Rice, Pawn Shops & Day Laborers - Tsuchiura, circa 1920-1925

When it rained, there would be no work - and no rice. After a day of rain, maybe day laborers would pawn something. More days of rain meant no rice: they would run out of things to pawn. Some families would subsist on barley alone.


From "Tenements (不動長屋)," told by Terauchi Ryutaro, born in 1905

Bathing the Neighborhood - Tsuchiura, circa 1915

Tatsutamachi in Tsuchiura is is a neighborhood once surrounded by rivers and canals. In 1915, it was a cluster of thatched tenements bordered on its west side by a middle school for women.

From "Mystery in Tatsuta (立田の怪)," told by Ishido Yoshio, born in 1905

Japan Cabinet designates Tsukuba an "International Strategic Zone"

22 December 2011, Tsukuba.

Japan's Cabinet Office has designated Tsukuba City as an "International Strategic Zone." This designation is part of a national initiative to create 360,000 new jobs in strategic zones.

Restarting Tokai Daini nuclear reactor

Here are some related articles to be reviewed and summarized. Parking the references here for now.

Famine and infanticide in 18th century Japan

"There is, among the customs of Hitachi Province, one of crushing a newborn to death at its birthplace, called 'culling' children."
- Kubo Akamizu, 1773 report to Mito Clan

War, filth, famine, infanticide - in A Farewell to Alms⁵, Gregory Clark argues that, before the Industrial Revolution, the world's societies were in Malthusian traps. Their populations needed control of some sort. In Europe, this control was by war, filth and occasional famine; in the rest of the world less by war and filth, more by famine and infanticide. After the Tokugawa family took control of Japan in 1615, war was essentially absent, and, by Clark's accounts, hygiene in Japan surpassed that the rest of the world. This left population control to famine and infanticide.

Any reader tempted to derive a morality tale from the documents described below should keep in mind that, before the Industrial Revolution, all societies of the world were in Malthusian traps.

Mobility Robot Forum in Tsukuba

(Note: Moved from http://greattohokurevival.blogspot.com/2011/04/mobility-robot-forum-in-tsukuba.html on 2 December 2011)

Tsukuba, Ibaraki Japan, 12 April 2011

Designated in February by the Japanese Cabinet as a robot zone, today Tsukuba City launches the Mobility Robotics Promotion Council (ロボット特区実証実験推進協議会).

Very heartwarming to see - in spite of the circumstances, this forum is packed with about 180 attendees (final attendance >200). The forum is aimed mainly at companies and groups that are interested in participating in this initiative.

This mobility robot zone is one part of Robotics Tsukuba, an plan to make Tsukuba a global hub for service robotics.

Opening remarks: Kenichi Ichihara, Mayor of Tsukuba City

The Great East Japan Earthquake (sentence interrupted by M 6.3, Level 4 earthquake) showed how quickly an advanced society can be paralyzed by disaster. However, it is clear that science and technology will play a big role in recovery.

Robotics will play major role in cleaning up Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. AIST is already acting in this regard.

String of disasters kills up to one million Japanese

Eruptions started in April 1783 and became increasingly severe during June and July. Mt. Asama's major eruption on 6-7 August and maximum eruption on 8 August killed between 20,000 and 30,000 people. Pyroclastic flows obliterated Kamaharamura 12 km to the north. Volcanic ash, 400 million cubic meters, blanketed northern Kanto, 90 centimeters in Matsuido, 30 in Fujioka and Takasaki, even 10 centimeters in Sakura near today's Narita Airport.

Bodies carried downstream washed ashore at Shibamata on the Edo River; their graves are at Shibamata Taishakuten Temple in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward. Other graves are at Zenyoji in Edogawa Ward, and Ekoin in Sumida Ward.

Robotics Tsukuba and Regional Innovation

Robotics Tsukuba is a city initiative that integrates with national and prefectural initiatives and, I think, is at the forefront nationally in promoting local innovation. Please see the Robotics Tsukuba pamphlet at http://www.slideshare.net/AlanEngel/robotics-tsukuba.

The rusted shutters of Edosaki - a forgotten layer of a society that changes in layers

A cycle ride through Ryugasaki and Edosaki on Sunday helped me structure a set of observations that had been puzzling me.

Old Ryugasaki and Edosaki are towns located on edges of rice paddy plains. Edosaki was the transhipment point for rice being transported between the Onogawa River valley to Edo. The rice moved from there onto Kasumigaseki, up the New Tone River (built 1661-1666, not to be confused with the current Tone River), then down Edo River to its destination. Ryugasaki similarly controls the north bank of the Tone River near the mouth of Kokai River. Above both towns is the Tsukuba plateau with its science city, expressways, railways, "new towns" and shopping centers.