Samurai Stories - when to shoot a duck

So the question has been asked, "why didn't the land of the samurai warrior man up and shoot down those North Korean missiles as they flew over the Emperor's sovereign territory?". Well, taking a step back, at least this time Japan saw the missiles coming as opposed to the first time back in 1998 when Kim - "the middle one", lobbed a patriotic singing grenade over the country and the government had to be notified via a small telephone from America (though the same is true of the Russians who also missed it in flight, though apparently, as was later explained, it had been tricky and swerved to avoid their sensors).

But before we arrive at an answer, there is the slight confusion as to whether Japan already is actually currently able to shoot down a ballistic missile aimed in its general direction (Monty Python spoiler alert) or does the country need to purchase yet more kinetic hardware from the shelves of Lockheed Martin Space Systems to resolve the issue once and for all? A ponderance that begs the question "what exactly are those Patriot Missiles doing lying around the Ministry of Defense in downtown Ichigaya if not to defend against in-coming?" But let's save that for another day.

So could the reasons that Japan decided not to press the button really be two fold. Firstly, if something is flying towards you, shooting it down enhances your chances of cranial injury; i.e. if you shoot at a duck, it might just spear you out of a refined sense of irony. Point made; the second main, and much under-reported, reason for not shooting at these ballistic javelins was that as they traversed Japan, they were at a peak trajectory of some 750 miles. That's roughly double the altitude of the International Space Station to put things in perspective. Japan knew these missiles were going going to miss by the proverbial mile. And as legend would have it, those wily samurai also knew both when, and importantly when not, to shoot at a duck.

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Sending salt to your enemy - if a job's worth doing....

"Teki ni shio wo okuru" is a Japanese phrase that literally translates as "Sending salt to your enemy" the meaning of which is taken to be that even in conflict, one should act with humanity. 

The origins date back to the long running conflicts and feudal disputes that ravaged Japan prior to unification under a single Shogun Ieyasu in the early 17th century. Laying siege to a castle, the lord of the besieging army believed it unfair to starve out his enemy and instructed that salt be delivered so that they may live to fight (and presumably die) in true battle for the lands.

Without debating whether this would also be the act of a true Klingon, the question though as to whether it is the appropriate colloquial translation. Given that the attacking army was looking to ensure the destruction of the defenders through open battle where they could be despatched with sword and arrow, a more accurate translation might be "If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well".

Look out Japan, I've arrived!

My new book, "The Expat's Guide to Japan" is nearly ready to roll. The final touches have been made to the edit and the only thing left is the cover shot. Being an expat's guide, the idea was to show an expat with a beautiful Japanese girl in kimono. The brief to Eddie, the expat, was to think "look out Japan I've arrived" and the brief to Rumi, the kimono girl was to think "this is going to end in tears".

The pictures were taken by the wonderful Imano-san from And Photo in Daikanyama. At the end of the planned session she saw an opportunity, grabbed her camera and started working around the pair of them taking some incredible, totally unscripted shots.

And now I have a new problem. There are so many great shots I can't decide what to use for the cover of my new book. But I do know Japan has some very creative, young, female photographers. And I also owe a big thank you to Eddie and Rumi for being awesome and Christophe and Asuka for lending me the sword which is real. And very sharp.