USS Reagan Leaving for Japan

After 11 Years in San Diego, USS Reagan Leaving for Japan
After 11 years in San Diego, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan will begin a voyage on Monday to its new home port in Yokosuka, Japan. The Reagan is one of three aircraft carriers taking part in a swap of home ports. The USS George Washington left Japan, and following a stop here, is destined […] 

AUTUMN FESTIVALS

AUTUMN FESTIVALS CONNECT LOCALS

By Yuudai Takaki Chief executive GoldHorn Inc.

The time to celebrate aki matsuri (autumn festivals) is almost here. Festivities take place throughout Japan to commemorate a Shinto ritual celebrating a bountiful harvest and good catch. Unlike the larger, more prominent natsu matsuri (summer festivals), these autumn festivals impress the visitor with distinctly local delights. In Tokyo, portable shrines can be seen being paraded in each district at the beginning of September. READ MORE

A Sprawl of Ghost Homes in Aging Tokyo Suburbs

A Sprawl of Ghost Homes in Aging Tokyo Suburbs - The New York Times

 

“There are empty houses everywhere, places where nobody’s lived for 20
years, and more are cropping up all the time,” said Ms. Haneda, 77,
complaining that thieves had broken into her neighbor’s house twice and
that a typhoon had damaged the roof of the one next to it.

Japan has so many super old people

Japan has so many super old people that it can’t afford to give them special sake cups anymore

By Elahe Izadi

Being very old in Japan comes with perks -- namely, a commemorative silver sake cup, given to each person who reaches 100.When the practice started in 1963, the Asian nation sent out 153 of the commemorative saucer-like cups as a token of recognition that being very old was something unique and truly special. But now Japan has a lot of very old people; so many, in fact, that the government has plans to nix the commemorative silver gifts in lieu of a cheaper option, Kyodo News reports.  Read full article »

Metropolis - Aug 21 ~ Sept 3, 2015

215kph drifts at “Japan’s Nurburgring”

Japan's Past World War II Apologies

Shinzo Abe Echoes Japan's Past World War II Apologies but Adds None

By JONATHAN SOBLE 

Mr. Abe's statement on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the war's end seemed intended to highlight what he and other conservatives see as an endless apology. 

World War II ended 70 years ago — here's the planned US invasion of Japan that never happened

On August 14, 1945, US President Harry Truman announced the...  Read» China is trying to use WWII history to shame Japan and weaken its alliances Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is sick of apologizing. In...  Read» Shinzo Abe's Bid to Redefine Japan and Its Military Has Echoes of Family History By JONATHAN SOBLE Mr. Abe, who wants the military to take on limited combat roles, sees himself in the mold of his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, a premier who helped redefine cooperation with America after the war.

Emperor voices his displeasure

Emperor offers a regal critique of Japan’s drift away from pacifism

By Anna Fifield

TOKYO — Emperor Akihito is a man of few words. Japan’s American-written constitution designed it that way.But the 81-year-old figurehead has increasingly found ways to skirt the constitutional limits on his role and has, in characteristically subtle language, appeared to voice his displeasure with the path that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is leading Japan down.  Read full article »

My Dad's Old Car 1965 Impala

For a modern nation, they still don’t get it.

Marines assist in Saipan recovery effort

August 9, 2015

Thanks to all for my birthday greetings, I was here in Guam with power and water, very thankful but thinking about my people in Saipan.

A week after the disaster the people are getting very tired.  While trying to get some work done, all are thinking about securing water, where to shower, what to eat, toilet and long hot dark nights.  Bam declared a state of emergency but as usual FEMA is slow to respond.  The US Military was quick and doing a great job.  People of Guam are coming together and showing a lot of support.  Report this morning was the Seabees got one power plant working and power going to the hospital.  Generator at some water wells and water flowing slowly to the southern villages.  Central area where we are still has no water.  I’ve got a 50K tank full of water so the showers we set up are very busy with my workers, rain water is refilling the tank.  Our relief supplies arrived and will be distributed today.  I’ll be going there tomorrow with more supplies.

All generators got sold out real quick on Guam, tried to get Japan to send several portable gensets but what a complicated ordeal, first they said airlines would not transport them, then they’re worried about EPA compliance, then not immediately available, now it’s O-Bon all week and no one around.  For a modern nation, they still don’t get it. (日本が近代国家であるが、彼らはまだそれを得ることはありません)。To say the least, I’m very disappointed, we’ll try again today.  A small 6000w genset at my staff house would at least give us lights, some fans, ref. and water pump for the shower & toilet. 

So aside from all that, I had a quiet peaceful birthday.

tom (class of '76)

Japan's Naked Island Hermit

78-year-­old Masafumi Nagasaki is the sole resident of a tropical island located at the southern tip of Okinawa, Japan. He would rather obey the demands of nature than of another person, which is what led him to escape civilization and live on Sotobanari Island. We decided to go and find out exactly what kind of lifestyle he's leading, and why he chooses not to wear clothes.

Nagasaki - before and after the bomb

What Nagasaki looked like before and after the bomb
By Ishaan Tharoor 
Three days after leveling the city of Hiroshima with a uranium atomic bomb known as a "Little Boy," the United States dropped the more menacing-sounding "Fat Man" over Nagasaki. It was Aug. 9, 1945. Some 40,000 to 80,000 people were killed, and much of the city was pulverized. Nuclear weapons would never again be used in warfare.  Read full article »

METROPOLIS - AUGUST 7 - 20, 2015

What it would look like if the Hiroshima bomb hit your city

What it would look like if the Hiroshima bomb hit your city
Seventy years ago today, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, and three days later dropped another bomb, this time on Nagasaki. As the Washington Post reports, a nuclear historian has created a NukeMap that allows you to visualize what the Hiroshima and Nagasaki explosions would look like in your hometown.

As their numbers dwindle, Hiroshima survivors have a plan to keep memories alive
By Anna Fifield
HIROSHIMA, Japan — The crowd sat entranced as 78-year-old Emiko Okada recalled the horrifying events of Aug. 6, 1945, a day that started hot and cloudless. There was the buzz of the plane, the huge flash, the cries for water, the kids like ghosts with skin dangling off them, the people with their guts hanging out.  Read full article »

Japan: Children in Institutions Denied Family Life

(Tokyo, May 1, 2014) Japan's overwhelming use of institutions instead of family-based care is failing thousands of vulnerable children by not preparing them for independent, productive lives in Japanese society. According to government statistics, more than 39,000 children in Japan live in different kinds of institutions across the country. These are "alternative care" settings, including infant care institutions, child care institutions, short-term therapeutic institutions, group homes for independent living, and foster care and family homes. The children were removed from their families because the authorities determined that their parents were either unable or unwilling to care for them properly.

Hiroshima: What 70 years of reconstruction looks like

Hiroshima: What 70 years of reconstruction looks like - The Washington Post

390-year-old bonsai tree survived an atomic bomb

This 390-year-old bonsai tree survived an atomic bomb, and no one knew until 2001 - The Washington Post

Ramu Tokashiki in the W.N.B.A.

Ramu Tokashiki, a Japanese Rookie, Blossoms in the W.N.B.A.

Seattle's Ramu Tokashiki, the third Japanese woman to play in the play in the
W.N.B.A. and the most successful yet, has become a growing fan favorite