The Emperor and Empress' golden smiles on the cover of the special 50th wedding anniversary issue (April 18) come from their most precious human endeavors. I have learned much more about them after reading the articles in the special issue.

I know that they have been worried about those who died during World War II and they visited the places where many people were killed to console the souls of the victims. Their dedication and consideration deeply impress us. Although they have not expressed their opinions much, they seem to think that our stable and happy life without war for such a long time is due to the dead's tremendous sacrifices for the sake of this country.

I feel our Emperor and Empress are real people who are pursing peace everywhere on our planet.

I am moved by the Emperor's comments (April 18 issue). This is the first time that I have read the Emperor's comment about the Imperial family acting like robots. I've never seen this kind of comment in Japanese papers.

Also, I learned that the Emperor's favorite word is "chujo." At first, I could not understand how to write this in Chinese characters. I checked the Kojien dictionary and finally found the word "忠恕." I hope this is correct.

"Effort prize" and "profound happiness" are famous comments that most Japanese are familiar with. The Emperor and Empress are good models for Japanese people, and I am proud to have Emperor Akihito on the throne and I also respect Empress Michiko very much. I hope they will be in good health for a long time.

* Editor's note:「忠恕」は孔子の教えで真心と思いやりの心を意味するそうです。

I've become interested in more environmental issues while reading the Weekly recently.

Mount Everest is being protected by some Sherpas (April 11 issue). Indeed, some communities have put an emphasis on tourism to get more revenue while careless, rude climbers haven't minded leaving or scattering garbage. As a result, the environment surrounding Mount Everest is rapidly deteriorating.

As another example, I can point out a restaurant making use of Buddha statues in order to attract more guests in Indonesia (April 4 issue). Though these statues are a kind of World Heritage, the restaurant owner, a non-Buddhist, ignores how precious and historic they are. Instead, the statues are exploited for commercialism.

From the above two examples, we can find that some people are too selfish to respect pristine nature and intact culture. But now we have to keep a balance between nature and development, or welfare and profit. Such actions will lead to the preservation of the environment and human survival. If we don't do this, we will be destroyed physically and mentally in the near future.

It has been seven years since I started subscribing to The Japan Times Weekly. My English level has improved, and now I am able to enjoy overseas travel alone to watch baseball games in Chicago and Seattle. I look forward to reading interesting articles in the Weekly every week.

I look forward to reading the paper every week.Some articles are difficult for me so I cannot read all of them. However, I make an effort to read as many stories as I can. I like short articles and the World pages with things I don't know about.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 2, 2009
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