三月三十日（sangatsu sanjyu nichi ）： March 30

It was very cold but fine today. Mt. Fuji looked very beautiful with new snow. Mt. Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan. It is 3,776 meters tall.

Do you know the tallest building in Japan? It has been the Tokyo Tower(東京タワー) until yesterday, which is 333 meters tall. It was built in 1958 and for 52 years it's been the tallest building in Japan.
However around 10 AM yesterday the Tokyo Sky Tree(東京スカイツリー), which is under construction, reached 338 meters tall. Until yesterday it was 328 meters tall. The construction of the tower began in the summer of 2008 as a radio wave tower for the digital broadcasting, and will be completed in the end of 2011. It is expected to be 634 meters tall, that is the highest independent radio wave tower in the world.

The Tokyo Sky Tree　has already been a new sightseeing spot in Tokyo.

三月二十九日（sangatsu nijyuku nichi）： March 29

It was very cold today like 2 degrees centigrade at night in Tokyo. Tomorrow it will be colder like winter.

I have suffered from backache since yesterday. Backache is yotsu (腰痛) in Japanese. If you want to say I have a backache in Japanese, it is: Koshi ga itai(腰が痛い).

Here are some useful expressions.
I have a headache: Atama ga itai (頭が痛い).
I have a neck pain: Kubi ga itai (首が痛い).
I have a toothache: Ha ga itai (歯が痛い).
I have a sore throat: Nodo ga itai (喉が痛い).
I have a stomachache: Onaka ga itai (お腹が痛い).
I have a leg pain: Ashi ga itai (足が痛い).

三月二十八日(sangatsu nijyuhachi nichi) ： March 28

Good news!
The queen of the 100th Anniversary World Figure Skating Championships is a Japanese skater Asada Mao(浅田真央), 19 years old. It's been 2 years since she became the gold medalist last time and this was the second time for her to be a champion at the World Figure Skating Championships that is the first in Japanese women's history.
In this special occasion, both Japanese man Takahashi Daisuke(高橋大輔) and Japanese woman Asada Mao(浅田真央) became champions which is really nice. Congratulations!!

Today was senshuraku (千秋楽), the last day of March Grand Sumo Tournament. There is only one yokozuna Hakuho(横綱白鵬), grand champion after yokozuna Asashoryu(横綱朝青龍) left in February. He won the championship with a complete victory. This was his 13th victory. Congratulations!!

三月二十七日（sangatsu nijyushichi nichi）： March 27

They say today is sakura no hi (さくらの日), Day of Cherry Blossom. Why? Because to bloom in Japanese is saku(咲く). Saku has the same pronunciation as 3 (sa) and 9 (ku). 3 x 9 equals to 27. Today is 27th. Therefore today is day of cherry blossom. It was established by the Japan Cherry Blossom Association in 1992.

What did you do in 1992? For me it was a special year. I was a graduate school student but took a year leave to go to Seville, Spain to work at the Expo'92. I left Japan on March 20, 1992 and came back home one year later. I have worked for 7 months at the Japan Pavilion and saved money. Expo is a miniature of the world. I have met many people from different countries and cultures, and made friends with them. After finishing working there, I have traveled around Europe for 5 months by myself. This whole experience of the year became my treasure in my life.

三月二十六日（sangatsu nijyuroku nichi）： March 26

The bronze medalist at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic became a champion at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Torino. His name is Takahashi Daisuke (高橋大輔),24 years old. He became the first Japanese gold medalist in this championships. His score of Short Program was 89.30, Free was 168.40, and the total was 257.70 which exceeds the results of the gold and silver medalists of Vancouver Olympics. Neither of them participated in this championships.
Anyway, congratulations!

三月二十五日(sangatsu nijyugo nichi) ： March 25

It was very cold with rain today. There were many graduation ceremonies here and there today. Many women college students wear the traditional Japanese costume called hakama (袴), others usually wear suits. And usually there will be a thanksgiving party to teachers called shaon kai (謝恩会). I don't remember well if I had shaon kai when I graduated from the primary and secondary schools. But I had the one at the famous hotel in Tokyo when I graduated from the university. Usually parents attend the graduation ceremony but not to the party.
I have never attended the graduation ceremonies in other countries, but from the movies or experiences of my foreign friends it seems not only parents but also all the family get together and attend the ceremony. Is that true? Please tell me about the graduation ceremonies in your country.

三月二十四日(sangatsu nijyuyokka) ： March 24

Today was higan ake (彼岸明け), the end of the equinoctial week. There is a Japanese phrase "Atsusa samusa mo higan made（暑さ寒さも彼岸まで）" which means the hotness and coldness will last until the equinoctial week and the good climate will start. There are two eqinoctial weeks in spring and in autumn.
So samusa (寒さ), coldness will last until the Vernal Equinox Day, and atsusa (暑さ), hotness will last until the Autumn Equinox Day.
However it's very cold today,even sleeted. I miss Florida!

三月二十三日（sangatsu nijyusan nichi）： March 23

They say today is World Meteorological Day (世界気象デー:　sekai kisho dei). It is a day to commemorate the entry into force, on March 23 in 1950, of the World Meteorological Organization Convention creating the Organization. In 1951 WMO was designated a specialized agency of the United Nations System. Japan joined in 1953. It seems there are 189 members now.　

This year is the 60th Anniversary. Therefore the theme of this year is "60 years of service for your safety and well-being."

60 years is called kanreki (還暦) in Japanese and we have a special celebration. Congratulations!

三月二十二日（sangatsu nijyuni nichi）： March 22

Today is furikae kyujitsu (振替休日), transferred holiday because a national holiday fell on Sunday. It was very fine but the wind was cool.

The declaration of blooming the cherry blossoms was announced. Spring will be here soon.

There are graduation ceremonies in March. Usually high school graduation ceremony is held around beginning of March , primary school and junior high school around middle of March, and college and university around the end of March.
This week will be the peak for college and university graduation ceremony. Women usually wear hakama (袴), traditional kimono style. In the evening there is a thanksgiving party called shaon kai (謝恩会).
The full-blooming of cherry blossoms is picturesque on this special occasion.

三月二十一日（sangatsu nijyuichi nichi）： March 21

Today is shunbun no hi (春分の日), the Vernal Equinox Day. It is one of nijyushisekki (二十四節気), the 24 solar terms. The last one was keichitsu (啓蟄) on March 6 and the next one is seimei (清明) on April 5.
It is one of national holidays which falls on Sunday, therefore tomorrow is an extra holiday. It is called furikae kyujitsu (振替休日), literally transferred holiday.
Today is higan no chunichi (彼岸の中日), middle day of the equinoctial week, that is the equinox.

It was very windy, and the yellow sand which is called kosa (黄砂)was blown widely. The maximum instantaneous wind speed was 38.1 meters per second in Chiba (千葉). 26 points of the average instantaneous wind for 10 minutes became the maximum record in history. In Asahikawa, Hokkaido (北海道旭川) it became 24.6m/s at 1:42 pm which renewed the record after 92 years in September 1918. This storm left many people injured.

The 82nd Selected High School Baseball Meeting (a.k.a. senbatsu：選抜)has begun. It will last for 12 days and selected 32 high school baseball teams will fight each other. There are 6 schools which joined for the first time. There were 2 teams from Okinawa (沖縄) prefecture.

三月二十日（sangatsu hatsuka）： March 20

Today is the beginning of the three day weekend.
I went to the meetings in the morning and in the afternoon, and got to know some people, which is nice.

In the evening three of my friends from high school and I got together after a long time, maybe 6 years? We went to izakaya (居酒屋), it is a kind of bar where we can eat and drink. Nowadays the coupon is very popular. Before going to the restaurants or bar, we check the free coupon books or Internet and get the coupon. Today there were three choice, one is yen 2,000 off from the total, the other is 20% off from the total, and another was 50% off from the drink menu. This was the first time for me to choose one of them. When we checked out, we asked the best way and they offered the 50% off from the beverage.
There are two ways to order, one is to ask the waiters directly, and the other is to use the touch panel of PC. Before going to the USA in 2006, I have never seen the latter one. So when I went to the izakaya for the first time after coming back, I was so surprised about the innovation. But my friends from the local area said she had never seen this before, therefore this system is only popular in the urban area for now.
Anyway we saved more than yen 3,000.

三月十九日（sangatsu jyuku nichi）： March 19

There were many sports news today. Among them I was attracted by two news. One of them was about the first gold medalist of the Nordic ski 10km classical at the Vancouver Paralympic Games 2010. His name is Nitta Yoshihiro(新田佳浩), 29 years old. He has participated in the Paralympic for four times straight since Nagano 1998 and he became a bronze medalist at the Salt Lake City 2002. He is a leader of Japanese team. There are sliver and bronze medalists in Alpine ski. They are Morii Taiki(森井大輝), 29 years old and Kano Akira(狩野亮), 24 years old. In total Japan got 6 medals for now. Congratulations!

The other news was the debut of the younger sister of professional golfer Ishikawa Ryo(石川遼), 18 years old who is playing in the PGA tour in the USA now. Her name is Ishikawa Yoko (石川葉子). She is only 13 years old. There were 3,341 people in a gallery today in spite of it being workday Friday.

三月十八日(sangatsu jyuhachi nichi) ： March 18

Today is higan no iri(彼岸の入り), the beginning day of the equinoctial week. The 3 days before and after the equinox day is called higan (彼岸). There are two higan in a year, spring and autumn. Spring one is called haru　no ohigan (春のお彼岸), and autumn one is called aki no ohigan(秋のお彼岸).
Higan means the other side of the river, that is another world where spiritual enlightenment is attained. This world is called shigan (此岸) where we have difficulties of life and death.
We usually visit the graveyard of ancestors and offer sweets called botamochi (牡丹餅).

三月十七日（sangatsu jyuushichi nichi）： March 17

It was very hot yesterday like summer, but became very cold again today.

March 17 is St. Patrick's Day, but it is not known in Japan so much. When I was in the USA, some people wore something green which reminded me of "Oh, today was St. Patrick's Day!"

In 1993 on this day I was in Dublin to see the St. Patrick's Day. I went to the St. Patrick Church and saw the parade. But it was so crowded that I felt I was watching people rather than parade itself. I did not have changes and a kind Japanese man helped me to go to the bank. I withdrew money using the card and felt how convenient to have a credit card.

三月十六日（sangatsu jyuroku nichi）： March 16

They say March 16 is the anniversary of the designation of the first national parks. On March 16, 1934 the first three places were designated as the national parks in Japan. They were Setonaikai (瀬戸内海), Unzen (雲仙):now Unzen Amakusa(雲仙天草), and Kirishima (霧島): now Kirishima　yaku(霧島屋久). They are the representatives of natural beauty spots in Japan.
There are 29 national parks now. The total area is 2,080,000 ha which is about 5.5% of all Japan land area. I think I have visited about half of them so I hope to visit the rest of them.

In the north American continent, the things I really like is national parks. Canadian Rockies, Banff, Jasper, Denali, Mount Rainier, Olympic, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Kings Canyon, Arches, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Great Smokey Mountains, and Everglades....
They say there are 51 national parks in the USA. One of my friend from high school who had lived in the USA for several years have traveled to all of them. I hope I can visit all of them too.

三月十五日（sangatsu jyugo nichi）： March 15

They say today is bankokuhaku dei(万国博デー), Day of Expo. In 1970 when there was the Japan World Exposition (Expo '70) in Osaka, it was released to the general public on March 15. It was the first Expo in Asia and became the biggest one in history.
The term was from March 14 to September 13 for 183 days. The theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." The symbol of the Expo '70 was the Tower of the Sun (太陽の塔：taiyo no to) made by a famous artist Taro Okamoto (岡本太郎) and it is still standing at the memorial park.
77 countries attended and 64,218,770 people visited the Expo '70 in total.
A popular highlight was the moon rock brought by Apollo 12 astronauts in 1969.

I have worked at Expo '92 in Seville, Spain and Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. Expo is a miniature of the world. I could meet many people from different culture and countries. I really enjoyed working there. The experience there is my treasure.
This year there will be Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China. The theme is Better City, Better Life. I hope to visit there too.

三月十四日（sangatsu jyuyokka）： March 14

March 14 is called White Day in Japan. This is the day when boys and men give something sweet to girls and women who gave them chocolates on St. Valentine's Day, a month ago.

It was fine today, and I went to the concert of my friend from high school. It is a classic music concert. First part lasted for one hour. There was a 15-minute break and they offered tea and sweets. That's very nice. The second part lasted for one hour and 15 minutes. I felt having a graceful time.
After the concert I went to Kamakura (鎌倉) to visit the Tsurugaokahachimangu (鶴岡八幡宮), the most famous shrine in Miura Peninsula (三浦半島：miura hanto) where the big ginkgo tree fell down recently. The tree was cut and the bottom part about 4 meters tall was planted there again. It was a sad scenery because I have known the big beautiful ginkgo tree since I was a little girl.
Since it is a very good day called taian(大安), it seems there are many weddings in Kamakura. Congratulations!

三月十三日（sangatsu jyusan nichi）： March 13

About 5 years ago our house installed the solar system called EcoCute. It is an energy efficient electric heat pump, water heating and supply system.
It seems there were some corner-cutting constructions which we were informed today. I called many companies to fix the problem. First I called the customer service of the manufacturer but they said they are only responsible to the product itself and the construction is not their business.
I tried to find the company which installed the system but could not find because the telephone number is not valid anymore. I tried to find through Internet and telephone number research service but in vain.
If we could find the company, we could have asked them to repair for nothing. But the company does not exist any more, we have to pay for ourselves. How bad!
Now I believe those corner-cutting constructions must have made the company gone out of business.
As a man sows, so shall he reap. In Japanese idiom it is ingaouho (因果応報).

三月十二日（sangatsu jyuni nichi）： March 12

There were two big news which drew my attention. One is the last run of the long distance night trains between Ueno (上野) and Kanazawa (金沢). More than a half century the blue trains called Hokuriku (北陸) and Noto (能登) have run between those cities, but today became the last run for both the limited express train and the express train. All of the advance tickets were sold in 10 seconds.
At Kanazawa station about 1,500 train fans who are called toritetsu (撮り鉄), literally means taking pictures of trains, got together. At 10:15 pm Noto left and at 10:18 pm Hokuriku left for Ueno.
At Ueno station about 3,000 toritetsu got together to see, to take pictures and to say good-bye to the two trains. Hokuriku left at 11:04 pm and Noto left at 11:33 pm for Kanazawa.
They will arrive at Ueno and Kanazawa in the morinig.

Another news was Yuzuru Hanyu(羽生結弦), 15 years old became a champion at the World Junior Figure Skating Championship. Congratulations!

三月十一日（sangatsu jyuichi nichi）： March 11

It was rather warm and fine today. I could see the beautiful sunset this evening from the office in Tokyo. When I got home and watched the TV news, I knew it was the day of the Diamond Fuji.
This happens only twice a year. This is the phenomenon that the sun rises or sets on the top of the Mt. Fuji. The sun looks very beautiful like a diamond therefore it is called as the diamond Fuji. It only happens at the sunrise of the range of within 35 degrees north-south of west side of the Mt. Fuji or at the sunset of the range of within 35 degrees north-south of east side of the Mt. Fuji with the good climate condition.

Please check the following site if you would like to go to see the diamond Fuji, there is an estimated schedule from certain points of the diamond Fuji in the Kanto area though it is written only in Japanese.

http://www.ktr.mlit.go.jp/kyoku/region/fuji100/highlight/diamond.htm

三月十日(sangatsu toka) ： March 10

It was another cold day. It snowed heavily in many places but not here. One of the most impressive news around this area was the big ginkgo tree of the Tsurugaoka hachimangu(鶴岡八幡宮) in Kamakura (鎌倉) fell down because of the strong northwest wind which contained snow blown since last evening. The height was about 30 meters tall, the circumference is 6.8 meters long, and the age of the tree was more than one thousand years old.

Another big news of today was the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters). It is an Order of France established on May 2, 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its purpose is the recognition of significant contributions to the arts, literature, or the propagation of these fields.
Mr. Takeshi Kitano(北野武),a.k.a. Beat Takeshi(ビートたけし) received this honorable award today as a movie director. He is a comedian, actor, MC, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, filmmaker, author, poet, painter, and so on. That is he is a multi-talented person and was recognized his talent by French people. Congratulations!

三月九日（sangatsu kokonoka）： March 9

It was cold. It rained here and snowed in Tokyo.

Yesterday there was the 82nd Academy Award Ceremony, the biggest film festival in the USA. The first woman director, Kathryn Bigelow got the Oscars for Directing, Best Picture, and others for The Hurt Locker. Since it was the International Women's Day yesterday, it was such a significant moment.
Avatar got three Oscars in spite of having renewed the new records and became the best hit movie in the world.
Last year Japanese movies okuribito (おくりびと), Departures got the Best Foreign Language Film and Tsumiki no ie (つみきのいえ), Maison en Petits Cubes got the Short Film (animated), but there was no Japanese film nominated this year.
One film related to Japan was The Cove, Documentary Feature. They say they were filmed without getting the permission in Japan. Therefore it may be difficult to be released in Japan.
I hope to watch all the winner pictures near future.

三月八日（sangatsu yoka）： March 8

March 8 is International Women's Day. It is the 100th anniversary this year. I attended the International Women's Day 2010 UN Public Symposium, Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all, Beijing plus 15: Gender equality development and peace.
It's been 15 years since the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijin, and 10 years since the Millennium Development Goals have been set. Therefore there was the special event in Tokyo. It started at 3:30 pm and lasted for more than 5 hours.
Opening video message was made by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The Talk Sessions inviting UN goodwill ambassadors "Roles and situations of women and girls in developing countries" followed. Three goodwill ambassadors, Ms. Misako Konno (紺野美沙子) UNDP Goodwill Ambassador, Ms. Yuko Arimori (有森裕子), UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, and Ms. Agnes Chan (アグネス・チャン), Ambassador of the Japan Committee for UNICEF talked their experiences in developing countries, which seemed terrible. There were a Keynote Speech by Ms. Kimie Iwata (岩田　喜美枝), executive vice president of Shiseido (資生堂) Co. Ltd. and Men's Panel Discussion. The closing remarks was made by Ms. Mizuho Fukushima (福島みずほ), the Minister of State for Gender Equality.
After the break, there was a Joint Session "Commemorating the International Women's Day" and from 7:00 pm there was a "Femmes @ Tokyo" event "Dialogues de Femmes" by three writers, two Japanese Ms. Yuko Tsushima (津島佑子) and Ms. Yuka Murayama (村山由佳) and one French Ms. Laure Adler. There were many different programs, but I was interested in the Talk Sessions and the Dialogues de Femmes most to hear the voices of many women active in the world.

三月七日（sangatsu nanoka）： March 7

It rained and became cold again.
There were some marathon races here and there including my city. This was the 28th Miura International Marathon. It is a sister marathon race of the Honolulu Marathon.
9,819 runners participated in the half marathon, 10km marathon, 5 km marathon, and kid's run (800m). About 69,000 people visited and enjoyed the event. The population of Miura (三浦) is 48,496 as of Feb. 1.　
The participant's prize is daikon (大根), Japanese radish which is specialty here.
It was about 7 degrees centigrade. A bowl of hot miso soup of wakame (わかめ) seaweed was provided for nothing and about 1,200 people enjoyed eating.
When I was a teacher of this city and was in charged of the handicapped students' class, my students and I had participated in this marathon race for 5 km. To attend this race, we practiced running every day. The first month we ran for 1 km, the second month for 2 km, the third month for 3 km, the fourth month for 4 km, and the fifth month for 5 km. My colleague and I wanted the students to feel the sense of accomplishment. I believe we were successful for that.

三月六日（sangatsu muika）： March 6

Today is keichitsu (啓蟄), one of nijyushisekki(二十四節気), the 24 solar terms. The last one was usui (雨水) on February 19 and the next one is shunbun (春分) on March 21.
Keichitsu is the time when the hibernated insects will come out from the dirt.
Unfortunately it rained and was rather cold　today.

I attended my friend's wedding at a church. This was the first time for me to attend the wedding ceremony only in Japan, because in Japan we usually have a wedding reception after the ceremony. In Spain I did it once like this.
After the ceremony we took the memorial photo all together. This was also for the first time because we usually take a group picture of only bride & bridegroom's family and relatives. There were no bridesmaids or bestmen but witnesses.
Bride is hanayome (花嫁) or shinpu (新婦) and bridegroom is hanamuko (花婿) or shinro (新郎) in Japanese.
They were very beautiful. Congratulations!! I wish their everlasting happiness.

三月五日（sangatsu itsuka）： March 5

It was rather warm today, but going to be cold from tomorrow again.

Today is March 5, which is written as 3.5, therefore it is a day of san go(3 5). What is san go? If it is written as sango (珊瑚), it means coral. If it is written as sango (産後), it means postpartum. It is a day of coral. Coral is a birthstone of March. Other birth stones of March are aquamarine and bloodstone. They say bloodstone is a symbol of courage and wisdom.
Birthstone of January is garnet, February is amethyst, April is diamond, May is emerald, June is pearl or alexandrite, or moonstone, July is ruby, August is sardonyx or peridot, September is sapphire, October is opal or tourmaline, November is topaz, and December is turquoise or zircon.
What is your birthstone?
Mine is emerald.

三月四日（sangatsu yokka）： March 4

It was cloudy in the morning but started raining in the afternoon and is still raining. They say it will be very warm tomorrow, but from the weekend it will be very cold again.

The cycle of warm days and cold days is expressed as san kan shi on(三寒四温) in Japanese, which is literally means three cold four warm. After repetition of three cold days and four warm days, spring will come.
This four words phrase is called yoji jukugo(四字熟語). Another idiom using the number three and four is cho san bo shi(朝三暮四), literally means morning three evening four. This is from the Chinese historical fact. The king was going to give the three treats in the morning and four treats in the afternoon to the monkey, but it got angry. And he said he would give four treats in the morning and three treats in the evening, and the monkey was very glad.
That means the result is the same after all, but they can't notice the difference.

三月三日（sangatsu mikka）： March 3

March 3 is known as hina matsuri(雛祭り), Dolls' festival or momo no sekku (桃の節句), peach festival. It is a Girls' Festival. Families with girls celebrate this day and wish their daughter's good health and growth by displaying hina dolls.
This is the picture of hina ningyo (雛人形), hina dolls displayed in an office building in Tokyo. The flower trees of both sides are momo (桃), peach tree.
There are some typical dishes and snacks eaten on this day such as chirashi zushi (ちらし寿司: mixed rice), hamaguri no ushio jiru(はまぐりの潮汁:clam clear soup), nanohana no ohitashi (菜の花のおひたし:rape blossoms seasoned with soy sauce), shiro zake (白酒:sweet white sake), hina arare(雛あられ:small rice crackers), hishi mochi (菱餅: diamond shaped rice cake) and so on.

三月二日（sangatsu futsuka）： March 2

It was rather cold again, and slightly rained.

What is your favorite drink?
Japanese people like to drink tea. There are many kinds of tea. Green tea is ryoku cha(緑茶) in Japanese. There are some grades among ryokucha. The high quality is gyokuro (玉露), medium quality is sencha (煎茶), and low quality is bancha (番茶). The roasted tea is called hojicha (ほうじ茶). Green tea with roasted brown rice is called genmaicha (玄米茶). Powder tea is konacha (粉茶). And green tea used for the tea ceremony is called maccha (抹茶). Cha(茶) means tea.
Some Chinese tea such as oolong tea or jasmine tea are also popular in Japan.
Black tea is also drunken.
All of these tea are from the same tea tree. But the producing process is different.
There are various pet bottles of tea in Japan which I missed a lot when I was in the USA because most of the cooling beverages in the USA were either mineral water or sweet soft drinks.
We drink green tea straight.

三月一日（sangatsu tsuitachi）： March 1

One sixth of the year was over and another month has come. March is san gatsu (三月) in Japanese. Its old name is yayoi (弥生). March is the graduation season. And it is also the end of the fiscal year.

Today the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic was over after 17 days games. After all the team Japan got 3 silver medals and 2 bronze medals. There was only one gold medal in the last Torino Olympic. So the number of the medals increased but there was no gold medal this time unfortunately.
Which program did you like the best? I liked the figure skating for both men and women, ice dancing, mogul, aerial, and so on.