Articles on censorship

Hi class!

Here are a few articles from the past six months:

1. Chinese authorities pull plug on 'vulgar' foreign-made TV

2. New Zealand bans Elijah Wood horror film Maniac

3. The boy killed for an off-hand remark about Muhammad

These are about Japan:

4. Censorship by education boards

5. American teacher’s spin on Japan’s racism riles Net nationalists

Happy reading! 

Japanese avtive elderly woman

I found an article about Japanese on CNN.

According to this article, Mieko Nagaoka who 99 year-old(!) is won swimming competition, got more medals and broke the records. Japan has the highest proportion of working seniors in the developed world, but many elderly people still have enough power to keep an active life.

Nowadays Japan is well known as an aging society, it looks not good for our future. However, Elderly people have much knowledge and many experience of working, life, and on relationship. We can learn many things from them.This article mentioned everybody have a stereotype for elderly people, such as not active or walking with a cane, but I think it is not true. My grandpa and grandma can walk actively and do everything in our house. I am so proud of them, even I live apart from them.  I love my grandma and grandpa, and I always talk to and be with them when I go back to my hometown. I miss them so much because I read this article.

Here are 2 questions:
Do you have any stereotype of senior people between 60-100 year-old?
Why do you think so?

Tweet about Death of Husband

I read this article on The State.

A woman who lives in Seattle tweeted about the car accident which happened in Washington. She took the picture of the accident and posted it on Twitter. After that, she noticed that her husband also uses the road when he goes to work. She tried to contact with her husband but she could not do that because her husband was dead by the car accident. She realized that the death of her husband after she called his office and the police. She told that her husband had an epilepsy.

I thought that how she was sad when she noticed that she tweeted about her husband's death. I could not imagine to see the moment of death of my family. I have never experienced the death of important people. However, I am sure that my family may die someday so I want to spend a good time with my family more than now. She said that her husband had an epilepsy so she should not allow him to drive a car. I think that we should care about our and family's health. The accident can be happened even just walking so we should make sure about our safety every day.

Have you ever talked about your health with your family?
Have you ever watched the car accident?

Sub Culture on the Skin!

How do you imagine when you hear tattoo? Perhaps someone think it can be seen on the skin whose works in the world of Mafia or just enjoying its coolness. This article from Japan Times is about the tattoo as one of a culture in Japan.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/12/09/lifestyle/otaku-culture-gets-under-the-skin/#.Uqab_dKBk2Z

The issue of tattoo has been discussed for a long time. Recently,  the mayor of Osaka, Mr Hashimoto tried to find all police officer who has tattoo on the skin. On the other hand,  the tattoo , in Japanese, Irezumi is popular in overseas as one part ob Japanese culture. The design has also been changing as well, for example, the animation character are often draw on customer's skin.

Some wise said that the appearance shows us the 90 percents of one's characteristic, and I agree. Of course it is one demand if they want to have tattoo or not, but to be honest,  it can scare other people. Therefore I don't hope them to be public officer. I sometimes see foreigner who has tattoo. If they like Japan and try to have cultural tattoo, it doesn't matter me. Moreover, I am quite glad they decided to do it. The difference I will be afraid and be happy is "they respect Japanese culture or not". I have been wondering that they cannot go to hot spring because most of them do not allow those people inside of their facility, and how do they feel. someday I want to know by talking with ... man with Irezumi.

Here are my questions to you guys;
How do you feel when you saw tattoo?
What do you think: what kind of Japanese culture should be spread to the world more?

Is digital piracy possible on any object?

I found an interesting article this week.

Thanks to the presence of a 3D printer, everyone can now make anything they want. While this advanced technology attracts people’s attention, there is a controversy for being questioned whether piracy is violated. The chief executive of a 3D company says he doesn’t think we need the marketplace.

I really feel technology is being advanced. Recently I saw  TV program featuring this kind of machinery creating what children want to get after saying “apple,”. I was amazed. Nowadays in Japan more and more people come to download many favorite songs without buying CDs. Although Japanese people have neglected to protect the copyright because of its lax enforcement, recently I saw a person who was arrested. Therefore I think Japan’s attitudes are changing. Making something useful and complex such as electronic appliances easily is really needed, so balancing between the presence of piracy and technology is important and difficult to do. If the 3D printer become more practical, I hope it will be used to make something for medical treatment.

Let me ask some questions.

1. Can you come up with something made by the 3D printer that might infringe copyright?

2. Are you for or against the idea that “we don’t need a marketplace, it’s a sharing world.”

Why?

Effect of Wii Fit Plus

I found an interesting article on BBC.

 

Reserchers said that Nintendo’s Wii Fit Plus can lose weight, and moreover, it helps people to lower glucose levels. Exercise is important for particularly important for people with diabetes. It helps the body use insulin more efficiently.

 

I have Wii Fit, and that game have a tennis program. CP is not easy to beat so everyone can enjoy the game and move hardly. I noticed it can be good for losing weight, but I did not know that this game is effective to cure diabetes. I heard diabetes is terrible disease and also my grandfather had diabetes, so I hope that Wii become the way to cure diabetes. And off course, I want everyone to enjoy Wii Fit Plus and lose weight, or cure their disease.

Connection between monkeys and diets

I found an interesting article on BBC.

According to a team from the University of East Anglia, there is a close connection between the size of monkeys and diet; mid-sized monkeys are the biggest fruit consumers, and they eat 50 different species of fruit a day. Small monkeys eat mainly insects and larger monkeys prefer leaves.

I did'nt really know that the size of monkeys and foods which they like to eat are closely connected, and moreover, I was even surprised to know that not small monkeys but larger monkeys prefer leaves to fruits or insects. At the same time, I can say for sure that mid- sized monkeys are gourmet, being different from me because, surprisingly, they have 50 different spiecies of fruit. In addition, I remember a problem in connection with the topic. In Japan, especially Nikko, monkeys tend to attack tourists to get some foods, and because of that, people pounched by monkeys get injured, but this is not to say that only monkeys are bad; there are several certain reasons which cause such a situation, so I'd like to ask my classmates about them. (129 words)

Here are 2 questions for you,
1: Can you guess the reason why mid-sized monkeys like to have fruits?
2: Why do you think some monkeys have a tendency to attack tourists to get foods?

English Teachers and Study Abroad

I read the article on Japan times.

The Tokyo Board of Education announced the program of sending junior or high school teachers to English speaking countries for three months. In Japan where teachers are required to avoid Japanese in the class, this program will bring good experiences to teachers to have a more communicating class in English.

I really like this program. I think one big reason; why Japanese English proficiency is poor is education in this country. No matter how the government try to improve it by increasing the number of classes, it surely doesn't work because the problem is not the quantity of English class, but it is the quality of the class, so to improve the teachers English ability is very effective way to improve Japanese potential English ability. I spent three months studying English in Ireland, which was a great experience for me, and even changed my life. Therefore, three months are also valuable period. In 2010, Tokyo will have Olympic games so English is more required for Japanese than ever. I'm actually afraid that majority of Japanese people become fluent in English because it is one of my strengths for getting a job, but i hope next generation will be able to have a great environment of learning English, and Japan will be more global society.

1 Do you think Japanese English ability will improve a lot with the program?
2 Do you think we can be global human resources only by demanding learning English?

Olympic × Politics

I found interesting article on CNN.

 [Summary] Joachim Gauck who is the president of Germany will not attend Winter Olympic which will be held in Sochi, Russia, in 2014. It means that he will boycott the games that will be held at the Black Sea resort. He protests against human rights violation and the harassment of Russian.

 [Reflection] I do not understand why he will not attend Olympic. Olympic is a symbol of peace. Peace and political issues have not connection with each other. They should be sorted out in Olympic. I cannot accept to use Olympic to appeal or solve political problems. For instance, in 2012, Korean did foolish act in London Olympic. At men’s soccer games, Korea win to Japan and then Korean’s player put up a placard and it read “Dokdo is our land”. I really surprised and discouraged by this act in Olympic. I want all people just to do or play sports for their countries.

 [Question]
 Q1. What do you think about the connection between Olympic and politics?
 Q2. What sports are you interested in Olympic?

Studying abroad for English teachers of Japan

This week, I read this article about English teachers of Japan.

The Tokyo Board of Education decided new system that 200 English teachers, who teach at junior high or high schools of Tokyo for three years, go to English-spoken countries for three-month home stay. The aim is to improve English skills in Japan and this is connected with the 2020 Olympics.

This innovative system is very effective to improve English education for Japanese. Thanks to conducting it, English teachers in Japan motivated to teach English to Japanese students with better way because they can input and use practical English by staying normal home and visiting local English class. I heard that there are a lot of English teachers who have never been to go abroad before. If the teachers motivated and improve their class, their students may also have interests in English. The 2020 Olympics will be held in Tokyo, so there is a great demand for using English. I wish the boar to continue this system not only one time.

I have two questions to you. If you are a teacher, do you think it is important to study abroad? Do you think this is an effective move? Why?

Dark side of privacy problem.....X(

I got this opinion from The Japan times

This opinion is about the negative aspects of privacy issue especially internet like we learnt at the class. When the writer happenned to find the site which involved rape scene or attacking drunken women or something with attaching the word "real" not a fictional. And he tried to determine who operated, but the account infomation was intentionally masked by "privacy protect service". Therefore he has been objected to these situation he experienced.

When I read this, I deeply understood the situation and I felt the same thing as the writer. Because when I encounter this situation, I feel the people who apper in kind of "adult" site are not procted by their privacy in cace of "real" not fictional. However we can't specify the person who uploaded such cruel video. Sometimes they uses privacy protect service as their advantage. It means they insist that they have a right to be protected their privacy even they upload such video. I really complain about that!, It is not fair. They shoud be panished if the video which illustrates rape scene is real. I learnt bad and dark side of internet privacy though, it is really hard to improve the situation.

I have questions!
*have you ever experienced this casebefore?
*Who do you think can protect these people?

Killing cancer like the common cold

I found this article from CNN.

At the university of Pennsylvania, a new experimental therapy against cancer has been adopted. The new treatment works on a patients own immune cell and makes it become more able to kill the cancer. 

I was taken aback to read this article, because I was under the impression that "cancer"is really hard to cure, and I'm amazed that medical treatment is progressing day by day. This news will be very encouraging for not only someone who are struggling by the cancer, but also supporters of the patients like family or friends. Also, I was surprised to know that this treatment might not take a decade to become available to anyone who needs it. In  this article, Nick Wilkings who was turned out he had leukemia is featured. He knew he would die if he kept having the traditional treatment. So, he took this new experimental treatment, and he recovered from leukemia. If I ware him, I would definitely hesitate to take this therapy because this is experimental and there is no precedent. Actually his father said he had no choice to survive, but I think his action is brave and admirable. He proved that this treatment is effective by himself. I wish the therapy progressed and became a hope for the patients.

I want to ask you following questions.
1. If you were Nick, would you decide to take this experimental treatment, or not?
2. Do you know other progressing medical treatments? If yes, please tell me. 

Canadian Woman Unknowingly Wins $50 Million Lottery

I found this article on ABC news.

Last Tuesday, a Canadian woman Kathryn Jones became $50 million richer by her lost lottery ticket. She did not know the fact until lottery officials made contact with her because she had lost the ticket and forgotten about it. Before the announcement, about 430 people had introduced themselves as a winner of the unclaimed lottery.

I think she is a very lucky person because she won a $50 million lottery in spite of the fact she had lost the lottery ticket! It is not usual thing that lottery officials tracked down the winner of a lottery and announced to them that they won the lotto, so I was surprised at her good luck. $50 million is about four billion 800 million yen, and I cannot imagine such a large amount of money. Also, I am interested in the cultural difference over lottery. In Japan, the name of winners of a lottery is not published to protect their privacy, while Western countries like Canada publish it as you can see in this article. I wonder if publishing the lotto winner’s name endangers them.

Questions :
・If you got about five billion yen, what would you do?
・What do you think about the cultural difference between Japan and Canada?

Otattos -Otaku tattoos-

I read this article on Japantimes.
 In Western countries, “Otattoos” is very popular but Japan is still unwilling to allow tattoos in to society. One tattoo artist, Benny who loved Japanese tattooing and Japanese manga, so he tries to broaden it to Otaku.
When I read this article, I was surprised by the picture of tattoos because Japanese animation characters were drawn in arms. I’ve never seen such a design. In my opinion I don’t want tattoo such an animation character. If I want erase it, it is difficult to erase tattoo cleanly and it cost a lot of money. But actually, I don’t care about tattoos very much. I just regard it fashion. However, many of Japanese think that tattoos are connected in Yakuza. In short, tattoos are not accepted in Japanese society. As Benny said, “it is a sad stereotype”. I hope that this stereotype will be changed.
1. What do you think about tattoos? 2. What is the difference between western countries and japan in tattoo?

Transgender model

This week I read an interesting article on CNN.

It is siad that Victoria's Secret is going to hire a transgender model, Carmen Carrera. The petition has recieved more than 36,000 signatures by her fans. However, she announced that she has yet to hear from the lingerie company, and Victoria's Secret declined to comment. When I read this article, I was surprised because Victoria's Secret is very famous lingerie company and it is influential news for transgender problem. If the company hire Carmen Carrera, I think she will be more famous rapidly. Because she has already succeed as a women model, and it is better for people who are disagree with hiring her as a Victoria's Secret model to understand what transgender model is. These days, many people declare themselves to be a transgender in the world and some people do not understand about it. However, if the famous company such as Victoria's Secret hire transmodels, it will lead to accept the problem. I hope that she perform well as a Victoria's Secret model.
1. What do you think to hire a transgender model? 2. Do you think that Victoria's Secret should hire her?

JR plans to built Maglev rail for Linear Motor Car

 I found this article on CNN.

     The Shinkansen that transport passengers around 930,000 every day became one of the most important transportations in Japan, and JR Tokai planned to build Linear Motor Car that use a magnetic levitation rail to run the 286 kilometer distance between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027 as a new transportation.
     At first, I was surprised about Shinkansen because it carries a lot of people every day without serious delay. 930,000 people is almost same as the population of Chiba city, so I amazed bullet trains are able to transport most people in Chiba city. However, according to the article, Japan needs a new way to convey many passengers at high speed because not only trains in Europe such as France or Germany but also Chinese high speed railways are overtaking Shinkansen of Japan. So Railway Technical Research Institute of JR has developed Maglev, Magnetic Levitation rail for Linear Motor Car, and JR try to build it between Tokyo and Nagoya. It will make journey between Tokyo and Nagoya down to 40 minutes but it will also cost around 11 trillion yen to build a maglev rail and this transportation is going to be completed after 14 years.

     Then, I have two discussion questions that 1) Do you have taken on Shinkansen and how did you feel? 2) What do you think that it will cost around 11 trillion yen to build Linear Motor Car?

Change of the union jack

I read this article on BBC.

Scotland will have a referendum on independence in 10 months; however, the happening to the union jack has not been mentioned. If the Scotland become independent, the flag should be changed so an association of flags created some designs of it to promote the discussion. 

Having the referendum of the independence is already decided, but the new design of the national flag is not considered, I felt that it is not natural. I had wondered that there are nothing shows the Wales in the union jack, and the answer was in this article. When the current flag was designed, Wales was a part of the English Kingdom, but now, Wales is not managed by other parts, as this article mentions, I also think that it should be appeared in the new flag. I do not think that to change the design of flag is easy but it certainly is important for the U.K. and the people, so it should be discussed carefully.

I have questions about this article.

1. Do you think that the flag need to be changed? Why or why not?

2. What do you think that this issue has been overlooked? 

English Teachers in Japan

I read this article on Japan Times.

There is a plan to raise English level at public schools in Japan, and if its plan goes without any problems, English teachers have to study English and stay in an English-speaking country for three month. This is connected to Tokyo Olympic in 2020 because a weakness in Tokyo is the level of English, so improving English skills is a task in Japan.

My goal is to be an English teacher in junior high school, so if its plan goes well and is accepted, I need to go abroad at least three month. I have never studied abroad, and I do not have chance to go, so I do not want to accept the plan. Of course English level in Japan is poor, so some changes are needed in Japanese education. Especially in junior high school it should be required to improve quality of English classes. I mean it is important to lay the foundation of Japanese English education. To do so, English teachers have to study a lot and have good skills to teach English. After reading the article I got confused.

Questions
1 Do English teachers have to go abroad to study English, or not?
2 What do you think of the level of English in Japan?

What can tourists expect when visiting North Korea?

I read this interesting article on CNN.

Tourists can enjoy visiting North Korea by joining in a tour. Actually, about 6,000 western people had visited there for a year. The tour is designed with strict rules and trained guides. Therefore, tourists are necessary to consider their leaders and history to travel safely.

I am a little interested in visiting North Korea, but I would never like to visit there because I am afraid to enter the country. In fact, as this article mentions, an American retired solder held just before he left North Korean 10 days travel. I think it was a terrible thing, and North Korea ignores human rights. On the other hand, I was surprised that there are more tourists to the country than I had imagined. Also, another article related this one stated that people can bring cameras and mobile phones while they are stay in North Korea. That report brought small change to my stereotype concerning North Korea.

I have two questions.

1. Would you like to join in a tour to North Korea if you can?

2. What do you expect in North Korea? Where would you like to go and what would like to know about the country?

The first man and man marriage in Australia

I found this article on The Japan Times.


Same sex marriage was allowed in Australia, and the marriage of two men, Ivan Hinton and Chris Theo was held at old Parliament House in Canberra, but it is said that if the unions High Court  reject the law, the new law that allows same sex marriage will not live long.


I have been interested in these kind of sexual problem because my high school assistant English teacher was gay, and he often tell me many problem and concerns of gays. In my opinion, I'm sad to hear that there are many countries which don't allow same sex marriages. People should understand there are not only men and women.  As we can marry who we want, gay and lesbian couple should be allowed to marry. Also, these name such as "gay" or "lesbian" should be throw away. Since we  call them with these name, it  can devide kind of general people and strange people.

* what do you feel if someone in your family were kind of gay or lesbian?
* do you think same sex marriage should be accepted? why/why not?

working environment for women

I found this article this week. More and more women are working at the company than before, because they try to earn money in order to make their living. They have been hired as a part-time or temporary statuses, though. Working conditions for women should be improved as women workers increase.
In the past, there were stereotypes that men were working outside the house and women were doing housework inside the house in Japan. However, it has gone recently and women who work at the company has increased as this article stated.  In spite of this, women are not still acceptable at some companies even now. They are still hired as a part-time or they might promote their positions. Also, other companies are not even suitable for women to work, for example they do not have the systems for childcare. Some women have their children, therefore they try to earn money for their living. Thus they need to have supports from the company.  I hope almost all the company have positive opinions for women in the future as quickly as possible.
Then, I have two questions for class.
Do you have good opinions to support working women? ( for example, childcare systems into the company)
If you were women and had a husband and child, would you work at the company as a full-time worker?

The helicopter accident in England.

I found this article on BBC.

On December 7, the first funeral was held for the victims of the Glasgow helicopter accident. In the accident, the helicopter was crashed into a bar and nine people who were police and guests of the bar died. Many people attended the funeral and grieve over the victim's death.

I felt very sad and scary after I read the article. Using vehicles gives people some advantages for example saving your time and going to anywhere comfortably. However, if you were mistaken in tearing that, it could be a cause of an accident easily. Therefore, we have to be careful to control any vehicles.These days,I had the car license so the extent where I can go was spread, but I have not drive alone yet because I worry my driving techniques.The pilot was police so maybe he was trained a lot to control it. He was not able to avoid the incident although he was skillful, so I felt I wonder that I can drive peacefully alone...

Questions.
1.Do you have any vehicle licenses?
2.If you lost your friends because of a traffic incident by accident, would you have a grudge against the operater?

Silent movie?

I read this article this week.

A spanish movie director Pablo Berger attepted to make a black-and-white, and silent movie which is version of "snow white". And setting is in 1920s. Making this type of movie is very difficult because it is extremely expensive. However, Pablo said the most important thing foe me was the emotional impact.

The reason why I chose this article is that my teacher of spanish class recommended us to watch this "blancanieves". I watched a preview of coming attractions, and I was suprised that the black-and-white, and silent one, because I have never watched the movie like that.
Moreover I understand that how difficult to make this kind of movie, and I am wondering that it is difficult to aim for a lot of people not only adults but also young people. Recently, It is natural for people to watch color movies and an actor or actress speaks thier part, and put subtitles. I hope that many people watch this movie "blancanieves".

I have two questions for you.
1 Have you ever watched a black-and-white and silent movies? Do you think is it interesting?
2 Do you think that will this movie hit greatly?

current class systems are migrating to online system...?

 I found this article on The Japan Times

These days, 46 percent of university students take a course online. What is more, 65 percent of U.S education canters use the Internet course entirely, and these online programs are numerous and growing. As a advantages of taking the class on the Internet, class members do not need to attend to the class and they can make their schedule as they want.

Be honest, I don’t have a good image of taking class online because attending the class, taking with face to face is important to grow communication skills for me. However, according to the article, even meetings, discussions, and presentations which are tend to recognized as a impossible programs on the Internet are available. Furthermore, what is really convenient for me was that this program abolishes attendance credit systems. If it were taken, students and also teachers would be not held by class and able to use time effectively. I can understand these advantages of online programs and really convenience for me because actually I often wish if a day is not 24 hours but longer. On the other hand, I am worry about less communication of face to face. I can’t disagree to the idea but also can’t agree with it.

● which do you think is better in the future to take the class on the Internet or by person?

● if you were teacher, what do you think of this online program systems?

Why do business travelers prefer foreign airlines?

I found this article on USA TODAY.

According to the article, more than 100 American people who spend a lot of nights on a plane are reluctance to use American airline on business. While American flight programs are good, services are worse than foreign companies. However, facilities of American airports are improving.

In this article, business people evaluate quality of airplanes with different aspects from me, so their opinions were fresh and interesting for me. I take account of a price of a flight the most, however, many customers staying more than 100 nights on an airplane must require comfortable environment to fly. For many tourists like me, an airport is the last place to buy souvenirs, so they must prefer shops. Therefore, I have been pleased by numerous stores before a gate. However, I have never considered that busy business travelers rather need restaurant while they are waiting. Those differences of requirement depending on their situation bought new points of view, and interesting for me. In addition, an American in the interview told that ANA is his favorite airline. I was glad that Japanese service is famous in the world.

Now, I have to questions about airplane.

1.    What is the most important for you to choose an airline?

2.    What kinds of services do business travelers need?

Philippines want money as support, not old shoes

I found an interesting article linked with CNN.

The big earthquake happened in Philippine, and 9.5 million people were affected by it and 620,000 people lost their home. They need support, so people who wants to support them tend to give their cloths or shoes. However, they need money, not stuff.

The situation in Philippine is terrible still now, I know the difficulty because I experienced the Tohoku big earthquake in Miyagi. Actually survivors want support to live such as money, food, and daily necessities. However, people around world send to them like cloths and shoes which are sleeping at their closet. It is just their kindness, but the Philippines do not need the stuff. If survivors got shoes for free, companies which make the stuff would not be needed by them. The Philippine economy will stop and they will not get money, although the disasters make it difficult already. When we want to help a damaged country, we should send money or something necessary for life.

Hear is my questions:

What kind of things do you think better for support?

and why do you think so?

Amazon's new Deliver machine

Hey guys welcome to the finest Journal, today  : ) I also find an interesting news on the Japan Times web site , to access, click the link description below

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/12/02/business/amazon-to-deliver-packages-in-u-s-via-drones/#.Up1jN9KBk2Y

Amazon is popular merchandise website and  market treat so many products,  and this company is looking at the its future, they are going to use an machine called "Octocopter", like a helicopter as their own deliverer. This decision is opened by the CEO Jeff Bezos  to the society. This Odtocopter can bring the baggage in 30 minutes to the location the order-er is living. They are now testing this craft for running in 4 to 5 years after.

 

*This is cited from its news , and same URL.

I think this looking is quite interesting. A lot of baggage are carried every day by truck, train, ship and aircraft. Those vehicle produces many CO2 to move, but this is seemed to fly with propeller, so maybe better than them. This  machine can bring the things we order in early minutes, so Amazon will not be said that it is little bit slow to send us the products already, I expect. On the other hand, about overseas,  I worry that it will be shot and their baggage would be stolen. I wonder how will Amazon avoid such a accident, and now I am looking forward to hear next news.


So, Question Time!
1) What the products you waited for the longest time to come your house after you ordered?
2)Guess what machine or vehicle will bring us our baggage in 50 years after future.

Energy drinks have harmful side effect.

I found an article which is shocking to thise who rely on energy drinks.

According to the study by the team of the University of Bonn in Germany, energy drinks packed with caffeine cause bad effects on the heart, such as rapid heart rate, seizures and even sudden death, so they advice that children and people with an irregular heartbeat shpould avoid the drinks.

I was astonished to hear that energy drinks had a possibility of leading us to even death. lately, a lot of people rely on energy drinks, such as Monster and Red Bull, and in fact, we are really familiar with them. In other words, we might be killd by energy drinks around us. From another point of view, it can be said that people have too many things to do and are exhausted and stressed because of the things which they cannot handle well in current society. Consequently, there is nothing that they can do to survive the difficult situation but drink energy beverages. Anyway, I think the unhealthy side effects of energy drinks should be widely known to the world at first.

Then, here are 2 questions.
1: What do you think about distribution of energy drinks like Red Bull for free?
2: How do you manage to handle things to do when you are really busy? 

ENERGY DRINKS AFFECTION!

I found this article on BBC

According to this article, a lot of energy drinks which packed caffeine can change the way the heart beat and cause heart desease. It is three times higfer than in other caffeine drinks like coffee or tea. However reserchers said that is no exact evidense, so they only suggested that children or people who has irregular heart beat should avoid drink.

Acutually I have been worried about the effection of enegy drinks because I really fond of drinking it. Although the Japanese has not caffeine as much as American's, this article is really threatened me. Moreover, I recognisded coffee or coke contain caffeine like energy driinks, so I have releaved drinking ever. But resercher made it clear that the effection is three times higher than them. That changed my mind, I would like to avoid drink such bevarages. I realisedd the fear of caffein in this article, we don't usually imagine of this when drinking. So, I would like to convey what I learnt to person aroud me.

I have questions!
＊How often do you drink bevarages containd caffein?
＊What would you do after reading this article?

No need driver for car.

I found this on CNN.

 [Summary]
Driverless-cars in SF movie may be seen on public roads in the near future.　Nissan, one of the largest Japanese auto makers says that they could put this revolutionary car on sale in next ten years. Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer of Nissan says that they want to sell this by 2020.

 [Reflection]
 Actually, I know about this astonishing car before I read this article because I learned about this in the other class. I guess opinions will be divided. I am against for “totally autonomous” car. Who will take a responsibility if this driverless-car caused an accident? This is the most difficult problem that we have to consider. On the other hand, I think this car is suitable for people who are not confident of their driving skill. In addition, I suppose this car can reduce fatigue of driver because I know how I get tired while I am driving a car.
 [Question]
Q1. Do you want to get this car?

Q2. Do you have a drivers license? Why? Why not?

Difficulties for Japanese employees

　 

I read this article in this week.

For Japanese employees, their paid holidays are far lower than in most countries. A Japanese low stipulates that employers have to accept paid holidays to the employee who worked more than six months and at least 80 percent of their designed workdays during that period.

I was surprised by reading this article because Japanese employees work hard. Once I heard that Japanese working time is longer than other countries but I did not know about the number of their paid holidays and the rate. Although Japanese low stipulate the holidays but Japanese worker could not take them actually. In my opinion, the reason why they do not apply for paid holiday is due to Japanese ethics. Japanese companies should change the atmosphere. If they do not improve, the employees might suffer mental and physical damage.

I have two questions for you. If you are working at a strict company, could you ask your boss to get paid holidays? Why do you think Japanese employees cannot take paid holidays?

Reader's picks: 12 more annoying airplane behaviors

I found a interesting article from CNN.

CNN travel staff released the rankings about the most annoying things people do on airplanes, and there are the top-12 annoying things. 
Actually, I rarely take a plane, so I haven't experienced such "annoying things" on the airplane. However, even just imagining that these things happen to me on the plane is very enough for me to feel irritated! The CNN staff made this rankings based on hundreds comments of readers, and each one has its reader's episode. Some of them are common and arouse sympathy, but some other episodes are very funny such as the 4th ranking, Applauding lading. (please check it out later!) I grinned during reading it. However, these are not small problems but the problems that we have to think, because they make us rethink what is bad manner and what is good manner. Also, these annoying manner or habits happen  in the public places like on the train or movie theater, not only on airplanes. So, I would like people to reflect on your habit or behavior and make relaxing public environment. 

I'd like to ask you following questions.
1. Have you ever experienced such annoying things in a public place?
2. Have you done bad manner outside? What behavior or action did you take at the time?

Man exits ferry, admits killing Chiba ex-girlfriend

I found this article on BBC.

Last Wednesday’s afternoon, a woman was killed nearby JR Motoyawata station in Chiba. The victim, Shiori Yuasa, 22 was stabbed in her stomach with a kitchen knife by her former boyfriend, Hayato Oka 23. He was running away, but finally he was arrested at a ferry terminal on Hachijo Island.

I heard this murder case on TV news, and I was very surprised because it happened near the city where I live; there are only three stations from the nearest station of my dormitory to Motoyawata station. The woman who was killed was 22 years old and she had a daughter, so I feel really pity for her and her daughter. According to the article, in September, she had gone to the police and asked some help because she was being bothered by her former boyfriend, but the police just warned the man verbally as they did not confirm any violent action against her. I think she might not have been killed if the police treated her problem as more serious. They should think each consultation more carefully and make an effort to prevent such crimes.

Questions:
・What do you think about this murder case?
・Do you think the police’ s behavior was appropriate?

“Octocopters”― The new delivery service of Amazon

 I found this article in BBC.

          The chief executive of Amazon announced that they are testing unmanned small plains that are named “Octocopters” and also ready to start deliveries by them, however, the service will start after 2015 because The US Federal Aviation Administration is yet to confirm the use of unmanned drones for civilian purposes.
          When I found this article, I was excited because I often make use of Amazon to order some merchandise and the shape and function of “Octocopters” fascinate me deeply. I think it is a new, wonderful way to deliver goods for people within half hour. However, Amazon cannot supply this service due to the regulation for the civilian air space even though they are ready to start using the unmanned drones. The article also mentioned about some problems such as safety and security. For example, if the drone have to fly in the city to deliver the goods, it should avoid people for the safety of human beings and goods but it is difficult for “Octocopters” to do so. So Amazon and some scientists should make more effort to make “Octocopters” better until the regulation will be removed.

          Now, I wanted to ask you that 1) Do you use Amazon? For what? 2) Do you agree with using the unmanned drones to deliver goods? “Octocopters”― The new delivery service of Amazon

Successful executives and the four-hour sleep myth

I think it’s useful to read this article.

One person regards plenty of sleep as an essential thing to do best that day, while the other believes it is irrelevant to whether he functions well. “How much time should we sleep for” is our big concern, and it is what researchers have struggled to get answer.

I usually sleep for about six hours each day, but I feel it does not meet my demand. This is because I can’t finish all things that I have to do or want to do, that is, I stay up late many times. As a conclusion, this article points out that those who do not get much sleep will be disadvantaged in some elements such as concentration and caution, although some feel good the next morning. I partially agree with the author’s opinion, but my everyday condition is inconsistent even if I sleep for eight hours. This may be because sleeping hours or the time I lie on my bed is different. Anyway, as there is a phrase “food, clothing, and shelter”, which is essential for humans, we are likely to need to sleep enough to do my best.

Let me ask some questions.

1. What time do you usually go to bed? and do you try to do something for sleep?

2. If you are forced to cut your sleep many times for work, will you come up with some good ideas, or will you determine to quit your job? Please think of your priority.

Chinese Marriage Market

This is the article which I read this week.

 Many Chinese parents are looking for their child’s or even relative’s future partner at the market in Shanghai. Because of one-child policy, many Chinese do not have the experience to meet the opposite-sex, and their parents are desperate not to cut the family’s line.

 This is very interesting. I believe it will never happen in Japan. The way of finding a future partner has been changing in many countries. In Japan, match-making party, especially Machi-kon, is now very popular among young people. What is wrong with China? Parents post their child profile on a board and try to find preferable wife or husband for their child, which is a stupid idea to me. Japan used to have a system called Omiai. It is still worked among some, but it has been becoming an old-fashion. For me it is our rights to choose who we are going to marry with.

Anyway, such an unusual activity is in China. This is because of one-child policy, which created a difficult society for both men and women to get married. Surprisingly, the number of women who are looking for the partner is larger than that of men, which is opposite with the population composition in Chinese society. These unexpected results let me worried about the future progress of China.

1 Do you want your parents to choose your future partner? Why or Why not?

2 Which element is the most important for you? The way of look, income, age, education, or personality? (These are the list of a post in Chinese marriage market.)

Face book education

I read this article.

In these days, teenagers are addicted to using social media such as face book, twitter . Teachers have always faced the issue of stopping students using it in class. Hereupon Joel Mwale embraces the social media where academic materials can be shared

Sometimes, I am keen on viewing face book or twitter when I study. I know that it is not good for me but it is a little difficult stop viewing these. Thus, using social media for studying is very good idea for the people who are often preoccupied it. It means that to transform the way young people use social media. I saw that there are many educational account in twitter .If we follow these users; we can learn a lot of things through social media which we use in daily life. Consequently, we have to use it effectively for study because it depends on how we use.
Questions
1.Are you following the account about educational one?
2.How do you use a social media to your study?

Cycling in London

This week I read this article on BBC. In London, one in five cyclists say that they have stopped cycling to work because of the deaths in roads. A study showed 20% cyclists have involved in an accident. Actually, six cyclists were killed between 14 days and 68% cyclists says that roads in London are not safe. I did not have image of people use bicycles in London, so I was surprised when I read this news. I think it is good to use bicycles as their transportation because it helps reducing CO2. I think that many people have started using bicycles instead of cars from the reason. However, it will cause many accidents if people do not obey the rules in roads, particularly in the morning busy roads. I agree with cyclists because I think that the capital's roads such as London and Tokyo are always crowded and accidents are often happen. To stop accidents, the government should set up laws and cyclists and drivers have to pay attention to drive in roads. In my hometown, some roads have a sidewalk for cycling, it is more safe for not only cyclists but also walkers and drivers. I have two questions relating to this article. 1, What do you think about the number of people who died in the cycling accidents in London? 2, Do you know some rules or laws about cyclists in Japan?

Baby Escape From The Death

I read a surprising news this week.

One baby has suffered from a disease of respiratory since he was born in China. The doctor and nurse tried to maintain his life to inject medicine, but his condition was getting worth so his parents decide to end his life-sustaining treatment. On the way to go his funeral, he started to cry and went back to the hospital.

I could not believe that the baby was actually alive. I thought it was scared thing to misunderstand the decision which the baby died or not. His family might be happy when they heard the truth. If I were his mother, I would be glad very much same as his real family. On the other hand, I would be angry at the doctor and nurse who assumed the baby was dead. The responsibility of misunderstanding of his baby is not only for the hospital, but the hospital should apologize to his family, and make sure that the same accidents never happen again.

Would you decide to choose euthanasia for your important peron, if they wanted?
How would you feel about the doctor, if you were the baby's parent?

JR Hokkaido's Problem

I found the editorial about JR Hokkaido.

 

JR Hokkaido caused a lot of accidents which is related to railway safety. In 2011, the limited express called Ozora derailed and fire started broke out inside a tunnel. Many passengers were on the train, so 79 people were injured. JR Hokkaido President Naotoshi Nakajima committed suicide. Recently, fabrications about rail track maintenances were found many times. JR Higashi Nippon send eight experts to improve the maintenance, but it will not produce effective results.

 

I have used JR Hokkaido once when I have visited Hokkaido. Nowadays, I watched some news about JR Hokkaido’s bad news. Its content was related to fabrications, so I felt depressed for JR Hokkaido. However, I thought accepting eight experts will be good for JR Hokkaido. Moreover, JR Hokkaido ordered all train drivers to undergo alcohol testing before the shift. JR Hokkaido should understand that many people in Hokkaido use JR Hokkaido. I noticed that a public transportation is important for all people because of this series of accidents. I hope that JR Hokkaido will not cause such accident.

Working on Thanksgiving Day

I read an article of “Pizza Hut” this week.

A man was fired after he mentioned about the holidays and hierarchical system of the company, Pizza Hut, however the company said that he was not fired but quit. He was not sure he wanted to return to the work even if he can.

Thanksgiving Day is one of holidays in the U.S. and most of shops are closed. I think this day is important for people and staying with their family is better for them. Holiday might be a good time to make profit for companies, but it also means the holiday is busy so employees should be taken care of. Because of this trouble, the man might worry about human relationships at work, so making decision is difficult for him to return or not to the work right away. It seems so hard to work at such as the place, and if possible, I do not want to work such this workplace. I felt that human relationships affect our mind and work so much.

Now, I have questions.

1.    If you asked to work on holidays, would you work that day?

2.    How much human relationship at your workplace do you think affect your work?

I am afraid of "Tkeshita-dori"

I found an interesting article on Japan Times.

Harajuku was chosen to the most popular tourist destination in Japan for both Japanese and foreigher in a survey this year by trip adviser. One of the reason why other countries choose the area is that there are no pachinko parlors and "fuzoku" shops nearby.

 I have been to Takeshita-dori at Harajuku twice before. There are so many people and a lot of shops there. Everyone seemed to enjoy shopping so much, but I did not. The reason why I was not able to enjoy it is that some black people are persistent. They run their shops and try to catch visiters persistently. When I was walking at Takeshita-dori, some blacks approached me and I was taken to their shops forcibly. I don't like this way to sell their goods, so I decided that I would never pass the street again, even if I go to Harajuku.

Questions
1 Have you ever been to Takeshita-dori, and how did you feel it?
2 What do you think of the way of black people in Takeshita-dori to sell goods?

Facebook as education in Kenya

I read this article 　from bbc.
Joel Mwale, who runs his website named Gigavia (like Facebook), agree with adopting network services into school. Therefore his website is contained the area where students and teachers can share their materials or exchange their ideas on online. He wants to spread this idea to East Africa.
As this article states, students tend to addict to do chat with their friends with using their cellphones or computers, so some people disagree with this idea because students can be disturbed by these things and they cannot concetrate on their studying if they use neetwork during their studying. On the other hand, others says that teachers can share their papers easily and students might not need to bring textbooks instead of bringing laptops. I also think students can approach the society easily by using network and also they can ask questions to their teachers without hesitating, which are good for them. They might lose communication skills, though. Therefore, it is important for teachers to consider balance between using network and papers during class.
Now, i have two questions to class.
What do you think about using network(computer) during class ? if you are teachers at junior high school, what do you think is the good way of make your students concetrate on their studying?

Violence in Iraq

I read this news on BBC.
In 29th November 2013, police said they found the bodies of 18 people after they were abducted. near a town to the north of the Iraq capital Baghdad. these dead body had gunshots to the head. Many religion violence has not been stopped in Baghdad. More than 6500 civilians have died since January.

When I was a Junior high school, I had heard many news about wars in Iraq, and this situation is not solved now. Moreover, there are many religions in Iraq. I can not belive that how the sectarian violence is dangerous or scared. Because I do not have any religions naturally in Japan, though some people has it. And BBC said, Iraq has also seen a spread of violence from the struggle around in Iraq. I hope that the war between this country and other countries will come to an end. Besides, I think it is good for people to understand religions each other.

Do you think violences in Middle East has  never stopped?
Why this kind of incidents in Iraq? Think bout Japan, we rarely hear some violence news.

The change of eating habit in France.

I focused on this news.

 Recently, the eating habit and kinds of food have been changing in France. The number of employer of French who take fast food for their lunch  has been increasing because of two reason. Firstly, these people do not have enough time to eat and secondly, the income tax was raised. 

 I think that the fact is interesting but I wonder this is good. I think this change is good for workers because they can save their money and time but when think about other stores and restaurants which sell french foods, the trend would be harmful influences for them. I think that the consumption of traditional food will be declined, and  eating the food can be considered as causes of obesity and heart disease. Actually, fast food is delicious but I think relying on the food too much is not good because there are disadvantages like above two things. Therefore,in my opinion I suggest you to bring your lunch boxes because it is friendly your wallets and health.

Questions are...
1.What do you think the change of eating habit in France?
2.If you were those people(Frenches), would you eat fast food for your lunch?

The wonderful thing of life is....

You would like it !!

http://youtu.be/flLQ6nLeXkg

I looooove this video!!!

You should watch this video! 

Cute Animals

I like this video! Animals are so cute!

So Cute Cat!

I like watching cats movies. This is a funny cat facing a trouble with a plastic bag.

The way to make people get "angry"

I like this video series.

Did you know?

This is also interesting movie, and this the latest one but no Japanese.

You can see the quantified global value related to the technology.

Is it Japanese?

I found this interesting video on youtube. It is a collection of scenes the phrases are heard like phrases spoken in Japanese.

MAZI-UTA

I like this video.

The Room of Tetsuko?

This video is a parody of a popular Japanese animation “Spirited Away” and a TV program “The Room of Tetsuko”.

POKEMON IN REAL LIFE!!!!

This is my favorite video.

Shizuoka newspaper's new service

I think this commercial is interesting and so cute!

shocking sequel of " the three little pigs"

This is a commercial of British newspaper "the guardian". You will see a very serious sequel of the fairy tale "the three pigs". Originally, pigs defeated the wolf, boiled him and then ate him at the ending. This commercial story is started with this point.

Pigs or wolf : Which side are you on?

A famous CM of lottery.

I like this series cm.

Maybe you might have seen this CM many times.

I am looking foward to coming a new story.
Could you guess how will the story progress?

Sexy Dance

You can see energetic dancers!

crazy girls

I think this is one of funny video.

Cute kids on Valentine's day.

You can see cute and a little bit funny kids on this video from You Tube.

"girl" stereotype

I think this video is very intersting.

Your Pronunciation Can Still Get Better

I'm going to show you a video about how to pronounce the English language sounding more like good American English.

The video can help you know especially about the contractions and reductions.
Now, let's say this: 'We are out of bananas and milk'.
How did you pronounce it?

Then, it's time to compare your English with the instructors' in this video.
Have fun :)

My favorites short movies from YouTube

This series of short movies are really interesting.
1 Wedding cake
2 Women Love Chocolate
3 Cosmetic Counter Makeup
Please check them out.

How to escape from paparazzi

This is the video.

Cat and Woman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdfULKF-G_8

video

How cut they are!

A shocking end

A great band

Teacher's salary is in danger

 I read the article in Japan Times.

 The Finance Ministry has recently proposed the bill to reduce annual salaries of teachers at school. Some people concerns about this proposal because the quality of education in Japan might decrease sharply although the ministry plan to use the budget to the students.

 I feel like spending money to another aspect of education such as study abroad programs, cutting-edge facilities, and servicies. However, cutting teacher's salary is not appropriate way to improve Japanese education itself. As the article said, the satisfaction and status of teachers in Japan is already low caused by the environment and system. The best idea I suggest is not to reduce the salary of teachers, but to reduce the wastefully used money to the government. Many students in KUIS want to teach English in junior or high school in the near future. And one big reason is because teacher is a very stable job which is a public employee who can get an average salary without being influenced by economy. Therefore, reducing the salary means to reduce the number of people who want to be a teacher. The government should reconsider this point.

1 Do you agree with the proposal to reduce annual salary and number of teachers in order to make money?
2 What do you think is the reason for some people to be a teacher except for the reason to enjoy teaching to children?

Lioness was killed by another lion in zoo

I found this article on CNN

According to the article, a male lion killed other lioness while zoo visitors watching lions. After the accident, the lion killed other lion and other family members were took from the zoo.incidentStaffs in the zoo said that this case is really rare and merely happened. He said he has worked for 35years but he never experience this incident.

I was surprised at the news when I found the article. As mentioned in the article, visitors thought lioness just played together, but they realized that actually a lion killed another lioness!! Staff said they don't know why that terrible case happened. I am very sorry to the lioness who was killed and his family.   If this case occurred by human, absolutely who killed somebody would be punished. However, it is difficult to do same thing to animals. In fact, 3days later, the lion who occur incident was put back to the zoo.I worry if he do same thing again...

☆ why do you think the incident happened?

☆ when accident like this case happened, how do you think people  should do or deal with animals?

Facebook leads to biological family

I read a heart-warming article this week.

Elizabeth Boys is a woman who was adopted when she was a day old. She had not tried to find the biological mother until her older sister who was adopted too found her real mother. After that, she used Facebook to find her biological family. She posted a message about her project. 36 hours later, she got a message from her real brother who have never met. Finally, she met her brother and had a good time with her real family.

I do not use Twitter or Facebook because I am afraid of spreading our information. Some people use SNS with wrong way for example, to post slander or use an online dating site just for fun. Therefore, my impression of SNS was not good, but it changed after I read this article. I surprised that it worked for finding biological family on Facebook. It was a good example to use SNS. I know that causes of spreading information are not only SNS, so we should care about how we keep our information. Elizabeth did not know that she had an older brother, so it was a great opportunity for her to find her real family, and met her real brother.

How do you use SNS?
Would you try to find your biological family, if you were adopted?

Loews Hotels to allow booking of rooms by Twitter

I read the article about hotel on USA TODAY.

According to the article, a hotel chain Loews Hotels and Resorts will start a new booking system on twitter. After customers tweet, a travel planner arranges the room and tweets information. Increase of young travelers is expected with this plan.

When I make a reservation for a hotel room, I usually use online booking system. I had called only twice to book a room because those cheap Japanese style hotels are small and have no online form to reserve. However, making phone calls were really inconvenient. On the other hand, I prefer searching on the internet and mobile phone because I can connect a large amount of information anytime and anywhere. In addition, if the hotel has an English website, I can stay in any countries. Actually, I do not use twitter, but it is an easy and common application supported by many users all over the world. Therefore, I think this plan will boost the sales.

There are two questions about how to find and book a hotel.

How do you look for a hotel?

How do you usually contact a hotel to book a room?

Giant red lantern gets makeover

I found the article on Japan Times.

 

On Monday, a ceremony took place in Sensoji Temple because of a makeover of the giant red lantern at Kaminarimon. This time was the fifth makeover for the lantern. The lantern made from handmade Japanese paper from Fukui and bamboo from Kyoto. Kaminarimon was first built in the Heian period, but the gate was entirely destroyed by fire, so Konosuke Matsushita who was a founder of Panasonic asked to rebuild the gate.

 

Recently, many people said that traditional thing is disappearing. However, many people try to carry on a tradition like this news.

On the other hand, probably, some traditional events have become uncommon for many families. For example, my neighbors do not raise a carp banner in May. Also, my friend’s family does not scatter parched beans in February, 3. And many people might not know why people eat Osechi in the New Year.

Every traditional thing like the red lantern at Kaminarimon, a carp streamer, the hina dolls are very important. We have to carry on wonderful tradition of Japan.

 

Question

1)    Do you know well about Japanese tradition?

2)    How can we carry on the tradition?