I attended Arthur Binard's lecture organized by the Buddhist group in Hiroshima. He is an American poet and translator, and has been living in Japan for 35 years. His lecture was on Japanese language from an American perspective, and he delivered it in Japanese to 270 temple members. As an English learner, I also found his talk very interesting. First of all, he explained his name. "My first name 'Arthur', is reminiscent of a bear or king and contains two Rs and a TH, so it sounds kind of a stro...
Nov 21, 2023•3 min
The other day I was on a train, and there were three foreign girls sitting next to me chatting in English. I wasn’t eavesdropping, but as an English learner, I couldn’t help but pay attention to them. And then the moment came… the train stopped suddenly. Train stops are common in Japan, and it’s usually due to a very minor problem. No one was confused except for the three girls. Unfortunately, the announcements were only in Japanese, and when the train lost power, they seemed worried and wanted ...
Nov 17, 2023•4 min
Although I've always wanted to visit Hokkaido, I used to always end up choosing Okinawa over it, but this time, I finally made it to Hokkaido! The first stop was Asahiyama Zoo, a place I'd been curious about for a long time. This zoo is known for pioneering "behavioral exhibits" where the viewing distance to the animal is very close. It's a rather compact zoo with a historical atmosphere compared to popular zoos on the main island like Higasiyama-zoo, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for i...
Oct 09, 2023•3 min
There is one thing that I always thought about doing, but for some reason I dragged my feet and never went through with it. I want to switch my cell phone service provider and get a cheaper plan, because my stomach drops every time my monthly bill arrives. When the discount service providers started coming out, I was excited to get a better plan, but I still haven’t made the switch. If I do, I’ll lose my email address. I always thought that would be a huge inconvenience because I’ve used it for ...
Aug 30, 2023•4 min
My husband and I enjoyed our summer vacation in the Maldives last month. We chose Bathala, an island in the Ari Atoll of the Maldives, which my husband had wanted to visit for many years. With a drop-off nearby and a carpet of white sand covering the entire island, you can go anywhere barefoot all day long. I had a lot of experiences talking with people from different cultures. That was actually the goal for my English adventure. First of all, at the hotel where we stayed before the flight to Ba...
Aug 17, 2023•5 min
Recently, my husband and I traveled to Kagoshima and Hakodate. Kyushu has seven prefectures, but I imagined Sapporo to be the center of Hokkaido and Fukuoka city to be the center of Kyushu. I thought Kagoshima and Hakodate were kind of similar, but they turned out to be completely different. Kagoshima city was bigger, while Hakodate was smaller than I expected. I now know that the population of Kagoshima city is more than double that of Hakodate. We were surprised to find that there were no peop...
Aug 16, 2023•3 min
I found a wonderful podcast called GoGo エイブ会話. It’s made by two guys who are friends. One is Canadian, and the other guy is Japanese. Both are speaking in their mother tongues which makes it easier to understand for Japanese English learners. Their concept is amazing, and the topics are not only useful, but also really fun. The thing I like most about their program is when the Canadian introduces “strange news” from around the world every other Monday. He always uses easy words to introduce a va...
Jul 11, 2023•3 min
In Japan we pray for a safe delivery on the day of the dog in the fifth month of pregnancy. What what whaaaaaat???? The day of dog? There are many shrines, but each shrine enshrines a different God. For example an Inari shrine like the famous Husimi Inari enshrines a fox. We write Inari in Kanji as 稲荷. So Inari Shrines are built to pray for a good harvest, and foxes prey on grain eating mice. Suitengu 水天宮 is a shrine that pays homage to water, which is flushed from the body during childbirth for...
Jun 13, 2023•3 min
The first is: “泣いて暮らすも一生、笑って暮らすも一生” This is originally an old German motto that means, “We will all die someday, so you might as well be positive and make the most of your time while you are alive." The second motto is: “果報は寝て待て” It means, “Be patient. Good things come to those who wait.” For example, if you have a friend who wants to find a good tenant for an apartment, and after a week of only asking acquaintances and no one has shown interest, they might be tempted to lower the rent, or start...
Jun 10, 2023•3 min
My favorite time of the day is dinner time at home with my family. Thankfully, we get to have dinner all together almost every day. Cooking has always been my job, and sometimes it can be a challenge, but I often remind myself I’m cooking for this precious time with my family and for our health, and that always lifts my spirits. Speaking of health, there are some great health foods in Japan. For example, natto, hiyayakko, and miso soup. They are easy to make, very healthy, and my family likes th...
Jun 07, 2023•5 min
I was at a metal bar after seeing a gig. A tall woman sat next to me. I guessed that she came from abroad, and it was her first time at the bar. I wanted to talk to her, but I didn't really know what to say... After hesitating for about 10 minutes, I finally asked her in English. "What's your favorite band?" She answered, "I'm Japanese." , in Japanese, and she continued in a low whisper, "I'm afraid to tell you, but I'm transgender. So are you sure you still want to talk to me? I answered immedi...
Jun 02, 2023•3 min
One of the things I am planning to enjoy this summer and autumn is “balcony life”. Our home has a balcony connected to the living room, and although it's not particularly spacious, it's enough to accommodate two chairs for relaxation. It has been eight years since we moved into this apartment, but I feel like I haven't been making the most of it. So, I gradually started taking better care of the balcony by cleaning it regularly, and I’ve found that each time I clean it, it looks a little better ...
May 27, 2023•3 min
Thomas Daley is a British diver that won the Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. I felt happy when I saw him knitting in the stands of an Olympic venue. Actually, he is known to knit a lot of lovely pieces! He came out publicly as gay, decided to get married to his partner in 2017, and had a son the next year. He said "I feel incredibly proud to say I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion. I hope my performance will inspire young LGBTQ people to realize you can achieve anythi...
May 24, 2023•3 min
At the beginning of each semester, schools hold parent-teacher conferences. It is a regular school event and usually begins with a greeting from the principal, introduction of teachers and school policies, etc. To be honest, I don‘t like these parent-teacher conferences, because the principal’s speech tends to go on and on with generic parenting advice and so on. However, there was one good takeaway this time. I attended two parent-teacher conferences in a row, one was at an elementary school, a...
May 18, 2023•3 min
My husband and I traveled to Sapporo for three days and two nights. Our plan was to hang around Sapporo on the first day, and rent a car to visit Otaru on the second day. There were both good and bad things about this trip. Let me start with the bad things... Yo Ohizumi is my favorite actor, and he is from Sapporo. He became very popular on a local program and still has three regular programs in Hokkaido. One of them is named "Onigiri atatamemasuka," which introduces delicious food and restauran...
May 11, 2023•3 min
It’s been over 4 months since I got a new car. I was happy with my old car, and I didn’t plan to get a new one, but now I’m fond of my new car. My current car is a used TOYOTA Probox, which was designed for commercial use. Whenever I tell people that I chose this car, they wonder why, as it’s not fancy at all. The main reason we chose it is because it met all our requirements which included budget, durability, and a relatively low maintenance fee. My expectations were fairly low, but the more I ...
Apr 30, 2023•4 min
Wife: Hey, would you like to go to Tokyo Disneyland next Sunday? Husband: Humm... There's been a lot of yellow sand in the air, and I've been busy and tired from work this week, so I don't think that's a good idea. Wife: I understand what you're saying, but according to their information, there's a 40th-anniversary event going on right now. You can purchase special items for a limited time only. Husband: I'm not interested in them... Wife: Oh, don't say that! Parade on it! Since the pandemic spr...
Apr 26, 2023•2 min
I’ve stopped watching TV aimlessly, but there are certain TV shows I still love watching. One of them is called “Crazy Journey”. This show features an unusual person who does crazy things for their profession, such as a journalist who only goes to dangerous places, a BASE jumper who jumps from virtually anywhere using a parachute, and a cave explorer who explores caves that nobody has ever been in before. What I really like about this program is that I can live vicariously through these interest...
Apr 04, 2023•4 min
Yumi Arai, who's stage name is "Yuming", debuted in 1972, but the first time I listened to her songs was in 1973. That was her first album, and I was in the second year of junior high school. At that time I loved listening to The Carpenters and Queen. The first concert I went to was Queen. Although I couldn’t understand the lyrics, I loved their melodies, harmony, rhythm etc... Buuuuut when I listened to Yuming songs for the first time, they lyrics were facinating to me and they painted a pictur...
Mar 30, 2023•3 min
I think I’m good at inventing new games to entertain myself. Today, I’ll introduce you to some that I’ve been enjoying recently. The first three are games I enjoy while I’m driving. First: Just making many kinds of strange facial expressions. This game exercises the muscles in my face and neck. Through this game I’ve found that making my nostrils flare also makes my eyes open widely. This fact is quite trivial though. Second: Just smiling as big as I can! I’m always listening to interesting podc...
Mar 22, 2023•4 min
My husband and I finally went back to the Maldives for the first time in three years last month. The island we visited six years ago was called “Taj Coral” and it's run by a large Indian Resort company. The Maldives has many resort islands for tourists, each with its own unique characteristics. Taj Coral has a lot of staff from India, so they're familiar with Indian culture. As a result, about 50% of the tourists there were from India, 20% were Japanese, 20% were European, and 10% were from othe...
Mar 18, 2023•4 min
The other day, I had two job interviews on the same day. Let's call them “A company” and “B company”. “A Company” was quite similar to jobs I’ve done in the past, so I thought it would be easy to get used to, and I might enjoy it. On top of that, They seemed to have a better understanding of working mothers which is very important to me. But unfortunately, there would not be many opportunities to use English. Anyway, I think the interview went very well. The next interview was with “B company”. ...
Mar 13, 2023•4 min
Only half a year after I told my husband that I never want to go to the Maldives again, my husband decided to travel to another island. The popular spa salon groups made a small resort hotel next to the island that has been famous as a luxury resort for a long time in the Maldives. They had a discount tour for a limited time. There is a free boat between the two islands every 45 minutes, and you can have lunch on either island. For dinner, the buffet and course meals were changed day by day. The...
Mar 07, 2023•4 min
An unfortunate incident… I love walking my dog, but unexpected things can happen when you are with dogs… You see, my dog, Shushu, loves rolling around outside and I love watching her doing it because she looks happy and it seems to be satisfying for her. Anyway, the other day, I went to the park with her as usual and there were a lot of piles of fallen leaves around. She approached one of those and started sniffing it. I immediately knew she wanted to roll in it, so I took out my phone and occup...
Feb 24, 2023•3 min
We stayed on the main island for one night, and the next morning, we took a seaplane for about 1 hour to a smaller island. When we arrived, we noticed right away that the island had a natural atmosphere. The corals were wonderful and it had rich marine life. When I was snorkeling in the shallows, I heard strange sounds. There were bright blue fish, 30cm or more everywhere! They were nibbling at the coral with their sharp teeth. I was surprised by the teeth of the fish. They were shattering the c...
Feb 17, 2023•3 min
I usually spend about an hour watching Youtube during my commute. I should use the time more productively by reading a book or something… Anyway, I watched Tony Leung’s interview this morning. He is one of the most famous actors from Hong Kong, and I have been a big fan of him for a long time. He usually speaks Cantonese, but the interview was in Mandarin. I watched it just casually and then I found his Mandarin fascinating. To be honest, I had always thought that Cantonese sounded better than M...
Feb 11, 2023•3 min
#4(The Final) We were fortunate to find a more reasonable and higher-grade tour than the trip that was canceled by the typhoon. Finally, in September of that year, we went to Saipan. There was a big shopping mall near the hotel, and we went to the steakhouse there for dinner. We were surprised by the huge portions of all the dishes. After the meal, we enjoyed a live performance at the shopping mall. The next day, we went to Managaha Island which we were looking forward to for snorkeling. It is o...
Feb 02, 2023•3 min
#3 When I was about to give up on our trip and leave the airport, our mother said she didn't want to just go back home because she was looking forward to it so much. She asked to go somewhere all together, even for just one night. All of us thought it was a good idea. While my husband and Mieko had a travel agency at the airport arrange a hotel, the rest of us worked to get everyone in one car. We sent all our suitcases home except the bare minimum for a short trip. It was the most enjoyable dri...
Feb 01, 2023•3 min
#2 That day was busy right from the moment we work up. Suddenly a typhoon was approaching so we had to check for traffic jams to the Airport as well as weather reports. We left with plenty of time because we were traveling with a baby. Worst of all, we showed up at the airport and then found out our flight was canceled! My nephew Riku couldn't walk yet, but he seemed happy to be with the whole family. He didn’t sit quietly in the stroller and was crawling on the fluffy carpet in the airport loun...
Jan 31, 2023•2 min
#1 About 20 years ago my youngest sister Mieko really wanted to travel abroad, but she had a baby so she couldn't go anywhere. However, she thought if she went somewhere with our whole family, she could have fun and relax. She asked me and my husband to travel with them. We also thought that was a good idea because it would be great for my mother and my sister Kumiko as well. My husband decided on Saipan which is not too far from Japan and has a wonderful small island for snorkeling. We went to ...
Jan 30, 2023•2 min
