it's not life that matters but the journey...

I am continuing to keep my eye on the news, especially what's happening to the victims of the hurricane.  But I also want to write about some other things that are going on here in our world.

On Tuesday, Japan was once again struck with a typhoon, the 14th of the season, and this one hit western Japan (Kyushu island and Nagasaki, as well as Shikoku island) with unbelievable strength.  Nothing can quite top the terror of Hurricane Katrina, but this typhoon caused landslides and mudslides, and thousands of people were evacuated from their homes.  Also several people were killed in landslides and at least 15 or so people were missing at the end of the day Tuesday.  On the TV, we saw flooding that was reminiscent of the pictures of New Orleans - I guess that flooding of this kind hasn't happened in that region of Japan for over 50 years.   the typhoon didn't hit our region, thankfully, but all day Wednesday we had strong winds and heavy rain that lasted until late afternoon.  Today is the calm after the storm and is sunny and beautiful!   News of the typhoon here pushed any coverage of Katrina's aftermath to the end of the news programs, but I have been managing to keep up to date on the internet.  I could buy satellite TV with CNN and BBC news, but its kind of expensive, and I don't know if its worth it - although it is 24 hours of news!

Of course there is another type of storm brewing in Japan these days (forgive me for the terribly cliched segue, but I couldn't help it) - that is the election that is coming up across the country on September 11th.  I can't even begin to explain what is going on here, but suffice to say that the election is unprecedented in (recent) history, and the outcome will determine whether Koizumi. the current prime minister, will stay in office.  To sum up:  recently, Koizumi has decided that he wants to revolutionize Japan by privatizing the postal service.  It does have its benefits for certain things (perhaps making postal services less expensive and more expansive in some places), but there are obviously problems, such as the fact that if the postal service were no longer run by the government, some tiny villages may have problems getting and sending mail.  Nonetheless, its a very controversial issue in Japan.  On August 6^th, there was a vote on the postal issue in both houses (lower and upper – don’t ask me for an explanation of the Japanese political system, but it resembles that of England), and it was not passed.  So, to take revenge on those who didn’t go along with his reforms (revenge, as you know, is a big thing in Japan), Koizumi proceeded to completely dissolve the lower house, leaving all positions open.  Which is why there is a big election this Sunday – Koizumi is hoping to get people in the lower house who will support him and his issue.  My friend Mr. Yoshino compared it to the old days of the samurai – when you wanted someone out, you sent someone in to kill him.  Many of the candidates have been hand picked by Koizumi as “killers” to be sure to kill the competition that will go against his plans.  Anyway, its been interesting to see all of the candidates on television, and to hear them driving by with their loudspeakers (one of the ways of advertising in Japan is to just use the method you can’t escape or throw away – just drive by and shout really loud in front of people’s houses – it works, if not just to drive people crazy!!)  After the election they will have another vote on the postal issue - and if it still doesn't pass, Koizumi says he will step down.  then the whole country will really change!!  Its an interesting time to be in Japan!

 Meanwhile, I have added some more photos to my online album - for some reason it wouldn't let me add titles, so I'll explain: 

here are the kids that I've been tutoring on Fridays (mrs. Ogawa's grandson Juki and his friends Toru and Jo) - they're 7 years old and so cute!:  http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/laurafuji/img022.jpg ; http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/laurafuji/img027.jpg

and here are pics from Masahiko's gig at the "house party" in Asagiri - you can see the surroundings, the house, and the band: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/laurafuji/img031.jpg ; http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/laurafuji/img030.jpg ; http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/laurafuji/img032.jpg

also, we watched the movie "the Island" with Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansen.  It was pretty good, and very entertaining!  the whole concept is really eerie (I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it) about human cloning.  I say thumbs up - see this one, especially if you like either sci fi or action - this has both!  and great looking actors (I just love Ewan!!)