MY FAMILY, Part 5 Akita

Nothing much happening about wars in Iran and Ukraine, but as messy as the world economy might be, the U.S. stock markets are continuing to BREAK ALL-TIME RECORDS.  To the right, Peter Tuchman, the Einstein of Wall Street.

• The S&P 500 added 0.6% to close at 7819, hitting an intraday high of 7844.  This was its 28th record close just in 2026.

• 
  The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.45% to a record 27,600, with an intraday high of 27,723.  NVIDIA went up to a new high, opening at $242/share, and ended at $239.24, just below its all-time high.

• NVIDIA was only 185.54/share a year ago.
• Ten years ago?  $1.78/share.
• If you bought $1000 worth of NVIDIA stock at the 1999 IPO, this would  be worth $6,369,667 today!!!
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 0.5% to 51,527.  The all-time closing high on 5August2026 is 54,340, after rising to an intraday high of 54,744.

The USA is exactly four weeks away from 3November2026, the day of the mid-term elections.

• Can President Donald Trump postpone these elections?  Well, according to Federal law mandates, only an act of Congress can change the date.

• 
  However, keep in mind that neither the U.S. Congress nor U.S. Supreme Court has any enforcement power.  
• Our Constitution is flawed.  
• The President controls the Department of Defense, Department Justice and all the national guard units.

Heard of Skydance Corporation?  Asked Google AI:

Skydance has officially created a tech-driven Hollywood behemoth. Following the massive, blockbuster $110 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, the newly consolidated entertainment giant is moving fast to restructure its executive leadership with top Silicon Valley talent—including a significant influx of former Google AI and product veterans. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

• From Wikipedia:

The company combines the assets of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. Its portfolio includes the company's flagship film studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, broadcast and news networks CBS and CNN, subscription video and on-demand services Paramount+, Pluto TV, HBO Max, and Discovery+, children's cable networks Nickelodeonand Cartoon Network, and other major cable networks like Comedy Central, MTV, TBS, and TNT.^[4]

• 
  Led by David Ellison, who is a close ally of President Donald Trump.  Steve Jobs, a friend of David's father, Larry, had an early influence.
• Why graduate from college?
• Larry dropped out of the University of Illinois while in pre-med, University of Chicago, while studying physics math and computer design, and Cal Berkeley, where he left as a budding computer programmer.  

• 
  Founded Oracle.
• Married 6 times and has seven children.
• Has a net worth just above $200 billion.  
• Forbes ranked him as the richest Californian in 2006, and was briefly the wealthiest person in the world on 10September2025.
• He owns 98% of the island of Lanai in Hawaii, which he bought in 2012 for what is now worth $700 million.

• 
  Has $19 billion invested in Tesla.
• Owns four Van Goghs.
• I focused on Larry Ellison in my 20August2026 posting, reporting on his life extension efforts.
• Has controlling influence over Skydance Corporation, and his son runs the company.
• CBS has already been compromised.
• CNN next?

I left you in Part 3 focused on my roots search in Sapporo, with a mention about Otaru, then in Part 4 about Japan in general.  From Hokkaido, we caught the Shinkansen to Morioka, and transferred to Akita.

• We went to the Sakigake Shimpo (local newspaper) and was interviewed by Yuya Hatanaka.

• 
  He was sufficiently intrigued that he drove us to the oldest temple in the area.  We learned two important things.
• Shinto shrines have no records, while Buddhist temples keep track of deaths.
• The priest there called various Buddhist temples, and found one, Ganryuji, that showed promise to have the records (koseki) for Fuka Nakayama, the mother of Kenjiro Takahashi.

• 
  Went to Ganryuji and met with the Chief Priest, Ryo Sen Hino and his son, who will be the next, his son, who will be the next.  The family had governed this Buddhist temple for 415 years.  Kenichi will become the #19 priest there.  They found some information about the Nakayama family,  This is the headstone for the Nakayama family.

• 
  Learned one more important bit of information.  City offices only retain records for 80 years.  Certainly, there will be no records of Kenjiro's grandmothers, for they were born 200 years ago.
• I have concluded that both of Kenjiro's grandmothers never made it to Sapporo, but lived in Akita and/or nearby Senboku/Daisen Cities, or Kariwano. There is also a tale of Tatsuko, the Dragon Princess of Lake Tazawa, a short distance from Akita. That could be a future search target. We are gaining the counsel of Professors Ikuko Iwasaki and Hideharu Takahashi, both of Akita Prefectural University. Pictured below is a photo of the group having an aloha dinner at a traditional, but modern, Japanese restaurant, called I Enjoy.

My conclusion from our roots search to Otaru, Sapporo and Akita.

1. A good, quick history of Hokkaido can be found by clicking here. Essentially, very, very few lived on this island except for Ainu in the timeframe of Kenjiro’s grandmothers. For example, Sapporo had a population of 13 in 1870. Thus, the search is now focusing on the Akita area.

2. Akita is known for good rice and, yes, the dog. However, I don’t think I’ve yet to see a real Akita dog. Pearl pointed one out, but it looked to me as too small. Another thing about pet dogs in Japan is that most of them have very short legs, sort of like small dachsunds, but of varied species.

3. There must be billions of toothpicks all over the ground in Japan, for every time you open up a chopstick, one falls to the floor.

4. We have been to a whole host of Japanese restaurants on this trip, some very traditional and expensive, and some not. However, save for one, they all played either American or Beatles music. The preferred background sound is soft jazz.

5. Japan toilets, almost all Toto, are fantastic.  Watch this video.  Warm seats and a bottom shower.  I have installed one at my 15 Craigside apartment.

Part 6 will be my return to Akita.

A lot of national days today.

National Taco Day: Celebrate with your favorite tacos. [1]
National Noodle Day: Enjoy a bowl of pasta or noodles. [1]
National Coaches Day: Thank a coach who made a difference. [1]
National Mad Hatter Day: Embrace your creativity and wear a silly hat. [1, 2]

National German-American Day: Honor German heritage and culture. [1, 2]
National Plus Size Appreciation Day: Promote body positivity. [1, 2]

National Orange Wine Day: Try a skin-contact white wine. [1, 2]
No Oranges Used: Orange wine is made entirely from white wine grapes.
Skin Contact: The white grape juice ferments with its skins and seeds still attached, much like the process for red wine.
Color and Flavor: This extended contact gives the wine an amber, golden, or auburn shade, alongside a richer texture, bolder flavor, and natural tannins.
National Fruit at Work Day: Snack on healthy fruit at your desk.

So I took today seriously.  Went out to get a taco for lunch.  I will have Japanese soba and tuna sashimi for dinner.

I close with CHEER UP, Wilbur.

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