Didn't the Minister of Justice Hesitate When She signed ?

　　My everyday life is ordinary and peaceful one; I have a family(my husband , elder son and his wife, two grandsons), a house to live in(very old wooden one but it has a pretty large garden ), friends, and I am healthy(not perfectly, but it’s OK ), I live on a small pension that allows me a modest life at least. I join some local activities, enjoy chorus, and gardening. So I can say I am happy. But when I see around me, there are so many problems or difficulties, and I feel so shameful about Japan or our society.

   Japan is one of the fewer nations that have death penalty system. Only in this month thirteen prisoners were executed. They were members of a cult and they killed many people. That’s true. But I am shaking at the fact that the power of the state killed its people. Is it justified for a nation to kill people?  It’s a fearful and dangerous idea that powers can put the people to death, I think. Didn't the minister of justice hesitated when she signed the paper, I wonder.   

    And, every human being may misjudge. We know many examples the court misjudged, or led unfair trials. How can we take back the life lost by the false judgment?

   People have sometimes wanted heavy punishment or revenge, but civilized and democratic society has tried to overcome those ideas.Japan is one of the barbarous state, I have to admit. I’m depressed.      

Can you enjoy Tokyo Olympics?

  Yesterday I listened to the speech made by Mr. Sakurai, the former mayor ofMinamisomaCityinFukushima. The city is in the North of Fukushima Nuke Plant and badly contaminated at the time. Mr. Sakurai had to work so hard to protect people, to save the lives as the mayor, while they could get no information or direction from the government and the electric company. He was chosen by New York Times as one of the 100 who had influenced the world most that year. 　

  More than seven years have passed, and they have tried to clean the towns and farmland with huge money, but there is no place to put those contaminated soil and garbage. You see countless big garbage bags stacked up in the towns, in the farmlands, in the backyards of houses. Everyday around 400ton groundwater is pouring into the decayed power plant and it is contaminated there. Recently they say there is no other way than letting the water run into the sea.  Mr. Sakurai said, “It’s OK. Let’s pour it into theTokyoBay.” All the electricity fromFukushimawas sent toTokyo, do you know?  He said,“ In the picture of the Earth from the space, we find a dark area with no light inFukushima, It’s the heavily contaminated place and no human being is allowed to go in. On the other hand,Tokyois brightly lit .”

 Most people are forgetting the nuke disaster seven years ago and suffering of the people ofFukushima. The government and the electric company are so happy with the people who has only a poor memory. Can you believe? They are reviving the nuke plants one by one. Medias are celebrating the Olympics loudly. Yes, nuke power is safe, the radiation is under control, the disaster is over!!  Don’t think too much. Enjoy Olympics!

                                  

Shameful Government

Can you beieve the cabinet members and some LDP Dietpeople were having a party and some of them tweeted with pictures of themselves with V sighns just at the same time the heavy rain warning were issued and many hundred thousand people were told to take refuge, and many local governments and fire departments were trying to protect the towns and people? One of the party attendee was the minister who is responsible to natural disaster, another wss the Minister of Justice who sighned to carry out seven death sentence next morning. During the disaster, the Diet passed the bill to allow casinos in Japan though most people were against it. What a shameful government we have!

Too much rain at a time caused the huge disaster this time, but after that we have had a continuing unusual heat for ten days, and a friend of mine who is growing vegetable is complaining the shortage of water. TV was saying they find extreme weather in many places on the earth, such as the heat or heavy rain in Japan. I have once read about the global problem about water. It says the main problem is the shortage of it, and when we import something, we are buying or taking the water used to produce the things. Japan's self-sustaining rate in food is around 35%. How much water we are taking from those countries suffering from the shortage of water!
We have a small vegetable garden left by my husband's family. My husband grows almost all the vegetables we need to feed six family members without chemicals. Tomatoes, cucumbers, egg plants, and okras are on the table everyday now. Rice is from the field of a friend of ours. The self sustaining rate must be rather higher than average, thanks to my husband. I feel it's not natural to eat food sent from the other side of the earth. 

Like on a Frying Pan

After the disaster caused by the heavy rain, we are suffering from terrible heat this week. The region I live in is mountainous highland about 700meters from the sea level, and a summer resort, but the temperature today rose to 36 degree C. The climate is truly changing strangely these years. I have hated the cold weather here, and secretly I welcomed the warmer winter, though feeling guilty, but this is too much!

I watched two documentary movies about Syria recently. “City of Ghost” is about the civil journalists who tried to send the news to the world from a city in Syria that was occupied by IS. “Radio Kobani” is a film about young women who started a radio station in a destroyed city. In both, there were brave people, but also I watched many shocking scenes, but they were real.
In Japan only a few people know the real war now, and the most people including me, can’t imagine what the real war is like. Most young people know wars only through the video games and they think they are heroic and interesting. It’s shameful that many of the politicians are the same, I have to say. Prime Minister Abe is one the worst. I’m really scared that Japan is becoming a warlike country again.

Heavy Rainfall

I have been thinking to restart my blog so I can send some message about Japan, both good and bad, to someone who wants to know the ordinary people’s life and idea , although my English is poor. I am worrying about the future of this country and the younger people such as our children and grandchildren.
I am seventy-two year-old woman living in a small city with my husband and our son's family. I had been working as a junior high school teacher and retired twelve years ago. Now I’m enjoying taking care of my garden and some activities like chorus or hiking. And also I'm trying to do as much as I can for peace and anti nuke.

Last week we had very heavy rain especially in the western part of Japan. In many places, landslides and river flooding happened, and many cities and towns are suffering heavy damages. More than one hundred and fifty people died and many are missing. Restoring must be very difficult, and I feel so sorry for the suffering people. How hard to accept such a losing!
For so long we have had to endure some kind of natural disaster here on this island, as we have earthquakes, typhoons, volcanoes, and rainy seasons. But these years we often have extreme climate; this time the news had warned "a record rainfall we have never imagined ". The damages are huge and the protection against the disaster can't be enough. It looks we need stronger protection system than ever. We should be ready for bigger disaster.
Our modern life with artificial structures like highways, long bridges, tall buildings makes the disaster worse, I think. Once they were broken or fallen down, it must be a big damage. Electricity, water supply, transportation system by highway and railroad are so vulnerable and our life that is depending on them too much is on the serious risk at once. Time ago when we lived more primitively without those things, the damages should have been smaller even the nature attacked us. We have been too arrogant to the nature to dig land, make flat mountains, cut trees, or to narrow the rivers, maybe.
Seven years ago northern part of the island had suffered a huge earthquake, and the Fukushima nuke plant melted down. They don't know how to finish the plant even now, and many towns are now deserted places where people can't live forever. But electric companies and the government are making other nuke plants rework one by one. Many of us are against it, but there are people who allow them, even welcome the nuke plants because of money for today. The land of Japan is quaking almost every day and experts are warning huge earthquakes will happen near Tokyo in some years. Are we, Japanese, special optimists or big fools?