The borderless world and ham radio as a community

National boundary is losing its meaning more and more nowadays. Because the economy is more globalized even though this globalization won't necessarily make all of us happier. At least, in the point of economical view, we could not get along within a country by ourselves. And the issues of environment and of natural resources also require us to deal with them across the border. The religions or races are located across the borders in many places. There could still be struggles and disputes across the borders anywhere as you know. The worst aspect in this borderlessness is in the terrorism. We should go on living in this borderlessness, which we have never experienced in the history.

Where could we find our hope in this borderless age? One of the answers might be in the presence of community. Sociology tells us a community is a functional concept which is defined the following
characteristics;
1)Everyone recognizes each other there.
2)The relationship among the members is long lasting.
We are living in a variety of communities. That is, we are situated in the concentric circles of various communities. Family, local area, workers at a company, believers in a religion and so forth. Those communities overlap each other and tend to make people related and united tightly.

Do I look it too much birght side of the situation if I advocate ham radio could form one of those communities over the borders in the world? I have thought of this possibility for a long time. If we have a real community across the borders, we might be able to overcome the nationalism and the wrong side of the borderlessness. At least, ham radio could be more hopeful than the internet, where we could scarcely recognize each other in the unstable relationship. We should reflect if ham radio society already could be such a community or not.

I have received an e mail from Mike WB4ZKA. It was a really pleasant mail to me. I won't brag about what he has said about me. But I felt there is a guy who enjoys ham radio on CW in the same way as I do. Isn't it an expression of a community across the border?  With Mike's permission, I would quote his mail to me here;

Shin-san,

You and I have chatted on CW before, most recently last year.  You impressed me
with your willingness to stretch beyond the normal "599 73" DX contact.

I want you to know how much I appreciate you on CW.  I've heard you put American
hams to bed late at (U.S.) night with "sweet dreams", I've heard you in my
pre-dawn hours when I can't sleep, and I've heard you in my afternoons (your
pre-dawn hours when you don't seem to sleep) chatting at a lively gallop with
others in the U.S.

You discuss international economics, dog care, manufacturing strengths, and all
sorts of other topics competently and fluidly.  You seem to know everyone, and
many hams I talk to on CW all know you.  That's quite an accomplishment.

I sometimes sleep out in the small travel trailer in my back yard that houses my
HF CW station.  Normally, I leave the receiver on 40m turned down low.  More
than once, I've been pleased in my sleep to hear your signal whispering in
around 7026 kHz.  In my sleep, I can copy your call sign.

And it is the call sign of a respected friend.  You bring pleasure to my heart.

I don't mean to offend your Japanese sensibilities, but you have a bigger impact
on the CW landscape than your logbook shows.

-- Mike

Nakamura Hachiman Shrine

There is a shrine 1 or 2 km south of our home. I have been there twice or so long time ago. When I was working at my own office south of here, I was commuting on a street running along this shrine. I knew it had been a pretty old one. I was not interested in it and would not drop there at all. This afternoon, when it was getting a bit warm for this time in a year, I visited this shrine. Recently, I have been reading about Shintoism. It used to be a native religion or rather a collection of habits among the people. But, in Meiji era, when the government needed a system to unite the people, they combined it with the emperos system. It has grown into the fanatic patriotism before and in WWII. My intersts in Shintoism might have brought me there as well as the good weather has.

 

My mother used to talk about a festival held at this shrine. A man galloping this entrance road down was shooting a target. It seemed to be a fond memory for her. I don't know when it is performed or even if it is still done or not. There were rows of old cedar trees along the road from the entrance to the worship place for several hundred meters. No one there and very quiet. 

 



 

 

 

Searching how and when this shrne was established, I knew an emperor had been told to build it in the 7th century. In the 12th century, Yoshiie Minamoto worshiped this shrine on the way for a battle to Tohoku area. It seemed to be a historical fact. This worship facility was built in 1461. Again no one in the worship place. I think there are people coming for worship only in the new years' days etc. No tourists. There are so many old shrines like this all over our country.

  

 

 

 

This shrine, one of Hachiman Shrines, worships the 15th emperor in the 5th century. He is a god of military in the relevant Shintoism named Hachiman. Historically, his existence is still quetioned even though some people insist he is the first emperor who could be confirmed in the history. Most likelily, there had been a head of a big tribe who was later regarded that emperor.  The early lineage of the emperor must be mythical.

 

Having grown up in this area, my mother must have come here and enjoyed annual festivals as told above. I felt I had seen my mother in her shildhood playing along the entrance road there for a while. Of course, it was an illusion. I wondered what she would say if she had known that I got interested in and visited this shrine. I wished I could converse with her about it and the other many things. 

Meat and Potato

Beef was cooked with potato, carrot and onion. It was seasoned with fish stock, sake, sugar, soy sauce and sweet rice wine. The latter two were added in the midst of cooking. Using beef instead of pork and less salty seasoning are typical for the recipe in Kansai area. My wife, originally from Shikoku next to Kansai, likes that taste better than that in Kanto area.

 

This menue called Nikujyaga, which stands for Meat and Potato, is another popular one popular among families in Japan. 

 

 

 

 

A limit of the internet media.

A friend of mine in the US has told in the facebook as follows; he was told by one of his friend his saying was too much and would be censored out by him. This friend of mine is always sarcastically cartooning the president Obama and the government in the facebook. It makes me chuckling sometimes. But, basically, I won't agree with him in most cases.

Not only the content of his political opinion but also the use of internet media like the facebook for insisting it won't work out, I am afraid. Political opinions are always based on the sense of values a person has got through his life. It is not easy to persuade someone with a political opinion different from yours into your own. There should be an open mindedness to seek truth or, at least, to look for something better in the world. It is a very tough process like mining a small hole through a rock.

This attitude of open mindedness, which Karl Jaspers used to express a sense of Kommunion, is very scarse in the world of the internet. There is only a raw battle of debate or enforcement of someone's opinion to the others. It is always impossible to compress a problem in the politics into a phrase or a few lines of sentences. Such simplification of problems in the politics and/or economy is that one has given up hthinking of his own opinion by himself.

Owing to this trend for simplification of the point of contention is especially evident in such as the facebook. It doesn't look like a media appropriate for discussing such subjects. Cartooning politicians would necessarilly help others to understand what you would say. Now such internet media is so popular that, I am afraid, there could be no real public opinion but only mobocratic opinion as the summation of such limited views.

It is not the others' problem but surely inine itself. I should go on asking myself if my saying would be based on an open minded attitude towards others. Thnking of these issues, I quit his post in the facebook without leaving any comment. 

Yellowtails broiled with soy sause and sake

Broiling with soy sauce and sake is a popular cooking method in Japan. Fresh yewllowtails were cooked in that way. Broil fish on oiled pan. Clean the oil with a paper towel. Add same amount of soy sauce, sugar, sweet rice wine and sake. Boil for a few minutes. Then broil again pouring the sauce on fish a few times. Very fine dish is ready. Fish looks shiny. It tastes soft and juicy. This good taste may make you smile in unawareness. Please try it. You may enjoy one of the typical family dishes in Japan without visiting here. For further information, it is called, in Japan, as Teriyaki, that is, shiny broiled dish.

 

 

Cold snap

Kept turning on a tap in the garden in order to avoid water pipe from freezing. There was an ice column formed there this morning. The tap water flow was frozen. It has been around minus 8 degrees C in mornings here. The cold snap has been rather hard here even though we are still lucky without any snow fall. The veggies are not growing at all. Such as spinach are rather shrunken. I put them in soy sauce soup every day.

 

The magnolia and ume have put forth tiny buds. But it may take them a few weeks or even months to come out here. So far, an amateur gardener could go on taking off for a while.

 

Forty meters is now closed for North America by 15Z while it was open there until 16 or 17Z a few weeks ago. It might skip less for the West Coast soon. Twenty meters may explode for Eu or NA at night in our time not too long from now.

 

I am looking forward the arrival of spring in dual senses.

 

 

Resisting the declining activity on CW

As I have written here many times, I love listening and operating on 40m before and at the sunset. The band is always quiet. The QRM from south eastern Asia is not bad at that time while it is always open to North and South America. If the condition is on the peak in a year, it may open to all over the world at the same time.

Again, as I repeatedly say, there have been less hams enjoying conversation on CW at this time in a day even if the condition is superb. Not having got bored with, I have called CQ on 7026KHz for an hour. The band was admirably quiet. I have got call from a couple of old friends, Keith, VK4TT and, Don, N4UB. I have not met them quite often for the past year. Unfortunately, either was not loud enough to enjoy conversation leisurely. Keith told me old Al, VK4SS, has gone SK when I asked him how he had been doing. I thought I had looked Al on a photo in his page of QRZ.com. Al used to be one of my DXs in my teen age days. He would have been over 90 years old. Don got only a real weak signal. We exchanged season's greetings. In the end of the QSO with him, signal was building up. Yes, it is always fascinating me that the condition is always coming up as we go on working. I have met a couple of other guys for simple QSOs. Four QSOs in total for an hour. Isn't it bad?

As I always complain of, there are decreasing number of hams enjoying conversation on this mode. I have wondered what brought it into the world of CW. One factor is the absolute decline of the number of CW operators all over the world. This art of communication was taken over its position by digital mode or, for young people, by the internet. The other factor may be that most CW operators use it as a tool for DXing, contesting or chasing awards. It is up to them how to do with this mode. It might be beyond imagination what a fun they could get in conversational CW. Useless to discuss about these themes which have been talked about for many times without any substantial and convincing conclusion.

I could operate radio as much as I want when the bands are open now. I would go on operating radio and enjoying it much. Some people may realize what a fun it is when they happen to listen to me, even though I won't be conscious or expecting of such audience at all. It is just for my fun and for my reminiscence for good old days. Another thing I would do for CW activity is to analyze and describe what goes on in ourselves with objective, preferably scientific, words. I got a hint that the rewarding circuit in our brain may play a role, which produces the fun of CW communication. This is one of my objects this year. There should be some reason why we find fun in operating with such a slow and effort requiring mode as CW.

So see you on 40m around our sunset, that is, 08Z if you get up that early, my friends in the US.