My Journey.

The longest journey begins with a single step.

My dream is to get a Ph.D at a university in the US or Australia within 20 years. My long long journey has just begun.I'll devote myself to studying ,pressing the pedal to the metal !!

Beer goes hand in hand with Ramen!!

Today, I took a short trip to Yamagata prefecture by Shinkansen super express. I ate real fantastic Ramen there with a glass of cold almost frozen beer!!! Life doesn't get better than this!!!

Food for Thought. Locusts vs Beef.

What on earth do you think this is? What on earth do you think this is made of??  The answer is.....  Locusts!  Do Japanese people eat not only raw fish,but also locusts? The answer is..... Yes!  The packages above and below are how cooked locusts are sold in the supermarket here in Japan. It's loaded with calcium as well as it's very delicious. Now you may as well think of the Japanese as barbarians,but my question is that where can you draw the line to set bizarre foods apart from normal foods?? I think the line is closely bound up with in which culture you are born and brought up. In some parts of the world,people eat dogs,which makes us feel disgusted, while we have no question as to eating beef, which makes Hindus appalled !! So, you can say your perception that judges what is OK as an ingredient to eat and what is not OK is pretty much dependent on the fact that which culture has molded your "taste buds".

Come and eat the locusts dish here in Japan! It's so good!

                                  

Wisdom in "The Bell Jar"

"I'd discovered, after a lot of extreme apprehension about what spoons to use, that if you do something incorrect at table with a certain arrogance, as if you knew perfectly well you were doing it properly, you can get away with it and nobody will think you are bad-mannered or poorly brought up. They will think you are original and very witty."

I was impressed when I read it, and I thought we could say the same thing about our way of life. We oftentimes fall into the trap of comparing ourselves with other people only to find out she/he is superior to I. We sometimes hold the idea that as if there were ,what I call, the "text book type criteria" which we must live up to,however, the quoted part tells us that even when there is the text book for the situation, "You can be You".

Now there is a road which has never been traveled by anyone. If you step in and keep walking, the road will have your name.

Fukushima Random.

 Fukushima City!!!

The May Sky,Green,and Cool Breeze.

May is one of the most beautiful months in Japan. Many people in the country love May because it's a month when you can appreciate the clear sky(as clear as it can be),the brilliant green colour of leaves(as brilliant as it can be),and so pleasant cool breeze( as pleasant as it can be). May is a month of pureness,goodness,and fitness.

Here we go!

I don't know her name but...

She knows when to bloom, but nobody knows when she drops.

the Afternoon Sun.

The light of the afternoon sun is squinting through the leaves and it is highlighting my presence in a very reserved way.

Who am I ??

I'm a red boy,but I'm not a communist.
My friends wear green dresses. They love peace and harmoney.
Another friend wears gray dress. He is so flexible that he never sees things in a Black and White way.
I might be the most stable one leg standing object in the world.
I didn't budge an inch even when the great earthqake struck Japan on March 11.
I'm a red boy,but I'm not a communist.
I love green because it's a colour of harmony.
I love gray because it's a colour of flexibility.
I love my color red because it's a colour of the Sun, the source of energy.
I'm very comfortable with who I am and the place I was assigned.
I like helping people with their communication.
That's the reason I'm here in the world.
I'm the mailbox.

Random Pictures of Fukushima City.

A movie theatre called "FORUM".

A Black and White Building Crossing the Street.

Ubiquitous 7eleven

What they sell.....!

You can go on when the lights are green! Night is still young. The "Shell Moon" on the left is shining to sell gas.LOL

Setting the parameters for how much we care about what we eat.

I notice more and more people are becoming conscious of what to eat and what not to eat.


 In my opinion, I think it's more important than what we eat to be conscious of how much we eat for one meal and try not to eat between meals.


If we feel gratification after an appropriate portion of lunch or dinner and get some exercise instead of snacking between meals, I think what we eat for breakfast,luch,and dinner dosn't that matter, I guess.


Worring too much about what we eat(being paranoid about food?) can help forbid bad foods to enter your body,to be sure, but at the same time caring too much itself can be a big stressed thinking pattern.


Let's keep the middle!

Clear Blue and Brilliant Green.

You are Beautiful , the Earth !

I Love You, my Life!

A "Leisurely-Book-Reader" .

These are my bookshelves.
I think I don't own as many books as my fellow bookworms.
The reason why I don't is because I read one book repeatedly over and over again when I find it worth reading.
In this sense, I'm a "leisurely-reader" like those who savor a cup of coffee.It is a sheer bliss when reading a good book with a cup of good coffee!

My Favorite Precept.

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. F.Scott Fitzgerald(1896-1940) "The Crack-Up"1936

It is a little difficult for me to explain how I cherish this word by one of my favorite novelists F.S Fitzgerald.
This precept has been so important for me ever since I first met it about four years ago.

 I always agree with the idea that "Intelligence" should be measured by not so much academic ability as "the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time" because that is VERY hard for us to actually do.
 We feel comfortable when we inhabit  a situation which one idea or one principle rules since no need to doubt or bother to think over other choices is requested. In other words, the circumstance is easy.
 However, for instance, it's so hard to follow the lessons of Zen buddhism or appreciate beautiful words by Buddha while you are a pious Christian. Being a Christian requests you to follow Jesus Christ and not to do any other instructions in an extream case.(In reality, I was in the Assembly of God for 10 years and nothing is more stifling than being told to follow what the Bible tells almost 100%.
 I believe the precept above by Fitzgerald does have something to do with a secret behind how we could realize peace which lets a large number of different ideas co-exist in this world at the same time.
 We should try to be "Intelligent" in terms of that idea!

Life is a story.

Our life is like a story. That's why it's OK for anything to happen in it because it is a story. What's important, I believe, is the ability or sensitivity to interpret the meanings of what happened.

A Flood of Bikes!

This is a parking lot for bikes near Fukushima Station East Exit. This lot is called "Nikai" among local young people. "Nikai" means "the second floor" in Japanese. Why is it called so? It's simply because it is situated on the second floor of this parking lot. The first story is for cars. Japanese cities are basically very manageable,so you can do without cars unlike the US or Australia.

The Moment of Truth.

 The top picture was taken at "Jyourakuen" Garden in Fukushima City.

The second one is a preserved old house from Edo perido.

The third one is a more than 100 year-old cherry blossom tree at the Jyourakuen in Fukushima.

 I think Japan is a country in which people can appreciate subtle nuance of the seasonal beauty.

I'm happy to be born here,although I'd like to hit the road to as many countries as possible all over the world while I'm still young.

 The moment of the Truth. That's oftentimes found by chance when you take a glance at something that you usually don't pay much attention. Chance encounter with the beauty is in fact available anywhere around you.

 Why not try to meet it in our ordinary lives??

Leaves of trees are...

Trees in Summer are in leaf of beautiful green. Trees in Autumn are in leaf of  beautiful yellow.

The changing color of the leaves keeps telling us an invisible breath of nature in a visible way.

And we are also a part of this whole dynamism.

The Sun Set Sky.

This is a picture of Fukushima Sun Set I took in our front yard. Although my hometown has been agonizing over the radiation issues due to Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant trouble, if we get our mind off from them for a while, the nature remains to be what it is.
I like to see the trees and houses clearly defined by the evening sky. It's one of the best moments in a day to be moved by the beauty of what this planet offers!
I also like to see the day break in the east sky.
Everything has its own beginning and ending....