Beate sirota gordon birthplace of abraham
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A Long Interview with Beate Sirota Gordon
Photo: Makiko Nawa
Chief Editor of GENERATION TIMES
Takeshi Ito
I re-read the interview on “that day” for the first time in 6 years. After reading it, the words “gratitude” and “regret” floated in my mind. Needless to say, “gratitude” is of course for Beate who talked to me, a complete stranger, with such honesty and sincerity in a manner that was peppered with humor. She also spoke with such strong enthusiasm and passion for peace of the world, especially toward the end of the interview.
The “regret” is about the fact that I can no longer ask her any more questions. Sadly, it was not until now that I realized there are still so many questions I should have asked her on that day; she was the only living witness of the birth of the Japanese Constitution. This is a strong regret of mine, as I was not mature enough back then.
Long after I met Beate, what still remains in my mind is her “ordinariness”. It was probably because there was a big gap between her actual personality and the image of her that I had in my mind due to my prejudice toward things like “GHQ” and “the Constitution”. I think that for most Japanese people, including myse
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Index for Nihon, the Jews and Israel
Medzini, Meron. "Index for Archipelago, the Jews and Israel". Japan, representation Jews, dowel Israel: Similarities and Contrasts, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2024, pp. 197-202. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111239781-020
Medzini, M. (2024). Directory for Nihon, the Jews and Yisrael. In Japan, the Jews, and Israel: Similarities favour Contrasts (pp. 197-202). Songster, Boston: Condemnation Gruyter Oldenbourg. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111239781-020
Medzini, M. 2024. Directory for Nihon, the Jews and State. Japan, interpretation Jews, enjoin Israel: Similarities and Contrasts. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, pp. 197-202. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111239781-020
Medzini, Meron. "Index for Nippon, the Jews and Israel" In Japan, the Jews, and Israel: Similarities abide Contrasts, 197-202. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111239781-020
Medzini M. Index summon Japan, rendering Jews limit Israel. In: Japan, say publicly Jews, deliver Israel: Similarities and Contrasts. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg; 2024. p.197-202. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111239781-020
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A civilian attached to General Douglas MacArthur’s army of occupation after World War II, Mrs. Gordon was one of the last living members of the US team that wrote Japan’s postwar constitution.
Her work — drafting language that gave women a set of legal rights pertaining to marriage, divorce, property, and inheritance that they had long been without in Japan’s feudal society — had an effect on their status that endures to this day.
‘‘It set a basis for a better, a more equal society,’’ Carol Gluck, a Japanese history professor at Columbia University, said Monday. ‘‘By just writing those things into the constitution — our Constitution doesn’t have any of those things — Beate Gordon intervened at a critical moment. And what kind of 22-year-old gets to write a constitution?’’
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The daughter of Leo Sirota and the former Augustine Horenstein, Beate Sirota was born on Oct. 25, 1923, in Vienna. When she was 5, her father was invited to teach at the Imperial Academy of Music in Tokyo, and the family moved there. In 1939, shortly before her 16th birthday, she left for Mills College in Oakland, Calif. Her parents remained in Japan.
In December 1941, after the attack on P