2013.8.31

It was another hot day.  The last day of August.

I went to Shibuya to attend a big forum.  This was the first time for me to go there by Toyoko line after it went to Saitama prefecture this March.  Everyone says it became very inconvenient and very complicated.  I just used the station to come out, but there were so many people and indeed it was difficult to find the way.

There were more than 1500 participants to the forum and it started at 12:30 and lasted till 17:30 with 15 minutes break.  Registration started at 11:30 and I arrived there just before 12:30, so there was no handout including DVD left and it was so hard to find the place to sit down.  After a while a staff found me a seat to my lucky.  There were about 10 speakers and I could learn many things. 
The best part was I could take pictures with presidents.  They were very kind.

Today's lesson was "First come, first served."  I should have arrived there earlier.

2013.8.30

It was a windy day.  Very hot and humid.
In the morning I went to dentist to have one of the my wisdom teeth pulled out.  In Japanese wisdom tooth is oyashirazu (親知らず), literally meaning is "not knowing parents which is quite different the meaning of wisdom tooth.  I have been wondering why it is called so in Japanese and asked dentists and other staffs.  Many of them don't know the real reasons.  One of them said because the wisdom tooth usually appears at the age of 16 to 25 and parents don't know about it.
Another name of oyashirazu in Japanese is chishi (知歯/智歯) which corresponds with wisdom tooth. 
They say these days some young people never have these.

2013.8.29

It was hot but in the evening it became cool. 
From today the subject of the training has changed to trading business.  I had been engaged in import/export business for nearly 6 years before.  So there was nothing new for me.
At lunch time I went out with 5 classmates and ate a healthy daily menu.
There are 30 students in the class and I could talk almost everybody by now.  Each person has quite unique experiences.  Therefore it is fun to talk with them.
We have 4 days off.

2013.8.28

It was hot again.
Today I got  an international airmail from Venezuela.  It was a calendar from my friend whom I worked with at Expo 2005 in Aichi.  To my interesting it seems she sent it on February 18 from Venezuela.  It took more than 6 months to arrive at Japan.  I knew Venezuela is located very far from Japan, but I did not now it was such far.

2013.8.27

It was cool in the morning, but became hot as usual.
Still I feel the autumn is coming.
I have just seen the news of US open tennis.  Unfortunately my favorite tennis players Mr. Kei Nishikori and Ms. Kimiko Date lost the games.  They were very active at Wimbledon though.  I hope they will be active again next time.

2013.8.26

At night I went to practice small ball exercise.  From today the new term started.  There were about 20 women and a man.  I know some of them from the last term.  It lasts for one hour and costs 500 yen each.  Today's menu was mostly from Yoga lesson.  Next time it will be mainly aerobics.  Both time we do small ball exercise too.  I enjoy Yoga. 

2013.8.25

It rained almost all day long.  At night there was an earthquake.

I stayed at home and watched a movie recorded last week.

Today the election for Yokohama Mayor was held.  It seems the current mayor Ms. Fumiko Hayashi (林　文子), 67 years old, was reelected.  She used to be presidents of the big companies.  I am glad to see women being active.

2013.8.24

I went to Ginza to see an exhibition of Evangelion at a department store in the morning.  It is a very famous and popular comic, but  I do not know anything about it at all.  Since somebody gave me an invitation ticket so I visited there.  There were so many visitors.  The exhibition were mainly original pictures.  I was surprised to see many of them and felt that to make something many people were related.
In the afternoon I went to my ex-colleague's house to have a birthday party.  It was a potluck party.  Six of us got together and had a good time.
At night I went to see my teacher from the graduate school and had dinner at a popular restaurant where I have wanted to visit for a long time. 

2013.8.23

In the morning I went to listen to the result of health check I took last month.

In Yokohama it rained so heavily and lightenings were so frightening.   I was lucky enough not to be wet.

In the evening I went to the Imperial Hotel to attend a charity party.  There were nearly 800 participants.  Everyone was dressed up.  I wore the Thai Silk Dress which I bought in April.  It lasted for 3 hours or so.   I am glad to attend and contribute for the donation for the recovery of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

2013.8.22

It was another hot day.

Today there was a big news.  Mr. Ichiro Suzuki, a baseball player of the New York Yankees, made a world record of 4,000 hits which was the total of his careers in Japan and the USA.  No Japanese player has ever had such a great record. 
When he was in Japan, I have never seen his games.  However when he was in Seattle, I have been to his games for a few times at the Safeco Field. 
Now this was the third record in the world.  I hope he will make the new world record in the near future.  Congratulations and good luck!

2013.8.21

It was another hot day not so fine.  In the afternoon in Yokohama it started raining heavily but I was lucky enough  not to get wet.  I saw the lightening too.
After coming home, I wen to the dentist, then to hospital to see Father.

2013.8.20

It was another hot day.
After training I went to Musashikosugi to see my friend's pottery exhibition.  There some of the friends from the 44th peace boat trip got together.  After seeing the works seven of us went to have dinner.  Two of them were new to me.  I met one of them since Expo 2005 in Aichi which I did not remember.  I enjoyed the reunion.

2013.8.19

It was another hot day.
After 5 days summer vacation, the training has started again.  It's been more than 2 weeks since the training started but we did not have a chance to do self-introduction in front of others by now.  There are 30 classmates.  Today was the first day everybody was there and we finally introduced ourselves.
The course name is International Business Administration.  I was surprised to know that in spite of having studied abroad and got degrees there, some of them do not have confidence to use English.  It was interesting to know people's life history.  We will learn together for six months until the end of January.  I am glad to have such a nice opportunity to learn International Business Administration with them.

2013.8.18

It was very hot but windy here.
In Hokkaido which is the northern island, it rained heavily.  And it seems it will rain heavily at night too.
In Kagoshima which is the southern island , Mt. Skurajima erupted.  The volcanic fume reached to 5,000 meters high which is the highest record in history.
This summer there are so many unusual meteorological phenomena here and there. 

2013.8.17

It was hot today.
I went to Yokosuka to see a movie titled "Banana, glove and whale shark (ばななとグローブとジンベエザメ)" directed by Mr. Junichi Yashiro (矢城潤一) who is my high school senior.  At the venue I happened to see someone I knew and  watched with them.  After the movie some actors and actresses and the director came to the stage to greet.  Then there was a chance to get their signatures if you buy the movie pamphlet.  I saw some old friends from high school too.  It's been so long since I met them last, but we felt so close just because we spent time together at the tennis club activities when we were high school students.
After that I went shopping. 
Then I went out for dinner with my close friends at our favorite restaurant.  We have stayed there for nearly 4 hours and enjoyed eating and chatting.  We meet one another and have this kind of opportunity once a month.  We are very glad one another for being good friends.

2013.8.16

It was fine and hot.
I went to Shinagawa to attend a health seminar in the afternoon, and a business seminar at night.   Both were given by the same lecturer who is very popular.  Both of them were very informative, and nearly two hours were passed quickly.  Since these are the last lectures for him to do there because he lives in Malaysia now, I felt I am very lucky to have attended today.
In between I went to a Chinese family restaurant with friends and enjoyed early dinner.

2013.8.15

It is the anniversary of the end of World War II today.  It has been 68 years since the World War II ended. 
There was a formal commemorative ceremony in Tokyo with the presence of the Emperor and Empress and the Prime Minister.  The total number of the participants was about 6000, and among them 4672 were the family members of the dead soldiers.  Their ages are between 10 and 99 years old.   And the number of the wives is getting less and the number of the grandchildren is getting more.  In the last war, about 3100000 people lost their precious lives.  Because of their effort, now we are living in the peace world. 
We have had many TV programs dealt with the war these days.   More and more people are getting old and the records of the war are difficult to be saved.  What can we do with this matter?

2013.8.14

It was hot again.
Father and I went to Mother's grave yard in the morning.  I saw many lilies there.  At home we had mountain lilies last month, but there were many smaller but taller ones full in bloom there.
After that I took Father to the hospital where he needs to stay for a few weeks.

2013.8.13

It was another hot day.  In Shimanto, Kochi it went up to 40 degrees centigrade again.  They say it's been four days in straight that exceeds 40 degrees centigrade.

From tomorrow I have 5 days summer vacation.

 It is a time of obon (お盆) when the spirits of ancestors come back home to stay for a few days.  We usually go to graveyard.  And we decorate a cow made of eggplant and a horse made of cucumber and some treat in front of butsudan (仏壇),  family Buddhist altar.

2013.8.12

It was another very hot day.
In Shimantom, Kochi, it went up to 41 degrees centigrade which is the hottest record in history in Japan.  They say 1116 people in all over the nation were brought to hospital because of heat stroke.  Even at night temperature is nearly 30 degrees centigrade.

It's been 28 years since the worst airplane accident happened in Japan.

Today is the day for the Perseid Meteor Shower.  I have a good memory to have gone to see them in the middle of nowhere in the Everglades National Park when I was in Florida.  I hope to see shooting stars tonight. 

2013.8.11

It was another very hot day. 

It's been two years and five months since the Great East Japan Earthquake happened.
It's been 68 years since the atomic bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 
At that time both cities were devastated.  I do not know how long it took to be what it is.  But I hope the tsunami affected area will also be recovered as soon as possible.

2013.8.10

It was very hot today.  They say it was the hottest day in this summer.  In the four places they recorded over 40 degrees centigrade which is the hottest record since the summer of 2007.  So it's been  six years since we have such a hot day.  In the 295 places out of 927 it reached more than 35 degrees centigrade which is called moshobi (猛暑日), heat wave day.  It seems it will be hot tomorrow too.

2013.8.9

It was very hot again.
In Akita and Iwate they said they had a record making heavy rain.  This summer the weather seems so strange.

Today is another memorial day we should remember always.  It's been 68 years since the Atomic Bomb was dropped in Nagasaki.  

2013.8.8

It was very hot and humid today.  This heat wave will be continued for the next 10 days or so.

Speaking of Japanese summer, I like the fireworks festival the best.
Many people like to watch the high school baseball games. Today there was the 95th opening ceremony and the games of the tournament have started.

2013.8.7

Today is risshu (立秋), one of nijyushisekki (二十四節季), the 24 solar terms.  The last one was taisho (大暑) on July 23 and the next one is shosho (処暑) on Aug. 23.
Risshu literally means stand fall, it is the first day of autumn.  But it is just on the calendar, and it is still very hot and humid.
Today I went to dentist who is my classmate from high school in Miura kaigan (三浦海岸).  I have had a toothache on my left molar for 10 days or so and decided to visit him finally.  It seems it became a cavity.  I need to go there for several times to have treatment. 
There was a fireworks festival in Miura kaigan tonight.  I really love to see the fireworks festival.  So I went to the beach to see them after that.  The weather was fine, not too hot and there was no wind.  I could see the beautiful fireworks.  

2013.8.6

It's been 68 years since the first Atomic Bomb was dropped in Hiroshima.  There was a commemorative ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima city in the morning. 
This year a famous American film director, Mr. Oliver Stone has visited the Hiroshima Peace Site and mentioned that it was just a myth that to end the war the atomic bomb dropping was a necessity.  I hope he will make another movie to let the people know about the reality of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  
Japan is the only country which has experienced such tragedy.   We should keep telling the world to stop using nuclear weapons.

2013.8.5

In the morning we got a good news.  The 19 year old swimmer, Mr. Daiya Seto (瀬戸大也) got the gold medal for 400 meters individual medley at 2013 Barcelona World Championships at the record of 4' 08'' 69.  It is the first gold medal in history for Japan in that field.  He has a good rival, Mr. Kosuke Hagino (萩野公介) who is the bronze medalist of the 400 meters individual medley at 2012 London Summer Olympics at the record of 4' 08" 94.  Both of them have been rivals since they are young.  Because of the existence of each other, they could achieve such records respectively.  Congratulations!  

2013.8.4

It was very hot today.  I stayed at home all day long.
 
I finished reading an interesting book which my friend in Aichi recommended me when we met each other in June.  It's a Japanese book titled "Ishibashi wo tatakeba watarenai (石橋を叩けば渡れない)" by Mr. Eizaburo Nishibori (西堀栄三郎) who was the captain of the first expedition to Antarctica. It is a combination book of "Ishibashi wo tatakeba watarenai" published in 1972 and "Gobu no mushi nimo issun no tamashii (五分の虫にも一寸の魂)" published in 1982.
There are sayings "Ishibashi wo tataite wataru (石橋を叩いて渡る)" and "Issun no mushi nimo gobu no tamashii (一寸の虫にも五分の魂)."  They look similar but meaning is quite different, rather paradoxical.

Saying: "Ishibashi wo tataite wataru" literally means to cross the stone bridge after hitting it to make sure it is safe.
Book title: "Ishibashi wo tatakeba watarenai" means if you hit the stone bridge you cannot cross.

Saying: "Issun no mushi nimo gobu no tamashii" literally means even a worm of an inch has a spirit of half inch.
Book title: "Gobu no mushi nimo issun no tamashii" means even a worm of half inch has a spirit of an inch.

The book is the story of Mr. Nishibori's creative ways of life.  It is an encouraging book.  If you have a chance, I recommend you to read it.

2013.8.3

I went to Shinjuku to attend a monthly meeting.  I met three friends there and had lunch at the European style restaurant together.  It was a nice restaurant.
In the afternoon I went to the Tokyo Big Sight to see the Healing Fair.  Last year I got an invitation card from my friend and attended there for the first time.  I could see Mr. and Mrs. Yamakawa who are very famous translators such as "Out on a Limb" by Shirley MacLaine, "The Celestine Prophecy" by James Redfield, "Many Lives, Many Masters" by Brian L. Weiss, and "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne.  I gave my book to them and got their autographs and took pictures together and had a good time.  Therefore I decided to visit there this year again to see them.  I bought their two books and got their autographs and took pictures together again.  I was very glad to hear that she happened to look at my book today.  I am looking forward to reading their books.

2013.8.2

Today my new life has begun.  I will learn International Business Administration for 6 months in Yokohama (横浜).  There was an orientation this morning.  There are 30 students.  The lesson will start on Monday August 5.  In August we mainly learn business English. Then we will learn trading, logical thinking, marketing, finance, and so on.  I am glad to have such an opportunity.

2013.8.1

A new month has started.  August is hachi gatsu (八月) in Japanese.  Its old name is hazuki (葉月), literally leaf month.  It is the hottest month in a year.  Today it was also very hot.  Sweat comes out without doing anything.

In the morning I clipped some articles from the July newspaper.
In the afternoon I visited two shrines.  One is the closest one from my house and the other is what I happened to know recently.  It was very close from my ex-student's house.  When I was a teacher, I did not notice. 
And I visited the sports park where I have felt like seeing whenever I saw the sign.  It contains a football pitch, a baseball ground, and two tennis courts.  Young students were playing football.
Then I went shopping.

From tomorrow I go to Yokohama to learn international business administration for 6 months.

2013.7.31

It was cloudy but hot today.

I had a very busy day visiting many places.

In the morning I went to hospital to take CT.

Then I went to Yoga lesson.

After lunch I went to journalism lesson in Yokosuka.

In the evening I went to Imperial Hotel in Tokyo to attend a meeting.  There I met a friend after a long time.

There are 24 hours in a day.  Some days there are many things to do, other days there are few things to do.
Today was former.