On this day in August…

◎ Forty-seven years ago today (1962 August 5), Marilyn Monroe died.
Did you know that in January 1954, she and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio traveled to Japan for their honeymoon?

◎ Tomorrow (August 6) is the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of 広島 (Hiroshima, Japan) by the U.S.
August 9th will be the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of 長崎 (Nagasaki, Japan).

Last year at this time, I wrote a post about the anniversary of this sad event that includes the last letter written by a kamikaze pilot to his young daughter. (Click here to read it).

◎ 2009 August 15 will mark the day that Japan surrendered and ended World War 2 sixty-four years ago.
Last year, I wrote a post about this day too. (Click here to see it.)

War is terrible. And it’s known that Japan did many bad things during World War 2, but so did every country involved. Including the “Allies”.
Most people agree that it’s best that Japan lost World War 2…but dropping an atomic bomb shouldn’t have been done, and definitely should never be done again.

This is the BBC documentary “Hiroshima” (89 min):

Have you ever heard of 山口彊 (Tsutomu Yamaguchi)?
He’s the only person known to have survived both the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

山口彊 (Tsutomu Yamaguchi)

His hometown is 長崎 (Nagasaki, Japan), but on 1945 August 6 he went to 広島 (Hiroshima, Japan) on a business trip.
He suffered burns, ear and eye damage when the “Little Boy” bomb was dropped on Hiroshima while he was there.
Because of his injuries, he was sent back to a hospital in his hometown. So he was in Nagasaki when the “Fat Man” bomb was dropped on that city!
He had misfortune of having been in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki when they were atomic bombed. But was lucky to have survived both times.

◎ August 15 – 17 will be the 40th anniversary of the “Woodstock Music & Art Fair“.

Woodstock promo poster

That famous three-day music festival occurred the year I was born. 1969.
I understand it was a major era-defining event for Americans who were teenagers or young adults at that time.
Personally, I don’t think I would’ve gone to Woodstock even if I was my parents’ age.
I’m not a big on music festivals. I like concerts…but all day music festivals with numerous performers seems too much to me. (Summer music festivals are currently very popular in Japan right now. The three-day “Summer Sonic” is scheduled for this weekend near Tokyo and Osaka. Others are “Fuji Rock Festival“, “Rock In Japan“, “Loudpark Heavy Metal Festival“, etc., but I have never gone to one.)

Also, I wouldn’t have gone to Woodstock because I don’t like the “hippie folk music” that was performed there. The only bands on the set-list that seem half-way decent to me are Johnny Winter and Jimi Hendrix.

If I went to a music festival, it’d be the “Loudpark Heavy Metal Festival“, “Crüe Fest“, or “OzzFest“.

Ozzy Osbourne's "OzzFest"

News summary

A few items that were in the news recently:

• Takamiyama, the first foreign sumo wrestler in Japan (he was Hawaiian (he’s become a naturalized Japanese years ago, though)), will retire this June.He’s already retired from wrestling about 25 years ago, but he has his own sumo stable (a training ring and dormitory for a group of wrestlers) and he will turn 65 years old this June, so he’s planning to completely retire from sumo next month.
• 自由の女神像 (The Statue Of Liberty) in New York City had been off-limits to tourists since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks…but it has recently been reopened and now tourists can go all the way to the top again for the first time in nearly eight years.
• North Korea tested nuclear weapons on last Monday and Tuesday. As a result, the Peace Clock in 広島 (Hiroshima, Japan) that counts the number of days that there has been no nuclear testing in the world had to be reset back to “00001”.

• A police officer in France was arrested after he cut of the genitals of his cheating wife’s boyfriend with a box-cutter knife.
• A woman was caught shoplifting from a Wal-Mart store in America and in an attempt to escape, she threw her infant child at the store’s security guards. Almost killing the baby.

US Base Attacked

The U.S. Navy Base in 神奈川県横須賀市 (Yokosuka, Kanagawa-prefecture) south of Tokyo was attacked by two rocket bombs last Friday evening.

Noone was hurt. But police suspect it was an attack by activists who are against the American nuclear-powered aircraft-carrier, U.S.S. George Washington, being stationed there starting later this month.

(I wrote a post about this ship coming to Japan here
(I also mentioned it in a few other posts. If you want to see them, you can use the Search function on this blog. A search for posts on my blog “USS George Washington” can be accessed here )).

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Speaking of 神奈川県横須賀市 (Yokosuka, Kanagawa-prefecture)…if you visit that town, the US Navy base is in 神奈川県横須賀市本町 (Honcho, Yokosuka-ward, Kanagawa-prefecture).
The closest train stations are JR 横須賀駅 (Yokosuka JR Station), 京浜急行汐入駅 (Keihin-kyuukou Shioiri Station), or 京浜急行横須賀中央駅 (Keihin-kyuukou Yokosuka-chuo Station).
You probably wouldn’t be allowed inside the American base (unless it’s a day of one of their “Friendship Festivals“), but the street across from the base (that many American sailors mistakenly call “The Honch” (because the town’s name is 本町 (Honcho)) is ドブイタ・ストリート (Dobuita Street) with many shops and restaurants that are unique to the area.

神奈川県横須賀市 (Yokosuka, Kanagawa-prefecture) is famous for 海軍カレー (Navy Curry) because the Japanese Navy (which also has a base there) brought curry from India to Yokosuka.

Another thing that 神奈川県横須賀市 (Yokosuka, Kanagawa-prefecture) is famous for are the popular スカジャン (‘Suka-jyan). Which are souvenir 神奈川県横須賀市 (Yokosuka, Kanagawa-prefecture) jackets that were popular with the U.S. Military but it’s now mostly Japanese people who buy them.

There’s also 猿島 (Saru-shima (which translates to Monkey Island…but there are no monkeys there anymore)), which can be accessed by ferry.
And 三笠公園 (Mikasa Park) with the Japanese battleship Mikasa that you can take a tour of.