Today we really began the "I'm bored" part of summer holidays. Both David and I have more than enough to keep us busy, but the boys are being challenged to find their own fun. It's not very tempting to take them outside because it's humid, though not as hot as it could be (it's only about 30 here). We woke up sweating. I looked at the temperature at 2am and it was 29 degrees in my bedroom! We'll go out later when the sun isn't quite so high in the sky.
In the meantime, here is some news from Japan.
An election
We had an election on Sunday. Now don't ask me to explain Japanese politics to you in great detail. Here's what I understand. The election was for the upper house of parliament. Prime Minister Abe has been in power since December last year. His party, the long dominant Liberal Democratic Party, holds the power in the lower house. Now, they hold power in both houses.
It was an important election because the last time one party held the power in both houses was 1989. That's meant that it's been hard for any one to "get stuff done".
The other reason why it is important is that we're not sure what "stuff is going to get done". Probably there'll be changes in defence, and economy. Changes in the constitution are also possible. Here's a link to an article that explains things fairly well: http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/07/21/election-2013-why-it-matters/?mod=WSJBlog
And another that explains things in a little more details: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/world/asia/governing-party-appears-headed-to-lead-japanese-parliament.html?
For something a bit fun, here is how Japanese politicians have used the social media for the first time in this campaign (including game apps):
A rescue
Going around the news and social media today is a photo of a train rescue effected by the Japanese public.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/22/tokyo-train-passengers-rescue-woman-trapped
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