Samurai Blues

Samurai culture: romanticized, lionized... Japan's men's soccer and baseball teams called Samurai Blue. You didn't want them as neighbors、not if you were peasant farmers. Watch 七人の侍．from 1.29.00.The great Mifune Toshio as Kikuchiyo gives an impassioned speech decrying the oppression of peasants by lawless samura parasites.

Hearn, New Orleans Years: 1877-1886

In 'New Orleans in Wet Weather', published in the Cincinnati Commercial, December 22, 1877, Hearn describes the city's famous statue of Henry Clay,the statesman and slaveholder from Kentucky whose memorial was then located on Canal Street. Hearn is struck by the irony of an inscription on the memorial: "If I could be instrumental in eradicating this deepest stain, slavery, from the character of our country, I would not exchange the proud satisfaction which I should enjoy for the honors of all the triumphs ever decreed to the most successful conquerors. - Henry Clay" Hearn's appears to be the sole reference to the inscription on the east-facing surface of the statue's pedestal. Interesting page here: New Orleans Then and Now: Canal Street and Henry Clay’s Monument | Inside Adams https://share.google/nnQVwg1vRByALTE5T

Out with the Old

An anonymous donor has gifted the Osaka/ Yokoyama City water utility 21kg in gold bars valued at 566 million yen. Like many municipalities in Japan, Osaka's network of water mains and sewerage pipes is old, corroded, and in danger of collapse, which can result in sinkholes and costly property damage, if not fatalities. The benefactor、who made the donation under an assumed name、 requested the monies be spent on renovating the city's 水道管。I am reminded of a family resort at which I worked in Colorado, USA, which solicited donations from guests (the camp attracted the well-heeled) to fund construction of accommodations (cabins, lodges) and other facilities (resort library, playing fields, swimming pool, and the like). These donors insisted their names be emblazoned across their gifts. The reaction of the Yokoyama City mayor: "感謝しかない。とんでもない金額で言葉ない"。

Local Girl Nakai Ami Makes Good

in her first Winter Olympics, 17-year-old Japanese figure skater 中井亜美 leads the field after the short program. Ms Nakai is a native of Niigata City, completing primary school at Meike Elementary. The Niigata City Board of Education and her Alma Mater wish her well.

Bienvenue en Louisiane

More photos on the way, including from a visit to New Orleans and Hearn House later in the week. (Experiencing technical difficulties at the moment, unable to upload photos.) Decorations for Mardi Gras (this past Tuesday).

Speaking of Connections...

The ringmaster of the right-wing populist circus that is Sanseito- I'm referring to one Kamiya Sohei- recently averred that Japan is the only nation in the world to stipulate a link between climate change and fossil fuels. Balderdash, but of a piece- Kamiya regularly trots out such nonsense, when he's not denying credible allegations of power harassment (leading to a staffer's suicide, I might add). Trump's America, from which this opportunistic hollow man finds inspiration, has managed what Japan never will (thank the Shinto gods, and the Japanese education system): Trump’s EPA repeals landmark climate finding in gift to ‘billionaire polluters’ | Trump administration | The Guardian https://share.google/Sp5Wvd8prYBGRnaqX

Glimpses of America: Japan Connection

Parked outside the hotel is this behemoth:

Turning Point USA, the outfit run by ultranationalist Christian Kirk. Remember him? Days before he became a martyr to the Second Amendment, he attended a rally in Tokyo at the invitation of Sanseito, Japan's MAGA.

Glimpses of America: The Neverending Story

Murder of Sonya Massey - Wikipedia https://share.google/rMcz5KqoUb0YKFs0j

Glimpses of the America on the Road.to. NO: Three Billboards

Glimpses of America En Route to Louisiana and Hearn's New Orleans

Preempted by the unceasing outrage, fury, cruelty, and distraction that is America are the stories of the individuals, children, elderly trying to make a life in such communities as those I witnessed on the run today.

Glimpses of the USA: On the Road to New Orleans

Spending the night in Springfield, Illinois, en route to Louisiana. The state capital, the governor a good man. But mere blocks from the capitol building I encounter, whilst running, urban blight and decay unlike any I've ever seen. Litter everywhere. Boarded-up houses. Busted furniture and broken children's toys on sagging, paint-flecked porches. Unopened cans of vegetables, abandoned. Payday loans and bottle shops (why not?- observations, merely, not judgements). "Recognize the symptoms of overdose": Naloxone. Have I mentioned that the state capitol is minutes away?