"Yamagasa2"

Last Friday, I took a paid holiday to help a summer festival as a volunteer. It was held in an area of a district that I am working for.

This is called "子ども山笠" that is mainly held for children.

In Japan, there is a tendency seen in almost area that is called "少子高齢化"(shousi-koureika). It means that children decrease and elder people increase.

In this area, adult people who support the festival have decreased, so I helped them as a volunteer.

The origin of "山笠" is said that religious leader on "山笠" went around a city to keep away evil spirit when contagious disease were spread in ancient days. Of course, modern people are not conscious of its origin.

"Yamagasa"

Yesterday, I went to my home town to see a summer festival with my daughter. The city is far about 15minutes by car from where we live.

"博多山笠"(Hakata-yamagasa) held in the city of Fukuoka is very famous, but there are many similar events in the nothern part of Kyushu. This one of my home town is called "黒崎祇園山笠"(kurosaki-gion-yamagasa). You can feel the atmosphere of Japanese summer festival by seeing this short video.

The second car came

On July 5th, the second car of my family came. Its name is "i"(a-i) made by the Mitsubishi Motors Company. It is classified as "軽自動車"(kei-jidousya), most people call it "軽"(kei) in short. (This Kanji character means light.)Its engine displacement volume is less than 660cc. It is smaller and more fuel-efficient car.

Cars with more than 660cc engine displacement are called "普通車"(futsuu-sha). "軽" owners pay less property-tax than "普通車". "軽" is popular for daily use such as going a market, going to a working place. Now, people have tendency to choose more fuel-efficient cars including "軽".


"i" looks a big egg. My wife loves this design, so decided to buy it. I like it too. It has a unique engine-layout called "Mid-ship". The engine is at backer part than normal "軽".


The Mitubishi Mortors Company announced that it will release an electricity car named "i-MiEV" that has same design of "I" next year. You might see it in some news programs, because it was offered at the Summit in Touya-ko, Hokkaido.


Our first car is the "Legacy" made by "富士重工"(Fuji-Jyukou). It is a four-wheel-drive car, so it is not fuel efficient.(In Japanese expression, "燃費が悪い") And, it has a very unique engine that other car makers cannot develop.

It is luxurious for one family to have two cars, I think. But, now my wife goes "Jazzercize" class more often and we act separately than past. So, we decided to buy "i". My wife mainly uses "i" for going for her office, and I use "Legacy" on Saturday and Sunday.

"Muto-happu"

Some days ago, I threw away "Muto-happu" because I heard it was a chemical substance that was used for making a poisonous gas. You can make a hydrogen sulfide gas by mixing it with a detergent named "Sanpoll".

"Muto-happu" is a traditional chemical substance in Japan. If you pour it into a bath, water turns into white and looks like some "onsen". And it is used for some skin trouble.

People in Japan say a word with different pronunciations in several cases. "六" is pronounced "mu" or "roku". And "一〇" is pronounced "tou" or "jyuu".

How to make "Umesh"

Arther Binard

Last Sunday, I took part in a lecture event hold by left-wing group. The main lecturer was Arther Binard. I am not Communist, but I only wanted to listen to his thought. Because I read his short essay on newspaper a few times and was interested in his idea.

He in an American poet, but write a poem in Japanese. He talked about many interesting things in good Japanese. They included a Japanese famous poet "Yanagihara Byakuren"（柳原白蓮）,differences between Japanese and English, the problem on Japanese Army's defense system. And they also included many problems on his native country like its heath care system, "war" on terrorism, and its invasion into other countries.

I could really enjoy his speech. But I could not know whether his offensive attitude to his country came from his real thought or his "lip-service"（リップサービス（和製英語？）） to the event holder.

I wondered if he could come back to his native country safely because he strongly criticized the USA government's policy.

After his speech, I bought his book named "出世ミミズ"(syussee mimizu) out of the hole and received his sign on it, and shook hands with him.

"Urutoraman"

Yesterday, I borrowed a book about "Urutoraman" from a near library. This is the first cover of it.

"Urutoraman" is a TV drama's character. It was broadcasted in the 1960s and several series that similar characters appeared in these programs followed.

Most of people in Japan know it as most American know "Superman".

"Urutoraman" came to the earth in an accident, then he stayed in the earth to fight against monsters that invade the earth.

You can learn more, here (in Spanish).

"Kouhaku-bou 2"

Children can become "Urutora-man" by using their "Kouhaku-bou". Many people in Japan have this experience in their childhood, I think.