text:
Reefer ship

A reefer ship is a refrigerated cargo ship typically used to transport perishable cargo, which require temperature-controlled handling, such as fruits, meat, vegetables, dairy products, and similar items.

Description
Types of reefers: Reefer ships may be categorised into three types:
 * 1) Side-door vessels have water-tight ports on the ship's hull, which open into a cargo hold. Elevators or ramps leading from the quay serve as loading and discharging access for the forklifts or conveyors. Inside these access ports or side doors, pallet lifts or another series of conveyors bring the cargo to the respective decks. This special design makes the vessels particularly well suited for inclement weather operations as the tops of the cargo holds are always closed against rain and sun.
 * 2) Conventional vessels have a traditional cargo operation with top opening hatches and cranes/derricks. On such ships, when facing wet weather, the hatches need to be closed to prevent heavy rain from flooding the holds. Both above ship types are well suited for the handling of palletized and loose cargo.
 * 3) Refrigerated container ships are specifically designed to carry containerised unit loads where each container has its individual refrigerated unit. These containers are nearly always twenty-foot equivalent units (often called TEU) that are the size of "standard" cargo containers that are loaded and unloaded at container terminals and aboard container ships. These ships differ from conventional container ships in their design, power generation, and electrical distribution equipment. They need provisions made for powering each container's cooling system. Because of their ease of loading and unloading cargo many container ships are now being built or redesigned to carry refrigerated containers.

A major use of refrigerated cargo hold type ships was for the transportation of bananas and frozen meat, but most of these ships have been partly replaced by refrigerated containers that have a refrigeration system attached to the rear end of the container. While on a ship these containers are plugged into an electrical outlet (typically 440 VAC) that ties into the ship's power generation. Refrigerated container ships are not limited by the number of refrigeration containers they can carry, unlike other container ships which may be limited in their number of refrigeration outlets or have insufficient generator capacity. Each reefer container unit is typically designed with a stand-alone electrical circuit and has its own breaker switch that allows it to be connected and disconnected as required. In principle each individual unit could be repaired while the ship was still underway.

Refrigerated cargo is a key part of the income for some shipping companies. On multi-purpose ships, refrigerated containers are mostly carried above deck, as they have to be checked for proper operation. Also, a major part of the refrigeration system (such as a compressor) may fail, which would have to be replaced or unplugged quickly in the event of a fire. Modern container vessels stow the reefer containers in cellguides with adjacent inspection walkways that enable reefer containers to be carried in the holds as well as on the deck. Modern refrigerated container vessels are designed to incorporate a water-cooling system for containers stowed under deck. This does not replace the refrigeration system but facilitates cooling down of the external machinery. Containers stowed on the exposed upper deck are air-cooled, while those under deck are water-cooled. The water cooling design allows additional refrigerated containers under deck, as water can be used to dissipate the high amount of heat they generate. This system draws fresh water from the ship's water supply, which in turn transfers the heat through heat exchangers to the abundantly available sea water.

There are also refrigeration systems that have two compressors for very precise and low-temperature operations, such as transporting a container of blood to a war zone. Cargoes of shrimp, asparagus, caviar and blood are considered among the most expensive refrigerated items. Bananas, fruit and meat have historically been the main cargo of refrigerated ships.

History of ship refrigeration
In 1869, reefers were shipping beef carcasses frozen in a salt-ice mixture from Indianola, Texas, to New Orleans, Louisiana, to be served in hospitals, hotels, and restaurants. In 1874, shipping of frozen beef from America to London had already begun, which developed into an annual tonnage of around 10,000 ST. The insulated cargo space was cooled by ice, which was loaded on departure. The success of this method was limited by insulation, loading techniques, ice block size, distance and climate.

The first attempt to ship refrigerated meat across the Pacific was made when the Northam sailed from Australia to the UK in 1876. The refrigeration machinery broke down en route and the cargo was lost. In 1877, the french steamer Paraguay equipped with a Carré compression machine completed the first successful travel with its shipment of 5500 frozen muttons from Argentina arriving to France in excellent condition despite a collision that delayed the delivery for several months, thus proving the concept of refrigerated ships, if not the economics. In 1879, Strathleven, equipped with compression refrigeration, sailed successfully from Sydney to the UK with 40 tons of frozen beef and mutton as a small part of her cargo.

The clipper sailing ship Dunedin, owned by the New Zealand and Australian Land Company (NZALC), was refitted in 1881 with a Bell-Coleman compression refrigeration machine. This freezer unit worked by compressing air, then releasing it into the hold of the ship. The expanding air absorbed heat as it expanded, cooling the cargo in the hold. Burning three tons of coal a day in the steam engine that ran the compressor, it could lower the temperature of the hold by 40 F-change compared to the surrounding air temperature, which froze the cargo in the temperate climate of southern New Zealand and then maintained it below freezing (32 F) through the tropics. Dunedin's most visible sign of being an unusual ship was the funnel for the refrigeration plant placed between her fore and main masts (sometimes leading her to be mistaken for a steamship which had been common since the 1840s). In February 1882, Dunedin sailed from Port Chalmers New Zealand with 4,331 mutton, 598 lamb and 22 pig carcasses, 246 kegs of butter, and hare, pheasant, turkey, chicken and 2,226 sheep tongues and arrived in London after sailing 98 days with its cargo still frozen. After meeting all costs, the NZALC company made a £4,700 profit from the voyage.

Soon after Dunedin's successful voyage, an extensive frozen meat trade from New Zealand and Australia to the UK was developed with over 16 different refrigerated and passenger refrigerated ships built or refitted by 1900 in Scotland and Northern England shipyards for this trade. Within 5 years, 172 shipments of frozen meat were sent from New Zealand to the United Kingdom. Refrigerated shipping also led to a broader meat and dairy boom in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. Frozen meat and dairy exports continue to form the backbone of New Zealand's economy.

The Nelson brothers, butchers in County Meath, Ireland, started shipping extensive live beef shipments to Liverpool, England. They successfully expanded their beef business until their imports from Ireland were insufficient to supply their rapidly growing business and Nelson decided to investigate the possibility of importing meat from Argentina. The first refrigerated ship they bought was Spindrift which they renamed in 1890 SS Highland Scot. A vessel of 3,060 gross tons bought by James Nelson and Sons in 1889 and fitted with a somewhat primitive refrigerating plant operating on the cold air system became one of the pioneer vessels in the trade of refrigerated meat and other perishable commodities. They hauled beef carcasses from Argentina to Britain. Their regularly scheduled shipments and ships developed into the Nelson Line that was formed in 1880 for the meat trade from Argentina to UK. Refrigeration made it possible to import meat from the United States, New Zealand, Argentina and Australia.

Timeline

 * In 1876, French engineer Charles Tellier bought the ex-Elder-Dempster 690 tons cargo ship Eboe and fitted a Methyl-ether refrigerating plant of his design. The ship was renamed Le Frigorifique and successfully imported a cargo of refrigerated meat from Argentina. However the machinery could be improved and in 1877 another refrigerated ship called Paraguay with a refrigerating plant improved by Ferdinand Carré was put into service on the South American run.
 * In 1879, Henry Bell (1848–1931) and John Bell (1850–1929) of Scotland and Joseph James Coleman FRSE (1838–1888) of Scotland completed the Bell–Coleman dense-air machine on the Anchor liner Circassia, which successfully brought a cargo of chilled beef from the US to London.
 * In 1880, Strathleven, equipped with a Bell–Coleman air machine and loaded with successfully shipped beef, mutton, butter and kegs, sailed from Melbourne, Australia to London—a nine-week voyage of about 15000 mi.
 * In 1881, Alfred Seale Haslam (1844–1927) of England equipped the liner Orient with Haslam refrigeration compressors. He bought the Bell–Coleman dense-air patents in 1878 and eventually equipped four hundred plants and ships with Bell-Coleman machines.
 * By 1899, refrigerated fruit ship traffic to the US reached 90,000 tons per year.
 * By 1890, after acquiring the patent rights of Franz Windhausen's CO2-compression refrigeration system, the J & E Hall company installed the first marine CO2 refrigerator system on the Nelson Line ship Highland Chief.
 * In 1900, a worldwide survey found 356 refrigerated ships, 37% of which had air machines, 37% ammonia compressors and 25% CO2 compressors.
 * In 1900, Great Britain imported over 360,000 metric tons of refrigerated meat: 220,000 tons from Argentina, 95,000 tons from New Zealand and 45,000 tons from Australia. There were weekly sailings on refrigerated "banana boats" from the UK to Central America by Elders and Fyffes Ltd, which had been importing bananas since 1888 to the UK in their own ships. Round trips took 28 days.
 * In 1901, the first refrigerated banana ship, Port Morant, was equipped with a CO2 machine and carried 23,000 stems of bananas at a controlled temperature from Jamaica to the UK.
 * In 1902, Lloyd's Register recorded 460 ships with refrigerating plants.
 * By 1902, the United Fruit Company started having refrigerated banana boats built in the UK to add to their fleet which hauled passengers and bananas between ports in the United States and Central America.
 * By 1910, UK refrigerated meat imports rose to 760,000 tons per year.
 * By 1910, the British company J & E Hall had installed 1800 CO2 refrigeration machines in ships.
 * By 1913, the UK fleet included 230 refrigerated ships with a total cargo capacity of 440,000 tons.
 * By 1935, refrigerated imports into Britain totaled 1000000 t of meat, 500,000 tons of butter, 130,000 tons of cheese, 430,000 tons of apples and pears, and 20 million stems of bananas.

United Fruit Company reefer ships
The United Fruit Company has used some type of reefers, often combined with cruise ship passenger accommodations, since about 1889. Because of their cargo was mostly bananas, they were nicknamed the "Banana Fleet". Since bananas are relatively light and the normal shipping route was to Central America and then back to various U.S. ports, these ships were often built as combination cargo ships and what are now called cruise ships to pay for more of their operating expenses. After about 1910, they called these combination cruise and cargo ships the "Great White Fleet" based on their heat-reducing white paint. To avoid US shipping regulations and taxes they are registered in about six other countries, with very few now maintaining US registry. European associates with their own ships were often employed to ship fruit to Europe. United Brands was taken over by Chiquita Brands International in the 1980s and owns the largest fleet of banana boats in the world, but none of them now sails under the US flag. SS Pastores and SS Calamares were built in Ireland in 1912 and 1913 for the United Fruit Company as a combination cruise ship and refrigerated cargo ship. The United Fruit Company's fleet of about 85 ships was one of the largest civilian fleets in the world. These ships normally carried up to 95 cruise ship passengers and a crew to ports in Central America and then would return to the United States with passengers and a cargo of refrigerated bananas and miscellaneous cargo.

The renamed USS Pastores (AF-16) and USS Calamares (AF-18) were taken over by the United States Navy in World War I and used to take troops and refrigerated supplies to and from Europe. After hostilities ceased they were returned to United Fruit Company in 1919. They were requisitioned again on 2 June 1941 from United Fruit for use in World War II. After hostilities ceased they were then returned again to United Fruit Company in 1946.

World War I
In World War I, the US Navy contracted for 18 refrigerated ships for hauling provisions to the troops in Europe. They were launched 1918 and 1919 as the war was ending and were nearly all scrapped by 1933 in the Great Depression as an economy move. Most were built in Baltimore Dry Dock in Baltimore, Maryland, Moore Dry Dock Company in Oakland, California and Standard SB Co. in Shooters Island, New York.

World War II
The Mizar-class stores ships were six United Fruit passenger and refrigerated cargo liners built in 1931–1933 that the United States Maritime Commission requisitioned in 1941–1942. They were USS Antigua, USS Ariel (AF-22), USS Merak (AF-21), USS Mizar (AF-12), USS Talamanca (AF-15) and USS Tarazed (AF-13). Antigua, although requisitioned, was never commissioned into the Navy. United States Maritime Commission Type R ship were Reefer ships.

In April 1943, the Navy also requisitioned SS Ulua from the United Fruit Co. After US navy officers boarded the ship and took possession as it approached the Golden Gate Bridge, the ship became the USS Octans (AF-26). It was the last of the UFC 'reefer' ships to be taken over.

Other reefers converted for US Navy use were the Danish ships USS Pontiac (AF-20), USS Roamer (AF-19) and USS Uranus (AF-14).

In addition, the US Maritime Commission ordered 41 new refrigerated ships for the Navy. Because of the difficulty of building refrigerated ships only two were delivered in 1944. 26 were delivered in 1945 and the remainder in 1946–1948.

Worldwide service

According to the CIA's The World Factbook, there were about 38,000 registered merchant ships in the world in 2010, of which about 920 were designed as refrigerated cargo ships. Because of the proliferation of self-contained refrigerated container systems on container ships, there are many more ships than those designed for only refrigerated cargo that are also carrying some refrigerated cargo. As of 2010, the countries with the largest numbers of reefer ships in their registries are the world's two most prominent flags of convenience: Panama with 212 and Liberia with 109.

title: Reefer ship


text:
Kōzaki

Kōzaki (神崎町) is a town located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 5,884 in 2471 households and a population density of 300 persons per km². The total area of the town is 19.85 km2.

Etymology
The name of the town of Kōzaki in the Japanese language is formed from two kanji characters. The first,, means kami, the Japanese term for god, spirit, or a natural force; and the second, means "cape" or "small peninsula".

Geography
Kōzaki is located in far northern Chiba Prefecture, approximately 40 kilometers from then prefectural capital at Chiba and 60 to 70 kilometers from central Tokyo. The town faces the Tone River to the north, and sits on the lowlands of the river to the north and the Shimōsa Plateau to the south. Kōzaki is part of Ōtone Prefectural Natural Park.

Neighboring municipalities
Chiba Prefecture Ibaraki Prefecture
 * Narita
 * Katori
 * Inashiki
 * Kawachi

Climate
Kōzaki has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kōzaki is 14.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1414 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.0 °C.

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Kōzaki has remained relatively steady over the past 70 years.

History
Kōzaki was historically part of Shimōsa Province until the formation of Chiba Prefecture at the beginning of the Meiji Period (1868 – 1912). Kōzaki and Yonezawa villages were founded on April 1, 1889 within Katori District of Chiba Prefecture with the creation the modern municipalities system. Kōzaki was elevated to town status on March 12, 1890. On January 5, 1955, Yonezawa merged into the town of Kōzaki.

Government
Kōzaki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 13 members. Kōzaki, together with the city of Katori and town of Tako, contributes two members to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Chiba 10th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy
Kōzaki is a regional commercial center with some light manufacturing industries. Some 28% of the workforce commutes to the city of Narita per the 2010 census.

Education
Kōzaki has two public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town does not have a public high school; however, the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Railway
JR East – Narita Line
 * Shimōsa-Kōzaki

Highway

 * – Kōzaki Interchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Kōzaki


text:
Cannon Fodder

Cannon Fodder is a series of war (and later science fiction) themed action games developed by Sensible Software, initially released as Cannon Fodder for the Commodore Amiga. Only two games in the series were created by Sensible, but were converted to most active systems at the time of release. A sequel, Cannon Fodder 2, was released in 1994 for Amiga and DOS. A third game, Cannon Fodder 3, was made by a Russian developer and released in English in 2012.

History
Cannon Fodder was designed by Jon Hare, co-founder of Sensible Software, and released in 1993 on a variety of platforms. Stuart Cambridge was lead art director on the game and worked with a 16-color palette.

Gameplay
The player is in charge of a squad of between one and eight men that can be, for command purposes, split up to three groups (referred to as Snake, Eagle and Panther squads). All men have a machine gun with unlimited ammunition, as well as limited caches of grenades and rockets that can be found on the map. In later levels, the player is provided with some grenades and rockets at the start of the mission. The player's machine guns do not harm its own soldiers, but friendly fire from grenades and rockets is possible, which are also the only weapons capable of destroying buildings and vehicles. Men can also die if hit by debris flung from exploding buildings and vehicles, get caught in man-traps, mired in quicksand, and hit by enemy fire. Men usually walk, but several vehicles are available in some missions.

The games are split into several missions, which are usually sub-divided into phases. Dead soldiers are replaced by new ones at the start of each phase. Each soldier that survives a mission is promoted and receives a small increase in the rate of fire, accuracy, and range. The player is only able to save the game upon completion of a whole mission. Each phase is structured around mission objectives which range from "Kill all enemies" or "Destroy enemy buildings" to "Rescue all hostages". Some phases are complex, and require the player to use their imagination, pre-planning and strategy. For example, players may have to split their team into two or more groups and leave one group to defend an area or route, assigning its control to the game's artificial intelligence, while taking control of another group.

The pre-mission screen shows a hill with a grave for each dead soldier, with recruits lining up in front of it and a sports-like score at the top of the screen. Soldiers each have unique names, while on the grand scale of things being nothing more than interchangeable cannon fodder. The game has hundreds of individually named recruits, of which the first few — Jools, Jops, Stoo and Rj — were named directly after the development staff. As each recruit is killed in battle, he receives a tombstone on the hill and the next recruit in line takes his place.

Cannon Fodder 2 introduced a variety of new settings: a Middle Eastern conflict, an alien planet and spacecraft, the medieval and gangster-themed Chicago. It nevertheless retained the same mechanics and gameplay. In the new settings, troops wielding grenades and rockets were replaced by such units as aliens and wizards, but nonetheless behaved in the same manner, as did battering rams representing trucks and so forth. The game was more difficult than its predecessor, employing puzzle elements such as multiple ways -of varying effectiveness- to solve levels. It featured reduced use of water obstacles but retained mines and booby traps.

Cannon Fodder 3 featured a military, counter-terrorism theme with more advanced weather settings. It retained grenades and rockets as the central secondary weapons and introduced further power-ups. It expanded the selection of vehicles and added further enemy installations such as sniper towers. It also features an online cooperative mode.

Music video
The theme tune for the game ("War!") was written by the lead game designer Jon Hare, with musician Richard Joseph. Vocals were sung by Hare himself. A music video of the song was put together to promote the original release.

Shot over just one day and for a total budget of £500, it featured the entire team dressed up in military uniforms, an assortment of masks (including one of Mario and Donald Duck) and toy guns. The version of the music track is more complete than the one that appeared on the 16-bit versions and was recorded professionally. In fact, the menu screen track is also a pared down version of a proper song, featuring studio-standard vocals. Both of these tracks were written and performed by Jon Hare, as were many of the other songs featured in Sensible's games.

Cannon Fodder

Production of Cannon Fodder began following the completion of the successful strategy game Mega Lo Mania. Sensible Software wanted to create another strategy game featuring mouse control and the notion of sending troops on missions, but with more action than had been used in Mega Lo Mania. Production began in 1991 but was slowed due to Mega Drive conversions of other games. Cannon Fodder lost its provisional publisher in the aftermath of owner Robert Maxwell's death. As development work resumed, the team gradually reduced the complexity the strategy gameplay in favour of more direct control and action gameplay. In May 1993, Sensible Software found a new publisher in Virgin Interactive, which released the game in November of that year.

Amiga magazines rated the game positively, widely awarding scores of over 90%, while Amiga Action awarded an unprecedented score, calling it the best game of the year. Critics praised the fun, addictiveness, music and humour of the game. The game also drew criticism in the Daily Star for its juxtaposition of war and humour and its use of iconography closely resembling the remembrance poppy.

Ports
Once Sensible Software was sold off to Codemasters, the decision was taken to port the game over to the Game Boy Color. The limit on having two men in your squad and a much smaller playing area meant changes had to be made to the gameplay, mainly to make it easier. Jon Hare described the change as converting "11-a-side football to 5-a-side football".

In 2004, Jon Hare set up a small mobile phone games team known as Tower Studios. Their first release was Sensible Soccer in 2004, followed by Cannon Fodder in 2005. Both titles were published by Kuju Entertainment. The games were only playable on certain color models and due to many keypads' inability to register a diagonal movement the control systems for both games had to be radically redesigned.

Cannon Soccer
In 1994, a free minigame called Cannon Soccer (or Cannon Fodder - Amiga Format Christmas Special) was included on the coverdisk of the Amiga Format Christmas issue. It was essentially two bonus levels of Cannon Fodder in which the soldiers fought hordes of Sensible Soccer players in a snowy landscape. The levels were titled "Land of Hope and Glory", and "It's Snow Time".

Sensible Soccer 92/93 Meets Bulldog Blighty
One of the demos on the Amiga Power cover disk 21 was Sensible Soccer Meets Bulldog Blighty. It featured a mode of play that involved replacing players with soldiers from Cannon Fodder and the ball with a hand grenade. The grenade would randomly begin to flash and would eventually explode after a few minutes, killing any nearby players. The magazine described it as a "1944 version of Sensible Soccer", though The Daily Telegraph compared it to the Christmas-time football match in 1914.

Cannon Fodder 2
Cannon Fodder 2 is a 1994 sequel featuring very similar gameplay and graphics to the point where an Amiga Computing review suggested it had more in common with a data disk than a true sequel. The game featured levels set in deserts and an Alien spaceship as well as levels with a medieval theme. Amiga Computing rated the game at 71%. A major difference in the sequel is that the plot involves time travel.

The designer Stuart Campbell wrote: "CF2 was a cross-cultural kinda game. Levels were inspired by films, music, other games, politics and events. Titles came from songs, books, and all manner of other sources".

Cancelled sequels
After selling Sensible Software to Codemasters, Jon Hare ended up consulting on many of their development projects, one of which was the PS2 title Prince Naseem Boxing. Work on this title was performed in a satellite studio based in Hammersmith, London. However, due to the commercial failure of this title, the studio was shut down. A casualty of this was cancellation of a 3D remake of Cannon Fodder, something that Hare had been working on for at least nine months. Hare did speak about how he was looking to expand on the whole theme of war and include gameplay not just set on the battlefield: "I'd like to focus on the public's perceptions of war and warfare. There's many interesting things that go on behind the scenes with politicians".

In an interview with Eurogamer in late 2005, Hare confirmed that there was up to two years' work (on and off) put into a 3D update of Cannon Fodder: "I designed Cannon Fodder 3 with Codies six years ago, development stopped and started three times and eventually it was seemingly permanently halted when the London studio was closed four years ago. Nothing would please me more than to see this project resurrected, it was very advanced in its structure and therefore would need little modernisation".

In August 2006, Codemasters London announced a brand new version of Cannon Fodder for the PlayStation Portable. The game would have retained its familiar top down view, and the big heads of the soldiers, and for the first time the game would have been 3D. After a large launch announcement which included character renders and screenshots, the game was quietly canceled without explanation. In a later interview, Hare said that Codemasters was hit with economic problems and was forced to sell the studio.

Cannon Fodder 3
In 2008, now intellectual property owner Codemasters licensed Russian publisher Game Factory Interactive to develop another sequel. GFI created the game along with developer Burut CT and released it in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States on December 19, 2011. English-language media speculated on whether GFI was permitted to release the game outside of that region, but Codemasters ultimately clarified it had reserved but declined the option of publishing the game. GFI released the game in Europe and North America in February 2012 via a download service.

The game retains the core style of its predecessors but with more advanced graphics, a counter-terrorism theme and a greater array of weapons and units. It includes 26 locations around the world and on the moon. English-language publications gave the game mixed, mediocre reviews,  with both more positive, and negative reviews appearing elsewhere in Europe.

title: Cannon Fodder


text:
Taiei, Chiba

Taiei (大栄町) was a town located in Katori District, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Taiei is located on Route 51 from Narita to Sawara. It has a very scenic countryside with views of the Narita International Airport runways and aircraft. At Raikodai there is a large industrial estate.

Modern Taiei Town was established on February 11, 1955 through the merger of the villages of Shoei and Osuka.

On March 27, 2006, Taiei, along with the town of Shimofusa (also from Katori District), was merged into the expanded city of Narita, and thus no longer exists as an independent municipality.

In February 2006 (the last data available before its merger into Narita), the town had an estimated population of 12,507 and a population density of 247 persons per km2. Its total area was 50.57 km2.

title: Taiei, Chiba


text:
Omigawa, Chiba

Omigawa (小見川町) was a town located in Katori District, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Omigawa has been settled since prehistoric times, with numerous shell middens and burial mounds from the Japanese Paleolithic through Kofun period. During the Edo period, it was the center of Omigawa Domain, a feudal domain of the Tokugawa shogunate. Modern Omigawa Town was created in the early Meiji period.

On March 27, 2006, Omigawa, along with the city of Sawara, and the towns of Kurimoto and Yamada (both from Katori District), was merged to create the city of Katori, and thus no longer exists as an independent municipality.

In November 2005 (the last data available before its merger into Katori), the town had an estimated population of 25,420 and a population density of 411 persons per km2. Its total area was 61.84 km2.

title: Omigawa, Chiba


text:
Yamada, Chiba

Yamada (山田町) was a town located in Katori District, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Yamada Town was established on August 1, 1954 through the merger of town of Fuma with the villages of Yatsu and Yamakura.

On March 27, 2006, Yamada, along with the city of Sawara, and the towns of Kurimoto and Omigawa (both from Katori District), was merged to create the city of Katori, and thus no longer exists as an independent municipality.

In 2003 (the last data available before its merger into Katori), the town had an estimated population of 11,017 and a population density of 213.75 persons per km2. Its total area was 51.54 km2.

title: Yamada, Chiba


text:
Kurimoto, Chiba

Kurimoto (栗源町) was a town located in Katori District, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Kurimoto Village was established on April 1, 1889. It was raised to town status on April 10, 1924.

On March 27, 2006, Kurimoto, along with the city of Sawara, and the towns of Omigawa and Yamada (both from Katori District), was merged to create the city of Katori, and thus no longer exists as an independent municipality.

In November 2005 (the last data available before its merger into Katori), the town had an estimated population of 5,179 and a population density of 178 persons per km2. Its total area was 29.05 km2.

title: Kurimoto, Chiba


text:
Tako, Chiba

Tako (多古町) is a town located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 14,387 in 6068 households and a population density of 200 persons per km². The total area of the town is 72.68 km2.

Geography
Tako is located in the northeastern portion of Chiba prefecture, approximately 35 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Chiba and 60 to 70 kilometers from central Tokyo. The west borders Narita International Airport. Located on the Kanto Plain sandwiched between the Shimōsa Plateau and the Kujūkuri Plain, the majority of the land is flat. The Kuriyama River flows through the center of the town.

Neighboring municipalities
Chiba Prefecture
 * Sōsa
 * Katori
 * Narita
 * Shibayama
 * Yokoshibahikari

Climate
Tako has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Tako is 14.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1500 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.5 °C.

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Tako has been decreasing slowly over the past 70 years.

History
Tako has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and archaeologists have found dugout canoes and graves from the Jōmon period, and rice paddies from the Yayoi period. The area also has numerous tumuli from the Kofun period, from which haniwa pottery has been recovered. During the Heian period, it was divided into shōen controlled by the Fujiwara clan and came under the control of the Chiba clan in the Kamakura period. During the Edo period, it was tenryō territory within Shimōsa province ruled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate via hatamoto administrators.

After the Meiji Restoration, Tako village was established on April 1, 1889 within Katori District of Chiba Prefecture with the creation of the modern municipalities ordinance. Tako was elevated to town status on June 29, 1890. On April 1, 1951, Tako annexed neighboring Tōjō Village. It expanded further on March 31, 1954, by annexing neighboring Naka, Kuga, and Tokiwa villages.

Government
Tako has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 14 members. Tako, together with the city of Katori and town of Kōzaki, contributes two members to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Chiba 10th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy
Tako is a regional commercial center and agricultural center. In addition to rice, an important economic factor is animal husbandry, most significantly intensive pig farming. Approximately 20% of the workforce commutes to Narita, per the 2010 census.

Education
Tako has three public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the city government. The town has one public high school operated by the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education and one private high school.

Railway
Tako was formerly served by the now-defunct Narita Railway Tako Line from 1911 to 1944. It does not currently have any railway service. The nearest train station is Shibayama-Chiyoda on the Shibayama Railway; however, connections are more frequent from Narita Station.

Sister cities

 * 🇪🇸 San Roque, Cádiz, Spain.
 * 🇺🇸 Gilroy, California, United States.

Noted people from Tako

 * Iizasa Ienao, Muromachi period swordsman
 * Youichi Ui, professional motorcycle racer

title: Tako, Chiba


text:
Kitchener bun

The Kitchener bun is a type of sweet pastry made and sold in South Australia since 1915. It consists of a bun sometimes baked, sometimes fried, made from a sweet yeasted dough similar to that used for making doughnuts, split and then filled with raspberry or strawberry jam and cream, most often with a dusting of sugar on the top.

The Kitchener bun resembles the Berliner, a pastry of German origin – although distinguished from it by an open face and the use of more cream than jam – and was, in fact, known as such until anti-German sentiment in World War I led to its renaming in honour of the British field marshal Lord Kitchener.

In a 1930 recipe the jam is sealed into the pastry before deep-frying in fat, and there is no mention of cream until 1934. Ten years later, an Unley Road baker was fined £15 2 (around $1000) for using cream in his Kitchener buns, contrary to provisions in the National Security Regulations.

title: Kitchener bun


text:
Hikata, Chiba

Hikata (干潟町) was a town located in Katori District, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Hikata was formed on April 10, 1954. through the merger of the villages of Kojou, Chuwa, and Manzai.

On July 1, 2005, Hikata was merged with Asahi, Iioka and Unakami (both from Kaijō District) to form the new Asahi city, and it disappeared.

In April 2005 (the last data available before its merger into Asahi), the town had an estimated population of 8,042 and a population density of 248 persons per km2. Its total area was 32.44 km2.

title: Hikata, Chiba


text:
Taiseki-ji

Tahō Fuji Dainichirenge-san Taiseki-ji (多宝富士大日蓮華山 大石寺), more commonly just Sōhonzan Taiseki-ji (総本山大石寺), informally known as Head Temple Taiseki-ji (大石寺), is the administrative center of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. It is located in the foothills of Mount Fuji in Kamijo, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Taiseki-ji was founded in 1290 by Nikkō Shōnin, one of Nichiren Daishonin's senior disciples, on a land parcel donated by the pious believer Daigyo Sonrei, commonly known as Nanjo Tokimitsu (1259–1332).

The Head Temple is the home of the Dai Gohonzon, Nichiren Shoshu's object of worship, which draws pilgrim believers from various countries. The temple's open grounds are open to the public for sightseeing, though its religious buildings are restricted only to registered believers. Accordingly, adherents of the Soka Gakkai are not permitted entrance to the Head Temple grounds.

Description
Taiseki-ji is Nichiren Shoshu's administrative center, and its chief abbot (貫主) Chief Priest is simultaneously the high priest (法主 (Hossu)) of Nichiren Shoshu. The current 68th High Priest is Nichinyo Hayase (1935 – Present) who assumed the position on 16 December 2005.

Taiseki-ji is the home of the Dai Gohonzon, Nichiren Shoshu's object of worship. This image is visited by believers who come on personal pilgrimages, to participate in regular ceremonies, or to take part in large events such as study programs, and similar large meetings. The temple is known for numerous historically significant buildings and gardens, national cultural assets, as well as features like the old weeping cherry trees that line its Tatchū Sando (main path lined with lodging temples).

History
According to Nichiren Shoshu tradition, Taiseki-ji was founded in 1290 by Nichiren's disciple Nikkō on a tract of land called Ōishigahara (大石ケ原 "great stone meadow") donated by the district steward, Nanjo Shichiro Jiro Hyoe Taira no Tokimitsu (Buddhist name: Daigyo Sonrei) (1259–1332). The name derives from an alternative reading of the kanji for Ōishi (大石), Tai (Big) - Seki (Stone), and the character Ji (寺), temple.

Tokimitsu was a lay follower of Nichiren's and consequently Nikko Shonin. Taiseki-ji started with one small temple building, the Mutsubo with six rooms, but grew gradually as Nikkō's disciples built sub-temples. It went through further growth phases during the mid-Edo period and after the Second World War.

According to Nichiren Shoshu doctrine, their religious founder Nichiren willed that the image be established with a national shrine at the foot of Mount Fuji with a special title named "Honmonji" when the conversion of the Japanese Emperor and widespread propagation was achieved.

Due to its strong prohibition against accepting monetary donations from non-believers, there is no offertory box available at the temple. Believers are confirmed to be registered members before they are allowed to give "Gokuyo" or offerings. There is also no Goshuincho (御朱印帳 or "red stamping" of Daimoku or Talisman booklets normally sold to tourists, considered by the religion to be a form of sacrilege.

In addition, neither the Head Temple nor the religious stores outside Taiseki-ji accept any currency besides Japanese Yen towards any donation offerings, memorial service fees, food and lodging fees or any religious merchandise transactions.

Gongyo
The Buddhist service of "Gongyo" (勤行, Persevering Action) is the basic supplemental service of Hokkeko believers. It is conducted first as the Ushitora Gongyo at the Dai Kyakuden (Grand Reception Hall), among other places throughout the Head Temple. In past centuries, the service was performed in five different locations:

 * Facing the sunrise direction
 * Facing the Mieido
 * Facing the Gohozo
 * Facing the Kyakuden
 * Facing the Mutsubo

The sect, along with the other Fuji sects in the area, followed the custom of reciting the Sutra chapters according to what Nichiren himself once did:

 * Junyoze — Reciting the prose (散文, "Sanbun") of Chapter 2
 * Seoge — Reciting the verse (自我偈, "Jigage") of Chapter 2
 * Chogyo — Reciting the prose ("Sanbun") of Chapter 16
 * Nyorai Juryo — Reciting the verse ("Jigage") of Chapter 16

During the 1930s, the Gongyo service was shortened to a single format, initiated by religious convert Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and was approved by 57th High Priest Nissho Shonin. Today, some Nichiren sects in the Mount Fuji area recite the full versions of the 2nd and 16th Chapter of the Lotus Sutra.

The current version of Gongyo since the 1930s is the recitations of Chapter 2 in prose and Chapter 16 in prose and verse along with the five morning and three evening silent prayers (五座三座, Goza-Sanza) for the purpose of the following:

 * 1) Receiving protection from the Buddhist gods (Shoten Zenjin)
 * 2) Prayer to the Dai Gohonzon
 * 3) Prayer for lineage of the priesthood
 * 4) Conversion of the Emperor of Japan and widespread propagation
 * 5) Prayers for deceased ancestors and their rebirth in Hokkeko

Additional services such as funeral, prolonged chanting (Shodai) and other commemoration ceremonies for historical personalities associated with the Head Temple are also conducted.

Tozan pilgrimages
Pilgrimage to Taiseki-ji draws adherents of Nichiren Shoshu annually through group trips that are planned by local branch temples, as well as private individual trips. This pilgrimage in the sectarian parlance is called "Tozan" (登山, "Mountaineering, to climb the mountain") for the purpose of worshipping the Dai Gohonzon in person. The sect bases this practice in the ancient custom of early supporters of Nichiren who also visited him during his lifetime over perilous roads and mountains, now re-interpreted as a similar pilgrimage towards the Dai Gohonzon, which represents Nichiren in a mandala format.

The Gokaihi ceremony
In Japan, a "Gokaihi" (御開扉, English: "Sacred Opening of (Butsudan) Doors") is a ceremonial rite that exposes a particular sacred Buddhist image that is hidden and revered in a particular religion or sect. In Nichiren Shoshu ritual practices, this refers to the ceremonial audience with the Dai Gohonzon officiated by the High Priest granted to Hokkeko believers who have personally requested to participate, which is oftentimes the main purpose of a pilgrimage visit to the Head Temple. The volition of free will, confirmation of registered membership and an offertory fee is part of the protocol to enter the Hoando building to participate in the service.

List of buildings
The following significant buildings are listed for their historical and architectural value:

Sanmon gate
The Sanmon (written 三門, sometimes 山門) gate is Taiseki-ji's "main front door" and has been designated as a Shizuoka prefectural cultural asset. It was built in 1717 with financial assistance from Lady Hiroko Konoe (also known as “Tennei-in”), the daughter of Imperial Princess Tsuneko and wife of sixth Shōgun Tokugawa Ienobu. A Gohonzon transcribed by 25th High Priest Nichiyu Shonin is enshrined within its upper floor. At the time, she donated 300 ryō for its construction. Positioned next to public government roads, it was significantly vandalized and defaced with graffiti in 1997. It was recently restored, and its Gohonzon was ceremoniously re-enshrined within again on 15 January 2021.

Mutsubō
The first Mutsubō (六壷) was erected in 1290 as Taiseki-ji's first building. It has been rebuilt many times since, but the Gohonzon (object of veneration) it houses is attributed to temple founder Nikkō Shōnin dating from November 1332. It maintains its original design of having six rooms. The current structure, which uses much keyaki heartwood, was completed in 1988. The High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu proceeds to the Mutsubō on concluding Ushitora Gongyo in the Kyakuden (see below) to perform another gongyo recitation with young priests and acolytes.

Kyakuden
The Kyakuden (客殿 "Reception Hall") is one of the central structures where the majority of ceremonies are held, including Ushitora Gongyo by each successive High Priest every morning. It was built in 1465 and later rebuilt in 1998.

The Kyakuden was rebuilt as the Dai-Kyakuden (大客殿 "Grand Reception Hall"), with the assistance of the Soka Gakkai, a modern-style building inaugurated April 1964. That structure, was demolished in September 1995 and rebuilt as the current Kyakuden in 1998 with its wood-clad steel-framed edifice. The priesthood cited the Dai-Kyakuden's imposing ferroconcrete mass as incongruent with the architectural tone appropriate for a temple compound. The Kyakuden is the site of Ushitora Gongyo, a daylight prayer service officiated by the High Priest or his proxy. The Ozagawari Joza Gohonzon, original paper on 13 October 1290 ("Gohonzon of the Seat of the Dharma") was rendered into wood and carved on 15 June 1706, now enshrined on the central altar on the second floor of the Kyakuden.

This 1706 wooden mandala is flanked by lifesize statues of Nichiren Daishonin (left) and Nikkō Shōnin (right) as a symbolic representation of “San—Po” or “Three Treasures style”, though the “Object of Worship” remains the central mandala. The two grand statues were carved in 1660 during the reign of 17th High Priest Nissei Shonin.

Mieidō
The Mieido (image hall, 御影堂) is the hondō (本堂) or main official hall of Taisekiji temple. It traces its history to a building called the Mido (Midō: 御堂) erected by Nikko Shonin when he founded Taisekiji in 1290. It takes its name from a lifesize image of Nichiren sculpted by Japanese Buddhist artisan Echizen Hōkyō Kaikei, a carver of Buddhist images. This image was enshrined in the year 1388 in a building that was then replaced in 1522. The current, classical structure was erected in 1632 with donations from the Lady Manhime Ogasawara (Also known as Kyōdai-in), who was the wife of Lord Hachisuka Yoshishige of the Tokushima Castle.. The building is designed similarly to a Kabuki-za theater filled with various ornaments. In 1680 (Enpō year), the Dai Gohonzon image was stored here for safekeeping. An enlarged statue of Nichiren is enshrined in front of the Mandala as the aesthetic of the building represents various Buddhist images.

Several rounds of expansions, improvements, and repairs have been undertaken since then, and it was designated a prefectural tangible cultural property by Shizuoka Prefecture after major repairs in 1971. The most recent overhaul was finished in November 2013. The seven-year project entailed completely breaking down and reassembling the building piece by piece. All the parts were catalogued, mapped, and their condition recorded. Damaged structural members were repaired or replaced, and decorative fixtures such as transom carvings and other artwork, were painstaking restored. When the building was reassembled, aseismic structural augmentation (dampers) was installed to protect it from earthquake damage. New gold leaf was applied to the indoor pillars, and all exposed surfaces were finished with vermilion using traditional methods. The building is known for its decorative transoms that depict various Buddhist deities that are believed to occupy the Treasure Tower of the Lotus Sutra. A decorative Stupa is erected nearby the Mieido to commemorate the donations of Lady Manhime Ogasawara remains present to this day.

Hōandō
The Hōandō (奉安堂) Enshrinement Hall, built in 2002, houses the Dai Gohonzon of the High Sanctuary of the Essential Teaching, the supreme object of worship in Nichiren Shōshū. The Hōandō is built in the style of a Kura storehouse to signify that the Nichiren Shoshu faith has not yet taken hold as the primary religion of the world's people. Nichiren Shoshu claims that Nichiren willed that the Dai Gohonzon is not to be made publicly accessible, but rather stored away and only viewed by those who have asked for and been granted an audience by the High Priest, until such time. Another interpretation of this is that, as different from all other Nichiren Shoshu altars, the one in the Hōandō has neither offerings of evergreens nor drums, and non-believers are not permitted entry. Handicapped believers and their attendants are given priority entry and seating within the building.

On the high altar, the Shumidan, of the Hōandō is a Buddhist Stupa containing the ashes of Nichiren Daishonin (left), a grand Butsudan housing the Dai Gohonzon (center), and another stupa containing a statue of Nichiren Daishonin carved by Izumi Ajari Nippō Shōnin from the same camphorwood leftover plank that the Dai Gohonzon was inscribed on; while pious tradition claims that Nichiren approvingly characterized the statue as an exact image of himself.

Taiseki-ji has traditionally regarded the Mieidō (see above) as the temple's Hondō (main hall), but only its provisional main hall until wide propagation is achieved, when the building housing the Dai Gohonzon would take over that role.

The Hōandō replaced the controversial name of the Shōhondō (正本堂: true main hall), after its demolition in April 1998. (See below for details on demolished buildings)

Gohōzō and Hōanden
The Gohōzō (御宝蔵) ("Treasure House") houses various religious scrolls and paintings, and other religious and historical records, relics, and artifacts. It possesses the original Gosho documents of Nichiren conversing with the Buddhist deity Hachiman, as well as a personal letter given to Lord Nanjo Tokimitsu while he was alive. In addition, all Gohonzons transcribed by Nichiren Shoshu priests are stored within this building, which are mostly taken out in April for the Omushibarai Ceremony.

In addition, it also features modest displays of cultural objects donated by pilgrims from countries where they have attracted converts. The Hōanden (奉安殿) building, where the Dai Gohonzon was once enshrined, stands behind it.

Gojunoto pagoda
Completed on 12 June 1749 with the assistance of the Japanese Edo government, this religious pagoda was built with donations of 5,000 gold Ryō given by the daughter of Imperial Princess Tsuneko. Her daughter, the Lady Hiroko Konoe (also known as Tennei-in), who was the wife of Ienobu Tokugawa, the sixth Tokugawa Shogun gave this donation with the solemn approval of Nichikan Shonin, the 26th High Priest.

It has five stories representing the characters of 妙法蓮華經 (English: “Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo”) measuring at 112 feet  and faces west rather than the usual south, with a claim that Nichiren's Buddhism would spread from the East (Japan) to the Western lands; that is, back to the land of Shakyamuni Buddha and to the rest of the world.

This pagoda is the largest five-storied pagoda along the Tōkaidō, the historical main highway along Japan's eastern seaboard from Edo (today's Tokyo) to Kyoto. A Gohonzon transcribed by 31st High Priest Nichi-in Shonin is enshrined within, dated to 28 March 1749.

In 1966, the pagoda was designated a national cultural treasure. In 2017, it was structurally reinforced and artistically restored. Its doors are ceremoniously opened once each year on February 16 to celebrate Nichiren's birthday for the “O-tanjo ceremony”, followed by the formal opening of its doors called the “O-tobiraki ceremony”.

Graves

 * On the left rear of the Pagoda is the 1945 grave and Stupa of the first Soka Gakkai President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi.
 * The second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda is located at the left front of the pagoda. His ashes were moved from Jozai-ji temple (Toshima, Tokyo), and re—interred here in 2001.
 * The debonair actor Keiichirō Akagi (1939—1961) is also buried at the L-2 ward section of the head temple cemetery, nearby the Pagoda.

Daikōdō
The Daikōdō ("English: Grand Auditorium") was donated by Soka Gakkai, with construction began in December 1956 and completed on 1 March 1958. It houses a so-called “Mannen-Kugo” aesthetic-style design which was originally dated and inscribed by Nichiren himself in December 1274 and later co-signed by the Yoshihama Myohonji Temple located in Kyonan, Chiba prefecture.

A wooden transcription image of this Gohonzon was carved and signed by Taisekiji priest-sculptor named “Eritsu Hiki Bhikkhu” (Claimed to be Mr. Takeshi Itamoto)  in January 1687 (Jōkyō year IV) assumingly in commemoration for the new incoming 30th High Priest Nitchu Shonin.

Upon the completion of this grand auditorium in 1958, the 65th High Priest Nichijun Shonin decided to enshrine this wooden Gohonzon within this building where it remains today. Presently, this Gohonzon is flanked by the two Ihai memorial tablets of second High Priest Nikkō Shonin and his successor, third High Priest Nichimoku as an expressed style aesthetic that both disciples were once able to listen to Nichiren's preaching in correlation to the purpose of the building as an Auditorium. It is in a dilapidated condition and scheduled for demolition and reconstruction after completion of the new Sanmon gate in 2021.

The former highest lay leader of Hokkeko believers (Hokkeko Sokoto), Jōsei Toda addressed youth adherents from this building on 16 March 1958.

Shōhondō
The Shōhondō (正本堂, True Main Hall) was a building at Taiseki-ji, which opened on 12 October 1972 and was subsequently demolished in 1998. Former Soka Gakkai President Daisaku Ikeda, who emphasized the building of monuments to the success of the movement, made the request to build the new structure which became the Shohondo.

Religious professor Daniel A. Métraux claims that the Soka Gakkai placed particular importance on the building of the Shohondo, based on interpretations of doctrine not shared by the Nichiren Shoshu sect as a whole, and therefore controversy over its status arose at its construction.

The Shōhondō was inaugurated by the Soka Gakkai who claimed it as the "True High Sanctuary", Kaidan, which was a title disputed by conservative groups within the sect including the Myoshinko (now known as Kenshōkai) lay organisation, and the Nichiren Shoshu Priesthood. In Nichiren Shoshu doctrine, that sanctuary title was allegedly reserved for a future temple to be built at the base of Mount Fuji on the completion of Kosen Rufu, as solely decreed by the Emperor of Japan when the entire nation has converted to Nichiren's Buddhism.

Métraux explained that the Soka Gakkai was reinterpreting doctrine and maintained that they could consider the Shōhondō as the "True High Sanctuary", Kaidan, about which Nichiren wrote, because through the Soka Gakkai Nichiren's philosophy was spread through Japan and was positively impacting people. The importance of the Shohondo was, therefore, a highly contentious matter dividing the Soka Gakkai and other factions within the faith.

High Priest Nittatsu Hosoi, clarified that the Shōhondō was not the True High Sanctuary about which Nichiren wrote, though directed the Shōhondō as a temporary home for the Dai-Gohonzon, the permanent home of the Dai-Gohonzon would be the future True High Sanctuary.

The construction of the Shōhondō was funded largely by donations from lay believers of Nichiren Shoshu. In 1968, approximately 8 million Soka Gakkai adherents contributed money to the construction. An estimated grand total of ¥35,536,000,000 was raised:
 * ¥ 35,064,300,000.00 came from the Sōka Gakkai lay organization.
 * ¥ 313,820,000.00 from the Hokkekō lay organization
 * ¥ 157,870,000.00 from Nichiren Shoshu priests and their families.

The building was demolished in 1998, the official reason given by Nichiren Shoshu for the demolition was the discovery of rust on the pillars within the temple. Engineers discovered that ocean sand had been used in the mortar of the building, risking the Dai Gohonzon's safety during an earthquake. The school also concedes that its demolition of the Shōhondō was an extension of the doctrinal dispute between it and Sōka Gakkai, emphasizing the impiety of the organisation as heretics for deviating from its formal doctrines of orthodoxy.

American architects Richard Meier and Robert Arthur Stern both disparaged the demolition. Terence Riley, former chief curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York opined that the planned demolition would be a "regrettable finale" to a century that has "witnessed so much loss".

Myoren-ji Temple
An approximate thirty-minute walk from the Head Temple is Myoren-ji, which is another former “Head Temple” of the various Fuji schools which conjoined with Taisekiji in the 25 December 1950 during the proselytizing efforts of former Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda. The temple was once a former residence of Nanjo Tokimitsu, the person who donated the land of Taisekiji to Nikko Shonin. The temple's name derives from the Buddhist name (kaimyō) Nanjo Tokimitsu's wife, Myōren, whose historical birth name is unknown. This temple houses many historically significant artifacts, in particular, the Gohonzon enshrined in its main altar, which was transcribed by Nikko Shonin in the year 1315, and a small, decorative statue of Nichiren that is preserved as a historical remembrance. The temple is known for the unique format of its Oeshiki ceremony commemorating the death of Nichiren. Since 25 December 1950, it has been under the sacerdotal administration of the Nichiren Shoshu sect.

title: Taiseki-ji


text:
Talk:Croatia national football team

Head to head record vs. Coaching history stats difference
Head to head record Croatia played 365 games, 189 victories. Coaching history Croatia played 370 games, 194 victories. Do we have some official Croatian Football Federation statistic? What is the cause of discrepancy. Pp (talk) 09:36, 19 November 2023 (UTC)

 * I think that is because H2H only shows official matches. Governor Sheng (talk) 15:31, 23 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Here is the list of all Croatia football team matches from 1990.-21.11.2023.
 * https://rezultati.hns.team/?cid=FC%20A
 * There has been 352 matches played from 1990.-21.11.2023.
 * Head to head record is wrong as there are only 350 matches, and also the coaching history statistic is wrong. 78.1.50.177 (talk) 22:59, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Actually the coaching statistic is correct, but head to head statistic is wrong (2 matches missing). 78.1.50.177 (talk) 23:36, 21 January 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Croatia national football team


text:
Hantec slang

Hantec is a unique dialect previously spoken among lower classes in Brno, Czech Republic during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It developed from the mixing of the Czech language as spoken in Moravia with the languages of other residents of Brno, including Germans and Jews. Today Hantec exists in its original form only among some elderly people, but many words and expressions have become a part of Czech spoken in Brno.

title: Hantec slang


text:
Talk:Mathematical Association of America

Merger proposed (Missouri Collegiate Mathematics Competition)
The result was not no merge. --B. Wolterding 16:06, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

I propose to merge the content of Missouri Collegiate Mathematics Competition into here, since the notability of that article has been questioned. Actually no independent sources have been cited for that competition; it would probably be best covered in a section here, rather than in a separate article.

Please add your comments below. Proposed as part of the Notability wikiproject. --B. Wolterding 16:17, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

 * Oppose the merger How many people coming to this article will care about the Missouri competition? Virtually none, I'd say. Also, there are lots of similar competitions around the U.S. - probably one for each state. Are we going to cram 50 such references in this one? Leaving it as a separate article does no harm and keeps this article from getting gummed up. - DavidWBrooks 21:38, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
 * No independent sources are cited for that individual contest, so it would be a clear deletion candidate. Rather than that, I thought it might best be covered here, shortly. (If it's not notable in its own right, it could still be relevant in a larger context.) But you're right, if there are 50 such contests, the individual competition is perhaps not so relevant in the context of the overall organization. --B. Wolterding 11:34, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
 * No independent sources? - there's a URL to its home page right in the external links section; that's more sourcing than a lot of articles have. We don't want to be be too hasty to delete articles. As for notability, that's a topic of much discussion, but I'd say that an event which probably have scores, if not hundreds, of competitors each year is notable within a sufficiently large context. - DavidWBrooks 13:11, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
 * It looks like we're against merging the articles. I deleted the tag.  Feel free to add it back if you like.  Synesthetic 02:34, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Historical accounts
On August 8 User:Phlegm Rooster, having had this page cited as an example of a page on a major organisation which was written based on the details provided on its own website, decided to do a google book search on the terms "mathematical association of america" and "negroes". He found the full text of two letters included in the book by Betty Anne Case. Somewhat unwisely he included the google book url, revealing the terms of his search. These letters are primary sources and cannot therefore be used as sources in this article. That is original research. I have added Case's reference in standard form, together with two official accounts of the history up to WWII and 1965. There is also a reference to the many historical accounts of regional sections of the MAA. The search terms of Phlegm Rooster make it impossible to assume good faith in his edits. He was gaming the system and has been reported to an administrator. Mathsci (talk) 02:37, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
 * A father of a friend of mine happened to be a topologist, and I vaguely remembered him telling me stories about the MAA and discrimination. I had to do cite the source that way to get Google to cough up that page. The source has a longer section above about diversity, the '68 Chicago riots and all kinds of other interesting stuff. This source should be integrated into the article, which at present reads like an official, sanitized profile. My edits were a good faith way of demonstrating that secondary sources always make an article more encyclopedic. As for being "reported to an admin", it's my understanding that admins don't get involved in content disputes. I also doubt Mathsci will get far keeping secondary sources off an article which is sorely lacking them. Phlegm Rooster (talk) 04:54, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Primary sources are not allowed for very good reasons. In the BLP of Lee Lorch you will find an accurately reported statement of what happened, backed up by a reliable secondary source (York University, Toronto). There is another secondary source, even more detailed, in a recent statement by the MAA itself contained in the citation for the Yueh-Gin Gung and Dr. Charles Y. Hu Distinguished Service to Mathematics Award, received by Lorch in 2007. Mathsci (talk) 08:27, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
 * The MAA citation has now been included as a source in Lee Lorch's BLP. Citing letters written at the time BTW is using primary sources. You are not free to interpret these primary sources when editing: that is WP:OR. It was not hard for me to locate 2 secondary sources (partly because my brother is a friend of Lee Lorch). You do seem to be pushing a POV here. Any reporting of this incident 57 years ago would have to be balanced. Your edits to the article were not accurate and seemed to be synthesis from primary sources. However, using the secondary sources provided by me in the article and the two other secondary sources (the York University web page and the MAA's citation), there is no reason why you could not write a balanced account of the events concerning the MAA, Lee Lorch and racial discrimination. There is no question of sanitization here, simply WP:NPOV, WP:RS,WP:V, WP:OR and WP:UNDUE. Mathsci (talk) 08:48, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Okay, I'll change the page that shows up somehow. Phlegm Rooster (talk) 17:55, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

undue weight
This: "At the southeastern regional meeting in March 1951, two African-American mathematicians from Fisk University were refused admittance, sparking a debate in the pages of Science and forcing the national Board of Governors to adopt an anti-discrimination resolution by November of that year. Even so, Black mathematicians were still discriminated against by the southeastern region as late as 1960" is certainly a shameful moment in the history of the association, but blacks were widely idscriminated against in many major national and regional institutions in the US prior to the Civil Rights Movement. Jews too. In fact, there was a good deal of discrmination against all sorts of people prior to the Civil Rights Movement. This particular incident seems to be given undue weight in this stub, which should be about the workings and organization of the MAA with greater weight on the present. Was this incident highly newsworthy? Was it widely reported on in newspapers and broadcast media? Did it provoke an NAACP lawsuit? Did it lead to a large public protest? Did it lead to major conflict and controversy within the MAA? If the answer to any of these questions is yes we perhaps whould have discussion of it in the article, but the quote suggest no. Indeed, unless there continues to be a demonstrable pattern of racism in the MAA, it sounds like this was a pretty non-notable event. In such a short stub it is being given undue weight. Slrubenstein  |  Talk 01:17, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Or perhaps the stub should be lengthened with more secondary sources. The source has a whole chapter on the issue of diversity in the association. It was written by Lee Lorch (who has an article), and entitled The Painful Path Towards Inclusiveness and covers over a decade and a half. Lorch uses many words which express his belief that the events were notable. There is absolutely no way the larger Wikipedia community will countenance the removal of notable, sourced information from this article, so I suggest that we work together to add positive information to the article. Phlegm Rooster (talk) 01:38, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Expanding the section to provide historical context - how MAA compard to other organizations at th time - and to go into greater detail about this and other political issues faced by the association, could be a good way to develop the article. Slrubenstein  |  Talk 02:16, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm working on it. If I put more about discrimination, it will make it too much weight. What I need is a source that talks about the Association in the context of WWII. There was also some important post-Sputnik stuff, but I can't access it. Phlegm Rooster (talk) 02:28, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Article is in better shape now, source-wise. Does anybody have access to more secondary sources on this association? Phlegm Rooster (talk) 01:10, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * You do not appear to have made the slightest attempt to rewrite your contentious sentences. Again the maetrial as it appears iin Lee Lorch (whose name should be included) is fine. It is also properly represented in the Lorch's 2007 citation. If you want to write more about the MAA's history this could be one sentence among 12, not two on their own. You seem to be trying to make a WP:POINT and are currently using WP as a WP:BATTLEGROUND. Your edits to Academie des Sciences show a similar lack of scholarship, since you do not seem to have realised that it was originally, and intermittently thereafter, a Royal Academy, founded in 1666 and originally funded by the king. That is not what the sentence you added says, which is taken from a book devoted to the Post-Revolutionary period. I realise that you have little to no experience editing serious mainspace articles: these articles are not sandpits for little children to play in. If you are not interested in preparing a balanced encyclopedic account of the history, just stop editing the article. You are likely to be blocked if you continue adding lopsided content in this tendentious manner, Mathsci (talk) 05:42, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I added more sentences in an attempt to dilute the source. You just revert. What is your problem with saying they meet with int'l orgs? It is you who are editing tenditiously, calling names and assuming bad faith. I haven't been blocked because adding sourced information is condoned in Wikipedia. If you have a problem with the exact phrasing, fix it. Phlegm Rooster (talk) 06:10, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * You have not added a balanced history section. You have cherrypicked comments from the literature, some inaccurately, to make a point. According to this official source three black mathematicians, mentioned explicitly be name, were denied entry by the hotel in Nashville. Why not make a small attempt to source these statements properly? The name of Lee Lorch should be mentioned if you want to include this material and you should also mention his 2007 award. Otherwise you are again cherrypicking. Mathsci (talk) 10:22, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Inclusiveness
I have rejigged this section in what I hope is a balanced way, without making any undue synthesis and with events reported in their correct context. Mathsci (talk) 12:20, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Mathematical Association of America. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20080906170043/http://www.wam.umd.edu/~rlj/Lorch.html to http://www.wam.umd.edu/~rlj/Lorch.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 21:52, 18 March 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Mathematical Association of America. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.wam.umd.edu/~rlj/Lorch.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070713083148/http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/ to http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 14:36, 5 June 2017 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Mathematical Association of America. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080724095643/http://stats.jstor.org/ to http://stats.jstor.org/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 11:12, 21 January 2018 (UTC)


text:
The Wreck of the Hesperus

"The Wreck of the Hesperus" is a narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in Ballads and Other Poems in 1842. It is a story that presents the tragic consequences of a skipper's pride. On an ill-fated voyage in winter, he brings his daughter aboard ship for company. The skipper ignores the advice of one of his experienced men, who fears that a hurricane is approaching. When the storm arrives, the skipper ties his daughter to the mast to prevent her from being swept overboard. She calls out to her dying father as she hears the surf beating on the shore, then prays to Christ to calm the seas. The ship crashes onto the reef of Norman's Woe and sinks; the next morning a horrified fisherman finds the daughter's body, still tied to the mast and drifting in the surf. The poem ends with a prayer that all be spared such a fate "on the reef of Norman's Woe."

The poem was published in the New World, edited by Park Benjamin, which appeared on January 10, 1840. Longfellow was paid $25 for it,.

Inspiration
Longfellow combined fact and fiction to create this poem. His inspiration was the great blizzard of 1839, which ravaged the north-east coast of the United States for 12 hours starting January 6, 1839, destroying 20 ships with a loss of 40 lives. The poem appears to combine two events. Longfellow probably drew for the specifics on the destruction of the Favorite, a ship from Wiscasset, Maine, on the reef of Norman's Woe off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. All aboard were lost, one a woman, who reportedly floated to shore dead but still tied to the mast. The name used in the poem is that of another vessel, lost near Boston. The poem is so well known that the loop road leading close to Norman's Woe from Route 127 is named Hesperus Ave.

In December 1839, Longfellow wrote in his diary about the writing of "The Wreck of the Hesperus":

"...suddenly it came into my mind to write, which I accordingly did. Then I went to bed, but could not sleep. New thoughts were running in my mind, and I got up to add them to the ballad. It was three by the clock. I then went to bed and fell asleep. I feel pleased with the ballad. It hardly cost me an effort. It did not come into my mind by lines, but by stanzas."

Adaptations
"The Wreck of the Hesperus" was adapted into films of the same name in 1927 and 1948.

Legacy
"Like the wreck of the Hesperus" is an archaic simile for something or someone untidy or bedraggled.

The poem has inspired titles in various media:

 * It was the inspiration for a 1944 Mighty Mouse cartoon of the same name.
 * Wreck of the Hesperus is the name of an Irish doom/drone metal band.
 * The Pleasure Island amusement park in Wakefield, Massachusetts (1958–1970), 18 miles south-west of the site where the fictional Hesperus sank, featured a ride named "The Wreck of the Hesperus".
 * The rock band Procol Harum included their song "Wreck of the Hesperus" on their album A Salty Dog (1969).
 * George Harrison included a song titled "Wreck of the Hesperus" on his 1987 album Cloud Nine.

title: The Wreck of the Hesperus


text: Category:Grandes écoles

title: Category:Grandes écoles


text:
Talk:Wudang Mountains

Untitled
This page should be better off under Wudang? Mandel 10:08, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)

wudang martial art
Perhaps we could use a disambiguation page. The name Wudang itself can also refer to a subsection of Chinese martial arts. Fire Star 15:57, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * then do that — Clarknova 03:01, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)

sure, this is useful and not duplicitous

There is already an article for Wudangquan. Is this another term for the wudang "subsection of Chinese martial arts"? It appears to have arisen in the Wudang Mountains region, so I am putting a link to it here.Lisamh 18:38, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Map
Please point out on a map of China, were exactly in China this place is. That would be helpful. Thanks.

206.63.78.97stardingo747 —Preceding comment was added at 10:29, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

 * A much better map than the one that currently appears in this article would be great to add. 173.88.246.138 (talk) 06:02, 2 April 2020 (UTC)

Lots of missing information
This article does not even have the origin of the name Wudang, and its significance to the development of Quanzhen Jiao and Yuan and Ming dynasties.

Karolus 2008/07/14

Why does the article not start with the basics--how long/large, how high are these mountains? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.70.42.26 (talk) 03:59, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Coordinate error
The coordinates need the following fixes:
 * Write here

75.118.68.70 (talk) 03:27, 22 April 2010 (UTC)wudang mountains are in china, your map shows south america

 * Nah, the coordinatesd (32N 111E) are fine. When you click on the "coordinates" link, you indeed can see a map that shows a marker in South America - but that's because the map shows both the site's location (in China, with a red circle) and its antipodes (somewhere in Argentina or Chile, using a different symbol). I am not sure that "antipodes" feature is all that useful - but if you don' like it, you'd have to raise it at Template_talk:GeoTemplate. -- Vmenkov (talk) 04:59, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

title: Talk:Wudang Mountains


text:
Talk:Bludger (disambiguation)

From VfD:

DictDef. Unless someone can really fill it out, then it should go - Ta bu shi da yu 10:10, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep: It's a short-ish page to handle two terms that do not deserve articles on their own.  In a case like this, a double dictdef seems preferrable to Qidditch: the bludger. Geogre 12:53, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * I kind of agree with Geogre, but the first definition in particular desperately needs a rewrite. Exploding Boy 13:17, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
 * Concur with EB- needs cleanup, but it's useful. Keep. -FZ 17:00, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. Colloquialism could do with some further detail. --Gene_poole 23:14, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Cleanup, disambig and split, or simply keep and wait for improvement. Certainly no grounds for deletion.  Jgm 02:57, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Move to Australian slang and redirect. The second definition is of no importance.  --Ardonik 06:36, Jul 29, 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. --Woggly 07:27, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)

end moved discussion

 * merge the two articles, Bludge does not stand on its own. ping 03:28, 7 October 2005 (UTC)
 * I'd say merge the material for the Austrailian slang term into bludge, move the Potter stuff to Bludger (Harry Potter), and turn this page into a disambig between the two. Jgm 14:46, 7 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Agree with Jgm. Here it goes! --Banana04131 16:55, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Bludger (disambiguation)