I appreciate Wakayama University for their generosity in publishing the database that contains the diary of Lord Miura Nagato-no-kami Tametoki. My investigation of the individual was successful because I gained access to the database.

I particularly appreciate Shuya Nakamura: Tea ceremony in the official diary of Murata Tametoki, house elder of the Kishu domain, Cultural Studies of Chanoyu (Journal of Kyoto University), Vol. 6. pp. 69-136, January 2026. I found the name of the individual in the page of 129 of this article. Unfortunately, the entire content of the article is written in Japanese.

Last night, I successfully identified the individual whose name was inscribed inside the lid of the wooden box. This breakthrough came after I shifted from automated AI searches in samurai registers to the manual examination of Tokugawa family documents available online through museum databases. Every single piece of this jigsaw puzzle is finally complete! I'm excited to share the news with him tomorrow, which happens to be a bank holiday in Japan. Meanwhile, disappointing as it is for someone working in this very field, I can't help but think: what a miserable job the AI did compared to a human eye! 

Today, I received an urgent call from a friend living in Kyoto asking for my help. He, a renowned art dealer, discovered a tea container inside a wooden box dating back to 1836, and it once belonged to a treasury of the Kishu Tokugawa family. The calligraphy style is classical compared to our modern writing. Although we have succeeded in deciphering all the kanji, the issue is that the identity of the name they spell out remains a mystery. I searched for the person in various registers of samurai from the Tokugawa period, but failed to identify him. Hmm... I have never seen such a name in the past. This will require further investigation. Meanwhile, I have no idea when people started calling me an art authenticator. Does this mean it’s time to quit lawyering and research, and start a new career in Kyoto?

We celebrate July 16th, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The Blessed Virgin Mary presented St. Simon Stock with the Brown Scapular, which is worn over the shoulder and associates us with the spiritual family of the Carmelite Order. It is a sacramental devotion that fosters a fraternity among the brothers and sisters who wear it. We rarely see people wearing it these days.

I love The Parallel Lives by Plutarch. I first read it when I was in junior high school. 

Among those lives, I'm particularly interested in Lucius Cornelius Sulla. His life and the history following his death provide lessons for the White House. Furthermore, they offer serious implications for Japan, an allied nation,  in the post-Abe era. 

Both countries share a similar situation regarding constitutional crises and the continuity of their state systems. We are often too absorbed in chasing tech trends to notice that we are forgetting the very societal foundations upon which that technology relies.

I definitely respect Constitutional Originalism, yet I appreciate the concept of the Living Constitution, insofar as original principles are applied to modern contexts.

The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:30–33, "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ... In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas set a guard on the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands."

Standing beside the city wall of Damascus 34 years ago, I didn't understand why he boasted of his weakness. However, at this stage in my life, I fully understand what he means. 

The Apostle continues in 2 Corinthians 12:10, "Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong."

When I admit my weakness, He alone fills my emptiness without me even noticing.