Cosmos flowers! One hill is sparkling with lemonade yellow blossoms mixed with fizzy white ones. Two more are covered with multiple shades of pink, as far as the eye can see.
Almost as plentiful as the flowers are the people enjoying a day in the park. This is Showa Kinen Koen at its best.
Almost a century ago, the land was the site of an airplane factory. Even now, a handful of one-and-two-seaters is on display in a back corner of the park. Later, it became a hotspot of Japan's war effort. Still later, the airfield was taken over by a foreign government to use for their various war efforts.
And then...
The land reverted to Japan.
What would a nation that learned a very bitter lesson--that war's main product is human misery--do with this acreage next?
Japan planted trees, grass, and shrubs, landscaped the ponds and the lake, planted thousands and thousands of cosmos flowers, and threw open the gates. Welcome, one and all, to a place that celebrates life! Banzai for karmic makeovers!
2010年10月24日日曜日
2010年10月19日火曜日
strange news
Autumn in the season for awards. In Japan, the national holiday "Culture Day" comes on November 3, and centering on that date, various prizes in the field of culture are awarded.
Loosely defined, culture would be anything created by the heart, mind and hand of human beings as opposed to something created by nature. Politics, believe it or not, fits inside that definition. But so does morality.
One would have to question, therefore, the wisdom of awarding a "culture hero" prize to a politician discredited by his own party for his totally iffy morality.
This is about Junya Yano, who was ignominiously booted out of the Komei Party many years ago. Who is nominating him? The news report said "the government". That means the current ruling party, which is largely ruled by Ichiro Ozawa, a man on the verge of being discredited for his totally iffy morality.
Is this a joke?
Loosely defined, culture would be anything created by the heart, mind and hand of human beings as opposed to something created by nature. Politics, believe it or not, fits inside that definition. But so does morality.
One would have to question, therefore, the wisdom of awarding a "culture hero" prize to a politician discredited by his own party for his totally iffy morality.
This is about Junya Yano, who was ignominiously booted out of the Komei Party many years ago. Who is nominating him? The news report said "the government". That means the current ruling party, which is largely ruled by Ichiro Ozawa, a man on the verge of being discredited for his totally iffy morality.
Is this a joke?
2010年10月6日水曜日
The Silence of a Wind Turbine
The people in today's NY Times (Oct 5) who don't like the noise of their wind turbine apparently do not know where to shop for a good one.
The article claims they couldn't stand the noise after its first ten minutes of operation. I know one that has been operating for ten years, and you can't hear it at all. It powers a small community on an island near Okinawa, and even if you stand right next to it, all you hear is the birds chirping, voices wafting from a coffee shop nearby, and the hum of a car or two on the road that passes the turbine. You can't hear the windmill, even if you press your ear against the tower. (which I did)
Don't blame the turbine for noise; blame the manufacturer.
Quiet ones do exist.
The article claims they couldn't stand the noise after its first ten minutes of operation. I know one that has been operating for ten years, and you can't hear it at all. It powers a small community on an island near Okinawa, and even if you stand right next to it, all you hear is the birds chirping, voices wafting from a coffee shop nearby, and the hum of a car or two on the road that passes the turbine. You can't hear the windmill, even if you press your ear against the tower. (which I did)
Don't blame the turbine for noise; blame the manufacturer.
Quiet ones do exist.
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