April 18, 2007 Masan, South Korea   Today I witnessed a strange encounter between animals—a cat and two magpies.  I had never seen anything like it.  I was walking from the library to the Eng. Dept. Building ( In Mun Kwon ).  There was an orange cat relaxing on the concrete steps of the soccer field, just enjoying the short period of sunshine.  Two magpies were hopping about nearby, only two meters away, calling at the cat, “Chak chak chak!  Chak chak chak!”  What was odd was that the cat seemed utterly unconcerned, as if the magpies weren’t there.  At most, mildly annoyed.  He stretched, yawned, turned over and rubbed his back on the warm concrete.  Then he got up and starting walking slowly away, not even looking at the noisy birds.  They kept yelling, “Chak chak chak!” trying to get his attention, hopping on either side of him, staying just far enough away in case the cat lost his cool and lashed out.  I just watched, amazed.  What was going on?  Is this how Korean a

Or 007 Was Here   ジェームズ・ボンド March 1, 2004 Nishinomiya, Japan If you are a real 007 fan, dear reader, you can easily disregard Connery, Moore, Brosnan or the latest movie Bond, whoever he or she may be.  Forget for the moment all those bloated Hollywood travesties.  They had little to do with Ian Fleming and his immortal hero, the real James Bond.  He was here in Japan, in the early sixties, though you would not have recognized him. Fleming at  Oniyama Jigoku, Beppu, Kyushu Nineteen sixty-four was a big year for Japan.   The Tokyo Olympics put Japan on the world stage again, this time as a friendly, progressive power, going places.   Massive construction projects raised dust-clouds in the metropolis.   In June, the Beatles arrived: Yeah, yeah, yeah!.   Japanese culture and technology were showcased at the New York World’s Fair.  The Hanshin Tigers (my team 38 years later) won the Central League Pennant for the second time in three years.  At the time, pe