Blog#9 (Yuna) what did you do during Osyogatsu?

What did you do in “osyougatu” ?

I went to Kamakura with my friends and we visited Tsuruoka Hachimanguu to hope this year will be good for ourselves. Actuary I don’t like to walk in crowdedness but I changed in my mind this year and tried to go out to crowded city.

In front of Tsuruoka Hachinmannguu, Omatsuri like summar festival was held and we ate yakisoba, takoyaki and okonomiyaki. Moreover we played gold fish scooping and I scooped about 10 gold fishes. I did not need gold fishes so I gave them boy who also played it next to me. He was glad when I gave it. I was really happy from the beginning of 2012.

After Kamakura, we went to Yokohama to see a beautiful scene. In Yokohama there are a less people than Kamakura so we could be relaxed in nice café in Akarennga souko. That café’s name is “wa cafe (http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a004302/).” That is a little eccentric café because they put beds in the shop and people can choose to eat foods on bed or on sofa. We did not have courage to choose beds so we ate foods on sofa. But some couples ate meals on the sofa. It looked strange and I think it is against manner but it looked fun. I recommend you to go to that café with your boy friend or girl friend. You definitely enjoy your meal.

I spend Osyogatsu like that. I really enjoyed Japanese tradition. I am glad that I was born in Japan.

Blog#8 One of the famous King (Lily)

Hello. This is Lily.

Day before yesterday I got a chance to watch one movie the title is "The King's speech". It was showing at movie theather last year. I was dying to watch it but I did not have time because of studying for university. I have always wanted to see it. And every time I went to rental video shop, I checked it up but it was not old enough to rent it by 100 yen or already out. There was not any chance to watch it. However, that day I went to Internet Cafe and I found it! I could watch it without paying. Anyway, I watched.

I think some of you gays have watched or seen this picture.

This is Japanese title. This movie got 4 academy award and 1 golden globe award. This movie was really good. It moved my heart. The king in this movie was actuall exist as George Ⅵ. I got very interested him by watching this movie. So I introduce you about him here.

His name is Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor. This King was one of the England king from 1936 to 1952.  He lived from 1895 to 1952.  He was stammering symptom so that he could not speak smoothly. When he try to speech, he stop suddenly or he say same words over and over. This desease was thought because of the some discipline almost like abuse he had when he was child.
He had a older brother, Edward Ⅷ. Edward Ⅷ was well educated for king so he became a king when their father, GeorgeⅤ, died. However, EdwardⅧ gave up the throne. He wanted to marry Wallis Simpson. She had been married twice so a king could not marry her.  This means Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor became GeorgeⅥ. He became a king without enough education for being king and with stammering symptom. In this era, WWⅡ was about to starting. The king must be strong and stand on his dignity. He started cure his illness with Lionel Logue.

This is Lionel Logue. He was a specialist to cure launguege problem. Because of Lionel's supports GeorgeⅥ suceeded his important speeches. He was a really kind king. People loved him. He overcome his negative aspect and he leaded the country England and people to end of WWⅡ.

If you watch this movie you will know about this king more. And you will like him and his friend Lionel.
When you get time, please check this out.

Blog #7 Kamakura gourmet

Hello! It’s Marumi.

Yesterday was a holiday and it was very beautiful day.

So, I went for a walk around Kamakura. There were lots of tourists too. I found some nice restaurants around Kamakura station which I’d like to introduce to you. Actually, I haven’t been there but I want to go there with my friends some day.

This is a curry rice restaurant, called Caraway along Komachi street. This restaurant is always very crowded and there’s a long cue at lunch time. I can’t find the information when it was build, but my mother said it has been popular since she was young. The dishes are reasonable price, which are about 750 yen. Considering the large portion, it is rather cheap. It also has salad as a side dish.

According to the review of some customers, the taste is mild and very delicious.  Many people say the portion of rice is too much, so they recommend ordering the smaller one. Even some men can’t finish it. The funny thing is it has three types of pickles and jam. But the jam seems to be go well with the curry, so we should try it.

The restaurant itself is classic style and seems very cosy. They also have the take away system.

Second, I’d like to introduce Sabou・Kirara [茶房　雲母] which is about 10 minutes walk from Kamakura station. It’s a Japanese sweets cafe. Anmitsu with shiratama seems to be a popular dish. It also has maccha and oshiruko. Seasonally, amazake is served too. The average price for dessert is 700 yen, which is good considering that you can eat the real Japanese dessert. Even if you are caring about calories, Japanese desserts are relatively good. They don’t contain butter and oil, so the calories are low. It is definitely good for diet and for me!!!

The inside the restaurant is a mixture style of classic and modern. It has very Japanese atmosphere with the interior and Japanese flower arrangement. It also has a nice terrace. Going there on a nice warm day in spring will be definitely wonderful

Third, this is the restaurant I have been interested in since last year.  The name is COBAKABA. It’s a very small restaurant which serves set meals. The set meals are about 800 yen and they are very healthy. Lots of vegetables are used in each meal. Some reviewers say that the dishes have mild taste and the taste of the vegetable stands out. We can see from the photos that the dishes are very healthy. For men, it may be a small portion, so I recommend ordering larger rice.

The restaurant is small, but it has a open atmosphere and if you go there on weekdays, you will be able to stay there for a relaxing time. When I found the restaurant crowded and it had a cue on Sunday, so it’s better to go there on weekdays if you don’t want to worry that you are making people wait. (I often worry, so..)

I suppose these photos have made you feel hungry. Actually, I got hungry by just seeing them.
In Kamakura, there are lots of nice restaurants and cafes. Of course you can enjoy the historical places and beach too. Now it may be too cold but when cherry blossoms begin to bloom, it will be wonderful to take a stroll in Kamakura and have a rest in these nice restaurants.
Please come to Kamakura :) You are very welcome!!!

Blog#9 memorize (yuna)

Hi, I’m yuna. Today I would like to introduce one of ways to memorize things. I am poor at memorizing things so I always search for a good way of memorization.

I found an interesting article in the newspaper. This article says “Study within good hours”.

   As everyone knows, it is easy for us to memorize things at the time before we sleep. According to this article, we have other good times to memorize things. Good times are at 10 AM and at 3 PM. We can memorize things more efficiency at these time than at other times. This article says that the best time depends on people so you should find your best time.

 

It is not efficient that you decide to study for 5 hours per a day and to memorize 50 words per an hour. In turn it is efficient that you study at best time and memorize a lot of things as much as possible at that time.

I think I have studied inefficiency. So I need to find my best time and I want to memorize things efficiency.

   I would like to introduce a man who is professional about memorize. His name is Yoshihito Naitou. He graduated from Keio University and founded a company. Now he is a psychologist and a writer. He wrote books such as “power play” and “Shinnri sen de zettai makenai honn.”

“Kuro manner, Ura rule” is one of his books. In this book he says as follows; ”don’t teach someone for free. Take fee when you teach someone”, “be not honest too much.” Like those sentences, he wrote techniques to get results.  I have not read his books. I want to read them someday. 

Blog#6 Art-Make

Hi, I’m yuna. Today I would like to introduce “Art-Make.” Have you ever heard “Art-Make”? Probably almost all girls know what it is.

 “Art-Make” is to make eye line and eyebrow by dyeing skin with needle. Please look at images as follows:

Even if you get wet, your eye line and eyebrow do not wear off. You can save one trouble to make up again. So recently “Art-Make” has been in fashion among girls. People who operate Art-Make need doctor’s license.

 As Art-Make is being popular, the number of people who are damaged by Art-Make is increasing. In almost all case they use beauty salon and their skin were dyeing by people who don’t have doctor’s license. That’s why the number of the injured is increasing.

 According to a lady who was damaged by Art-Make, her cornea was injured. In other case some are damaged like suppuration, others are damaged like their scabs are not cured.

 It is certain that Art-Make has benefits for you because you can save one trouble. But Art-Make sometimes gives you bad damage. So you should choose a doctor carefully. If you think you want to do Art-Make, you should confirm his or her doctor’s license before operation.

 In my opinion girls should not do Art-Make because girls should protect and care their body. Art-Make is a kind of injuries. I can’t understand why they are injured of their own accord.  

Blog#5: TPP

Hello. It’s Marumi. I'm sorry for the late posting.

In news, TPP is often reported these days. I just know that it is a trade treaty which let us trade without tax within the countries in the treaty. However, I don’t know exactly what it is, so I’m going to find out what TPP is.

First of all, do you know what words are abbreviated as TPP?

It is Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement. (In Japanese, 環太平洋戦略的経済連携協定) Originally, it was signed in 2005 by these countries : Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. After them, Australia, Malaysia, Peru, United States, and Vietnam joined the treaty ,and now TPP is valid in 9 countries.

It is a multilateral free trade agreement in the 9 countries. It is aiming to make the tariff zero percent by 2015. The things traded without tariff are industrial and agricultural products, finance and medical service, and even right like intellectual property.

This is the map of countries which take part in and negotiating for TPP.

Leaders of TPP member states and prospective member states at a TPP summit in 2010

In Japan, it has been a big problem whether we should join it or not. The opinion of the politicians and public people was divided to pros and cons.

Now, let’s think about the merit and demerit. (I couldn’t find authentic website as a reference, but this seems reliable compared to others. ) This is the website I looked at.
Pros 

Some economists say, ‘It’s the only way to solve the problems of agriculture to join TPP.’ In Japan, the number of people who are working for farming industry is decreasing and they are mainly old people. The lack of successors is a serious problem, and we don’t know if we can continue self-sufficiency. If we join TPP, we can import foods in cheaply. In addition, cheap and tasty rice like Koshihikari from California will be imported. It is said that the price of Gyu-don（牛丼）will be less than 200 yen. It may be good for consumers.
Cons

Tariffs exist in order to protect domestic products. If we join TPP, we can’t protect them and workers will lose their jobs. Especially, agriculture will be damaged badly. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, the value of agricultural and fishery products will decrease by 4 trillion fifty seven million yen (4兆5,700億円)and 3 million five hundred nine thousand （350万9000人）will lose their job. The food self-sufficiency now is 40 percent, but it will be 13 percent.
My opinion

From this website, I can’t be positive to TPP. Even if the price of food declines, it may destroy Japanese industry. Companies have to compete to make the cost lower and more people will lose their jobs and even the quality of products may worsen. Moreover, it will be impossible to continue the agriculture in Japan. Even now, farmers are suffering from lack of successors and low income. I personally would like to buy Japanese high quality products, but if I don’t have money, I have to rely on cheaper products. Since the economy is in depression, people will tend to buy cheaper things.

I have concentrated only on the agriculture. However, if I look for more information about other industries, the situation may be different. So, please don’t think quickly that TPP is bad, but research more and have your opinion. It’s a controversial issue in every industry, so that’s why people’s opinions are divided.

Thank you for reading.

Blog #5 Steve Jobs

Hi! I am Yusuke.
In early October, Apple announced that “"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. I was so shocked! He was a true visionary, a one-in-a-billion creative genius, who changed so many lives.

Firstly, BBC said “Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dies aged 56” In the article, BBC praises him a great deal. They said “As the face of Apple, he represented its dedication to high-end technology and fashionable design.” I think he changed our mind all over the world. What is your reaction to the passing of Steve Jobs?
   Secondly, The Voice of America said “World Reacts to Announcement of Steve Jobs Death” .
In the article, I found interesting text. According to VOA, “I read a very touching and kind of surreal tweet tonight, that said the iPhone was named the iPhone 4S - for Steve. The 4-S really standing for Steve."” What do you think?

lastly, I would like you to watch this speech.

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address