Until I saw this on PBS NOVA, I never knew how much work went into making Japanese swords. I actually didn’t even know that they still made them. It was pretty amazing. It took 3 days straight with a bunch of people (without sleeping) to make the steel for the swords. The real good pieces were sent to sword smiths, and others were to be used for kitchen knives (which is somewhat ironic, given that no one will ever actually use the swords for their intended purpose, whereas the kitchen knives will be used for real.) The sword smith with his team of people spent days pounding on the steel. It was then shipped again to be polished for 10 days straight.

I kept thinking that they would have to charge like $100,000 for each sword to make financial sense. I wonder how much they go for. I couldn’t find any prices for brand new swords, but I found this nice gallery.

This is an interesting article about Al Gore. Most of us assume that the president of the US is the most powerful person in the world, but what is powerful about it, is the position, not the person who has the position. It’s a subtle but significant difference. It is much like the difference between a hired CEO of a large corporation and a founder/owner of a corporation. The former, after all, is just an employee; you could get fired if you don’t perform. With the latter, your company is a genuine part of yourself, and it’s inseparable. And, the power you have is truly yours to keep (think of people like Richard Branson or Oprah Winfrey). In some ways, US presidency is worse than being a hired CEO because you are forced out after your terms even if you are performing well. The true power of the person, not the position, is seen in what he/she does after the presidency.

Also, being a politician is more about doing what other people want you to do than to do what you want to do. For both of these reasons, I can see that the current position that Al Gore created and built for himself is a much more attractive one than that of the president of the US.

Apparently Dalai Lama received a “U.S. Congressional Gold Medal,” which really annoyed China. I never liked Dalai Lama, but I have to give him credit for his talent for public relations. He could start a public relations consulting firm for other national leaders. It’s quite possible (and likely) that there is a master-mind behind Dalai Lama who is responsible for their success in public relations (equivalent of Karl Rove).

A few years ago, I read this book entitled “The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947”. I heard that Tibetans hated this book because it wipes out the myth the West has about Dalai Lama, Tibet and Tibetans (the image that they are saintly, passive, and defenseless people.). It’s hard to dismiss the book because it is written by a Tibetan. It becomes rather clear that you cannot squarely blame China for their conflict. China meant well, at least initially, and the conflict developed over time. It’s not like China invaded Tibet all of the sudden and slaughtered a bunch of people without a warning. Dalai Lama had a lot to do with what happened, because he was so young and inexperienced. Tibet too was a backward nation like China. In my view, the conflict was a result of both countries struggling to adapt to the modern world, like growing pains.

I used to be really into remote-controlled cars, which are known as “remo-con” in Japan, but I had never seen a video of them racing. Since these cars go really fast, it’s not easy to control them well consistently. These video clips on this page amaze me and bore me at the same time.

In Japan, the government linked 40 accidents to kid’s Crocs where the popular soft rubbery shoes got caught in escalators. One of them lost one of her toes. Here is an article in English. 40 is a lot. I’m surprised that none was reported in the US. I suppose there are a lot more escalators in Japan (and also they are usually packed.).

This is a strange idea, to make a calendar out of bento boxes, but some mothers really get into making the perfect bento boxes for their kids in Japan. I wonder if they have competitions for them; that would be really interesting.

I was completely puzzled when I heard about this latest woe of Britney Spears. I did not realize that some people considered being naked in front of a 2-year old boy as inappropriate. That seems strange to me. Don’t parents take baths with their little kids? Are you supposed to wear swimsuits in the bath with your kids?

In Japan, it’s quite common to take baths with your kids. In the popular children’s movie, “Totoro”, (released in the US by Disney) there is a scene where the father takes a bath with his two daughters. The older one is probably about 8 years old (or even older). Disney must have faced a moral dilemma where they debated whether to remove that scene for the US release.