July

It's the first day of July today. The rainy season hasn't finished here in Japan,
but it's like summer already. Not only because it's July now, but also because
it's been so hot these days.
Last year, it was unbelievably hot. I hope it will be cooler and less humid this year...
It's kind of a serious problem since we need to economize on electricity this summer.
I've never seen Tokyo people trying to save electricity such seriously before.
When I went to buy an electric fan, there were so many people gathering to buy one.
I heard that some of electorical stores are out of them now.
I think it's a very good thing to try to save electrocity^^
It's been years since Japanese government started 'Cool Biz' , trying to let people wear something more
casual and cool on business in summer. It's been fruitless, but this year.
It seems many companies are now introducing it to reduce their electricity use.
I myself am trying to use an electric fan as often as possible to cut it down.

The sad thing is some fireworks festivals have been called off because of the disaster that
happend on March,11th. I think they shouldn't cancel that kind of things especially in times like this.
I heard firework makers are having really hard time by that.




 Beautiful, isn't it? Tokyo bay fireworks festival isn't going to be held this year, but Sumida river fireworks festival is. I'm looking forward to watching Tokyo bay's one every year, so I'm very dissapointed.
If you want to know where and when fireworks displays are held, you can find out from the page below.
http://hanabi.walkerplus.com/

Summer comes only once a year. We should fully enjoy it!!

Rainy season

The rainy season has come in Japan. It's been raining a lot and it makes me a little down.
But the season is also necessary and precious for Japan, so I can't just blame it.
What do you think of when you hear the word 'Rainy season' in Japanese, 'Tsuyu'?
Hydrangea, snails, frogs....My friend gave me some hydrangea and I put it in a vase.
Looks nice,isn't it? I don't really like rainy season, but I like the flower^^


Come to think of it, it was raining everyday when I went to Ishigaki and Miyako islands, which are parts
of Okinawa. It wasn't rainy or typhoon season..The sun is always shining wherever I go, but maybe
the sky wasn't in a good mood^^;;
Still it was so beautiful and I will definitely go there again.
The picture below is the beach on Ishigaki island. The weather wasn't good, but look at the color of the water!! It should've been even more beautiful if it was sunny.
 
And this one is ...bla bla Cape..;; There was too many capes. I don't remember which one^^;
 
The color is amazing, isn't it?

And the picture below is a board that I found at a ramen shop in Miyako.
Can you read the letters written on it?


Is it easy??
ありがとうArigato
In English, thank you.
It looks cool and creative! I hope I can write these kind of things,too.

If you ever have a chance to go to Okinawa, you should check out Ishigaki and Miyako islands ,too^^

Strawberries!

I went to Kasumigaura in Ibaragi prefecture to pick some strawberries.

We often use '~gari', which means 'hunting' in English, when we pick fruits and see something beautiful.
Sakuranbo 'cherry'-gari, momo 'peach' -gari, nashi 'pear'-gari, budo 'grape'-gari, momiji ' red leaves' -gari,
taka 'hawk'-gari, and so on.
Oh!and oyaji 'middle-aged man' -gari!
A little while ago, there were a lot of incidents that young people threaten middle-aged men to get some
money. You know, middle-aged men supposedly have money.
I don't hear such things happen these days, though.
Well, let's get back to what I was talking about.
Japanese language is very interesting, isn't it?

It was 1,000 yen for 30minutes to eat as much as I can.
The strawberries were delicious!!
My friend was busy looking around to find big ones.
I like small and sweet strawberries, so just sat and kept eating the ones around me.
When nothing left to eat, I moved a little and again, started eating.
Strawberries can make you full^^!
I finally did something spring-ish!
How about you^^?

Spring in Japan

Spring has come.Cherry blossoms bloomed and fell.
It's supposed to be warm by now.....but....why is it such cold here?
It's about 17 centigrade in Tokyo.
If you only looked at the number, you would say ' It's warm enough!'..
But actually it's still a litte chilly.

Cherry blossoms started blooming in the beginning of April and fell very quickly.

This picture was taken by our teacher, Ms.Tsunashima.

It's been a while to update this blog;;;
During my absent from here,our president went to China.
Mr.Honda went to South Korea, Vietnam and Russia.
I went to Taiwan and Nepal.
Our principal told me that there was still some snow left in Russia.

 An airport in Russia. Looks nice.
I heard that they had sleet while he was there.
  A BIG building.
 and a BIG square!!!!
Everything is largh-scale. Japan is a very small country, and especially in Tokyo, we don't have
enough room for that.
 In Nepal, it seems this year is 'Tourism Year'.
 The city was very lively.

 It was a stimulating business trip.

I'm going to Taiwan and join an orientation and after that, I'm going to Thailand.
I'm so excited to see Ms.Pop, our school's student, in her country.


April 22nd

Met students graduated from our school!!

 Mr.Honda, our principal, went to Sounth Korea and I went to Taiwan for the first time after the earthquake.
It seems different what they tell in the news in each country.
I noticed that people are taking the news about Japan differently, some think they are exaggerated,
others take it seriously and think Japan is in a crucial phase. There are also people who think
Japan is just as same as before.

After the business, Mr. Honda met Mr.Park,our school's student.

Our principal gave him a certificate and assignments for the lessons which couldn't be done
after the shake.
Noone can run away from homework...

And I met Ms.Lin, Koan,Shokin,and Keimin.


I rode in the back seat of a mortorcycle! It was first time for me to experience that.
It was a little scary but fun!
Koan san drove very carefully seeing me scared.
I really enjoyed Taiwanese dishes.

We ate stir-fried vegetables and dumplings.

I went to a night market with Lin san and this was for about 600yen.

You might not be able to tell from the picture, but it's actually very big.

I was going to write about our school, but couldn't help telling about the dishes in Taiwan.

It is very nice to eat foreign food with students who I haven't met for a while.

It makes the meal even more delicious.

April 5th

After the earthquake

It's been a week from the earthquake.
I'm getting used to the unusual things like saving erectrocity and other stuff.
How to shop is also different from the days before.

Now I know how many things we need to live conveniently like before.
My father used to turn on the TV and the lights all day,but as soon as he heard
we needed to save electrocity, he began to turn off the electrical appliances.

Though we were under the same roof ,We used to spend time in different rooms,
my father working in his study,my mother reading a book in the next room,
my sister playing with her child in the other room, my brother working with a computer there,
and me, again working in a different room.
We stay in the same room now because of the regular black-out.
Of course we are worried about each other, but it makes us to save the electrocity.
Now we talk more because of the shortage of the electrocity.

I just thank everything now I have.

I heard the overseas news about the disaster is too exaggerated.
Some say ' Japan is now in the red zone area.' and others say ' Japan is going to sink,or South Korea
will be infected by the radiation.'
But actually it's not true. We have quite ordinary life in Tokyo.

Our principal and I took a video around Shin-Okubo the other day.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=161939750526604
He also shooted a supermarket on weekend in Kiba, Tokyo.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=162364773817435

We still have some inconvenience things,but live normaly.
I want people to tell that.
Personally I wanted to take a video around my house, but it's suburban and there's few people
even before the shake.
I could see even less people now..;

I'll write more next time, so please check it up^^

March 21st,2011

Tohoku Earthquake,March 11th,2011

4 days have past since the massive earthquake hit Japan.
When it happend, our principal and I were on our way to a bookstore in Takadanobaba.
We were outside and barely able to stand still.
It was first time in my life to experience such a big shake.
We had water and bread at school and the building was fortunately unharmed.
It seems they have got big damages in Tohoku area.
As for the people in Kanto, we are trying to save electrocity and being through regular blackouts.
Chiba, the city I live in, is no exception.
But TV proglams and internet telk us when it happens, so I'm ready for it.
I've taken out some aroma candles that I used to like, also the normal ones from someone's barthday
and even the ones from Buddhist altar.
At supermarkets, there are long lines of the people to buy some emargency food.
Most people just get within the minimum nessesary, and don't buy too much,
thinking of the other people who need them,too.
The ATMs were out of order after the shake, but we can use them now.
The gas stations are full of cars.I've never seen such a lot of cars are making lines to get gas.
I heard that bikes and sneakers were sold out everywhere in Tokyo on the day this disaster happened.
We are still not sure what happens next, but time just goes by without asking us.
The plum trees in Yushima-tenjin were in full bloom when I went there early this month.

The cherry blossoms will start blooming soon.
I hope our life will be stable when they flower and
always wish the people who are suffering from the worst clamity ever
to feel the warmness of the spring.