MH Knights Original Works

..This is a listing of some of the major papers, stories and whatever that I've done. Let's get one thing straight before I go on: I worked long and hard on this stuff, and am posting it for other people to see, BUT NOT COPY!!! You can use these reseach papers as resorces as long as you give me credit!!! Please respect that all materials contained on this page are mine (©) and MAY NOT be used or reproduced in any shape or form without my written permission!!!

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                 Harley Mark (MHBK)(MH Knights)

Term paper for 4th Quarter: Japan (5-29-98)

The world is full of many countries with many different cultures. A countrie's government can shape it's culture and it's culture can shape it's government. In addition, a countrie's physical attributes like it's size, shape, and geographical location can effect both it's culture and govenment. One such country is Japan. Japan is an island country located in the Pacific. It is because of Japan's small size, it's only about the size of California, that the Japanese people have adapted habits like living in small houses, cramming into commuter trains that are all ready packed, and just in general living a compact lifestyle. All this stems from their long history involving feudal warfare, isolationism, and modernization, which has led the land of the "Rising Sun" to become one of the major powers, both economicly and scientificly, in the world today.

Japan is a country of volcanic islands located in Pacific Ocean, East of China. It consists of five main islands and many smaller ones. It is mountainous, with roughly the same climate as Wisconson. Combined, the islands have a size of 145,370 square miles where a population of 5,800,000 people have to live. It is because of Japan's small size that 78% of the population live in cities located along the coastal areas. The capital city, Tokyo, is one of the most populated in the world due to the amount of business that goes on in the city's various districs. One of the byproducts of this, however, is that pollution and overcrowding are two major problems that are troubling Japan. Using advanced engineering and technology, Japanese planners are helping to resolve these and other problems facing their people.

Officially, Japan's date of idependence is listed as 660 B.C. Many historians believe that the ancestors of the Japanese migrated over from the Asian mainland. The earliest known records come from the Chinese historians living at the time, 25 A.D.-220 A.D., recoding trading experiences with the early Japanese. At first, idividual clans ruled a local area until about 710 A.D. when the first perminent capital was set up at Nara. Much of the early Japanese society was heavily influenced by the Chinese culture as evident by early landscape paintings and architecture. Eventually government leaders wanted to seperate themselves somewhat from the Chinese and become a stonger country. Art and literature flourished during this period, know as the Heian Period, and the royal court supported many different endevors. Durring the 12th century, the royal court's power slipped and was overthrown, the age of feudalism, the ruling of local areas by military rulers for a higher lord, began. This period saw the creation of the Bushido or the code of honor used by Samurai, but also was a time of anti-intellectualism. In 1600 A.D. the government leaders closed off Japan to all outsiders and started the age of isolationism. Durring this time many cultural advancements were made in society and little else. This ended in 1853 when Commodore Matthew Perry, of the U.S. Navy, arrived in Edo Bay in modern steamships and ordered the government to open Japan to trade. Withen 15 years the last feudal Shogun surrendered his powers to the new Meiji government ending feudalism in Japan and begining an age of modernization. The new government quickly learned how to create new factories and make Japan an industrial giant. Within a few years Japan was at equal power in the global market with any Western power and started to dominate Asia. Japan was a growing county and needed room to expand. In 1939 Japan attacked China and in 1941 bombed Pearl Harbor and started a war with the U.S.. By 1945 the Allied forces had beaten Japan and ended World War II. The military government was thrown out and a new peaceful one took it's place. A program of restoration was set up and in 1951, Japan regained it's indipendence. Since then Japan has seem tremendous growth and has taken it's place as a world leader.

Japan's current form of government is a Parlimentry Democracy simular to that of Great Britan's. This means that there is a royal family, but a Prime Minister is at the head of the government. After it regained control in 1951, the Japanese adopted a constitution simular to the U.S.'s. With a few minor differences, Japan has some of the toughest gun laws in the world, the Japanese have the same rights and privaledges that Americans enjoy. The governmental set up is also simular to the U.S.'s because it has roughly the same system of checks and balances that keep the government in order. Unlike the U.S., however, Japan doesn't use the jury system and the language of law is not used, instead using the vernacular to make things more easily understood. Under the new constitution, the military is only to be used for civil defense or to take part in a U.N. action. Eventhough the military's size is supposed to be small, it still has one of the most advanced in the world. Japan is currently engaged in several international projects including the International Spacestation which is soon to be launched into space this year. Japan has, in general, good ralations with other countries and at this time has no open disputes politically or militarially with another country.

Japan's economic stucture is in fairly good condition, although the Asian stock market has been losing points in the last couple of years. There is currently no shortage of food and the Japanese have some of the best health care in the world, which in turn, has led the Japanese to have the highest life expectentcy in the world. This also creates proplems in the area of care for the elderly because a good portion of Japan's population is in the senior catagory. Currently, the job market is in good condition due to a high rate of students seeking higher education to forward their carrers and create a more competitive job market. The educational system is also in good condition with Japan having a 99.9% literacy rate for both men and women. This is why Japan is one of the world leaders in the developement and production of modern devices such as computers, cars and stereos just to name a few. Also, almost all video games are produced in Japan which is largely due to the fact the three major compinies; Sony, Nintendo, and Sega are headquartered in Japan, along with many talented software programers. Most workers are fairly well paid and some compinies offer lifetime employment or other great benifits for working a long career. Life long employment is on the decline however, due to non-Japanese companies learning from Japan's factories and implimenting those ideas into their own factories. This has lead some workers to go to more construction-oriented jobs. This is a good thing because in order to keep up with Japan's growing population, much construction and repair work must be done to the transportation infrastructure. Japan has many mass-transportation systems to deal with the dense population, but the roads are still in good condition, as is the communication system and power grid.

Japan has a very unique culture that is a mix of old traditions and new ideas. For example, someone might have a Shinto wedding (Shinto is the traditonal Japanese religion), give gifts and sing caroles at Christmas, and have a Bhuddist funeral. This blend of cultures creates some good things like a strong group and team type mentality that has helped the Japanese become an industrial giant, and some bad things like discrimination against women and individualists. Eventhough women's rights have improved, most high ranking jobs are held by men and the same is true for the government. As for people who want to stand out, they are sometimes bullied into conforming and this is a big proplem in the junior and highschools but school officials are now starting to crack down on these bullies. Japanese students can be seen wearing shirts with American sports teams on them or other such clothing items. At most schools however, students are required to wear uniforms while studying for some of the world's hardest exams that are required to advance one's education to the next level. After school some students go to cram schools to help study while some go home and enjoy reading a manga, the Japanese word for a comic book, watching some anime, Japanese animation, or playing a video game. Unlike in the U.S. where the idea that animation is for kids, it is not uncommon to see that the number one blockbuster is an animated feature geared towards an older audience other than young children. Japanese people also enjoy playing American sports like football, baseball, pro-wrestling, and real wrestling, while still going to traditional activities such as sumo-wrestling, kendo, martial arts matches and archery.

Japan is a country with a long and strong history and rich culture. It has survived many conflicts and hardships and come out strong. It is a country where ancient temples sit right next to modern technology centers and still play an important role in society. It is this blend of the old and new that makes Japan such an interesting place. Even with a slipping economy, Japan manages to keep it's place as a world leader in both industry and science. Japan is taking part in several international projects like the International Space Station and revolutionary robot technology which willperpetuate Japan into the next millinium and beyond.

Bibliography

D'Aluisio, Faith and Peter Menzel, Women in the Material World, San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1996.

Frieddrich, Paul, and Norma Diamond, eds., Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Boston, G.K. Hall, 1994.

Kanematsu, Elizabeth, Women in Society: Japan, New York, Times Editions Pte Ltd., 1993.

Krieger, Larry et al.,World History, Toronto, D.C. Heath, 1994.

Menzel, Peter, Material World - A Global Family Portait, San Francisco: Sierra, 1994.

Moss, Joyce and George Winston, Peoples of the World, Gale Research Inc., 1993.

Scholastic Update, Religion, December 6, 1996.

Scholastic Update, World Affairs Annual 1997-98, October 6, 1997.

Proverb Essay (11-6-98)

Benjamin Franklin was an American who lived from 1706 - 1790. He was a man of many talents including publishing, politics, science and writing. One of his most famous works was "Poor Richard's Almanack," a book containing calenders, predictions and political observations. It's most popular features were it's dry humor and enlightning proverbs. A proverb, or adage or maxim, is a short saying that expresses the obvious truth. Even though the adages of "Poor Richard's Almanack" were written over 200 years ago, they are still insightful in today's modern world. One such proverb that is still useful today is, "To err is human, to repent divine; to persist devilish."

The proverb that states making mistakes is normal and admitting to them is good, but to keep making the same mistake is bad, can be applied to me, the Vietnam War and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.The first example of how making mistakes is natural and recognizing them is good, is in the sense of my homework habits. I was getting my work done, but I started to slack off and my grades started to fall. I admitted that I messed up and I'm currently working on getting all of my homework completed. Another example of how the proverb, "To err is human, to repent divine; to persist devilish" applies to the modern world is the Vietnam War. The whole war was a big mistake, nobody except the military wanted the war. Consequently, it mostly turned out bad because the U.S. government wouldn't admit what they were doing was wrong and stop it. Furthermore, another instance of how messing up, but realizing it was wrong and fixing it is Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. The band used to do alot of drugs and alchohol when they were young. However, when they got older they realized that what they were doing was wrong and put themselves in rehab. Obviously, we are all just mortal human beings so making mistakes is natural, but admiting to those mistakes is intelligent and mature, whereas to keep on making a mistake is a very bad thing.

The proverb, "To err is human, to repent divine; to persist devilish," is one of the many short, but inlighting adages printed in "Poor Richard's Almanack." It provides a look into how we think and act. Myself, the Vietnam War and Steven Tyler are examples of how this is true. All three of these subjects showed how easy it is for us humans to to make mistakes and what happens when we acknoledge that something wrong has been done, or what happens if we keep making the same errors over and over again. Even though "Poor Richard's Almanack" was written over 200 years ago, it still provides insight into today's world.

What the heck?!?!

"Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it." This is why I keep this stuff around, I DO NOT want to repeat this time in my life!!!!! These short little things were done when I was in sixth grade, when I was a little phyco nut case. I had no idea what was going on and this is proof. If you know anyone who writes stuff like this in their spare time, get help, they'll appreciate it later!

Idiot Airlines (9-3-93)

Oh, please come fly with us at Idiot Airlines. Even though our pilots are drunks, the stuwardress' are bimbos and our mechanics necer fix the planes, please fly with us.
Fly with us even though the planes are ancient and our food may cause you to mutate into a hidious monster, please come fly with us.
Hey! Please fly with us, even though our navigators can't tell North from South , come fly with us. Come fly with us even though your luggage and small childern are sure to get lost, come fly with us.
Come fly with us even though our planes are always getting blown up or hijacked. Come with us. Come with us even though narcotics are always getting smuggled on our planes, please oh pretty please with sugar on top, fly Idiot Airlines and "Fly the Stupid Skies!"

Target Busways (9-16-93)

Oh yes! We are Target Busways! Our prices are low even though we're always getting shot at. Ride with us even though nut-cases are always using us for target practice.
Ride with us even though our buses are always getting blown up. If (by some chance) you don't get shot, then you'll choke to death. Our mechanics are untrained morons who can't tell a bolt from a nut.
Ride with us even though our busses are roaming smog factories and could give you cancer in a second. If the smog doesn't kill you then the tree-huggers that protest us will.
Ride our city busses even though they are roaming gang-mobiles. People are always getting shot, stabbed, mugged, tagged, looted or worse, 'cause we're Target Busways!
Ride with us even though our drivers are cross-eyed drunks or psycho mental cases. They are always willing to talk and follow you home after work for ever and ever. If you say we are morons, you're 100% right. Why? 'Cause we are Target Busways!

Titanic Ships (9-29-93)

Yes! We are Titanic Ships! Our prices are perfect even though the service is far from it. Sail with us even though 3 of our ships have sank and 2 dissappeared.
Come sail with us even though our Captains are drunks, booze hounds, dirty cheats and chronic skirt chasers. Our navigators can't tell North from South and couldn't find their way out of a paper bag.
So sink with us even though are always barfing their brains out over the side. And the ghosts and demons that haunt our ships will always be there to keep you company.
Come sail with us even though foreign countries are alwats trying to blast us out of the water when ever we get near. So don't mind the sub-bliminal messages and keep on sailing with us because we are the one, the only, Titanic Ships!

Buy This! (10-8-93)

Buy this thing, you must buy it, you must! If you don't buy it, things, horrible things will happen to you while you sleep!
Why should you buy it? Why, because it's the best of it's kind. Yes if you buy this wonderful thing, it will save your life someday.
Just because it costs more money than you will ever have, is no reason to not purchase this on-of-a-kind item. We have the best con-artists employed for your conveniance.
Why we are in Beverly Hills partying with your cash, you'll be enjoying the wonders of your marvious new thing in your card-board box.
Never mind the hypnotist in the corner, or the sub-bliminal messages that are being piped into your head. Your only concern should be picking up your phone and calling us right now! Did you not hear me! I said pick up that phone and buy this thing now! Buy it now you worthless pile of dung!

Le Mc Barf's (10-19-93)

Hey, we are Le Mc Barf's and we are going to make you puke. We are as exspensive as a French resturaunt, employ teenage dweebs, and well, "What do you think's in the Burgers!"
The janitors never clean anything, but when they do, they never put out the wet floor signs. Cockroaches and other vermin have made happy homes in our grills and pantry.
We employ only the most obnoxious little brats to run around screaming while you eat. We'll put anything into the burgers, which gives us that o-so-special taste.
We promise that you'll been greener than uranium by the time you leave our place of regergitation. So if you want to puke your internal organs out 'til the cows come home, just stop what you're doing and come on down to Le Mc Barf's!

Ode to the Golden Years (re-arranged by me 11-11-98)

The Golden years are hear at last

I cannot see
I cannot pee

I cannot chew
I cannot screw

My memory shrinks
My hearing stinks

No sense of smell
I look like hell

I cannot feel my feet
My heart can barely beat

The Golden Years are here at last
The Golden Years can kiss my ass

Poetry: Communications (English) 1996

THE PAIN

The pain, the pain, the loggers have came. Chain saws roaring, sends the birds soaring. Fellow trees crying out in pain. Sounds like thunder when they hit the ground. Forest being cleared for a K-Mart. Trees being torn apart, animals losing their homes. The loggers starting to cut me, wish I could run. As a logger trips on one of my roots, a question comes to mind: If a tree falls on a logger in the woods can anyone hear him scream?

STUDENT'S PRAYER
Now I lay my head down to rest,
praying that I pass tomorrow's test.
If I die before I wake,
no more tests I will have to take.

MEAT

Meat, meat, the sweet taste of red meat. The smell of A-1, ketchup, mustard, relish, pickles, onions, lettuce, secret sauce, cheese or what ever your delight. Over an open flame, smoked, baked or pickled, but not fried. Stake, hamburger, hot dog or ground beef, the protein my needs. Tearing it with my incisors, juices tantalizing my taste buds. Meat, meat, the sweet taste of red (not white) meat.

DOWN IN THE WOODS

Down in the woods is where I like to go. Down in the woods where I can breath clean air, not smog. Down where the animals roam free and where nature is pure and undisturbed. Down in the woods is where I like to go.

T.V.

T.V.! The great god T.V.! Infinity channels of mind rotting T.V.! It's warm glow replaces my need for the sun. Can watch the bingo championship in Wala Wala or the ping pong tournament in Zalala. Remote's got 50 buttons so I can operate everything from the Aquarium to the Zither! If it did not exsist I would surely wither! Mezmarizing glare, can't get out of my chair. Shutting out my surroundings, exalt the new god, T.V.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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