Memories of Cats in Japan

Site of 27 Martyrs, Nagasaki, Japan

When we were living in Shukugawa (part of Nishinomiya City, in Hyogo Prefecture), one day we went to the beach to get rid of a cat. Not a kitten but an older female cat. Why we needed to get rid of it I can’t recall. The house we lived in was a single-family home with a garden and plenty of room for a cat. Maybe it was a stray we’d taken in that was now pregnant, and my parents felt they couldn’t care for it anymore. My memory isn’t clear on this point. Getting rid of cats back then was a common occurrence, not something that anyone would criticize you for. The idea of neutering cats never crossed anyone’s mind. 

Akita, Japan

My father and I set off that summer afternoon to leave the cat by the shore. He pedalled his bicycle, while I sat on the back holding a box with the cat inside. We rode along the Shukugawa River, arrived at the beach at Koroen, set the box down among some trees there, and, without a backward glance, headed home. The beach must have been about two kilometres from our house.

At home, we got off the bike—discussing how we felt sorry for the cat, but what could we do?—and when we opened the front door the cat we’d just abandoned was there, greeting us with a friendly meow, its tail standing tall. It had beaten us home. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how it had done that. We’d been on a bike, after all. My father was stumped as well. The two of us stood there for a while, at a total loss for words. Slowly, my father’s look of blank amazement changed to one of admiration and, finally, to an expression of relief. And the cat went back to being our pet.

Cat in a Buddhist Temple

Even now, I can relive the shared puzzlement of that summer day when we rode together on his bike to the beach at Koroen to abandon a striped cat, a cat that totally got the better of us. I can recall the sound of the waves, the scent of the wind whistling through the stand of pines. It’s the accumulation of insignificant things like this that has made me the person I am.

Lucy and Grace

Source: Abandoning a Cat

By Haruki Murakami

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/10/07/abandoning-a-cat

Koda-Kan

Koda-kan is a Filipino terminology we gave to Japanese tourist taking tons of pictures. It’s such a cliche in a fun way because when we Filipinos get together and wants our group photo, we say “Let’s go Koda-kan.”

Shūkabutsu is Japanese translation of bromide, an anime. I could never get tired watching Japanese anime. They are soothing more than boring.

Toph Beifon is my favourite blind bromide. She hates it when others think of her useless without sight. To use her line “Let’s see who is the blind one!” She’s a hero in the movie Avatar, the last air bender.

Sayonara.

When I Look at the Moon

Every time I look at the moon, it reminds me of a conversation with a Thai lady that I lived with in Chiang Rai. We were sitting in the dark, looking at the full moon and she asked: “Can you … Continue reading →

Human Soul

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Just before I woke up from a deep sleep, I dreamt of a single red rose. I can’t remember what the dream was, but the rose stayed with me. The night before, I watched a video of Aokigahara Documentary.The narrator has the … Continue reading →

Seventy years ago

Lest We Forget: Destruction and killings are going on in many parts of the world. “Violence begets violence.” And no country can be free from what is going on in other countries today.

WWII fire-bombing of Tokyo by US remembered 70 years
Seventy years ago on the night of 9-10 March, in the Japanese capital, 334 American B-29 bombers dropped thousands of tonnes of incendiary bombs on the city’s crowded wooden neighbourhoods.
They started a fire storm that burned at over 1,000 degrees and killed more than 100,000 people.

Read more

WWII fire-bombing of Tokyo by US remembered 70 years on BBC News‎  It was an event that dwarfed even the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, yet it’s been all but …

Japan Marks 70th Anniversay of Tokyo Fire Bombing

AshiAkira's Blog

Seventy years ago

Tokyo was engulfed in fire

For what was that war?

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Is America the Greatest Country?

My american cousin posted this in Facebook and it’s interesting to listen to it.

To my American readers or not , what do you think?

Cats Rule

On the internet, you can never have too many cats. Now, on two islands in Japan, a similar principle seems to be in effect. The islands of Tashirojima in Miyagi prefecture and Aoshima in Ehime prefecture are covered in cats – and tourists love it.

Click on the photo for more pictures and story

The two islands are gradually being taken over by cats as the aging populations on those islands gradually fall. Veterinary doctors regularly visit the islands to ensure that the cats are in good health, Otherwise, however, they are free to roam. Tourists have been arriving by ferry to photograph and feed the cats, and local ferry captains have reacted with great surprise to the influx of new tourists.

At the moments, island officials are trying to figure out what to do to make the situation best for both tourists and cats. The cats already have a plan, however – take over the world!

via: kotaku.com

Related articles

• Aoshima Island aka Cat Island in Japan! (mitsueki.wordpress.com)
• This Japanese island is filled to the brim with felines! (en.rocketnews24.com)
• Two Islands In Japan Are Ruled By Cats (Boredpanda.org)

Understanding Zen

And the monk said:

Source: Paulo Coelho’s blog

News Worthy: Something to Chirp About

Move over Princess Kate, there’s more important event happening at Queens Park, New Westminster, BC.  It’s better than a royal event; it’s a rarity, for people who are nature lover. 

It’s a bird, not superman.  It’s a rare red flanked blue tail bird from Siberia that winters in Japan and made an emergency landing in my neighbourhood.  This little thing must have been charged with Eveready Battery: it kept going and going and going.  Or maybe the break wasn’t working.  I just love the beauty of all things small and wonderful.
With my canine nose sensitivity, I managed to track down Mr. Gordon and asked him if I can use his photos and quote him.  He gladly agreed and then I let go of his pants.  Yup, this is another power of canine: teeth biting the hem of his pants.

Thank you Mr. Gordon and these are his pictures.  What a beauty!  For more pictures, click on The Canadian Warbler.blogspot.ca 

 

Courtesy of Mr. Gordon

Courtesy of Mr. Gordon

Courtesy of Mr. Gordon

 

On the other hand, I wonder if the bird misses its flock.  I am feeling lonely for the bird being alone by itself.  I hope it will find its group and be reunited with them.  God speed little birdie.

And here is the clip of the news  Global News Video  and  Vancouver Sun. 

Enjoy.

 

 Related Links:

The Canadian Warbler.blogspot.ca

Burnaby Bird Guy.wordpress.com

Love and Valor

Moises Gonzalez – Missing Person POW

A question:  Would you die …
–       For someone who needs your help?
–       For your country?
–       For your own belief and virtues?
Without a moment’s notice? Hesitation?

These are questions that came to mind when I was reading an article about “Brothers in Arms” written in a local newspaper Asian Pacific Post dated December 18, 2008.  That was four years ago.  I kept this newspaper because it’s a story of love and valor, of bittersweet reunion, of uncertain, of no closures. 

Just before the death of a former U.S. Marine officer, he was reunited with a man who saved his life 65 years ago during the war in the Philippines.  Japan invaded the Philippines during World War II in 1944. 

The reunion was bittersweet because the officer died 11 days after they met on December 7, 2008, just before Christmas.

Love is based on an intrinsic human quality that one has to help out in times of need.  Valor is the by-product of love; the love for humanity to help those who are in need. 

The man was only age 11, still a child, 65 years ago; when he met the officer, with his older brother, age 20.  This is what happened, and I quote from the newspaper: 

“Please give me a ride!” the stranger blurted out to Jesus and his 20-year-old brother, Moises. 

“He looked at that time so tall,” Gonzalez recalled. “He was running fast, just running along the cart with us.” 

The brothers hid Carrington amid the hay. With a Japanese checkpoint just around the corner, the younger Gonzalez was terrified and burst into tears.

At each of two checkpoints, a Japanese soldier jabbed the hay with a bayonet, checking for a stowaway. One of the jabs lanced Carrington’s leg, but he remained undiscovered. 

Gonzalez couldn’t stop sobbing. 

“The Japanese soldier was asking me why I was crying, and I cried all the louder,” he recalled. “It was scary. If we had been discovered . . .” 

Carrington spent three days with Gonzalez family. He would later help lead guerrilla fighters who created havoc for the Japanese military before American forces retook The Philippines. 

Gonzalez older brother Moises – betrayed by a spurned woman – was later arrested by Japanese soldiers for his role in the episode and is believed to have been executed. No trace of him was ever found…” 

Why am I writing this?  The man Jesus Gonzalez happens to be my Uncle, I call him Tito Jess.  Tito Jess is married to Tita Baby.  Tita Baby is my Mother’s youngest baby sister.  Tita Baby’s family has been very good to us.  Without their loving concerns, we would still be in the Philippines.  They helped my family to bring us here in Canada.  The least thing I can do is to play detective and hope Moises be reunited with Tito Jess. 

For those who are reading this article, we need your help to find Moises Gonzalez.  

Valerie Gonzalez is also appealing to everyone and she wrote:

I am in search of any info re Filipino P.O.W named MOISES (MIKE) GONZALEZ Jr., (my uncle) who was imprisoned at Fort Santiago, Airport Studio, and possibly Muntinlupa, in Manila, Philippines, during World War II – between May 1944 to February 1945 (Liberation). My Lola (grandmother), Lucia Trullench Gonzalez, desperately searched for him but never found out what became of him after he was arrested by the Japanese. 

Moises Gonzalez rescued and harbored an American Marine, James Carrington, who had just escaped from Bilibid Prison (Manila) in April 1944. Jim Carrington eventually joined the Ramsay Guerrillas (ECLGA) and was decorated with a Distinguished Service Cross after the war. However, my uncle, Moises Gonzalez disappeared after his arrest and presumably died either at Airport Studio, Fort Santiago or Muntinlupa. He was also possibly a guerrilla courier for the MARKING GUERRILLAS. 

I am wondering how I might be able to track down any information about POW’s in Japanese prisons during WWII. If anybody has any information at all or could point me in the right direction, I would be so grateful if you could please Facebook me. Please send this to any Filipino Veterans you may know! Thank you! 

Should you have any information, please do not hesitate to contact me or Valerie Gonzalez on her FaceBook.  Forever Grateful, Seeker.

 

Related Article:

http://www.asianpacificpost.com/article/2139-brothers-arms.html  – Brothers in arms