Monday, November 30, 2015

Mizuki-San Dies

A popular manga artist Mizuki Shigeru known for "Ggege no Kitsro" has died at age of 93. He might become a real yokai, traditional Japanese monster. 
His "Gegege no Kitaro" adapted into TV animation series many times. I think almost every Japanese know Kitaro. He is so beloved manga character. 
Mizuki's hometown Sakaiminato-shi, Tottori has featured him and displays more than 100 statues of his characters alongside the "Mizuki Shigeru Road" which is a major tourists spot in the prefecture. 
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Sunday, November 29, 2015

A Small Success

Two years ago yesterday, I posted this blog for the first time in five years at the time. Since then I have been writing this tiny blog everyday for two years. Sometimes, I could write only few sentences, but anyway, I could continue this blog. It's a small success for me. 
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Saturday, November 28, 2015

Busy...

It's been very busy lately, so I can not socialize with SNS world so often. And it was a good excuse for not studying English hard. Exhosted...
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Friday, November 27, 2015

Norwegian Wood

I'm reading Norwegian Wood in English. I'm a big fan of Haruki Murakami, so I have read it as soon as it was published. But that was a long time ago and I forgot about the details. I feel it's a new novel for me. 
Thanks to kindle, I can look up unfamiliar words immediately and review these words easily. 
I'm not reading only that book, but some other books. That is because I'm losing interest in books quite easily. That's not bad for English learners. 
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Thursday, November 26, 2015

Winter Has Come

I had my tires changed today. I usually change tires in December, but I did it earlier this year. I thought the first snow will come soon this season. 
In Sapporo, over 40 cms of snow had fallen and that was the highest record in 62 years for this time of November. Is that a signal that heavy snow will fall in this winter?
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Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Audiobook

I wanted to listen to audiobook, so I tried to subscribe audible.com, but I couldn't. My credit cards didn't work for the service. 
I can join Japanes version of it, but it doesn't have English audiobook. So sad. 
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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Satomi Wins the Fourth Title of Shogi

Satomi Kana from Shimane has won the fourth major women's shogi titles in Kurashiki. There are six major titles in Women's Shogi League. 
Satomi had at most 5 of 6 crowns in 2013, but she lost 4 of them due to bad health conditions. She is gradually getting back her conditions and adding major titles. 
She is also trying to be a Japan Professional Shogi League player. That is her dream. If she will be the one, she becomes the first female Shogi League player. I hope she realizes the dream. 
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Monday, November 23, 2015

National Identification Number

My national identification number notification card has just arrived today. The number system has been a controversial issue in Japan. 
I think the system would simplifying administrative procedures. We wouldn't need to write many documents than before. 
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Sunday, November 22, 2015

Japanese Immigrants to the South America

Kita Morio wrote many popular books. Kagayakeru Aoki Sorano Shitade was a series of novels that described Japanese immigrants to the South America in Meiji era.
The immigrants figured a bright future in the new world, but the reality was different. The places assigned to them were not suitable for agriculture. People died one after another due to starvation. 
The novel was not completed. Kita could not wrote the last part before he died.
「輝ける碧き空の下で」
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Saturday, November 21, 2015

Kataoka and Murakami

When I was in my twenties, one of my favorite writers was Kataoka Yoshio. After reading his books, I wanted to buy a Yamaha and wear white t-shirts and blue jeans. 
Then, Murakami Haruki appeared with a novel called "Hear the Wind Sing". I began to drink a lot of beer and ate spaghetti. 
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Friday, November 20, 2015

A Music Score on the Wall

The city had over 3,500,000 people. It was a big city. 
The high way run the south of downtown. A huge parking lot faced the highway and a wide white concrete building stood at the back of the parking lot.   
The building's wall had a music score on it. The score was a polka of Joseph Strauss and it could be looked clearly through the parking lot. 
Hundreds of cars' body in the parking were flushing in the sunlight. The score was looked over the flushing cars. 
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Thursday, November 19, 2015

A Boy on the Hill

A bicycle was under the grassy hill near the highway. I looked up the top of the hill, a boy stood there alone with both hands in his pants pocket. He looked down the highway. 
The sun was setting down and the sky began to be dark. The wind blew cold as if it was late at night. The boy's black hair streamed in the wind. 
The boy put out his hand and waved to a car driving on the highway. 
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Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Reading

My younger son likes playing video games. His older brother likes it too, but he also likes reading, so I don't worry about him. Reading has made him mature. 
I often say "you should read books" to my younger son, but he doesn't listen to me. Manga would be great if he doesn't want to read novels. At least, they have Japanes in it. 
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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Sony PS4

Terrorists might use Sony PlayStation 4 for communication for each other because it is so hard to monitor. 
The Paris attacks which killed at least 127 people and left more than 300 injured would be planned by using Sony PS4, Belgian authorities have discovered. 
Privacy protection is a fundamental factor for democracy, but terrorist's activities should be exception for that. 
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Monday, November 16, 2015

Table Tennis Match

My son took part in a high school table tennis tournament on Sunday. My wife and I went to watch it. 
My son played well more than I thought. He reached the top 16 in the tournament. I hope he reaches the top 8 in the next tournament. 
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Sunday, November 15, 2015

Tenryu Retires

Japanese pro wrestler Tenryu Genichiro has ended his 39 years of fighting career in the ring. The last match was IWGP title match with Okada Kazuchika at Kokugikan. 
More than 10,000 people came to watch the 65-year-old legend Tenryu's last fight in Ryougoku where the home town of Sumo. Tenryu was a former Sumo wrestler and his ring name Tenryu was his shikona. 
 I liked him even though he didn't have good pro wrestling technique. Instead of that, he had a passion for pro wrestling and he could make audiences excited. His series of battle with Jumbo Tsuruta were really exiting. Pro wrestling fans would miss him a lot. 
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Saturday, November 14, 2015

Murakami Becomes Popular in the World

Haruki Murakami is the most successful writer overseas. No one can deny it. I thought he was not involved in the success directly, but I was wrong. As he described that in his new book, he tried to do so as much as he could. 
When he was around 40 years old, he decided to sell his books in the United States. He moved to the US and looked for his agent and publisher all by himself. They treated Murakami as an American writer. That was because Murakami himself ordered translation and checked it and then brought it to the agent and publisher. That meant they got Murakami's novels in English first. 
After twenty years efforts, some of his books often became the No. 1 selling book in America and other countries. 
An American magazine New Yorker gave him more credit on his works. They picked up Murakami's stories in the magazine 25 times in 25 years. 
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Friday, November 13, 2015

Making Characters in a Novel

Every characters in a novel were part of my own self, said Haruki Murakami in his new book. He continued that he could be anyone he wanted to be and that was the most significant thing for a writer. You could be a young beautiful lesbian or a 15-year-old boy. 
These characters began to take action and made the Murakami's world automatically. He just followed the characters' movement, Murakami said. That was his way of making a story. 
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Thursday, November 12, 2015

Reading English Novels

Haruki Murakami talked about reading in his new book. Reading was the most important thing when he was a student. He said that the things you could get from reading were more important than what you learn at school and these things last so long in your mind. 
He started to read novels in English when he was a high school student even though he was not good at English as a subject. He said that no students around him in his school could not read an English book. That was because he clearly had an aim for studying English, he wanted to read English novels. 
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Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Running for Writing, Haruki Murakami

Running everyday over 30 years. Haruki Murakami has been running or swimming everyday over 30 years. He started the habit while he was writing "A Wild Sheep Chase". He said that running makes up his writing skill, but few people can understand that. 
He said that a writer makes a story, and making a story needs physical strength. That was his belief. 
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015

How to Write a Novel

Haruki Murakami described his way to write a novel in his new book. Take a lots of time for writing and do your best as much as you can. That was his advice on writing a novel. 
After he finishes the first draft of the novel, he rewrites again and again, over and over until he thinks there are no room for improvement. 
Time is the most important factor for writing a novel, he said that again and again. 
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Monday, November 9, 2015

A New Murakami

I bought a Murakami Haruki's new book. The book was a collection of essays. He wrote how he became a writer, how he writes novels and what brings him to write. 
They were very interesting essays and I was really happy to read his book especially in Japanese. He has lots of foreign fans and they are eager to read his works in Japanese. 
He wrote his thoughts on literary awards. He said that he doesn't care about awards. The most important thing is the work itself. No one can remember a literary award three years ago, even if it was the Nobel prize. But a good novel will be remaining in the readers. I'm totally agree with that. 
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Sunday, November 8, 2015

A Concert

I went to a concert at a car dealer. It was free and the band was "homme" from Matsue. I knew some of their songs and I liked them. 
They sang their original songs and some old Japanes popular songs like "Rubi no Yubiwa". Their songs might be affected by these Japanes pop songs. 
They looked very active. I hope many people recognize the band and like their songs. 
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Saturday, November 7, 2015

China and Taiwan Talks

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou talked in Singapore for the first time since the two countries had separated in 1949. In that year, 1949, in the Kuomintang lost to the Chinese Communist Party in the civil war and set up a new government in Taiwan.
This talk would be good for Chinese communist government, but what's the benefits for Taiwanese? In fact, many Taiwanese have been against the talk. 
President Ma's Kuomintang Party is losing its power and said to be lost the next presidential election. This Ma's action have simply ruined the will of Taiwanese people, haven't it?
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Friday, November 6, 2015

Bomb by Islamic State?

Britain and US authorities said that Russian aircraft crush was caused by Islamic State, but Russia denied that immediately. 
Russian Air Force has been striking ISIS's territories. The bombing might be the revenge for the attacks. That means Putin's action caused the deaths of Russian people. 
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Thursday, November 5, 2015

ETS Announces New TOEIC

ETS has released the new form of TOEIC. It will be changed in May 2016. 
In the listing section, they will reduce part 1 and 2 problems and add part 3 problems. Some conversations will be talked by three speakers. You have to answer some questions related to charts.
In the reading section, part 5 will be reduced and part 6 will be increased, and more changes will be there. 
You may feel uneasy about the new format of TOEIC, but don't worry about that. ETS has said that the quality and the difficulty of the test will be the same. That means if your English ability is the same, your score will be the same, maybe, perhaps, hopefully. 
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Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Lincoln's Presidency

I've been listening to a radio program "The Making of a Nation" on VOA. The program is broadcasting from Monday to Friday. I've already listened the American history two times and this is the third time for me. 
In the show, Abraham Lincoln become the 16the American President. That was the most difficult time for American history. The nation was about to divided into two countries. The conflict between the North and the South on slavery issue was so deep. 
Off course, I already know the history, but I'm excited to listen to that era every time.  
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Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Word's Word

I bought a picture dictionary at BookOff. The book was titled "Word's Word" and had 25,000 words with colored pictures. You can check special terms from astronomy to weapons. These words looked very specific, but common words for about English speakers. 
This dictionary was a little bit outdated because it was published in 1993, but still works well. It's easy to search terms with illustrations. 
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Monday, November 2, 2015

Soba at Okuizumo

I drove to Okuizumo City with my wife yesterday. We visited an old temple to watch an old ginkgo tree in the morning. After that, we had lunch at a soba restaurant. The city has lots of good soba restaurants and at that time, they held Soba Festival there. 
The first Sobaya we visited was so crowded. They said that we had to wait two hours, so we moved to another sobaya. When we arrived the next one, there was about ten people waiting for a table. That was not so bad. 
We had nice soba there. I think we should go other sobayas another day. 
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Sunday, November 1, 2015

An Old Ginkgo Tree

I went to Okuizumo City, Shimane, for watching an old ginkgo tree with my wife. The tree is in front of a temple and is over 400 years old. The tree looked strong and beautiful. The fallen leaves looked like a big yellow carpet and also decorated on the temple's roof. 
The old ginkgo tree is protected by the residents living near the temple for a long time. Thanks to their activity, we can watch the majestic screen every autumn. 
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