Tokyo

Tokyo is the capital of Japan and one of the largest cities in the world. It is part of a huge urban area that also includes the port city of Yokohama and the manufacturing cities of Chiba and Kawasaki. This area, known as the Tokyo metropolitan region, is the largest urban center in the world. It has an estimated population of about 35 million people. Tokyo itself is one of the busiest and most crowded cities in the world. It is the home of the Japanese emperor and the headquarters of the national government. It is Japan's center of business, culture, and education. Its many banks, commercial establishments, and industries help make Japan one of the richest nations in the world.

Tokyo has tall buildings, freeways jammed with traffic, and more neon signs than probably any other city in the world. The people of this Asian city listen to American jazz and rock music, and they eat at restaurants that offer everything from hamburgers to the finest European dishes. Many residents go to baseball games and watch movies and television shows from Europe and the Americas. In spite of such outside influences, however, Japanese tradition remains strong in Tokyo.

Large numbers of Tokyo's people take part in dances and parades during the city's many traditional festivals, some of which have been held for hundreds of years.They go to city parks to enjoy the beauty of the cherry trees and lotus blossoms. They visit historic shrines and temples and attend traditional plays and wrestling matches.Tokyo traces its beginning to 1457, when a powerful warrior built a castle there. It became the Japanese capital in 1868. Tokyo was almost destroyed twice—by a terrible earthquake in 1923 and by air raids in the 1940's during World War II. But the city began growing rapidly after the war.

About one-fourth of the people of Japan live in the Tokyo area. Tokyo itself has become extremely crowded, and its housing costs are among the highest in the world. It also faces such problems as pollution and some of the world's heaviest traffic. Tokyo lies on the southeastern coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. The city stands in the southern part of a sprawling lowland called the Kanto Plain, a rich agricultural and industrial area. Mount Fuji, Japan's highest and most famous peak, lies about 60 miles (97 kilometers) to the southwest. On clear days, people in Tokyo have a spectacular view of the beautiful mountain, which seems to "float" on the horizon The city of Tokyo is divided into 23 units called wards, and it is often called the ward area. It is bordered by the Edo River on the northeast, by an inlet of the Pacific called Tokyo Bay on the east, and by the Tama River on the south. The Sumida River flows into Tokyo Bay in the eastern part of the city. The Imperial Palace, where the Japanese emperor lives, stands near the center of the city. The town that became Tokyo grew up in this area. East from the palace to Tokyo Bay, the land is low and flat. Many of Tokyo's chief business, commercial, and industrial districts are in this area. The Marunouchi district, an area of tall office buildings southeast of the palace, is Tokyo's business and financial center.

The Story Of The Bad Little Boy Who Didn’t Come To Grief

He didn't have any sick mother either a sick mother who was pious and had the consumption, and would be glad to lie down in the grave and be at rest but for the strong love she bore her boy, and the anxiety she felt that the world might be harsh and cold towards him when she was gone. Most bad boys in the Sunday books are named James, and have sick mothers, who teach them to say, "Now, I lay me down," etc. and sing them to sleep with sweet, plaintive voices, and then kiss them goodnight, and kneel down by the bedside and weep. But it was different with this fellow. He was named Jim, and there wasn't anything the matter with his mother no consumption, nor anything of that kind. She was rather stout than otherwise, and she was not pious; moreover, she was not anxious on Jim's account. She said if he were to break his neck it wouldn't be much loss. She always spanked Jim to sleep, and she never kissed him goodnight; on the contrary, she boxed his ears when she was ready to leave him. Once this little bad boy stole the key of the pantry, and slipped in there and helped himself to some jam, and filled up the vessel with tar, so that his mother would never know the difference; but all at once a terrible feeling didn't come over him, and something didn't seem to whisper to him, "Is it right to disobey my mother? Isn't it sinful to do this? Where do bad little boys go who gobble up their good kind mother's jam?" and then he didn't kneel down all alone and promise never to be wicked any more, and rise up with a light, happy heart, and go and tell his mother all about it, and beg her forgiveness, and be blessed by her with tears of pride and thankfulness in her eyes.

Mark Twain

Mark Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He was born on November 30, 1835. He apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various cities, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, before heading west to join Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to journalism. While a reporter, he wrote a humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", which became very popular and brought nationwide attention. His travelogues were also well-received. Twain had found his calling. He achieved great success as a writer and public speaker.
His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty. He lacked financial acumen, and, though he made a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he squandered it on various ventures, in particular the Paige Compositor, and was forced to declare bankruptcy. With the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers he eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain worked hard to ensure that all of his creditors were paid in full, even though his bankruptcy had relieved him of the legal responsibility. He was one of the foremost American philosophers of his day; he was the world's most famous humorist of any day.
During the later years of his life he ranked not only as America's chief man of letters, but likewise as her best known and best loved citizen. The beginnings of that life were sufficiently unpromising. The family was a good one, of old Virginia and Kentucky stock, but its circumstances were reduced, its environment meager and disheartening. The father, John Marshall Clemens a lawyer by profession, a merchant by vocation had brought his household to Florida from Jamestown, Tennessee, somewhat after the manner of Judge Hawkins as pictured in The Gilded Age. Florida was a small town then, a mere village of twenty one houses located on Salt River, but judge Clemens, as he was usually called, optimistic and speculative in his temperament, believed in its future.
Salt River would be made navigable; Florida would become a metropolis. He established a small business there, and located his family in the humble frame cottage where, five months later, was born a baby boy to whom they gave the name of Samuel a family name and added Langhorne, after an old Virginia friend of his father.