Dear People of the World (formerly Dear Americans)

I went to Former Furukawa House & Garden Park in Tokyo. The house and garden used to be owned by one rich family named Furukawa, who established very big conglamour. The house was designed by British architect Josiah Conder. It was built in 1917.

Now it is owned by the Tokyo metropolitan government. It is beautiful, especially the time like this with beautiful roses blossoming in the garden.

See the photos of the below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

I'll post some more photos of the garden on album section.

The Poem reading and guitar playing show was held in the garden. The below photo is a woman reading a Shakespear's poem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also enjoy the You Tube clip of the visit.

Enjoy the acoustic guitar playing at last part. It was very nice.

 

I rented a DVD movie "The Queen." The story is about Queen Elizabeth of Britain during first week just after Diana's death. How the queen struggled with the public outside the castle.

After I saw the film, I sympathized with the queen. Yes. It is true Diana was just a civilian after the divorce. Why should the royal family express condolence in public? Media and the ordinarly people were just stupid. They were manipulated by the image of Diana. They never know what she really was.

If Diana couldn't fit herself into the royal customs, she shouldn't have to be married to Charles.  

After all, the queen had to compromise with the public opinion and make comments to express the condolence. This was against the rules of her royal tradition.

I remember none of Japanese imperial family member attended the funeral because Diana was no longer the royal family member.   

Monarchy may have to be abolished. The same things has been said about our monarchy system. The Princess Masako has been shattered from the public since she was criticized for not giving a birth to a boy. She has a daughter but the law does not allow a woman to succeed the throne. She might want to get away from the royal family.

The problem was resolved after the Prince's brother got a son.

Well, but I guess it is too early to abolish the monarchy because some people still like it. But it is ridiculous that one becomes the idol for the people just because he or she was born to be.

But that is how the system works.

Following "Dear Canadians" Series, this post is for other English speaking people than Americans. This time is for Britons. Actually the home country for English language. But the fact of the matter is English used worldwide is American. I've heard from one British guy, American English is Shakespear's era's. British English is in fact more advanced.

 

Anyway, the topic of the post is my favorite British book, "A Little Princess." It was written by Francis Hodgson Burnett. The story took place in 19th century London. A rich man's daughter named Sara Crewe entered Girls' Dormitory school. She had received special treatment by the school. But when the news that her father died and lost all of his fortune came, her life drastically changed.

 

The interesting point is Sara was a very unrealistic character, how could a girl raised in such a wealthy environment be so nice to anybody? That should not happen in real life. The point is people around her were very realistic. Miss Minchin, a principal of the school who treated her like a slave after the death of her father was very realistic character that you can find anywhere in the world such as your boss in your company.

 

People are greedy. That is the very lesson I learned from this book when I first read in my childhood. In other words, you can't be arrogant even when you are very rich and powerful. Your life can be easily changed by the current.

 

The book also gave me a negative image of British people like cold-blooded, and feudal minded. Maybe that is not true any more. The story is 19th century.

 

The story is very popular in Japan among children since it was made into cartoon programs. Visit and see the show if you are interested.