Children Full of Life

"Mr. Kanamori, a teacher of a 4th grade class, teaches his students not only how to be students, but how to live. He gives them lessons on teamwork, community, the importance of openness, how to cope, and the harm caused by bullying.

In the award-winning documentary Children Full of Life, a fourth-grade class in a primary school in Kanazawa, northwest of Tokyo, learn lessons about compassion from their homeroom teacher, Toshiro Kanamori. He instructs each to write their true inner feelings in a letter, and read it aloud in front of the class. By sharing their lives, the children begin to realize the importance of caring for their classmates.

Toshiro is an amazing example of what all teachers across the world should be like. He truly understands what teaching children is all about and certainly made a positive difference in the lives of these 10 year olds."

The Passing of Tonga's King George Tupou V

King George Tupou V of the Kingdom of Tonga, passed away on March 18 of this year during a visit to Hong Kong. He was 63 and had been King since September of 2006. The Tongan newspaper Matangi Tonga reported the cause of death was leukemia.

In 2008, under great pressure from the people who had demonstrated and rioted for democratic reforms, the king had made the Parliament an elected body for the first time. Previously the majority of members of Parliament were appointed by the king. He also sold off his ownership in state property and gave up many of his day to day responsibilities in running the country.


In addition to the throng of local mourners, the king's funeral was attended by representatives of the British and Japanese royal families, and heads of government from around the Pacific. The services were a combination of Tongan rituals and traditions from the Free Wesleyan Church including hymns, bible readings, prayers and eulogies.

King George Tupou V


Related post: Fate Is The Hunter - regarding the 2006 death of Prince Tu'ipelehake and his wife Princess Kaimana of the Kingdom of Tonga along with their driver in a car crash in Menlo Park, California. Tu'ipelehake was nephew to King Tupou IV (so cousin of Tupou V). Importantly, he had also been the leader of the democracy movement in Tonga.