Jose Rizal Day

It is June 20 and it is Dr. Jose Rizal day in Philippines. So let us celebrate this day with a little post dedicated to the hero and a couple of quotes from him.

Jose Rizal (1861-1896) is the national hero of the Philippines. He was by all accounts a polymath, an extremely intelligent man who spoke around ten languages, travelled extensively, wrote two books “noli me tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” which were critical of the manner in which Spain was ruling the Philippines, which had been a Spanish colony for centuries. He was involved in politics and was eventually executed by the Spanish at the age of 35. One of the many countries he visited was Japan, and this bust was erected on the site of a hotel he stayed at in 188

By the way, did you know that Jose Rizal had a Japanese girlfriend?

Usui Seiko, nicknamed “O Sei San”
O Sei San, a Japanese samurai’s daughter taught Rizal the Japanese art of painting known as su-mie. She also helped Rizal improve his knowledge of Japanese language. If Rizal was a man without a patriotic mission, he would have married this lovely and intelligent woman and lived a stable and happy life with her in Japan because Spanish legation there offered him a lucrative job.

If you want more info of about Usui Seiko, I recommend visiting this article page. But it doesn’t really tell us how Rizal and Seiko never ended up together.Click here!
And here is a bit more about Rizal’s other love life. Click here!

Quotes:

He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.
Jose Rizal

He who does not love his own language is worse than an animal and smelly fish.
Jose Rizal

It is a useless life that is not consecrated to a great ideal. It is like a stone wasted on the field without becoming a part of any edifice.
Jose Rizal

Japanese enjoying ‘second childhood’

I found this inspiring article while going through the news online. This specific article actually inspired me that you can never stop learning. This is a about a 63 years old Japanese man living with his Filipina wife in Pangasinan (North of Manila).. Just read the article and I think you will like it. Sorry no pictures though…

SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan, Philippines — He’s a stranger in a strange place, doing a strange thing. But somehow everything makes perfect sense to Japanese national and third grade “pupil” Etsuo Yamagata.

“I want to study English, Tagalog, and Pangasinense,” Etsuo said in stammering yet comprehensible English. He is 63 years old.

Belinda Yamagata, 57, Etsuo’s Filipino wife and long-time employee of a leading Japanese electronics company, helps prepare the student daily for his classes at Jose Macam Paningbatan Sr. Elementary School here in the town of San Juan.

As a routine, Belinda or “Belen” accompanies her husband to school every morning before going to the local market. Thursday was no different.

“Every day, we leave the house at 6:50 a.m. and walk to school together. We treat it as exercise,” she said.

After having kamote and coffee for breakfast, Etsuo emerges from their eye-catching pink house carrying a back pack, and clad in a white T-shirt, walking shorts and rubber shoes. “I also like pandesal,” he quipped.

more

Tokyo Man Collected Spit From Hundreds of Little Girls

This is a post I found in japanprobe. For me, this beats all stalkers I have posted.

A 55-year-old unemployed man was arrested in Tokyo because he had a very strange hobby. He would approach elementary school girls on the street and ask them to provide him with saliva samples for his “research.” If girls agreed, he would film them as they spit into cups.

Since 2005, Tokyo police had received 125 complaints from residents who were disturbed by the man’s behavior. According to police sources, the man told them that he collected to spit for his own sexual gratification. The man said he’d been doing this for 17 years and had collected spit from 500 little girls.

The local kids had a nickname for him: “Mister Give-Me-Spit” (つばくれおじさん).

While the guy may have been creepy, was he really committing a crime? He didn’t force girls to give him spit. An article on J-Cast notes that a lot of Japanese netizens reacted to the news by questioning the legal grounds under which police arrested the man. A police spokesman explained that the man was violating the following section Tokyo’s Nuisance Prevention Ordinance:

JSDF Floating Orb Robot

Hey guys!Sorry this is probably the first post I’ve had in months. I just got caught up with moving and school and whatnot >__<
and it still going on.. So I will try to post as much as I can in my free time. But for now, let us start with this post about a floating orb drone developed in Japan.  Pretty cool but weird if you ask me.

The orb was developed by the Japanese military, as this top YouTube comment explains:

Max Speed is about 40mph.

Almost all parts can be found in Akihabara, Japan.

It has been developed by technology research section of Japanese Self Defense Forces.

It took one & a half year to be developed.

jprobe