I thought I’d write a little about the situation in Japan and how it may affect the Tokyo Olympic Games that are due to start in August.
There are cases of the virus in many prefectures, though not nearly as many as in neighbouring South Korea. However, this may be because the Koreans have far more testing and are far more draconian in their isolation measures for those thought to have the virus.
A sleek Hello Kitty bullet train festooned with images of the world-famous character has begun services. The train will run between the western cities of Osaka and Fukuoka, the West Japan Railway Company said, hoping that one of the country’s most famous exports will boost tourism.
The efforts of whale conservationists seeking to impede or stop Japans whalers from killing minke whales has been dealt a blow. The fact that the waters around Antarctica were long ago declared a whale sanctuary has not halted Japan’s whalers.
It is now 72 years since the Pacific War ended yet issues related to the Japanese military’s vicious behaviour in Asia still persist. One of these issues is that of the so-called ‘comfort women’ a term referring to women who were forced to provide sexual service to Japanese soldiers at military brothels in Japan s occupied territories between 1932 and 1945.
The bonsai tree shown here is kept at the US National Arboretum in Washington, having been donated in 1976 as a gift to the United States by Bonsai master Masaru Yamaki. This particular tree is a white pine (pinus parvifolia). What makes this tree somewhat special is first its age: