The comic of politics primer, "Kunimitsu-no-matsuri"

Most young people are indifferent to politics in Japan. Young people are getting more and more disillusioned with politics.

Why were they apolitical? The cartoonist, Yuma Ando, thought that there were many famous sports stars, so young people wanted to become like them. In contrast, there were few popular politicians in Japan, so young people did not develop an interest in politics.

From this point of view, the one political comic, "Kunimitsu-no-matsuri(クニミツの政)" started in order to make young people get interested in politics. This comic introduced the basic knowledge of politics. It was an easy enough book to read so that even a primary schoolchild could read it. Through this comic, one could gain an understanding of the political system, and the social system.

One of the heros of Kunimitsu Muto was modeled on Kakuei Tanaka. He was a famous and attractive politician in Japan in spite of his corruption. He did not have any education, but he was attractive and related well to his constituents.

After you read this comic, you may develop an interest in politics. This comic is not only practical but also amusing. I highly recommend it.

Guns

I am reading the story of Samuel Colt who was the founder of Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company (now known as Colt's Manufacturing Company). I saw the movie, “Bowling for Columbine” last year. I am interested in why people need to have guns in the U.S.

The Japanese government forbids people to have guns in Japan. There are few exceptions like hunters, but most Japanese cannot have own guns. Many people support this policy.

Japan and the U.S are very different in this respect.

PS
By the way, I want to fire a gun once in my life.

"Lupus in Tabula" ("Werewolves at the Table" "Jin-Rou in Japanese")

Over the weekend, I read "Lupus in Tabula" ("Werewolves at the Table" "人狼 Jin-Rou in Japanese") stories which are published on the Web.

Many people are tweeting about "Lupus in Tabula" in my twitter time line. I have become interested in the game.

"Lupus in Tabula" is the game whose participants try to cheat each other. The participants have to think logically. IT looks like one of methods which is used in solving mathematical questions.

"Lupus in Tabula" is like a mystery story. I like mystery stories because I have to use my brain.

***Related link
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10583.phtml

The review of The Sixth Sense

When I watched the movie, I thought that a lot of things were different from Japan. First of all, the ghosts were different. Typical Japanese ghosts have no legs, and wear white clothing.
Their breakfast was also different. We don't usually eat cereals.
Their buildings were very different as well. How large the houses are! They really live in big houses. I imagined that there are many old traditional buildings, because the U.S. does not have earthquakes like Japan.

Of course there are common points. Ghosts exist because they strongly regret something. This is a common point. How strong people's emotions are, and they eagerly want someone to listen to their "unfortunate" situations. On this point, There is a universality.

I will reveal my real intention when I finished watching the movie. I realized what the ending was going to be when the movie was only half finished. The movie needed to be more tricky! There was no surprise. So the number of stars I give it is 3 or 4 based on the Amazon rating system.

Music balloon

I bought a enjoyable and a useful tool. Better this way: "I bought a useful and enjoyable tool" The tool is “Music balloon”, .

If you use ordinary earphones, you cannot listen to other sounds. You may make your family angry because you can't hear what they say. But you can listen to both music and your family by using "Music Balloon".

In addition to usefulness, "Music Balloon" looks funny because it is chubby. This can give you a subject of conversation(like this journal)!

***Official web page (Exclusive Japanese)
http://www.idea-in.com/yuento/product/musicballoon/index.html





This red and round thing is “Music balloon”.

The Tale of Genji

Recently I am reading “The Tale of Genji”.

The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature from the early eleventh century. It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, or the first psychological novel.

This novel's theme is love. People have had fun with this novel since about 1000 years ago. This novel is interesting for us as well.

This movie can help you understand the atmosphere of “The tale of Genji”


PS
I think the hero of a novel is a playboy and a worthless person.

Rest for a while in the shade of a tree

It is hot today. When I was cycling, I was sweating. After cycling I rested for a while in the shade of a tree and wiped myself with a towel. Then I licked my arm, my arm tasted salty.

On a hot day, I feel it is pleasant to cycle when I enter under the shade of trees. A sunny place is too hot to feel pleasant. So I like the moment when I enter the shade.

I like to raise my heartbeat and to be sweaty. I really enjoy this. Most adults do not get exercise and forget this pleasure. I think it is wasteful not to exercise.

The most beautiful season

I think it is the most beautiful season in the year. The Mountains and roads are covered with fresh green leaves. The rice fields have filled with water. Frogs croak.

May's climate is not hot and not cold, and the rainy season only starts in June. That is why I think that May is the most suitable month for cycling in Japan. So May is the best month for me.

What kind of beverages do you usually drink?

I usually drink the following beverages, water, barley tea, Oolong tea, and soybean milk. I do not usually drink juice, soft drinks, or coffee.

Sake has a long history, like wine, and there are many books about sake. I am interested in sake, though I am intolerant of alcohol.

When I consider money and health, I should not drink alcohol. I should choose inexpensive and healthy beverages no matter how interested I am in sake...

Prompt and detailed reports through twitter

I recently have learned a lot of new things due to twitter. The following things are what I have known through twitter.

***Poken
A business card gadget to exchange online social networking data.

***Android cellular phone
Android is a software platform for mobile devices developed by Google. The first Android cellular phone will be put on sale by a Japanese vendor, NTT docomo.

***Phonics
Phonics is a method for teaching speakers of English to read and write that language.

Twitter has become a useful service to find the latest news about technical things.

Miku Hatsune - why she is so popular

(1)Miku Hatsune - She is a virtual singer with a computer-synthesized voice.
A virtual singer, Miku Hatsune, is highly popular amongst young people. There are more than 600 movies of her which have been viewed over 100,000 times on nico-nico-douga (a video sharing website). Her CDs have placed her in the ranks of popular music.

A major newspaper company introduced her last month because of her rise in popularity.

The movies are in Japanese with English subtitles.

I am going to write about why she is so popular in this journal.


(2)A video sharing website has made her very popular.
First of all, there is a video sharing website(nico-nico-douga) where musicians can publish their original songs. If you access nico-nico-douga you can listen to many songs for free.

Musicians can get feedback for their songs immediately on nico-nico-douga. If a song is great, then it could win the praise of many listeners. This praise makes musicians want to compose new songs, and it is easy and inexpensive to compose and publish their songs on nico-nico-douga with the Miku Hatsune software.

Through nico-nico-douga and Miku Hatsune, some musicians have turned professional.
One example is the artist group called “supercell”. This group composed one of the most popular songs, “Melt”. “Melt” has been viewed more than 4 million times. 56,000 copies of their music album were sold in the first week after publication. This means it ranks 4th among Japan's popular music rankings.

Miku's original "メルト" with English lyric REDONE



(3)Many people support Vocaloid (Vocaloid is Miku's software name).
There are many communities which support vocaloids on the Internet. Some communities like the vocaloids themselves. Other communities like the composers, songs, and videos related to vocaloids.

Vocaloids fans make various contributions. Some make videos for their favorite songs. Some sing their favorite songs and make comments of support on nico-nico-douga.

Vocalids fans like this culture and want to contribute to it using their own skills. Some people like me write about them in English to support vocaloids.

One good example is “bpm”. This superb video made the song more attractive. More people know about “bpm” due to this music video. This song is one of my favorites.



(4) There are more than 10,000 original songs by her.
There are more than 10,000 original songs by her on the Internet as of MAY 2009.
New songs have continued to appear everyday. More than 10 songs on weekdays and more than 20 songs on weekends. Every time you access nico-nico douga, you will certainly find some new songs. you would be hard pressed to listen to every song by her.

There are many songs and various songs on nico-nico-douga. You can listen to songs which are not usually broadcast on TV. When you access nico-nico douga, you can find your favorite song as well.

One example is ”Saihate” which is my favorite this year. This song's theme is “death, sorrow, and prayer”. “Saihate” has been viewed more than 1 million times.


Some communities have made music chart videos features Miku-Hatsune. Weekly popular charts which is the most popular video series have been published every Tuesday and are viewed average 50,000 times each.These kind of videos can help you find new songs.


(5)This cute robot makes the world amusing.
I have listened to her songs since the autumn of 2007. The first song which fascinated me is “Hazimete no oto”. I started to notice the potential of this software after listening to this song. Her voice sounds somewhat artificial, and worse than a human voice. I am convinced that this software may change the course of music history,though.

Japanese love robots more than other people from other countries. I think that very popular robots like Astro Boy, Doraemon, Gundam, and Evangelion attract Japanese strongly. In Japan A.I. research is at the cutting edge of robotics. Now she is the same as these popular robots. This cute robot makes the world amusing.

I hope you can find songs you love sung by her on the Internet!

“Hazimete no oto” has been viewed more than 1 million times. Here is the video with English subtitles.

My favorite comic is Huunji tachi 風雲児たち

My favorite comic is Huunji tachi 風雲児たち (men who rise to greatness in turbulent times).

This comic has been around for 30 years. The comic's theme is “the Meiji Restoration (AD1853~1868)”. “the Meiji Restoration” is the time when Japanese radically changed their country system.

The story begins in AD1600, 250 years ago when the revolution start. Through this comic, you can understand the reason why the revolution happened and what people were thinking about in Edo period.

I am familiar with many historical people in Edo period due to this comic. Their ideology has had an impact on my thought.

Many Japanese have been affected by comics. Comics have the power to possibly change human life.

***Related link
Huunji tachi(Exclusive Japanese)
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A2%A8%E9%9B%B2%E5%85%90%E3%81%9F%E3%81%A1

Two good videos of Hatsune Miku “mikunologie” ”jelly bean”

I am absorbed in listening to two songs of Miku Hatsune recently. You can have fun with both videos because they are funny, though both do not have English subtitles.

One video is “mikunologie”.
She is a high-performance robot, but is very heavy. She is disappointed that she cannot be held by a nice man.

The other video is “jelly bean”. Small Miku is mixed with jelly beans and is whirling about. She really likes jelly beans.


This movie's quality is not good. If possible, I recommend that you watch the original video on nico-nico douga.

A charismatic economist, Kazuyo Katsuma, advocates “Creating A Child-Friendly Society”

The government reported that Japan's birth rate is declining for the 35th consecutive year. The results say that the graying of society and the fall in birthrate are accelerating. The Japanese rate of societal graying was worse than Italy and Germany.

Some people are trying to solve this problem. One of the representatives is a charismatic economist, Kazuyo Katsuma. She advocates “creating a child-friendly society”.

The movie, “Creating A Child-Friendly Society”
http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/movie/feature73.html

*reference
Japan's child population sags to record low
http://www.zeenews.com/news529237.html

PS
I think one of the biggest problems which is related to this problem is working for long hours. I will write about this problem in the future.

The recent rise in obesity cases in Japan

Though there are few obese people in Japan compared to other countries, obesity is increasing among Japanese men.

In Japan women are interested in their shape, while most men are not. This is why 30% of men in their thirties or older are fat.
Obesity is connected to health. The more medical expenses increases, the more people are interested in the obesity problem.

PS
I can not believe the picture's information! obesity 31% in the U.S!? When I watched American movies, I could not notice this symptom.

Why do you study Japanese?

I have corrected many Japanese sentences on Lang-8. There are many people who study Japanese. I have become interested in the reason why non-Japanese people study Japanese.

Chinese and Japanese are widely spoken in Asia. So many countries teach Japanese as a foreign language.

South Korea is the most eager country to teach Japanese. There are about 900 thousand people who learn Japanese. Second is China, 390 thousand. Third is Australia, 380 thousand. The sum of people who learn Japanese outside of Japan is 2.4 million.

Japan's GDP is still second in the world economy. I think not only the economy but also Japan's “cool” culture makes people want to learn Japanese.　　

I would like to know the reason why do you study Japanese. Could you reply this question?

PS
I have received many responses on Lang-8

One mad project was started a week ago.

One mad project was started a week ago.

The project involves translating a Japanese book into English within a week. The members of the project are volunteers and have worked for free.

It usually takes six months to a year to translate a Japanese book into English. Most people have regarded this project as madness. But they managed to finished this project in 5 days as of yesterday.

I watched a example of “the wisdom of crowds”. I am amazed at their madness now...

The translated book is “Watching shogi (Japanese chess) from Silicon Valley", written by Mochio Umeda. The English version will be published soon.

A marvelous movie, The 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō.

I found a marvelous movie, The 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō.
A University student studying the fine arts created this movie.
I highly recommend this movie to you.



In the past, people travelled between Tokyo and Kyoto by walking on the Tōkaidō. There were 53 government post stations along the Tōkaidō. These post stations were called the 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō (東海道五十三次 ,Tōkaidō Gojūsan-tsugi)

Traveling on the Tōkaidō was popular amongst people in the Edo era. The pictures in the movie showcase this popularity.

The pictures featured in this movie are “Ukiyo-e”(a woodblock print). There are many people who like ukiyoe regardless of their citizenship. The most famous person who loves Ukiyo-e is Vincent van Gogh. You can find many elements of Ukiyo-e in his works.

Related Links.
Van Gogh - Portrait of Pere Tanguy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Gogh_-_Portrait_of_Pere_Tanguy_1887-8.JPG

Ukino-e
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukiyo-e

Mahoroba green road cycling.

It was a beautiful day, so I cycled on the Mahoroba green road.“Mahoroba” means an Arcadia.
There were more people than usual because of a long holiday week.


This is an artificial lake, Biruzawa lake. There were many anglers.


Carp streamers(Koi-nobori) were swimming in the sky.
Carp streamers are customs of the Boys’ Festival in Japan.




I visited a winery and ate soft ice cream which tastes like red wine.















Today's cycling was quite pleasant!
And I am going to a festival tomorrow.

***Cycling Record
I cycled 28 km.
I consumed about 1100kcal.

090502