A shrine gate. The modest building peeking through the trees in the background is an aquarium.

In Manaus, there was a commemorative ceremony held at the assembly hall of the Western Amazon Japan-Brazil Society, followed by a floral tribute to a war memorial. In the evening, a big memorial dinner party was given. All of these events were attended by more than 400 people, of which 260 were delegates from various settlements in other provinces including Sao Paulo, and a few dozens of visitors from Japan and over 100 Japanese residents living in the Manaus area.

While the city of Manaus embraces around 2000 Japanese-Brazilians, including those of the second and third generations, plus about 100 business people from Japan, the percentage of local attendance at these anniversary events represented only 5%. That is why I purposely wrote "in sort of grand style" at the beginning of the article. I personally wished there had been at least a 10% attendance, 200 of local Japanese residents.

Well, I understand that quite a lot of the locals were unable to attend the anniversary due to the requirements of their bread-and-butter jobs; however, when it comes to those expatriate Japanese business people stationed here, they could have concerned themselves a little more about events like this, particularly in view of the fact that their business more or less rides on the coattails of the 80 years trailblazing by their fellow Japanese immigrants. Since the anniversary fell on Sunday, quite a few of those expatriate businessmen, as if defiantly, went off for a golfing or fishing weekend, although all of them knew about the ceremony but were only unable to understand its historical meaning. I do not blame them for that at all. I mean it. I just have misgivings about the deterioration of moral responsibility on the part of the corporate managers who have selected/dispatched such undiscerning subordinates to represent their company.

The visiting party from Japan comprised a young legislator, who also represented the Japan-Brazil Legislative Association, and a proxy on behalf of the governor of Fukuoka prefecture---a province that has sent a large number of settlers to Brazil in the past. Those veteran Japanese legislators who had rendered considerable service to boosting exchanges between the two countries lost their seats in the most recent elections across the board. It is a pity that the anniversary could not secure the attendance of any of those politicians familiar with the circumstances of Japanese immigrants in Brazil.

Said visiting party brought messages from the crown prince and the prime minister of Japan, which were read out by the members of the party; however, Prime Minister Aso had been ousted from power by that time, and therefore his message rang hollow somewhat, despite the fact that it had been prepared in Japan while he was still in office.

Aside from the political implication, the anniversary events also included traditional oral Japanese storytelling (Kodan) performed on the festival eve by Takarai Kinbai, a master performer, and a lecture given by Kazuma Yamane, a non-fiction science journalist, and a live performance by a professional singer, Kazufumi Miyazawa both on the anniversary day.

To my disappointment, however, I was told that the itinerary of the 260 delegates from other provinces had not scheduled to pay a visit to my Museum due their limited budget and time. But since the Museum is located in the vicinity of the war memorial, or rather as I have acknowledged myself and the Museum to be a self-appointed keeper of the war memorial, I arranged to host a free community open house at the Museum with offers of free chilled oolong tea so that those coming to pay floral tribute to the war memorial would be able to come by for comfort stop. Then, it turned out that almost everybody who visited the war memorial on that day DID call in at the Museum, and in the end, the water use in the bathroom far exceeded the supply capacity, making all of us panic!

Incidentally, I had placed a contribution box in one corner of the Museum, just in case some people might want to express their gratitude in material form. The result? About 20 people chipped in a total amount equivalent to Yen 2150.

Is that a lot or too little? I'll leave it up to my reader's judgment.

A plasma TV set contributed by Panasonic Brazil, which is installed in one of the corners of the Museum to show videos and slides that I have shot of various species of Amazonian fauna and flora.

Penned on Sept. 22, 2009

When I started this blog last year, I planned to post a whole lot of still photos of animals and plants indigenous to the Amazon, but my interest had shifted to recording the fauna and flora in moving pictures ever since the beginning of this year. Then, I soon found it technically quite difficult to send out moving images from where I am, and in sorted of despair, I gave up on posting anything altogether, leaving my blog out in the cold. Yeah, I known it's not like me to do that. I am going to update my blog more frequently, but it will probably be studded with more of a feature article-type of writing with, possibly, less photos than before.

Now, it was 14 degrees centigrade in Sao Paulo when I flew in from a muggy Tokyo summer after having been up in the air for 26 hours.

I couldn't get a room with LAN access at my regular hotel in Avenida da Liberdade, Sao Paulo, which was almost fully occupied due to some event being held at a nearby Japanese society building, called BUNKYOU.

Next morning, I was awakened at 4 o'clock by the single-digit temperature and the seemingly endless iteration of a Japanese children's song, "TAKEKURABE", being sung by a boy in the next room who was presumably 10 years old or so.

So, I packed up and checked out of the hotel at 7:00AM and got a taxi to the airport. The outdoor temperature was 12 degrees centigrade. I recognized anew that cars were equipped with a heater because I had never had need of one before in my 34 years living in Brazil.

I finally got back in Manaus at 1:00PM local time, where the thermometer read 34 degrees C and the humidity was around 70%. I stood in the almost blinding blaze of the tropical sun, and looked up at white fluffy clouds in the incredibly bright blue sky. I felt myself breaking out into a sweat, and it was as if all the harmful substances in the unhealthy air of Tokyo had been being washed out of me. I was feeling soooooo good!

Penned on Jul. 25, 2009

Croc: Look, I'm not the one that devoured the aracari. That guy is only 1.2m long and 8 kilos in weight, but I am as long as 2m and weigh more than 25 kilos. People around here call me 'King of the Pond.' Wasn't born here but took the liberty of settling in this pond. I feel cozy here. Lots of food. That's why I'm getting fat around the middle these days, ha, ha, ha....

The year 2009 is the 80th anniversary of Japanese emigration to Amazon.
The memorial ceremony is slated to take place in Belem on September 18, and in Manaus on September 20. The actual commemoration day falls on some day in November, but these events have been brought forward because the 120th anniversary of Japanese emigration to Peru will be held about the same time, so the people involved will be able to participate both of these commemorative functions.

Also, this year marks the bicentennial anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth.
To me, the global financial crisis in last October appears to be the result of having been hung up too much on the evolutionistic view that our economy, and civilization in general, will ever evolve, although I'm not sure whether Darwin himself had advocated such a view per se in the first place.

The fauna and flora of the Amazon haven't changed basically since 1850s when Alfred R. Wallace was roving the tropical rainforest here. Well, the only difference is the human population increase: there were only 1500 people in Manaus back in those days, whereas the city of Manaus currently embraces a population 1.8 million!

Penned on Jan. 7, 2009

In consequence of the global financial crisis, the Brazilian currency, Real, has been devaluated by about 40% against the US dollar.

At the end of September, one Real retained the value of around 70 Japanese Yen, and now it's about 40 JPY.

Naturally, this devaluation must be a boon to those expatriate Japanese business people being stationed in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, allowing them to lead a little bit more comfortable life down there.

This perhaps accounts for the fact that appreciatively more Japanese families appear to be visiting the Amazon during the year-end and New Year holidays--a phenomenon that has not been seen in the past few years.

And many of those Manaus-based expatriate Japanese businessmen, who are not returning to Japan temporarily, are setting off for various must-see landmarks on the continent like Machu Picchu.

The croc with a full stomach from yesterday's delicious aracari dish, making its belly twice as fat as usual.

I first thought it wouldn't be as bad as last time, but yet the downpour worried me a bit, so I came to the Museum a little earlier than usual, at around 7:30AM, and this is what I discovered.

Contrary to my expectation, the rainfall this time not only exceeded that of the last time but registered the highest rainfall in the last 20 years. It appeared that the area a few miles upstream had received copious rain.

According to the weather station, the precipitation of usual years averages around 2200mm, and the rainfall in this part of the Amazon registered 2409mm in 2007, while we have had 3098mm of rainfall this year, 811mm more than usual years.

It was reported that today we had 69mm of fall in a relatively short period of time, which flooded various places around the city and required extensive rescue operations.

The accumulated rainwater started to drain by around noon, and quite a few birds came around looking for food at the pond of the Museum, trying to take advantage of the slower-than-usual draining speed. A medium-sized aracari (or 'toucan' also in Portuguese) about the size of a pigeon, which had been pecking aqai (or acai, and 'açaí' in Portuguese) berries at the edge of the pond, unfortunately fell prey to the croc sitting quietly in the water.

Aracaris seldom land on the ground, but this unfortunate one was lured to the berryies of aqai palm trees growing within the hunting ground of this voracious reptilian.

Penned on Dec. 30, 2008

Guess what this is.

It's a chameleon.

Chameleons inhabit on the fringe of a forest, ridding themselves of the attention of unwanted animals like eagles and wild cats.

I wish I could rear one just for a short while so that I can take photos of it having its frill erected around the neck, just like a frill-necked lizard. But no such thing is legally allowed here in the Amazon under the present circumstances.

So, please excuse me for not being able to show you a photo of a rare moment of this chameleon's flamboyant performance.

Penned on Dec. 24, 2008

Croc: Look, I'm not the one that devoured the aracari. That guy is only 1.2m long and 8 kilos in weight, but I am as long as 2m and weigh more than 25 kilos. People around here call me 'King of the Pond.' Wasn't born here but took the liberty of settling in this pond. I feel cozy here. Lots of food. That's why I'm getting fat around the middle these days, ha, ha, ha....

The year 2009 is the 80th anniversary of Japanese emigration to Amazon.
The memorial ceremony is slated to take place in Belem on September 18, and in Manaus on September 20. The actual commemoration day falls on some day in November, but these events have been brought forward because the 120th anniversary of Japanese emigration to Peru will be held about the same time, so the people involved will be able to participate both of these commemorative functions.

Also, this year marks the bicentennial anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth.
To me, the global financial crisis in last October appears to be the result of having been hung up too much on the evolutionistic view that our economy, and civilization in general, will ever evolve, although I'm not sure whether Darwin himself had advocated such a view per se in the first place.

The fauna and flora of the Amazon haven't changed basically since 1850s when Alfred R. Wallace was roving the tropical rainforest here. Well, the only difference is the human population increase: there were only 1500 people in Manaus back in those days, whereas the city of Manaus currently embraces a population 1.8 million!

Penned on Jan. 7, 2009

On Dec. 8, my earlier-than-usual arrival at the Museum at 7:30AM led me to an encounter with a bizarre fungus. Sure, it has been drippy lately.

A closeup picture of the fungus. It reeked slightly of rot, which seemed to be attractive to bugs. The geometric fungus of 5cm in diameter shriveled into a minuscule lump in about an hour.

Aha, that same treehopper on the same tree. This one looks a bit smaller than its kindred I saw last time, perhaps due to the recent lack of sunshine. But the difference is only to a minor extent, by a couple millimeters in length.

The familiar face, a crocodilian which has settled into the pond on my property. From its right hindlimb stretching limply on the sand, you can tell it's so relaxed, even when I come within 5 meters of it.

The picture below shows how shy it was a month ago. With its four limbs gripping the ground firmly, the croc was ready to escape at any moment. But that is how a wild reptilian should be--on the lookout for human intruders.

Penned on Dec. 22, 2008

According to the INPA's allegations, it looks like you are 'barred from'even appreciating those insects and flowers that you come across in your own garden or on your weekend tour in the Amazon.

If your hands are tied like that---e.g. you are deprived of your freedom of taking photos of natural life forms as you please --- what is the point of being (or living) in the Amazon Basin? How on earth could such a straitjacketed Amazon attract visitors from all over the world? Not a chance!

Penned on Dec. 12, 2008

The meeting was held as a result of my compromise that I hammered out after three complaints filed against me by the INPA, which had taken objection to the court order issued against them in this past June to the effect that everything they had confiscated from Hashimoto should be returned to him immediately on the basis of insufficiency of proof and the expiration of the statute of limitation.

All of these three complaints were filed in an attempt to reclaim my insect specimens which they had returned to me with much reluctance; along with the third complaint they filed, they even caused my Museum to be searched, denouncing that"Hashimoto might just possibly smuggle his returned specimens out of the country."

What it was was that they insisted on keeping MY insect specimens in their hands; so, if they were infatuated that much with my beautifully prepared exhibits, I suggested that I wouldn't mind donating 70% of my insect collection to the Court (I know that a good part of the donatives would end up in the hands of the reasonless INPA).

How did the meeting go? The participants from the INPA sat still without uttering a single word. Instead, a magistrate and a prosecutor asked my legal counsel numerous questions. The meeting was a session intended for a sort of out-of-court settlement in the presence of a judge.

My legal counsel dealt with the questions one by one, but the demands from the INPA side were so unreasonable and persistent that they were like a swarm of annoying flies infesting my food. So, in the hope of savoring my food and leading a peaceful life in general, I threw the abovementioned suggestion at them. Then, the prosecutor presumptuously demanded, "You should include your tower in the donation list, too."

I gave a big thumbs down to the unwarranted demand; then, he came back with an equally brazen reply, "Then, why don't you allow the INPA to use the tower for free for three years?"

Now it became obvious that the INPA had intended to hijack my tower in the first place.

The insect specimens they confiscated in the course of the investigation on my tower must have smelled like a rose to them. Because they must have thought that if they could 'successfully' allege I had obtained/sold contraband insects, the tower would automatically fall in their hand.

Why that is so has something to do with Brazil's environmental laws.

I must refrain from disclosing sensitive details of the wheeling and dealing at this moment in order to protect my position. But I am sure the day will come soon when I can tell you, my dear readers, what has happened during this time.

My outright refusal to donate/loan my tower naturally led to a breakdown of our negotiations. The next round of talks is slated for January 20, 2009.

No matter how much the INPA bugs me with all these countersuits, I am not at all about to succumb to their trumpeted-up story. Period!

Penned on Dec. 10, 2008