| Mother land |
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Desperate War of Japan in the Pacific |
| Railway |
The north of Japan
I do not mean a medical doctor here. I knew Doctor Clark at a local elementary school of Hokkaido at first time, when I was 9 or 10 years old. I remember well that I had read a history book of our land(home town and Hokkaido). Only Clark was called Clark Hakase (Doctor) with respect in the book. The book wrote a railroad connected Otaru and Horomui proudly. The railroad was the 2nd oldest in Japan. Railroad was high technology. Edmund Morel and other hired railroad engineers had designed the routes. Our home town was built on the node of the railroad, the book wrote. The civilization came with railroad. Government hired skilled Western engineers and schloars to modernize Japan rapid in early Meiji era.
7100 steam locomotive
Manchuria
Boxers destroyed railroads that Western powers built in 1900. This occurred station of Russian troop in Manchuria.
1896Jun03 Russia got right to build ´Sš by Sino-Russian Secret Treaty with Qing
1898Jan-- UK got right to build ˇ]ŹćSš by loan
1898Mar06 Germany got right to build äPĎSš by German-Sino Treaty
1898Mar-- Russia got right to build a railway between Harbin and ĺA
1898May-- UK got right to concede ĐCq
1898Jun11 600 US Marines landed at Guantanamo Cuba
1898Jun15 US Congress passed the Hawaii annexation resolution, 209-91
1900Nov-- Russia got right to occupy Manchuria by 2nd Russia-Sino Treaty
After Japanese-Russo War, Japan and Russia split right of railways in Manchuria by Japan and Russia Agreement four times till 1917,
and refused US intervene together. FOMA Minister Shidehara showed IJA a guideline of five railways issue to cooperate with China on 14 November 1930.
IJA approved the proposal on 3 December in the emergency.(2) Yamamoto of Manchuria railways and ŁěčÁ had agreed with the building of the five railways ( Öť - VŞa - }ěü, ˇt - ĺćÍüi_CCZj, gŃ - Üíü, Taonan - őĎüi\Zj, g - CŃü ) in October 1927. ŁwÇ refused the agreement and hoised the Republic of China on 29 December 1928.(1)
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| Imaginary island for kids |
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| Fig.4 Ochanomizu | Fig.5 Hyokkori hyoutan-jima |
There were other popular hakases of Yukawa Hideki,
Ochanomizu in Astro Boy and Hakase in Hyokkori hyoutan-jima among our boys. Fig.5 shows characters of Hyokkori hyoutan-jima. The eye glassed boy was Hakase. The muppet children were in troubles and enjoy their daily life in a drifting isle. I think the drama is a prototype of Sky Island of One Piece and Castle Laputa in the sky. By the way, Yukawa Hideki has not been one of the greats in the Japanese kids yet. The Japanese kids have respect Helen Adams Keller very much now.
The muppet children of Hyokkori had not shown having lunch in an imaginary isle. They were not hungry, were they? In fact, we had school lunch terrible, bread and powdered skim milk. Children of Japan had had US food aid. Government had paid it for 15 years. A site shows historical menu of school lunch. While UK and Australian government gave Japan rice of 500kt in 1946.
Yoshida p.67
Mazukatta Dasshifunnyuu
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| Stove poker |
My mother used the words derrekki (stove poker) and rosutoru (fire grate) of which words were not popular at all in Tokyo etc.
Both words seem Netherlandish, I do not know well. Sukkoppu (scoop), shaberu (shovel) and purau(plow) were also spoken, I did not think those were English in my boy.
Traditional plows were called suki or kuwa. Recently I saw a film titled 'The Weight of Water.'
A woman handled a coal stove poker which impressed my mind. I remembered my mother did as well, when cooking or boiling water. I checked the director of its film.
The director was born in San Carlos. It is 10°C there. I see. There were few iron stove maker in Japan. A coal stove disappeared at home in 1963.
My parents used King or Corona brand. Did the stove makers think English brand name sell much? I found a maker which is located in Asahikawa of Hokkaido.
IJA stationed the 7th Division there. IJA dispatched them to Attu Island in the north of the Pacific on 29 May 1943.
The troops died all at first in the battle of Attu.
Government did not allow us prisoners. Military bureaucrats called it gyokusai for zenmetsu. A part of the division was also dispatched to Guadalcanal. My grand father was drafted at the 7th Division of Asahikawa in the Japanese-Russo War. The fathers lived and passed away in the age of War.
Attu no Gyokusai
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| George Washington |
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My mother told me the story of George Washington and the cherry tree, when I was a boy. My mother was born in a poor family. She was not educated fully in elementary school. She had to help her parents farming in spring and fall since 10 years old. So she went shool in summer and winter only. But she had remembered all the text in Japanese. She bought me a book of George Washington at a small book store in market. I rember pictures, of which George Washington was scolded by his father and he measured land survey. I was interested in tools of measurement, when a boy. Although there were not such a cherry tree in fact, ther may be a device that Washington used to measure land in Mount Vernon.
I checked books about him for kids at Amazon.jp. 2 books are listed, but both were published in 1984 and unavailabe now. Kids' parents are not interested in Washington any more. It looks that Washington fever or respect have ended since the end of Edo era.
Maunto Banon
Hommage of Washington
Leaders of Meiji era might refer spirit of US, they intended to teach diligence, respect and independence. Japanese moral textbook had treated George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. George Washington was an example of honesty, independence and warlord, maybe. Ministry of education made an honor song of George Washington (in Japanese). It seems hommage of revolution and war to me. Bringing down Edo Bakufu (Government), leaders of Meiji overlapped themselves fathers of US. I put into the meaning of the song in English. It follows as,
God may not admit tyranny, disgrace of common people's freedom
Blood of 13 states spurting, Washington rouses himself here
Windy Rockey blows
Waves stand in the Hudson Bay
Clash of swords sounds, Horses neighs
Battle cry
Winning sound of trumpet
Arm
Take a sword
Go forward, forward
Freedom or death
USS Washington
By the way, USS Washington or Lincoln will be welcomed than USS Truman in Yokosuka. USS Washington, CVN-73 entered in Yokosuka Port on 25 September 2008, where is very near Uraga. Edo Bakufu (Government) began building Yokosuka Shipyard designed by a French engineer there in 1866.
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| Greats among kids in Japan |
Great Japanese among kids
| Name | Counts |
| Noguchi Hideyo | 19 |
| Sakamoto Ryoma | 19 |
| Oda Nobunaga | 18 |
| Toyotomi Hideyoshi | 18 |
| Fukuzawa Yukichi | 14 |
| Saigo Takamori | 12 |
| Tokugawa Ieyasu | 12 |
| Inou Tadataka | 8 |
| Syoutoku Taishi | 7 |
| Murasaki Shikibu | 7 |
| Minamoto no Yoritomo | 7 |
| Ashikaga Takauji | 5 |
| Itou Hirobumi | 5 |
| Katsu Kaisyu | 4 |
| Seisyo Nagon | 3 |
| Tenchi Tennou | 3 |
| Kusunoki Masashige | 3 |
| Tokugawa Yoshinobu | 3 |
| Takasugi Shinsaku | 3 |
| Tokugawa Yoshimune | 3 |
| Tougo Heihachirou | 2 |
| Kitazao Shibasaburou | 2 |
| Meiji Tennou | 2 |
| Ninomiya Kinjirou | 2 |
| Kukai | 2 |
US greats among kids
| Name | Counts |
| Helen Adams Keller | 24 |
| Thomas Alva Edison | 19 |
| Abraham Lincoln | 17 |
| Wright brothers | 11 |
| Matthew C. Perry | 3 |
| Benjamin Franklin | 2 |
| John F. Kennedy | 2 |
| Martin Luther King, Jr | 2 |
| Henry Ford | 1 |
What kind of great persons kids of Japan are fond? I listed up at Amazon.jp. There were no hits for Jefferson, Truman, FDR, MacArthur and Babe Ruth.
Helen Adams Keller
Thomas Alva Edison
Abraham Lincoln
Wright brothers
Benjamin Franklin
Matthew Calbraith Perry
Martin Luther King, Jr
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Henry Ford
The next tables show book cover images of US great inventors for kids.
Greats of Japan among kids
I also lited up greats of Japan who kids of Japan are fond. Toyota Sakichi, Yukawa Hideki, Shibusawa Eiichi, Uesugi Youzan, Komura Jyutarou and Nichiren were counted 1 each. Taira no Masakago, Nogi Maresuke, Yamamoto Isoroku, Syouwa Tennou, Matsushita Kounosuke, Honda Souichirou and Shinran were none.
Book cover of Wright Brothers for kids
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Book cover of Edison for kids
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| Apples and Kaki |
We all learned a famous Japanese poem which depicted Hohryuji and Persimmon (Kaki) in pupils.
Kaki kueba Kane ga narunari Hohryuji
A teacher explained the scenary, but all the pupils had not seen fruited kakis in Hokkaido. Funny. We only had seen fruited apples and pears in Hokkaido. I remeber white beautiful blossoms of pears at my family garden in spring. Once children of Philippines learned math, counting apples which the children had not seen fruited, I heard. Japanese Education Ministry has tight guideline for teachers, not for children. I was 4th generation of inhabitanted Japanese in Hokkaido. I was exicted to see fruited kakis, when I visited old temples at Nara in autumn. I felt the poem really.
B-29 and sweets
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| Fig.1 Package | Fig.2 Spiced apples | Fig.3 Riceballs |
I was surprised a little when my wife cooked apples at first. I always had eaten fresh apples. Crews of B-29s had rations which were a coffee pod, 2 slices of bread and peanut butter, apple, orange and a candy when they raided Tokyo on 10 March 1945. Boys and girls under B-29s were in hunger. They had dreamed of sweets, as Nosaka depicted a story of
Grave of the Fireflies. My father said to me, 'Rice balls cannot win meat.' He was a drafted sailor at the Pacific War. Fig.1 and Fig.2 show a ration of the US now. Fig.3 shows rice balls in a IJN kitchen (hohsui-sho).
Kerr p.148
Ringo no wain-ni
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| Peasants fee in the Pacific War |
Pesant fee change [¥]
tan: Japanese area unit 990a
| Year | Income/tan
D | Fee/tan
E | Ratio
E/D |
| 1939-40 | 86 | 43 | 50.5% |
| 1941-42 | 98 | 44 | 44.9% |
| 1943-44 | 125 | 47 | 37.6% |
| 1945 | 300 | 55 | 18.3% |
Jpanese pesants had payed about half of crop since Edo era. Government was to bring up farmers for long. Pesants were to deliver their crop to government directly and pay the land owners the fee. Government gave pesants extra money to get rice enough. The table shows how the pesant fee ration decreased in the Pacific War.[3] Tan is Japanese old area unit. Did rice crop increase as Agriculture Ministry thought? Japan producted rice 10.98 million ton of average during 1936 to 1940. The rice crop decreased 6.6 million ton in 1945.[4] One of the reason was that chemical fertilizer production decreased 100% in 1937, 72.2% in 1941, 60.6% in 1942, 45.3% in 1943 and 17.1% in 1944.[5]
- 1941Aug Äżńdżi§Ŕ{: government payed extra money pesants
- 1942Feb HĆÇ@öz: government controlled rice
Japanese people starved because government allocated resources for military. While Germany government supplied richer food than British government during WWII. Facism state depends on people's support. Japanese people did not revolt, though they starved. We believed that Japan was the country of Kami(god). Mikado became Kami in Edo era. Government could controll people, as ancient Jew belived God against Roman troop. Japanese military bureaucrats tried governing civilianssince 1930. Why did Japanese civilians trust military bureaucrats? Most of Japanese people were pesants and farmers in those day. They felt intimacy to IJA than land ownerns and capitalists because of IJA propaganda to protect pesants. Japanese capitalists did not have power contrast to the Western nations. Japan had 4 classes of samurai, farmers, craftmen and merchants in Edo era. Meiji Restoration destroyed the class, but Japanese people were divided by two divisons. One is militiants of IJA and IJN. The other is civilians. Mikado governed military bureaucrats and civil bureaucrats by parts. In other words Japanese men were classfied either militiants or civilians since 1930. Military bureaucrats began governing civilians just before the Pacific War. Military bureaucrats wanted more and more budget to continue war against China and US. After all, they did not feed food for civilians.
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| Sleigh playing in 60s |
Sleigh in a country of Japan
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My freinds and I walked home after school. It happened to see working horse towed sleigh. We tried hanging on the sleigh backward secret, though the hackman found us, he drove out at once. In those days, we seldom 4-wheel trucks drived by engine. I often saw horse towed 2-wheel wagon in spring. A craft man of tatami mat lived near my home. The craft had a 3-wheel truck. Sony had already begun to product transistor radios. Soon working horses were not seen in my home town.
Farewell Address
Eisenhower no kokumin heno rinin-enzetu
Auto 3-rin
Sony syoki no transistor radio
Japan was free from the heavy military expenditure that imposed over 60% in fiscal budget in the Pacific War. Although commons were poor, they were not in hunger in 60s. Commercial investment occureed mass production of commodity. Washing machine, TV, refrigrator and telephone came our home. Soon my father bought a small car.
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| Eisenhower's visit |
Political conflict in Tokyo
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Main export product of Japan to US was silk before the Pacif War for a long time. Competing with other countries, Japan could export other textile to US. Yen was fixed with dollar. 1 dollar was 360 yen. Heavy plant industries like paper, steel and glass were not competitve. Government protected such domestic industries from US. US allowed Japan to protection policy. US fought cold war against Russia. In Europe, Germany and France began to control their steel industries together! Eisenhower was tolerant. If McArther was US Presindent, he would srain loser of Japan and Germany severe. I knew FDR did not like McArther. In a sense, they are the same of character, I suppose. Once Eisenhower was a staff of McArther. Commons of USA did not hope McArther as President on peace. Unfortunately Japan could not welcome Eisenhower's visit because of domestic political parties conflict. And worse all the newspapers of Japan fueld the conflict. I remember we shouted kishi-souri-daijin (Prime minister Kishi) on a sleigh (sori) slope. In those days, Prime Minister of Japan was Kishi, had dreamed of Japan's development under controlled economy before the Pacifi War, failed to handle a few policies. I think he was a bureaucractic rather than a politician. He said, "I hear a voice without saying." By the way, Abe, grand son of Kishi told such a thing, when he resigned. Simply they had no mind to hear.
I was a boy in Hokkaido, when Eisenhower made a farewell speech on 17th Jan 1961.
I think Eisenhower heard a lot of voices. Spirit of the speech are welcomed among commons of Japan even now. When will Prime Minister of Japan make a historical farewell speech?
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| Drill |
Thunder birds
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I use a drilling machine to work small holes. Engineers in Japan call it boruban. The original word may be 'boor bank' in Netherlandish. The word propagated in Edo era, I suppose. Although I had studied mechanical engineering in a university or an institute for 8 years, I did not learn to make a hole by drilling there. Once I found blade of a drill blunt, when I was making holes. I did not know how to grind the blade, so I looked up my old text books titled precion worrking method for undergraduate, whose author was from zouhei-gakka in 1932. The zouhei-gakka was established in 1887. The book writes theory and working characteristics. It is not practical. I have another one titled working manual. The book writes how to grind a drill. The author graduated in 1950.
zouhei-gaku shiryou-kan
seimitsu kou-gakka
I remember a drilling machine of Thunderbirds on TV. All the boys of Japan adored kokusai kyujo-tai (international rescue). Naturally the program was translated in Japanese, strangly launching count down was in original low voice in English, three, two, one... It sounded cool.
Mini jet mogura no keifu
Tai
I referred to kokusai kyujyo-tai. Here tai of kyujyo-tai means a band or group. Bakufu(Edo Goverment) named a western style infantry Denshu-tai in 1867. Daimyo(lord) had called their traditional armed troop gumi or kumi, as umamawari-gumi for calvary before. Hagi-han also organized new infantry called kihei-tai in 1863. Military Governers of Meiji preferred to -tai (ŕ) rather than -kumi (g). In Japan, kido-tai (riot police), seinen-tai (youth band), jiei-tai (self defence force), gun-tai (military) and syonen-tai (boys unit) of pops. There are a lot of bands. They were used wide in IJA and IJN. syo-tai (platoon), chu-tai (company), dai-tai (battalion), ren-tai (regiment), hiko-tai, koku-tai, sicho-tai, hokyu-tai, tushin-tai, kempei-tai (MP), hohei-tai (infantry), houhei-tai (artillery), sensya-tai, kan-tai (fleet), sen-tai, kuchiku-tai (flotilla), rikusen-tai (Marines), and kido bu-tai(carriers task group). kihei-tai (cavalry). ďşŕ is the same pronunciation, kihei-tai. Meiji Goverment discarded samurai's organized names. Japanese pop culture likes the word kido (@Ž). IJN called it first on June 1941. I do not why Japanese police adopted the name, kido-tai for riot police in 1952.
kihei-tai (ďşŕ)
kidou bu-tai (@Žŕ)
kido-tai
Tradititional kumi seems old fashioned to Japanese people, though yakuzas, shools and Takarazuka love it now, for example, Yamaguchi-gumi and yuki-gumi (ág) of Takarazuka. I learned at take-gumi (bamboo class), sakura-gumi (cherry class) in an elementary school. Chinese people called gang of Four (4lg, 4-nin-gumi). It seems that g, c and ď are the characters to have a little dark side in China. I think secret society changed Chinese history. The societies (kessha) had a violent taste because bureaucrats and soldiers always was to rob people.
Yamaguchi-gumi
kumi
Takarazuka
Gang of Four
Himitsu kessha
Drill for adult
Drill for adult
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I learned the pronunciation of 'drill' from a teacher in high school. He said us to listen to the difference between 'R' and 'L' sound proudly. We have said 'doriru' since our childhood. I do not know the difference even now. Do-ri-ru was nasty word for pupils, the word was printed in katakana characters on a cover of a homework book. I listed up doriru at Amazon.jp. What a lot of 3,498 was hit! I show a drill book for adult by Prof. Kawashima. In high school or university, the word drill was replaced enshu (K) meaning practice. I found the words, drill and practice are military terms lately. Are Japanese people fond of drilling? My son and I watched a American drama on DVD. A tiny girl played an electronic sudoku puzzle in the drama.
sudoku
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| Super-aged society |
Term of being super-aged society in some nations
| Nation | France |
Sweden | US | Italy | UK | Germany | Japan |
| Term [year] | 115 | 85 | 72 | 61
| 47 | 40 | 24 |
Japan became super-aged society. The table shows term of increasing aged people ratio from 7% to 14% in some nations. The term of Japan was only 24 years.
Singapore, Korea and China will be the same aged society in 2023, 2029 and 2037 each. So economic growth of those nations will decrease as well as the developed nations.
Rapid Aging in East Asian Countries
East Asian people of China, Korea and Japan lived in a family. We always thought of our fathers. Each family has a boy or two now in China and Japan. Japanese farmers have worshipped their farmers under Confucianism and Japanese Buddhism since Edo era. Our son have to worship us under custom of Japanese Buddhism. Originally Buddhism has no tomb in India. Most of Indian people never worship fathers. They worship their gods. Japan and China will not war any more because sons' death will stop worship their fathers. In fact, IJN omit air crews to suicide, if they were first born sons in the Pacific War. We have to remember our prominence of favoring first born son. Although my grand father had four sons, he lost the younger two sons in the Pacific theater. The eldest son was not in military service in the Pacific War.
While South Korean people began to believe christanity rapidlly after Korean War. Christians will be allowable to supply with a lot of brave soldiers in South Korea. Japan and US stopped drafted soldiers now. Japanese military service men are all special officials like Korean army in 19th century.
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| Libraries for commons |
Top libraries *Unit 10,000
| Rank | Prefecture | Books* |
| 1 | Osaka | 158 |
| 2 | OsakaCity | 158 |
| 3 | SapporoCity | 150 |
| 4 | TokyoCity | 149 |
| 5 | YokohamaCity | 139 |
| 6 | ToyotaCity | 121 |
| 7 | NagoyaCity | 112 |
| 8 | FukuokaCity | 109 |
| 9 | Shiga | 108 |
And more knowledge from books, I list up big libraries ranking for commons or citizens. Osaka and Shiga prefecture are eager to spend money for books. Both prefectures brought up a lot of famous merchants. In other words, Suppressed merchants by Shogunate lords wanted to build their own libraries. Population of Shiga prefecture is 1,399,515. Population of Toyota is only 422,868 but Tokyo 8,727,326. So the books per 10k population are 2.87 at Toyota, 0.17 at Tokyo and 0.77 at Shiga. Only Osaka and Shiga are ranked in local prefectures. Kyoto City and Prefecture are not ranked. It is very interesting. It means that traditional craft and art are not necessary for reading books. Although Shiga has only 1% of GDP in Japan, the public library ranks No.9.
Libraries are source of knowledge. Local lords collected books in their libraries. Especially big hans and local small hans in the west collected western books in Netherlandish. Fukuzawa had already known principles of telegram, beer winery, steam locomotive and water pipeline etc in books, when he crossed the Pacific to the US as a member of Bakufu reprensentive.
(1) FSšŽő
(2) Kawada, p148-149
[3] Noguchi, p71
[4] Morimoto, p398
[5] Morimoto, p396
I apreciate those sites for photos
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