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Broadcasting to an audience of three (and a goldfish)...
Comment, ramblings and musings... life through the eyes of a Japanologist...
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Tuesday, April 2, 2002 |
 More on the failure of the gappei of the four towns.
The idea was that the four towns on the island would group together to become a city. The preparations for this have been progressing for well over a year now, but today one of the towns left the association. The other three towns cannot on their own clear the 30000-people 'barrier', and so there is no way of proceeding. Things therefore will stay as they are for a while, but I can't see that there won't be another attempt to join together with somewhere in the near future; this is something being promoted at national level. I can't see this town standing alone for that much longer, unfortunate as that might be. There seems to be two options available:
The first is kyushu gappei, where one town is absorbed into another existing town or city. In the case of this town, it would seem that such gappei would be with Hiroshima or Kure. The second, meanwhile, is gappei where several towns come together to form a new entity. This is what was happening until today. There are several towns around this one that could become candidates for this sort of amalgamation.
In short, the only thing that's certain at the minute is that nothing's certain. It really is a case of everything being suddenly completely up in the air- and the most unbelieveable aspect of the whole thing is that the problems all arise from the name of the new city. I can see how the choice of a name could arise strong passions, but to withdraw from the whole scheme, after so much time and effort, seems a little over the top.
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You know spring's arrived when the new midshipmen at the Naval Base start their afternoon runs up the mountain here.
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Just heard that one of the towns we were supposed to be amalgamating with has pulled out of the whole thing!
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Today is the 20th anniversary of the invasion of the Falkland Islands by the Argentians.
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A day that feels more like early summer than spring. Or, from an English perspective, a day just like midsummer. The cherry blossom, which was supposed to be falling by now, especially having been battered by the wind and the rain, seems just to go from strength to strength, ever more lusciously pink against a highlighter blue sky.
Even the morning felt like an English midsummer. As I biked to work, hanging over the mountains and the bay there was one of those mists that always proclaims a beautiful summer's day. It's strange how close it is to the kosa haze, but it feels different. While the kosa says "grim afternoon", the early morning mist shouts brightness, light, pleasure.
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© Copyright 2003 Nathan Duckworth.
Updated: 8/1/03; 7:47:45 pm.
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