupt.  Further Nankai Trough in the Pacific Ocean can cause a huge tsunami to Pacific coast lines where Tokyo is located.  This tsunami is estimated to take on more than 200,000 lives.

In addition, two nuclear power plants, now halted after the Fukushima Daiichi accident, are expected to restart their operation in a few years.  One, the Hamaoka Plant, is 200 km southwest of Tokyo and another, the Kashiwazaki-Kariya Plant, is 200 km north of Tokyo.  As the Fukushima Daiichi Plant is situated 200 km northeast of Tokyo, any accident in those two nuclear power plants can pose a threat as dangerous as one posed by Fukushima Daiichi.

So, Tokyo should give up the Olympics so that it can concentrate on making itself more resistant to any natural or man-made disasters.

Then, Turkey might host the 2020 Olympics as the first among Islamic nations.  Even Syrian Muslims in refugee camps would be glad.




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Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

"the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" - After a Snowing Day

Around Tokyo Bay after Snow Falling

After a Snowing Day

Two consecutive weekends in Japan experienced heavy snowing.

Even the water flowing in a big river toward Tokyo Bay showed a different surface feeling.


A Haiku Poem:

After a snowing day,
None feels a turn to spring,
But a silky river is flowing to the bay.




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Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

"with the sword of my mouth" - Japanese and Koreans in Real History

Shinkansen Trains around Tokyo

Japanese and Koreans in Real History

Most of Japanese are angry with the South Korean Government as it has virtually launched a diplomatic war against Japan.

South Koreans think their status in the US will be promoted higher as they are blaming Japan for matters in and before WWII.

Put simply Koreans could not modernize and Westernize their society between the late 19th century and the early 20th century, while Russians were trying to invade and occupy any part of the Far East.  Even China, or  Qing Dynasty, which was a suzerain state for the then Korean Kingdom, was powerless before modernized Russian troops.

Without military strength of the Empire of Japan in the Far East at the time, Russians could have colonized Manchuria, North China, and the Korean Peninsula.

So, to build a defense line against Russians, the Empire of Japan helped Koreans get independent from the Chinese rule and modernize its society.  But to the eyes of some Imperial politicians of Japan, Koreans were not effective or wise in this effort.  Though there were some strong objections inside the political community of the Empire, Tokyo decided to integrate Korea as part of the Japanese Empire which had already put Taiwan and some Pacific islands under its rule.

This annexation of Korea in 1910 was achieved through official diplomatic procedures between Tokyo and the Korean Government.  It was based on a treaty endorsed by politicians of both the countries.  And, no large-scale armed resistance occurred in Korea on this annexation.

Nonetheless, it is a big shame for Koreans.  They had once enjoyed rich culture, especially, in terms of Buddhism and Confucianism.  More than 1000 years ago, Japan welcomed Korean immigrants with some cultural skills.  They fled the war-torn Peninsula to the Japanese Archipelago to survive.  Japanese welcomed them and lived peacefully with immigrant Koreans.  Even today there are local places whose names are Korean origin since Korean immigrants settled various parts of Japan (especially a region west of Tokyo is notable in this context).
    
But as time went by, the Korean society came to become rigid society due to extreme influence of Confucianism.  As China was the homeland of Confucianism, Korea got subject to China religiously, culturally, and politically.  It was a situation not found in Japan.  Japan cut an official diplomatic tie with China in the 9th century, though cultural and commercial ties were maintained.  But Korea actually became a tributary of China.

So, when Western Powers, such as the UK, France, the US, and Russia, expanded their overseas activities to build more colonies in Asia in the late 19th century, three major countries in the Far East, namely Japan, China and Korea, were put in trial.  China was partly colonized.  Korea had no strength and means to prevent Western invasion, being destined to be colonized soon.  But Japanese carried out reformation of the state and society (called the Meiji Restoration), advancing to modernization and Westernization.  And Japanese could finally achieved their own version of the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century.  The gap of national power between Japan and Korea was ever increasing since then.  And finally, Japanese politicians decided to annex Korea to the Empire for efficient modernization of the Korean society.

(And the Empire of Japan invested more into Korea before WWII than it exploited Korea so as to make Korea a strong part of the Empire and also a reasonable market for Japanese industry.)

This is another face of the so called colonization of Korea by the Empire of Japan.  And it is very unfair for the US to neglect it when it shows any compassion to Korean people.

In fact, many old South Koreans who lived the era before WWII and after WWII admitted that the Japanese rule had some reasonable bases.  Without the Empire of Japan, South Korea today must be part of North Korea at best.        

So, South Koreans living in the US must not try to harm friendly relationship between Japan and the US by telling Americans a lie about special types of Korean women who served Imperial troops of Japan while Korean men opted to get money in exchange rather than to keep their women.

In May 1910, the Minister of War of Japan, Terauchi Masatake, was given a mission to finalize Japanese control over Korea after the previous treaties (the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1904 and theJapan–Korea Treaty of 1907) had made Korea a protectorate of Japan and had established Japanese hegemony over Korean domestic politics. On 22 August 1910, Japan effectivelyannexed Korea with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 signed by Lee Wan-yong, Prime Minister of Korea, and Terauchi Masatake, who became the first Japanese Governor-General of Korea. 

The treaty became effective the same day and was published one week later. The treaty stipulated:

Article 1: His Majesty the Emperor of Korea concedes completely and definitely his entire sovereignty over the whole Korean territory to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.

Article 2: His Majesty the Emperor of Japan accepts the concession stated in the previous article and consents to the annexation of Korea to the Empire of Japan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule#Japan.E2.80.93Korea_annexation_treaty.2C_1910

Anyway, it was an era when the US colonized the Philippines, the UK colonized Part of China, Malaysia, Burma, and India; France colonized Vietnam; and the Netherlands colonized Indonesia without expecting that.their rule in Asia would someday end, though it was ended with the Pearl Harbor Attack so successfully and bravely carried out by the Imperial Navy of Japan in 1941.

The State of Colonization in Asia before WWII


Refer to the following posting:
http://eereporter.blogspot.jp/2010/07/he-sighed-and-saith-unto-him-ephphatha.html



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Rev 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

"spoken by the prophet Joel" - Still Corporate Japan?

Tokyo Suburb Railroad Line after Snowing 

Still Corporate Japan?

Recently The Nihon Keizai Shimbun conducted an image (favorite rating) survey on businesses in Japan.

The Top 10 are as follows:

1  Toyota Motor
2  Google
3  Honda
4  Uniqlo
5  Suntry
6  Japan Coca Cola
7  Kirin Beverage Corporation

8  Apple Japan

9  Nissan Motor

10 Sony 

Among top 10, auto manufacturers take three positions.  Another three are of alcoholic/soft drink makers.  And the IT industry has also three entries.  The rest is an apparel maker.

So, Japanese today have a life style of working in a car related business, using the Internet, drinking something cool, and wearing fashionable clothes.

However, a business magazine, The Toyo Keizai, reported ranking of Japanese companies in terms of their ability as a corporate.

1  INPEX (oil developer)
2  FANUC (robotics)
3  Yahoo
4  Denso (car components)
5  GREE (Internet)
6  NTT DoCoMo (telecommunications)
7  Canon
8  Komatsu (Heavy Machinery)
9  DeNA (Internet game)
10　Takeda Pharmaceutical

These companies enjoy high profits and financial strength.  Japan is based on industry but its society is highly connected to Internet services.  

Further as of fiscal 2012, the total amount of internal reserve of Japanese businesses capitalized at 1 billion yen ($10 million) or more is 272 trillion yen ($2.7 trillion in today's rate).

Though Japan has been in 15-year long deflation (no prices/salaries up) this amount has been increasing.  For example, it was about $1.6 trillion in fiscal 2002 and $1.42 trillion in 1997.

This deflation can be translated into depression, but Japanese businesses have been accumulating profits.  Or it shows that the Japanese society opted to put higher priority and preference on corporations while sacrificing workers and citizens.

What is worse, more and more Japanese makers have come to operate their production in foreign countries but not in Japan.  For example, several years ago Japanese auto makers totally produced 8 million cars abroad but today 16 million in plants built in foreign countries.

So still as was seen in the 20th century, Japan is corporation centric while forcing citizens and workers to live with less respect.

However, Japan is not a poor country.  According to another survey, an average amount of financial assets per household in Japan is about 11 million yen ($110,000).  In addition, a ratio of households without any financial assets is 31%.

It is hard to judge whether or not Japan as a whole is going to prosper materially more.  But one thing true is that Japanese have to find value of life outside a domain under influence of modern industry.  It is because we cannot trust those companies at all in leading people to meaningful and  spiritual value of living.

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Act 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Act 2:15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

"he had made a scourge of small cords" - Neanderthal without Threads

This Evening Snowing around Tokyo

Neanderthal without Threads

Syria is situated in the north of Israel which has become the historical and spiritual center of the world as with the geographical center between Africa, Asia, and Europe.

If ancient Hebrews and Israelis had been more greater, Syrian might have been taken by ancient Israel as its territory.  But, God restricted the scope of the ancient kingdom of Hebrews so that it did not cover Syria.  As a consequence, ancient Israel did not suffer so much invasion and occupation by other tribes, other kingdoms, and other empires.

But in more older days, for example, for Neanderthal, there must not have been distinction between Syria and Israel as they preceded humans in advancing out of Africa.  

The oldest remains found in Syria date from the Palaeolithic era (c.800,000 BC). On 23 August 1993 a joint Japan-Syria excavation team discovered fossilized Paleolithic human remains at the Dederiyeh Cave some 400 km north of Damascus. The bones found in this massive cave were those of a Neanderthal child, estimated to have been about two years old, who lived in the Middle Palaeolithic era (ca. 200,000 to 40,000 years ago). Although many Neanderthal bones had been discovered already, this was practically the first time that an almost complete child's skeleton had been found in its original burial state.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Syria

Indeed, it is thought that humans and Neanderthal interbred in the Middle East though such cases seems to have been very much limited.

An estimated 1 to 4 percent of the DNA in Europeans and Asians (French, Chinese and Papua probands) is non-modern, and shared with ancient Neanderthal DNA rather than with Sub-Saharan Africans (Yoruba and San probands).[19] Nonetheless, more recent genetic studies seem to suggest that modern humans may have mated with "at least two groups" of ancient humans: Neanderthals and Denisovans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal

Anyway, Neanderthal disappeared long before humans started their civilization.

Climate change

About 55,000 years ago, the weather began to fluctuate wildly from extreme cold conditions to mild cold and back in a matter of a few decades. Neanderthal bodies were well suited for survival in a cold climate—their barrel chests and stocky limbs stored body heat better than the Cro-Magnons. However, the rapid fluctuations of weather caused ecological changes to which the Neanderthals could not adapt; familiar plants and animals would be replaced by completely different ones within a lifetime. Neanderthals' ambush techniques would have failed as grasslands replaced trees. A large number of Neanderthals would have died during these fluctuations, which peaked about 30,000 years ago.[104]

Studies on Neanderthal body structures have shown that they needed more energy to survive than any other species of hominid. Their energy needs were up to 100–350 calories more per day comparing to projected anatomically modern human males weighing 68.5 kg (151.0 lbs) and females 59.2 kg (130.5 lbs).[105] When food became scarce, this difference may have played a major role in the Neanderthals' extinction.

.....
A Campanian ignimbrite volcanic super-eruption around 40,000 years ago, followed by a second one a few thousand years later, has been hypothesised as having contributed to the demise of the Neanderthal, based on evidence from Mezmaiskaya cave in the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia. 

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

So, Neanderthal got extinct due to a drastic climate change in addition to huge volcano eruptions.

But how could humans come through this sever conditions.

Compared with temperature observed 15,000 years ago, today's temperature is +/- 2 degrees.
But 40,000 years ago it was minus 20 degrees, and temperature 38,000 years ago to 30,000 years ago was minus 23 degrees in the comparison.  According to a theory, only 10,000 humans lived on the earth 35,000 years ago.

However, humans could survive because they invented threads. They started to make clothes using threads to cope with cold climate.  But, probably Neanderthal could not use threads.  They could not protect their bodies from coldness to get extinct eventually.

Now human beings face another climate challenge whether it is global warming or cooling.  Without another great invention, like threads 30,000 years ago, humans might start to be destined to extermination like Neanderthal  30,000 years ago.

Stop the war in Syria and start to get ready for a coming critical natural disaster, putting heads of all the humans together.





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Joh 2:13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Joh 2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
Joh 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

"and flee into Egypt"

Tokyo Suburbs after Snow Falling








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Mat 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Mat 2:14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

"immediately he arose, took up the bed" - In the Milky Way

Tokyo Suburbs

In the Milky Way

If the location of our solar system was closer or farther to the center of the Milky Way that it is actually, there is a strong possibility that the earth could not generate living things, including the human species.

Galactic habitable zone

In astrobiology and planetary astrophysics, the galactic habitable zone is the region of a galaxy in which life is most likely to develop. More specifically, the concept of a galactic habitable zone incorporates various factors, such as metallicity and the rate of major catastrophes such as supernovae, in order to calculate which regions of the galaxy are more likely to form terrestrial planets, initially develop simple life, and provide a suitable environment for this life to evolve and advance.[1] For the Milky Way this region is commonly believed to be an annulus with an outer radius of about 10 kiloparsecs and an inner radius close to the Galactic Center, both of which lack hard boundaries.[1][2]

In order to identify a location in the galaxy as being a part of the galactic habitable zone, a variety of factors must be accounted for. These include the distribution of stars and spiral arms, the presence or absence of an active galactic nucleus, the frequency of nearby supernovae that can threaten the existence of life, the metallicity of that location, and other factors.[9] Without fulfilling these factors, a region of the galaxy cannot create or sustain life with efficiency.

In addition to specific amounts of the various stable elements that comprise a terrestrial planet's mass, an abundance of radionuclides such as 40K, 235U, 238U, and 232Th is required in order to heat the planet's interior and power life-sustaining processes such as plate tectonics, volcanism, and a geomagnetic dynamo.[9] 

The galactic habitable zone is often viewed as an annulus 4–10 kpc from the galactic center, though in reality it is quite different.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_habitable_zone

However the earth must be also positioned at an adequate distance from the sun within the solar system to generate life forms.

But after primitive living things, namely bacteria, appeared on the earth, there came a critical situation about three billion years ago.  It was because some types of bacteria started photosynthesis to produce oxygen.  But most of bacteria were anaerobic.  And a behavior of these anaerobic bacteria decided the course of evolution of creatures on the earth.

There were many ways for anaerobic bacteria to avoid bad effect of oxygen those new types of bacteria caused.  But the anaerobic bacteria took a course of co-existing with oxygen-producing bacteria.  First anaerobic bacteria ate aerobic bacteria.　But as time went by, an anaerobic bacterium started to let an aerobic one live inside it.  The former received energy from the latter while the latter was protected and fed by the former.  This symbiotic status led to evolution from bacteria to eukaryotic species.  This eukaryote grew to multicellular organisms.

Eukaryotic cells 

Temporal range: 1.6–2.1 billion years ago (possibly as early as 2.7 billion years ago) – Present 

A eukaryote is any organism whose cells contain anucleus and other structures (organelles) enclosed within membranes. 

Most eukaryotic cells also contain other membrane-bound organelles such as mitochondria or the Golgi apparatus. 

Many unicellular organisms are eukaryotes, such as protozoa. All multicellular organisms are eukaryotes, including animals, plants and fungi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eukaryote

So, our body is a result of a symbiotic relationship between an anaerobic and an aerobic bacteria which resulted, two billion years ago, from a decision anaerobic bacteria made in order to survive in an earth environment with increasing density of oxygen due to wider spread of aerobic bacteria.

But if anaerobic bacteria had found other solutions to adopt them for their survival than the  symbiotic relationship, there should have been no emergence of eukaryotic species and eukaryotic cells which constitute our body eventually.

So, from the scale of a galaxy to that of a bacterium, our existence depends on various critical conditions.

That is why human species cannot exist without interference by God.



(to be continued...)





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Mar 2:12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

"a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord"

Tokyo Suburbs with Snow







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Luk 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Luk 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

"strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes" - At Carver Park for Hank Aaron

Mt. Fuji Viewed in a Town with a Railroad Station, around Tokyo 

At Carver Park for Hank Aaron

Hank Aaron, the 755 home-run hitter of the Major League Baseball, is well known in Japan as Sadaharu Oh, a Japanese super baseball player, delivered more home runs than Mr. Aaron.

When the City of Mobile built Carver Park in 1945, the city’s first recreational park for African Americans, there were neighborhood baseball games after school and on weekends. Hank Aaron played against Willie McCovey and Billy Williams, who also went on to be Baseball Hall of Famers. 

In 1948, when he was 14, Hank Aaron saw his hero Jackie Robinson when the Brooklyn Dodgers stopped Mobile. It was a time of separate schools, restaurants, hotels, drinking fountains, and baseball teams for blacks and whites. 

In 1952, Ed Scott, Mobile Black Bears manager and part time scout for the Indiana Clowns, went to see an area game and noticed the hitting ability of a third baseman. After the game, Scott asked Henry Aaron to play for the semi-pro Black Bears. Aaron's mother was reluctant to let him play on a team of grown men, but relented.
http://www.examiner.com/article/mobile-alabama-hank-aaron-childhood-home-and-museum-and-the-hank

So, in late 1980s or early 1990s, a Japanese wanted to visit Carver Park.  He drove to the City of Mobile with his Japanese wife, the first female Japanese Space Shuttle astronaut then under training in NASA.

But he couldn't find the ball park.  Besides, he felt somewhat uneasy because he could spot no European Americans in the city.  However, he parked the car, left his wife securely inside, and stepped out into the street to ask somebody how to get to Carver Park.

He found a line of African Americans before a fast food shop.  At the rear of the queue were several young African Americas, probably high-school students.  So, the Japanese, actually a medical doctor working in Japan while his wife is being trained in the US, said to them, "Can you tell me how to get to Carver Park where Hank Aaron once played when he was a boy?"  Young African Americans were grinning, but finally one of them said, "Two dollars!"  The Japanese felt uneasy but gave him two dollars.  Then they instructed him how to drive to the ball park.

The Japanese medical doctor and his NASA-astronaut wife reached the place, but they were disappointed since the place was desolate.  No decoration and no notice plate indicating that this is the professional home of Hank Aaron.

And what is worse, while they were standing before an old fence of the park, a sports car coming and passing by at a high speed with a man shouting, out of a window,  something at them in an intimidating manner.  So, the couple realized that they were the only non-African Americans in the town.  They left the glorious place for Japanese baseball fans in haste.      

However, the Japanese medical doctor visited Carver Park again several years later, probably in the middle of 1990s.

He then sensed no danger in the city.  Carver Park had new fences around its field.  He thought that the US had changed, though his respect for Hank Aaron never changed.

Anyway baseball is one of channels through which Japanese and Americans could communicate with each other rather frankly.  Even President Clinton praised Hideo Nomo, a Japanese MLB pitcher who achieved a no-hit/no-run game twice.　　

And maybe baseball contributes more to improvement of a racial aspect in the US rather than Olympic Games.


** **

He also has a reputation as a baseball aficionado to uphold. Bush is the first owner of a major league ball club (he had a stake in the Texas Rangers from 1989 to 1998) to become president. An avid reader of box scores, he can tick off baseball stats like a TV analyst.

And he likes to flaunt his knowledge of the game. Meeting with mayors yesterday, Bush told the mayor of Boston, "I'm sure you're thrilled with the Nomo no-hitter," referring to Red Sox pitcher's Hideo Nomo's no-hitter against the Orioles on Wednesday night.)


President Bill Clinton, who acknowledged his fear of throwing the ball in the dirt, took a safe approach to the first pitch: the lob. Chris Hoiles, the former Orioles catcher, offered Clinton that advice before his first presidential toss in 1993, and it worked. Clinton usually threw (very slow) strikes.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2001-04-06/features/0104060178_1_pitch-elder-bush-president-bush 




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Act 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
Act 2:8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Act 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Act 2:10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Act 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

"lo, the star"

Mt. Fuji, Snow-Covered Fields,  and the Ara-Kawa River, Japan

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Mat 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.