Genki Japan Blog はじめまして。

You can pretty much get the news on this anywhere, so I'm just going to post some helpful links now that I've confirmed all my friends to be alive. This is one really bad quake, with a death toll of at least 1,000 last time I checked. Please keep these people in your thoughts/prayers! The earthquake was followed by a huge tsunami that drowned many, many people. Here's a person finder for anyone looking for someone. I typed in the first name "Akira" because I couldn't remember my friend's last name, and while he is safe, I read that Akira Toriyama, creator of DragonBall and its successors, has been reported dead. I hope that's note true, even though I'm not a fan of DragonBall. Here's the NHK stream , if you want to keep up. Google is also keeping up with it. Remember, if you believe a tsunami is headed your way, take cover! Don't take these things lightly! With that said, I'll have more information coming within the next few days....

This whole thing is escalating into exorbitant stupidity! North Korean officials must really, really want to go to war with Japan, which may prompt the US to get involved in another senseless war. Here's a small exerpt: "If Japan recklessly 'intercepts' [North Korea's] satellite for peaceful purposes, the [Korean People's Army] will mercilessly deal deadly blows not only at the already deployed intercepting means but at major targets," KCNA reported. Japan recently mobilized its missile defense system in response to the planned North Korean launch, Japanese officials said. The move, noteworthy for a country with a pacifist constitution, is aimed at shooting down any debris from the launch that might fall into Japanese territory. U.S. Navy ships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles have also been moved to the Sea of Japan, a Navy spokesman said. What do you make of this? I can't be the only one who sees North Korea as irrational, and possibly se...

Today, I'll be discussing two articles I came accross. First of all, the highly anticipated, anxiously awaited, Korean missle launch . This is a controversial topic, and it seems that people are taking sides all over the place. Aside from the fact that under UN terms this launch is illegal, there are a number of reasons why I believe that Japan is definately in the right when it comes to either shooting down the rocket itself, or the debris it leaves. First of all, the opposition once told me, "If I blew up your car because it might crash into somethat, would that be a friendly action?" There's a few things wrong with this, namely, blowing up cars is illegal, and UN finds Japan's actions perfectly acceptable. Moreover, we don't blow cars up in America, we take peoples' driver's liscense if they have a poor track record, and North Korea certainly has a poor track record. Their last missle stayed in the air a mere 30 seconds! If someone were to po...

There have been whisperings going on about how hackers can cause the next big war, because the Internet is like a weapon (watch out all you anti-weapon people!), and I guess that this article over at the Japan Times is a pretty good explanation as to why. And, what do you know? I can't copy the article over here because of all the stupid graphics, and it won't let me highlight just the text for some strange reason. Just click on the link above for the story. Personally, I find this very troubling, but given that banks aren't exaclty doing well, I think I fear our economy even more. Granted, Japan's yen is still stronger than the dollar, but they're suffering because we're not buying their exports. This means that, apparently, Japan was doing something right. Last I read, they are now trying to inflate their money (bad move, in my opinion), so the strong dollar may not last. I promise to put that article up if I can find it again.