BEST JAPANESE FILMS AND SERIES

Tomorrow I will focus on everything you might want to know about Japanese samurai, the real ones and films.  Today, simply the highest rated Japanese movies and series by Rotten Tomatoes.

Rotten Tomatoes best Japanese films

• 100%  The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013, animated)
• 100%  Seven Samurai (1954), maybe the best movie ever made
• 100%  Still Walking (2008), complete movie, wonderful family film
• 100%  Only Yesterday (1991, animated)

• 
  100%  Tampopo (1985), complete movie, with a younger Ken Watanabe
• 100%  Tokyo Story (1953), complete movie, said to be about the best made, by Ozu (frankly, I found this film to be drawn out and boring)
• 100%  Grave of Fireflies (1988, animated)
• 99%    Shoplifters (2018)
• 99%    Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011), one of my all-time favorites, especially since he once personally served me , and only me, for the entire lunch.

• 
  99%    The Twilight Samurai (2002)
• 98%    Your Name (2016, animated)
• 98%    Rashomon (1950), with Kurosawa, Mifune, Kyo and Shimura, who was the star of Seven Samurai and appeared in 21 of Kurosawa's 30 films, including the next one.
• 98%    Ikiru (1952)
• Three more 98% and 64 films in all.

Screen Rant has a top ten series from Japan to stream on Netflix.

• #10  Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light, RT 100/76, one season of 8 episodes from 2017.

• 
  #9    Devilman Crybaby, RT 89/84, 2018. Anime.
• #8    Many Faces of Ito:  The Movie, RT no ratings. Film.
• #7    Atelier, RT no ratings, one season of 10 episodes from 2015.
• #6    Million Yen Women, no RT, one season of four episodes, from 2017,
• #5    Midnight Diner:  Tokyo Stories, RT 100/93, two seasons of 10 episodes from 2016 and 2019.
• #4   Hibana: Spark, RT /95, one season from 2016.
• 
  #3    Erased, RT 100/94, one season of 12 episodes from 2016.
• #2    Aggretsuko, RT 95/83, five seasons of mostly 10 episodes from 2018 to 2023. Animated.
• #1    Terrace House:  Opening New Doors,  RT:  no ratings, one season from 2017.  

Hibana and Atelier got cancelled by Netflix.  Here is an article detailing why these productions (mostly series) got chopped.

The best Japanese movies available on Amazon Prime.  Has six films by Akira Kurosawa, including The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo.  Also Zatoichi.  I'll go into samurai films tomorrow.  Another Japanese list for Amazon Prime.

The best Japanese movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Disney+ this year (2023).  Includes Drive My Car and Shoplifters.  Finally, 10 Must-See Japanese Shows to Add to Your Watchlist.  #1 is James May:  Our Man in Japan.

I can go on and on, but will just stop here.  Tomorrow, everything you need to know about samurai.

Well, Cyclone Kevin was the second Category 4 storm to wipe out Vanuatu after Judy a few days ago.  Watch this on You Tube.

Our Seabourn Odyssey will be sailing in this region in a week.

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ABOUT DIAMOND HEAD

From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

         DAY  USA  WORLD    Brazil    India    South Africa

2020

June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82

July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572

Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130

Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82

Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85

Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30       3880    14748       1224       299      465

2021

Jan     14      4142     15512       1151        189     712

Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398

Mar      2       1989     9490        1726       110      194

April     6        906    11787         4211       631       37

May     4        853     13667        3025      3786      59 

June    1        287    10637         2346      3205      95

 July    7         251      8440        1595        817      411

Aug     4         656    10120        1118        532      423 

Sept   22      2228      9326          839        279     124

Oct      6       2102      8255          543       315       59

Nov    3        1436      7830         186        458       23

Dec     1       1633      8475          266        477       28

2022

Jan     7        2025      6729         148         285     140

Feb     2        2990   12012          946        991      175

Mar     2        1778     7756          335         173       28 

Apr     1          439      4056          290          52       12

May    5          225      2404         151            ?        64

June    2         216      1413         130           10        31

July    6           316      1627         335           35       12 

Aug    4           311       2138         258          70         ?

Sep    1          272       1732         174            ?         ?

Oct     6          281       1305         119            9         ?

Nov    3          167         980           16            ?         ?

        25            88         985           71             3        ?  

Dec    3          149       1029         131            3         ?

          8          194       1320         104             6       86

        15          147       1295         124             4         ?

        22          289       1637         165             9         ? 

        28          296       1768         337             2         ?

Jan    4          346       1534         207             ?         ?

         5           220       1611         183             ?         ? 

       12           270       1470         128             ?         ?

       19           225       1775         480             ?         ?

        26          351       1361           92             1         7

Feb    1          221       1261         126             ?         ?

          8          329         999           50             2         ?

        15          211         999         132             1         ?

        22          177       1016         312             1         ? 

Mar    1          119         618           81             1         ?

Summary:

• Most new deaths yesterday.
• #1  Germany  135
• #2  USA  119
• #3  Brazil  81
• #5  Japan  67
• #6  Taiwan  40
• World  618 
• Most new cases yesterday.
• #1  Germany 24,875
• #2  Brazil  14,706
• #3  Japan  14,524
• #7  USA  9,706

But daily numbers are spotty.  So here are some weekly totals.

• Deaths in the past 7 days. (per million population in parentheses)
• #1  Brazil  1018 (5)
• #2  USA  980 (3)
• #3  Germany  595 (7)
• #19  Australia  38 (2)
• World  5385  (0.1....but many countries don't even bother to report accurately, so this number is not close to being realistic)
• New Cases in the past 7 days. (per million population in parentheses)
• #1  Germany  125,034 (1491)
• #2  USA  100,031 (299)
• #3  Taiwan  88,774 (3716)
• #14  Australia  8,883 (341)
• World 841,777  (105)
• I include Australia, as our next trip beginning Sunday is to Sydney.  About new cases in the past 7 days, we will stop through the following sites in BOLD on our cruise back to Honolulu.  Note how prominently they are positioned for cyclone season, to be highlighted at the end of this posting.
• #1    Austria  4392
• #2    Taiwan  3716
• #5    New Zealand  1588
• #6    Germany  1491
• #16  Japan  699
• #26  Australia  341
• #28  USA  299
• #61  Samoa  64
• #76  New Caledonia  17
• #81  Fiji  14

Looking back at the table above, you would think that the pandemic is over.  There are now more seasonal flu deaths/day than covid.  So for all practical purposes, there does not seem to be any reason to prolong this state of anxiety.  

Unfortunately, not unlike Japan and several countries of the Orient that in the first year or two escaped getting too many cases, then during the past few months completely reversed the picture by leading the world in new cases and deaths, something similar has happened to my seniors' community.  

• We almost totally escaped getting infected during the first three years, except for a couple of minor outbreaks.  
• However, we have during the past month joined the Japan/South Korea/Taiwan group by suddenly becoming maybe the world epicenter....in terms of cases/capita.  It's disarming to walk past those apartments with these scary signs on the doors of those so infected.  However, I don't think any resident has actually died, which is remarkable, as the average age here must be in the mid-80s.  Why this is happening is alarming because just about every resident and staff member here has had all five shots, including the Omicron booster.
• Won't mention any numbers, but my fear is that I am a few days away from leaving Hawaii for my trip to Australia, from where I catch a 53-day cruise back to Honolulu.  We can't board the ship if we are infected, and we don't have any cruise insurance.  
• We won't know our fate until the day before departure from Sydney when we take a covid test.

With that uncertainty, I today post on Diamond Head.

The iconic image of Hawaii is Diamond Head, shown on  my masthead.  I've had numerous postings about this extinct volcano, although maybe dormant might be more accurate.  Here is the story of this landmark.

• Located just at the outskirts of Waikiki and a little more than two miles from the University of Hawaii Manoa Campus.
• A walk to the top, 12 years ago.
• I've had a hundred bentos at the Diamond Head lookout.  Here is one of 8 years ago. And two years later where I talk about the Amelia Earhart rock monument.

I live on Oahu, said to have formed 3-4 million years ago.  

• Diamond Head is probably not even 500,000 years old, perhaps as young as 200,000, and is known to Hawaiians as Leahi, mainly because the summit resembles the forehead (lae) of the ahi fish.
• However in 1825 British sailors found sparkling volcanic calcite crystals in the sand and mistook them for diamonds.  So a new name, Diamond Head.
• 
  Thus came the second Hawaiian name, Kaimana Hila.  Kaimana means diamond, while hila is a hill.  
• Charles King in 1916 composed Kaimana Hila, and as many Hawaiian songs tended to feature this term near the end, until this moment, I thought kaimana hila was something like "here is now the end of the music."

So I took an outing to Diamond Head.  I first stopped by Hawaii's Favorite Kitchens (left of Rainbow Drive) to pick up a rotisserie chicken bento, and by mistake got a lot of macaroni salad.  Then drove up to the view spot.

My bento:

I have quite a view from where I was enjoying my meal.

A few feet from where I was parked is the Amelia Earhart rock memorial, and looking mauka (toward the mountain), you can see the top of Diamond Head, which is 560 feet high.

You can of course drive to the other side of this crater and walk up.  A healthy climb, and I think visitors now need to made an advance reservation.  Parking costs $10 and there is an entrance fee of $5/person.  I went in 2011 and took this photo.

There are two ocean storms  in the region where our Seabourn Odyssey will go.  Cyclone Judy (right) was a Category 5, and has dropped to a 4, but caused havoc on Vanuatu.  Cyclone Kevin will strengthen to at least Category 3, and will follow the same path over Vanuatu.

Our Seabourn Odyssey will leave Cairns on March 27, visit New Caledonia, then go on to Fiji, followed by Samoa.

One final video, for we will begin our trip in Australia.

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QUANTUM COMPUTERS ARE HERE

The quantum computer is here.  Transition:

• The earliest intelligent life might have used fingers to compute.
• The Lebombo bone, dating back 35,000 BC, had 29 distinct notches.

• 
  The Sumerian abacus appeared around 2500 BC.  China only used this device around the year zero.
• Several analog computers go back to around 150 BC in Greece with the astrolabe.
• 
  In 1206 came the first programmable computer, a clock.
• Soon thereafter, the equatorium.  Here is one by Johannes Schoner in the 16th century.
• The slide rule was invented around 1620 in England.
• Germany designed the first calculating machine in 1623.
• In 1645 Blaise Pascal invented a mechanical calculator.
• Gottfried von Leibniz dabbled with a binary numeral system around 1675, the means by which all modern computers now work.

• 
  In 1822 Charles Babbage's machines used the decimal system, and so did ENIAC in 1945.
• When I taught computer programming half a century ago, I used punched cards, something invented in 1804 by French weaver Joseph Jacquard.

• 
  American Herman Hollerith invented data storage on punch cards that could be read by a machine in the late 1880s.
• Englishman Charles Babbage also originated the concept of a programmable computer around 1833, leading to a programmable mechanical computer described by Irishman Percy Ludgate in 1909.

• 

  A number of companies sold desktop mechanical calculators from 1930.
• Alan Turing first described the digital paper in 1936

• 
  Vannevar Bush discussed in 1936 what became the IBM punch card machine, and helped get ENIAC going.  He also was most influential in starting the Manhattan Project and the National Science Foundation.

• 
  In 1940 Arthur Dickinson of IBM invented the first digital electronic computer.
• Austrian inventor Curt Herzstark introduced the Curta in 1948, the size of a grenade.
• In 1961 came the first all-electronic desktop calculator.
• 
  Remington Rand built UNIVAC in 1951, the first mass produced computer, eventually selling 46 of them for what today would have been $10.4 million each.  Used 5200 vacuum tubes and consumed 125 kW of power.  The average home today uses almost 10 times that rate.
• Here is something interesting:  RR was acquired by Sperry in 1955, and merged in 1986 with Burroughs to form Unisys.

• 
  IBM in 1954 built smaller computers, with the 650 "only" weighing 2000 pounds at a price of $500,000, or could be leased for $3500/month (today that would be $40,000/month).  UNIVAC...16,000 pounds.

• 
  The bipolar transistor was invented in 1947, and from 1955 replaced vacuum tubes, with  a power consumption 150 watts.
• Supercomputing came in the early 1960s, with the first prototype in the UK using germanium transistors.The CDC 6600 in 1964 is considered to be the first supercomputer, and remained the fastest into 1969.

• 
  Olivetti built the first personal computer in 1975.  Weighed 88 pounds.
• Over almost the next half century, Microsoft formed in 1975, Apple was founded in 1976, with the iPhone coming in 2007, Linux operating systems in 1991, Facebook in 2004, Samsung Mobile released the first Android-powered device in 2009, and you can almost say nothing much has changed since then.
• Quantum computers, first reported in 2017, will change the future of computing.

So about the quantum computer:

• A bit is a binary digit, which has one of two values, 0 or 1.
• Quantum computers operate on quantum bits, or qubits.  Almost the same as bits, for a qubit can be 1 or 0 or a superposition of both, called the quantum state.  Just this difference creates this huge difference.
• But qubits are still fragile, bothered by background noise, like vibrations, temperatures changes and electromagnetic fields.
• In 2019 Google completed a benchmark test on a 53-qubit quantum computer, which would have taken a classical computer anywhere from a few days to 10,000 years.
• A plan is to link the military and 17 national laboratories in a quantum communications network.
• While the field is still in the world of simulation, you can today buy one.

How today are quantum computers?

• 
  Oh, in 2011 it was reported that the world's first commercially available computer was sold for $10 million by D-Wave One to Lockheed Martin.
• Want one for yourself?  Chinese company SpinQ will sell you a 2-qubit system for $8700 to the right with a power rating of 60 W.

If you have the time and interest, read in a recent issue of Time magazine:  Quantum Computers Could Solve Countless of Problems---And Create a Lot of New Ones.  I'll summarize:

• The global quantum-computing industry is projected to grow from $412 million in 2020 to $8.6 billion in 2027
• Complex problems that currently take the most powerful supercomputer several years could potentially be solved in seconds.
• This problem-solving ability will make military defenses obsolete.
• This the new space race.
• The competitors are China and USA.

• 
  A long time ago I speculated that the future was a molecular computer.  Didn't know what I was saying.
• A bio computer uses DNA and molecular biology, or bio-molecules as a support for computations.
• Thus quantum computers are different from bio computers.
• There is still some intrigue here, for future computers could run on human brain cells.

• 
  The company that has emerged, after a long period of relative mediocrity, is IBM.  They are the world leader in quantum computing.  Of course, Google might well object.  Here is a list, though, that shows IBM as #1.
• 
  IBM last year unveiled a 433-qubit Osprey chip, the world's most powerful quantum processor
• Will launch a 1,121-qubit processor this year, and something surpassing 4,000 qubits by 2025.
• 17 countries have national quantum strategies, and China's 5-Year Plan makes Quantum a policy priority.

• 
  But former Pentagon Chief Data Officer David Spirk, when he left his post last year, warned:  I don't think that there are enough senior leaders getting their heads around the implication of quantum...  I think that's a new of computer that, when it arrives, is going to be a pretty shocking moment to industry and government alike.

• 
  The world spent $30 billion on quantum in 2022, with China accounting for roughly half, and the EU almost a quarter.  The USA?  Only $1.2 billion.  Says Spirk, that's trivial.  This is not a coming wave, it's here.

• 
  American officials are concerned, and envision a $1 trillion cybersecurity upgrade.
• Worried about hackers today?  Quantum computing will make them deadly.
• Want to read more?  Get Michio Kaku's latest (available in May of this year):  Quantum Supremacy:  How the Quantum Computer Revolution Will Change Everything.
• Quantum supremacy can lead to a utopian society, or bring catastrophic damage.  Sort of like Artificial Intelligence.  In fact, that Google company leading their QC charge is called Google Quantum AI.

Sorry, but this shows how slow you are to keep up.  That talk came in 2019.  But not to fret.  Unless you were a student or faculty member, you probably would not have been able to attend.

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