Saturday, August 03, 2013

"he made havock of the church"


High School Baseball Game, Japan 









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Act 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Act 8:2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
Act 8:3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison

Friday, August 02, 2013

"thou canst make me clean"


The Tokyo Suburbs







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Mat 8:1 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
Mat 8:2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
Mat 8:3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Thursday, August 01, 2013

"Jesus called his disciples unto him" - iPS-based Brain


Tokyo Imperial Palace Plaza Park


iPS-based Brain

The iPS cell can be used to create any part of the human body.

But how can it be used to create the human brain?  If any other part of the human body, such as an eye ball, is damaged, you can in future create it with iPS cells to replace the damaged one.  Even the heart can be replaced with a new one created through the iPS cell technology.  But you cannot adopt this remedy for the brain.

Of course physically you can get an identical brain to what you have if you apply this medical technology.  But your brain has been programmed as you live.  Since you were born, your brain has been programmed through various interactions with the outer world while you have been living, acting and learning.  This process cannot be applied to the iPS-based brain.

An iPS cell-created brain is just a vessel of brain cells without intellectual functions and human emotions.  It is just an object.  No human spirit can be contained there.

But in future scientists may find a way and a method of programming an iPS cell-based brain.  It may be used for a brain of a robot.  Or they may use it to create a new species which looks like human beings but which has no human souls.

One thing clear is that it is a domain of God but not mankind.  We must be very careful to develop the iPS cell technology.


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ips_cells.png





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Mar 8:1 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them,
Mar 8:2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat:
Mar 8:3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.
Mar 8:4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

"the men of this generation" - Mt Fuji Eruption


Around Imperial Palace Plaza, Tokyo


Mt Fuji Eruption

In 1707 Mt. Fuji erupted to darken the sky over Edo, presently called Tokyo, 100 km east of the highest mountain in Japan.

It was apparently triggered by a great earthquake of a magnitude 8.6 which occurred 49 days before the Mt. Fuji eruption.  The eructation continued for two weeks, causing huge damage to nearby villages and towns.  It was the last one of three major eruptions of Mt. Fuji which were recorded in past documents left in Japan.  

This eruption is called the Great Eruption of the Ho-ei Era.  The preceding one happened in 864.  So, Mt. Fuji might not come close to a dangerous state for a new eructation for 500 years or so if its eruption is so periodical.

But recently Japanese scientists find that Mt. Fuji is now in a dangerous condition.  A huge amount of magma is now accumulated under the ground of the mountain.  By analyzing air photos, they found that there are many dikes and concatenations of rocks on the mountain.  They seem to stop flow of magma from the underground to the surface.  But if a big earthquake in a scale of magnitude 8 should occur, those dikes would be broken and separated to allow magma to run up to the surface and to the air.  Energy being accumulated for 300 years can be released from Mt. Fuji with one big earthquake.   And Mt. Fuji is close to a big seismic source called the Nankai Trough.  
The Nankai Trough is a submarine trough located south of Japan's island of Honshū, extending approximately 900 km offshore. In plate tectonics, the Nankai Trough marks a subduction zone that is caused by subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath Japan, part of the Eurasian plate (Kanda et al., 2004). 
The Nankai Trough is the near-surface extension of a zone of active seismicity that dips beneath SW Japan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nankai_Trough
According to study the probability is between 60 and 70% for an eruption with the magnitude of M8.0 or more to occur within 30 years in the Nankai Trough. (Nankai means a south sea in Japanese.)



http://www.fujisan-net.gr.jp/english/4_04.htm

In conclusion, it is very dangerous to hold Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.  It must be carried out in Istanbul.  The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, a higher possibility of occurrence of a big in-land earthquake around Tokyo and this possible Mt. Fuji eruption make the possible Tokyo Olympics so dangerous, though Tokyo was the venue of the 1964 Olympics when science was not so advanced as it is today.

The International Olympic Committee must choose Istanbul for the 2020 Olympics not only for peace and prosperity of the Islamic world but also for physical safety of Japanese and foreigners.



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Luk 7:31 And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?
Luk 7:32 They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

"an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush" - Origin of Astro Boy


Around Prime Minister Office Bldg., Tokyo


Origin of Astro Boy

In the summer of 1950 the managing editor of a Japanese monthly magazine called "Sho-nen" (Boy) asked Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) to provide some work for the magazine.

Tezuka, the future Japanese king of "manga" (cartoons), could not easily come up with an idea for this work.  He took so many pains to come to think that nuclear energy could be a good theme.  The rising comic artist Tezuka wanted to depict a future country where nuclear energy would be used in a peaceful manner.  It was because Tezuka spotted an article in a newspaper about hydrogen-bomb tests being conducted by America in a Pacific Ocean island.

Accordingly he decided to use a title "Atom Continent" for the work.   In this context, Tezuka did not attach any meaning but a very basic physical entity which, in a multitude, constitutes a molecule to the word Atom.  But the editorial office of the magazine advised that the word continent was too large in a scale and thus the title should be focused on an individual character.  So, young Tezuka changed the title to "Ambassador Atom."  However he had no clear and concrete images and visions about the work titled Ambassador Atom.  It was just a passing idea.

As a deadline approached, Osamu Tezuka finally thought of a story: A great number of aliens visited the earth. They caused a big trouble with mankind.  But a man called Ambassador Atom adjusted the discord between the two species.  So the cartoon series of "Ambassador Atom" began.

But Ambassador Atom did not appear in the first three episodes.  The story became complicated with many personalities taking part in it.  And just before presenting Ambassador Atom in the fourth episode, Tezuka decided to make this central player a robot.

When this series ended, the managing editor of the magazine said to Osamu Tezuka, "You had better draw up a new title with a focus on the robot boy Atom.  Our readers seem to love Atom the most among many figures in the series."  But the future king of Japanese cartoons replied negatively: "But it is just a robot!"  The monthly magazine editor emphasized that Tezuka should depict the robot as something that expressed every human emotion and pursued justice with passion.  So, the manga or animation genius Tezuka realized that it was a very good idea, since he knew some preceding examples that a mere side player of a manga series became eventually a leading personality in a new title of work.

This is how Osamu Tezuka started to create the Japanese big-hit manga personality "Tetsuwan Atom" (Atom with iron arms).  The work was later presented in TV broadcasting as the first major animation product for TV in Japan.  Then in 1963 or so Robot-Boy Atom was introduced into the US through NBC under a new name of Astro Boy.



http://www.mxtv.co.jp/atom/

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/yacup/39936445.html


Osamu Tezuka is now respected by every manga or animation artist in Japan.  And undoubtedly one of his outstanding cartoon works is "Tetsuwan Atom" (Atom with iron arms), since it was first created and appeared in public as Ambassador Atom in 1951.



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Act 7:29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
Act 7:30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
Act 7:31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the LORD came unto him,
Act 7:32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.

Monday, July 29, 2013

"with the baptism of John" - Japanese Engineers in Samsung


Prime Minister Office Bldg. in Tokyo

Japanese Engineers in Samsung

In Samsung, a big electronic business of South Korea, there are many head-hunted Japanese engineers.

Samsung has an R&D center in Yokohama, Japan, where Japanese engineers also work.  Including this Yokohama center, Samsung Group employed at least 458 Japanese engineers between 2002 and 2010, which can be confirmed by patent applications filed by Samsung Group.  Japanese engineers employed by the South Korean company wrote patent applications under their names, so that their status can be easily confirmed.  But of course there must be more Japanese engineers who have not drawn up patent applications.

According to study, those patent-applying Japanese engineers in Samsung were from the following Japanese businesses:

Original Japanese Business          Number of Engineers in Samsung
==============================================

1. Panasonic                           53

2. NEC                                   47

3. Toshiba                              39

4. Hitachi                               39

5. Sanyo                                35

6. Renesas                             31

7. Fujitsu                               27

8. Sony                                 26

9. Mitsubishi                          25

10. Canon                             20
==============================================

Samsung's founder Lee Byung-chul (1910 - 1987) learnt in Waseda University, Tokyo. He then started rice-cleaning mill business to provide rice for troops of the Imperial Army of Japan which were stationed in South Korea.  (Before WWII, Korea was part of the Empire of Japan.)

The second leader of Samsung Group Lee Kun-hee (1942 - ), a son of the founder, also graduated from Waseda University, Tokyo.  He spent several years in Japan going to Japanese elementary school and junior high school.  So, he can speak Japanese so fluently.  

The third leader of the Group Lee Jae-yong (1968 - ), a son of Lee Kun-hee, also learnt in a graduate school of Keio University, Tokyo. 

So, the root of Samsung is in Japan, and its current vitality is still being infused from Japan.

So, there is a joke that Samsung salesmen often say to their clients: "Trust us.  Our technology is supported by Japanese engineers."  And we, Japanese, don't care about it so much.




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Luk 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Luk 7:29 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
Luk 7:30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

"the dogs under the table" - Japanese Society


Parliament Member Office Bldg & Prime Minister Office, Tokyo


Japanese Society


Once or before the economic bubble around 1990, it was often said that Japanese households who thought they belonged to the middle class accounted for 90% of all.

At the time the middle class in Japan meant having graduated from high school, college or university, having a regular job or being employed by a reasonable business, that is a big company or their subsidiary or their business contract, living in a standalone house or a modern apartment, owning a car, a color TV and other home electronics, having overseas traveling experiences, etc.

(In 1970, Japan's GDP exceeded that of Germany.  Excluding the USSR, Japan was already the second largest economy in the world at the time.)

Anyway Japan has not been class society since the fall of the last samurai regime in the late 19th century and ultimately since the fall of the Empire of Japan at the end of WWII in 1945.

In the samurai dominant Japan farmers accounted for 85% of all the residents though the samurai class accounted for only 7%.  And there were only about 130 noble-class houses, including the imperial house, who all lived in Kyoto.  Most importantly not only samurais and noblemen but also many farmers could read and write.  In the early 19th century the literacy rates of the samurai class and the noble class were both 100%, while even farmers, tradesmen and artisans who could read and write accounted for 50% of all of those non-elite classes.

Between the fall of the samurai regime in 1868 and the fall of the Empire of Japan in 1945, there was the aristocracy in Japan, consisting of traditional noblemen directly subject to the emperor and the new nobility who had been elite samurais before.  But now there is no noble class in Japan except the imperial family, since the constitution adopted after WWII denies such a class system in the Japanese society.

So, the all-out democratic social system which has prevailed so thoroughly in the Japanese society after WWII is a key to the Japanese success, though the Empire of Japan had been the leading nation in Asia and one of five militarily strong nations in the world before WWII or even samurai-era Japan had been one of most advanced nations in terms of a literacy rate.

Japan's success in modern academy, science, technology, economy and business has given a great stimulus to Taiwan, South Korea and China.  Those countries are also featured by social structure where most of the people belong to the same and the only one class, in addition to tradition of Confucianism and Buddhism.

In this context, East Asia is more democratic than Europe or the EU.  Japan has been an equitable society to the similar extent of the US.  That is why Japanese businesses can design and manufacture modern and cutting-edge products which can be highly welcomed by US consumers.  They share the same view on goods and systems for promotion of a convenient and effective democratic life.

Nonetheless, it is so deeply interesting that once or during WWII Japanese soldiers in the Imperial Army and Navy dared to die fighting bravely without surrender or commit a suicide to avoid dishonor of becoming a prisoner of war.  The Empire of Japan and the US were so different before 1945 beyond imagination of people living today, which might be another underlying condition for the Japanese success.

Finally Japan is the first nation in the world that could achieve the industrial revolution among non-Christian and non-European race-based nations without being colonized by any Christian or European race-based nations.  Inevitably it is a very unique country in the human history.





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Mar 7:25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:
Mar 7:26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
Mar 7:27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
Mar 7:28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
Mar 7:29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.