tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115872562024-03-15T02:53:56.930+09:00Kurashi - News From JapanThe "Eco-Blog" - Now with my new 2021 Japanese essay book, U No Me Taka No Me, as well as my 2018 novel, Kamikaze to Croydon, by Martin J. Frid
Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.comBlogger2212125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-16030813334814913702024-01-16T19:53:00.004+09:002024-01-16T19:57:41.161+09:00Second Edition of My 1937 Aviation Novel Published<p> In April 2023 I held a lecture about the 1937 flight from Tokyo to London, and to my great surprise, the grandson of Tsukagoshi Kenji (the navigator) was there. Turns out he has a connection to Ito City, Shizuoka, and noticed the poster about my lecture. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_kauF7nKij04bJ-zOUzeuZOYxiDzEHjoSZCzaAztQLBskEPuIJyjCokSCqSwI8y5A_jWbqlYD-vQqBW9oBwcd4rC7QNAHhZH687VIQvvKZAiB9hkYSxCqhrZP7RoLsbREZHC-DTl7eFDvnkJrdkiRNLBj86BlsciiIkj4uJzrPt0F8vjeaLoMEA/s640/20230416%20Ito%20K2C%20lecture.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_kauF7nKij04bJ-zOUzeuZOYxiDzEHjoSZCzaAztQLBskEPuIJyjCokSCqSwI8y5A_jWbqlYD-vQqBW9oBwcd4rC7QNAHhZH687VIQvvKZAiB9hkYSxCqhrZP7RoLsbREZHC-DTl7eFDvnkJrdkiRNLBj86BlsciiIkj4uJzrPt0F8vjeaLoMEA/w400-h300/20230416%20Ito%20K2C%20lecture.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>His name is Tsukagoshi Yuji, and he was kind enough to agree to write a foreword to the Second Edition of my book. Many thanks also to Alan Graham who helped with the edit, and Patrick Sherriff who published it on Tower English. The Second Edition is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1717852289?ref_=pe_870760_150889320" target="_blank">now available on Amazon</a>, both as a Paperback and as a eBook. Please order, rate and comment!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8MNkgvXo42DJM7IGdmxAlApOykrxtnRNPP5MFZsMJ6ZSgj6cQdaq19s5vhJWDlXlO1yNG58JvMiYTrYiNDZjRdd9NhdOVOjPqEdE5DG2ipfUyOC75ihvPxkNe58OH8ksbvR3oXJOou4n1jfQNGUmfCDOUQhaJR3tmZVfl8aq7DI_Nx8i3oaSWA/s1280/20230416%20Ito%20K2C%20Tsukagoshi%20Yuji.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8MNkgvXo42DJM7IGdmxAlApOykrxtnRNPP5MFZsMJ6ZSgj6cQdaq19s5vhJWDlXlO1yNG58JvMiYTrYiNDZjRdd9NhdOVOjPqEdE5DG2ipfUyOC75ihvPxkNe58OH8ksbvR3oXJOou4n1jfQNGUmfCDOUQhaJR3tmZVfl8aq7DI_Nx8i3oaSWA/w400-h300/20230416%20Ito%20K2C%20Tsukagoshi%20Yuji.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-49427648991649865392022-04-27T03:15:00.027+09:002022-04-27T03:51:23.985+09:00鵜の目鷹の目 Essays from Japan<p>My 2021 essay book <b> U No Me Taka No Me</b> is now available on Amazon - <br /></p><p>Click on Read More - How to order - <br /></p><p>Thanks everyone, please share and comment. Tell all your Japanese friends. Much appreciated. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><span class="rush-component s-latency-cf-section" data-component-id="9" data-component-type="s-search-results"></span></p><div class="s-product-image-container aok-relative s-image-overlay-grey s-text-center s-padding-left-small s-padding-right-small s-spacing-small s-height-equalized" style="padding-top: 0px;"><span class="rush-component" data-component-id="2" data-component-type="s-product-image"><a class="a-link-normal s-no-outline" href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%95%E3%83%AA%E3%83%83%E3%83%89/dp/4784511059/ref=sr_1_1?crid=10ZXKB2MC9WCC&keywords=%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E9%B5%9C%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%E9%B7%B9%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE&qid=1650997171&sprefix=%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E9%B5%9C%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%E9%B7%B9%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><div class="a-section aok-relative s-image-square-aspect"><img alt="マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目 -世界の消費者運動の旅から(発行:日本消費者連盟)" class="s-image" data-image-index="1" data-image-latency="s-product-image" data-image-load="" data-image-source-density="1" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61EZBEbY5CL._AC_UL320_.jpg" /></div></a></span></div><div class="a-section a-spacing-small s-padding-left-small s-padding-right-small"><div class="a-section a-spacing-none a-spacing-top-small s-title-instructions-style"><h2 class="a-size-mini a-spacing-none a-color-base s-line-clamp-4"><a class="a-link-normal s-underline-text s-underline-link-text s-link-style a-text-normal" href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%95%E3%83%AA%E3%83%83%E3%83%89/dp/4784511059/ref=sr_1_1?crid=10ZXKB2MC9WCC&keywords=%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E9%B5%9C%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%E9%B7%B9%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE&qid=1650997171&sprefix=%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E9%B5%9C%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%E9%B7%B9%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span class="a-size-base-plus a-color-base a-text-normal">マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目 -世界の消費者運動の旅から(発行:日本消費者連盟)</span> </a> </h2><div class="a-row a-size-base a-color-secondary"><span class="a-size-base">by </span><span class="a-size-base">マーティン・フリッド</span><span class="a-size-base">, </span><span class="a-size-base">日本消費者連盟</span></div></div><div class="a-section a-spacing-none a-spacing-top-small s-price-instructions-style"><div class="a-row a-size-base a-color-base"><br /> </div><div class="a-row a-size-base a-color-base"><a class="a-size-base a-link-normal s-underline-text s-underline-link-text s-link-style a-text-normal" href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%95%E3%83%AA%E3%83%83%E3%83%89/dp/4784511059/ref=sr_1_1?crid=10ZXKB2MC9WCC&keywords=%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E9%B5%9C%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%E9%B7%B9%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE&qid=1650997171&sprefix=%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E9%B5%9C%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%E9%B7%B9%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span class="a-price" data-a-color="base" data-a-size="xl"></span></a></div></div></div><span class="rush-component s-latency-cf-section" data-component-id="9" data-component-type="s-search-results"><a class="a-size-base a-link-normal s-underline-text s-underline-link-text s-link-style a-text-normal" href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%95%E3%83%AA%E3%83%83%E3%83%89/dp/4784511059/ref=sr_1_1?crid=10ZXKB2MC9WCC&keywords=%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E9%B5%9C%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%E9%B7%B9%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE&qid=1650997171&sprefix=%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E9%B5%9C%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%E9%B7%B9%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span class="a-price" data-a-color="base" data-a-size="xl"><span aria-hidden="true"><span class="a-price-symbol"></span><span class="a-price-whole">¥1,430</span></span></span></a></span><p></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">著者のマーティン・フリッドさんはスウェーデン生まれ。ヨーロッパの消費者運動に関わった後、約20年前に来日し、現在は日消連の運営委員として、海外向けニュースレター「Japan
Resources」の発行などに携わっています。プライベートでは野菜作りや陶芸を楽しみ、埼玉県飯能市での田舎暮らしを満喫しています。</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">そんなマーティンさんの魅力が目一杯詰まったのが本書「マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目」。人びとの日常によりそいながら軽妙なユーモアを交えて食、環境、エネルギー、社会のあり方、政治、経済を考えます。</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><もくじ></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">第 1 章 ラムサール条約から TPP へ 2012 年~ 2014 年</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">第 2 章 アメリカの食を変えたブロガー 2015 年</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">第 3 章 野菜を育てる 2016 年</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">第 4 章 きれいな空気は人権 2017 年</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">第 5 章 英語で発信する効用 2018 年</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">第 6 章 悪魔と食事をする時は… 2019 年</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">第 7 章 アーモンドとミツバチ 2020 年</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">【解説】世界の消費者運動の今</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">世界の消費者運動の歴史と課題 天笠啓祐</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">アジアの消費者運動と連帯する 纐纈美千世</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>「はじめに」から</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">1988年8月に、わたしは日本へやって来ました。はじめて口にしたお寿司やお刺身のおいしさは忘れられません。ご飯、味噌汁。日本の食べ物は世界一おいしいと感動しました。煮物やおひたし、漬け物など、日本にはすばらしい伝統食がたくさんあります。しかし、日本は食料自給率がことのほか低く、「地産地消」が崩れてしまっています。食への不安、環境問題やエネルギー問題や貿易問題など、消費者の側からのエッセーが必要です。なによりも私自身が、そんな本が欲しくて『マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目』を書きました。</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>■著者プロフィール</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">1966年、スウェーデンの南部の都市マルメで生まれる。ヨーロッパの消費者運動に関わったあと、15年前から日本に定住。現在、日本消費者連盟運営委員。海外向けニュースレター「Japan
Resources」発行を担当すると同時に、WEBや映像の発信にも尽力する。野菜作りや陶芸が趣味。埼玉県飯能市に山の中に住む。日本語の著書に『ニッポン食の安全ランキング555』(2009年、講談社)。</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">マーティン・J・フリッド/著</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">清水洋子/訳</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">日本消費者連盟/発行</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">社会評論社/発売</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">2021年3月発行/A5 判/154 ページ</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">1,430円(税込)のところ、日消連にご注文いただければ、1,170円+送料167円です(振込手数料が別途かかります)。</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><ご注文は下記まで></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">日本消費者連盟</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">FAX:03(5155)4767</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">eメール:office.j@nishoren.org</span></p>
<p><a class="fancybox image" href="https://nishoren.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/d53de2935a589feb3348bbf926c55cee.jpg"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>■「マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目」注文書</b></span></a></p><p> </p><p> </p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Essay December 2018</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>Little
things can make a big difference
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>It’s
been another strange year, with strange weather and strange politics.
The news is mostly strange too, and my vegetable harvest was strange
due to the strange weather. But at the same time, I feel I have so
much to be grateful for. The question is, how can we hold our heads
high and ignore the idiots and forget about the bastards. If I can
make a wish for the New Year, it is to stay strong and positive, and
try to continue to try to inspire others.
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>In
his book “The Tipping Point” Canadian writer Malcolm Gladwell
discusses how little things can make a big difference. He tells story
after story of how terrible things changed for the better, often due
to a small but consciously targeted effort. Crime rates went down in
New York after a policy was implemented, based on the “broken
window” theory. If a window is broken and left un-repaired, people
concluded that the street was unsafe and that nobody cared. Soon,
criminals will take over and make the street unsafe. So, fix the
broken window right away, and avoid worries about crime.
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>In
our work as a consumer organization, we do something similar. We
expose the “broken window” such as a food safety law that is
ineffectual, or a problem with confusing or incorrect labelling
rules, or a new product that is placed on the market with
insufficient testing. Japan’s GMO labelling law is an excellent
example. It has not stopped the import of GMOs and consumers cannot
be sure if foods include GMOs or not. Fix the broken window, and
consumers can once again feel confident about what we eat. I hope we
can fix this broken law in 2019, because it would make a really big
difference...<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; direction: ltr; color: #000000; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-GB }p.cjk { font-family: "Hiragino Mincho ProN"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: ja-JP }p.ctl { font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: hi-IN }a:link { color: #000080; so-language: zxx; text-decoration: underline }</style><p><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; direction: ltr; color: #000000; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-GB }p.cjk { font-family: "Hiragino Mincho ProN"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: ja-JP }p.ctl { font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: hi-IN }a:link { color: #000080; so-language: zxx; text-decoration: underline }</style></p><p><br /></p><p> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzw7Co9itG_1VYYyWAxo8sNxUUvMir01tcEGVk666B2l9jqr7CrU8LzaiQyMwf7XdQEDUbspZIQiIHSenPAiRafBaRzJUykyQcTq6DPoK1CrCwQOndt3C1z8m5tFMoQt-m6jkq8A/s920/cover-tM5mSvGll8fenEm4LiI220dPa8mV6Xaf.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzw7Co9itG_1VYYyWAxo8sNxUUvMir01tcEGVk666B2l9jqr7CrU8LzaiQyMwf7XdQEDUbspZIQiIHSenPAiRafBaRzJUykyQcTq6DPoK1CrCwQOndt3C1z8m5tFMoQt-m6jkq8A/s320/cover-tM5mSvGll8fenEm4LiI220dPa8mV6Xaf.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-14253520098949914032021-03-04T21:06:00.073+09:002021-03-13T23:03:51.002+09:00マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目 -世界の消費者運動の旅から<p> </p><div class="celwidget" data-cel-widget="titleblock_feature_div" data-csa-c-id="wlfk4c-9vkbvf-f4k7em-nmlnla" data-feature-name="titleblock" id="titleblock_feature_div">
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My new book has been published!<br /></h1><h1 class="a-spacing-none a-text-normal" id="title"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="a-size-large a-color-secondary" id="productSubtitle"></span></span>
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<h2> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMM2536IwwBNS9HJzZ7rOCe76vvy_6cG6uV1uGZEg8ag1jWY2xCAzpbOA0rJZ0AWQV4DvK6RMIzBTFHDoXE00bOCRMfrFO71f9a-fnaEY5hsAunyvxg1jZ0VDmpnpM7AjrTyfww/s1478/20210311+Martin+J+Frid+6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1478" data-original-width="1108" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMM2536IwwBNS9HJzZ7rOCe76vvy_6cG6uV1uGZEg8ag1jWY2xCAzpbOA0rJZ0AWQV4DvK6RMIzBTFHDoXE00bOCRMfrFO71f9a-fnaEY5hsAunyvxg1jZ0VDmpnpM7AjrTyfww/s320/20210311+Martin+J+Frid+6.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjM4Al-DGIq2toTfz9LP5GIH7tOFac_zGsJsOSaeKd5T_cjQXmQRcxNEA69s3Em1e9noZ4UHxmpMNh469InmPAENg7N3DvUwwHAC5nw5wFw4psXYy6SkiEwCUNEMvLmvIf904t1Q/s2048/%25E3%2583%259E%25E3%2583%25BC%25E3%2583%2586%25E3%2582%25A3%25E3%2583%25B3%25E3%2581%25AE%25E9%25B5%259C%25E3%2581%25AE%25E7%259B%25AE%25E9%25B7%25B9%25E3%2581%25AE%25E7%259B%25AE+-%25E4%25B8%2596%25E7%2595%258C%25E3%2581%25AE%25E6%25B6%2588%25E8%25B2%25BB%25E8%2580%2585%25E9%2581%258B%25E5%258B%2595%25E3%2581%25AE%25E6%2597%2585%25E3%2581%258B%25E3%2582%2589.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjM4Al-DGIq2toTfz9LP5GIH7tOFac_zGsJsOSaeKd5T_cjQXmQRcxNEA69s3Em1e9noZ4UHxmpMNh469InmPAENg7N3DvUwwHAC5nw5wFw4psXYy6SkiEwCUNEMvLmvIf904t1Q/s320/%25E3%2583%259E%25E3%2583%25BC%25E3%2583%2586%25E3%2582%25A3%25E3%2583%25B3%25E3%2581%25AE%25E9%25B5%259C%25E3%2581%25AE%25E7%259B%25AE%25E9%25B7%25B9%25E3%2581%25AE%25E7%259B%25AE+-%25E4%25B8%2596%25E7%2595%258C%25E3%2581%25AE%25E6%25B6%2588%25E8%25B2%25BB%25E8%2580%2585%25E9%2581%258B%25E5%258B%2595%25E3%2581%25AE%25E6%2597%2585%25E3%2581%258B%25E3%2582%2589.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></h2><h2><span style="font-weight: normal;">世界中の消費者が同じ課題を抱え、悩み、たたかっている。スウェーデンに生まれ、ヨーロッパ、そして日本の消費者運動の現場を歩いてきた著者が、人びとの日常によりそいながら軽妙なユーモアを交えて食、環境、エネルギー、社会のあり方、政治、経済を考えます。</span></h2><h2><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <a href="https://nishoren.net/new-information/14177">https://nishoren.net/new-information/14177</a></span></h2><h2><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Consumers all over the world are facing similar problems, worries, and struggles. In this book, the author, who was born in Sweden and has walked the frontlines of consumer movements in Europe and Japan, considers food, the environment, energy, the state of society, politics, and economics with a light touch of humor while staying close to people's daily lives.</span></i></h2><h2><span style="font-weight: normal;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_x9nsce7tvNeAS1vBdoWWgJJuJfAzjvUOSvVTjNn3Ct_8iA5t9d9g_8d7MCUITe4udc8J-j79IG-0zB8P68-b_iIpUtfzrf3ouM-ACILZ-yxZG2HneeiHHrnveixVCffJznzaw/s1478/20210313+Asahi+Shimbun+ad.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1478" data-original-width="1108" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_x9nsce7tvNeAS1vBdoWWgJJuJfAzjvUOSvVTjNn3Ct_8iA5t9d9g_8d7MCUITe4udc8J-j79IG-0zB8P68-b_iIpUtfzrf3ouM-ACILZ-yxZG2HneeiHHrnveixVCffJznzaw/s320/20210313+Asahi+Shimbun+ad.JPG" /></a></div><br /> </span></h2><h2><span style="font-weight: normal;">登録情報
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<ul class="a-unordered-list a-nostyle a-vertical a-spacing-none detail-bullet-list"><li><span class="a-list-item">
<span class="a-text-bold">出版社
:
</span>
<span>社会評論社 (2021/3/18)</span>
</span></li><li><span class="a-list-item">
<span class="a-text-bold">発売日
:
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<span>2021/3/18</span>
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<span class="a-text-bold">言語
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<span>日本語</span>
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<span class="a-text-bold">ムック
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<span>144ページ</span>
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<span class="a-text-bold">ISBN-10
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<span>4784511059</span>
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<span class="a-text-bold">ISBN-13
:
</span>
<span>978-4784511051 </span></span></li><li><span class="a-list-item"><span><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">1冊1,170円(1割引)+送料180円とする、1,350</span></span></span><span class="a-list-item"><span><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="a-list-item"><span><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">円. </span></span></span> </span></span></span></li><li><span class="a-list-item"><span><a href="https://nishoren.net/about_us/access" target="_blank">日本消費者連盟</a>から注目してください。</span></span></li><li><span class="a-list-item"><span>振り込み用紙入れて送ります。</span></span></li><li><span class="a-list-item"><span>商店やAmazon.jpより一割引。 </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">7</span></span></li></ul>
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<span><span class="a-declarative" data-a-modal="{"backButtonText":"戻る","width":"450","header":"詳細","url":"/promotion/details/popup/A7RFRM3ECNTPG","height":"600"}" data-action="a-modal"> </span> </span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-4273091092236786582021-02-25T00:17:00.009+09:002021-02-26T01:31:50.735+09:00Book Event<p> </p><hgroup>
<div id="field-event-name"><h1 class="event-name-ttl"><span style="font-weight: normal;">新書「鵜の目鷹の目」</span></h1></div>
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<section><a href="https://peatix.com/event/1804945/view">https://peatix.com/event/1804945/view</a><section><br /></section></section><section> 新書「鵜の目鷹の目」の著者、マーティン・フリッドさんと対談します!マーティンさんは日本在住のスウェーデン人でずっと前からの仕事仲間です。はじめてマーティンさんと知り合ったのは、日本で開かれた食品安全の国際会議の通訳をしていた時です。マーティンは、日本消費者連盟で仕事をすることになりました。そして今月、同連盟で毎月書いているエッセーを本にまとめて出版しました。</section><section> </section><section><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjJDaBH4dSz_0FB0TzUVvTXPZ6-ptyZ3rzdW5MOzMrOjDvDhtigLhyYPNyKkQRBZB25XDortL6-DQh2XvCU8Hl7I8jupmeOOdAX5MSwolHSr8PlY9r31J6ihIEE2tc2WXVhcmEQ/s920/Martin+Frid+Book+CUJ.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjJDaBH4dSz_0FB0TzUVvTXPZ6-ptyZ3rzdW5MOzMrOjDvDhtigLhyYPNyKkQRBZB25XDortL6-DQh2XvCU8Hl7I8jupmeOOdAX5MSwolHSr8PlY9r31J6ihIEE2tc2WXVhcmEQ/s320/Martin+Frid+Book+CUJ.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> </section><section></section><section></section><br /><section>このイベントでは、スウェーデン人のレーナ・リンダル(ホスト)と日本にお住まいのスウェーデン人のマーティン・フリッドさん(ゲスト)が日本語で対談をします。</section><section> </section><section> 話題の中心は新書「鵜の目鷹の目」、そしてその内容に関係した消費者のこと、日本の生活のこと、スウェーデンの生活のこと、などなどです。</section><section><br /> <img height="157" src="https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/peatix-files/event/1777561/cover-7btvG5QToUmz2ET7yvRYGkRk9sD8UI2v.jpeg" width="191" /><img height="162" src="https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/peatix-files/event/1777561/cover-7aiFavSyDBtNS39x6SqUXt9dC7kq5Qiv.png" width="252" /><br /> マーティン・フリッド<br /> (Martin Frid)<br /><br />最後に質問をする機会もあります。<br /><br />本の詳細、注文については出版社「社会評論社」のページへどうぞ。<br /><a href="https://www.shahyo.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">https://www.shahyo.com/</a><br />(本の紹介ページはこれからです。)<br /><br />マーティンさんが活動している団体、日本消費者連盟を紹介するページへどうぞ。<br /><br /><a href="https://nishoren.net/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">日本消費者連盟</a><br /><a href="https://ja-jp.facebook.com/nishoren/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">日本消費者連盟フェイスブックページ</a> <br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCidhczcr2rhqCYtyt8rcaMA" rel="noopener" target="_blank">チャンネル日消連(YouTube)</a><br /><br />マーティンさんの2009年の本も参考に:<a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4062149702?ie=UTF8&tag=fn0d-22&linkCode=as2&camp=247&creative=7399&creativeASIN=4062149702" rel="noopener" target="_blank">「ニッポン食安全ランキング555」</a><br /><br />このイベントはオンラインで開催し、「ZOOM」を使います。<br /><br />ご問い合わせ先:lena@linkandlearn.se<br /><br />https://linkandlearn.se/home/japanese<br /></section>
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-5872003190389623362019-05-28T23:24:00.003+09:002019-05-28T23:24:37.499+09:00The Atlantic: Atomic Veterans Were Silenced for 50 Years. Now, They're Talking. 29,594 viewsAn account of experiences, that none of us can ever expect to have. Except, they were ordered to be there, close by, by their government, by their superiors. This happened back in the 1950s, just a few years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. <br />
<br />
https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/590299/atomic-soldiers/<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qbBu6cWczTY" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<h2>
<span class="date" content="2019-05-27T11:24:34" itemprop="uploadDate dateCreated">May 27, 2019</span> |
<address>
Video by
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5151254/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_smstemwijzer">Morgan Knibbe</a>
</address>
</h2>
Nearly everyone who’s seen it and lived to tell
the tale describes it the same way: a horrifying, otherworldly thing of
ghastly beauty that has haunted their life ever since.<br />
<br />
“The colors were beautiful,” remembers a man in Morgan Knibbe’s short documentary <em>The Atomic Soldiers</em>. “I hate to say that.”<br />
<br />
“It was completely daylight at midnight—brighter than the brightest day you ever saw,” says another.<br />
<br />
Many tales of the atomic bomb, however, weren’t told at all. In
addition to the hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians who died in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, an estimated 400,000 American soldiers and
sailors also observed nuclear explosions—many just a mile or two from
ground zero. From 1946 to 1962, the U.S. government conducted more than <a href="https://www.un.org/en/events/againstnucleartestsday/history.shtml">1,000 atmospheric tests</a>,
during which unwitting troops were exposed to vast amounts of ionizing
radiation. For protection, they wore utility jackets, helmets, and gas
masks. They were told to cover their face with their arms.<br />
<br />
After the tests, the soldiers, many of whom were traumatized, were
sworn to an oath of secrecy. Breaking it even to talk among themselves
was considered treason, punishable by a $10,000 fine and 10 or more
years in prison.<br />
<br />
In Knibbe’s film, some of these atomic veterans break the forced
silence to tell their story for the very first time. They describe how
the blast knocked them to the ground; how they could see the bones and
blood vessels in their hands, like viewing an X-ray. They recount the
terror in their officers’ faces and the tears and panic that followed
the blasts. They talk about how they’ve been haunted—by nightmares,
PTSD, and various health afflictions, including cancer. Knibbe’s spare
filmmaking approach foregrounds details and emotion. There’s no need for
archival footage; the story is writ large in the faces of the veterans,
who struggle to find the right words to express the horror of what they
saw during the tests and what they struggled with in the decades after.<br />
<br />
Knibbe told me that he has long been fascinated with the
self-destructive tendencies of mankind. When he found declassified U.S.
civil-defense footage of soldiers maneuvering in the glare of the
mushroom cloud of an atomic bomb, he was “absolutely amazed and wanted
to learn more about their stories.” His efforts to dig deeper were
curtailed by the fact that most of the information about the nuclear
tests was classified—including reports on the illnesses the veterans
suffered and the radioactive pollution that was released into the
environment around the test sites. “I was baffled by the lack of
recorded testimonies available,” he said.<br />
<br />
Knibbe began trying to contact veterans through the National
Association of Atomic Veterans, eventually traveling across the United
States to meet them and hear their stories. He was stunned and saddened
by what he learned. “They were confronted by such an incredible
destructive power that they were immediately shocked into an existential
crisis,” Knibbe said. “It was like they saw the creation of the
universe. They were confronted with an enemy they could never defeat. It
was something really difficult for them to describe.”<br />
<br />
What appalled Knibbe the most was how the U.S. government failed the
veterans. “Until this day, a lot of what has happened—and the
radiation-related diseases the veterans have contracted and passed on to
the generations after them—is still being covered up,” Knibbe said.
“The veterans are consistently denied compensation.”<br />
<br />
“For 10 years now, I’ve been trying to get compensation, but the
government does not want to admit that anybody was harmed by any
radiation,” says one man in the film. Knibbe said he has spoken with
more than 100 U.S. atomic veterans, all of whom share similar stories of
the government’s intransigence. <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/article/us-veterans-in-secretive-nuclear-tests-still-fighting-for-recognition/">One of the few studies</a>
conducted on atomic veterans found that the 3,000 participants in a
1957 nuclear test suffered from leukemia at more than twice the rate of
their peers.<br />
<br />
Bill Clinton relieved the veterans’ oath of secrecy in 1994, but the
announcement was eclipsed by news from the O. J. Simpson trial. “Most of
the atomic veterans didn’t even know the oath of secrecy was lifted,”
Knibbe said. Most went on to believe that they were not allowed to talk
about their experiences, even to seek help for their health problems.
Many took the secret to their grave.<br />
<br />
“It haunts me to think of what I had witnessed,” says a man in the
film, “and not realized at the time the import of what we were doing …
serving as guinea pigs.”<div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-92100830039767461462019-05-14T09:03:00.000+09:002019-05-14T09:03:25.464+09:00OECD Report on Japan's FarmingSome interesting observations about the just released OECD report on Japan's "productivity and sustainability" when it comes to its farm sector. The focus on climate change shocks may be the most important message, but I would have liked more details how Japan could encourage its organic farmers:<br />
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<span class="dateline">OSAKA -<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>With Japanese food products becoming increasingly popular with foreign tourists, especially those from Asia, the country’s agricultural sector has a bright future if it can change its policies to embrace technological innovation and entrepreneurship, an OECD report on the country’s agricultural productivity and sustainability has concluded.</div>
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“Our advice to Japan is: ‘You need to speed up the pace at which you move away from protection, invest more in sustainability, productivity, including research and development and other forms of innovation,’ ” said Ken Ash, director of trade and agriculture at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in an interview with The Japan Times just prior to the report’s release Saturday. And, he said, Japan must “prepare the agricultural sector for the unexpected shocks that are likely to become larger and more frequent with climate change.”</div>
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“We’re not ringing alarm bells. We’re doing something at an earlier stage. We’re saying that as the climate changes, governments need to get ahead of this and mitigate potential problems. Preventative actions will be cheaper and more effective than remedial actions. This is, fundamentally, the signal we’re trying to send to Japan,” Ash added.</div>
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The report notes that Japan’s agricultural sector has significant room for improvement in environment performance.</div>
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Japan has one of the highest nutrient surpluses among OECD countries. Runoff from overuse of fertilizers creates a nutrient surplus, which is not only economically inefficient but also risks polluting the air and water with chemicals like ammonia.</div>
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Other issues are affecting Japan, including its aging and declining population, which has hit its agricultural sector particularly hard. Currently, 56 percent of farm managers are now over the age of 65.</div>
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Ash noted that Japan’s farmers have always been old, partially because farms are small businesses and the intergenerational transfer (of farms) tends to happen within the family, often when the farmers’ children are in their mid-40s.</div>
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“In Japan, there is a concern about attracting young people into agriculture. Many who grew up on a farm and left felt they couldn’t make a decent living by remaining,” he said. “Enabling them to make a living with decent working conditions is crucial. This is why we put a lot of emphasis in our report on R&D, innovation, technology transfer, and education to allow farms to become more profitable.”</div>
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New policies that make it easier for farmers to get the latest technology, and not just agricultural technology, is needed for Japan. Ash said that, as in other countries, what young farmers in Japan want is access to the latest technology, to talk to IT people and to get the latest software.</div>
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“They want their personal farm performance data to be grouped with similar data from other farmers so they can learn the best practices and which mistakes to avoid,” Ash said. “We don’t hear these things from the 55-, 65- or 75-year-old farmers, but we sure hear them from farmers in their 20s and 30s.</div>
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Ash said they can feel they are being held back by limited access to new technologies, and the fact they live in the countryside, where there may, or may not be, high-speed internet access, is also a problem.</div>
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A more open agricultural policy, the OECD says, will help spur new technological changes that can help Japanese farmers on the international stage.</div>
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“In Japan, agriculture policy has long isolated farmers from international competition. Unintentionally, it also isolated the sector from technological developments and innovation,” Ash said. “Opening up is not just about markets. It’s opening up to new technologies, whether they come from the IT sector in Japan or the agricultural sector in the U.S.,” he noted.</div>
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Allowing individual farmers more freedom in deciding what crops to grow and policies that expand their choices, especially in terms of more access to financing, are also important. Traditionally strong government control over farming policies and agricultural cooperatives like Japan Agriculture, which have long provided banking services, insurance and farming supplies, creates a situation that limits individual choices, the OECD says.</div>
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“Governments shouldn’t presume to know what’s best for any particular farmer. Farmers should have the freedom to decide what to produce in response to market demands, as opposed to some government regulation that says ‘Thou shalt produce X, Y, or Z.’ The same applies to farmers looking to access commercial credit or short-term funding, Ash says.</div>
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“What we argue is that, in Japan, there isn’t always as much choice as there might be, and that more choice will allow Japan to be more competitive internationally.”</div>
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Source: The Japan Times<div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-2994661985987792112019-04-24T21:00:00.002+09:002019-04-24T21:36:22.266+09:00My Ten Best Movies With An Environmental Theme<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhhv_A7iWJhoVFRYWfzK4lJ7kwyS_sIyEKkURpidubxaIAu9azlPhhxsY5BjrQYhCTTjT2Xs9txjxEGteWHvdWwDcS_V_0ytNE3pS2z5YthEyOYWLXhpRsU9Ons4NAgTD6XKT6g/s1600/never-cry-wolf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhhv_A7iWJhoVFRYWfzK4lJ7kwyS_sIyEKkURpidubxaIAu9azlPhhxsY5BjrQYhCTTjT2Xs9txjxEGteWHvdWwDcS_V_0ytNE3pS2z5YthEyOYWLXhpRsU9Ons4NAgTD6XKT6g/s320/never-cry-wolf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Wow, this is not an easy post to write! With all the media attention on environmental issues, it struck me as odd that there are so few movies about the state of our planet. Our natural environment and issues like climate change, pollution, loss of biological diversity, loss of fertile top soil (erosion) and such... Hey, you may even think Hollywood and the other movie studios around the world were sponsored by investors that didn't give a sh$%&t. So, what do you think? Do add your favourite movie with an environmental theme in the comments.<br />
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My Best Movies With An Environmental Theme:
<b> </b><br />
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<b>Local Hero </b>(1983) about an oil company representative sent to the Scottish village of Ferness to purchase the town and surrounding property for his company. Music by Mark Knopfler. (Thanks Tom for introducing)<br />
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<b>Never Cry Wolf</b> (1983) about a researcher assigned by his government to travel to the Canadian Arctic to study the wolves that are believed responsible for the reduction of the caribou population. Instead, the main reason for the declining population of caribou is human hunters from civilization. (Thanks P for finding)
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<b>Erin Brockovich</b> (2000) about the brave fight against pollution in the US. True story. Hodgkin's lymphoma, anyone?
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<b>Waterworld</b> (1995) about an era in the future when the polar ice cap has completely melted due to climate change. A bit silly, really, with what's-his-name as the main actor.
<b> </b><br />
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<b>Bladerunner</b> (1982) about a future Los Angeles when all has gone wrong to Earth that could possibly go wrong - except for the great music, the great scenery, and the great cast, this could have been a really depressing film. Based on Philip K. Dick's novel.
<b> </b><br />
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<b>The Day After Tomorrow</b> (2004) about global cooling and survival against all odds. A little heavy on how America would respond to such events, if you ask me, as if that country is an island, unaffected by what happens elsewhere on our planet. The film makers did not hide the fact that the weak president and the strong(-ish) vice president were intended to criticize the climate change policies (or lack of them) by the US administration at the time.
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<b>Soylent Green</b> (1973) about what we may be eating in a future where agriculture is no longer an option, due to climate change, pollution, overpopulation, depleted resources... you name it. Great story, not for the faint of heart.
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<b>The China Syndrome</b> (1979) about a nuclear plant disaster that almost happened, and security flaws that were covered up, and the attempt by independent journalists to tell the story. Just in time for the Three Mile Island accident in the US.
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<b>Mad Max 2</b> (1981) about a world were fuel is scarce and people will kill for a tank of gas. OK, not a story I like a lot, but it may have reached an audience that would not normally understand issues like peak oil and resource depletion. As in, no more cheap gasoline. Ever.
<b> </b><br />
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<b>Howl's Moving Castle</b> (2004) about a world caught up in war and general destruction, with a little girl turned into an old lady, and the usual (i e unusual) magic from Studio Ghibli, by Hayao Miyazaki.<br />
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Bonus: <b>Äppelkriget </b>(The Apple War) (1971) A business man comes to Österlen in the south of
Sweden to build Deutschneyland, a gigantic amusement park for German
tourists. The local councilors and the member of parliament are all in
favor of the idea, although it will turn vast areas into parking lots
for cars. The Lindberg family does not like the idea and with the help
of a little magic, they start scheming against it. Lovely music that I grew up with, including this hit record...<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8igyQ2m1aTE" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-17695630958184722002019-02-22T23:55:00.003+09:002019-02-22T23:59:48.620+09:00Guardian: World's food supply under 'severe threat' from loss of biodiversity Great to see this is the top news on The Guardian today. While we worry about climate change, don't forget that loss of biological diversity is another huge issue. And that does not just mean we should care about rare animals. Our entire food supply depends on too few crops:
<i>Two-thirds of crop production comes from just nine species (sugar cane, maize, rice, wheat, potatoes, soybeans, oil-palm fruit, sugar beet and cassava), while many of the remaining 6,000 cultivated plant species are in decline and wild food sources are becoming harder to find.
Although consumers did not yet notice any impact when they went shopping, the authors of the report said that could change.
“The supermarkets are full of food, but it is mostly imports from other countries and there are not many varieties. The reliance on a small number of species means they are more susceptible to disease outbreaks and climate change. It renders food production less resilient,” warned Julie Bélanger, the coordinator of the report.</i>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/21/worlds-food-supply-under-severe-threat-from-loss-of-biodiversity">https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/21/worlds-food-supply-under-severe-threat-from-loss-of-biodiversity</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-48802184862257966452019-02-09T22:14:00.001+09:002019-02-09T22:14:41.154+09:00BBC The Sky at Night 2018 Guides GalaxiesHow we learnt about living in a galaxy, and finding out that there are many more out there.
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-3818560471032451932019-02-08T23:30:00.002+09:002019-02-08T23:30:32.388+09:00Reading a Musical Score: Sibelius The Sky at NightIf you love music, do learn how to read a musical score.<br />
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My father spent a lot of time with me when I was a kid, working through the musical score. This is what a conductor has in front of him, be it a small chorus or a symphony orchestra. It all starts with the musical score. The director has to read it all, page after page. We just hear the magic.<br />
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Here is a track that you may know, by Jean Sibelius.<br />
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This music is familiar to British television viewers as the theme of the world's longest-running TV programme (1957-present), BBC and the The Sky at Night.<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I06-fQMxxeo" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-43123415073894458762019-01-22T23:25:00.002+09:002019-01-22T23:49:49.297+09:00Kamikaze to Croydon at the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum in SaitamaToday, I went to the Aviation Museum in Tokorozawa, Saitama prefecture, to give them a copy of my novel, Kamikaze to Croydon. I bet they were a bit surprised. I had not called ahead, which I should have done, and I have no calling card (meishi) to explain the details of my endeavor.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span lang="ja">所沢航空発祥記念館 </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokorozawa_Aviation_Museum" target="_blank">Tokorozawa Aviation Museum</a><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span lang="ja"></span></span><br />
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They kindly accepted my book for their library, and we had a lot of laughs. I suggested that they do a more thorough and large exhibition of the 1937 flight.<br />
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I also mentioned that at Croydon in London, they had a proper display of the arrival, with lots of photos and more, while here in Japan, there is no such thing.<br />
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Click here, and you can purchase my novel <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1717852289?ref_=pe_870760_150889320" target="_blank">Kamikaze to Croydon on Amazon</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcM9EAziyuOh6sMzyc8f5n5mB4hcupT_TYUSO9K60EVMbZF7b_FA_YOxGhPLUEZQ-ZwDRfYprAwr3pym5fL0Xz2hif09ZYpVI9et8fFg49YfOPzd9loutBsJeGOV8F5Lm5sQytg/s1600/KtoCcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="284" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcM9EAziyuOh6sMzyc8f5n5mB4hcupT_TYUSO9K60EVMbZF7b_FA_YOxGhPLUEZQ-ZwDRfYprAwr3pym5fL0Xz2hif09ZYpVI9et8fFg49YfOPzd9loutBsJeGOV8F5Lm5sQytg/s640/KtoCcover.jpg" width="408" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Iinuma Masaaki is a promising young pilot from the mountains of Nagano,
Japan, who only has thoughts of flying for the Morning Sun newspaper.
When he learns of a prize for the first aviator to fly from Tokyo to
London in under 100 hours, he knows he has the will to make it, just not
the way. Suddenly his newspaper approves the purchase of a new
aeroplane capable of going the distance. But can he overcome his fears,
find a navigator and take the last great aviation prize even while the
world marches ever closer to war? A novel based on the thrilling true
story of two friends who try to break the last great aviation record
before the world goes to war.</span> <br />
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And while we are at it, I have to say, are we not so very lucky and fortunate to have survived the Heisei Period with peace here in Japan.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-20217483771366422602019-01-05T02:43:00.000+09:002019-01-05T03:06:04.754+09:00One Chance for Glory<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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1931: The first pilot to fly across the Pacific was Clyde Pangborn, and here is a great documentary on Youtube (only about 500 views, how about it).<br />
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Great film clips from back in the early 1930s.<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EdLf9xjpskM" width="560"></iframe> <br />
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He is remembered in Misawa, Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan, and in Washington State, U.S.<br />
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For their accomplishment, Pangborn and Herndon were awarded the the
White Medal of Merit of the Imperial Aeronautical Society by Consul
General Kensuke Horinouchi. The presentation took place at the Japanese
consulate on 21 November 1931.<br />
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The United States National Aeronautic
Association awarded the two men its 1931 National Harmony Trophy.<br />
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<br />
<br />
And here is a novel that tells the story.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://onechanceforglory.com/home.aspx" target="_blank">One Chance for Glory</a> by Edward (Ted) Heikell and Robert (Bob) Heikel, both from Washington State, U.S.<br />
<br />
<h2 class="art-postheader t moduletitle">
<span style="background-color: white;">Synopsis</span></h2>
<div class="modulecontent" id="ctl01_mainContent_ctl00_pnlInnerBody">
<div class="slidecontainer" id="ctl01_mainContent_ctl00_divContent">
<span style="background-color: white;">Pangborn flew 4500 miles over water in a Single Engine Land airplane,
jettisoned his landing gear into the ocean to save drag, climbed outside
at 17,000 feet in the frigid air at night to make repairs, put the
airplane into a terrifying dive to 1400 feet to restart the engine,
diverted the flight path to avoid collision with Mt Rainier and finally
belly-landed (crash landed) on a dirt strip cut out of the sage-brush
land above Wenatchee, Washington, to complete his trip over the Pacific
Ocean in 1931. Charles Lindbergh became a household name four years
earlier by flying the 3600 miles solo over the Atlantic.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">His co-pilot was Hugh Herndon, Jr. who had marginal flying experience.
He was taught to fly in a private school in France and had very little
practical knowledge about aviation or navigational skills. What he did
have that Clyde needed was the financial backing of his mother. If Hugh
could be trained to be a worthy co-pilot, Clyde would have all of the
ingredients he would need to continue his career as an aviator.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">The custom airplane that they bought was a modified version of the
Bellanca Sky Rocket. It was not a fast airplane, but was known to be
very reliable, had long-range capability and a strong engine and big
wing to get heavy fuel loads out of short unimproved fields. While its
specified limits were well established, using it to cross the Pacific
Ocean was not part of the design criteria. Whenever the specifications
were violated, they would have to rely on Clyde Pangborn’s knowledge,
which was referred to as the “Pangborn Factors”.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon took off from Sabishiro Beach, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misawa,_Aomori" target="_blank">Misawa, Aomori</a>,
in Japan on October 4, 1931. From the moment they took off the flight
was plagued by problems, but they managed to land safely at Fancher
Field in Wenatchee, Washington, forty one hours and fifteen minutes
after they took off.</span></div>
</div>
<br />
Be that as it may, but why has the name of Pangborn been so well kept off the history books?<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Edward T. Heikell and Robert L. Heikell mix history with some fiction to
create a well-rounded view of lesser known pilot Clyde Pangborn in “One
Chance for Glory: First nonstop flight across the Pacific” (ISBN
1468006088). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Pangborn was the first pilot to successfully cross the
Pacific Ocean nonstop, but his accomplishment was lost in the shuttle of
other pilots who accomplished great things and became household names.
The Heikell brothers contacted sources who were associated with Pangborn
during the time of his flight, and all questioned why Pangborn’s
incredible feat was never advertised in history books. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">During the era of
pilots like Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh and Jimmy Doolittle,
Pangborn was overlooked; however, some suspect it was a result of a gag
order placed on him by the sponsors of his trip. The Heikells use
emotions and fictitious conversations to piece together what sketchy
historical information existed about the flight and link the emotional
stresses that must have existed between Pangborn and his loved ones. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“The book is based on history, but some of it had to be fiction,” Edward
Heikell says. “Actual pictures of the event have been included, but all
of the conversations, emotions, some people and sub stories were made
up to make a complete story out of the fragmented history trail.” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Pangborn and his co-pilot Hugh Herndon Jr. ventured on their trip to
save the barnstorming business and make a name for themselves. A
dangerous journey within itself, Pangborn was shocked when he discovered
Herndon was not the flyer he appeared to be, thus nearly killing them
on numerous occasions. The discovery of situations like this prompted
the Heikells to add in made-up emotions that would present a complete
story of Pangborn.
</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-27001503173273082322019-01-05T01:35:00.001+09:002019-01-05T01:52:24.126+09:00So, Who Was The First To Fly Across The Pacific Ocean?Quiz time - we all know the name of Charles Lindbergh flying from the US to Europe in 1927. Many other flight records were as important, but who did the first flight across the Pacific Ocean?<br />
<br />
What sets Lindbergh's record apart is that it was a solo flight. Not particularly useful, but in that day an age, it caught the attention of the general public and the media. More realistically, a pilot needed a navigator, as in my novel, Kamikaze to Croydon. Breaking the record and flying from Japan to Europe in just four days in 1937 could not be done solo.<br />
<br />
American Wiley Post and Harold Gatty did the first round-the-world flight in 1930, after the German Graf Zeppelin, piloted by Hugo Eckener had pioneered that particular feat (including a landing in Japan).<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_wmCNGkz9MY" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Canadian pilot Harald Bromly was the first to make a serious attempt at the Pacific, but failed when starting from Tacoma, Washington State, U.S.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">''I find it difficult to convince many persons that this proposed flight
is not sheer suicide,'' Mr. Bromley said in July 1929 as he prepared to
fly alone to Tokyo in a Lockheed Vega low-wing
monoplane. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Source: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/11/us/harold-bromley-aviator-lacking-lindbergh-s-luck-dies-at-99.html" target="_blank">The New York Times 1998 obituary </a></span><br />
<br />
He failed again when trying to fly from Japan and eastwards, as his plane was too heavy. He had to dump fuel and then return. <span lang="en-US">On September 15, 1930 Bromley again tried to make a
trans-Pacific flight, this time in an Emsco monoplane, dubbed
'City of Tacoma', with Harold Gatty as his navigator. This time the
flight was from Tokyo to Tacoma. <br /> <br />Engine trouble after about 1,250 miles forced them back to Japan, where they landed on a beach. <br /> <br />Harold Bromley became a test pilot for Lockheed and later opened a flying school in Tacoma. He died in 1999 at the age of 99 years. </span><br />
<br />
With him was a fascinating character, his navigator Harold Gatty. Born in Australia, he had shown an interest in navigation that was to serve many other pioneering pilots of that era.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">One of the first professional air navigators, Harold Gatty instructed
such aeronautical elites as Anne Morrow Lindbergh in air navigation and
invented new equipment. He developed the Gatty drift indicator for use
in aircraft. Gatty served as Wiley Post's navigator on his record
breaking around the world flight. He had been trained in air navigation
by P. V. H. Weems and managed the Weems System of Navigation while Weems
was on sea duty during the Depression. Gatty and Lindbergh convinced
Pan American Airways to adopt the Weems System. Gatty became the Army
Air Corps' chief navigation engineer—a remarkable position for a foreign
(Tasmanian) national. There he tutored the cadre of officers who would
be decisive in implementing the strategic bombing campaign during World
War II, including Curtis LeMay.</span><br />
<br />
Source: <a href="https://timeandnavigation.si.edu/multimedia-asset/harold-gatty-0" target="_blank">The Smithsonian </a><br />
<br />
Oh, the irony. Anyway, we can safely say that the early pilots and daredevils quickly learnt that there had to be a science to the art of flying.<br />
<br />
So, who was the first to fly across the Pacific?<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">After other aviators also failed to cross the Pacific, the feat was
accomplished in October 1931 by Clyde Pangborn, a veteran barnstormer,
and Hugh Herndon, a wealthy New Yorker who financed the flight, flying a
Bellanca. Their flight, beginning at Sabishiro Beach and ending in
Wenatchee, Wash., was part of their round-the-world trip in an
unsuccessful effort to break the record time set in June 1931 by Wiley
Post and Harold Gatty. Mr. Pangborn and Mr. Herndon received a $25,000
prize from the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.</span><br />
<br />
Source: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/11/us/harold-bromley-aviator-lacking-lindbergh-s-luck-dies-at-99.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a><br />
<br />
This is a fantastic trip back in time, a compilation of news reels with sound and interviews from 1931: <br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2SEGPyB-LBg" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
Sabishiro is in Misawa, Aomori Prefecture, and their plane was the Miss Veedol, a Bellanca (a US company founded by the Italian Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, who first cam to the US in 1911).<br />
<br />
Clyde Pangborn was born in Washington State and ought to be as well known as the rest of them aviation pioneers. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-5259057713112480152018-12-31T23:12:00.000+09:002018-12-31T23:12:20.904+09:00Tokyo Yamanote Line MelodiesIf you have ever been to Tokyo, you must have taken the Yamanote Line around town. Here are the melodies for the different stations. Sometimes, when I have an hour to spare, I take the Yamanote Line one way around, but I do hate the recent all-video trains. Let's keep the stress level down, shall we. Please, less ads, more train pleasure.<br />
<br />
Still, the JR East Yamanote Line has to be the best service around.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7c_TmELfuZo" width="560"></iframe><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-10254251813629730662018-12-27T23:24:00.002+09:002019-01-05T01:54:00.353+09:00Water Privatization?<div class="detailed-header">
With water privatization, Japan faces crossroads in battling its aging pipes</div>
<div class="detailed-date">
<a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=news&p=1643021" target="new">Japan Times</a> -- Dec 18 2018</div>
<div class="detailed-para-1">
</div>
<div class="detailed-para-1">
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Japanese water is clean and readily available, as evidenced by drinkable tap water and a nearly 100 percent penetration rate.
</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;">But perhaps less known
is the dire decay that has slowly chipped away at its infrastructure,
casting doubt on its sustainability.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">To address this, the Diet
passed an amendment earlier this month to the Water Supply Act, paving
the way for effective privatization.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">But critics say this flies
in the face of a global trend toward “re-municipalizing” — or
reinstating public control over — water management after years of
soaring bills and compromised service quality, which they say underscore
the profit maximization ethos of the private sector.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">So what’s the status quo of Japan’s water system and what does the revised law do? Here is our look into those questions:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">What’s the situation that prompted changes to the law?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Water
pipes nationwide, many of them holdovers from the early postwar era
that marked Japan’s rise as an economic superpower, are rapidly aging.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Adding
to the disrepair is a staff shortage and reduced water use stemming
from Japan’s ever-shrinking population that have made it increasingly
difficult for municipalities, especially smaller ones, to run their
water businesses in a sustainable manner.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Government data show
that about 30 percent of water suppliers nationwide have seen their
business slip into the red — a situation predicted to only worsen amid a
further decline in manpower.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Health ministry statistics
meanwhile show that about 15 percent of water pipes across the nation
had outlived their 40-year duration as of fiscal 2016 and are thus in
need of upgrading. But at the current pace, it is estimated it will take
Japan about 130 years to bring all pipes up to date. Only 37.2 percent
of major pipes are sufficiently quake-resistant, pointing to the danger
of a prolonged water outage in the event of natural disasters, according
to the health ministry.</span><br />
<br />
The Kurashi opinion is of course that water is Japan's single major important resource. You can drink it, grow rice and vegetables and soy bean and other protein crops, and anyone with a well can live comfortably. If you start selling that to corporations and overseas investors, well, Japan has no other valuable resource. No iron, gold or oil. But water, is that much more valuable, since we all depend on it. <div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-54659944920632490002018-12-09T01:19:00.002+09:002018-12-18T00:39:52.298+09:00Toru Takemitsu - L.A., New York, Paris, Rome, Helsinki (1991)The wonderful things that happen. Or not.<br />
<br />
In 1991, Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu was invited by American
director Jim Jarmusch to write the original music for his film "Night on
Earth", but his finished work was subsequently rejected by the
director. The supposedly lost music by Takemitsu was aptly titled “L.A.,
New York, Paris, Rome, Helsinki” - five cities featured in Jarmusch’s
film.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JBYd6b_7O58" width="560"></iframe> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-85570164540997660362018-11-29T01:51:00.001+09:002018-11-29T02:22:40.227+09:00New Photos From Croydon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVa8upjg1m62sqPWvkUXxYYTQMt7VNvfMmrjjOTLungmqNU-45agSgU73yliVyF3lTQRjv086FC_b4tvuKE5XGhVSOnksdnfT3U710EQEwemBgx0yQBrwPvRyhjAsx2coglg_WnQ/s1600/Scanned+Japanese+Photographs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVa8upjg1m62sqPWvkUXxYYTQMt7VNvfMmrjjOTLungmqNU-45agSgU73yliVyF3lTQRjv086FC_b4tvuKE5XGhVSOnksdnfT3U710EQEwemBgx0yQBrwPvRyhjAsx2coglg_WnQ/s1600/Scanned+Japanese+Photographs.JPG" /></a></div>
Amazing images from April, 1937 as the Kamikaze-go landed at Croydon, London. From my new friends at the HCAT Archives, Peter Skinner and Ian Forsyth.<br />
<br />
Record breaking flight from Tokyo. Can you spot Tsukagoshi climbing out of the airplane in the first picture? That's the easy one. Finding Iinuma in the last image may be more difficult, what with all the London policemen escorting him. He smiles a lot, holding on to a bunch of flowers, and is rather sun burnt from the long flight over the desert. Don't you think he was the happiest man on earth, that day. It inspired my wish to write about his long flight from Japan to Europe. <br />
<br />
And you can order my novel about it here, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1717852289?ref_=pe_870760_150889320" target="_blank">Kamikaze to Croydon</a>. <br />
<br />
Bonus image: I took this photo of Iinuma Masaaki's pilot licence at his museum in Nagano:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Dffpb0rRauMD18k7qiDITcwcMZ5lc-syQAozQ6Jm_AYQcX8okDQiCEILU_7hw-0_7_Nbbt_uYDvNeYmgzcAuf0ZRo6hlwaslyWwjPpCFewzK-xox7asWcaKIVblob1_t6jORnA/s1600/48+Iinuma+pilot+license+1941.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Dffpb0rRauMD18k7qiDITcwcMZ5lc-syQAozQ6Jm_AYQcX8okDQiCEILU_7hw-0_7_Nbbt_uYDvNeYmgzcAuf0ZRo6hlwaslyWwjPpCFewzK-xox7asWcaKIVblob1_t6jORnA/s640/48+Iinuma+pilot+license+1941.jpg" width="640" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-57572293130182443942018-11-16T21:59:00.000+09:002018-11-16T22:32:07.165+09:00WW1 Pilot Harry Ohara Remembered<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEZ7JCcDcFYh_1O-2r8zXVbXsHWsSj2FMikalbc1BwcwnUbfs4ZvPXHSGvZM1G7OqB33w0kok3AFoEnI7C0nr_FgxfW7DfRw7hXzXDPC9nPSaw2HxKU5riwpHHWQjVoBxTP9jPCQ/s1600/Harry+Ohara+WW1+Pilot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="1280" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEZ7JCcDcFYh_1O-2r8zXVbXsHWsSj2FMikalbc1BwcwnUbfs4ZvPXHSGvZM1G7OqB33w0kok3AFoEnI7C0nr_FgxfW7DfRw7hXzXDPC9nPSaw2HxKU5riwpHHWQjVoBxTP9jPCQ/s320/Harry+Ohara+WW1+Pilot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
First time I heard of this guy and his great story. Harry Ohara was born in Japan, studied at Waseda University in Tokyo, went to British India and worked for a newspaper. When war broke out, he joined the British Army. Later he flew after having started as a mechanic.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018/11/bcd17322a627-feature-japanese-national-became-decorated-war-hero-for-britain-in-wwi.html" target="_blank">Kyodo</a> notes that he is thought to be the Royal Air Force's first - and only - Japanese pilot:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">O'Hara applied to become a pilot at exactly the right time, according
to RAF Museum curator Peter Devitt. A portrait of an intense looking
O'Hara stands out among the heroes -- the only Asian among the portraits
-- that decorate the wall at the RAF Museum.</span><br />
<br />
More details at the <a href="https://greatwarlondon.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/harry-fusao-ohara-japanese-fighter-pilot-1918/" target="_blank">Great War London blog</a>, that notes (correctly) that he must have been flying for the Royal Flight Corps, not the RAF (RAF was formed on 1 April 1918):<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">In March 1917, O’Hara transferred to the RFC as a 2nd-class air
mechanic (the basic rank for RFC men – equivalent to his rank of private
in the Middlesex Regiment). He was soon undergoing flying training,
though, and living in London at <a href="https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=25+Fitzroy+Square&client=safari&oe=UTF-8&hnear=25+Fitzroy+Square,+London+W1T+6ER,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&t=h&z=16">25 Fitzroy Square</a>,
a boarding-house run by Jukicki Ikuine, another Japanese man living in
London. In 1911 Ikuine and his English wife had run a boarding-house
entirely populated by Japanese men (servants, cooks and waiters), so
perhaps his properties were a standard place for Japanese men to board.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">O’Hara qualified as a pilot on 21 July 1917 at the London and
Provincial flying school in Edgeware, and was immediately promoted to
Sergeant by the RFC. It is not clear where he was stationed between
then and March 1918, when he was posted from France to the No 1 School
of Military Aeronautics (in Reading), but at some point he became
engaged to Norfolk-born Muriel M McDonald. They married in Lewisham in
September 1917.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 414px;">
<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1925057/Those-magnificent-men-of-the-RAF....html"><img alt="" height="226" src="https://i1.wp.com/i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00667/RAF-Squadron-404_667816c.jpg" width="404" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
<span style="background-color: white;">No 1 Squadron with their SE5As and dog</span></div>
</div>
<br />
Top photo showing the handsome young pilot, proudly posing in front of his SE5A, which has become known as "the Spitfire of Word War One."<br />
<br />
Harry Fusao O’Hara died in Hampstead in 1951.<br />
<br />
Thanks Our Man in Abiko, <a href="https://patricksherriff.com/" target="_blank">Patrick</a>, for finding!<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-66577351745856832672018-11-08T22:03:00.000+09:002018-11-09T00:25:56.730+09:00Imperial Airways in 1937: Hanno at Al Mahatta Airport in UAE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHajKL2DzANdbrJW2FnmXoVR4TFyLh-jJ-9sSMIjD3vb8NdlRdtQQz8fXfZSmbYF9GpSEurop_xzGzHYl8xZs3080KwkHXo6Y3s9jKf6ntrt7n8MYm-tcQvTnjstW6eE-DJp2z6A/s1600/Vogue+1937+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="458" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHajKL2DzANdbrJW2FnmXoVR4TFyLh-jJ-9sSMIjD3vb8NdlRdtQQz8fXfZSmbYF9GpSEurop_xzGzHYl8xZs3080KwkHXo6Y3s9jKf6ntrt7n8MYm-tcQvTnjstW6eE-DJp2z6A/s320/Vogue+1937+cover.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
If you have read my novel, Kamikaze to Croydon, you know that our two Japanese flyers went straight from Karachi to Basra. Their Mitsubishi Ki-15 had that much power.<br />
<br />
Out in the desert, there were many other established aerodromes or airfields, but what were conditions there and what did they actually look like?<br />
<br />
You can order Kamikaze to Croydon <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1717852289?ref_=pe_870760_150889320" target="_blank">here at Amazon</a> as a paperback, and also at Kindle as an eBook.<br />
<br />
I hope you will also be kind enough to leave comments and rate it. <br />
<br />
Here is an excerpt:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Our altitude was again near 3,000 metres, which the Ki-15 seemed to find most agreeable, no matter what the conditions were. We had Iran on our right, and there was Arabia proper and Oman, according to the new maps. Tsukagoshi read the names. We reached Musandam and the Strait of Hormuz, which was just 54 kilometres wide. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">I clearly recalled all we had back a few months ago was a terrible old chart, with no elevations indicated, and Charles Lindbergh’s new maps were such a revelation. “These maps,” Tsukagoshi muttered, “I have to say, are rather detailed.” He was thinking aloud, and clearly not sure what he was seeing from his windows, compared to the maps in his lap. “My oh my.” I waited for the next burst of intelligence from my trusted navigator, hoping he was not becoming too immersed in his musings. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">He slowly continued: “Interesting way to deal with elevations. Would be useful for military missions in these parts of the world. Nothing like the tourist maps we saw before. I am not sure we are allowed to have them.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“Better keep quiet about them, then.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“Every oil field is indicated. Topographic profile... It is explained here: 'One type of profile that helps visualize topographic data aids the pilot to understand the topography of rivers is called a longitudinal profile. A longitudinal profile allows you to visualize the changing gradient. A longitudinal profile is a graph of a river's elevation versus its length.' How about that. Applies to flying over deserts, too, apparently. And...”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“Very well. Tsuka? Enough of that. You have any thoughts about how we might get to our next destination, without any of that, whatever you call it.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“Navigation? It is such an art, and a science. The map here, it is amazing. Such details. You should study it.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“I might, if you got on with the task of getting us to Basra.”</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKjVqF6fg1xNBTOPZc5BAWaUOH-Rhqer1YRLZhd4AauEW8TTc-0sINwA68M0JzIt5KryEyxcKSHTR2-Lz-YiqwHJ5CM_TEYRg4NnSJUTMcYBfZ6jhyphenhyphenccwza-J7HJDV0gw2Fa5i1w/s1600/Basra+map+1917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1600" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKjVqF6fg1xNBTOPZc5BAWaUOH-Rhqer1YRLZhd4AauEW8TTc-0sINwA68M0JzIt5KryEyxcKSHTR2-Lz-YiqwHJ5CM_TEYRg4NnSJUTMcYBfZ6jhyphenhyphenccwza-J7HJDV0gw2Fa5i1w/s200/Basra+map+1917.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Our direction now was a smooth curve, I knew that much. West north-west up towards Europe, and compared to the small ships down below, I had no such troubles that they must have, navigating that narrow strait.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Once we were again over land, Tsukagoshi easily found Basra, the desert town in Iraq. We landed promptly at 9:45 am, local time. That was a fine runway, it was very good to land on, we should have that in Japan. They called it bitumen or tarmac, I noted that in my notebook. That stretch over the deserts took us about 4 hours. We were now further in towards the central British possessions, with clear signs of civilization all around, in spite of the remote location. Clearly, they were doing very well there due to their oil wells, according to Tsukagoshi.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">I suspected he took a brief nap back there over the Persian Gulf. It was hard to fly yesterday with the sun setting in the west, right in front of me. The small curtain helped. This morning, the sun was behind me and rising. It didn’t bother me much except for the glare from the instruments. If they really wanted pilots to do these long flights on a regular basis, they would have to sort out all such issues, and more.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Tsukagoshi was paying attention to all he saw below, and gave me updates: “Basra is 2,000 km from Karachi, are you tired up there in the front, you Japanese pilot in a rush to get to London?” But I was not tired. It was more the rush of the adrenaline that kept me up and happy. It was a kind of joy that I could not help but feel, as if it was pumping in my blood vessels and veins and recharged each time it hit my heart. “I am a civilian aviator from Nagano, Japan,” I said. “...Who flies with his heart on his sleeve,” shouted Tsukagoshi, explaining the English idiom. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">I got it, I got it, I told him I did get it, but he was in one of his splendid moods and had more to explain.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">He was such a dear, suddenly he started quoting in his very best English what he said was from Othello:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">It is as sure as you are Roderigo,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">In following him, I follow but myself;</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">But seeming so, for my peculiar end:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">For when my outward action doth demonstrate</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">The native act and figure of my heart</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">In compliment extern, 'tis not long after</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">From Shakespeare's Othello (1604)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">We both rolled over laughing, well, not literally of course, and he could not hide his exuberance: “'I am not what I am'! You hear that down there, all of you Moors!?”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“Hahaha, yes, we all got it, so who are you?”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“I am air, I am sky! And you would be Roderigo, captain.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“So am I, we are one and the same.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“’Heaven is my judge’!”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“Whatever that means. Hey, Tsuka. We may just have reached Arabia, on our little trip, can you believe that?”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“I cannot, Iinuma-kun, I truly cannot believe my eyes. I thought to myself, that this is a magic flying carpet, and we are about to wake up from an ancient dream, straight out of the Arabian Nights stories.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“You woke up alright. Do admit it. I think you had a nice nap back there while I was busy getting us from there to glorious here.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“Oh, I might have closed one or two of my eyelids for a second or two, be that as it may…”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“Just joking, dear old chap, we made it all this way.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“Isn’t the view just marvellous?”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“Not much for me to see, I am just here to fly straight and make sure we land and get to our next destination. But I do dip a wing once in a while to look out of my windows, I will admit to that.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">“Admit all you like. This might be the best flying carpet I have ever had flown on, except for your landings.”</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRFqJomS5E7_y1LkO3tSOgcYIiAVHs1Q0Bgia5o2VzQ2ORUQlfJVw6NyKCYA0pj44jvA5mYu2J8LuyJm58garLsiXToA5GiwEFkJgqkFB1ROM2vwY231nQhU59r67t1Of4tZm6w/s1600/al+mahatta+fort+airport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="660" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRFqJomS5E7_y1LkO3tSOgcYIiAVHs1Q0Bgia5o2VzQ2ORUQlfJVw6NyKCYA0pj44jvA5mYu2J8LuyJm58garLsiXToA5GiwEFkJgqkFB1ROM2vwY231nQhU59r67t1Of4tZm6w/s320/al+mahatta+fort+airport.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Watch the 1937 video below for an amazing journey back in time. If you were rich enough, the Imperial Airways would take you there - or if you had an important diplomatic mission. Or, as in the case of the Kamikaze-go, owned by the Asahi Newspaper, there was a record to break. To fly from Japan to Europe in less than 100 hours...<br />
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This is such a great video of the Imperial Airways and its Handley Page four engine passenger plane, back in 1937.<br />
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We get to visit the Al Mahatta Airport (that the Kamikaze-go by-passed).<br />
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The Al Mahatta Fort was built in 1932 as the route from Croydon (London) was established. Also, advanced weather report balloons and proper British officers, making sure everything is ready when the Imperial Airways passengers arrive on their way to Singapore or Australia.<br />
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The Hanno was a British-made, four-propeller Handley Page HP42 biplane, the first plane to land at Sharjah's airport, known as Al Mahatta. Jupiter engines.<br />
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Hanno first flew in 1931 (and was named after <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanno_the_Navigator" target="_blank">Hanno the Navigator</a>, who explored the Atlantic coast of Africa in 570 BC).<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_NS_3wIi0_k" width="560"></iframe> <br />
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Top image from the front cover of Vogue Magazine, June 1937.<br />
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That airplane is a Fairchild 24C-8F:<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333015441895px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_24" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_24</a></div>
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Thanks Pandabonium for help with the research.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-2025721605694666602018-11-07T00:16:00.000+09:002018-11-08T21:40:07.033+09:00The First Air Force One, the Lockheed Constellation, RestoredUpdate: And wrong I was. It was President Truman who had to deal with General MacArthur, as Pandamonium kindly points out in the comments. <br />
<br />
Original post: Great video of the project to save the Columbine II and get it to fly again in 2018:<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Je7sTk1oQMs" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
...Because this is the plane that took President-elect (correct me if I'm wrong) Dwight D. Eisenhower to South Korea in 1952,<strike> in order to stop General MacArthur, who was proposing atomic bombs all over the border inside Communist China, </strike> <br />
<br />
Later in 1955, Eisenhower was promoting much the same as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Look_(policy)" target="_blank">New Look</a>, a policy to expand American nuclear weapons, now against the Soviet Union. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfWRVI85K-svTOSel4uM31eASpEcOQ7Bzg1J6NFRyUrVTdTE9RLt9BUMTEsehoEZ16vZdR9rV9uKjtueHe2WDQjNzUtPrBjIHAaeim0ObLLGrW55Eta2D_BSdUh-v5fzm5t6zUbg/s1600/Columbine-II.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="627" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfWRVI85K-svTOSel4uM31eASpEcOQ7Bzg1J6NFRyUrVTdTE9RLt9BUMTEsehoEZ16vZdR9rV9uKjtueHe2WDQjNzUtPrBjIHAaeim0ObLLGrW55Eta2D_BSdUh-v5fzm5t6zUbg/s400/Columbine-II.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Image (left) from <a href="https://www.ladieslovetaildraggers.com/blog/the-story-of-the-first-air-force-one/" target="_blank">Ladies Love Taildragger</a>s (Kurashi loves blog names like that!) <br />
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Known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_II" target="_blank">Columbine II</a>, this beautiful aircraft, a Lockheed Constellation, was the very first "Air Force One" and now it has been restored and flies again.<br />
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From <a href="https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/comparing-dwight-d-eisenhower-douglas-macarthur/" target="_blank">Warfare History Network</a>: <br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">After World War II, Eisenhower went on to serve two terms as President
of the United States. MacArthur rendered outstanding service as
military governor of postwar Japan but then fell victim to his own ego
and defiance of President Harry S. Truman during the Korean War and was
removed from command of United Nations forces.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-26871296368635985622018-11-06T19:14:00.000+09:002018-11-07T00:53:56.929+09:00Pan American Boeing 377 Stratocruiser Japan Travelogue - 1952Back when flying was a luxury, or at least a lot more comfortable than today (except for the smoking!). The destinations were a lot more exotic too...<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l_jrlxufoOM" width="560"></iframe><br />
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The Stratocruiser was flying from the US to Honolulu, Wake Island, and arrived at Haneda in Tokyo. Pan Am started flying DC4s to Japan in 1947 and the B-377 was introduced in 1949. 10 years later in 1959, they introduced the B-707 jets which were much faster than the old propeller planes. <br />
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Here is a longer promotional film about the Stratocruiser, with some interesting history about the civilian mail services that started flying in the late 1920s.<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v92U2F9gbUo" width="560"></iframe><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-20477076572682181622018-11-02T21:57:00.001+09:002018-11-02T22:40:43.066+09:00Potter Simon Leach Talks About StuffUK potter Simon Leach is active in the US and holds workshops there, in addition to making great videos. Here is his view on how kids and everyone these days are losing skills (because of spending too much time on their iPhones and whatnot) rather than using their hands.<br />
<br />
Interesting that he notes that youngsters cannot hold a pair of scissors, or even a pen, right. Even young surgeons cannot make the required stitches...? <br />
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I have noticed the same with young Japanese people when it comes to penmanship. And he says, "instructors are not allowed to criticize their students."<br />
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My pottery teacher here in Japan has mentioned similar trends, but not that severely.<br />
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As Simon says, if we are learning a craft, constructive criticism must be a part of the process...<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4J4oeWFyNVc" width="560"></iframe><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-74344724701452737372018-10-12T20:53:00.002+09:002018-10-12T21:35:20.203+09:00How Monsanto's Glyphosate Kills FarmersGreat documentary, it made me cry. I fought so hard 20 years ago to tell the story of Monsanto's crimes and especially the massive use of glyphosate (Roundup) and its links to cancer. Did my newspaper articles and blogs and consumer activism make any difference?<br />
<br />
What I tried to convey, was that all the toxicology data was on the active ingredient only, and not on the final product (Roundup) that people use. When you add the other chemicals to glyphosate, and spray that product, you get risks. Rules at national levels go with the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius rules. At such meetings I attended back then, the ignorance of what this company was pulling off was staggering. On the other hand, I was asked, "Could you make a better rule?"<br />
<br />
Unless we eat organic, this is how most of our food gets made.<br />
<br />
Australian ABC made the video, do spread the message. <br />
<br />
Now that German Bayer owns Monsanto, expect things to get better, anyone?<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JszHrMZ7dx4" width="560"></iframe><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-85910966386989074002018-10-12T01:27:00.000+09:002018-10-12T01:27:18.461+09:002018 JAS 39 Gripen Formation Flight Swedish Air Force<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NBgFru1SSA4" width="560"></iframe><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11587256.post-43035573824751809672018-10-06T00:15:00.000+09:002018-11-12T20:30:24.394+09:00Novel Approach: J-Hangar Space Review of My Novel Kamikaze to Croydon<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Novel Approach</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
My editor Patrick Sherriff over at <a href="https://towerenglishpublishing.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Tower English in Abiko</a> helped me publish my novel on July 21, 2018. I have a lot to say about his skills as an editor, with a keen sense of sticking to his <a href="https://towerenglishpublishing.wordpress.com/2018/08/30/how-do-you-edit-a-novel/" target="_blank">three approaches</a> to fiction editing. Well, it helped me a lot, and his support was terrific...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqhyphenhyphenBcE_2sGfldDvTHCN-eKzMmZBAUVywR2U_RmL3yMraJdjmxjTTDDMfJRX_XeQU1SMlc6FHlPsqdIElxCAvmmhv7zH-OkNSVlq9qVcz4d4eqBGGOi0hSd8j2CrQfhvUOpw8sA/s1600/kamikaze_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="469" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqhyphenhyphenBcE_2sGfldDvTHCN-eKzMmZBAUVywR2U_RmL3yMraJdjmxjTTDDMfJRX_XeQU1SMlc6FHlPsqdIElxCAvmmhv7zH-OkNSVlq9qVcz4d4eqBGGOi0hSd8j2CrQfhvUOpw8sA/s320/kamikaze_4.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
Here is how Patrick puts it:<br />
<br />
<i>Character arcs. Every story is a journey. For a story to have meaning,
there has to be change. Characters start out one way, they experience
difficulty or, as the novelist calls it, conflict, until by the end of
the story they have changed. That basic pattern — starting with a goal
in mind, dealing with conflict, changing — should be present in the
novel as a whole and within each scene and for every major character.</i><br />
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You can order Kamikaze to Croydon <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1717852289?ref_=pe_870760_150889320" target="_blank">here at Amazon</a> as a paperback, and also at Kindle as an eBook.<br />
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I hope you will also be kind enough to leave comments and rate it.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: yellow;">Iinuma Masaaki is a promising young pilot
from the mountains of Nagano, Japan, who only has thoughts of flying
for the Morning Sun newspaper. When he learns of a prize for the first
aviator to fly from Tokyo to London in under 100 hours, he knows he has
the will to make it, just not the way. Suddenly his newspaper approves
the purchase of a new aeroplane capable of going the distance. But can
he overcome his fears, find a navigator and take the last great aviation
prize even while the world marches ever closer to war? A novel based on
the thrilling true story of two friends who try to break the last great
aviation record before the world goes to war.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCpgQey83iKCpcdWvVpI3v3R-_WOcUGYQFjDTtOn2YTJwE1D7OrfBk0Km94DsgN7QsK88Y_l-pXedBwPuC46yMKa0hJXCdYAnwo-n-uEtHzr0mVXBGbXAXL_n1OpLnsH8UdiBEKw/s1600/kamikaze_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="468" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCpgQey83iKCpcdWvVpI3v3R-_WOcUGYQFjDTtOn2YTJwE1D7OrfBk0Km94DsgN7QsK88Y_l-pXedBwPuC46yMKa0hJXCdYAnwo-n-uEtHzr0mVXBGbXAXL_n1OpLnsH8UdiBEKw/s640/kamikaze_6.jpg" width="416" /></a></div>
Available now as a 280-page paperback or ebook from all Amazon sites including <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kamikaze-Croydon-Martin-J-Frid/dp/1717852289">Amazon.com</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/Kamikaze-Croydon-Martin-J-Frid/dp/1717852289">Amazon.co.jp</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kamikaze-Croydon-Martin-J-Frid/dp/1717852289">Amazon.co.uk</a>.<br />
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<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_17" style="width: 347px;"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Kamikaze to Croydon by Martin J. Frid, available now from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kamikaze-Croydon-Martin-J-Frid/dp/1717852289">all Amazon sites</a> as a paperback and ebook</figcaption></figure><br />
Paul T in Toda, Saitama, who has the most comprehensive website about airplanes in Japan, published this first review of my novel, <i>Kamikaze to Croydon</i>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkz-5IZx7cneomBlr8YA74Xef55eSzP2ZstFLUP0aJHct3C8OcGoR6h7VXEBzgu00xjhCFMgPj6p6hG5uGd35jpEjhuEgh43nkUECLAMF5rXiGNoXB4ElmQ1GP3ERO_DaEn3hYiw/s1600/kamikaze_8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="468" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkz-5IZx7cneomBlr8YA74Xef55eSzP2ZstFLUP0aJHct3C8OcGoR6h7VXEBzgu00xjhCFMgPj6p6hG5uGd35jpEjhuEgh43nkUECLAMF5rXiGNoXB4ElmQ1GP3ERO_DaEn3hYiw/s320/kamikaze_8.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
<b>As can be seen below, <a href="http://www.j-hangarspace.jp/" target="_blank">J-Hangar Space </a>
regularly brings news of the latest non-fiction book releases, in
English and Japanese, on relevant topics. Anyone interested in reading
an example of that rare (non-existent?) bird, a historical novel on a
Japanese aviation topic in English, might care to take this one for a
test flight.</b></div>
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<b>Written by Martin J. Frid (<a href="http://martinjapan.blogspot.com/p/my-novel-kamikaze-to-croydon.html" target="_blank">link</a>), a Swede who has lived in Japan for 30 years, <i>Kamikaze to Croydon</i> provides what can best be described as a fact-based fictionalized account of a well-documented deed of derring-do—the <i>Asahi Shimbun</i>-sponsored
flight from Tokyo to Croydon in 1937.</b><br />
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<b>No ‘spoiler’ alerts needed, as
the writer used up no artistic/pilot’s license on a ‘what if’ ending.</b><br />
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<b>The book is available in Paperback and Kindle versions, and preview pages provided, on an Amazon screen near you.</b><br />
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Paul T also noted the following, since I mentioned the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_(pen_company)" target="_blank">Pilot pen</a> in my novel:<br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">You're probably aware that the name Pilot actually comes from one of the founders having been a pilot in the merchant navy.</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi24K0R-6Yu5oxzc8JBr9hpAhR2WK91bxfnFhA4j9t9w5dkYeQM_zVqoPEU5RvOWy4bDu3c17HRJaEgWoO_A9QZUPOLl6oXqF_sByDC2M5RJady1yXqLRnZtfWCNm4kDIqSJxLbQQ/s1600/pilot+1968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="400" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi24K0R-6Yu5oxzc8JBr9hpAhR2WK91bxfnFhA4j9t9w5dkYeQM_zVqoPEU5RvOWy4bDu3c17HRJaEgWoO_A9QZUPOLl6oXqF_sByDC2M5RJady1yXqLRnZtfWCNm4kDIqSJxLbQQ/s320/pilot+1968.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Eco News from Japan and Asia!</div>Martin J Fridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14537556834410284837noreply@blogger.com1