Japan now – vol.11

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Japan now – vol.11
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There was a huge earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 in Kumamoto Prefecture at around 9:26 p.m. JST, April 14th. Continuously the second earthquake of 7.0 moment magnitude occurred at 01:25 a.m. JST, April 16th.

Many houses have collapsed and some people were trapped under debris and fire also has occurred. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe immediately set up an emergency headquarters and flew to visit a temporary shelter in the village of Minamiaso, one of the hardest-hit communities in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Currently a total of 48 people died as a result of the quakes in Kumamoto. More than ten others are in a critical condition due to health problems caused by high stress and fatigue.

Tens of thousands of people who evacuated their homes have still not been able to return, having taken refuge in gyms and other facilities converted into temporary shelters and spending in their cars.

Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe promised that the central government will do its utmost to help relieve the survivors’ anxiety and reconstruct the devastated areas by financial and other support measures in a meeting with Kumamoto Govenor, Ikuo Kabashima. Furthermore, Kumamoto Gov. asked for Tokyo’s support in repairing the badly damaged Kumamoto-jo Castle as well.

MIJC would like to offer our sincere condolences and sympathy for victims and their families, and the people having a severe time in Kumamoto city, sister city of San Antonio and all other Kyushu region hit by the earthquake.

We will donate as much as possible and sincerely hope your support for Kumamoto and Kyushu region through some agencies or organizations, such as Japanese Red Cross Society, in the same way as when the Great East Japan Earthquake in Tohoku region.

Thank you very much.

Japan now – vol.10

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Japan now – vol.10
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On March 11th, on the 4th year after 東日本大震, the Great East Japan Earthquake, many local people gave their pledge to the reconstruction praying for and thinking about their families, the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in disaster areas. Especially, in the coast areas which were heavily-damaged, disaster drills were done by the residents in an attempt to take into account the lessons learned from the unexpectedly huge disaster.

–> Thank you very much for all your prayers and supports for Japan, the 東北[Tohoku] region, and the bereaved families still having a hard time to make a living and recover from grief.

国連防災世界会議, World Conference on Disaster Reduction is held in Sendai now. Experts from various nations are having discussion about how to decrease the risk of natural disasters and Japanese experts said: Japan has been actively advancing a measure which combines different components of both software and hardware against the maximum earthquake and tsunami.

梅まつり,Ume Matsuri (Japanese plum festival) is held at 偕楽園[Kairakuen] in Mito, Ibaraki now. It is crowded with many people who come to see Japanese plum blossoms.

偕楽園[Kairakuen] is considered one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, which has estimated 3000 Japanese plum trees in total and hundred different types of plum trees. About 80% of the total came into bloom and it’s the best time to view the blossoms.

It was a little late to bloom because it has been cold until February this year, but after it became warm these past few days the plum trees became in bloom at once.

甑島[こしきじま,Koshikijima] in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima was designated a quasi-national park on Marth 16th. Koshikijima is well-known as rare wild plants, such as Kanoko yuri (Kanoko lily) and rare land features such as sheer cliff which was eroded by waves.

Japan now – vol.9 related words

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Japan now – vol.9 related words
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□ NHK(Nippon Hoso Kyokai; Japan Broadcasting Corporation) news about 首都圏[shutoken](capital region)

– 帰省ラッシュ[kisei rush] = traffic congestion in mid-August caused by people returning from mostly their hometown or from other places
– お盆[obon] = Bon vacation, the bon holiday; usually in mid-August
– ふるさと[hurusato] = hometown, home
– 行楽地[kourakuchi] = resort, resort area
– 高速道路[kousoku douro] = high way
– 混雑[konzatsu] = congestion
– 混雑しました[konzatsu shimashita] = was crowded, overcrowded, jammed (with people)
– 混み合い[komiai] + ました[mashita] = was crowded, packed (with people)
– 渋滞[jutai] = traffic jams, congestion
– 交通機関[koutsu kikan] = tranportation, traffic
– 新幹線[shinkansen] = bullet train
– 予想[yosou] = prediction
– 予想されています[yosou sareteimasu] = is predicted, anticipated
– 自動車[jidousha] = car
– 自動車道[jidousha do] = motorway, motoring road
– 道路[douro] = road

Please check the Japanese news via our Facebook page. Thank you.

Cherry blossoms in bloom still

In Tokyo, it is still a changeable weather and somewhat　cold.
So, you can still see some cherry blossoms in bloom.
My family took this picture of such a pretty pink blossom walking the local area.

Copyright(C) 2013-2014 MIJC – All Rights Reserved.

Sports column vol.2 – Sochi Olympic

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Sports column vol.2 – Sochi Olympic
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Today I introduce mainly one of the top figure skaters, Asada Mao who placed the sixth prize updating her highest score, 142.71 at the free skating in Sochi Olympics.

Female figure skaters with a focus on 浅田真央(Asada Mao)

Mao Asada was born in Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya city and has one elder sister who was also a figure skater. Mao idolized Midori Ito who was also from Nagoya city and won a silver medal in 1992 Albertville Olympics. Mao Asada won a silver medal at Vancouver Olympic Games in 2010. Since she made a debut at fourteen years old during 2004 – 2005, she has accomplished many highest results, gold medals in worldwide competitions such as Junior Grand Prix Final.

She studied classcial ballet from the age of three to nine and switched to figure skating in 1995 with her sister, Mai Asada who was two years older and finished 6th at the 2006 Four Continents Championships. People have called them “Bijin Shimai(美人姉妹)” – beautiful sisters. Their pet, a toy poodle, named “Aero” after a chocolate product manufactured by Nestlé became a cute star at commercials with Mao.
It would not be too much to say that Mao Asada completely attracted Japanese people to the beautiful figure skating.

In 2002, Miki Ando who was also from Nagoya(*1) became the first and only female skater to complete a quadruple jump successfully in the ISU Junior Grand Prix and has been a spotlight with Mao Asada. Shizuka Arakawa(※2) whom Miki Ando idolized won a gold medal at Torino in 2006 by her Ina Bauer(*3) while Mao Asada was not able to compete for her young age.(*4)

Mao Asada’s advanced skills and elegant performance to the classical music such as Chopin’s Nocturne or Rakhmaninov’s piano concerto have been always admirable. She has been good at the free skating with high and beautiful jumps. However, she wasn’t able to take full advantage of her strengths at the short program in the beginning of Sochi Olympics but later in the free skating, she regained the ability to attract people with her smile. Most people would think that she should be proud of herself by overcoming her mother’s death in 2011 and her spirit that she never gave up the shoe until the end.

*1 Nagoya has been a well-known mecca for producing many top figure-skaters.
*2 Tae Satoya, a freestyle skier has won a gold medal in the moguls event at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Shizuka Arakawa was the second Japanese woman who won the title following Tae Satoya.
*3 It is a “moves in the field” element in figure skating.
*4 ISU had decided the limitation of the age that the athletes should be at least 15 years old by July 1st, 2005, a year before the Olympic games.

Sports column vol.1 – Sochi Olympic

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Sports column vol.1 – Sochi Olympic
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Here are Japanese medalists now at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

羽生結弦(Hanyu Yuzuru) – Figure Skating (males) – Gold

– He is young, 19 years old from Tohoku region, Miyagi Prefecture, Sendai city and it was the first time for him to compete at the Winter Olympic Games. He got the first in the history of　over-100 points at the short program, and went to the top at the free skating as well, and won a gold medal by 280.09 points in total.
Takahashi Daisuke who won a bronze medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010 was the sixth-place this time.

葛西紀明(Kasai Noriaki) Large Hill – Silver

– He is 41 years old and the oldest of the Japanese Olympic team and the oldest at Ski Jump. He competed at his seventh Winter Olympic Games and first won an individual silver medal by 277.4 points in total.
Japanese ski jump large hill team (Okabe Takanobu, Harada Masahiko, Kasai Noriaki, and Nishikata Jinya) won a silver medal at the team competition in Lillehammer in 1994. In Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998, Funaki Kazuyoshi won an individual gold medal and Japanese large hill team (Funaki Kazuyoshi, Okabe Takanobu, Saito Hiroya and Harada Masahiko) won a gold medal at the team competition.

平野歩夢(Hirano Ayumu) Snowboard – Silver
平岡　卓(Hiraoka Taku) Snowboard – Bronz

– They are very young: Hirano Ayumu is 15 years old and Hiraoka Taku is 18 years old.

渡部暁斗(Watabe Akito) Nordic combined – Silver
– It is for the first time in 20 years since Kouno Takanori had an individual silver medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer in 1994. Japanese Nordic combined team (Ogiwara Kenji, Kouno Takanori, and Mikata Reiichi) clinched a gold medal at the team competition in Lillehammer.

☆This is Kasai’s amazing jump!

Japan now – vol.8

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Japan now – vol.8
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In Tokyo gubernatorial election on Febrary 9th, the voter turnout fell to a record-low 46.14% which was the third-lowest in history. It was caused presumably by heavy snow from 8th to the early hours of 9th as a factor. 舛添要一(Masuzoe Yoichi), independent, ex-Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare was selected as the new governor.

The low-pressure centered on the Pacific side passed the southern coasts of Kanto region and headed out at Sanriku offshore. In the central part of Tokyo, 27 centimeters of snow accumulated, which became the heaviest snowfall in 45 years since 1969. In March of 1969, we had 30 centimeters of snow in Tokyo. Mainly traffic accidents caused by road surface freezing killed 13 people and 1498 people were injured across the country as of 9th, 10pm of Japan time.

The Winter Olympic game was held in Sochi at 20:14 (Japan time: 1:14am on 8th) on the basis of 2014 this year. The Japanese team hit a record number of 248 members (113 athletes) in total in Japan. Prime Minster Abe Shinzo (安倍晋三) attended the opening ceremony and cheered for some Japanese athletes wearing the Japanese Olympic official uniform. In the afternoon Mr.Abe had an official meeting with President Putin at Sochi.

～号外ニュース-Extra News!!～no.2

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号外ニュース – extra-news no.2
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The Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014
02/07 – 02/23

Let’s cheer for our Japanese team from today!!

Once we clinch a gold medal, Tokyo Skytree, a giant landmark located in Sumida ward, Tokyo will be lighted up the next day. Sumida ward adopted a motif an elementary school student living in Sumida ward designed.

The opening ceremony started at 20:14 (Japan time: 1:14am on 8th) on the basis of 2014 this year. Our Japan team has 248 members (113 athletes) in total, which is record-high.



Here are the Olympic athletes:
(※I dared to list them in Japanese Kanji, Katakana and in the Roman alphabet.)

☆フィギュアスケート – Figure Skating
浅田真央(Asada Mao)
鈴木明子(Suzuki Akiko)
村上佳菜子(Murakami Kanako)
高橋大輔(Takahashi Daisuke)
羽生結弦(Hanyu Yuzuru)
町田樹(Machida Tatsuki)

☆スピードスケート – Speed Skating
加藤条治(Kato Joji)
長島圭一郎(Nagashima Keiichiro)

☆ショートトラック – Short-Track speed skating
高御堂雄三(Takamido Yuzo)
坂下里士(Sakashita Satoshi)
坂爪亮介(Sakazume Ryosuke)
酒井裕唯(Sakai Yui)
伊藤亜由子(Ito Ayuko)
桜井美馬(Sakurai Biba)
清水小百合(Shimizu Sayuri)
菊池萌水(Kikuchi Moemi)

☆アイスホッケー – Ice Hockey, All females,21人(nijyu ichi nin) – their nickname : “Smile Japan” (^_^)
中奥梓(Nakaoku Azusa)
小西あかね(Konishi Akane)
藤本那菜(Fujimoto Nana)
小池詩織(Koike Shiori)
近藤陽子(Kondo Yoko)
床　亜矢可(Toko Ayaka)
青木香奈枝(Aoki Kanae)
鈴木世奈(Suzuki Sena)
堀　珠花(Hori Mika)
竹内愛奈(Takeuchi Aina)
山根朋恵(Yamane Tomoe)
米山知奈(Yoneyama Haruna)
足立友里恵(Adachi Yurie)
大沢ちほ(Ousawa Chiho)
::
※I am afraid that the rest is omitted.

☆カーリング – Curling – all 5 athletes are from 北海道銀行(Hokkaido Bank)
小笠原歩(Ogasawara Ayumi)
船山弓枝(Funayama Yumie)
小野寺佳歩(Onodera Kaho)
苫米地美智子(Tomobechi Michiko)
吉田知那美(Yoshida Chinami)

☆スキージャンプ – Ski Jump
葛西紀明(Kasai Noriaki)
高梨沙羅(Takanashi Sara)

☆ノルディック複合 – Nordic combined
渡部暁斗(Watabe Akito)

☆アルペンスキー – Alpine Skiing
湯浅直樹(Yuasa Naoki)
佐々木明(Sasaki Akira)

☆フリースタイルスキー – Freestyle Skiing
上村愛子(Uemura Aiko)

☆スノーボード – Snowboard – 5 males and 3 females
平野歩夢(Hirano Ayumu – 15 years old!)
平岡　卓(Hiraoka Taku – 18 years old)
岡田良菜(Okada Rana)

☆バイアスロン – Biathlon
井佐英徳(Isa Hidenori)
鈴木芙由子(Suzuki Fuyuko)
小林美貴(Kobayashi Miki)
中島由貴(Nakajima Yuki)
鈴木李奈(Suzuki Rina)

☆クロスカントリー – Cross-country Skiing
恩田祐一(Onda Yuichi)
石田正子(Ishida Masako)
吉田圭伸(Yoshida Keishin)
成瀬野生(Naruse Nobu)
宮沢大志(Miyazawa Hiroyuki)
レンティング陽(Reiting Akira)

☆ボブスレー – Bobsledding
鈴木　寛(Suzuki Hiroshi)
佐藤真太郎(Sato Shintaro)
宮崎　久(Miyazaki Hisashi)
黒岩俊喜(Kuroiwa Toshiki)

☆スケルトン – Skeleton
高橋弘篤(Takahashi Hiroatsu)
笹原友希(Sasahara Yuki)
小室　希(Komuro Nozomi)

☆リュージュ – Luge
金山英勢(Kanayama Hidenari)

Japan now – vol.7

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Japan now – vol.7
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Ex-Governor of Tokyo, Inose Naoki resigned for an obscure money problem last December,
so again the gubernatorial election is going to be held on Feburary 9th this year.
Last week a former premier, Hosokawa Morihiro suddenly ran for the election setting a goal of
breaking with nuclear power generation.

This year is the 2nd year with Abenomics, the economic policy of the Abe Shinzo administration.
The markets report that the economic conditions are beginning to pick up by lower yen, high stock prices and remedied psychology among individuals and businesses.

For example, on New Year’s Day, BIC Camera at Yurakucho, Tokyo sold 4K television at a price of
1.68 million yen, which became hot topic. BIC Camera has already increased sales by 10% over the previous year.

As a whole, major appliances such as air conditioners or refrigerators are selling well just before the consumption tax is increased in April.

Japan now – vol.6

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Japan now  – vol.6
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The largest volcano on Earth, which is monstrous like the size of New Mexico, has been found at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, about 1,600km east of Japan according to an announcement by a research team. (by Sep. 6th) The team named it Tamu Massif and says that there is no danger of an eruption.

The first Epsilon Launch Vehicle (Epsilon-1) with the Spectroscopic Planet Observatory for Recognition of Interaction of Atmosphere (SPRINT-A) onboard was launched successfully by JAXA at 内之浦宇宙空間観測所 (Uchinoura Space Center) in Kagoshima Prefecture at 14:00 on Sep. 14th (JST). JAXA launched a new rocket which is powered by solid fuel for the first time in twelve years since the launch of H-IIA.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a decision to raise sales tax by 3% next April on Sep. 18th.