MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2022

we touched this same spot with our hands, our feet, our gaze and our dreams

Saturday, June 30, 2007

U.S. dropping of atomic bombs was inevitable

June 30, 2007

TOKYO -- Japan's defense minister said Saturday that the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States during World War II was an inevitable way to end the war, drawing criticism from atomic bomb survivors.

''I understand that the bombing ended the war, and I think that it couldn't be helped,'' Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said in a speech at a university in Chiba, just east of Tokyo.

Kyuma's remarks drew immediate criticism from Nobuo Miyake, director-general of a group of Japanese atomic bomb victims living in Tokyo.

''The U.S. justifies the bombings saying they saved American lives,'' said Miyake, 78. ''It's outrageous for a Japanese politician to voice such thinking. Japan is a victim.''

Kyuma said later that his comments were misinterpreted. He told reporters he meant to say the bombing ''could not be helped from the American point of view.''

''It's too bad that my comments were interpreted as approving the U.S. bombing,'' he said.

Defense Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment Saturday.

On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped a bomb nicknamed ''Little Boy'' on Hiroshima, killing at least 140,000 people in the world's first atomic bomb attack. Three days later, it dropped another atomic bomb, ''Fat Man,'' on Nagasaki. City officials say about 74,000 died.

read the whole story here......

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Meet the world's cutest imperialist

Meet Prince Pickles, the adorable mascot of Japan’s Self Defense Forces (SDF). For years Pickles and his girlfriend, Parsley-chan, have been spreading warm, fuzzy feelings about Japan’s military. The star of his very own government-sponsored comic book, Prince Pickles’ Diary, the doe-eyed prince plucks Japanese citizens from floodwaters, mans balloonish tanks, and disarms underwater mines. More recently, he’s been spotted—under the banner “For the Future of Iraq”—shaking hands with a cartoon sheik.


Japanese citizens have tended to be suspicious of the SDF, a fact that helps explain Pickles’ back story. A native of the peaceful Paprika Kingdom, he at first didn’t understand the need for his small country’s defense forces. It wasn’t until the neighboring Sesame Kingdom invaded that the prince learned the value of a military. Pickles went from wary skeptic to willing soldier.

Japan is addicted to all things kawaii, so it’s no surprise that the propaganda architects should consider the cuteness craze a fitting foundation. In April, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the press that Japan, pacifist since losing World War II, would adopt a more assertive military role in world affairs. Can deft use of the pencil ease brutal memories of the sword? Prince Pickles’ next mission may be to find out.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Himeji Castle replica took builder 19 years

TSU, Mie Pref. (Kyodo) Hiroyasu Imura spent 19 years pursuing his boyhood dream of faithfully producing a replica of Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture.

The 69-year-old former insurance examiner completed his model of Himeji Castle at a scale of 1:23 in the garden of his home in Ise, Mie Prefecture, in April.

Since completing the model, Imura has been deluged with visitors. The replica has even impressed a curator of the municipal castle research office in the city of Himeji, where the real fortress stands.

The castle was listed in 1993 as a UNESCO World Heritage site along with Horyuji Temple in the ancient capital of Nara.

The official said that if someone were shown a photograph of the replica, they might think it was a picture of the actual castle. The Himeji government has named Imura as a tourist ambassador.

Himeji Castle has escaped damage for nearly 400 years since it was refurbished by feudal lord Ikeda Terumasa between 1601 and 1609. Its main donjon consists of five layers and six floors.

The replica is about 160 sq. meters, with the main keep about 2.2 meters high. It cost Imura about 18 million yen to build. He made sure every detail corresponds to the original, including the curved lines of the castle's graceful roofs, its white walls, intricately combined connecting turret, stone walls and moat.

Imura's first encounter with the original castle came at age 14, when he saw a photograph of it in a boy's magazine. He was a fan of samurai movies and was inspired by castles. He wondered how people had lived in such palaces and kept thinking about reproducing Himeji Castle.

Arthritic jaw could sideline Japanese hot dog eating champ


Takeru Kobayashi (tah-kah-roo koh-bee-yah-shee) is being treated for an arthritic jaw that could take a bite out of his chances at winning his seventh straight Yellow Mustard Belt. The title is handed out at the annual Independence Day hot dog eating competition on Coney Island. The 165-pound champion set a record last year when he gobbled up nearly 54 hot dogs in 12 minutes.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Roger & Gaynor Ridley June 2007 Prayer Letter

Prayer Update June 2007 Roger & Gaynor Ridley

Praise Points

  • Thanks for your prayers for Roger as he preached at the German FeG in Lörrach on ‘Living Life on the Edge’. He received good comments and feedback after the service and now he’s itching to do more preaching!
  • For our continued good health and fitness.
  • We want to thank God for our faithful supporters. We are excited about what we are doing and need to remain faithful in communicating this.
  • The wonderful Swiss Baptist Seed Conference and good catch ups and contacts that were made there. Also for Derek Webster’s believe in what we are doing and encouragement of us all the time - he’s awesome!
  • Our family in Melbourne – Tim and Amy, Jocelyn, and Glenda & Tom. Thank God for his provision of a great job for Jocelyn and somewhere permanent to live that is fully furnished.

Prayer Points

  • Our 4th Mosaic event featuring our friend Derek Webster is this Saturday 23 June at 20:00 in Lörrach at Ars Nova Galerie.
  • Our visa will expire at end of July and we are currently contacting the German FeG Church in Lörrach to help us with the paperwork. Pray it will all go smoothly and that all our papers will be in order.
  • The S.H.A.P.E. 6 week course continues with the team this Wednesday 20 June. We’ve been doing the course fortnightly because of team commitments. We hope to finish the course in the next couple of weeks.
  • For an opportunity to meet with the team very soon to discuss ‘Where to from here’. Summer here means holidays for a lot of people - but not for us. We want to keep the momentum going.

v For wisdom for Gaynor dealing with a dispute initiated by a Christian we know, (not in our team) with wide spread potential to affect other English speakers we know.

Dispute has nothing to do with us or our ministry but as we know the parties and one is a Christian and we must ask her to consider a biblical resolution.

  • Roger finishes the Deutsch course in 2 weeks (which he has been doing each week since September ’06). We both need conversation practise and continued discipline in our learning.
Please continue to pray for regular support to come in to meet all our needs here.

Contact Roger and Gaynor at
rgridley@t-online.de

Lyons cabin on TEAM Center in Karuizawa

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Crime in Akihabara is no game

A report released earlier this month by the Metropolitan Police Department found that crime is rising in innovative and trendy Akihabara. Bag thefts, shoplifting, and sales of restricted goods and illegal services have reached a worrying level that cannot be ignored. It is hoped that, in this case, Akihabara is not a bellwether of a broader, undesirable social direction. In the real world, there is no "GAME OVER" that lets you start back at the beginning.

Recently, many victims unwisely have entered questionable shops or participated in illegal activities. Other victims have been robbed while not paying attention to their bags, fell asleep in the wrong place or were tricked or bullied out of money. Less sympathy may go out to those who seemed complicit in their own victimization, but that does not make it acceptable. Due to embarrassment or a sense of futility, the actual number of incidents is most likely under-reported.

The sad-luck otaku and other victims may at least serve as a canary in the coal mine, warning the country about how easily such crimes can occur. Akihabara regulars who spend time, and lots of money, on techie shopping would appear to be disadvantaged by the traits of their own stereotype — lost in a fantasy world while robbed in the real world. From the point of view of criminals — including pickpockets, burglars and extortionists — not only Akihabara but also most of Japan must seem like an environment of easy pickings. What is happening in Akihabara can happen any place in the country.

read on........

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Old is new again in Japan

Tokyo - Folk music is rad, and kimono fashions have been rediscovered as a new trend for some young Japanese who are reviving the traditions of their country. Some call it a product of petit nationalism, but those who are creating the blend of modern and traditional arts and music just think it's hip.

The young trend-setters are eager to revive and sustain traditional culture, but their twist on it has drawn consternation by artists of the older generation.

Japanese college students mob the streets of trend-setting Omotesando Hills in Tokyo to show off their nouveau kimonos and listen to young samisen players push the boundaries of the traditional string instruments by strumming rock 'n' roll. read on.......