Happy New Year

This is a typical front door decoration (o-kazari) for the New Year 2010 or Heisei 22, as the Japanese have traditionally recorded the year of the current Emperor.


As I have previously blogged, the Colonel's KFC is a frequent Christmas Eve meal, and our family was no exception getting a bucket to go this year. Inside were some fun stickers with which we decorated the calendar appropriately, I think:


Yeah, I don't think I'm going in there.

Me and my sister assembling the kagami mochi decoration for the front entrance. Looks more like a Dalek or a mochi helmet to me, but who am I to say?


Happy New Year!

Emperor's Birthday Photos

Well, we got downtown, and the weather was fine. The palace grounds are really beautiful. Lots of people were running through the park area even though it was crowded with well wishers. It's probably a great place to exercise or just take a walk on a nice day. The part of the castle that is open for the birthday celebration is not open the rest of the year except tomorrow (New Year's Day), however.

First, we entered from Sakuradamon station on the west side of the grounds. Boy and girl scouts were waiting to give us paper Japanese flags to wave. After that, we got in the queue to be scanned and searched by security. It looked like every cop in Japan was out that day, and they appeared to have deployed the best looking female police to the front lines, I must say.

Then, on through the gates with the masses:

Lots of press was waiting for the big moment:

And after 20 minutes of patient waiting, the crowd goes wild as the royal family appears in their little bullet-proof box:

The Emperor spoke for about 5 minutes wishing everyone well and thanking us for coming to celebrate his 76th birthday. Then, we all had to leave so the next crowd could come in. He was scheduled to make 3 appearances that day.


Security was patrolling the moat, as well. Just a beautiful place, though.


And, of course, the Right Wing Nutter fan club was on hand to play their nationalistic music over the speakers in their custom vans.

Apparently, they have palace guards similar to Buckingham. These guys stare straight ahead and do not move or talk. I think they need some big furry hats to complete the ensemble, however. Not quite impressive. Just sort of creepy.

All in all, a fun day in a beautiful part of Japan, right in the heart of Tokyo. I would go again.

Happy Birthday

So, we're headed down to Tokyo to wish the Emperor a happy birthday tomorrow.

In Japan, the Emperor's birthday is always a National Holiday that moves around with each different Emperor over time. There are only two times a year when the general public can go to his Imperial Palace Grounds in Tokyo to view him and his royal family; his birthday and New Year's Day. The current Emperor's birthday happens to be the 23rd, so it's two times in two weeks during his reign.

It sort of reminds me of Groundhog Day in the U.S. Perhaps it's irreverent, but if you've seen photos of the Emperor, it's like he's a little groundhog guy who comes out of his palace to wave for a few minutes to his adoring masses, then goes back inside until next year. Probably not something I'd go and do every year like the Nationalist black van driving wing-nuts, but something I figure a cat ought to do at least once. They hand out little Japanese flags and everyone goes crazy waving them and yelling greetings to the royal family. There is also a guest book which "will be duly forwarded to its highest destination as the expression of your warm congratulations". I guess you can also leave a business card, so maybe I'll do that. He'll probably give me a call to say thanks later. Right.

In any case, we'll see if we can get a few photos that aren't too crappy and far away to post.

What You Didn't See on CNN and NHK

It is wonderful to have President Obama in Japan, and we hope that he will be able to return for a longer visit next time. He has stated that he would like to go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that would be an excellent experience.

However, just to comment on the media coverage here and in America, CNN and NHK have largely (and I say largely because I have not watched every minute of coverage) failed to report on protests in Japan accompanying the visit. Some protests have been relatively "positive" in nature, such as protesting to encourage the President to continue promoting the elimination of nuclear weapons and encouraging climate change legislation. Some has been "negative", such as those protesting the move of the base at Futenma.

You can see it here.

And read about it here.

UPDATE: NHK is airing a piece from BBC World News, and they did report briefly on the protests. Good for them, although the focus of the piece is on efforts by the U.S. and Japan to not offend China. For example, by not visiting the Yasukuni Shrine where war criminals from WWII are enshrined and also not visiting with the Dalai Lama ahead of the visit to Shanghai later in this trip.

Next

So, why, exactly, is no one asking who put a damn loaded Uzi in the hands of an 8 year old under the direction of a 15 year old?

WTF?!?!

The parents have no culpability?

The society that thinks it's OK to have loaded Uzis available to whomever the hell wants to put their hands and their childrens' hands on them has some serious issues that must be addressed.

Why is it normal and acceptable for such dangerous weapons to be made available to the general public?

You can not write gun control legislation preventing such persons as MAJ Hasan, an Army officer, a doctor, etc. from acquiring weapons that can efficiently kill, short of banning all guns from public possession entirely.

If these guns continue to be available, and parents continue allow their 8 year olds to be supervised by 15 year olds, and the society does not find anything seriously wrong with "cop killers" being available at the local "Guns Galore", then people will continue to die unnecessarily.

This is beyond ridiculous.

Special Edition Update

WTF!

I can't blog fast enough or often enough to keep up with the mass shootings in the U.S.!

This is just sick.

Out of Control. Special Edition

In the wake of a shooting spree by a US army psychiatrist at Ford Hood in Texas, below is a glance at some of the worst mass shootings in the US in recent years:

November 5, 2009: The army says 12 people were killed and 31 wounded in a shooting rampage at its Fort Hood base in Texas. Army officials initially said the suspected assailant was among the dead, but later said he survived and was hospitalised.

April 3, 2009: A 41-year-old man opened fire at an immigrant community centre in Binghamton, New York, killing 11 immigrants and two workers. Jiverly Wong, a Vietnamese immigrant and a former student at the centre, killed himself as police rushed to the scene.

March 10, 2009: Michael McLendon, 28, killed 10 people, including his mother, four other relatives and the wife and child of a local sheriff's deputy, across two rural Alabama counties. He then committed suicide.

February 14, 2008: Former student Steven Kazmierczak, 27, opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, fatally shooting five students and wounding 18 others before committing suicide.

December 5, 2007: Robert Hawkins, a 19-year-old US citizne, opened fire with a rifle in Omaha, Nebraska, at a Von Maur store in the Westroads Mall, killing eight people before taking his own life. Five more people were wounded, two critically.

April 16, 2007: Cho Seung-Hui, 23, fatally shot 32 people in a dormitory and a classroom at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, then killed himself in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

February 12, 2007: Sulejman Talovic, 18, killed five and wounded four at the Trolley Square mall in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was then shot and killed by police.

October 2, 2006: Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, shot to death five girls at West Nickel Mines Amish School in Pennsylvania, then killed himself.

March 21, 2005: Jeffrey Weise, a 16-year-old student, killed nine people, including his grandfather and his grandfather's companion at home, and then five fellow students, a teacher and a security guard at Red Lake High School in Red Lake, Minnesota, before killing himself. Seven students were wounded.

March 12, 2005: Terry Ratzmann, 44, gunned down members of his congregation as they worshipped at the Brookfield Sheraton in Brookfield, Wisconsin, slaying seven and wounding four before killing himself.

July 29, 1999: Mark Barton, 44, a former day trader, killed nine people in shootings at two Atlanta, Georgia, brokerage offices, then committed suicide.

April 20, 1999: Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, both students, opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before committing suicide in the school's library.

March 24, 1998: Andrew Golden, 11, and Mitchell Johnson, 13, killed four girls and a teacher at a Jonesboro, Arkansas, school. Ten others were wounded in the shooting.

October 16, 1991: George Hennard, 35, smashed his pickup lorry through a Luby's Cafeteria window in Killeen, Texas, and fired on the lunchtime crowd with a high-powered pistol, killing 22 people. At least 20 others were wounded.