From the Mailbox

Here are a  couple of interesting comments from previous posts that do much to illimuniate the topics at hand.

First is a response to the post about the mounds of debris left after the Niigata earthquake.  Are these mountains of trash purely the result of an unavoidable natural catastrophe, or does governmental bureaucracy have something to do with it?  From Cliff of Promethean Antagonist fame:

An interesting side note to the garbage issue is that much of the excess garbage in Nagaoka was due to a nonsensical bureaucratic scheme. In October, the city had begun a new recyling / environmental policy that included a bureaucratic procedure and charge for disposing of larger non-burnable items. Many people (many students who live here told me this) took advantage of a temporary post-earthquake hiatus in the new law's provisions and decided to do some spring (winter) cleaning. The new environmental policy motivated people to throw out excessive amounts of extra items they wouldn't have otherwise -- classic. I can attest to the huge heaps of bookcases (some with barely a scratch), ski boots, and other non-damaged items tossed away to simply avoid the nonsense of a bureaucrat's pet project. Ya gotta love it!

And this on Emrpess P/Himiko, whom I claimed was The Last Japanese Empress, from Mutantfrog. 

Japan has had ten Empresses throughout recorded history (Not including Himiko), the last of which was Gosakuramachi from 1762-1770, and several during the Nara period even including Kogyoku who was powerful enough to seize the throne back from Kotoku(another Empress), who had been Kogyoku's heir. Interestingly, because Kogyoku had to assume a new Imperial even when assuming the throne the second time (Saimei), she is counted twice on the list.

I thought I was pretty hot stuff just knowing about Pimiko, or Himiko (as most Japanese call her, this  pointed out by Justin at Cosmic Buddha).  I had no idea that there was an Empress as late as the Edo Period.  Of course, by that time, the monarchy was all but irrelevant, but still, her very existence is  noteworthy.  Mutantfrog is the boss of me in Japanese history!