Wataru Tenkawa 天河航

https://social.vivaldi.net/@WataruTenkawa_1

Naturalized Japanese citizen from Michigan via San Francisco. Car-free Tokyo resident since 1978. Thriving on a no-mammals diet since 1970.

Bluesky: @10wataru.bsky.social

Public Key

npub102p958u52m94h4f6g79v0accsjrfrwuckgtgnnecz5xnxwe9y2msss59d2

NIP-05 Address

watarutenkawa_1_at_social.vivaldi.net@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs84qj6r729dj6m65ay0zk87uvgfp53hwvty95feuup2rfn8vjj9dcprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntqyv8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnndehhyapwwdhkx6tpdsnhfzcx

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

relay.snort.social

atlas.nostr.land

Author Public Key

npub102p958u52m94h4f6g79v0accsjrfrwuckgtgnnecz5xnxwe9y2msss59d2

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-07-30 12:05:05 UTC

- reply

Not quite the same meaning, though

2026-07-30 11:57:11 UTC

With the advance of AI, we are hearing many new or unfamiliar terms, like "open weight," "AGI" and "tokens"; but one that suddenly has taken hold is "compute" as a noun, in the sense of computer time × capacity (which is what all the talk of data centers is about). I just saw it twice in headlines on my screen. Has anyone dared use it yet in a translation?
From Wired:
Despite the ongoing AI boom, LinkedIn is holding the line on compute spending. Instead, it’s challenging engineers to make every GPU count.
From a tech podcast:
Why compute might get 10x+ more expensive in coming years

2026-07-30 08:05:23 UTC

RE: https://social.vivaldi.net/@WataruTenkawa_1/117007179161008105
The whole article excerpted below is long but important history. Here's the link:
https://tmblr.co/Zb6D0w2eNIyCa
#note18kh…0698

2026-07-30 05:04:25 UTC

This was Korea, “the limited war”. The views of its architect, Curtis LeMay, serve as its epitaph. After it started, he said: “We slipped a note kind of under the door into the Pentagon and said let us go up there … and burn down five of the biggest towns in North Korea - and they’re not very big - and that ought to stop it. Well, the answer to that was four or five screams - ‘You’ll kill a lot of non-combatants’ and ‘It’s too horrible’. Yet over a period of three years or so … we burned down every town in North Korea and South Korea, too … Now, over a period of three years this is palatable, but to kill a few people to stop this from happening - a lot of people can’t stomach it”
-- J F Dulles Papers, Curtis LeMay oral history, 28 April 1966.

2026-07-27 10:39:27 UTC

Japan has had several 40°C days this summer, but today's in 日田 (Hita), Oita was the first ever 40°C day in all of Kyushu. Today's 38.7°C in 肝付前田 (Kimotsuki Maeda) was the hottest day ever in Kagoshima. Fukuoka Prefecture also had two all-time heat records today. 暑いですね

2026-07-21 04:29:46 UTC

- reply

If "structured play" is so important, is there a way to achieve it without all the negative aspects of organized, adult-led sports activities?

2026-07-21 04:14:11 UTC

- reply

Competitiveness itself is not the problem. It's the barking coaches and the excessive expectations of parents, often trying to live through their kids, that end up ruining the fun of pure play that we were born to enjoy. The endless tweaking of rules and the need for adjudication by referees are also strongly negative factors.

2026-07-21 03:55:17 UTC

- reply

How do I know this? From my own experience, as a free-range child and then as an unwilling participant in various sports. But also from walking the neighborhood every day, where I see kids playing freely, and then other kids doing soccer training at the local grounds. The former are full of joyful vigor; the latter are being barked at by coaches and watched over by their moms from the sidelines. It's instantly clear who is having more fun.

2026-07-21 02:14:32 UTC

- reply

Thanks for asking. I am a strong believer in the importance of play. Children instinctively know how to play, and do so most enjoyably without coaching. They would much prefer to play without having adults watching them or telling them how to play. But adults just can't stop themselves from interfering, turning the play into sports with winners and, in the end, mostly losers.

2026-07-21 02:02:33 UTC

Is is over yet? That party game where grown-up men dress like boys and try to pass a ball around without using their hands? Or do I have to go into exile for another 40 days?

2026-06-16 12:51:09 UTC

Love the way Japanese TV treasures its drag queens. (The one on the left is a regular commentator on afternoon variety shows.)
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/759/872/633/209/014/original/7122c3f80b5d4a80.jpg

2026-05-23 13:19:24 UTC

Watching Tamori Station on TV about all the construction work going on at Shinjuku and Shibuya. Shinjuku has around 3.6 million users a day, and yet they are carrying out these complex projects, totally replacing the Odakyu Department Store, for example. It's going to be so convenient by the time I'm like 97 years old.

2026-05-22 04:32:13 UTC

There's an old blues song, "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all".
In your own case, if you were to replace "luck" with a different word, which would it be?

2026-05-20 04:13:25 UTC

RE: https://universeodon.com/@memeorandum/116604943981471995
So damned predictable. You have to wonder how many more there are out there that have yet to be caught.
#note1wl7…fqqa

2026-05-13 00:28:22 UTC

Which of these have you experienced? (multiple choices)

2026-04-27 12:13:21 UTC

A miso shop in Kichijoji, which closed a couple of decades or so ago. The owner, like many who used to live upstairs from their shop, could no longer tolerate the increasing liveliness as surrounding establishments stayed open later into the night.
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/476/607/608/791/086/original/b8c41647948c9812.jpg

2026-04-19 01:30:03 UTC

"What makes Japan’s cities particularly suited to rail is thus not their residential districts, but their huge and hyperdense centers. These really are special: the cores of Tokyo or Osaka are unlike anything that exists in Europe or North America. Many of their features are famous worldwide: the vertical street zakkyo buildings, underground streets, shopping streets under rail tracks, covered arcades, elevated station squares, and vertical cities. Getting millions of commuters and shoppers into these downtowns is where rail excels because its extreme spatial efficiency means that infrastructure with a relatively modest footprint can transport vast numbers of people into a small area."
https://worksinprogress.co/issue/why-japan-has-such-good-railways/

2026-04-17 11:25:40 UTC

- reply

Slow eating is good. And even though I've been imbibing alcohol daily for more than 60 years, I've made it to 83 without being hospitalized or broken a bone; and my blood tests, X-rays and electrocardiogram tests all come back perfect. So I'm not about to change course at this point.

2026-04-17 10:52:45 UTC

A typical dinner at our home
Around 5:45PM, I haul out four bottles of sake and some sashimi, avocado with cottage cheese, or other sake no tomo, and start enjoying them, while my wife finishes preparing the main courses.
At 6PM or so, the family members join in and begin eating.
By 6:20PM, they have finished; but I am still eating and drinking, while my wife starts clearing the table and washing the dishes.
I continue eating the remaining food (can't let it go to waste!), finally finishing around 6:45PM.
I make coffee and we enjoy it with dessert. The dinner dishes have all been washed and mostly put away.
This is fine. [Insert dog in fire meme] We are all happy with our respective paces.

2026-04-10 02:11:03 UTC

If you were asked to pay for something in bitcoin, would you know what to do?

2026-04-07 10:17:26 UTC

Have you ever switched between iPhone and Android? How did it go?

2026-04-06 12:28:03 UTC

- reply

Here's mine, from the evening dinner table
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/357/752/547/194/029/original/16f015b3411783d9.jpg

2026-04-06 08:25:12 UTC

Now that the cherry blossom season is winding down, allow me to share a favorite photo from a few years back. I love how this tree, despite being old and bent over, still manages to blossom beautifully. An inspiration for older folks like me. (Location: Inokashira Park, Tokyo)
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/356/802/553/513/856/original/a6f94ccb0447850a.jpg

2026-04-05 04:12:01 UTC

How a hydroelectric company from a small Japanese city in Gifu became "the single point of failure for the most valuable chips on earth"
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/350/144/758/134/981/original/c66d7351fe9cd01a.png

2026-04-04 11:48:59 UTC

RE: https://social.vivaldi.net/@WataruTenkawa_1/116340598599443436
Wow, 70 boosts for this little poll! And 546 people voted, while there were 53 comments, all of them thoughtful. If I had voted, I too would have chosen "Falling deeply in love." That experience can be painful as well as thrilling, but the thrill is like nothing else in life. My one regret regarding this poll is that I should have included "Great music" as one of the choices.
#note16ws…yrzm

2026-04-04 10:22:26 UTC

Around 15 years ago, we were given an Asahiyama Sakura bonsai. It got broken when we moved a year later, so my wife planted it in a corner of our garden. The second photo is how it looked today before all the rain.
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/345/938/177/962/124/original/0e2e547e137faf3e.jpg
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/345/938/164/966/391/original/266c1a1c03998b3b.jpg

2026-04-04 10:15:32 UTC

- reply

早くGENKIになってくださいね

2026-04-03 11:44:13 UTC

What have you personally found to be the greatest experience in life?

2026-04-02 08:35:43 UTC

There are now more foreigners living in Japan than the entire population of Croatia or 100+ other countries.

2026-03-31 11:55:04 UTC

What's your favo(u)rite of these tropical fruits?

2026-03-31 05:33:58 UTC

Had some problems with #Vivaldi at first due to my unfamiliarity with the tab stacking feature, but worked them out and now think it's the best browser out there. Grateful also for their hosting of a Very Good Mastodon instance.

2026-03-30 04:20:42 UTC

- reply

What I disliked about Bluesky was all the people posting about how much they hate Twitter. I hope Mastodon does not get that way about Bluesky. Let's just be ourselves, doing what we do best, and not get so obsessed about other platforms.

2026-03-29 03:58:32 UTC

This photo hangs on the wall of my room. It's my wife with our daughter, who is now 41 and the mother of our grandkids. I am thankful every day for the privilege of spending my life with my family, including our two sons.
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/310/424/083/365/403/original/1d4f1b08e04d39ef.jpg

2026-03-28 11:29:40 UTC

- reply

It truly feels like home!

2026-03-28 10:29:55 UTC

My dear wife makes the best salads (details in ALT). And her dressing is also homemade.
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/306/322/144/151/071/original/f52d407dbd5a25a2.jpg

2026-03-28 04:16:09 UTC

Twitter stopped offering Tweetdeck (X-Pro) to the Premium (980 yen/month) users, in the middle of our contract. So I am looking for a Twitter replacement again. I tried Bluesky-only life for a day or so and got nauseated at all the deliberate shitposting games. So back to trying "tiny and weird" Masto. Yoroshiku.

2026-03-12 01:40:52 UTC

While the US and Israel are indiscriminately bombing Iran, it was 81 years ago (the night of March 9–10, 1945) that the US was firebombing Tokyo. Approximately 300 B-29 Superfortress bombers dropped more than 1,600 tons of incendiary bombs (napalm and petroleum jelly) starting at low altitudes to maximize the spread of fire. Most estimates range from 90,000 to 100,000 deaths, though some historians suggest the figure could be as high as 200,000 due to the extreme population density and firestorm conditions. Over 1 million people were left homeless, and roughly 16 square miles (41 km²) of central Tokyo—about one-fourth of the city—was completely incinerated.

2025-11-15 08:08:46 UTC

- reply

Because PearceWord was too obvious

2025-10-08 02:17:39 UTC

Mastodon plans to add Bluesky-like starter packs to suggest accounts to follow for new users, but will allow accounts to opt out of being included in Packs (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch) https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/07/mastodon-is-taking-cues-from-bluesky-with-plans-for-its-own-starter-packs/

2025-03-25 11:46:20 UTC

I've been translating for more than 40 years and am at an age when my peers are retired and living off their pensions or investments, but having work requests coming in one after another, for 10, 20, 30 pages or more, never stops providing a dopamine rush. I much prefer this life to retirement, tbh.

2025-03-16 03:43:56 UTC

If you remember Derek Wessman and are sorry he left this little community, please read his latest blog piece. It is good in itself, and may also help explain why he left.
For https://www.derekwessman.com/blog-1/for

2025-03-13 22:32:24 UTC

"Error rates varied notably among the tested platforms. Perplexity provided incorrect information in 37 percent of the queries tested, whereas ChatGPT Search incorrectly identified 67 percent (134 out of 200) of articles queried. Grok 3 demonstrated the highest error rate, at 94 percent."
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/03/ai-search-engines-give-incorrect-answers-at-an-alarming-60-rate-study-says/

2025-01-20 08:43:57 UTC

Enjoying this sake for the first time, while learning all about it from a wonderful resource by @npub152w…6dzr
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/113/859/797/680/606/385/original/40e9185a5d160ea5.jpg

2025-01-14 11:35:30 UTC

Oldest son was asking his mother about keeping records of medical expenses for tax purposes. As luck would have it, none of us has enough such expenses to qualify for a deduction. My own were 0 yen all of last year, my 81st on this planet. Son says this is nothing to brag about, but it's still something I feel awfully thankful for. I've made it this far without ever being hospitalized, breaking a bone, or being on long-term medication. I feel like I'm almost ready to start giving people advice on healthy living, but not quite.

2025-01-13 10:57:49 UTC

"Climate change is happening even faster than expected. In determining what happens next, China will play a pivotal role. It is now by far the largest greenhouse gas emitter. But it is far ahead, too, in the race for supremacy in green technology. The International Energy Agency expects a striking 60 per cent of all renewable energy capacity installed worldwide between now and 2030 to come from China. It is the leading manufacturer of wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries. It dominates the downstream supply chain, too, with its control of critical minerals." [PAYWALLED ARTICLE]
https://www.ft.com/content/d3650b44-0313-44c9-a7aa-495549b158b5

2025-01-12 03:45:06 UTC

- reply

For a while it was my favorite format, which I used for recording from digital satellite radio in Japan. But the tapes are prone to tangling and are probably not as durable as other media.

2025-01-11 23:56:04 UTC

I'm nearly 82 but my mother-in-law is still alive (at 90). The latest cheap thrill at her care home is sneaking in and eating omochi (rice cakes), which are strictly forbidden because of the choking hazard. She recently scored them from the people on both sides of her room.

2025-01-11 23:51:46 UTC

- reply

Sorry, will update profile soon.

2025-01-11 11:39:30 UTC

Back after a brief absence and hoping to connect with my favorite people once again.