Visit to Japan

(STILLWATER, OKLA • Sept. 26, 2010) — My wife, Kayo, and I are going to Japan in early November and in anticipation and preparation of the trip she’s called a number of friends and family members from time to time throughout the summer. Each time she’s called the person on the other end of the line has talked about the heat in Japan this summer and apparently it is still quite warm. One friend told Kayo that she had seen on TV that the summer of 2010 was the hottest on record since the Japan Meteorological Agency started keeping records in 1898. Some blame El Nino which occurred during the late months of 2009 and early months of 2010 while others blame the El Nina of the summer of 2010. More than 130 people in Japan have died and thousands have been hospitalized with heat related problems. I don’t know if there’s any relationship between the hot summer and the typhoon season that covers about the same time period as our hurricane season, but to date the typhoon season has been very mild. One fairly strong typhoon hit Okinawa which is several hundred miles south of the main islands of Japan in the latter part of August, otherwise there have been no storms of any consequence to date. On another subject, the day of our celebration for the 25th anniversary of our sister cities affiliation with Kameoka is drawing near. Please set aside a couple hours on Sunday afternoon, October 17 at 2 pm to celebrate with us in the auditorium at the Stillwater Public Library. We really hope you’ll join us.