Eating, Meeting, Mighty, Money

  These days, with tensions continuing in parts of the Middle East, the word “peace” can feel very big. As of June 8, 2026, unstable news is still coming from the region, including conflict between Israel and Iran, the situation in Lebanon, and ongoing concerns in Gaza. Even when we hear words like “ceasefire,” there is still a sense that things could change at any moment. Even from far away, the news can make the heart feel unsettled. World peace. A world without war. A society without violence or conflict. Of course, all of that matters deeply. But I also think there is a more personal meaning of peace. Waking up in the morning. Drinking coffee. Going to work. Eating dinner. Taking a bath. Going to sleep. Even if nothing special happens, being able to think, “Today was mostly okay,” is also a kind of peace. Having your family and loved ones safe. Being able to go to the usual grocery store. Sleeping at night without fear. Making ordinary plans for tomorrow. These simple, everyday...

In this corner of the world is a Japanese animation movie. This animation illustrates how ordinary Japanese citizens survive in world war II era. Suzu is a girl who likes to draw.  She grew up in a loving family and she got married to a guy she didn't know to a city of Kure, a city a few hours away by a train from her hometown Hiroshima. The city of Kure had a war plant making warships, so this city was a target of American attacks. It gets pretty sad because food got scarce, had so many nights attacked, pretty sad, traumatic thing happened.. Please just watch in a theatre near you or in Netflix!! Growing up in Japan, my generation got an education of "War makes people miserable" mindset. When I was the first grade, we read how elephants in a zoo had to starve to death because zookeepers couldn't give an injection to them to euthanasia because their skin is too thick. The elephants did tricks trying to get some snacks as a reward. Zookeepers wer...