Japanese View from the IJN Musashi

Pacific Paratrooper

Yamato and Musashi (artist unknown)

This was originally published in “Sensō: The Japanese Remember the Pacific War”, edited by Frank Gibney.  Story by: Satō Kiichi, from Yokosuka, Japan.

The Last of Battleship Musashi

“Third attack,” came the warning.  The damage from the second attack had been terrible.  Lying on the deck were several wounded men receiving emergency treatment.  I was taking a brief break.  My two subordinates were on their way to the infirmary.  Just at that moment, a torpedo approached with a sinister hissing sound.  Shouting “Go on up!” I rushed to the upper deck.  I couldn’t see the two who had gone to the infirmary.

IJN Musashi (artist unknown)

I had to get those two.  I looked down the hatch.  There was already close to a meter of water flooding the ship.  The infirmary was left isolated.  Neither my voice nor my concern could reach that far.  Was…

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On a chance encounter

Imagine All the Numbers…

Math with Bad Drawings

A fair question: how did “i” get the name of “imaginary number”?

It seems harsh. In some sense, all numbers are imaginary. After all, is there really such a thing as negative numbers? You can’t have -2 friends, no matter how alienating your Facebook posts are.

Or what about the irrationals? If you take a 1-meter stick and mark it up into equal segments, then no matter how tiny and minute the divisions, you’ll never get an irrational length. Even if you go down to the atomic level. That’s kind of weird.

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On My Bookshelf: Of Stillness and Storm