"hisashiburi"(for the first time in a long time)

IMG_2596.JPG, originally uploaded by bikenglish.

Today, I rode my bike for the first time in a long time. I had decided to abstain doing it for a while in order to treat acute hepatitis. I could not do it for about 45 days. It was a little bit cold, but fine, so I enjoyed it for about an hour.

a wedding ceremony

IMG_2561.JPG, originally uploaded by bikenglish.

Last Monday, I took part in my nephew-in-law's wedding ceremony. The bridegroom is 20 years old and the bride is 21 years old. So, they are a very young couple. They have a special reason to hurry their marriage, but I cannot write it here.

After the ceremony, the party called "Hirouen"（披露宴） in Japanese was held. It was filled with very happy atmosphere. But, unfortunately, there was an unpleasant thing to me in this party. The participants were permitted to smoke, there were a lot of smokers in the party. I don't have a habit to smoke and dislike it. Recently, in Japan, smoking is banned in almost public area. I inhaled bad air in a long time.

Obama's "ojigi"

Several media said American conservatives got angry after seeing this photo. They said that it seemed that Obama expressed apology to Japanese Emperor. But I don't think that most people in Japan thought so. They only thought he is a very polite man.

I also have learned that he said in an interview that "I would like to go to Hiroshima or Nagasaki in his this presidential term". I am very interested in whether he would express apology about using atomic bomb by the USA during World War 2 when he visit to Hiroshima or Nagasaki or not. Or, he does the visit without expressing any apology to create "the world without nuclear weapons"?

global warming creats a new kind of rice

Recently, I have learned a new kind of rice that was developed by a laboratory in Fukuoka prefecture. The rice's name is "geknki-tsukushi", and its feature is to resist hot summer and to produce good amount of rice with good taste.

These days, I often feel the influence of climate change. But, I am impressed with the effort of engineers in laboratory to develop the new rice that adjusts to climate change.

I have already eaten the rice, it is very good, I think.

I try to translate this Japanese sentence on the labeling information into English.

「『元気つくし』は、温暖化に強く、おいしいお米です。近年、温暖化の影響で８～９月の気温が高い状態が続いています。この影響で、米粒充実不足により、食味や品質が低下する傾向が見られます。そこで、福岡県農業総合試験場では、平成10年より新品種の開発に取り組み、その努力の結果、暑さに強くおいしい新品種が誕生しました。」

""geniki-tuskushis" is rice that is strong against global warming and tastes very good. In recent years, it has continued that the temperature in every August and September is higher than usual years under global warming. We have recognized a tendency that the shortage of rice piece makes rice's quality and taste. So, the agricultural laboratory in Fukuoka prefecture 【in my direct translation】（福岡県農業総合試験場） had started to develop a new kind of rice since 1998（平成20年）, as the result of its efforts, the new rice that is strong against hot weather and good taste was born."

very expensive "Eda-mame"

On October 10, I took part in "Eda-mame-gari"（枝豆狩り） at "Syousuke-mura"（正助村） in Munakata-city with my daughter. The "Eda-mame-gari" is not so popular like "Mikan-gari"（みかん狩り）, so this was my first experience. But, an accident happened before we got to "Syousuke-mura".

"Syousuke-mura" locates in countryside, so there aren't so many signals on its near roads, we can drive smoothly. On a straight part of a road, I drove my car over legal limits.

Suddenly, a police car appeared on my way. A police man stopped me. He said "you were speeding, 20km/h over, the fine is 15,000yen!!"

Of course, I regretted that I was speeding. But, I thought that I have to pay more attention to the speed during driving because recently I had a tendency to drive without considering legal limits.

People call this kind of patrol by police "nezumi-tori"（ネズミ捕り）, a mouse trap, in their slung.

"Eda-mame-gari" was very enjoyable. Its fee was 500yen, a staff gave us a 80cm-long rope and said "you can get as many stems with "eda-mame" as you can tie them with the rope. Finally, we got a lot of "eda-mame" that was worth more than 2,000yen in store' price.

The day's evening, my friend who loves fishing gave me a fish named "matou-dai"（マトウダイ） that he fished on the day. I processed it into "sashimi"（刺身） and ate it with "eda-mame" at dinner.

*But, two days later, I developed acute hepatitis and convalesced at home for four weeks.