Storyboard / Personal Stories
When the war ended he was tasked with the clean up and rebuilding of his family. Recorded April 15, 2020, you can hear Masatoshi Kodama talk for the first time about his experience as a child of war through the eyes of a 9 year-old child.
Dennis would travel great distances around North America to see all the contemporary music acts of the 70. He was also so very kind as to take a 14-year-old boy to the record store to buy Led Zeppelin IV.
Truly, one was also shocked to see Japanese children going to school on Saturday of all things! In the pristine mountains of Occxie-land, Saturday was clearly the first day of the coveted weekend, and going to the indoctrination center was the furtherest thing from this author’s mind.
Having grandson use the word “grandfather” will act as a permanent pronunciation exercise to haunt him throughout his life. Along with the extreme vexing “r” pronunciation at the beginning of “grandfather” it is also part of the double-consonant “gr.”
He made his way out of the darkness of poverty through the sheer force of his will and settled down in 1963, in a pristine paradise, which is referred to by the locals as “gods country.” Anyone who has had the joy of fly-fishing for rainbow trout, on a pristine mountain lake nestle in the alpine mountains of British Columbia, can understand the significance of such deep and meaningful childhood experiences.
Over 30 years ago a young man came from the West as a stranger to the enigmatic nation of Japan. Very quickly I was intrigued by this extraordinary society, the people, and their exceptional way of life.
Being raised in the occidental tradition, including sporadically attending a variety of churches, did not prepare one for the experience in Japan when fully understanding why the Japanese venerate their ancestors.
One was shocked and dismayed when a large display of the controversial product RoundUp, made by Monsanto is now available at the local home center. This problematic herbicide with the active ingredient glyphosate has its fair share of detractors globally, as well as famous lawsuits related to the health risks associated with glyphosate.
Putting in a lot of thought about a solar array after the typhoons (now known as Megaphoons), in September of 2019, knocked out a large swath of our prefectures electricity for a full 3 days in this area, and in some other cases for weeks.
Imagine waking up as an eight-year-old and seeing a stranger sleeping in your living room. For most, this would be a most unusual occurrence, however, not in my childhood household.
Who would have ever thought before the Internet, one could come across a kindred spirit, via a social media platform, and discover so very much in common, based upon our experiences in Japan, now decades ago. In fact, Joe wrote a book about his experience in Japan starting from the early 80s and it was incredible to read of the profound similarities of so many of the experiences we both had back in the 80s in Japan.
My father came to Japan in 1968, at the invitation of Nissan Motor Co Ltd., and wore this hat. Datsun was the export brand of Nissan Motors cars.
