Santa Claus Came Earlier

Most people in Japan are not Christians but celebrate(? ) Christmas. We don’t go to churches , but eat cakes and chickens, display the trees, send presents, especially in families with small children. In my family my son smoked chicken, my elder grandson made a big round cake. When we talked on the phone on Christmas Eve, my youngest granddaughter said, ”This is the present Santa Clause gave me.” “Oh? When did he come to you?” I asked. “Yesterday. He can’t visit all the children in one night. So he came to me earlier.”  Wow!  

 

The government proposed and the Diet passed a bill that permits the companies to hire more foreign workers. Even now there are foreign workers named “skill practicing students”. But the truth is that they are not students but just cheap laborers and they are sometimes treated illegally like slaves. Most of them are from poorer Asian countries. It’s so shameful. I worry how they think of Japan. Many of us think we should change the situation , then accept more foreign workers. But Abe government works only for the economic circle that give him great money. They wants more laborers to work cheaper only when they want. So when you come to Japan to work, be careful to check the labor condition. Never give your passport or money in the employers’ keeping. Ask for help to a labor’s union or a lawyer if you are in trouble.           

Japan Is 111th.

　　Do you know Japan is 111^th in the gender equality ranking in the world?  The ranking of the freedom of the press is 67^th.  Japan is one of the developed nations in the world, we have believed, but it is not. The war expenditure is fifth or sixth in the world and expanding year by year.  What a nation!  I feel ashamed and scared.

   About the issue of the freedom of the press, the things are getting worse these years. There are journalists working hard to inform the truth, of course, but not many. The government and the Power try to crush journalists and press companies that try to invest and inform the truth they don’t like if not kill. Yesterday I knew that DAYS JAPAN , a great photo journal will end. The reason is, the editor says, the difficulty of the management: money problem, and his health problem. I’m so shocked and regretful for it. I have read almost all the issues for about thirteen years, and I learned a lot from it about the world and the journalism. But the journalism that is independent from the Power and criticizes keenly is difficult to keep on .       

    I joined a meeting about the next Diet election in this prefecture yesterday. It is absolutely necessary for citizens and the opposition parties to work together to defeat Abe’s party and make a better country for the younger generation.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I don’t believe in God nor pray, but I hope a peaceful and better year to come. Oh, in this season we say each other,” I wish you’ll have a good year!” instead of “ good bye.”      .   

Don't Buy Nuclear Plants From Japan

  Today is our younger grandson’s thirteenth birthday. His mother made a big cake, and he got many presents and phone calls. We enjoyed a card game he had got as a present.

 I really worry about the young people’s future, about environment, peace and war, human rights, and so on. I think we should do everything we can do for them, as we, the adults are responsible for today’s world  

 The news said that Japan’s nuclear business was frustrated everywhere; in Turkey, in England, in Vietnam…  Abe has tried hard to sell Japanese companies’ nuclear plants to those countries. (He works only for the big companies). I have thought,“ Do you buy the plant from Japanese companies, whose plant caused the disaster and still can’t finish the suffering?  Don’t do it.” The decision of those countries is proper, I think. Never go to the nuclear plant, I would like to say.

From the disaster in Fukushima we have really learned that we cannot control the nuclear and radiation, and we should not use it just to get electricity.

It has been almost eight years since the disaster, but the troubles are not finished The company and the country have tried many ways to solve the problems about the broken down plant but there is no successful one. They have to keep cooling the melted down reactor, and so they have more and more contaminated water including the groundwater that flows under the plant. There are so many huge tanks filled with the contaminated water all over the site, and they say there’s no more space. What they are planning is throwing the water into the sea!!!  Even now there are many people who  had to leave everything behind and refuge to another town, with no hope to come back.  

Abe declared,” The radiation is perfectly under control.” and invited the Olympics. He is a big liar but the Olympics will be held in two years. Abe and the government want us  forget the nuclear accident in the enthusiasm of the Olympics.           

20kg Pickles for Winter

  It’ was a warm, beautiful day today, but every morning we have heavy frost and mountains and fields are almost brown.. We are busy preparing to shut in for the winter. I pickled greens, radishes and Chinese cabbages. They are very important food in winter around here, and every family made them time ago. They say young people don’t make them today, and old women complain about it, but I, myself didn’t make them when I was working fulltime. I couldn’t give my own children healthy food without additives,though I can now give my grandchildren better food their parents can’t

   We are made of what we eat. Today most food contains many kinds of artificial additives, and isn't it scary? Some of the people are careful about it and choose better food. But usually organic or non chemical food is more expensive. Most young parents are not rich enough to buy such food, or do not have enough time to cook healthy food. If only rich people can available better food, it isn’t fair, don’t you think?

   Last week I visited Okinawa with my husband and some of our friends. I like Okinawa’s culture, its nature, and its people. We can’t see such a beautiful sea in any other places in Japan. Their music, dances, and art are fantastic. But we see barbed wire fences everywhere when we drive in Okinawa. They are surrounding the US Army bases, no, excluding the people of Okinawa. Now US Army and the government of Japan are making another huge army base there. The people are against it but the Power ignores it and keeps building the base. Is Japan an independent nation? Democracy is nowhere.