Today is a shift in the approach for this web site. Rather than stay with the Greek theme, I decide to begin a new theme - Japan. My interest in this country and its culture stems from being a 4 month visiting professor at Hokkai-Gakuen University in Sapporo in 1998. I now have 3 themes on the go:

• early Greek literature,
• Italo Calvino,
• Japan.

I begin a fairly thick tome called Japanese Civilization which begins with an analysis of the Meiji restoration in 1868. But by the time I am into it for 25 pages, I decide that it might be better to read a small book that I have had for over a year. Professor Kasai-san suggested it to me while we were in Sapporo. I made a point of buying it, but never took the time to sit down and read it. The book is called Bushido: The Soul of Japan, and is about the ethical code of the samurai in the 17th through 19th centuries. This should help prepare me for the Japanese Civilization book.

I had a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon with Bushido, with a pleasant fire going, and finished the entire book in one sitting. I also managed to do a fair amount of yellow highlighting. I plan to make some notes tomorow based on this. Then I want to spend some time on the web looking for additional sources. The book itself is a bit of a classic. It was originally written in 1905 and the version I have is the 29th printing since 1969.

I spent about 5 hours with the book. I will still count this as "one day". I am not trying to maintain any kind of quota system, but I am trying to maintain a fairly steady pace. Today was special. As is already apparent, somedays are simply a statement to the effect that the time was spent reading, other days are closer to note-taking and studying. Self-imposed learning is likely, at least in my case, to bounce around a little.