Japanese companies and even government offices like to make characters. Famous Japanese characters in the world would be Hello Kitty, Mario and Pikachu. Many character goods of them are sold. A company made their character's car. It is very cute. The drivers say that they get tense while driving them because they attracts a lot of attention. It is necessary to have a little bit of courage to drive them.
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The job as a truck driver seems to be very hard. Truck drivers must concentrate on driving for many hours in order to prevent accidents. They also must fight the sleepiness. However some Japanese truck drivers have a thing which make them enjoy themselves. They decorate their trucks with electric lights. Such trucks are called Dekotora. Dekotora which runs at night is very beautiful.
It's too funny. I had not ever seen such a top leader's behavior before. He looks like a leader of a group of kids, doesn't he?
The Japanese era name will have changed since 2019. Normally, it changes when Japan's Emperor dies. You may think "why do you know the present Emperor will die in 2019?". I will explain the reason. Japan's Emperor Akihito announced last year that he wanted to step down from the throne because of his old age. He is eighty three years old now. He said that he wished he would be able to perform the constitutional functions of the emperor with all his soul but that he could not do them anymore. The Japanese government heard and accepted his statement.
The present Japanese era name is 平成(Heisei) and this year is Heisei 29 year. The previous era name is 昭和(Showa) and it continued for sixty three years. The one before Showa is 大正(Taisho) and it only continued for fifteen years because the Taisho Emperor died early after he ascended to the throne.
The Japanese government seems to have four appropriate options for the name of the next one. They are made up of two kanji and which seems to be words that aren't used commonly. However, the next era name wouldn't be used long because the next Japanese Emperor Naruhito, who is the crown prince, is already fifty seven years old. Does your country have era names?
The tension has risen recently between the U.S and North Korea. The U.S government sent an aircraft carrier near North Korea, and in turn North Korea declared that they will continue to develop nuclear weapons. They fired some missiles into Japan sea, although they failed. The U.S President Donald Trump said that he has all options including war, so it seems more likely that war would break out between the two nations.
In this situation, I am interested in Hashimoto's opinion. Hashimoto is a one-time Osaka governor. He said that we must think which situation will claim the lives of people in South Korea and Japan more, when they go to war to stop their developing nuclear weapons or when North Korea has them. He said, "This is the view of executor who make decisions". If the war begins, there in South Korea an Japan may be many victims of the missiles fired by North Korea. On the other hand, even if North Korea has nuclear weapons, it will not claim their lives right away. He thinks that North Korea may have them for that reason. On our side, we Japanese should strengthen our defense capability by doing things like having nuclear weapons and the ability to destroy the enemy's military base.
I almost agree with him, but I also have a fear. Try imagining what the world will be like when North Korea has nuclear weapons and they are given to terrorists. It must be a terrible situation. We must think of how we can prevent this situation.
Why did they ignore him? Who has a tender heart? What do you think about this scene?
I will introduce a funny song to you. It is Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen.This song became famous because a famous musician, Justin Bieber, tweeted that he liked the song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E00Zuayv9Q
I saw his interview about the song. He makes songs with a computer. One day he sat in front of a desk in order to make a song. He had already made the rhythm of the song at that time, so he only needed to make the lyrics. When he was listening to the rhythm, he had a pen and there was an apple on the desk. He happened to stick the pen into the apple and thought this was an "apple pen".
He likes puns. The words "apple" and "pineapple" are similar, so he thought the pronunciation of "Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen" was interesting.
On 9th April, United Airlines, which is an American airline company, had to make four passengers get off an airplane because of overbooking, and they said they selected four passengers at random by a computer. However it was said that it might be racial discrimination because they were all Asian people. The airplane had planned to fly in the U.S, so there must have been many non-Asian people in the airplane.
The three passengers got off the airplane without protesting but one person didn't get off because he had important business. United Airlines called the police to make him get off it and they dragged him out of the plane. Some even said that they used a stun gun at that time. He was bleeding from his head because he was hurt when he was being dragged by them. It is said that it might also be racial discrimination because he was savagely treated by them because he was Asian.
What do you think about this Incident?
All the countries in the world agreed to scrap all the existing nuclear weapons and not to produce any more of them from now on.
We have come to be able to allot all war expenditure in the world for education, welfare, research and development because all the countries get along well and so military isn't necessary any longer.
All leaders in the world are working hard to eliminate poverty, wars, violence, and crimes.
I had to post this writing on April fool's day.
I have recently come to like vegetables more than before. I thought meat was important to gain power, but it occurred to me that elephants were very big and had power in spite of only eating vegetables and fruits. I also noticed that heated vegetables are sweet and healthy. My favorite vegetables are carrots, cabbages, avocados, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, onions, lettuces, sweet potatoes, broccoli, radishes, Chinese cabbages, leeks, and spinach.
Do you like vegetables? What vegetables do you like or dislike?
I heard a funny story that a Japanese woman was laughed at by people in an elevator. She had lived in the U.S for a while and one day she went shopping in a department store. She wanted to go to the fifth floor in the department store and got into an elevator. The elevator was very crowded and when it stopped at the fourth floor, a person in the back said "I'm getting out!". She got off the elevator to let the person go because she was standing at the front in the elevator. However she wanted to go back to the elevator soon again because she wanted to go to the fifth floor. She said "I'll be back", when she got off the elevator. Then the people in the elevator laughed at her. She couldn't understand why she was laughed at.
I think the reason is because "I'll be back" is the phrase that a famous actor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in his movie "The Terminator". Have you ever been laughed at by people when you said something in English?
Tattoos are scarcely accepted by society in Japan. For example, people who have tattoos are often refused admittance to spas and pools. Most Japanese athletes and public service workers don't have tattoos. The reason is because most Yakuza(Japanese mafia) have tattoos, so some Japanese people are afraid of them and dislike them.
I hear that tattoos are accepted by society in Western countries as part of the fashion and I often see Western countries' athletes who have tattoos.
How much are tattoos accepted by society in your country? what do you think about tattoos? Are there public service workers who have tattoos in your country? If people know that a legislator has tattoos in Japan, the legislator would get a roasting.
A tweet of a mayor in Japan generated argument on gender segregation. He tweeted that "Is this a gender segregation opinion that I don't want male nursery staff to help my daughter change clothes?". I think her daughter is a little child who is around 3～6 years old. He said they sometimes switched to female nursery staff to help female babies change clothes because of complaints like this.
There are various comments about this. For example, "It is reasonable for a female to be uneasy about male nursery staff.", "Female nursery staff also help male babies change outfit, doesn't they?".
I think man and woman are equal and they have different quality. For example, man usually have strength in the muscles more than woman, so man is more appropriate for jobs which need physical power like military and construction.
As for nursery staff, is woman appropriate? About ninety percent of the total number of nursery staff is female in Japan. How do you think about his tweet and gender segregation in jobs?
I introduce three children's games in Japan.
Irooni: First, the children choose an oni(target). When the oni says a color, the other children must keep touching the color before the oni catches them. If someone is caught by the oni before touching the color, the child will become an oni.
Darumasangakoronda: First, the children choose an oni. The oni stands facing a wall. The other children stand to the right a little away from the oni. The oni says "Darumasangakoronda" and turns to face the other children after finishing saying it. The other children must head off toward the oni while the oni says it and stop when the oni turns to face them. If they can't stop, the children who can't stop are out but if a child touches the oni, the oni loses.
Keidoro: The children make two groups, one is a police team and another is a thief team. The police team draw a circle on the ground and it becomes a jail. The members of the thief team run away and the members of the police team chase them. The members of the thief team who are caught by the police team are cast into the jail but when the other member of the thief team touch the child, the child can run away from the jail. When all the member of the thief team are caught by the police team, it is over.
Can you teach me about children's games in your country?
Many media foresaw the victory of Mrs. Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election but Mr. Donald Trump won. Why did they fall short of expectations? A few Japanese journalists foresaw Mr. Donald Trump would win this election and the one of them said an interesting thing.
He said "I was sure that Mr. Donald Trump would win this election last December because he was saying about American's real intention which they couldn't say but wanted to say. For example, economic gap and immigration issue. I went to the U.S for news gathering last month and asked Americans for which person you will vote. Then many of them answered evasively at first. And when I asked them again, then they said they will vote for Trump. I asked them why you were evasive, and then they said that not to befog it was more awkward because many media thought the supporters of Trump were lower-income white people, racists and sexists."
The supporters of Clinton were more than them of Trump in opinion research but it couldn't find the people who supported Trump in secret."
If you visit Japan and walk around towns, I recommend you to look at the surface on the paved road. What is there? There are a lot of manhole covers. You may say "I am not interested in them. They are all the same and basic design". However manhole covers in Japan aren't all the same and basic design. They are beautifully designed and different by town. I think you will enjoy them.
What is your first name? My first name is Yuuichi and it is written 友一 in kanji. 友 means "friend" and it is used in words like 友情(friendship). 一 means "one ". So my parents put their hope that I can make many friends into the name. And 一 is used because I am their first child.
Most parents usually select a name with a positive meaning. However some parents give bad names to their child. One parent was going to name their child as 悪魔(which means devil) in past times, but the Japanese government didn't accept the name because they thought the name was too negative. I agree with the denial but if the name had been accepted by Japanese government, how would the child feel now? I hope that all parents give good names to their children because it is their first present to them.
By the way, what is the meaning of your name?
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deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the
olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at
the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can
sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn
mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as
a wlohe.
4 and 9 are unfavorable numbers in Japan because 4 suggests death and 9 suggests illness. The reason why these numbers suggest these things is because 4 is read し, which can mean death, as in 死(し), and 9 is read く, which can mean illness, as in 苦(く). There are some Japanese hotels which don't use 4 and 9 for their room numbers.
In addition, the number 7 is favorable. There are words like "lucky seven". What numbers are unfavorable in your country? And what numbers are favorable?
Aichi prefecture recruited six persons as ninja. When they advertised for ninja on the internet, 235 persons applied for the post and 85% of them were foreigners. Their jobs are to do publicity activities about Aichi prefecture like having photos taken with tourists and showing their performance as ninjas.
Also, one of employed ninja is a person in the U.S. He was recruited by reason of great performance, high ability in talking in front of people, and ambition for publicity activities.
You can go Aichi prefecture to meet them if you like ninjas.
