Let's Eat Icecream! -Part 2; The History of Haagen-Dazs -

Haagen-Dazs was founded by Jewish immigrant Reuben Mattus from Poland in 1920. Reuben Mattus had worked his mother’s business and peddled ice cream from a horse drawn wagon in the busy street of New York. He insisted on creating distinctive and unique ice creams.
The small family business prospered from 1930's to 50's. By 1961, Mr. Mattus decided to form a new company named Haagen-Dazs.
At first, there were only 3 kinds of flavors; Vanilla, Chocolate and Coffee. But there are over 15 kinds of flavors and many types of frozen desserts line up in the Haagen-Dazs shops now.
The Haagen-Dazs brand quickly developed. Its early success was created by word, and soon spreaded throughout the U.S. finally it expanded 54 countries!
Do you know the ice cream bar was first created by Haagen-Dazs? Since the beginning, Haagen-Dazs has been invented new frozen desserts. Frozen Yogurt and Sorbet was also invented.
By the way, the company used psychology in naming the ice cream Haagen-Dazs. A Scandinavian sounding name was used because Mattus thought that people would think it was foreign. The image of European ice cream sounded exotic to Americans. It worked even today. Many people think that it comes from Europe.
117-1 24 Kano Ihara

The Grace of the Cherry Blossoms

In spring, the season “primavera” – “before summer,” you must recall the cherry blossom trees in their full blush blossom. This is a seasonal sensation of spring in Japan. As the freshmen enter the gates of their new schools, as the juniors take over the classrooms that used to belong to those before them, as the seniors start to look forward to their lives after high school, there are always cherry blossoms at their backs.
But these beautiful soft colors are granted only because of the Japanese environment. For example, you probably won’t see too many people who would come up with cherry blossoms as a symbol of spring in Europe or America. Although there are quite marvelous cherry blossom trees in Washington D.C., America, the festival for the trees is run by the Japanese community, and most people seem to think it is an event that is either Chinese or Japanese.
Although these other countries also have their own wonders and events that are given such attention, what we have right now is the cherry blossoms, petals overflowing from the widely held sturdy branches, backing us up, preparing us for another new start. Though grass on the other side might look tastier, our grass can give us not only the happiness of a new season, but distinguish the prologue to a new life. With the cherry blossoms at your back, may you take a fresh new start with all good tides at your side.
117-2 Shifumi Nagase

Cheese

Once up on a day, an Arabic merchant poured milk from a goat into a flask that was made of a new lamb’s stomach and put it on a back of a camel owing to preparation for a long trip to cross a desert. As the merchant started and walked across the hot desert for a long tome, he was tired and opened the flask to drink the milk, but he found there was no milk but white lumps and transparent liquid, The merchant was surprised, but there wasn’t anything else to drink, so he tried to eat it, then he found it was so delicious, it is said to have been the beginning of cheese.
Now there are many kinds of cheese. How many kinds of them do you know?
At first, we can classify cheese into natural cheese and processed cheese. Removing water from milk by using a lactic acid bacterium and an enzyme makes natural cheese. Mixing some kinds of natural cheese and heating it can make processed cheese. Many kinds of processed cheese can be seen in super markets, such as sliced cheese, 6p cheese, baby cheese, and so on.
Mozzarella, cottage cheese, cream cheese, mascarpone, and Camembert cheese are types of natural cheese. Mozzarella, cottage cheese, cream cheese, and mascarpone are the kinds of cheese that are not matured. These kinds of cheese have much water and a slightly acidic taste, so they taste very simple. Camembert cheese is one of the kinds of cheese that is matured by using white mold. And there is a kind of natural cheese that is matured by using green mold. Natural cheese that is matured by washing its skin by salt water or alcohol has a very strong smell, but it tastes very mild. Making the water in the cheese 38% to 46% during the process of making cheese makes the cheese a little hard. It is very nice for preservation. And by making water in the cheese less than 38%, much harder cheese can be made.
Cheese has much nutrition. By eating 20g of cheese, you can get the same amount of nutrition as you can by drinking 200 ml of milk. So if you do not like milk, find your favorite kind of cheese. As there are many kinds of cheese, I’m sure you can find your favorite one.

A Mild Winter

It was too warm this winter. The average temperature from December 2006 to February 2007 was equal to the highest average temperature in winter, which was recorded in 1949. Also, we had little snow. What happened to the climate?
One possible reason is El Nino. It is temperature fluctuations in surface waters of the offing of Peru. It is called El Nino, the Christ child, because it is usually noticed around Christmas season. El Nino causes abnormal weather in the whole world. It causes a mild winter in Japan.
Another possible reason is a flow of air. Because of the flow at the beginning of this winter, the cold air of the Arctic could hardly go to the south. A persistence of this condition is one reason for the mild winter.
This winter, we have had a little snow on the side of the Sea of Japan, and have had much rain on the Pacific side. Many places recorded the least amount of snow. It caused much damage to business at ski resorts. In Tokyo, we had the first snow of the season on the 16th of March. It became a new record.
What do you think about this mild winter? I gave two possible reasons to you. There are more possible reasons, for example, global warming is a likely reason. Also there have been many effects from this mild winter. The mild winter became a slightly important problem. How about thinking or studying about this more deeply? This problem could be concerned with your future.

116-3 Nanami Miura

Cellular Phones in the Future

Since 1987 when the first cellular phone was sold in Japan, cellular phones have progressed greatly. Things on cellular phones such as playing games and surfing the Internet have become reality. These things were like a dream about 20 years ago. As for them, we'll be able to do more things on the cellular phones in the future. The following are some examples.
/ Change 3G to 4G /
Cellular phones will change 3G to 4G ( "G" means generation). We'll be able to download things such as music and games much faster and much more frequently. If it takes about 3 minutes to download, it'll take 1.6～0.8 seconds on the 4G cellular phones to do it.
/ Advancement of existent functions /
For example, batteries will need less charging or no charging. According to modern research, the cellular phones that use alcohol as fuel will be produced and we'll not need to charge at home. We can charge the battery anywhere if we have alcohol as fuel!
Another example is that we'll be able to use the cellular phones in a wider area. It means cellular phones will be more useful even in bad situations such as getting lost in the mountains.
/ Becoming wearable /
Now, cellular phones are a little bigger than things we can wear. So some of you feel it bothersome to take the phone with you. In the future, however, cellular phones will become smaller and we'll be able to wear them like a wristwatch! I wrote "in the future", but actually such cellular phones have already gone on sale. I expect they will become cheaper and more useful.
/ The ways of communicating on the cellular phones /
Now, we can tell sounds or sights by cellular phones, but in the future, we'll be able to tell not only them but also touch, smells, and taste. If this technology is completed, we'll be able to do many things. For example, we'll be able to see a doctor easily even at home.

Thus, cellular phones will be more useful and more essential for us. So I think we should get as much information as we can when we buy a cellular phone, in order not to repent for our own decision.

Tokyo Marathon

Did you watch Tokyo Marathon 2007? It took place on February 18. About 25,000 people took part in this marathon and they ran on foot or in wheelchairs for 42.195km. Another 5000 people ran for 10km. There were 2000 runners from 54 foreign countries. The oldest man who took part in it was 85 years old and the oldest woman was 79 years old. Runners started at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and passed the Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower, Shinagawa Station, Ginza, Asakusa Kaminarimon, Tsukiji Market, and finally the goal, which was Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba. The first place runner was Daniel Njenga form Kenya. His record was 2 hours, 8 minutes, and 45 seconds. The Japanese runner Arimori Yuko, who took a silver medal in the Barcelona Olympics, and Ichikawa Yuri, who took a silver medal in the World Championships in 1999, also took part in this marathon as guest runners. Some spectators were very glad to see them running.
The Tokyo Marathon was led by the Governor of Tokyo, Ishihara Shintaro. One of the purposes of the Tokyo Marathon is said to be an appeal to put the Tokyo Olympic 2016 plan into practice.
To continue this marathon, there are many problems, such as confusion owing to the large scale and long time traffic control in the heart center of Tokyo.
116-3 Hanako Okamoto

Tateshina

Do you remember Tateshina? All students should have been there during the summer vacation of our first year. There must have been some joyful events and some bitter events. What do you think about class travel?
Now, why don’t you think about another trip to Tateshina? You can climb the mountain in summer, and you can enjoy skiing in winter there. In fact, I went there late and enjoyed skiing and something. It was my second visit to Tateshina, and I found the trip very interesting. Let me talk about Tateshina.

A four-hour local train ride will take you from Shinjuku Station to Chino Station, the nearest station to Toin Villa. Then, you can get to the villa by taxi. It will take a lot of time, but little money.
Then, after you arrive, what can you do there? First, there are many exotic games at Toin Villa. For example, you can enjoy playing Catan, Bohnanza, Scotland Yard, and so on. Maybe you can’t know which games they are only by the names. They are some of the board games or card games that many people can enjoy together. Students (and graduates) enjoy the games during their free time or at night. You should bring some sweets and snacks. Then you can enjoy playing while eating.
Next, how about playing outside? I’ll talk to you about the case of winter. Of course, you can enjoy skiing. The ski resort is near the villa. It takes about 10 minutes to walk there. You can rent ski equipment at a low cost. How about other activities? There is lots of snow there, so you can play in the snow. On the last trip, some students made a snow dome. You can enjoy snowball fights too.
On the last day, students sit around the fireplace and enjoy eating, talking, and singing. They sing songs that are in the song book Toin Villa has. They also sing some funny parodies. It’s a very nice time.

There are many interesting and funny things at Tateshina. If you go there, you will find it interesting and want to go there again and again. Why don’t you try going there? Once you go there, it will become your favorite spot.

116-3 Nanami Miura

Pasmo

I guess most of you have a commuter ticket. But have you ever felt that it was inconvenient to take out the ticket every time you entered and went out a wicket?
Here's a piece of news at which these people will be glad.　The "Pasmo" is coming soon! We can use it from March 18. Pasmo is the new service like "Suica", which will make our commuting more convenient. If we use it, we only have to touch "Pasmo" to the wicket when we enter and go out the wicket. We don't have to take out the ticket from our pockets! "Pasmo" will be able to be used in almost all railroads in the metropolitan area, such as "Tokyo Metro", "JR",and "TX".In buses also. Now, we can use it in more than 70 trains and busses, but the number of those will increase. You don't have to buy tickets to take or change trains, so that it is good for the environment. Then, we can choose two kinds of "Pasmo". The difference between the two is whether your own name is printed or not. If you choose the printed one, that "Pasmo" can be reissued in case you lose it.(Incidentaly, you have to have a printed one when you want to use it as a commuter ticket, )
As I said, "Pasmo"is like "Suica". So of course,we can use it as a commuter ticket and buy things with it. Now, the number of the stores that receive "Pasmo" is a little small, but it's going to increase. The railroad companies will also. Thus, "Pasmo" will become more and more useful, I think.
However, "Pasmo" has problems. One is that we can't change to two or more kinds of commuter tickets to it. For example> you're using JR Sobu Line and Yurakucho Line to go to school and have a commuter's ticket for these trains. Then, you can't change both of them to "Pasmo". You can change only one ticket. In this point, the situation won't change so much.
Anyway, the convenience that we don't have to take the ticket out from the pocket is enough reason to have it. The appearance of "Pasmo" will bring more comfortable commuting.
117-5 Schun Nagatomo

Saint Valentine's Day

Do you know “St.Valentine’s Day”? Of course, everyone knows it. But do you know the origin of this day?
It was in the 3rd century, the Emperor of Rome prohibited marriage because young men didn’t want to go to war to part with their families. But a Catholic priest called Valentine let them marry in confidence. The emperor happened to hear about this. What is more, in those days Christianity was forbidden. The emperor said, “If you turn to the religion of Rome and admit your guilt, you’ll be innocent.” Because Valentine refused it, he was put in prison. At last on February 14 he was executed.
By the way, in Rome there was a festival to pray for reproduction. In the evening of the 14th young unmarried women’s names were put in a box. On the next day before the festival began men drew from it and associated with her during the festival. Though, in 5th century, however the emperor prohibited this. He made an event to draw a lot of saints instead and let this day become a holiday.
Time flew to in modern times, and Valentine became respected as a martyr of love. People began to exchange gifts and cards on this holiday. It is said that people began to send messages to their lovers because he sent a letter to his lover “From your Valentine” before he was executed.
It was in 1958 that Japanese began to celebrate Valentine. The company named “Mary” sold chocolates labeled as St.Valentine’s Day. Some magazines took this up in their issues and February 14 gradually came to be recognized as a day to send chocolate from women to men for declaring one’s love.
Probably St.Valentine’s Day has come to stay because people want a day to tell their feelings. Don’t say that it is nonsense to tell your feelings on this day. Tell your feelings to your lover! Priest Valentine is looking at you☆
116-2 Yuki Fujita

The Names of Brands

Look at your belongings. Probably you have a few or more famous brand-name goods. Do you know the meanings of the names of the brands? They are often determined after the name of the founder. However, some of them were not. There are interesting stories about the names of some brands. This time, I’ll tell you about some of the origins of the names of brands and goods.


Adidas & PUMA
Adidas was named after the founder Adolf Dassler. He combined “Adi”, the nickname of Adolf, and the first half of Dassler. At first, Adolf made the company with his brother Rudolf. But they quarreled about something, and Rudolf made another company named RUDA. The next year, the company name was changed to PUMA. This name was determined after a kind of lion, the “puma”. The logo of the PUMA is a puma.


Coca Cola
In the late 19th century, Coca Cola was sold with the catchphrase “esteemed brain tonic and intellectual beverage”. At first, the fruits of coca (from which cocaine is made) and the fruits of cola (which included much caffeine) were used for the ingredients. This is the origin of the name. Of course, they aren’t used now.


Häagen-Dazs
The founder Reuben Mattus was a seller of ice cream. He noticed that the Americans prefer ice cream that seems expensive and exotic. Then, he used an umlaut() and the spelling “zs” to make the name exotic. Although “Häagen” came from Copenhagen, this name doesn’t have any deep meaning. Reuben Mattus’s idea was a success.

Nike
This company was an outlet at first. When it decided to make its own brand of goods, the founders thought of the name. They gathered the ideas of the name from every staff member, and then decided by lot.
Therefore, it was named Nike. This name came from the goddess of victory in the Greek myths.


Pepsi Cola
This name came from pepsin, a kind of digestive juice. It was said that this cola was effective in healing dyspepsia. Of course it doesn’t have such an effec, but the name remained.


Starbucks
The first shop of Starbucks was opened in Seattle in 1971. It was named after the Stabo workings at Mount Rainier near Seattle. Also, this name came from the name of Starbuck, the first mate in Herman Melville’s novel “Moby-Dick”. The logo of Starbucks is designed after the mermaid that is concerned with this first mate.


Perhaps some of you will found a new company. If you will do so, please give it an interesting name.


116-3 Nanami Miura

How Did You Spend The End And Beginning OF The Year?

Most of you eat “toshikoshi-soba” on New Year's Eve and “osechi” onNew Year's Day. Like this, many countries have customs for the end and the beginning of the year that differ from each other.
For example, in Spain, people have a custom of eating grapes on New Year’s Eve like “toshikoshi-soba.” They eat them while reflecting on the year and thinking about wishes for the coming new year.
Another example is in Italy. There’s a superstition which is that “luck comes if they wear red underwear on New Year’s Eve." Because of this custom, all the stores in Italy sell red underwear and people present them to each other with wishes for good luck.
In Russia, observing the new year is a more important event than any other, even Christmas! In preparing for the New Year, the towns are decorated, and the Christmas trees come to be displayed. Also, children are given presents for the　new year.
How about Asia? In Thailand, the new year’s festival is held from April 13 to 15. Formerly, people used to pour special water for seniors. It means respect for the elders and celebrating the new year. However, the tradition has become like a game so that they put water on anyone, not only seniors, with a water pistol or bucket.
In China, people don’t sleep on New Year’s Eve. On that day, they stay up all night. It’s an event for celebrating New Year which is called “shusai”. This tradition has an approximately 1600-year-history at least. Incidentally, in China, “New Year’s Day” means New Year’s Day according to the old calendar, so the time of “shusai” is different from our Neｗ　Year’s Eve.
It’s not a difference, but America has the one of the most famous events called a “Count Down”. This event started with the New York Times, a famous newspaper company , which dropped an electric light bulb for illumination from its building. This event has lasted for more than 100 years and many people come there to celebrate New Year's Eve with happy feelings.
There are so many ways in the world, to spend the end and the beginning of the year. What is your favorite way?

117-5 Schun Nagatomo

A New Year's Day

What did you do on your new year’s day? I went to Hokkaido, in the northern part of Japan, which was also the day after we had come back from playing golf in Sizuoka. To my surprise there was not so much snow at the Hokkaido airport. It is usually snowing all the time and I had never seen the floor because of the snow. This year was very different from this situation. People from Tokyo might think the view was very winter-like but people living in Hokkaido don’t think it was a view of winter. The snow was much less than the amount they had had in other years. Can you imagine Hokkaido with little snow? We could ski on the mountain but the snow was hard and wet as if it were snow in Tokyo…well, it was much better than that, you know! I think we should find the answer why they had less snow in Hokkaido this year. TV programs keep saying that the earth’s heating causes it, but I think it’s only one of the view points. I hope they will have more snow in Feb so they could have a snow festival, which they do traditionally.
116-6 Yuma Mikumo

Auspicious Confectioneries

The New Year holidays have finished. Now we can find some little special snacks or sweets in shops. They are lucky snacks or sweets for the people who have entrance exams for university, high school, junior high school, and so on this year. Each of these sweets has original phrases that relate to passing the exam.
KitKat is the first sweet that started to be sold as such special sweets. The phrase of KitKat is “Kitto Katsu (means I’m sure of passing exam).” They also made not only the phrase but also the special taste of cherry KitKat.
“U Karl” is also very famous. In this package, the man, Karl’’s character, with a mustache, says, “Maybe you can pass the exam if you do your best” in a Shinto priest costume. On the back of the package, there is a message from a man named Iri Manabu. Please try to write his name in Kanji.
“Koala no March” is also sold this way because “Koalas do not fall down even while sleeping.” Prints of koalas on the snacks are changed from normal koalas to koalas that have cherry blossoms or acceptance letters.
“Toppo” can make you reach the “Toppa” the examination. “Caramel Corn” is changed into “Canael corn.” “High lemon” was changed into “Hairerumon”.
There are many more of these kinds of sweets. If you have a friend who has an entrance exam this year, why don’t you eat them on the day of the exam?

116-3 Hanako Okamoto

Click Donations

Have you ever heard of click donations? It is easy to understand what it is if you see an example; the major one in Japanese is http://www.dff.jp/. A click donation is basically a system that lets users click a certain thing – such as a button or a banner - once a day, and the sponsor of the donation counts these clicks and donates money to those they had promised to give it to on the donation page according to the number of clicks　they recieve. Currently, Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd., Able, Kakaru.com, JOMO Japan, Ajinomoto, CHINTAI, Kirin Beer, NIPPON FLOUR MILLS, e-machitown Co., Ltd. (Kirin Beer is not accepting clicks right now, but scheduled to restart on 2/1). True, it is a good thing as it will help to attract people’s attention to global problems, such as starvation, the loss of the tropics, trash problems, etc. But is this system really a good idea?
As far as I see this system, it looks to me like an advertisement for each company, which is decorated with the idea “We help the community.” Really, donating 1 yen per click when they only get about 5000 clicks a weekday isn’t that much. If these companies really want to help the world or whatever, they should think of a more practical way. I don’t see why they would force people to click if they want donations to reach others. True,　some people might find themselves so “helpful” for clicking these every day. But most of those who have enough money to be able to access the Internet also have enough to donate to these people out of their own money, and still have more than enough to live with. I will agree that the system of clicking every day is better than nothing, as it lets children who do not have the right to use their parents’ money on their own account and people who have some source which gives them an opportunity to reach the Internet free of charge. However, I think it is necessary for both people and the companies to work more for the world.
At least, now that you have read this article, you can go online from the computer room every afternoon or lunch break to give a hand to the environment and societies our society managed to damage. And also, in the future, you may be able to find an alternative plan, for the better.

117-2-31 Shifumi Nagase

The Abnormal Weather

The abnormal weather is taking place in many parts of the world this winter.
It is very hot in this winter. The abnormal weather affects various economic activities. It drops the crude oil price and the sales of winter clothes suddenly. Many of the ski areas have been forced to close down because they haven’t had enough snow and even artificial snow was melted by the warm weather. On the other hand, beach resorts are crowded with a lot of people.
In many countries; Germany, America, Italy and so on, cherry blossoms are already out! This picture was taken in Italy.
In many countries, the record for the highest temperature was broken.
For example, during winter in New York always the temperature often goes below the freezing point and there is lots of snow. However, the temperature on January 6 was 22.2℃ in Central Park. It broke the record ; 17℃ that had been recorded as the
highest temperature before. Moreover, even though January has come, there is no snow, and this is a phenomenon after an interval of about 130 years.
In fact, this abnormal weather is caused by El Nino. El Niño is a phenomenon which increases the temperature of the sea temporarily. This abnormal weather will spread and continue throughout this year!

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 117-1　Kano Ihara

Easter Holidays

Now I am sure you can tell I went thousands of places in England through my experiences! I’m going to talk about my Easter holidays this time.
My host family left me and my host sister from America to visit Japan! Of course we were not allowed to go with them so we stayed at each other’s friend’s house while they were away. Two weeks can be seen as long or short. I was staying at my friend Kim’s house and afterwards I visited Dover in Kent. Do you know this place? Kent is the area in southeast England, which includes London. I went to a town called Dover, which is the closest place from France in England. Mayumi, my friend, was staying there with her host family and we were such good friends, her host family wanted to see me because she told them I was crazy!
The holidays were brilliant! First, they took me to France by ship!!! Only one hour to get to France from England!!! I could not believe I have been to France!!! France was much colder than England I felt, even though there was only a few miles’ difference, I think that’s because of the sea. The houses in France were a little different from British houses. They have shutters in front of their windows, for example. Another big difference was that the French drive on the other side of the road. I could not get used to it. Finally, there was a hyper market in France!! My one day trip was so good.
Dover was a port town. As you can see, I visited some places near there. I saw another port and some shops there. It was during Easter holiday so I could get some Easter goods! I liked the trip very much!

116-6 Yuma Mikumo

Herb Baths

Do you know what an herb bath is? It is a kind of bath in which you put herbs before you get in. There are many kinds of herb baths. This time I would like to introduce some winter herb baths.

Ginger bath:
Method: cut ginger into small pieces, put them into a cloth bag and place it in the bathtub.
Effect: neuralgia, backache and so on. It improves the circulation of the blood.
Tea bath
It is easy and effective.
Method: put about two rice bowls full of green leaves in the bathtub.
Effect: it is good for chapped skin and frostbite.　Green tea disinfects. It will warm the bather to the bone.
Orange bath
In the winter solstice you will take a hot bath scented with yuzu but you can get the same effect by taking an orange bath.
Method: dry orange peels in the sun, put them into a cloth bag and place it in the bathtub.
Effect: the skin that has dried out becomes slick and improves the circulation of the blood.
Mugwort and a red-berried elder bath
Method: cut them into small pieces, put them into a cloth bag and place it in the bathtub.
Effect: the scent is fragrant. It is good for a stiff neck, backache, and bruises.
Calamus bath
We also take this bath during the Boys’ Festival. It is a custom to stay in good health.
Method: cut them into small pieces, put them into a cloth bag and place it in the bathtub.
Effect: it will relieve chap and frostbite, also it is said that whoever uses it won’t catch a cold.
There are many kinds of herb baths. Why don’t you try some of them and let’s spend our winter in good condition!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
116-2 Yuki Fujita

Christmas Tree

In December, many of you may be looking forward to Christmas. Some are going to buy cake, things to decorate with, and a tree! Yes, Christmas trees are popular around the world. But do you know the history of the Christmas tree?
The very start of the Christmas tree is the religion of the ever green. Before the birth of Christ, the tribes in middle and northern Europe professed ever green plants because they thought the ever green should have magical forces. This was continued until the 4th century. Now, present-day Christmas trees are said to have arisen from the customs of the tribes that were Christianized.
In 1419, the ever green tree was first decorated as a Christmas tree by the Freiburgian brotherhood of bakers. They decorated the tree with gingerbread, apples, gold stripes, colored nuts and paper inside the "Heiling Geist Spital." Incidentally, Freiburg is one of the cities in Germany.
However, the custom of decorating trees didn't spread very widely until 1597, when the craftsmen's guild of Bremen decorated a Christmas tree. After the guild put up the tree, the citizens liked that new custom. They took it over quickly and the custom began to spread in the towns of the upper Rhineland. But it didn't spread to other areas for a long time. One of the reasons was that the custom was regarded as a Protestant custom by the Catholic majority.
But since 19th century, the custom of the Christmas tree became popular. In 1816, Princess Henrietta von Nassau-Weilburg introduced the Christmas tree to Vienna in Austria, and the custom spread fast. Also in France, in 1840, the Christmas tree was first introduced and then spread.
The Christmas tree was also introduced to Japan in the 19th century. In 1860, the mission of Prussia decorated a Christmas tree in a diplomatic establishment. It was the first time to put a Christmas tree up in Japan.
Now Christmas trees are popular with not only Christians but also other people. But there are some differences in how long the trees have been decorated in other countries.
Traditionally, Christmas trees aren't decorated until December 24, when Christ was born, and they aren't removed until January 6. If the trees are kept up for longer or shorter than this period, it is considered bad luck.
However, recently, the traditions have become a little different. For example, in the UK, the tree is put up much earlier; in shops it goes up often as early as late October. This happens America also. There, Christmas trees are usually put up after Thanksgiving, on the fourth Tuesday in November, and removed right after the New Year. Yet some Americans don't put the trees up until the second week of December, and keep them decorated until the 6th of January.
Like this, the Christmas tree has a history and a lot of various customs. Did you know that? 117-5 Nagatomo Schun

The Improved Games

Do you like playing games? If I am asked this, it is difficult to answer. I have played games since I was seven. My father gave me a Pocket Monster game then. Though I had known TV games, I didn’t know about “The Game Boy”. It is small and easy to carry. I remember that I was really interested in it.
I heard that my mother had been afraid that I would play games every day, but I didn’t. This is because I came to know that I was not good at playing games. After I was given a Pokémon game, I bought “Hoshi no Kirby 2”,”Sarugecchu” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. But I could finish none of them. I thought that “Sarugecchu” was easy to finish. At first, it was easy to get Piposal(the name of the monkeys). I could use the tools well. But as I finished more and more stages, the Piposal became stronger and stronger. I was really shocked! They ran away, kicked me, punched me, and finally fired a gun at me! So I came not to play it.
There is only one game that I can play. That is Pokémon. I have five Pokémon games. Pokémon is better and better, so I like it. Recently, I bought Pokémon Diamond. It is so interesting! The picture is so much clearer than the first one, and the story is more interesting. I heard that it is very popular now. I hope that many students in this school will play it.
116-2 Saki Nabeta

tableau

You let a pencil tip slide over a piece of granulated piece of hot pressed paper. What’s the big deal about this? Logically thinking, random lines of smeared graphite accumulating into patches of different densities all over the open area creating tones and shades couldn’t possibly mean that much. Even if it also assumes color value, why would it become a thing that so many people should care about?
Even the most famous pieces of artwork can be broken down to these simple conclusions if only human emotions and senses were some things that could be easily ignored. After all, what we call “art” can become meaningless scrap if you set your perspective on how practical the item is. There really is no use to the Mona Lisa other than putting in on the wall to look at it and have it decorate the wall – which would also be a way to entertain our vision anyway. The reason why the masterpieces become masterpieces that are worth all the attention and maybe even more than its given, all starts at the point that every human has a “heart” – in a poetic way. Leonardo DaVinci had a set of emotions to his heartstrings, and so did any other artist you can name. That feeling, instinct, and all of what his or her senses bring in as information are condensed into the space flowing from the artist to the medium, to the artwork, and finally to the one who views it. A piece of artwork is there because there was one who created the piece itself, one who made the medium, and one who saw it afterwards.
However wonderful the artwork may be, it has no use unless someone gives it a glance to feel whatever was given to the piece. A masterpiece is not something to let the flow stop, and accumulate – that is just an opening for a person to get rid of their uncalled for emotions. Art is a representative of the one who made it, which is the key that makes it so important in all cultures. And so, like any other person, it has a need to associate with others, as well.
117-2-31 Shifumi Nagase

Christmas Cake

Christmas is coming. This year, are you going to eat any Christmas cake? If you’d like to eat some, what kind of cake will you choose? There are many kinds of Christmas cake in the world.

In Japan, the most popular Christmas cake is sponge cake with whipped cream or butter cream, decorated with strawberry, chocolate, a little Santa Claus, and a Christmas tree made of sugar. Some of the Japanese and Korean Christmas cakes have candles that are similar to those on a birthday cake, but European and American people don’t have the habit of putting candles on Christmas cake. Ice cake (it is a cake made of only ice cream) is also a popular Christmas cake in Japan.

Bûche de noël is a French Christmas cake. It is called Yule log or chocolate log in English. Noël means Christ mas, and Bûche means log in french. Bûche de noël is not so difficult to make for us. Cover uncut rollcake with butter cream mixed with cocoa, and draw the pattern of a log on it by using a fork, and decorate it with chocolate for tree branches and whipped cream for snow.

Christmas Pudding is a tradittional Christmas sweet in Britain and Ireland. It is steamed cake with dry fruit, nuts, rum or brandy, and spice. Many households have their own recipe for Christmas pudding, often handed down in the family.

Stollen is a German traditional bread-like cake. It is usually eaten during the Christmas season. It is named Stollen because it looks like a tunnel. Powdered sugar is sprinkled on it to seem that baby Jesus Christ is wrapped in swaddling clothes, suitable for a newborn baby. Stollen is more popular than Christmas cake for Germans.

Panettone is a typical cake of Milan. It is usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas, and it is also made for Easter. It is a type of bread with dry fruits, for example raisins, plums, and orange peels. Panettone means big bread. Panettone can stay for about six months, so people eat it not only on Christmas but also throughout the winter.

If you are interested in and think you now want to eat foreign Christmas cake, try some this Christmas. You can find any recipe by searching on Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/)

116-3 Hanako Okamoto

The Sea Colors

“Why is the color of the sea blue?” Have you ever heard such a question? And perhaps some of the second grade students think, “Why is the color of the sea in Okinawa emerald green?” This time, though it is out of season, I'd like to answer these questions.
When the sun gets in the sea, the water absorbs red lights and reflects the blue lights. So, we feel the sea color is blue. This is the answer to the first question. However, the answer isn't only this. These days it is said that it's not true that the sea color is blue because the sea reflects the sky. But there is one theory which says that that is one factor for the sea appearing blue. According to the theory, we feel the sea color is blue in the sea because the sea absorbs red lights, but we feel the sea color is blue from out of the sea because the sea reflects the sky’s blue. Anyway, the particular machinery of this is not certain.
Then, why is the sea color not only blue? Why are the colors of the sea in Okinawa or other beautiful seas emerald green? This is because the sunlight hits not only water. For example, when the sunlight hits the plankton, the plankton absorb red lights and blue lights, and put out the orange lights or green lights. So, if there is lots of plankton, the sea looks green-brown. The sea in Tokyo has a lot of plankton, so the sea looks brown and doesn't look transparent. The sea in Okinawa and other beautiful seas have little plankton, so the sea is clear. And in the shallow part of the sea there, white sand reflects the sun light, so the sea looks emerald green.

There are various colors in the sea. It depends on the depth, the number of plankton, and whether we are in or out of the sea. These colors seem to express the condition of the sea. Which sea colors do you like?

116-3 Nanami Miura

Quiz

What English word does each of the following sentences explain?

Q1, Obtaining something by paying money for it. (VERB)

Q2, The salty water that covers about three-quarters of the earth’s surface. (NOUN)

Q3, Putting something into your mouth, chewing it, and swallowing it. (VERB)

Q4, A round fruit with smooth green, yellow, or red skin and firm white flesh. (NOUN)

Q5, A large ball of burning gas in space. They appear to us as small points pf light in the sky on clear nights. (NOUN)

Q6, A wild animal that looks like a dog and has reddish-brown fur, a pointed face and ears, and a thick tail. They eat smaller animals. (NOUN)

Q7. The natural state of rest in which your eyes are closed, your body is inactive, and your mind does not think. (VERB)

Q8, Doing something that you were not doing before and you continue doing it. (VERB)

Q9, The part of something that is furthest from its edges, ends, or outside surface. (NOUN)

Q10, Finding a solution or an answer to a problem or a question. (VERB)

(From COBUILD English Dictionary.)
11*-* shallowfield

Quiz3

Do you know logical quizzes? A “Logical Quiz” means that the quiz needs to be solved logically. Here is an example.
The Jet Crash
Fifty persons died in a jet crash between Japan and New York. Which place is better to perform the survivors’ funeral?
What do you think about it? Didn’t you really think about whether you would have to perform the survivors’ funeral in Japan or New York? The answer is that we don’t have to perform the survivors’ funeral because the survivors are still
alive! Not dead! This is the key word of the story.
Another question follows.

The Card Game
There are 52 cards in trump. By the way, how many cards don’t change when you reverse them?
I’ll write the answer in next SHABUKUST.
116-2 Nabeta Saki

What It Is To Be a Foreigner

If you happen to see the random person speaking another language fluently or with a different shade of skin, you’ll probably be thinking “Oh, a foreigner!” But as you use this word, have you ever thought about what exactly a ‘foreigner’ is? Or rather, have you ever thought if you yourself are foreign to Japan, or if the person sitting next to you is a foreigner to Japan?
When considering the definition of a ‘foreigner’, there are a several aspects you can look at this from. These aspects all have some association with at least one: aesthetics, laws, or culture. The most common way to recognize one to be ‘foreign’ at first sight is obviously the person’s ethnicity. If the person has fairer skin or darker skin, lighter hair or curly hair, lighter eyes or thicker lips, you generally assume he or she isn’t the same as you and your usual environment. But then again, a Korean or Chinese that has never cared so much about Japan could look as Japanese as one could possibly appear.
Another way to recognize is by one’s legal nationality. You could just pull the border line according to the internationally accepted law that governs our society all together. In this way, all you need to do to know if someone is foreign or not is to take a look at their passport. But in this way, even those who have never known what Japan is like maybe counted Japanese. Since Japanese
tend to wed within us, this maybe hard to understand, but China for example, has many so-called citizens that have never been to China, can’t speak Chinese, and might even be thinking there are panda’s all over China.
The last of the three groups is they’re culture. In this categorization, people who think panda’s live anywhere and everywhere in China aren’t Chinese. A darker skinned person descended from South Africa who has lived in Japan since they can remember is Japanese. A person who has a completely mixed lifestyle is a cross between whatever he or she mixed into their lives.
The one problem left is that these three aren’t consistent with each other. You can’t apply all three on one person – but that doesn’t mean they’re astray of their heritage. The big “categorizing” of whether or not one is ‘foreign’ –thus not one of the same categorization- or not can’t really do much. What really do matter are that person’s feelings, whether he or she has pride and a sense of belonging to that country. After all, what is the meaning of being a certified-non foreigner when your whole heart is calling for your motherly country? As the world loses borderlines day by day, it is crucial that we can tolerate other people’s home to there souls, and find our own pride.

117-2 Shifumi Nagase

The best season for...

The leaves have been turning red. Autumn has come. I think that autumn is the best season for doing something. It is said that autumn is the season for reading books, playing sports, eating and so on.
I think that autumn is the best season for playing sports because the temperature is neither too hot nor too cold. Recently, I have been practicing tennis hard. The other day I had a practice game. In the game I realized that tennis wasn’t as easy as I think. I wasn’t strict with myself. Since then I have changed my attitude toward tennis and club activities. I want to be stronger and stronger. I also like volleyball. World volleyball games are being held now. I watch them on TV. I never see them on TV without feeling as if I want to play volleyball. If I have free time, I’d like to play it.
My friend told me that autumn is the best season for eating because there are a lot of foods in autumn. For example matsutake mushrooms, chestnuts, sweet potatoes and so on.
Another friend told me that autumn is the best season for reading books. The reason is the same with playing sports, it is neither too hot nor too cold. I remember that I wrote an article “the best season for reading” at this time last year.
I thought that I have to eat for playing sports. So for me, autumn is the season for eating and playing sports. I wish I could put a great deal of effort into studying too.:-P
What would you like to do in autumn? Please find something and I hope that you live a full life.
116-2 Yuki Fujita

Cornwall Holidays

Last May, just before I came back to Japan, my best friend, Looby, invited me to go on holiday with her family to Cornwall, which is in the southwest area of England. It is popular to spend holiday time there…the reason is that it is warmer than other areas of England!
It took us eight hours to get to Cornwall from Bromsgrove near Birmingham, where I stayed. But my friends and I were talking most of the way to get there while we were awake. In fact, we talked too much! It was midnight so we had got tired soon, and we tried not to sleep by counting cars on the same motorway. Finally, at two o clock in the morning we got there… we were so excited but we went straight to bed!!! The long journey had made us so tired.
The next day I could not believe the beautiful view from the huge window that the house had. We were staying at Looby's grandma's house. I enjoyed myself watching seagulls flying around just by the window in the beautiful sky. “ Cornish Pastie” is a traditional food in Cornwall. It is said that people who worked to dig tunnels ate them for energy. They could take and eat them very easily because of the shape. Cornish pasties are still popular nowadays. It was the lunch for us and we went out to the seaside after lunch. The sea was absolutely fantastic!!! I could not believe it was in England because I had been in the middle land for ages. I had assumed the English sea was not very clean but it was! My eyes can prove it to myself!! My favorite was St.Ives. The sea was very cold so we could not go in, however, we did wade in with only our feet. There is a small mountain in the sea and on the top of the mountain there is a castle! I did not get there but the view of the way to the mountain, which was hidden by sea water, was brilliant for me. This view stayed in my eye deeply.
I loved Cornwall very much. If given the chance, I would love to visit there again! If you fancy going on a holiday why don’t you choose to go there?
116-6 Yuma Mikumo

What Happened to Pluto?

Everyone should know that Pluto is no longer a planet of the Solar System. But maybe, some people have a question, ”Why was Pluto excluded from the Solar System?” This time, I would like to answer this question.
Pluto was discovered in1930 by C.W.Tombaugh, an American astronomer. But at first, we wrongly guessed the size of Pluto. There are two reasons.
First, Pluto is very far from the earth. It revolves 5.9 billion km away from the Sun. It’s about 40 times as far as the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Because of that, astronomers could hardly get any data.
Second, Pluto reflects light better than other planets of the Solar System. One of the reasons is that Pluto is covered with ice of methane. Moreover, Pluto has a satellite Charon, which was discovered in 1978. Charon is half as big as Pluto. So Charon makes Pluto much brighter.
The real size of the Pluto is much smaller than astronomers had supposed. The size is half of Mercury, which is the smallest of all planets of the Solar System! Besides, the orbit of Pluto is abnormal. The planets of the Solar System, except Pluto, have almost a circular orbit. Only Pluto has an elliptic and inclined orbit. Though astronomers knew these things through much observation, Pluto was not excluded from the planets of the Solar System because of the history with which we were familiar Pluto was thought to be one of the planets.
But since 1992, many planets have been discovered near the orbit of Pluto, and size differences between Pluto and asteroids became less and less.
In 2003, a planet named 2003UB 313 was discovered. It’s bigger and farther
from the Sun than Pluto. NASA announced that the planet was the 10th planet of the Solar System.
Through this situation, astronomers came to define what a planet is. So IAU (the International Astronomical Union) organized a committee. At first, they made a plan that defined that a planet is what can be nearly round for itself. But some astronomers disagreed because not only Pluto but also many other planets such as 2003UB 313 would become
planets. According to modern theory, planets were made by collision. A long time ago, little planets that were made from rock and ice were in collision with each other, and became much bigger than the others around it. Heavenly bodies like Pluto can hardly be defined as planets, as they’re not much bigger than the others around them.
At last, on August 24,2006, the IAU gave the definitions of “planets” and “Pluto” that are given below.

The IAU therefore resolves that planets and other bodies, except satellites, in our Solar System be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:
(1)A planet(*1) is a celestial body that
(a)is in orbit around the Sun,
(b)has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium(nearly round)shape, and
(c)has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
(2)A “dwarf planet” is a celestial body that
(a)is in orbit around the Sun,
(b)has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium(nearly round)shape(*2),
(c)has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and
(d)is not a satellite.

(3)All other objects(*3),except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as “Small Solar System Bodies”.
*1 The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
*2 An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either dwarf planet or other categories.
*3 These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects(TNOs),comets, and other small bodies.

The IAU further resolves:
Pluto is a “dwarf planet” by the above definition and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of Trans-Neptunian Objects(*4).
*4 An IAU process will be established to select a name for this category.
(From IAU website)

These definitions make Pluto one of the “dwarf planets”, not planets. This news made some people sad, but we don’t have to feel because this happening means that astronomy has progressed.
117-5 Schun Nagatomo

Girl’s footsal
We had a sport meeting on October 16th and 17th. Did you enjoy it? What sport did you play? I played footsal because since I played it last year, I’ve liked playing footsal very much.
In September, our footsal team started to practice footsal. We planed what to do in P.E class. We often gathered in the morning and practiced it in the ground. At first, we couldn’t move the ball well. I think it is difficult for girls to move the ball well. When I saw the boys soccer game, the ball moved as if it was a creature. But girls can’t play like that. So we had to practice hard. But after more and more practicing footsal, our game play become much better. We were able to pass the ball to each other.
On October 16th and 17th, the sport meeting was held. We hadn’t had enough time to practice, so we were very nervous. We had already finished the first game. We (class2) played class 1, and we lost. So we couldn’t lose any more game. The second game was class 2 vs. class 3. In class 3, there were two SHABUKUST members so I wanted to win the game. At first, they scored a goal. I was afraid that it might be difficult to win this game. But at last when there was only 30 seconds left, our team scored. We were very happy. The game ended in a draw, but we were satisfied with it.
Our team did our best, but we found it was difficult to win games. We also lost other games. I want to try footsal again. And then, I want to revenge. Saki Nabeta (116-2)
116-2 Saki Nabeta

Journal in England from Yummy

It was just a year ago that I left Japan and was in England! I had stayed there for about a year and now I’m back here…yes I’m going to talk about my life in England.
I did not like the subject of English before which is why my English speaking level was so low. I wished Japanese would be a world common language one day. But I found a chance to have a little trip to England during the summer holiday when I was 14. I loved England, the culture, and also people’s way of thinking! After half a year I decided to go abroad as an exchange student!
On the first day of my life in England I just felt… well, nothing special. The view from the motorway wasn’t really different as Japanese ones so we, I mean most of Japanese exchange students, couldn’t believe we were in England including me. Soon we broke up as a group and went to our host families. I did not miss Japan, even the language, because my host family was used to keeping Japanese kids. They talked to me slowly and I could get them. I went to college for a month to improve my English before I went to school. College wasn’t hard for us and I always tried to speak English with the only girl from Thailand but as you can see there were too many Japanese not to talk in Japanese sometimes … oh dear! I will tell you about the happy month now.
My host mom’s name is Glenys, which is an Irish name, and my dad’s name is Graham. Both of them were about sixty years old but they looked much younger than that age! Their daughter, called Jo, lived near their house and come to their house with her husband, Mathew, quite often. The first problem was … that I couldn’t pronounce “Mathew”! My host family has best friends near their house, Sue and Gerry. They are always looking after me well and I got on well with all of them!! We did so many things in a month, most of day after college we were going out for a meal, a walk, sights, just anything. The biggest event was a concert at which people copied the Beatles, ABBA and some big musicians! Of course I couldn’t sing very well but no one matters and the host family was happy that I was enjoying myself very much! The English think thyat they can enjoy something even if they are not good at it. This is a very valuable attitude for me. I love this way if thinking on a trip we went to Cadbury Chocolate World!!!!! Do you know it!? Perhaps you know Cadbury chocolate; there is a factory of Cadbury in Birmingham where the college was. Can you believe it!? Thousands of chocolates were being made in the factory!! We got some types of chocolate on the trip in the factory and we ate all of them after the trip…! I’ve been to cricket match, cathedrals, the longest canal, concerts, theme parks, charity walks, London, parties, Sunday lunches…wow, lots of things only for a month!! It was the busiest life ever…
Finally most of the Japanese kids had to say bye to each other because most of them had to go soon to new host families. I didn’t change my host family…my host family didn’t hate me thought…well I am going to stop here this time. I will tell you the next story next month! cyax
116-6 Yuma Mikumo

I owe it to SHABUKUST that …

One rainy day in August, I had taken part in my first SHABUKUST meeting. That was fifteen years ago, and the issue for which we were having the meeting was the second issue. I had read the first issue which had come out on the last day of school before the summer vacation started and immediately ran to Roy to inquire how I could join the group. It was my first year back in Japan after five years of living in the US, and, after four months of trying to adapt to the school environment in Japan, I could not hold back my thirst to “use English” in some way.
I was impressed to find out that the group actually consisted of only two female students (with two other students helping them) with Roy and Bob. It was totally a volunteer activity, not even a “circle”. None of this mattered to me, of course, and, after meeting the two chief editors (Yayoi and Hidemi), I instantly decided to join the group. I suggested that a feature article be included in the paper and became the one to write it. A year after, a few more students joined, and the rest of the story is as everyone knows.
Fifteen years later, as I write this essay, I am an English teacher at university. I owe it greatly to Roy and his influence as my trainer during the practice-teaching weeks that I chose it as my career, but another great motive of my becoming an English teacher is because I wanted to convey the magnitude of “communication” through teaching a language.
I am a language teacher, and I have often reflected upon what I am supposed to teach as a language teacher. It is essential that grammar, vocabulary, and phonetics of English language is taught substantially in the course of teaching, but at the same time, I consider it my duty that I teach "language". Language is a tool that was given to human beings. People cannot convey their feelings and thoughts without a language, of course, but what I find the most fascinating is the fact that language is intrinsic to human cognitive actions, and people actually take on these cognitive activities because there is a need to give a shape to whatever is happening in their minds. In other words, we think so that we can communicate, but that process of thinking is often facilitated by the language itself because in trying to give a shape to what we want to say as a language, we reflect upon what it is that we want to convey more in depth. Good communication makes people flourish intellectually, and this is what I aspire to have the students ultimately achieve.
Now that I think about this, I notice that this motive was already born in me when I was writing the feature articles for SHABUKUST. In writing and conveying messages in the feature articles, I was given the opportunity to appreciate the gravity of communication. As I thank my juniors for keeping the SHABUKUST tradition, it is my greatest hope that this tradition is appreciated by more future members to come and continued by those members.
102 Tomoko WADA

Volleyball Games

The sports day was held on Oct 17th and 18th. What kind of game did you take part in? I took part in volleyball, so I would like to write about volleyball game. I like volleyball the best of all the sports. I like it’s atmosphere.
Last year I chose volleyball but I couldn’t play on the sports day. Because, I had injured my shoulder during playing tennis. While members were practicing, I always felt sad. I really felt frustrated. “Why can’t I play volleyball?” “I want to play volleyball with them!” On the sports day I wanted to do everything possible for members, so I cheered hard our class from outside of the court. The result was second. It was regrettable and we promised to play volleyball again next year to win the game.
This year my shoulder got well and I was barely able take part in it. I was very happy. Because not only I can play volleyball but also the members were the same with last year. When the first match for me started, I was very nervous. I was afraid of losing because of myself. But soon I was enjoying the match. The feeling went away without notice and I got the first win of the sports day.
Second grade’s game was a tight game. Three classes are in first place with the same winning percentage. They are one defeat. We, class2 lost to class5. Class1 lost to class2, and class5 lost to class1. We were hoping to win, so when we lost we were shocked. To make matters worse, the number of sets our class lost was more than other 2classes, so finally our class was third. It was an unexpectation.
Next year, I want to choose volleyball again, and with better luck next time! There is a proverb, “Third time is lucky.” I believe this saying. I hope to get my wish. 116-2 Yuki Fujita

The Special Events at the Sports Meet

On the second day of the school sports meet, a special event was held. There were 4 games. The first three games, Tonde-tonde, the three-legged race, and rope skipping were played by every student. Then, the relay race was held last. Some students who were chosen by their classes ran in this event.
Then, I'll write about the games and their results.

Tonde-tonde
This is the special event of the 1st grade students. In this game, the students ran with a rod and jumped over it. It is a kind of relay race. The students ran, jumped, and handed the rod to the next runner.
When the game started, the first runners were away. At first, there were almost no intervals between the classes, but soon some were made. It was an exciting game. Though some students failed to jump over the rod, the game finished safely.
The order of arrival were as follows: first was class 2, second was 4, third was 1, fourth was 5, fifth was 6, and sixth was 3.
Then one trouble appeared. In this game, eleven groups had to run from every class. But class 2 had prepared only ten groups. Because of this foul, the order of the arrival of class 2 became the last. Maybe it was a very big surprise for every student including the students of class 2. There were some other fouls, and classes which made fouls got some minus points. But every class got only a few minus points, so the final order (including the minus points) was the same as the order of arrival, and class 4 became the winner.

The Three-legged race
The special event of the second grade students was the three-legged race. A pair had to run 30 meters and hand the baton to the next pair. Sometimes, there were pairs that failed to hand the baton, and whenever it happens, the time was wasted. The difficulty of this game was not only that two persons can run, but also other little things. By the way, one of the students got a cramp in his leg during the race. It was very difficult to run a three-legged race with a leg with a cramp.
The order of arrival was as follows: first was class 1, second was 4, third was 5, fourth was 6, fifth was 3, sixth was 2. There were not so big problems, and even though there were little fouls, the order of arrival and the final order was the same. Every class made just a few fouls in this game, so next year, if you want to win in the three-legged race, you should practice not only to make no mistakes, but for running the fastest.

Rope skipping
The third grade students did rope skipping as the special event. The total times of jumping rope in 5 minutes became the record. But the points were decided not only by it, but also by the times of jumping rope without a break. The class that could jump the rope most without a break was given five points. Every class had practiced for this game. Third grade students may have practiced hardest in the three grades.
The result of the total times of jumping rope are as follows: first was class 2 (130 times), second was 5 (98 times), third was 1 (91 times), fourth was 3 (89 times), fifth was 6 (76 times), sixth was 4 (57 times). As you see, class 2 won by long odds. This class also got extra points by jumping 46 times without break. There were no minus points from fouls in this game, so of course, class 2 became the winner. I can only say that they were great.

Relay race
After these three event programs, the last event, a relay race, started. As I wrote first, every class had chosen some persons to run. They ran as fast as they could.
Soon after the race started, class 1 became top. Then, class 4 ran after it. But at last, class 1 kept on top, and class 4 became second.
The result were as follows: first was class 1, second was 4, third was 3, fourth was 2, fifth was 6, sixth was 5. It was a very exciting race.

Every special event was very exciting! Everyone did their best. Things that divided the classes into victory and defeat are effort and luck. If you missed the championship this year, why don't you practice more to get it next year? If you get the championship, you should practice harder to keep it. Then, leave the rest of the things to luck!

116-3 Nanami Miura

Girls' Basketball

When you hear of girls’ basketball, you might at first think of it to be boring. As girls aren’t as powerful as the boys, yes, you aren’t going to see performance play or power play. But girls’ way of playing is fun to watch in a different way. While the boys like to play in a big space, using all the space possible in all directions with their energy and body size, the girls count more on agility, teamwork, and getting the ball in all circumstances. Where boys would step back after a throw in, the girls will go right at the ball. This difference creates something worthy to see in girls’ matches that you won’t be able to see in boys’ matches.
Although not many people were around the girls’ matches with the exception of the 3rd graders, all 18 teams fought hard. Most of the matches included something like hacking balls from each other, and making the game progress unreadably. The aggressive and vigorous play really was something to watch.

117-2 Shifumi Nagase

The Miracle of the Legendary Club

　　To be honest, I don't remember why we came to establish this legendary English newspaper club in my high-school days.
　　I was only a 16-year-old little girl, and when we started up our activities, I didn't have any idea how it would be 15 years later, or better to say, I would never imagine that it could continue to exist more than 5 years!
　　I look back on my high-school days like looking back my dreams of this morning. The impressions are so clear in my mind, but the details are so unclear and it's impossible to tell about them to the others. If I say, "I enjoyed the activities of SHABUKUST, because it was like a tea party held in English teachers' room, with nice tea and cookies for free, without any efforts and tasks!", it's all true but not true; the air and the passion at that time is indescribable.
　　SHABUKUST's 15th anniversary is a kind of miracle for me, and all I can say is, "I'm so glad to be one of you!! And I'm proud of you!!"

　　101-5 Yayoi MYOGA

A Challenge For Creative Writing, Creative Mind

　　It's been almost a decade since I graduated from Fuzoku, and now I'm a Ph. D student at a university, trying to become a researcher in the vast field of science. Sometimes when I feel lost, I still get my old SHABUKUST papers out of my closet and find my articles naïve but so full of energy. It really makes me smile. I also realize now that English is a very powerful tool when getting to know people around the world. So don't be afraid to write! I hope SHABUKUST is forever a home for creative high school students with challenging minds.

　　106-4 Chihiro SATO

A Magic Place in Italy

　　Last spring, I went sightseeing in Italy with my family. Milan, Venice, Pisa, Florence, Rome, and Naples -- all the cities I visited had some beautiful pieces of scenery, and I got quite excited especially when I saw old churches and ancient relics, for I major in western history at the university. However, what was the most unforgettable was neither the scenery nor buildings, but the people I saw at the Trevi Fountain.
　　Trevi Fountain is the largest Baroque fountain of Rome, and is one of the most famous tourist attractions. It is said that if you stand with your back facing toward the fountain and throw a coin over your head, you will be ensured a return to Rome.
　　It was at twilight when I visited there. Through the square in front of the fountain was very crowded, I could somehow reach the fountain to throw a coin, and enjoyed seeing its Baroque sculptures. After a while, when I turned my face toward the crowd to return, I first realized how various the people at the fountain were, and was astonished.
　　All kinds of people were there. White, Black, Asian, and racially-mixed. I could hear Italian, English, French, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and many more languages I couldn't tell. A rich tourist was sitting next to a shabby boy vending flowers. An old man wearing a cross and a woman who covered her face with some black clothes were pointing at the same sculpture. A young rock'n'roller and a neat businessman were standing side by side and eating the same ice cream. Without the fountain, no one could have told where he had been. And the most important thing was that everyone was laughing. It was very, very, very beautiful.
　　At that moment, I remembered John Lennon's "Imagine" -- imagine all the people sharing all the world. Of course I know it's just a daydream. When they return home, they may resume conflicting with each other. But I hope that some day the daydream will be real.

　　112-3 Masahiko ITO

Genesis

　　It was raining very hard. We all got soaked on the way to Myogadani Station. Seven of us -- Yayoi, Hidemi, Tomoko, Bob, Yuki (Mr. Umaba), and me -- had had the first (in a sense) SHABUKUST meeting at Denny's in Otsuka, at the end of August.
　　In the beginning, we published the first issue. And the issue was without a clear policy; and a happy-go-lucky attitude was upon the editorial staff. And we possessed a high ideal of creating something new.
　　Actually, we started from "zero." Oops, I just remembered..., there was also a word processor. It was Bob's machine. After typing articles, Bob said, "Let there be articles:" and there were articles printed out. We also had a lettering book. It was Roy's and it had lots of types of letters. Yayoi and Hidemi chose their favorite design; Roy cut and pasted the letters S, H, A, B, U, K, U, S, and T together; and behold, it was very good.
　　And, oh, I must not forget the most important thing: everyone's hope and ideal of issuing their best newspapers. In fact, every SHABUKUST member has had, until now, the same hope and ideal. It is this motive and drive that has made it possible to maintain the monthly issue. Thanks to their spirit, you are now enjoying the 160th issue.
　　So far, SHABUKUST has had 91 people as its editorial staff, and Mr. Robert Juppe, Mr. Patrick McGuire, Ms. Monica Kennedy, Mr. Umaba, Mr. Hakomori, Mr. Tachibana, and I have advised the club. I strongly believe and hope that SHABUKUST will be issued forever and make its readers amused and satisfied. I have been very proud to issue the paper working with excellent students and Bob, the best ever adviser. And I also feel proud that every SHABUKUST editorial member is taking an active part in their field after graduating from this school.
　　Anyway, I would really like to express my genuine gratitude to the members as I have such a great chance to do a good job with them, which makes me one of the happiest English teachers.

　　Roy YAMAMOTO

A SECOND TERM AT FUZOKU... Changes

　　Whenever I return to Vienna, where I once studied, my old friends usually say to me, "Nothing ever changes in Vienna!" This is largely true. The buildings, the sights, the food, many basic traditions… these remain unchanged. Even my friends seem largely the same. In 1980, when they were in their 20s, they all looked 45 years old. Now they are in their 50s, but they still look 45.
　　So when I returned to Fuzoku for my "second career" a few years ago, I wondered what I would find different. Like Vienna, much was unchanged. The building was still old and dirty. Many of the sights were unchanged, such as the green water in the swimming pool or the foreign language room, where you could look under a table and not be surprised to find a dead body from nine years earlier.
　　What had changed in Fuzoku and SHAB? Here is a quick list off the top of my head.

1. FUJIWARA SENSEI. Remember my basketball friends from Vienna who never changed? This is Mr. Fujiwara! 1991 or 2006, he is defying physics.
2. HAKOMORI SENSEI. He wasn't at Fuzoku my first time. The second time, he was. SHAB started getting many exotic snacks, thanks to him.
3. KAZ. I thought he might be a spy for Gakushuin at first, but now I am certain that he is on our side. He was not at Fuzoku during my first stay, either.
4. ROY. One big changed had taken place: Roy had a wife! I had always thought it would be a SHAB student.
5. TACHIBANA SENSEI. He had gotten thinner and looked to be in much better shape. Yet he still ate a lot of pizza at the test recording sessions. Like Mr. Fujiwara, he, too, is defying physics.
6. TOSHIKO SENSEI. Many people in Vienna say, "We have to get rid of the slow streetcars and replace them with fast subways." She sent me plans by fax in the early 1990s. In 2006, she still does. Toshiko is our streetcar.
7. UMABA SENSEI. Remarkably, his jokes had not changed at all. They were just as funny as the first time I'd been there. This is not defying physics, but it defies something.
8. MR. SUGAI. I checked under the tables, but I have not found him. I am glad to know that he is happy and largely unchanged.
9. ME. Just look at the pictures in the album from the early 1990s, and then look at me now. Who was that young, thin guy in the early 1990s?
10. MY PHONE NUMBER & ADDRESS. In 2002, my message saying welcome to Patrick was still on the chalkboard. I had written it six years before.
11. THE BEER FROM OKINAWA. I was delighted to find a large bottle of beer from Okinawa in the refrigerator. I looked forward to drinking it. Then one day I secretly examined the date of expiration. 1999.
12. THE TT LESSONS. I still enjoy the lessons a lot and look forward to doing them. And like my first visit to Fuzoku, the students look forward to the class ending.
13. SADDAM HUSSEIN. People said that he was on trial in Baghdad, but I found that he had secretly moved to Tokyo and become the security guard at the entrance to the school. What's more, he often practices German with me. It reminded me that SHABUKUST had started as a German club, and grown out of those lessons. As for the guy on trial in Baghdad, he must be an imposter.
14. BUSH. When SHAB began, an incredibly dangerous lunatic named Bush was our president. Years later... it is still Bush. WHAT is going on??????? This is something that DEFINITELY should have changed.
15. SHAB SUMMER TRIP. In the 1990s, some black guys almost beat me up during a SHAB trip to the beach during the summer. In 2006, nobody tried to do that during our beach trip.
16. SNACK KINGS IN SHAB. Several students claimed to eat too many snacks at SHAB, or said that they simply showed up and took them. "How could one club have so many Snack Kings," I wondered. Who is SHAB's true Snack King?
17. SHAB LAYOUT. I returned to find SHAB being made on the computer. As I had been the first typist on a giant word processor, this really seemed like progress.
18. STYLE OF EDITING. When I come home exhausted from university, I open my computer files at midnight…. And the SHAB articles START coming in! Sometimes, I switch my computer off at 1:30 a.m. and go to bed. When I awaken, I'll find one or two SHAB manuscripts waiting for me. I wonder, "When do these students ever sleep?" There may be many Snack Kings, but there are several Draculas among you as well.
19. SHAB CONTENT. It was great 15 years ago, and remarkably, it continues to be fantastic. I look forward to reading the articles so much every month, and still proof them very lightly because they are too good to mess with.
20. SHAB STUDENTS. How could this club keep getting such nice, talented, hard working, delightful, creative, funny people year after year?
　　That point is the most like Vienna. We may worry from year to year about low numbers in SHAB, but we should be thankful for the quality of the members. I have had such a good time working with the students for the past 15 years; I know that the next 15 years will be just as wonderful. Two things will surely outlast me: Vienna, and SHAB.

　　Thanks so, so much for the good work and the memories.

　　Robert JUPPE

Let's Look Back at SHABUKUST's 15 Years

　　I was the only 102nd student that joined SHABUKUST. In a way, it was natural since the first issue of SHABUKUST, edited by just two 101st students (Yayoi and Hidemi), came out when I was a first year student, and SHABUKUST was not even a circle then. Only a few students even took notice of its existence in school. With us three regular members (with two others, Akiyama and Chiko, helping us from time to time), SHABUKUST had just two pages, a piece of paper front and back. Yayoi and Hidemi were responsible for the interview article and the "Volley, Counter-volley" section, I wrote the feature articles, and Roy and Bob helped us a great deal in the publishing part. It was far from what it is now, but we made every effort to make every issue the best we could. Most of all, we had a lot of fun planning, editing, talking and eating (Mr. Ito's chocolate chip cookies), and the whole memory is my greatest treasure for me from my high school days.

　　102-5 Tomoko WADA

　　The Year 104 was quite unique in a sense that, unlike most of the other years, we only had two guys including myself, no girls at all. The name of the other guy is Ryo, whom I admire a lot for his talents in various areas -- yet the other thing is he was an extremely quiet guy. Despite the fact he speaks several languages fluently, he seldom opens his mouth. In fact, two of us have totally opposite characters. He is always calm and works silently on whatever is in front of him whereas I am always talkative and outgoing, and maybe easygoing as well...

　　At one time, I interviewed Teshima-sensei, who was one of our English teachers at that time, to write an article about him. When I listened to the recording of the 30-minute conversation after going back home that night, I was so shocked -- all I heard was the voice of myself! I just kept talking through the entire interview without letting Teshima-sensei talk!! I'm pretty sure that our year wouldn't have been able to do anything without Ryo… For me, SHABUKUST was literally an OSHABERI place, and probably because of that, the club is one of the best memories from my high-school years.

　　104-4 Kohei NODA

　　A small cozy room, confectioneries and Scrabble are what I remembered and liked about SHABUKUST. Our teachers were always friendly and although they never enforced studying or speaking of English, they provided us with comfortable environment and nurtured our interest in the language through various methods. There were also a lot of fun activities, such as the Christmas party at Juppe's house and the visit to NHK English Broadcast Radio Station.

　　Looking back on my school days, I have realized that not only writing articles but also taking actions to collect information such as reading books, interviewing people, and visiting new places were important. Through the activity, we were taught essential philosophy that can be applied even now in many aspects of life or work.

　　SHABUKUST was made up of people who had different characteristics and by reading each other's article it helped us to broaden our horizons and encouraged us to look at things from a different perspective.

　　This is a great club that all our members are very proud to be a part of. Congratulations on the 15th anniversary and we sincerely appreciate all efforts of teachers and the anniversary committee members in publishing this special edition!

　　106-3 Nao KAWAKAMI

　　It was in the 7th year of SHABUKUST that we, the 108th members, entered Fuzoku and joined SHABUKUST. And now, we are celebrating the 15th anniversary... Wow, time flies!
　　The 108th members consisted of great movie & book reviewers, travel reporters, puzzle makers, and a cartoonist (the mother of beloved "Bey Dam"). We all loved to meet at the "Eigo-ka" room and had chats with each other over sweets and snacks (don't say that we only loved eating!). I guess it was pretty tough to choose snacks for us because the 108th chief editor was picky and didn't like chocolate...

Thank you soooooo much for:
The establishers and our seniors, who formed the basis of SHABUKUST;
The 108th members, who worked with me and impressed me with interesting articles;
Our juniors, who have taken over SHABUKUST and have been developing it;
And last but not least, Roy, Bob, and many other teachers who have always provided us with warm support.

　　Happy 15th Anniversary!!

　　108-2 Chie OIKAWA

SHABKUST -- your stage

　　When I was in high school, English was what to study. But now, it is what to use to get information, communicate with people, or enjoy movies and songs.

　　Come to think of it, SHABUKUST was the only place for me to use English as a tool. I wrote English sentences to explain my opinions or feelings. Through doing this, sometime I met the right phrase that expressed exactly what I want to say. That was amazing and happy experience.

　　Needless to say, SHABUKUST is the time to enjoy English. What's more, I also would like you to enjoy express yourself and exchange your feelings with others.

　　109-4 Atsumi TSUJI

　　Congratulations on SHABUKUST's 15th Anniversary!! I'm glad to hear that. I was the editor-in-chief from 2000 to 2001, the 10th anniversary year of the club. Now I'd like to talk about what SHABUKUST was like in those days.

the Exhibition in the School Festival TOIN-SAI
　　In autumn of the year 2000, we took part in our school festival in celebration of the club's 10th birthday. We displayed back issues and let them be taken home by all people. Many junior high school students, who were not Fuzoku-sei, took them.

Layouts on Computer
　　If I remember right, from these years, the way of doing the newspaper-layout changed. The new one was not cutting & pasting of paper but arranging issues on computer digitally. I wonder if this way is still used now.

Once a Week Activity in the English Room
　　This was cheerful time for SHABUKUST members, of course. We gathered with our lunch boxes, talked about every month's issue or many other things with Monica, who taught Tsukuba students English and gave SHABUKUST members advice.
　　......Above all, every member wrote about what they wanted when they wanted as they liked. I think this was the COLOR of SHABUKUST then.

　　110-5 Mika SHIMAZAKI

　　Congratulations on the 15th year anniversary of SHABUKUST!! I was surprised to hear the news because I didn't think it has been more than 5 years since we celebrated our 10th year anniversary. It's great work to keep publishing every month for more than 15 years.
　　When we, the 111th, were in SHABUKUST, we wrote many kinds of articles such as interviews with Monica, who supported us in SHABUKUST, reports on school events, puzzles and so on. Above all, one of the most interesting articles I think is the 10th year anniversary special article "Our SHABUKUST." This article was a "Relay Essay" which means we made it by answering the question from the former person and asking the next person another question. Every member in SHABUKUST took part in the essay. So you will find what we were doing and thinking in SHABUKUST at that time in it. If you are interested in this, please read the 106th issue, Thursday, September 13, 2001.
　　Thinking of the days in SHABUKUST, publishing every month was so hard but I got many precious experiences by writing in English, speaking in English, chatting with friends, and so on. I hope many members in SHABUKUST enjoy belonging to SHABUKUST!!

　　111-6 Mai KATAKURA

　　Almost all of the former members of SHABUKUST were movie-lovers, and so we, the members of 112th, were. We wrote a lot of articles about movies, and saw three movies together.
　　One was "STAR WARS episode I," which we went to see on a day in summer vacation. Though some of us were ignorant about the STAR WARS series, everyone enjoyed its beautiful, spectacular scenes filled with cutting-edge computer graphics.
　　Another is a movie we saw at our Christmas party (sorry, I forgot the title of it), recommended by Bob. It was quite old and monochromatic, but its storyline was still beautiful. It was the most heart-warming Christmas movie I have ever seen.
　　The last, and the most impressive one is "Chomsky 9.11." We assembled a lot of students which included many non-SHABUKUST members, and showed it in the physics laboratory. It was very lucky for us to have a chance to deliberate 9.11 when most people were for the war of vengeance.

　　Congratulations on the 15th anniversary of SHABUKUST!! Incumbent members, I hope you will enjoy music, books, movies, and sweets

　　112-3 Masahiko ITO

Funny episodes in SHABUKUST -- from the questionnaire

- We had a wonderful time when we visited Bob's house and had a BBQ party. (Ms. Wada 102)
- When we have a lot of snacks at the club room, one guy always comes and eats almost all the snacks for himself. (Mr. Amemiya 114)
- We once played basketball with Bob. It was really exciting! (Mr. Amemiya 114)
- After preparing for the school festival, Mr. Hirai, Ms. Watanabe and I played Scrabble for about three hours without a break! Even after the game, there were so many letters of the alphabet in my head that whenever I saw some letters, I was unconsciously trying to make words. (Ms. Koizumi 114)
- Preparing for the Toin Festival was so hard, but we enjoyed writing articles and decorating the exhibition room. (Ms. Katakura 111)
- I once wrote an article about "Harry Potter." Then, Mr. Ito was also writing about it. Unexpectedly, SHABUKUST became a kind of special issue about "Harry Potter" that month. (Ms. Yanai 112)
- I used to be called Mr. Puzzle because I made many puzzles for SHABUKUST. When I walked into the English Teachers' Room wearing a white gown, Bob said, "You are Dr. Puzzle!" (Mr. Jimbo 112)
- I was called "Mr. Snacks"!! I always ate snacks when I was in SHABUKUST's room. (Mr. Miyazaki 109)
- One Thursday, when we were chatting as usual, one of the members, Nana-chan, said to Roy, "Oi!" Roy looked very surprised. In the 5th period on that day, we had English class. What happened to Nana-chan in class? (Mr. Ota 114)
- One day, when I was attending a meeting of SHABUKUST over chips, I suddenly came up with a good way of eating chips in a paper cylinder. Many of the people there admitted that it was a good way. However, I was to become known as… a potechi man. (Mr. Wakakuwa 114)
- It was a great experience understanding how a foreign teacher at a Japanese high school viewed things. (Mr. Noguchi 111)
- Roy got married in the year I graduated from Tsukuba High School. (Ms. Matsumura 109)
- Mr. Miyazaki was a really busy man who joined many clubs and committees. He came to SHABUKUST meeting every Thursday, but it was a brief stop… for snacks! Still, he is called "Snack King." (Ms. Tsuji 109)
- Excursion to Kamakura. Beautiful sea and mountains, but still the biggest memory is the Murasakiimo ice cream we all bought near the Tsurugaoka-Hachimangu. (Mr. Noda 104)

SHABUKUST in 2006

　　Hello, this is Hanako Okamoto. In this anniversary paper, SHABUKUST's old editors are looking back and telling everyone about their high school days. So I, the editor at the present time, would like to talk about SHABUKUST at present.
　　Now there are seven members in SHABUKUST: one 3rd grade student (the last editor), six 2nd grade students, and one 1st grade student. Five of the members belong to other sports club or to the ESS.
　　On Tuesday after school and on Thursday during the lunch break, we gather in the English staff room. On Tuesday afternoon, we can meet Bob, and talk about many kinds of things. But this year, Mr. Yamamoto (Roy) became a 1st grade homeroom teacher, and first grade homeroom teachers have meetings every Tuesday, so we cannot talk with him on Tuesday. On Thursday we can meet him and take lunch with him. Whenever we gather, we play SCRABBLE more than talk.
　　The first or second week's Tuesday or Thursday we decide the deadline of that month's SHABUKUST. Usually the deadline will be the Tuesday that is nearest to the 15th of each month. Then the entire membership will think about ideas that we should write about. There are only seven members, but our 3rd grade student is too busy to write articles, so he doesn't have to write any, and one of the 2nd grade students may have written many articles. He might save them but we have almost never met him in the English staff room, so every month we forget to ask him to give us the articles. Therefore, the five of us have to write articles every month.
　　We all think writing articles is much easier than thinking up ideas for them. On the last weekend before the deadline, or on Monday night, we will be busy working out the idea, writing the article, and then sending it to Bob by e-mail. So we should ask him on the last Tuesday whether he can check our articles or not, but sometimes we forget to do so and send our articles very late on Monday night. Therefore, Bob sometimes does not know that we sent articles until he checks the e-mail on Tuesday morning. At the same time, we, the SHUBUKUST members, are checking our e-mail while preparing to go to school. Then we might find out that Bob hasn't checked our articles, so we print them out. After the 2nd or 3rd period classes have finished, we run to the English staff room, and hand in the article to Bob and beg him to check the article. If we can do it all right, we make the deadline safely. It is because the rule is that until our deadline, we have the article that is already checked by Bob in our hand. However, it will not be on an FD, so it is OK if we make the FD and hand it in as soon as possible.
　　But some of the members are very busy with their other clubs or something else. So sometimes some of the members haven't finished writing articles by the deadline. Normally if a 2nd grade member forgets the deadline, she has to do that month's SHABUKUST editing. I think maybe it is a little different from the way in which SHABUKUST members edited the paper in other years. It is very good for us because if one of the members cannot edit, the other members can do it instead, and the next time they can swap their turn with another.
　　Waiting for the late articles, we start to edit it. It is finished sometimes that Friday or on Sunday of the next week. So when we share an article, I do not want to know why but maybe I know why, the article is shared on the last day of the month. But it is always with small amount of fatigue and a big sense of accomplishment.

　　116-3 Hanako OKAMOTO

Book of the Month Extra

　　Often the Japanese culture of manga is mixed up with that of otaku. Otaku is a generic term used to refer to people who are intent on something and do not have general intelligence. The verbiage is still used to talk about such kind of people, but particularly people who love characters that live in two dimensions.
　　However, I believe the use of this word has changed again. The word otaku is now used for people who know something that other people do not know. What kind of example may I give you? Well, you are talking with your friend, whom you believe is a non-otaku person, and if that person suddenly says, "Do you know about the manga xxx?" and if you, and all of your classmates, did not know that manga, you might recognize him as an otaku. Also you may think the manga he talked about is one of the otaku manga, and you would never try reading that. I think it is a very sad thing. At least you must try, mustn't you? You can't talk about anything before you try that.
　　Here, I have written four reviews of Japanese manga, and all of them are, I believe, some of the greatest pieces. I did not write about excessively famous manga such as Deathnote, but I think these are much more interesting than some manga that are very popular and everyone knows about. Some of them are perhaps infamous manga, and some of them are still serialised. Do not be angry if you find one of these very interesting and realised that there are no more sequels available yet.

Heaven's Door in the Battlefield on G-Line (original title: G-Senjou Heaven's Door)
(By Yowoko Nihonbashi)
　　Machizo Sakaida hates his father, who is a manga creator. One day, Machizo meets a boy called Tetsuo, who wants to be a manga creator and loves the manga produced by Machizo's father. First, Machizo has an ingrained dislike of Tetsuo and his manga, but after he sees what Tetsuo has created in the past, he starts to realize that Tetsuo is a real genius.
This story is not so long, but after you finish it you will surely know you don't need to add anything. It's a perfect piece and I believe this manga is one of the greatest in the past 20 years.

Planets
(By Makoto Yukimura)
　　A sapling Hachimaki (Hachirota Hoshino) is a debris-pickupper (Debris-ya in Japanese). A debris-pickupper is a person who picks up debris, rubbish of spaceships or artificial satellites that are left in outer space. He has a dream to have his own spaceship, and to make that dream come true, he applies for a crew for the first spaceship that goes to Jupiter. Through his challenge, Hachimaki loses humanity, and starts to think that to achieve his goal is the most important thing and he does not need anything.
　　Many manga use the universe as a background, but none of them had a main character like this. This is not a STARWARS-like story. It is based on Hachimaki and his crew, but other characters are also impressive and create a picture of a brilliant human drama.

Heugemono (Hyougemono)
(By Yamada Yoshihiro)
　　It takes place in the Azuchi-Momoyama era. There is a man who loves Tya-no-yu (Sado of today). His name is Sasuke Furuta, who is a military chieftain in Nobunaga's army. He has a big problem working as a commander. He loves Tya-no-yu's materials too much. He lets an enemy escape because the enemy gives him a brilliant tea bowl. He searches for a nice tea pot in the battlefield after the battle is over. He becomes a follower of Sen-no-Soueki (Sen-no-Rikyu), and gets into the world of Tya-no-yu deeper and deeper.
　　Had anyone imagined a manga like this? Sado seems to be an unsuitable theme for manga, but by the creator's talent you can enjoy the story without any extra knowledge of Sado. The main character, Sasuke Huruta, is quite greedy but very comical. Thanks to his character, the story does not become very serious and can be read without circumstance.

JOJO's Bizzare Adventure (JOJO-no-kimyo-na-bouken)
(By Araki Hirohiko)
　　There once was an ethnic group called the Aztecs. In the group, there was a tribe who used stone masks for cults. You wear the mask, you put a little blood on it, and you will be a vampire. The mask was lost for hundreds of years and in the 1880's, the mask was in England, in the house of Lord George Joestar. He had a son called Jonathan, whose nickname was JOJO. One day, a boy called Dio Brando comes to Joestar's and becomes Jonathan's brother in law. He is a son of Dario Brando, who helped George and Jonathan's lives years ago. Dio is an energetic but wily boy, and he plans to kill George to get his assets. When Jonathan finds out about his plan and accuses Dio, Dio puts on the stone mask hung on the wall. He knew that the mask could turn somebody into a vampire. He kills George, and with his blood, he becomes a vampire. This is the beginning of a war between Dio and banu Joester…
　　89 volumes have been published already, and the story hasn't finished yet. JOJO is divided into seven parts and each has a different main character. These characters are all related to Joester's family (who all have the nickname JOJO), and they fight against their own enemies. The interesting thing is that all the enemies have their reasons to fight, and some of them really believe that they are doing the right thing. However, JOJO defines them as evil, because they use people as footstools for their purposes.
　　JOJO7s Bizarre Adventure is also known for its originality. The way of drawing, for example, is very original. Words are original (ex. "URRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYY," as a cry of a vampire, "ORAORAORAORAORAORA…," a shout of a third and sixth JOJO), and onomatopoeia is also original (ex. "Zukyuuunn", the sound of kissing). The world of JOJO is too strong and at first you hesitate to try, but after you read it, you'll come to love this piece very much.

　　These are all my reviews. Are you interested in reading these manga? Then, please go to your friends and ask them if they have one of these. If someone has one, borrow it. If they don't, go and buy it immediately. What are you waiting for? Run, now!
　　And enjoy.

　　11x-x Shallowfield