100 Places To See In Your Lifetime-Heaven On Earth#57-Kyoto, Japan-"For more than a thousand years it was the capital city of Japan, and Kyoto today is the center of Japanese culture and Buddhism. Because of these historic qualities, the city was spared the fate of most other Japanese cites during World War II, and there remains standing a great deal of the old wooden architecture. Kyoto abounds with treats for the eye and the soul."






Japanese Favourite Stories The Dragon's Tears "Far away in a strange country there lived a dragon. And the dragon's home was in a deep mountain cave, from which his eyes shone like headlights. Very often, when some of the people living nearby were gathered in the evening by the fire, one would say: "What a dreadful dragon is living near us!" And another would agree, saying: "Someone should kill him!" Whenever children were told about the dragon, there were frightened. But there was one little boy who was never frightened. All the neighbours said: "Isn't he a funny little boy!" "When it was almost time for this funny little boy's birthday, his mother asked him: "Whom would you like to invite for your birthday party?" Then that little boy said: "Mother; I would like to ask the dragon!" His mother was very much surprised and asked: "Are you joking?" "No," Said the little boy very seriously, "I mean what I say: I want to invite the dragon." And sure enough on the day before his birthday the little boy stole quietly out of his house. He walked and he walked and he walked till he reached the mountain where the dragon lived. "Hello! Hello! Mr. Dragon!" the little boy called down the valley in his loudest voice."What's the matter? Who's calling me?" rumbled the dragon, coming out of his cave. Then the little boy said: "Tomorrow is my birthday and there will be lots of good things to eat, so please come to my party. I came all the way to invite you." At first the dragon couldn't believe his ears and kept roaring at the boy. But the boy wasn't frightened at all and kept saying: "Please, Mr. Dragon, please come to my party." Finally the dragon understood that the boy meant what he said and was actually asking him, a dragon, to his birthday party. Then the dragon stopped roaring and began to weep. "What a happy thing to happen to me!" the dragon sobbed. "I never had a kind invitation from anyone before." The dragon's tears flowed and flowed until they became a river. Then the dragon said: "Come, climb on my back and I'll give you a ride home!" The boy climbed bravely onto the back of the ferocious dragon and away the dragon went, swimming down the river of his own tears. But as he went, by some magic his body changed its size and shape. And suddenly-what do you know?-the little boy was sailing bravely down the river toward home as captain of a dragon steamboat.

9 Of The Most Polluted Cities In The World#7-Niger Delta, Nigeria "With more than 6,800 oil spills, which amounts to 300 spills a year, roughly one spill a day, and 9 to 13 million barrels of oil spilled over 50 years, the Niger Delta remains one of the most oil-polluted locations on the planet. The nine to thirteen million barrels of oil have been spilled into the third largest wetland on the planet. Due to continuously ruptured pipelines and the presence of oil contaminates, the Delta's mangroves, rivers, and wildlife are perpetually damaged. The United States imports eight percent of its oil from Nigeria, which is almost half of the country's oil spill production. Nigeria is the fifth largest supplier of oil to the United States. Shell has stated that 90% of spills are caused by militant thieves who access the pipelines to steal oil. Watch CNN's coverage of the oil polluted Niger Delta."