Kurashi - News From Japan

John D says: "On April 24th, 1971, my friends and I marched in Washington D.C. against the war in South East Asia. This was one of the largest protests against the Vietnam war which was now spreading into Laos and Cambodia."

Alicia Bay Laurel performs - "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream," a visionary peace song written by Ed McCurdy in the late 1940s, along with a translation of the lyrics into Japanese created by singer/songwriter Maiko Kodama in 2013. Alicia is offering this video in hope that many people will learn this song and join her in singing it on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the first atomic bombing of a human community, August 5, 2015, in Hiroshima, Japan. She is hoping to have the event live-streaming on the Internet so that people can attend from wherever they are. The lyrics in both languages, including a phonetic rendering of the Japanese lyrics for English speakers, plus a guitar chord chart, are at http://www.aliciabaylaurel.com/LastNi... 2014年9月1日公開 ア リシア·ベイ·ローレルは、1940年代後半にエド·マッカーディによって書かれた先進的な平和の歌 "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" を、2013年シンガー/ソングライター児玉真衣子によって訳された日本語の歌詞と共に歌っている。2015年8月5日は、原爆が人間社会に最初に落とさ れてから70年。アリシアは多くの人がこの歌を学び、2015年8月15日前...

...That would be me on the left, having just turned 50 this summer, my father Henry who is 80 years old and surprisingly genki (No meat diet, but some dairy to help him gain weight), and Johan, Ph.D. and younger brother and father of two very bright kids (Jens & Lykke). Missing is mother Karin who passed away on July 25. Namu Amida Butsu...

Lovely video of Japan's tall peaks, to the sound of monks reciting the Hanya Shinkyu, or Heart Sutra.

I was hoping this would not happen. Protesters are also outside the plant. They read out a statement protesting the insertion of nuclear fuel into the No.3 unit. The statement said the system for transmitting electricity to the plant cannot withstand a powerful earthquake and the plant's safety cannot be guaranteed. A stable power supply is needed to maintain the cooling of the reactor. One of the protesters said that in view of the powerful temblors that struck Kumamoto, the operator should not rush the process of inserting fuel into the reactor. NHK World: Fuel loading begins at Ikata No.3 nuclear reactor Workers have begun loading nuclear fuel into a reactor at the Ikata power plant in western Japan. The operator plans to restart the reactor in late July. They started removing units of fuel rods from a pool on Friday, and placed them into the No.3 reactor one at a time. Sixteen of the 157 units of fuel rods are the type of fuel called MOX, which is a mi...

Now it is rather official. Back in March 2011, as events unfolded, we were not told the truth. We saw the explosions at the Fukushima nuclear reactors live on TV. But we were not told the rest of the story: TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The head of Tokyo Electric Power Co. apologized Tuesday over his predecessor's instruction not to use the term "core meltdown" in describing the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in the early days of the crisis, calling the instruction a "coverup." "It is extremely regrettable. People are justified in thinking it a coverup," TEPCO President Naomi Hirose said at a press conference in Tokyo. The remarks came after a report published last Thursday said then President Masataka Shimizu instructed a vice president, who was taking part in a press conference on March 14, 2011, not to use "core meltdown" in describing the state of damaged reactors. The report suggested that e...

Koa Tasaka, head of Consumers Union of Japan where I work, has a great affection for Bhutan, the small kingdom north of India. He is impressed by their agricultural practices: they have announced that the entire country will become 100% organic. The Guardian : Political parties in the Himalayan kingdom unite to eradicate chemical fertilisers and pesticides as part of its Gross National Happiness programme Agriculture and forests minister Lyonpo Yeshey Dorji and opposition leader Pema Gyamtsho, who held the post in the previous government, say there is a united commitment to rid the country of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. While no formal timeframe has been put in place, both politicians believe that the goal is within sight as long as practical natural solutions can be found to the pest and disease problems still affecting a few crops. In order to speed up the search for these answers, Bhutan recently brought together experts on organic agriculture from across th...