Peter Goldsbury

Hello Niall,

Another comment on one part of your earlier post.

In the early days of this forum, when the late Ubaldo Alcantara was a contributor, there was some discussion about the content of threads and posts here. Some people thought that the posts had to accommodate the (seemingly, very short) attention span of the average Aikiweb reader, but Ubaldo disagreed--and I disagree also.

I think a forum like Aikiweb stands or falls on the quality of the threads and posts and not on the authority / eminence or otherwise of the posters. There is scope for enormous variety here and some of the posts I have read have a verbal brilliance that I quietly envy. (Of course, there is all the other stuff, as well, but this is unavoidable in a general forum like Aikiweb and Jun has provided ways for readers to be very selective in what they want to read.)

So I apologize, but only a little, for the demands I make on the readers of these columns. I live in Hiroshima and am quite active in local affairs. Some people here still believe that the atomic bomb literally fell from the sky on August 15, 1945, and that its appearance was entirely unrelated to any of the events that took place from 1931 onwards. Last Tuesday there was a rijikai meeting of the A-Bomb Museum and questions were asked about the content of the exhibition in the Museum. The director argued quite strongly that the museum should not include any exhibits or evidence about any of the events before 8.15 on August 6, 1945. The director is an American, by the way, and an ardent peace activist. He wanted a dramatic focus, that would get attention, rather than detailed, but pedestrian, evidence about the war in the China and the Pacific and Hiroshima's role as a military city.

Similarly, some people seem to believe that Morihei Ueshiba and aikido suddenly appeared, like one of the very early deities in the Kojiki, and in Japanese English! I was astonished to see Masakatsu Akatsu Katsu Hayabi, quoted as an answer to another post. That was all there was: no explanation. It was as if the meaning was intuitively obvious to anyone who could read the words. There really is an omote and ura about knowledge of Morihei Ueshiba and aikido and I believe that it is time that these two poles came closer together.

Of course, you live in Japan, so I believe you know what I mean.

Best wishes,

PAG