On august 15th, I went to a university in kyoto to hear from a few people talk about peace (the 15th being 65 years since the japanese surrender). One guy we heardfrom above is a world war II veteran who fought for the Japanese. Though he was trained to be a kamikaze pilot, because of a chance change of assignment, he was relocated to another location. I wonder about what it must have been like for him to begin training alongside other kamikaze pilots, knowing that his work was to prepare him for a single flight where he would fly with a tank half-empty into battle (no reason to waste valuable fuel on a one-way flight). I can't really imagine what it must have been like to hear news of his reassignment and how he felt towards the people he had been training with. Perhaps this experience has been part of what has made him into the person he is today- who now (after living 4 times longer than expected) speaks in front of japanese university students to encourage them to really think for themselves what peace means.Afterwards, I went for dinner with a few other people from my trip of peace proliferation in Kyoto, then took the night bus to Tokyo (its an adventure finding your train as you can see:)
After this, I went to another station and took another bus to Karuizawa, which is located near Nagano (think winter olympics 98'). It's a bit cooler up here in the mountains, and right now I'm staying with a missionary family that I know through my family. It has been interesting learning about my family history (my grandparents were missionaries in Japan) and meeting the people staying here.
This morning, some people from pro-life Japan were here, so I worked with them handing out tracts around karuizawa. We set up just outside the church (where I slept last night):
Heres Hidenori Kumai, who wrote for the pokemon manga here in Japan:
Right across this street are some tennis courts where the emperor of Japan met his match (I mean by that the Empress Michiko):
Tomorrow, about 30 or 40 Japanese international students will come here for a conference -- this is what I will be involved with for the next few days.. next post for more on that!
i watched them play tennis a number of times on those courts. i guess that dates me.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you're still having fun !!
ReplyDeleteMust have been really cool to meet
The guy who did the pokemon manga!
From my experience, wildlife in Karuizawa you should watch out for includes the Abu and the Buyo. Today's topic is Buyo or black fly, which is a phlebotomic insect around 2-4 mm in length. Black flies don’t sting you. They bite your skin off. When you are being bitten, you don’t feel much. Half a day after you are bitten, the bite area becomes swollen and red, and it gradually starts to itch. And then a red lump appears and sometimes the pain or itchiness continues for about a week. Please note that in some cases you get a fever or headache as well...
ReplyDeleteNext time... the Abu and Abu Odori.