Sputnik International Presents… There’s Christmas in the Air!

This past weekend , a traditional pre-Christmas Santa run took place in Tokyo (Tokyo Prefecture. Greater Tokyo Area. Kantō Region) JAPAN. Some 500 Tokyo residents dressed as Santa Claus participated in a 2.5-kilometre charity run at a local park.

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Vitor Martins from São Paulo (São Paulo State. Southeast Region) BRAZIL has more than 90 percent of his body covered in tattoos, some of them in reference to Christmas. However, that doesn’t prevent him from working as Santa Claus.

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One of Berlin’s entertainment agencies hosted an event with a Santa Claus “flying” 98 metres (322 feet) above a hotel in the German capital.

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Metropolitan Cathedral of the Nativity of Saint Mary in Milano (Milano Province. Lombardia Region) ITALY is the fourth-largest in Europe, after St Peter Basilica in the Vatican, St Paul Cathedral in London, and Seville Cathedral. It’s the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world.

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Last weekend, model and television personality Holly Madison dressed as Santa Claus; she appeared at a street performance in Las Vegas (Clark County. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise MSA) NV USA

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A traditional Christmas parade for four-legged Santas was held in Loughborough (Leicestershire. East Midlands Region) ENGLAND UK.

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In São Paulo (São Paulo State. Southeast Region) BRAZIL, a man wearing a Santa Claus costume rode the metro to celebrate the Christmas season.

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Skiers and snowboarders dressed as Santa Claus participated in a charity race down a slope at the River Ski Resort in Newry (Oxford County) ME USA.

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According to the event organisers, 250 skiing Santas raised some 3,000 USD (165,000 Roubles. 18,670 Renminbi. 190,000 INR. 3,490 CAD. 3,690 AUD. 2,450 Euros. 1,925 UK Pounds) for charity at the event.

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In South Korea, divers dressed in Santa Claus costumes have a tradition of swimming in an aquarium in Seoul before Christmas.

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Santa Claus, also known as St Nicholas or Father Christmas, is a cultural figure with legendary, folkloric, and historic origins. In many Western cultures, Santa Claus is believed to bring presents to the homes of good children the night before Christmas.

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Some 800 participants dressed as Santa Claus took part in the fourth annual Santa Claus running competition in Michendorf (Kreis Potsdam-Mittelmark. Bundesland Brandenburg) GERMANY.

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Generally, depictions of Santa Claus show him as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collars and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and a black leather belt and boots. He carries a bag full of gifts for children.

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Local artist Ed Terrel from Reading (Berks County. Philadelphia-Reading-Camden CSA) PA USA created a giant Santa Claus costume. Days before Christmas, the artist put on the costume as he walked through the city streets in the evening.

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11 December 2014

Sputnik International

http://sputniknews.com/photo/20141210/1015698143.html

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Japan Remembers 2011 Tsunami Victims

A statue in Miyagi Prefecture (Tōhoku Region. Honshu) JAPAN of Jizō Bosatsu, one of Buddha‘s disciples, who guides dead children to heaven. People leave offerings here nearly every day.

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Two years ago, a devastating earthquake and tsunami laid waste to the northeast coast of Japan, causing an accident at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Memorial events commemorating victims of the disaster will be held throughout the country. Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzō and his Cabinet members will attend the main ceremony in Tokyo. At 14.46 local time (09.46 MSK), there’ll be a moment of silence. That was the precise time of the first tremors of the quake. Recovery efforts continue in Japan, with officials estimating they might take anywhere from three to 15 years. Amongst the main problems are the slow rate of the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure and the depopulation of the affected areas.

Almost two years after a destructive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on 11 March 2011, devastating the northeastern portion of the country, 300,000 Japanese remain in evacuation housing. Many of them have to live in spartan conditions. Some 80,000 former residents of the towns of Okuma and Futaba in the Futaba District of Fukushima Prefecture, evacuated because of quake damage at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, still don’t know when they’ll be able to return to their homes, due to radioactive contamination. The effort to repair the aftermath of the natural disaster in different parts of the country may take anything between 3 and 15 years. The tragedy of 11 March 2011 killed 15,881 people and 2,668 more are still missing.

Japan will need another five to ten years to rebuild and recover from the consequences of the 2011 earthquake. This follows from a poll conducted by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun of 42 Mayors of the cities affected. The Mayors pointed up that some of the major problems were a large population outflow and the disposal of the debris from the quake and tsunami. The M 9 quake and the ensuing tsunami occurred off the northeastern coast of Honshu on 11 March 2011. The elements claimed almost 19,000 lives. The earthquake and tsunami destroyed entire cities and damaged the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, which resulted in widespread radioactive contamination.

11 March 2013

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_11/Japan-remembers-quake-victims/

Japanese PM Noda and Emperor Akihito Met with Patriarch Kirill

Emperor Akihito of Japan (1933- ) with Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev (1946- ) of Moscow and all the Russias

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Japanese Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko agreed with Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias to promote people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. Emperor Akihito also separately met with the Patriarch on Tuesday. His Holiness’ visit to Tokyo was for the 100th anniversary of the death of St Nikolai Kasatkin, who introduced the Orthodox faith to Japan. Noda told Patriarch Kirill that exchanges between ordinary citizens are “important” for strengthening ties between Japan and Russia. In response, the Patriarch Kirill said that he would contribute to fostering “relations of mutual trust”. Patriarch Kirill told reporters after meeting with the Emperor, “It is now a good time to turn a new page” to further improve bilateral relations. According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the visit by the First Hierarch of the MP to Japan was the first since 2000, when his predecessor visited. During his trip, Patriarch Kirill, who arrived in Japan last Friday, met with Orthodox believers and visited Sendai, one of the cities hardest hit by last year’s massive earthquake and tsunami on 11 March.

20 September 2012

Japan Times Online

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/rss/nn20120920f5.html

Editor’s Note:

During this trip, Nikolai Balashov was stuck like glue to the Blunder, you’d think that he was his “shadow” (it was obvious that he was HH’s “minder” and commissar of the Blunder… it’s a sure sign that the Blunder’s come down a notch or two). Why are the konvertsy all gaga over the Blunder? Damned if I know, but it’s a sure sign of their superficiality and ignorance (I’m thinking in particular of Freddie M-G, Rod Dreher, and Hannes Jacobses). They’re all taken in by his telegenic good looks and mellifluous Oxbridge accent. He’s the most hated bishop in Russia, and his title, “of Volokolamsk”, is a dead giveaway that’s he’s nothing but a powerless vicar bishop with a white hat. After all, Volokolamsk is in Moscow Oblast, in the Diocese of Moscow, which means that anyone with such a title has no real power… Volokolamsk is firmly under the unshakeable authority of the unsinkable satrap, Yuvenaly Poyarkov (hey, he’s been around since the time of Pimen Izvekov).

Yet, the Blunder serves a useful purpose… all those who swoon over him are boobs, best avoided and best opposed. Unfortunately, there’s more than one such…

BMD

Patriarch Kirill to Visit Japan for the Centennial of the Death of St Nikolai Kasatkin of Japan

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Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias will visit Japan between 14 and 18 September to commemorate the centennial of the death of the saint who established the Local Orthodox Church. In 1970, Moscow granted Japan its autonomous status, recognising its founder, St Nikolai Kasatkin of Japan, as “Equal-to-the-Apostles“. After meeting with Japanese Ambassador to Russia Harada Chikahito, Patriarch Kirill made a formal announcement of his trip. Metropolitan Daniel Nushiro of Tokyo and all Japan, the First Hierarch of the Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church (MP), will host the patriarch. After his visit to Japan, Patriarch Kirill will travel to Krasnoyarsk and Vladivostok in Siberia, where he’ll meet local Orthodox believers and governmental figures.

The Orthodox Church of Japan is an autonomous Church within the Orthodox Church. Born Ivan Kasatkin, the Holy Governing Synod sent St Nikolai in 1861 to Hokkaido as a priest at the chapel of the Russian consulate. During his mission, he translated the Holy Scriptures and other religious texts into Japanese and built Tokyo’s Holy Resurrection Cathedral. In 1970, when the MP recognised the autonomy of the Japanese Church, he was proclaimed “Equal-to-the-Apostles,” a title given to saints who distinguish themselves for their great missionary endeavours. At present, there are 30,000 Japanese Orthodox, under three dioceses… Tokyo, led by Metropolitan Daniel Nushiro; Sendai, in the east, led by Bishop Seraphim Tsujie; and Kyoto, in the west, led by Metropolitan Daniel as locum tenens.

30 August 2012

Asia News

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Patriarch-Kirill-in-Japan-for-the-centennial-of-Saint-Nicholas’-death-25684.html