To finish with Aizou Wakamatsu on a more serious tone, in many spots around town you can see mentions to Hideyo Noguchi (野口英世, 1876-1928), a bacteriologist who became quite famous for his contributions to research on syphilis, a big part of which was done in the US: Noguchi was a child of the Meiji period so he studied and worked for quite a while abroad so as to contribute to the effort that was expressed in the slogan "Wa Kon Yo Sai" (和魂洋才) i.e. "combining Japanese spirit with Western science/know-how". He is of course the gentleman in the picture in a small park in Aizu-Wakamatsu (Noguchi himself was born in somewhat nearby Inawashiro/猪苗代); the inscription on the podium is "忍耐" which is read "nintai" and means "patience".
And because this is Japan, next to the statue there is a ramen shop called "Hideyo Ramen" (英世ラーメン).
The entrance to the "Noguchi Park" with the mandatory "Noguchi-as-cartoon" (OK, "manga") illustration.
Speaking about parks and Noguchi, here's his stature in Tokyo's Ueno Park. Yes, he is important enough for Japan to have a statue there -as a matter of fact, he is important enough for Japan to have his face on the thousand yen note.
(For a bigger version of these pictures both in color and black and white, check my "Japan Arekore" set on Flickr)
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