Reason Masayoshi Son visits a dentist every three months

The other day, when I went to the dentist to get a regular checkup, I found copies of an article of the magazine PRESIDENT about dental health in the waiting room. I read with interest the article and I would like to introduce a part of it from PRESIDENT 2019.8.2.

The president of Softbank group, Masayoshi Son takes a great care of teeth for health. Despite being busy every day, he has been visiting a dentist every three months for years. He cannot drink at all and is less than picky about food, but he pays a great deal of attention to self-maintenance. Visiting a dentist every three months like Son, we can say that is a common sense today. It’s not an exaggeration to say that your teeth life decides how long you can continue to work actively.

Scale buildup is inevitable. And it causes a gum disease. Also, the fewer existing teeth, the more it boosts dementia risk. People with gum disease face a growing risk of cerebrovascular accident, cardiac affection, arterial sclerosis, aspiration pneumonia, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. To extend healthy life expectancy, daily care of teeth is absolutely necessary.

Whenever I go to the dentist for a checkup, I get a plaque check with plaque agent. Sometimes I miss certain teeth for brushing without realizing. I will continue to brush my teeth properly to prevent of gum disease. (H.S)

                                   The photo is from the PRESIDENT.

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Follow-up report on the drone simulator

(Video of when I scored a lap time less than 15 seconds on FPV Freerider for the first time)

 I started using the racing drone simulator software "FPV Freerider" in September 2018 for practicing drone manupilation.

 At that time, I gave up soon because it was too difficult to maneuver, but over a year later, in December 2019, I tried it again. And I have managed to make about 15 seconds per lap recently.

 I learnd that if I kept practicing even for 10 minutes each day, I could develop my skill little by little. So I'm looking forward to beating my best time.

 In fact, I bought the paid version for $4.55 first, so it's too bad that I have used only the "Desert" course of a free version so far.
 T.S

 Related blog: Drone simulator

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The film “Ford v Ferrari”

                         

I went to see the film “Ford v Ferrari”. The film depicts how Ford challenged Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966. And, after all, the relationship of trust between Shelby (Matt Damon) and Miles (Christian Bale) was moving. The decision that Miles made toward the end of the race made me cry.

There was a monologue by Shelby: "The machine becomes weightless. And all that's left is a body moving through space and  time." with Miles's profile while the race. Only car racers may know such a state. Somehow, the 24 Hours of Le Mans resembles a 1000 Day Circumambulation, and the car racer looked as if a priest who completed the training. 

To recreate the course of the Le Mans, the producing staff looked for a similar place for several months. Also, they created the stands from scratch. They equipped cameras in the racing car and the filming was done at the same speed as the actual race. So the realism was truly awesome. 

In the film, former Ford President, Lee Iacocca, who is also known as the author of “Iacocca: An Autobigraphy” in Japan as well, appeared. The real Lee Iacocca died in July, 2019, at the age of 94, four months before the film was released.  

Talking of films of car racers, "Rush" (2013), which depicted a rivalry between Jamus Hunt and Niki Lauda (who died in 2019) was very good, too. (H.S)

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”Clear Your Clutter With FENG SHUI” written by Karen Kingston

The author Karen Kingston was born in England and lived in Bali Island from1990 to 2000. She has studied feng shui and space clearing for many years and pioneered purification of buildings’ energy. The book’s first edition was published in 2002 in Japan, so it is an introduction to clear up things before Konmari comes into the world.

Speaking of feng shui, Trump, now the President, when he built Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York(completed in 1997), he invited a feng shui master from Guandong Province, China and asked advice. 

By the way, according to Oxford English Dictionary, clutter means a lot of things in an untidy state. And, such things that you don’t need influence people negatively as follows.

*Feel tired and lose your energy

*Keep you shackled to the past

*Weaken your body movements

*Tend to delay everything

*Cause disharmony

*Ashamed of yourself

*Slow down development of your life

*Make you feel depressed

*Get desensitized

*Can’t think on what is important

The book also describes as follows.

Here are a few clearing clutter methods that people have tried.  

*Leave it to nature (alias: give up decision). A method that you keep them in a place that they will go rotten naturally.

*Wait until you die, and your relatives get rid of them. This method has been most commonly used for centuries.

*Clear them by yourself responsibly. I suggest this method!

The most difficult thing is that you start clearing. Once you start it, you will be energized quickly, so you will be able to continue naturally.

To be sure, even if I don’t feel like clearing, but once I started, I feel motivated. This year, I would like to make a habit of clearing even one drawer at a time. (H.S) 

                                   Karen Kingston from her official website

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Poetry monument of Machi Tawara on the Asuwa River's embankment

The poetry  monument of Machi Tawara 

on the Asuwa River's embankment near Sakura Bridge

Yesterday, as I was walking on the pathway of the Asuwa River's embankment, a famous spot for cherry blossoms, a monument of a tanka (Japanese poem of thirty-one syllables) by a poet Machi Tawara, who was raised in Fukui, caught my eye.

The monument was originally built on Mt. Asuwa about 30 years ago and moved to this location during the restoration work of the embankment that was broken by the heavy rain in 2004. I had never seen it before, but actually it has been here for 15 years already.

The tanka carved on the monument says: "Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, they begin to bloom, they finish falling, but the park looks as if nothing happened."

Now looking at the row of cherry trees, reminds me of the flood in 2004. But in fact, originally the trees were planted by people to mourn the victims of the World War II and in hope of reconstruction of the city. Because Fukui City was destroyed completely by US air raid.

The line "as if nothing happened" makes me feel the flow of a long thousand years beyond passing the seasons.
T.S

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Cherry trees that were planted after the World War II are over 70 years old.

Fukui City in the 'snowless' New Year of 2020

New Year’s visit to a shrine

Happy New Year!

I went to Fukui Shrine for the first visit of the year. 

The Fukui Shrine is in a good location that is by the moat of Fukui Castle Ruins. However,

the shrine doesn't look luxurious unlike typical shrines and doesn't advertise, so it seems like not so many people visit there.

In fact, the Fukui Shrine is ranked as a special government shrine that there are only 28 ones in Japan. The shrine’s main deity is Shungaku Matsudaira, who was the lord of Fukui domain. Also, in its auxiliary shrine, Sanai Hashimoto, who was executed at the Ansei Purge when he was only 25 years old, is enshrined. So residents of Fukui Prefecture may feel something familiar to the shrine.

The shrine is run by its patronage group, doesn’t operate a profit-making business, and doesn’t depend donations from shrine parishioners, so they cover the least cost by their own. I hope that the number of visitors will increase from now on. (H.S)

               Fukui Shrine’s special goshuin (stamp given at shrines or temples) for New Year

    The torii gate of the Fukui Shrine is called shinmei style that is the upper is straight,

    which is the same one at Ise Shrine. On the other hand, the upswept upper one is

    called myojin style.

                                 

                                                 The main hall is also shinmei style.                                  

                                                  I prayed at the auxiliary shrine as well. 

                         Sanai Hashimoto is depicted on a picture displayed in the precinct.

                         He taught at a domain school that founded by Shungaku Matsudaira.