The   New York Times   this morning published 8 charts comparing President Donald Trump's performance with that of this predecessors.  Here are three of them: Doing very poorly. I am the only person I know in Hawaii with a roots link to Hokkaido.  My father's father, Kenjiro, came from here.  I have made several trips to Akita in northern Honshu, Otaru ( where Kenjiro was born ), Sapporo ( where the population was only 1,256 in 1872 when he was born ) and Utashinai.  One thing I learned in this effort is that Kenjiro is a name given to a first son.  I am named after him with Kenji, which stands for second son, which I am. The story of this search is provided in my 31March2009 posting of  THE SEARCH FOR KENJIRO'S GRANDMOTHERS .  In that article, I also explain the colored symbol I have used for my books. In 2009, my wife, friends and I made a roots search in Otaru and Sapporo . On another, I actually started in Akita, from where Kenjiro...

  I've been ignoring Donald Trump and world events, so will start with the  latest poll showing Americans venting disappointment with The Donald on today, his 100th day in office .  Also showing no progress on those wars in the Ukraine and Gaza Strip.  About tariffs and China, here is a graphic from the   New York Times . This is Day 14 of our trip.  Some background about  Hakodate . Was originally populated by the Ainu. Founded in 1454 by Kono Masamichi, but the family was driven out of Hakodate during the Ainu rebellion in 1512. There was another uprising around 1670, led by Ainu warrior Shakushain.  Note that the Ainu look Eurasian. It was on 8July1853 that American Commodore Matthew Perry led his four warships into Tokyo Bay, seeking re-establish for the first time in 200 years, regular trade between Japan and the western world.  The first two ports to open were Hakodate and Shimoda (67 miles south of Tokyo).  Yokohama Port did not o...