HISTORY OF JAPAN

For nostalgia Tuesday this week, I go way back in time to when I was not yet born.  About that graphic to the right:

...the process of searching for my roots started at a one day workshop held at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. This is where I created the family mon as a composite of two classic versions.  I colorized this official form into the rainbow version shown to the right, which then became the cover for SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth. The mon represents a high bridge (Takahashi means high bridge in Japanese) to connect countries and people taking the high road to cooperation.

My roots are in Japan.  My father's father, Kenjiro Takahashi, must have had an incredible life during the 33 years he lived.

• Way back in 2009 I posted on THE SEARCH FOR KENJIRO'S GRANDMOTHERS.  
• The reason I reached back to "grandmothers" is that one rumor growing up was that one of my father's father's grandmother was a female samurai.
• I didn't have much interest in searching for my Japanese roots until after I retired.

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  However, while assigned to Kilauea Sugar Company on Kauai in 1963, I learned that I had a grandfather who was once an important person in the community 60 years earlier.  But there were no records, and everything was anecdotal, until I chanced to meet a couple 40 years later, and to quote from that above article:

There were still huge doubts on what was real until I had the good fortune to sit next to Elsie and David Ikegami at a 50th year Wedding Anniversary party of a mutual friend. David (person standing) was born in Utah, was a Mormon, but lived most of his life in Hawaii. At the age of 80, he ran one of those Mormon family centers famous for conducting these root searches. I visited his office and passed on all the information I had, which was not much. Within two weeks his staff found a nine page document signed by the Secretary of the Territory of Hawaii showing that Kenjiro came to Kauai from America, was originally from Hokkaido, Japan, and served as a luna, or supervisor, at the Kilauea Plantation. He fell at the hydro site in 1906 and died in the same year that the powerhouse commenced operations. Well, with most of what I thought was largely made up now turning out to be true, the search was intensified with a trip to Utashinai, his home village, and will continue for Kenjiro’s grandmothers in Akita on Honshu and Otaru, just outside of Sapporo. Even if I find nothing else, there is enough already to write a book, tracing this possible female samurai Robin Hood to me. At this time, this one looms as a novel.

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  Read my posting of 19April2009 of my search on Hokkaido.  Then to Akita.
• Some further information about my visit to Utashinai, the original home of Kenjiro.
• I had a second visit to Utashinai a decade later.

So much for my roots search.  I have long wanted to learn more about the history of Japan, and a long time ago bought a book, A History of Japan, by R. Mason and J. Calger.  Never opened the cover.  More than a decade later, I decided to bring this book on a cruise.  Again, did not have time to even get to page 1.  So I will on my upcoming trip to Japan (next month) bring it with me again, and promise to read the whole thing.  Why?  A documentary and two films convinced me to complete this assignment.

Here is a top 10 list of the best Japanese movies of all time.  #1 is Spirited Away, an animated film.  #2 is the 1950 Rashomon (this is the entire 1.5 hour film, Rotten Tomatoes 98/93) and #3 the 1954 Seven Samurai (RT 100/97), both directed by Akira Kurosawa.  During the past week, I've watched the latter two films, and new documentary, Age of Samurai:  Battle for Japan (RT 100/58).  Six episodes of around 45 minutes each.

Got a message from the Osaka Expo 2025 organization.  We were there in April.  Went twice.  Day 1 and Day 2.  This world's fair came to a conclusion yesterday.  Their closing statement:

Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai Japan came to a close yesterday, 13 October. It was a great success, with more than twenty million visitors. We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to everyone who visited and everyone who made the Expo possible.

This will also be the final issue of the email newsletter we have been sending out since last year. Thank you very much for reading it.

Other Expos will continue to be held after Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.

• In 2027, Japan will host an International Horticultural Expo, and Serbia will host a Specialised Expo with the theme "Play for Humanity." 
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  Then in 2030, Expo 2030 Riyadh will be held in Saudi Arabia.

We look forward to seeing you again then!

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