Changes Brought On By A Trip of Japan, Trip to a Controversial Museum

In light of the 65th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki...

I’ve never been the sort of person who usually thinks about World War II. I don’t watch the History channel, I don’t read books about the war, and I’ve never taken an interest in visiting World War II battle sites, even when I lived close to those in Eastern Europe.

Yet when I realized earlier this winter that my first trip to Asia would place me in Tokyo on Pearl Harbor Day, I thought it would be informative to see what was happening that day in Japan.

Due to my western naiveté, I assumed that, in Japan, the Pacific War started on December 7, just as it did in the US. However, due to the international dateline, the war is generally regarded as having stared on Dec 8, the date when the Emperor of Japan issued a declaration of war against the US.

I also found out that, despite my best research, there really wasn’t much to see on Pearl Harbor Day in Japan. As the helpful concierge at the Sheraton where I was staying softly said (while physically drawing back from me), “No one wants to remember those times. They were terrible.” My new American expat acquaintances who live in Japan told me that most of the public discussion and commemoration of the Second World War comes in August, with the anniversary of the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Yet, on my way to discover that there was no story about Pearl Harbor Day in Japan, I ended up drastically changing the way that I think about that country.

On December 7, in search of a story—any story-- I went to Yaskuni Shrine of the war dead, and the associated Yushukan war museum, a museum which I had read was highly controversial. What I didn’t expect was that it would be personally distressing.

While walking thru the museum, I was surprised to find myself upset at seeing a Zero fighter prominently displayed in the museum’s foyer. As I walked through the exhibits at the museum, it was troubling for me to read about the Allied bombing raids bring described as “Attacks on the Japanese homeland.” Seeing the preserved Japanese kamikaze torpedo’s, preserved kamikaze planes and personal relics of the kamikaze crew (a.k.a. the “Special Attack Corps”) while reading about people who “tried to defend Japan with their own bodies” was possibly the most emotional I’ve ever been in a museum—and I’m not known for my light taste in travel entertainment.

Forcing myself to go back to the Yaskuni Shrine shrine on December 8, in search of a story, all I found a few WWII veterans posing at the shrine, a few Japanese servicemen, one lone protester, and a few more schoolchildren. If I hadn’t been there the day before, I wouldn’t have known it was anymore crowded than normal. Yet, being there gave me a lot to think about.

Weeks later, in another Tokyo museum, I saw hunks of molten metal that had fused when Americans bombed the city in the spring of 1945. I even read that American bomber crews could read their watches at 29,000 feet by the light of the flames from a burning Tokyo. Those images stuck with me, and have changed the way I view Japan.

Scare For A Cure at Eeyore's Birthday

You may be aware that Austin’s annual hippie festival, Eeyore’s Birthday Party, was held in Pease Park this past April. You might know about the hordes of costumed revelers, some of whom attended the birthday party of a fictional donkey wearing mostly body paint and a smile. However, you may not know that the annual event put on by the “Friends of the Forest” is a fundraising opportunity for local non-profits.

In the last couple of years, I’ve become very aware of the fundraising aspect of Eeyore’s Birthday.

Back when I was a UT undergraduate, I’d walk to Eeyore’s from my dorm. I’d often spend all day in the drum circle, getting someone over 21 to buy me a beer, and coming home filthy, exhausted and very, very happy.

Yet, this year I went to Eeyore’s primarily to help sell sausage, even though I’ve been mostly vegetarian as long as I’ve been going to that party. The charity I’m heavily involved in, “Scare For A Cure” was selling sausages from “The Best Wurst” as a fundraising project.

Romance Readers Social....at the University Hills Library

Bad timing and helping my friend Byron move at the last moment killed this post for Austinist...but if the people in it ever Google themselves, they might see this! Maybe....

Valentine's Day is a holiday fraught with peril, no matter your particular relationship status. If you're single, sometimes you spend time fretting about what might happen on Valentine's Day. If you are already in a relationship, there's the trauma of worrying if you've gotten the right gift for someone, if you've made the right restaurant reservation, or exactly how you're going to manage a smile if you wind up being gifted with ill-fitting lingerie!

The whole holiday is so stressful that sometimes it seems that you'd be better off throwing caution aside and jumping between the covers....of a good book. Especially a good romance!

Luckily, the University Hills branch of the Austin Public Library is presenting the Romance Reader's Social; on Saturday from 11-1. Located in Northeast Austin, near the intersection of 290/183, this free event is a chance for romance readers to swap books, have some yummy food, and maybe win prizes! There is even a  "passionate reading contest" focusing on the vocal performance of "juicy scenes." We were even promised that the event would have lots of chocolates!

Chuckie and the Health Care Debate...

The reality of our national health-care crisis was recently brought home to me in a sudden and dramatic fashion.

In mid-October, our sweet family member Charles (aka Chuckie to his friends) was struck with a sudden, severe and very life-threatening form of anemia, known as IMHA (Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia.) For some unknown reason, his body had developed an autoimmune condition, where he started destroying his own red-blood cells. Over a weekend, we went from household discussions of, “He feels warm, do you think he’s sick?” to a Sunday-morning possibility of emergency surgery. That weekend we also spent a lot of time climbing up a steep learning curve about how the immune system functions.

Among the factors in the treatment of his case is that Charles has no health insurance, save what a Visa card can provide. We were making treatment decisions with the consciousness that a price tag was looming somewhere in the future.

Thankfully, Charles’ treatment was far more effective than anyone suspected it would possibly be. Just a day after his internal medicine specialist started his treatment, he was up and around, and doing the kind of inappropriate sniffing that would get you kicked out of most respectable bars. We were elated when the nice veterinarian said our Chuckie was well enough to go home.

Yes, I realize that many people may think I’m being melodramatic about a dog’s illness. Yet Chuckie’s sudden disease brought home the reality -- the fear and the terror --in the possibility of losing a loving creature who is so close to your heart. Chuckie’s lack of insurance made me realize how horrible it would be if one were faced with a comparable situation for an uninsured human family member. In light of the emotional trauma of serious illness, the added financial concern is almost too much to stand.


I’m so glad that Chuckie had access to an impressive level of health care that has—cross your paws—allowed him to recover from what is an often fatal condition. It also clearly illustrates the need for many Americans to have a better health care plan than Chuckie. Sadly, some of them don’t have better health insurance than a dog.

It seems I'm going to Japan...

Whenever I travel, I always keep a diary. In longhand, in a small journal. That's so dark ages. So I'm looking at trying one of these blog things for my travel documenting needs!