$67 Billion Lawsuit Against Japan's TEPCO Execs

Shareholders of Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc (TEPCO), operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan, are suing the utility's executives for a record 5.5 trillion yen ($67.4 billion) in compensation, lawyers said. The Fukushima Daiichi plant was wrecked by a quake and tsunami last March, triggering the world's worst nuclear crisis in a quarter of a century and swamping the firm with huge clean-up, compensation and decommissioning costs.
[read full article on Reuters] [watch BBC's documentary Japan's Children of the Tsunami on YouTube]

$800,000,000 Tree in Tokyo

Tokyo is now home to the tallest free-standing broadcast tower in the world with the completion of the Tokyo Sky Tree. Watch this video produced by the BBC to learn more.
[video source BBC]

Japanese Saving Money and Marrying in US

A traditional Japanese wedding often costs at least $100,000, but over the past decade, thousands of Japanese couples have opted for a cheaper alternative: getting married in the United States. [source:NPR photo:Margot Adler]

Beggar Bots

Beggars beware, technology wants your job. It's fascinating to consider that nearly every aspect of humanity may one day be replaced by a robot. While I'm sure this experiment had a humble beginning, I can see how this can be exploited all in the name of charity without any of the proceeds going to the intended recipients. Nevertheless, this video does show some interesting cultural differences between Japan and other nations.

Cost of Education in Japan

Here is a breakdown of education costs for one year of schooling in Japan for one student. CAJ is the Christian Academy of Japan where we hope to enroll our children.
Elementary public: $3,423.70
Elementary private: $14,084.59
Elementary CAJ : $8,118.15

Junior High public: $4,835.01
Junior High private: $12,992.15
Junior High CAJ : $8,625.84

High School public: $5,338.80
High school private: $10,705.77
High school CAJ : $8,933.296

Please be in prayer about our transition to Japan as our children's education is very important to us. CAJ's prices above are discounted 50% for missionary families and a tremendous bargain compared to other alternatives in Japan. It may be that we have to homeschool if there is a waiting list at CAJ. Our preference is to avoid homeschooling, but God knows His plans for our family.

Who Wants to Live Forever?

Some of you may have missed this presentation a few weeks back by Juan Enriquez speaking during an episode of TED. The crux of his talk, once you get beyond some of the humor and his discussion about the economy, is really a not-so-distance prognostication of the underlying events detailed in the Book of Revelation. Of course, given his clearly humanist worldview, Juan would not likely admit nor understand my correlation, nevertheless, we are quickly approaching that point where we humans will ultimately remove suffering from our vocabulary and in doing so, remove the need to recognize the existence of Creator God altogether. This is the reality we're facing - like it or not.

Land of the Sinking Yen

The dire effects of large scale financial mismanagement are being felt around the world, and Japan is no exception. After a decade of trying to dig their way out of their own housing meltdown of the late 80s, Japan's fragile economy has been dealt a severe blow by the current, global mess. One factor that we Americans should study with great interest is that they tried a "stimulus" scheme involving make-work projects and lavish government spending, but it only yielded dependency and a massive debt which may never be paid off. The second half of this article touches on the problem of the very low birthrate and its negative effects on the country's prosperity.