Happy New Year From All Of US At JSRC To You

It's almost 2011 everywhere in the world. It's the first day of the new year where I am now. 2010 was a long, hard year. It ended well. Our humble site was listed on CNN-Go as  one of Japan's best English language blogs of 2010 | CNNGo.com #1. It was an honor. This year we'll be expanding the number of contributors and the scope of the website, for all those who are curious about the magical kingdom of Japan. We'll be probing around all dark, shady, shadowy and overcast areas of the land of the rising sun. The sunny side we'll leave to other people.

Some good things happened this year. The police crackdown on organized crime was so intense that it almost made our April Fools parody post (April 1st, 2010) look like a prophecy. Maybe it was.

A new year is a great thing. It gives us a feeling that we might be able to start over and get things right. But then again every day should be like that.   I'll paraphrase the Dalai Lama here: "Every day we are reborn. Every day we are reincarnated. It is this day that is the most important day in our lives. It is our chance to do good, to refrain from evil, to purify our hearts." A lofty sentiment but I like it.

So Happy Birthday and Happy New Year! May it be a good one for us all. May we all get what we deserve, and maybe some nice things we don't really deserve, and may the rules of karma apply in the best possible ways. Cheers!