May It Always Be May

May is gorgeous in Japan, even this year when the world is confronting the bleak tragedy of the covid-19 outbreak.

The warm, dry, mostly sunny month brings some much-needed delight.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

  • Oz Has a Purr-fectly Good Map of Australia On Her Snout

    Oz is a 5-year-old cat with a unique characteristic that makes her purr-fectly pertinent for news about Australia. This peculiar pussy’s special snout is adorned with an amazingly accurate map of Australia! Incredibly, Oz is from Australia. The Oriental Longhair breed first made news when she was shown at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney a few years back. Lucky for Oz that her unique markings clearly resembled Australia. When it comes to Down Under-related cartography, be particularly careful when it comes to the Map of Tassie, which has an entirely different meaning to what it suggests, but considering Oz, at least maintains the pussy connection.

  • ファースト・オーストラリアンズ Episode 7 Part 5/5

    「ファースト・オーストラリアンズ」（英語）は、2008年作のドキュメンタリー。先住民の視野からオーストラリアの歴史を記録する。必見だ！ 　今日は7作目5部中5部目。 　これが「ファースト・オーストラリアンズ」の最後のポスト。ご愛読いただき、ありがとうございました！Ta, mate and hooroo!

  • How Did Australia And Japan Go From Allies To Enemies And Now Back To Defence Partners?

    なぜ日豪は同じ陣営から敵国になり、そして再び防衛パートナーになったのでしょうか？ An extraordinary reversal Today, Aussie and Japanese forces train together, visit each other’s bases and increasingly operate alongside each other. In 2025, Aussie soldiers participated in Exercise Orient Shield in Japan for the first time. The two countries’ defence relationship is now remarkably close. 現在、オーストラリア軍と自衛隊は共同訓練を行い、お互いの基地を訪問し、さらに緊密に活動しています。2025年には、豪州陸軍が初めて日本で行われたオリエント・シールドに参加しました。現在の日豪防衛関係は、驚くほど緊密です。 But this is not a relationship that followed a straight line. Australia and Japan were once associated through Britain’s alliance with Japan, became bitter enemies during the Second World War, and are now close strategic partners. しかし、ここに至る道のりは一直線ではありませんでした。かつて日英同盟を通じて同じ陣営にあり、第二次世界大戦では激しい敵対関係となり、現在では緊密な戦略的パートナーになっています。 When Japan was on Australia’s side In 1902, Britain and Japan signed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Australia was not an independent party to the agreement, but the new…

  • Be Careful What You Wish For…

    One of the highlights of Kangaeroo Corner is the Fountain of Strewth, which I placed with the hope of attracting birds to the garden, but the role has been served so well, I’m now drawn to the idiom used in the headline (which stems from a passage of Aesop’s fables that says “We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified,” according to Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations Sixteenth Edition and as I learned today). Sweltering heat and fierce sunshine has made the Fountain of Strewth a popular part of the neighborhood’s avian residents. And I’ve been delighted by this, sitting in the living room and watching as the birds have enjoyed…