Author Archives: doug

Japan government says unaware of ghosts at PM residence

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A government cover-up?

TOKYO (Reuters) – A delay in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife moving into their official residence, the site of past assassinations, has revived talk of ghosts in the corridors, prompting the government to deny any knowledge of hauntings.

Abe has not moved into the prime minister’s official residence for five months since he took power.

Asked by an opposition lawmaker about the reported hauntings, the government issued a formal statement on Friday saying it was not aware of ghost sightings, Asahi newspaper and other media reported.

The residence, formerly the prime minister’s office, was built in 1929 and was the site of military rebellions, including in 1932 when then-Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai was assassinated.

Talk of ghosts has long haunted the building, remodeled in the early 2000s. It has served as the official residence for the prime minister and the premier’s family since 2005.

Long lost relative found

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Well, not exactly long lost, because I didn’t know he existed before tonight. :)

Anyway, this evening I discovered a distant relative on Facebook. His family name and my mother’s maiden name are the same and it’s an unusual name, so I asked.

He did some stuff with family trees and correctly knew my grandparent’s names (on my mother’s side) and my grandmother’s maiden name and my mother’s name and birthdate. So that confirmed we were related!

Apparently his great grandfather and my grandfather were cousins. So that makes us 2nd cousins once removed according to his family tree.

By coincidence, he also went to the University of Michigan. And our birthdays are just 2 days apart.

So that was a fun discovery. And now we are Facebook friends, which is more than I can say about my first cousins. :)

Solamachi

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I visited Solamachi (sky town) at the Tokyo Sky Tree today. It was my first time ever to enter the Sky Tree since it opened last May. They have lots of interesting shops on the first few floors. And the weather was perfect today.

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