Views on guns are various and depend on the country and person. In Japan, people aren't allowed to have guns except for policemen, soldiers and hunters. In the case of hunters, they need to apply to the Japanese government for a license and be examined thoroughly. Japan is one of the countries that control gun ownership most thoroughly. So gun crimes in Japan are less than most other countries.

On the other hand, I think the U.S. is one of the countries that are most tolerant of having guns. Americans think that having guns is necessary to protect themselves. However, even if they have guns, it is obvious that they can't protect themselves, when we look at the fact that mass killings often occur in the U.S.

How about your country? What do you think about gun control? Do you have a gun or want to have one? Have you ever shot a gun?

According to the institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Japan, when they researched Japanese genes, they found that Japanese people have evolved over several thousand years as a people who can't drink alcohol much. A specific reason has not been found yet, but it seems to be an advantage for adaptation to the Japanese environment. There is a similar evolution in Africa, where African people have red blood cells which are not easily affected by malaria. A researcher at the institute says that we have not yet found why Japanese people who can't drink much alcohol are better adapted to the Japanese environment.

I sometimes drink alcohol , but not mush. I usually drink one or two 500 ml cans of beer per week and a bit plum liquor three or four days in a week. If I drink alcohol, I get cheerful. But I don't drink enough alcohol to feel sick. There are some people who behave violently or become dismal or offensive to others when they drink. I don't like people like that. Shouldn't we drink alcohol for enjoyment? Do you like to drink? How much alcohol do you drink? What are you like when you drink alcohol ?

Labor law in Japan regulate the time workers can work, which is within 40 hours and are given a day off in a week. Most companies decide their employee's work time as eight hours per day, five days per week. However managers and workers who have particular skills are excluded in this rule because they are allowed to determine their own work time.

In the last ten years, there has been a problem whereby employers or managers make their employees work more hours than specified by the law. There have been severe cases where they have made their workers work more than hundred hours in a month. Some workers have killed themselves due to tiredness caused by exhaustion. So we and the mass media are very angry with the offender companies. The bereaved families also accused them of causing too much stress on their workers who killed themselves. Thanks to raising their voice , the situation appears to be getting a bit better, but it has not improved quite enough yet.

Many companies in Japan face the problem of a shortage of workers because of the decreasing birthrate and aging population. But just because of that, companies must not break the law. By the way, how many hours do you or can you work per week?

I lived by myself before I became your mother

I used to pretend to be tough enough to do hard work, wearing high-heeled shoes and painting my nails

Now I cut my nails because I play with my child

I wear clothes that are easy to move in because I work part‐time 

because I am your mother

I wake up at 5:00 am feeling sleepy because I am your mother

I give my favorite food that I should eat to you because I am your mother

I remember train's names because I am your mother

I always take care of you more than myself because I am your mother

I was thin before I became your mother

I always thought about myself, doing my favorite things and buying my favorite goods

Now I always buy clothes and food for my child

I cook sweet curry and watch TV programs for children with my child

Because I am your mother

Though I am not good at cooking, I work hard to cook, because I am your mother

I can scold you for your sake because I am your mother

I do my best to be a good mother because I am your mother

I always take care of you more than myself

If I went back to the time before I became your mother, I would stay out late at night

Recently, I heard an interesting story about Bitcoin. A Japanese famous comedian was asked to buy ten coins for 1000 dollars by an acquaintance. The coins were plated with a golden color and had a letter "B" carved on the surface. He said these are Bitcoins. He said to the comedian that Bitcoin would definitely rise in value. The comedian knew Bitcoin was popular, so he bought them for 1000 dollars.

If you noticed that the story was strange, it means you knew something about Bitcoin. Because Bitcoin is virtual currency, so they don't exist as real coins. The comedian noticed after he bought them that he had been deceived. Did you laugh at him? Or might you have been deceived like him?

"About seventy years ago, World War Ⅱ was over, but seventy years later, people still kill each other in civil wars in some countries. Seventy years later, great nations still fight each other in some places in order to take the initiative in the world, not making a effort together to bring them to an end. Seventy years later, we are still spending a lot of money on war expenditures.

Now is the time to make a effort to bring civil wars to an end. Now is the time that great nations should deal with difficult problems together without referring to their self‐interests. Now is the time to spend a lot of money promoting our peace and happiness.

We can never be satisfied as long as there are wars in the world. We can never be satisfied as long as we are killing each other. We can never be satisfied as long as enormous amounts of money is being spent on war expenditures.

I have a dream that one day there will be no war in the world. I have a dream that one day we all will get along without hating each other. I have a dream that one day tons of money will not be spent on war expenditures, but rather on our peace and happiness.

Let this thought spread around you. Let this thought spread from where you live. Let this thought spread from you to the rest of the world.

When this happens, and when we allow this thought, the world will undoubtedly be a better place to live."

If Martin Luther king Jr were alive now, he might say it this way.

About 57％ of Japanese high school students go to university. However some of them are not going for studying, but for getting an academic background for their resume. High school students who want to go to university study hard to pass an entrance exam. However some of them who pass it don't study hard after they have entered the university. They study a little just before exams. They think that all they have to do is to get an academic background. I know that studying is important even after they have graduated from the university. We must keep studying.
This tendency applies to when they find a job. They try hard to find a job, but don't think about what they want to do seriously. So they tend to leave the company soon. I think we should think about things from a long-term view and what we want to do.

I read an article which said that posting a video on Youtube about eating a Tide Pod, which is laundry detergent in a capsule, is popular among teenagers in the U.S. It is called "Tide pod challenge". The capsules are beautiful and good smell, so there is a warning on them for especially children in order not to eat them. But it is odd that young people, who would know it is dangerous, purposely eat them, isn't it? Two hundred and twenty people were carried to the hospital in 2017 after eating them and being poisoned. Fifty five people of them purposely ate them. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warns them that if they eat laundry detergent, it certainly causes poisoning symptoms. Why do they eat them?

Japanese people hear characteristic sounds every season.

In spring, we hear the songs which birds sing in the early morning as if they are delighted at coming of spring. Most creatures seem to welcome the coming of spring.

In summer, we can hear the sound of cicadas chirping. They are very loud, but the sound from a distance have a good taste for me. A famous Japanese haiku poet wrote a poem , it's「閑けさや　岩に染み入る　蝉の声」. I think in English it can be translated as 「The calmness, it is merging into the rock, the sound of cicadas chirping」.

In autumn, we hear the song of insects like Suzumushi(鈴虫). We feel that autumn has come and it has gotten cooler, when we hear it at night.

In winter, we hear the sound of snowing. You may think that snow doesn't make a sound, but Japanese describe the sound of snowing like shinshin .

What sound do you hear every season？

Once upon a time, there was a smart child buddhist named Ittsukyu(一休). His wit was famous in the city, and a lord heard that. He felt he wanted to be mean to the child buddhist, so he called the child buddhist to his castle.
"I am troubled with a tiger in my folding screen, because the tiger come out of there every night and do bad things", the lord said. Of course, the tiger in the folding screen couldn't come out of there and it was lie.
After a short thinking, the child buddhist said to the lord, "Very well, sir. Could you please bring me a rope". "Can you do?", said the lord. "Yes.", said the child buddhist "Then, could you please drive the tiger out of the folding screen. I will catch it with this rope."
"There's no way I can do this!", the lord said before he knew what he was saying. "You can't make the tiger come out of the folding screen, can you? Even I can't catch the tiger which don't come out of there.", the child buddhist smiled and said.
The lord heard that and said with a handclap, "Excellent! Your wit is very good.". He gave the child buddhist a lot of reward.

Senbazuru is made from a thousand Origami(colored paper for folding) cranes bundling by string. By making it, there is the popular belief it brings longevity and healing from disease, because the crane is the symbol of longevity. So it is sometimes sent to the hospital patients.

And it is also the symbol of peace. Because it was made by Sasaki Sadako who hoped to lengthen her life. She is a woman who suffered from the radiation effects of atomic bomb on Hiroshima and died from atomic bomb sickness. It takes a lot of effort to make a thousand origami cranes, but Japanese people make it in the hope of health and peace, when big disaster occur.

One of the fun things Japanese people do in autumn is to listen to the songs of insects like Suzumushi(鈴虫), which is Homoeogryllus japonicus. Japanese feel that autumn has come and it has gotten cooler, when we hear it at night. Do people of your country enjoy hearing the songs of insects？You may only feel that it is just loud.

And there is the day of Otukimi(お月見) on which we enjoy looking at the full moon at night in October. Japanese call autumn nights Akinoyonaga(秋の夜長), this word means that the nights in autumn are long. Japanese people enjoy the days of the long night in autumn like this.

This is the songs of Suzumishi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE1uTtFoUus

Religion
A: Does religion make people happy?
B: Yes, of course.
A: But some people fight against each other because of it.
B: Hum, I can no longer say it with confidence.

The four people, who are Tarou, Hachigorou, Youske, Syouichi, was talking.

Tarou: "Everyone have scared things. Everyone bury one's umbilical cord in the ground and what first passed over there become the one's scared thing. Well, Hachigorou , what are you scared of?"

Hachigorou: "I am scared of worms."

Tarou: "That means a worm first passed over the ground in which your umbilical cord was buried. Yousuke, what are you scared of?"

Yousuke: "I am scared of mole crickets. They come out to claw through litters and attach thing like helmet on their heads. I hate them. Tarou, how about you?"

Tarou: "Me? I dislike centipede. If I had many legs like that, what should I do? I don't know how much it take a cost to buy shoes. I only don't want to be centipede. Syouichi, you have remained silent for quite a while, what is your scared thing?"

Syouichi: "Scared things? I don't have that. Human are king of animals. Human can't have scared things. I don't have scared things and hates."

Tarou: "You are an aggravating guy because you aren't scared of anything. I think you have something of scared. How about snake?"

Syouichi: "Snake? Who is afraid of snakes? I sleep with it winding my head when I have a headache. I feel very good because it constricts my head nicely."

Tarou: "Then, how about lizard or gecko?"

Syouichi: "Lizard? Gecko? I ate them with vinegar. I ate even ants with salt but it is a little hard because of their a bit moving."

Tarou: "You are really an aggravating guy because you don't fear anything. Well, your scared thing may not be necessary animals or insects, so do you have something scared?"

Syouichi: "Then, I have. I am scared of sweet buns."

Tarou: "What! Sweet buns! Are they foods sold in stores?"

Syouichi: "Yes, I am actually a spineless wimp. I fear sweet buns which everybody like. When I only see them, my heart began to shiver. If I stay with them for a while, I may die. So I keep away from the stores which sell them. I have a hard time recently because the stores are increasing. Phew, I can't stand anymore because of recalling them. Can I lie?"

Syouichi fell to sleep. All that time, other three people bought Syouichi many sweet buns as a surprise and put them next to his pillow.

Other three people: "If he die in surprise, it isn't due to our but sweet buns."

Tarou: "I hear something. He may rise. Let's see delicately through the gap in the door."

Hachigorou: "Oh, my God! He is eating them in tears. He told a lie as he is scared of sweet buns, didn't he?"

Other three people: "Hey, Syouichi. You told us a lie as you are scared of sweet buns! What a nice friend you are! What do you fear actually?"

Syouichi: "Sorry, I am labored now because sweet buns lodge in my throat. I am really scared of a cup of green tea."

The nuclear bombs which the U.S dropped on Japan in the final stage of World WarⅡ took many lives including many babies, children, women and elderly. I wonder what Japanese people think about this tragedy now. Most Japanese didn't experience the war because it was even seventy two years ago. If I am asked if Japanese people hate the U.S now because of this, I say that many Japanese people don't.

We learned that the Japanese army in those days made a mistake and acted terribly. I don't know why they were that way but it is a fact. Japan's government in those days said that they would fight until all Japanese people were killed. If the U.S didn't drop nuclear bombs on Japan at that time, the war might have continued a very long time and many more people might have be killed. I think the U.S people generally think like this and I can't deny this, of course, I am sorry for the victims of the nuclear bombs. Japan's government should have made a wiser decision before the nuclear bombs.

Japan developed after the war and has come to have economic power now. We must thank the victims of the war because Japan's development is indebted to them.

Many Japanese people are influenced by the U.S. culture and their sense of values like freedom of expression, human rights and democracy. I can't say that many Japanese people hate the U.S even though we are influenced a lot by them. Japan went to war against the U.S hard in the past, but now the U.S has become the most important allied country for Japan.

How about the relationship between your country and the U.S.?

When I was a child, I used to believe a funny thing. When my father drove me in his car at night, I noticed that however much we moved, the moon didn't go out of sight. I asked him why the moon didn't go out of sight. He answered that it is because the moon was following us. I believed it at that time. Do you have funny things you used to believe?

Two fun events in summer in Japan are festivals and fireworks. The summer festivals are called Natumaturi(夏祭り). Japanese traditional dance Bonodori is danced at many parks in summer night, where many outdoor stalls sell toys and foods, and you can play games like a shooting gallery and quoits. We go there wearing Yukata, which is Japanese traditional clothing like a light summer kimono. A lot of big rockets are set off on the banks of the stream, and we enjoy them. We also enjoy small fireworks with our families and friends at a park near our house or the front of our house. What events in summer are you looking forward to?