So it goes

Japan. Natural disasters. Noto Hanto residents who experinced the 1/1/2024 earthquake were treated to devastating floods 9 months later. Response: it sucks, but so it goes. Life. Some folks need to believe that there's a plan. God's plan, test the individual's faith. Book of Job. Natural disaster。 No plan. Just is. Sayonara, Jehovah.

Trains and Sakura: Tsugaru Railway, Aomori

NHK program about rail lines known for sakura airing this evening. Outstanding. Some screen shots from the Tsugaru, Aomori segment. ; ">

Soto Zen Temple: 'Live Deeply in the Moment'

Signboard at the entrance to Dai Zen Temple. Some might translate this as carpe diem, others as mindfulness. I don't think it's akin to the Biblical "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof", though that thought crossed my mind.

Boycotting アメリカン from Japan

Don't travel to the US, don't buy アメリカン。For starters. Already too many reasons to enumerate, and a deluge of newly- minted outrages floods the news daily. How bad is it? There's this. So, when you're grocery shopping, pay particular attention to the pork, beef, and tofu. If アメリカ産 or 米国産 pops up on the packaging, look for 日本産．Or カナダ、オ−ストラリア。 Anything but アメリカ．

Pay particular attention to the bottom right corner: 原産原料地 アメリカA カナダB. Soybeans sourced from both US and Canada, but primarily the former. Sorry, Canada, but don't buy. It's easy to find Made in Japan tofu, often with 100%北海道産大豆 on the package.

Moral Ed: Considering others, cont'd, and Christo- fascist America

Puppy was angry and trod on pumpkin's runner. Makes no difference to me, said pumpkin. Just then a truck came along, and, before pumpkin knew it, the tendril was snapped. Ahh, ohh, that hurts, and tears coursed down. Students are asked to consider: Why is it important to think of others, to be unselfish? I'm from America, you know, the banana republic whose leader is a convicted felon, sex offender, and sociopath. White Christian Nationalists have no problem with that. In polytheistic, animist Japan, young children are taught the importance of community, of society, and they understand that taxes pay for schools, libraries, parks, fire and police departments, hospitals... And no one in Japan would dream of taking a blowtorch to healthcare, of denying people of a basic human right. No commandments, but closer to Christ than Jehovah Junkie Mike Johnson. So, America, サヨナラ.

2011, 14 Years Later

The Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami occurred at 2:46 PM on Friday, March 11, 2011, 14 years ago today. Close to 20,000 lost their lives. Fukushima Dai-ichi, Tokyo Electric Power's nuclear plant, experienced a meltdown in multiple reactors, devastated by towering waves and overwhelmed backup generators, which the company and the postwar ruling party in government had been warned about. No one at the operator has been held responsible. Most unfortunately for those of the tsunami inundated municipality of Ofunato, Iwate, nearly 10 % of the town was recently destroyed by a forest fire.

Moral Ed. : Consideration for others

Why do these things happen? A chapter on trouble at school. What's the purpose of promises, rules? What happens when people break them? What should we be mindful of as individuals and members of society? >