The Goddess of Japan

Strange as This story might seem to you, like something from an ancient legend, I assure you every detail is real.  The year was 2013. 

The photo above is of a Japanese scroll with a picture of Japanese Cranes.  Okay, Red Crested Cranes.   But to me they have always been a sacred symbol of the Goddess of Japan.   I have only once seen a Japanese Crane.  I stood as close to it as you see in this picture.  I was standing atop a ruined tower in the vast overgrown ruins of the Shoguns Palace in the center of Tokyo. The ancient capital of Edo, from which the Shoguns ruled Japan for a thousand years.   The bird and I conversed silently for several minutes before it took off and flew into the advancing sunset.  It was the most elegant flight I have ever seen.  And I knew that the closest breeding colony of these birds was hundreds of miles north on the island of Hokkaido.  They do not exist on the Island of Honshu, center of most of Japan's area and cities.   So I knew it had flown there from hundreds of miles To meet me.  With a message.  

To know it's message for me, read on... 

This scroll has been in my possession for over 45 years.   It has fascinated me.  And it has watched over me.  Including the heart attack that left me sprawled upon the bathroom floor,  prostrate and unconscious beneath it in February, 2021.  fortunately it watched as my angels repaired my heart and restored it. 

But I digress.  This is a story that starts in Tokyo.  And I am not only a hypnotist and a wizard of the ancient world.  I am a historian specializing in the Japanese theatre of WWII.   So I had a day off of teaching in Tokyo and was eager to pay my respects to the great heroes of the war. At  The great war Memorial to which all the dying heroes will tell their comrades before they died: "See you at Yasuguni shrine!"

I didn't know how to negotiate the vast complex of streets and subways with absolutely no knowledge of the Japanese language.  The hotel clerk could only point vaguely.  Japanese people are rigorously polite but don't speak English.  So I asked the spirit world for help.  I saw a big flame of energy in the distance.  Like a lighthouse.  I followed it and a few miles later I was there.   There was, not surprisingly, not much action in the spirit world at the shrine.  By 2013 the spirits were mostly gone. But there they were.  By some statues in a corner near the military museum, six rather scraggly and depressed soldiers ( in uniform of course ... Just like the ghosts of Gettysburg)  were conversing among themselves.  The tone was resentment and boredom.  So I strode up to them.  Translation in spirit is easy.  And I said while gesturing widely:
"Hey!  Where are the priests and ceremonies to honor you, brave heroes!  Where is the recognition and honor that you deserve?"

They were triple shocked.  First I could see them.  Apparently they had never met a necromancer before. And second,   I was an American,  The enemy!   And thirdly, I was the ONLY voice that recognized the true and terrible pain that these brave heroes were in. 

Suddenly one of the men pointed at me in total rage and walked away from me and the group. 
He was wearing a white headband.  A Kamikaze pilot.  Another soldier immediately ran to his side, attempting to whisper and failing.

You can't keep holding this grudge against the Americans!   And your wife. He fed your wife and children.  They would have starved!  He was a kind man. Of course. You weren't there. Can't you forgive them?  Finally?" 

Apparently his wife had met and married an American soldier of the occupying army.  

He shook his head in enraged silence.

Fortunately I have a little parts therapy in my toolbox.  So I ran up to him.

"No!  I screamed!  You must NEVER forgive the Americans!  Your Bushido (the warriors honor) has been broken!  So you must not forgive!"

"There is" I said raising one finger, only ONE way to restore your Bushido!

"There is a famous war Memorial in Pearl Harbor.  A memorial to the brave heroes of BOTH sides of this terrible conflict.
There, the spirits of both sides of the conflict gather to tell their stories and even perform reenactments and classes about the war."
( previous visits. Long story)  

"You must go there with your companions.  You will all win great honor for your story telling, your knowledge. And you will be  greatly honored for your courage."

"PAY NO ATTENTION TO THESE DISTRACTIONS!"

"There are many lovely women there.  Many will be eager to know and love you.  as a War hero of course.

"DO NOT LET THEM DISTRACT YOU!"

"You must find a beautiful woman who is loved by an American Officer.  And you must turn on all of your love, all of Your charm, all of your faithfulness and kindness. 
And you must thereby steal her from him!"

Only thus can your Bushido be restored!"

The whole group thanked me profusely and then disappeared.  
​
A few minutes later I crossed over a bridge to the ancient ruin of the palace of Edo.  As I walked high amongst the ruins I felt a beautiful angel calling me to climb through shambles and brush to the top of a ruined tower.  

And there stood the Japanese Crane.
Perched on a pine tree suspended over the abyss.  
Her message to me?  From the Goddess of Japan?

"Thank you brave hero."  ( I had flown out to Japan 2 days after the Sendai earthquake to teach in Nagoya. A third of the class was missing or dead and the earth was still shaking.)

"They were the last."