Obama Made Abe Happy?

It's the most beautiful season in my garden now. All the spring flowers and blossoms are blooming, but not so big weeds yet. Under the cherry tree in the garden we had lunch with friends who visited us today. Our grandsons and their friends tried fishing in the river nearby(but caught none!) and found a snake and played with it!!! We have holidays in this beautiful season and so many people enjoy going out or having picnic. The families that have boys put carp streamers high up on the pole in this season.

The US President Obama visited Japan and talked with the Primeminister Abe. Obama's main purpose must be to put Japan a pressure about the TPP, and the government of Japan probably made some secret deal. At the same time Obama expressed his approval for Abe's politics to change our constitution and join USA's war. It made Abe and his followers so happy and I scare that they are encouraged. Obama said the Asian nations should find a way to get together, not militarily, but Abe seems not to understand it but occupied with war games. TV news and shows made a fuss that they called each other by their first names, or they went to a famous sushi restaurant, and they said the sushi was the best they have ever had, and so on.

I was shocked to read Henmi You, one of the most intellectuals in Japan, I think, about the situation of recent Japan. He describes it as a society of "Ignorance is power" and has anticipation that the time of violence we have never experienced will come He is asking us and himself if we are prepared to fight against the fascism even if we are alone. He thinks now is the crisis of the slight hope left in Japan. He also thinks the war between China and Japan can be happen, because of the stupidness of both countries.

Why Does He Keep Feeding Contaminated Cattle?

The cattles in the contaminated area in Fukushima were abandoned and then the government decided to kill them all. But there are some people who have refused to do so. I listened to a speech of one of those people today.
His name is Yoshizawa and he has been a manager of a ranch in Namie town in Fukushima, which is 14km from the power plant that exploded. Though the area is seriously contaminated, he has stayed at the ranch and kept feeding the cattle. Of course the cattle have no value for sale.
He is angry with the government and the Tokyo Electric Co. that destroyed everything of the area but have evading the responsibility of the fact. And, he is also angry with Tokyo, which has used the electricity from Fukushima and enjoyed the prosperity, forgetting the fact in Fukushima. So he goes to the government and the TEC to make protests. He also goes to many places to tell the people his story. He makes speeches in Shibuya in Tokyo, that is one of the most crowded place in Japam.
He said, "Let's speak loud and clear, not just complain." He named his ranch "Kibo no Bokujo Fukushima",it means" Ranch of Hope Fukushima" . His speech encouraged me though he is suffering and in the desperate situation himself.

Cherry Blossoms Spring!

The cherry blossoms finally start blooming even here. I have been waiting for them! Do you know that in Japan we have the forecast for the cherry blooming in the early spring? Cerry blossoms bloom earlier in warmer places, and gradually go to colder area. In Tokyo, they enjoyed cherry blossoms more than twenty days ago, and then, we've heard the news of the blossoms in many other towns and cities. Our place is about 700 meters above sea level, and so we have to wait long for the blossoms.
Why do we worry about cherry blossoms so much? They are the symbol of spring for us. After a long,cold, and colorless winter, pink cherry blossoms excite us. If you visit Japan in this season, you can see pink blossoms everywhere.

A big news. Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan was nominated for the Nobel Prize for peace!! The prize winner will be the people of Japan.
The article declares that we will never go into a war as the means to solve a conflict between the other nations, and so, we will never have an army and weapons. According the article,we have not attacked or fought with other nations for almost 70 years. It is really worthy for the Prize, isn't it?
Abe Government is hurrying to change our constitution and make Japan a warlike nation. The sentiment to support it is spreading, we fear. And, actually, we have a big army already. We are doing hard to stop the government, but it is very difficult. At this time, the news about the Nobel Peace Prize encourages us a lot. And we hope every nation will have the same idea as the article 9, of course.

What I Listen and Saw in Fukushima

I joined a short tour to Fukushima and Iwate this week.

In Iwate, we visited a city that was attacked by tsunami three years ago. The tsunami was more than ten meters high and swept all the things along the shore. Four hundred people died and seventy were lost in the small city. It has been three years since then, but we saw many broken buildings and the vacant lands only with concreet foundations of houses. But the city has made the plans to reconstruct the town and we could see the big construction works. They looked to be overcoming the disaster and start to make the new town and lives.

In Fukushima, we visited the temporary houses for the people who fled from the broken nuclear plant. They were just told to flee from home in Hutaba town, and after that they strayed to a gym in other town, then to relative's houses, to an unused school building in other prefecture... And now they have lived in tiny temporary houses like dog houses for more than two years. They lost everything; houses, jobs, families, friends, communities, and prides, although they are there. What a sorrow and distress! I can't even imagine it. One of the men we listened to said, "They tell us to walk ahead, but we don't know which direction is 'ahead'." We leared how serious their dismay was.

The government and the electricity companies are trying to make us forget the disaster and suffering people. "Wow! Their aim is to use the nuke power and make money.
So, we'll never forget it.

On the First Friday

My stepmother has lived alone more than fifteen years, but moved to a house for elderly today. The day we have to give up living alone surely comes some day. We have to think about how to finish our lives. I found one big problem. We can't afford the fee for the house for elderly with our pension. What should we do?
The old house I lived for seven years when I was young will have nobody to live any more. How will the garden be? Who will pick the persimmons there?

Yesterday was the first Friday of the month, and so, as usual, we appealed anti-nuke plant on the crowded crossroad. Every Friday evening people have come together around the Diet building to protest the nuke plant policies for three years. The government and those who want to keep the nuke power are waiting us to get tired of protesting and to forget the problem. So, we are trying to keep on saying NO! But it was so cold last evening, and I was the first to give up.

I asked an American who has married a Japanese woman and lived in Japan what he thought of Japanese society. His anser was "passive" "never ask why" That is true.
We, Japanese people have chosen the easy way to follow the strong power or authority passively. Where are we going? I'm scared.On the