It's the season of fireflies now

Abby sent me mails and she was saying in it that everything was going well after some unhappy days.. My anxiety has vanished. No letters means no problem, they say. Abby is talented and works hard, and she can find her right way. It's good and lucky. But when I look around me, I find many young people who cannot work happily. Some of my friends have sons who can't find jobs, and some others have daughters who work too hard and whose mothers (my friends) are worrying about their health. Like other places, there are many bankrupted factories and fired workers also in this area. My son's wife is trying to find some part time job and visiting the job office every week, but she can't get any jobs till now. Five, six, sometimes ten people rush for one seat, she said.
As you know, many people are suffering terrible working conditions these days. TV said the condition in Korea is worse than in Japan .How about in the US or in the other countries? Who is benefited by this ? How can we handle this ?
We are now preparing an event for peace in this summer. More and more people who know the World War II and can tell us about it are passing year by year. And when economy is bad, people easily go into wars, our history tells us. And, poverty is a kind of violence, I feel. But I'm finding a hope in the fact that many people from many different groups are getting together for the event.
Oh, several weeks have passed since I wrote the line above. I didn't remember I had started the essay. It's the season of fireflies now, but they will disappear in some days. Fireflies live only by clear waters, they say. I hope there will be more places they can fly. If you want to see them, come to the river running beside Mochizuki JHS around 8:00 in the evening very soon.

Article 9 of Constitution of Japan

An article on May 4th Shinano-mainichi Shinbun surprised me a lot. It is an interview with Arthur Binard, a poet from the United States. He says he found two war and peace issues that surprisd him in Japan. The first one was the fishing boat named "Dai 5 hukuryuumaru", that met the United States' H-bomb test in 1954 in the Pacific Ocean and 23 people on it were killed or injured because of it. The fact has been seldom introduced in the US, and he didn't know it. He says his second surprise was that the constitution of Japan is still working, while the American one is like a mummy, not living. It is saying that only the US Congress has the right to make a declaration of starting a war, but the US has started many wars without it.

I didn't know both; the fact little people of America knows the terrible affair with the fishing boat; to know it means to learn what the nuclear weapons mean for human beings, and the American people are giving up to make their constitution work for their own life.

Arthur says it's time to change the US economical strategy from relying on the forces and wars to the other way. "The constitution of Japan has seemed too new, but the time to make it work is coming now. It can be a great foothold to the future days when wars are out of vogue."

He is telling of the Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan. It bans the government of Japan to go to war and to have forces But our government, conservative politicians and people who want benefits in the war or armament are trying to change it and make Japan a nation that can involve with wars. It's an urgent subject now. On May 3rd, the memorial day for proclamation our constitution, I stood in front of Sakudaira Station with some other people and asked the people to vote if they support the the article or not. And, almost all the people were against changing it. The picture is the cards we gave that day, and it says " Never go to war. Never hold weapons. It is the Article 9."

Some days ago, the US president Obama spoke about reducing nuclear weapons refering the US's responsibility as the only nation that used them on people, I read. Many of us, Japanese people, appriciate his speech. They say there are about 16500 nuclear bombs in the world and the USA and Russia have 90% of them. Can you guess how many times they can kill all the human beings on the Earth? Shall we work together to abolish the wars and weapons?

By the way, I haven't heard from Abby for a long time.Does anyone know about her?

Cherry Blossom Enthusiasm

I'm so sad the cherry blossoms in my garden are going away!. Pale pink petals are flying in the wind and scattered on the ground. Wind, don't blow! Oh, how much I'm missing them! Actually I was very happy and excited this ten days, during the cherry blossom season. Long ago a Japanese poet wrote, "If we had not had cherry blossoms, we could live more calmly in spring." Yes, we all get excited in this season; when it blooms, where to go to watch, where good trees are, and so on.

Yeserday was Sunday, and my family went out with lunch to enjoy cherry blossoms. First, we went up to the ruined castle and enjoyed the view, then visited some more places with cherries. None of them are famous, and so, there were not many people, but the blossoms were so beautiful.

Once, a foreighner asked me," Your cherry trees don't have any fruit to eat. Why do you plant them?" Why? I don't know. But we love the blossoms and plant the trees not only in the gardens but on the river banks, along the roads, by the grave yards, around the schools. It's a little strange to plant them only for the blossom season of a week or so a year, but we have planted them.

You sometimes find cherry blossoms also in the mountains. They are wild trees. Only when they have blossoms, we recognize them. I love those wild cerries,too. A week ago, I visited Ogawa-village. It is a small village in the mountains near Nagano-city. and it was amazingly beautiful with wild cherry blossoms. The village seemed to be in the pink cloud. But if you visit it after you read this essay, it's too late. You have to wait untill next spring.

Walking Along the Ruined Railroad

My son living in Tokyo mailed me last night and said that I had got a comment for my blog and I should have answered it sooner. I'm so sorry, Mr.G not to write back and thank you for your kind comment. Mt. Asama is active this year and we can see white smoke from it When I finish publishing my essay, I get relieved and don' t open my computer for some time. To tell the truth , I'm not good at computer or internet, and when I want to do something with it, I need my husband's help. Whenever I do something with the computer, I feel scared it might be broken or exploded. My husband says, "You won't learn anything as long as I live." It must be true

A few days ago, my family visited "Tetsudou bunka Mura", the park for the exhibition of trains and railroads, in Yokokawa, Gunma. There, we can see many kinds of railroad coaches. that were once running on the railroads. My grandchildren were excited on a train led by a miniature steam locomotive. We also enjoyed walking the trail in the mountain and bathing in good onsen. The trail was once a railroad from Yokokawa to Karuizawa; it means it was a part of the railroad from Tokyo to Nagano. The line was called 'Shinetsu-sen', the line to Nagano and Niigata. It was one of the main and important lines. Before the winter Olympic games held in Nagano, they built the Shinkansen to Nagano. from Tokyo Then they cut off Shinetsusen at Yokokawa to get all the passengers on Shinkansen. It was quite a stupid idea. Shinetsusen was working perfectly with a lot of turists and commuters. After that, when we want to go to Tokyo, we have to take Shinkansen with an expensive ticket There is no way left to travel slow and cheep on the train. And, people can't commute from Komoro to Annaka, for example. .Now, the railroad track between Yokokawa and Karuizawa is used as a trail for walking. The area is very mountainious, and building railrosds was very difficult , they say. Those railroads and brick bridges are just ruins now. If you are interested, why don't you walk along the trail in the early summer green?
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It's Been Long Time.

It's been long time since I wrote my last essay here. When Abby was here, I often see her and talk with her about the next topic, After that, I worked with it like a student who was given a homework. But now...I'm a little lazier like a student without teachers, and also a little busier than before. I'm joining some activities, espeially I'm working for a small organization for peace. One more reason. I don't have any forein new comers around me now, and so, I don't know what information is needed or interested in. But my husband says I should keep writing.. Yes, I'll try a little more, but I'm afraid it can't be good information to help you, sorry.. .

Though it wasn't so cold this winter, we are happy to feel spring is coming. The day is getting longer, and the wind isn't chilly as before. In my garden I can find crocuses, Christmas roses and yellow pheasant's eyes. As you know, we love cherry blossoms, but before them we enjoy plum blossoms. In the warm places, they bloom even in January, but here in Saku, we have to wait till late in March. Yesterday my husband and I went to Gunma to see the plum blossoms. They were at their best. Comparing to the cherry blossoms, they are not so gorgeous, but they have fragrance and we, Japanese people have loved them as a symbol of early spring.

I'm trying to walk as much as I can to lose my weight I gained during the winter. It's fun to walk with my little grandson playing with our shadows or watching birds. But spring is also the season of hey fever. We see many people with a white mask to prevent pollen. My husband suffers badly every year, . Are you all right with it? If you suffer from it, go and ask docters. They know good medicine that works.

. A few weeks ago my husband and I went to Egypt on a tour. It was the country that has the most different culture among the countries we have visited. It was great, beautiful, darty, chaotic, fierce, and friendly. I was interested in the culture and their life, but it seemed diffcult for me to live there. The people were very friendly, but we saw a lot of police officers, guards or soldiers with big unwrapped guns, and it made me uncomfortable. Just after we came back to Japan, we heard a news of bombing attack in the city of Cairo, where we spent three days and enjoyed walking around. Egypt is the contry which is just next to the countries with harsh conflicts..

Retired Life!

My computer got broken some two weeks ago. It was an old one my husband had used before. I don't use a computer a lot and my husband and son have their own.　.So, I thought we didn't need three compurters in one family. And of course I'm living with too small pension to waste money. But soon I found I couldn't write my blog or send mails, because my husband were using the computer when I wanted to use it, usually in the evening. And so, I got a used computer for me. I'm writing this on it now. To tell the truth, I'm not sure if I use it enough, but it's good to have my own one.

Now winter is coming. Almost all the flowers and leaves in my garden are gone. We are preparing for the long and cold winter, harvesting the vegitables and crops in the vegitable garden, making pickles, cleaning the garden, and so on. Today, my grandchildren and their parents made a fire with the fallen leaves and baked the potatoes in it. It's a great fun for children. My niece who visited us today saw me and said, "You are now a traditional country woman." I don't hate this role, but it's quite different from me some years ago.

The people of America have elected Obama as the next president. I hope he will lead America to the better direction. We, Japanese people didn't choose those stupid men as our prime minisers, but we are responsible for it because we have been chosing the LDP for so long. I sometimes feel desperate.
No, no! We can't give up. Cora Weiss, an American peace activist, said in the Global Article Nine Conference "Let's be the ambassador of the Article Nine." So, I made a small sticker of the Article Nine for the New Year cards. I asked Yoko, my son's wife, to design it. When you put it on your cards, you can send the message of the Article Nine to your friends. The message is" We will never go to war. We will never take weapons." Many of my friends said it's a great idea and took some for their own cards or letters. One person put them on his notebooks, and wallet. In Japan young people are made too busy to think or act.(It's a serious prolem. Someone must be intending it and it is someone's benefit. ) So, retired old people like me, who have much time, will do something!

KIMONO;WEARING TRADITION

I started learning kimono, and I can wear it myself only these days, but not well enough. You must feel strange.that we, Japanese people, cannot wear our own ethnic wear without learning how to put it on. I think so, too, and it's one of the reasons I am learning it　.
My mother was always wearing kimono in her pictures. I remember her putting kimono on in front of the mirror. But kimono disappeared quickly after the World War II, when Western, especially American culture rushed into Japan. Our way of living , houses, food, and clothes, changed a lot. The people of my generation have grown up in western clothes. Shirts and skirts or pants are far easier to wear when we work or do sports. I was not interested in kimono because I had no time to waste in kimono and kimono was so feminine that it seemed narrowing women's way to live. I felt no needs to know about kimono.
In this way we have lost a lot of skills and cultures of us. These days some people find the good things or beauty in our old way of living and culture. Some people says our traditional food is good for health, and some people live in old Japanese style houses. Kimono also has a long history, and so, many kinds of skills were born and used to make it. I know a woman of 81 years old, and she showed me a beautiful kimono she made. It means that she spun silk thread from the cocoons, wove it into a cloth, sewed it into the kimono. She was not a craftsperson, but just a young girl then. I am surprised that women usually had such a skill only some fifty or sixty years ago. They are all lost now. Today, kimono is considered a special dress only for special days like wedding, tea ceremony, or coming of age ceremony. At the same time, kimono became such an expensive fashion, and it's one of the reasons why we don't wear kimono often.
I had only a few kimono, and I needed some more to learn , but they were too expensive for me. So I got some used kimono at the antique shops. Rich people never go to those shops, but I sometimes find almost new ones .there I think wearing used kimono is the way to revive the work of old handicrafts. I went to a concert in an antique kimono the other day, but to my rich friends it's a secret that the kimono is a very cheap used one I got at an antique shop!
I will tell you one more reason I'm trying kimono. Have you ever heard the name " Sawachi Hisae"? She is a good writer and a big activist for peace and the Article 9. She is always in kimono and looks cool. I really respect her and I wish I could be like her. If I wear kimono, can I be like her?
In Saku-city, the international festival is going to be held on November 30th, and you can try kimono on there. If you are interested, why don't you come? I'll be there in kimono and help you in the morning on the day. See you there! .