What Would You Do in a Blackout? It is Disaster Preparedness Day on Sep 1. There are many events about disaster preparedness all over Japan. Some people participate in a disaster drill. I saw a TV program last night, which was about "Blackout" Do you remember about the blackout at the earthquake in Hokkaido on Sep 6, 2018? It continued for approximately 48 hours, and it caused troubles to utilities, traffic and transportation, the internet, and stuff such as ventilators in hospitals, and so forth. It was the first time with the blackout in Japan, even though people had said "It'll never happen in Japan." The TV program reported what happened in Hokkaido with the blackout, and that teaches us what to do if such case happens to us. What if it is the middle of winter in Hokkaido? What if it is the middle of summer in Tokyo? Many people might die with freezing or heat stroke. Hospitals wouldn't work without electricity, if the blackout keeps longer. I was getting scared while watching that program. The commentator said that we should simulate living one day without electricity in order to get to know what to do and how everything would go. We would realize how much we depend on electricity.

Tsubaya During obon holidays, I traveled in Asakusa area, Tokyo. I will show you some pictures and talk about those spots. Kappa-Bashi Dougu Street I have wanted to visit this spot for a long time since I wanted a TV show about it. One cutlery shop Tsubaya is one of shops that I have wanted to visit. It's so popular among foreign tourists that it's always crowed with lots of people. The staff of the shop can speak in English well, so it's known by online or word of mouth. The staff said on the TV show "This nail cutter is the best ever I have seen." When I got to the shop, he talked to me! I was amazed to be talked by him, because I knew Tokyo people, especially people who had the artisan spirit, didn't talk much. However he was very kind even to me, and explained well about items. He let me try to cut my nail with the nail cutter. It was amazing! "What a nice nail cutter it is!" I bought it and a bread knife!!! That nail cutter is actually very expensive though. If you would like to buy knives in Japan, you should visit this shop!

After "Freedom of Expression" Aichi Triennale 2019 started last Thursday in Nagoya city, however one work was removed from the exhibition. It was called "After 'Freedom of Expression'" that exhibited the artwork about censored artwork in Japan. In the section, a sculpture of a “comfort woman” as the artwork "Statue of Peace" by some Korean artist, depicted a seated woman symbolizing the estimated 200,000 women in Korea, China, and across Asia who were forced to serve as prostitutes in Japanese World War II brothels. 2 days later, the office of Aichi Triennale shuttered the section After "Freedom of Expression" because the Mayor of Nagoya city, Mr. Kawamura commented “Obviously, (this work) tramples on the feelings of the Japanese people. (This exhibition work) shouldn’t be supported with taxpayer’s money.” Also the Triennale had received threatening emails, phone calls, and faxes. One of the faxes it received read, “I will bring a gasoline container to the museum,” which drew associations with the recent deadly arson attack on a Kyoto Animation Co. studio. There is no rights to express in Japan freely. The Mayor of Nagoya city, Mr. Kawamura denies the support to groups which are against the amendment to Article 9 of the Constitution, or denies to lend the theaters in Nagoya city to those groups expressing political issues. Please think about what would happen before a war. People would get conservative and lose the freedom of expression. I think the time is coming.

What is obon? What kinds of memories do you have about summer holidays? When I was a kid, my family visited the hometown to see my grandparents. The family of my father is a Buddhist, so they do customs of Buddhism during obon holidays, too. Obon refers to the holiday seasons of Japan that is related with Buddhism, basically which is from Aug 13 to 16. What people do during obon is to decorate a butsudan (Buddhist altar) in their home with flowers, lanterns, and vegetables, etc. to welcome the spirits of one's ancestors. There are an egg-plant and a cucumber on the right side of the decoration. They have legs lol People make them with sticks to decorate. They are symbols of horses. The spirits ride the horses to visit the family. I remember my grandmother burned wood in front of her house to welcome the spirits of the ancestors in the evening on Aug 13, and to say good-bye to them on Aug 15. That's memory I have as a typical of Japanese summer holidays.

English classes at elementary schools English will become a mandatory subject for fifth- and sixth-graders, along with that change, the foreign language activity classes will become mandatory for third- and fourth-graders instead. But there are hurdles about the educational situations. It's true that many teachers in Japan can't speak English fluently, and I think there were some parts of grammar that they taught me seemed to be wrong for the eyes of native speakers. Certainly, that's a fault of the guidelines from the government. However I expect kids will have many opportunities to hear and speak English. I believe that makes them get interested in learning languages.

The Final Play I have been doing activities of theater plays as my hobby since when I was 23 years old. I belong to a amateur theater troupe in Nagoya besides my work, and we perform a play at a theater every 6 months. This time, we will do that in October, so the director announced those casts of the play and we will start rehearsing it soon. My role is the main character, so I have to memorize many lines of the script. It's been a long time to act the main role, so I am anxious if I make mistakes in the play. This time will be my final acting for time being. I will stop those activities to go to university next year. Anyway I will do my best for the play and enjoy acting as much as possible.

Target of scammers I have been using Interpals for several years, maybe for more than 5 years. I encountered a scammer on it for the first time. A guy contacted me on the website and I told my LINE to add him. His picture looked nice like an actor lol He wrote to me so much friendly such as his girlfriend. I thought he was weird, but I kept in touch with him. After awhile, he asked me my phone number, then I didn't know why, but I rejected to answer it. Suddenly he stopped messaging me anymore. Then I tried to search about him, and I found him on a website about scammers. lol As it is, I have been contacted by many scammers. There is no way to avoid them as long as I do language exchange. However I somewhat recognize if they are scammers or not. Today, I was using interpals again. I realized one guy was a scammer, because he was shown on a scammer gallery, and blocked him immediately. Another guy contacted me after then, and I thought he was, too. Because he just signed up on the website just before 30 minutes ago. I guess the same scammer use the other account or he shared about me to other people in the scammer group. What the heck they are. It's the best to ignore such people on those websites. Don't care about them.

How much important is a qualification to work? What do you think about getting qualifications for a better job? People think qualifications are very important to get a better job in Japan. At first, recruiters check your personal history on the resume that you send, in order to shortlist all the applicants at first, checking which school you graduated and what kind of career you have, etc. So if you have some qualifications related with the job, that will be advantageous for you to get the job. One day, a middle-age woman, who was qualified with Japanese language teaching, complained about Japanese language schools that she tried to apply for a job. She is not a college or university graduate officially, so it's hard for her to work for any schools as a Japanese language teacher. Most schools require that diploma at the job interview. That was the same with me. I don't want to change my job right now, however if I try to apply for a teaching job, I would have to get my degree of university or college, which it takes 4 years to do that at least. Now I am sure any "Teachers" that apply are required their degrees from college or university. It is the first step to become a teacher, and it's no wonder that I would need good skills and careers to get a better job for the next step. I am wondering about taking classes on an internet college next year. Qualifications help us to work in any ways.