Florida’s Japanese Consulate plays a piece from Kiki’s Delivery Service at Yasumicon 2007. I have other pieces but they don’t sound as well…sorry for the darkness as well.

Florida’s Japanese Consulate plays a piece from “My Neighbor Totoro” at Yasumicon 2007. I have other pieces but they don’t sound as well…sorry for the darkness as well.

I donated educational materials (about $300) six years ago and shot this video one morning and the hope to help the school get funding for a new school. We almost got a grant through the Japanese Embassy, but unfortunately the NGO, Consortium, was offered another grant worth a lot more money from the Japanese Embassy and they could only accept one grant at a time, and they dropped our Rural Assistance Grant. I haven’t been back to the school in about five years and wonder how they are doing… You can read the complete story at my blog at http://seaif.typepad.com/seaif_weblog/

“Do you remember this?”　One day in August 1968, the event happened unexpectedly. A gentleman came over to Sugihara ‘Sempo’ Chiune suddenly. Showing Sugihara one tattered piece of paper, this gentleman asked him, “Do you remember this, Mr. Sugihara?” The piece of paper was the transit visa that Sugihara issued in Kaunas, Lithuania 28 years ago.

28 years ago, in the summer of 1940, Sugihara Chiune was serving as the Japanese consul in Lithuania. At that time, many Jewish people fled from Poland where had been occupied by Nazi Germany were crowding into Lithuania. Jewish refugees were trying desperately to get visa at foreign embassies or consulates in Lithuania. However, the Soviet Union, which adopted anti-Semitic policy (anti-Semitic=anti-Jewish) annexed Lithuania as a part of the Soviet Union, requested countries to close foreign embassies or consulates in Lithuania. The last foreign consulate left in Lithuania was Japanese consulate. So, many Jewish people who sought visa for the purpose of escaping to another country crowded into the Japanese consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania. At first, although Japanese government was repeatedly requested to cooperate in anti-Semitic policy by Nazi Germany, Japanese government took a neutral position in an official manner. However, Japanese Foreign Ministry kept tough visa requirements.

On July 18th in 1940, Sugihara Chiune cabled Japanese Foreign Ministry in Tokyo as to the approval of emergency visa. However, Tokyo replied the next day and told Sugihara to keep visa requirements. Sugihara cabled Tokyo several times. But Tokyo repeated the same response. A week later, on July 25th, Sugihara decided on his own accord and started giving Jewish refugees transit visa for humanitarian reasons. Sugihara Chiune kept writing transit visa in a little more than a month between July 25th and September 5th, though Sugihara received the expulsion order from the Soviet Union epeatedly. The number of transit visa that Sugihara gave Jewish refugees was 2,139. But this number 2,139 is just the number of visa that Sugihara numbered and recorded. Sugihara stopped numbering visa for laborsaving as the Japanese consulate closing day neared. Sugihara kept writing visa in the station until immediately before the train departure. So, the total number of visa that Sugihara gave Jewish refugees in a little more than a month is supposed to have reached more than twice the number 2,139.

On September 5th in 1940, Sugihara Chiune and his family was in the station to board a train for Berlin. Jewish refugees who had known that Sugihara would go on board a train on the day gathered at the station. Sugihara wrote visa on the platform. After he and his family went on board, Jewish refugees hanged on the windows of the train. Sugihara wrote visa from the window of the train. When the train started moving, he couldn’t write visa any more. Everybody was waving their hands. One of them called out, “Thank you, Mr.Sugihara. We will come to see you again.” And he came running after the train.

After that, Sugihara and his family lived several cities (Prague, Kaliningrad and etc.) and they lived in Bucharest, Romania when World War II ended in 1945. Sugihara and his family were detained by the Soviet military that invaded Bucharest then and they were sent to prison camp (Ghencea, Romania). It was April in 1947 that Sugihara and his family returned to Japan. But Japanese Foreign Ministry didn’t welcome Sugihara and persuaded him into his resignation because of Ministry’s downsizing. Sugihara changed jobs frequently after resigning from Japanese Foreign Ministry.

“Do you remember this?”　One day in August 1968, the event happened unexpectedly. A gentleman came over to Sugihara Chiune suddenly. Showing Sugihara one tattered piece of paper, this gentleman asked him, “Do you remember this, Mr. Sugihara?” The piece of paper was the transit visa that Sugihara issued in Kaunas, Lithuania 28 years ago. “At last, I found you, Mr. Sugihara. We still can’t forget you.” This gentleman’s name is B.Gehashra Nishri. B.Gehashra Nishri was the counsellor for Israeli embassy in Japan. B.Gehashra Nishri had been looking for Sugihara Chiune since that station. That station was Kaunas’ rail station in Lithuania.

In 1985, Sugihara ‘Senpo’ Chiune was given the title of “the Righteous Among the Nations”for his contribution to rescue more than 6,000 Jewish from Holocaust by the government of Israel.

TAMAGAWABOAT
http://tamagawaboat.wordpress.com/

http://pelasonline.blogspot.com/

comment if you want. remember not to insult eachother exept if the other guy is a terrorist-communist motherfucker lol (i wont delete those insults .)

CHEN:
A group of rocky outcrop islands are at the center of a nationalistic storm. Both Japan and South Korea claim ownership. Insulting behavior has increased and now blood is flowing.

STORY:
A diplomatic bust-up between South Korea and Japan over a territorial dispute turns bloody.

A group of former South Korean elite soldiers slaughtered Japan’s national bird outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul.

The pheasants smashed bodies were left to bleed out on Japanese flags, each one carrying a picture of prime minister Yasuo Fukuda.

The Japanese leader rekindled the territorial tug-of-war over this unihabited island chain last week, when he reportedly told the South Korean president of Japan’s plan to refer to the islands as Japanese territory in
teaching manuals.

[Oh Kwang-Sik, Former South Korean Soldier]:
“The Dokdo is clearly our territory and the Japanese government must stop distorting not only their textbooks but also history.”

South Korea refers to the desolate islets as Dokdo. Japan calls them Takeshima.

The islets, which are roughly equidistant from Korea and Japan, lie in rich fishing grounds which are also thought to contain potential natural gas deposits.

South Korea believes its territorial claim is stronger, not least because the country maintains a martime police force there.

Earlier this week, South Korea recalled its ambassador to Japan in protest.

President Lee Myung-bak has promised a tough response, including possible legal action.

Heated protests outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul are set to continue.

Dennis Ferry - Fred Irby III

ANCHOR:
Tokyo and Seoul are both claiming a group of rocky islands which are fertile fishing grounds. This is one of a number of long-standing disputes. Let’s take a look

STORY:
South Korean workers, students and former “comfort women” hold an anti-Japanese rally in front of Seoul’s Japanese Embassy. This was prompted by Tokyo’s new claim to a group of rocky islets which Seoul also claims.

South Korean ambassador to Japan, Kwon Chul-hyun, returned to Seoul on Tuesday. The government recalled him from Tokyo to protest Japan’s decision to refer to the islands as Japan’s territory in school teaching guides.

Scores of workers from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions throw eggs and tomatoes at the Japanese Embassy in protest.

[Woo Moon-sook, KCTU's Spokesperson]:
“They are violating the sovereignty of our territory and they have been acting like this for a while. It’s like a stepping stone to invade the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia. So, we will fight strongly against Japan with our people. ”

A group of former “comfort women” also joined in the anti-Japanese protest.

[Yoon Mi-Hyang, Civic Group Leader]:
“They should solve the problems of the past, that would be a stepping stone for a good future. Our former comfort women feel that way.”

The islets dispute is one of a number of long-running territorial rows involving Japan and its neighbours.

01.07.2008
Moscow, Japanese Embassy
camera by Melekhin Dmitry
(с) Greenpeace, 2008

Master Course 2008 with Takemiya Masaki 9p, Kenmochi Jo 7p and Kobayashi Chizu 5p, at the Go7 club in Vienna