Very unanimous!
This is what happened in the weekend rally against the US bases in Okinawa:
"All of the major political parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party, saw themselves being represented for the first time at an antibase rally in Okinawa."
2010年4月26日月曜日
2010年4月20日火曜日
No Rainbows Here
When something is a good thing, everyone wants it, right? Okinawa doesn't want it, Guam doesn't want it, and now Tokunoshima says it doesn't want it, either. The "it" is a US military installation.
Over the weekend, 15,000 people--out of a total population of 25,000--protested the plan to spoil a beautiful environment by paving it over, polluting the sea, and bringing in noisy helicopters and military personnel who have proven their contempt for their host culture in Japan over and over again through off duty crimes ranging from rape, robbery, drunken driving that includes fatal hit and run accidents, to murder. This is not to say all the personnel are evil, but even one murderer is one too many to invite into your neighborhood.
If having this US military base were a good thing, Guam--a US protectorate--would want it. But they, too, have said no. As one US legislator put it in a very colorful metaphor, adding so many strangers to a small island like Guam might "unbalance it and tip it over".
Okinawa island agrees. So does Tokunoshima island. Your neighborhood would probably reject the proposal, too.
Isn't it time to rethink the very concept of overseas military installations?
Over the weekend, 15,000 people--out of a total population of 25,000--protested the plan to spoil a beautiful environment by paving it over, polluting the sea, and bringing in noisy helicopters and military personnel who have proven their contempt for their host culture in Japan over and over again through off duty crimes ranging from rape, robbery, drunken driving that includes fatal hit and run accidents, to murder. This is not to say all the personnel are evil, but even one murderer is one too many to invite into your neighborhood.
If having this US military base were a good thing, Guam--a US protectorate--would want it. But they, too, have said no. As one US legislator put it in a very colorful metaphor, adding so many strangers to a small island like Guam might "unbalance it and tip it over".
Okinawa island agrees. So does Tokunoshima island. Your neighborhood would probably reject the proposal, too.
Isn't it time to rethink the very concept of overseas military installations?
2010年4月16日金曜日
Bring on the Rainbows
I've never seen a rainbow in winter, have you? Rainbows seem to be a summertime thing. Why that should be, I have no idea; it's simply a fact of natural life. However, long observation of nature says that the border line between the time of no rainbows and the time when they can be seen is now.
A Japanese calendar, something like The Farmer's Almanac, sets the date of the first chance to see a rainbow as April 15.
It rained all day on April 15 this year. Maybe tomorrow the sun will shine through the clouds. Let the rainbow season begin!
A Japanese calendar, something like The Farmer's Almanac, sets the date of the first chance to see a rainbow as April 15.
It rained all day on April 15 this year. Maybe tomorrow the sun will shine through the clouds. Let the rainbow season begin!
2010年4月7日水曜日
Flower Time
Everyone knows that the end of March/beginning of April is cherry blossom time in Japan. But what about the other flowers? Is it fair that the word "flower" in a Japanese poem almost always refers to cherry blossoms?
Some people think not.
There are some flowers that are so lovely, if they were blooming all by themselves in an otherwise forlorn location, the people who saw them would swoon for joy.
I love the cherry blossoms as much as the next person, but in deference to the others who also bloom, the photo I am posting is not of a cherry tree. It's of a type of chrysanthemum that gives until there's nothing left to give from December to April, even blossoming through the snow.
Some people think not.
There are some flowers that are so lovely, if they were blooming all by themselves in an otherwise forlorn location, the people who saw them would swoon for joy.
I love the cherry blossoms as much as the next person, but in deference to the others who also bloom, the photo I am posting is not of a cherry tree. It's of a type of chrysanthemum that gives until there's nothing left to give from December to April, even blossoming through the snow.
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