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