Do they have cats in their stores?

The New York Times Weekly Review:

... there is one thing that many owners and employees say they cannot do without: cats. And it goes beyond cuddly companionship. These cats are workers, tireless, and enthusiastic hunters of unwanted vermin, and they typically do a far better job than exterminators and poisons.

I like cats. I would feel uncomfortable, though, if I watched them walking on food items. Anyway, this article introduces a website about store-dwelling cats: http://workingclasscats.com/

Doraemon is a cat-shaped robot, although it looks like a racoon dog.

Kumiko Aso gets hitched.

I read the news that Kumiko Aso will get married. This new didn't surprise me, but it made me think that a lot of years has passed since she started out appearing in the media. I remember she was on a commercial of "Katei Kyoushi no Trai (Try tutor recruiting agency)." That was a long long time ago.

Japanese people eat chicken.

I went to KFC to get some chicken. That's what most Japanese people do. I like chicken, so it's not too bad. However, I really miss stuffing. Maybe I will go to some internatinal market to get stuffing and cook it at home.

Merry Christmas!

Don't wanna go to the hospital...

One of my colleagues has been away from work for a couple of days. Maybe he has the flu. But, he doesn't go to the hospital. Why? It isn't because he doesn't have any insurance here in Japan. According to my collague, people never go to the hospital unless it is very serious.

"I am a big boy. I can handle it."

I listened to two of my coworkers talking. One, an American guy, asked the other, a Japanese woman, the direction to the place to visit. She answered, but he wasn't satisfied with his explanation. And then, he said, "I am a big boy. I can handle it."

It cracked me up because he called himself a boy, which originally means a "male child." I don't know whether it would sound to native speakers, but "I am a big boy. I can handle it" should be used by a 10-year-old school boy who wants to go somewhere without his parent's protection.

Are you young?

One of my American colleagues wondered why most of Japanese teenagers are afraid of becoming their 20s. He said, "20 is very young," and then "25 is young." "30 is still young," and then, "maybe 35 is still young."

I don't know if you can call an 35 year old person a youngster. But, basically I agree with him. Japanese people think about their ages too seriously and it doesn't make them happy so far.

Of course, she is very young.

Probably, most Japanese think that the best time in their life must be when they are high school or college students. In the other parts of the world, people would think 20s and 30s is the best.

She is young without a doubt as well.

Take a note!

Taking a note is very important when you are working. If you don't do that, you have to ask the same questions of your coworkers over and over. And you ought to write it down in a notebook rather than scratch paper. If you try to do this easy thing at your workplace, you may be much more productive than you are now.

Why am I writing a thing like this? An old guy sitting in front of me doesn't understand this. And he seems to have difficulty doing some works properly. His boss asked him to take a note, but he doesn't. I often sigh.

Movie Day!

Yesterday was a movie day, which you can watch one with only 1000 yen (usu. 1800 yen). Then, my friend and I went to watch movies. We watched TSUBAKI SANJURO and Beowulf.

The former wasn't that good. It is a remake of an old movie, which I haven't seen, but the story was too simple and kind of boring. If you are a big fan of Yuji Oda, though, you should see this.

Beowulf, the latter one directed by Robert Zemeckis, was pretty good. This is IMDB's plot:

The warrior Beowulf must fight and defeat the monster Grendel who is terrorizing towns, and later, Grendel's mother, who begins killing out of revenge.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/

But, what you can learn from this movie is the supidity of the heroes, including Beowulf, who have made a lot of mistakes because of desires. Grendel's mother must be the symbol of satan but who wants her is human. The way this discrepancy is described is the best part of this movie.

http://www.beowulfmovie.com/

This movie is based on Neil Gaiman's novel. Neial Gaiman is a best-selling author. One of my friends in the United States recommed me to read his novels. Although I'm busy reading other stuffs, I want to read some of them soon.

Hawkins who isn't a scientist...

I went to ABC Mart at Shinjuku this afternoon to get a new pair of business shoes. I was shocked that everything was so expensive... But, I found some slightly damaged items were sold in a particular corner. "I don't care," I said to myself. I got one pair. It wasn't too bad and it was much cheaper.

By the way, I didn't know "G. T. Hawkins" is a British brand. I might be a little bit too far away from what's in.

A man who cannot get married will get married.

The Sankei Shimbun reported that Hiroshi Abe would get hitched with a 28-year-old office worker. He became very popular because of the TV drama named "A man who cannot get married." But, he will get married.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20071120-00000946-san-ent

Already the fourth? I still haven't seen the other three...

I remember my previous roomie recommending this series. But, I have been busy to do other stuffs. I got suprised that they made already four. I gotta see the other three first.

The B-word that rhymes with "witch"?

According to CNN, there's an argument about the fact that John McCain said "an exccelent question" responding to a woman who called Hillary Clinton "b*tch." I am not interested in talking with this issue politically. However, I wondered how many times the anchorman said "the B-word that rhymes with 'witch.'" This phrase really caught my attention.

Few Japanese people would concern much about rhyme. However, it plays a really important role in the English language. Phonics is somewhat relevant to it. And kids will play with it. Maybe one of the reasons few Japanese people hardly master native-language fluency in English might be that they don't try to think it is important.

What's in?

It seems like Yui Aragaki is gaining more and more popularity. But, I wonder why her nickname is "Gakkie," which isn't as easy to pronounce as her first name.

I'll take a nap 'coz that's the way of my life.

Sometimes I wonder why every is in faste so badly. And to be worse, I feel myself in haste at times. I want to be able to say that life is just a waste of time, relaxing and doing nothing. But, it doesn't seem to happen to me so soon. I envy Nobita.

Are the winners happy?

I just found this quote on today's International Herald Tribune:

"I enjoy sitting on nice beaches and hanging out with my girlfriend and playing with my dog, but that's three hours a day. What about the remaing 18 hours I'm awake?"

This is a word of Max Levchin who sold Paypal and made a fortune. Sleeping 3 hours a day? Well, I choose to be poor and have more free time. That's why I'm a loser, maybe.

Oops... I made a mistake.

I was asked by somebody who is to write a speech on the future of Japan's nuke energy. She wanted me to help me write in Japanese. But, I was so stupid that I tried to answer the questions given to her. Anyway, this is going to be my humble opinions about this issue.

1) What is your opinion regarding environmental problems and nuclear power?

On the other day, Albert Gore, who wrote "An Inconvenient Truth," got a novel prize. It means that more and more people pay attention to environmental problems and their focus are fixed on reduction of CO2.Then, fossil energy is more and more avoided because it may produce greenhouse effect. Instead, people may rely on Nuclear Power more.

2) What is the latest status of nuclear power policy in your country?

A couple of incidents happened. So, people doubt the security of nuclear power stations in Japan. They are afraid that nuclear power can be dangerous. Also, they wonder whether present nuclear power stations in Japan are located in the best places or not.

3) What is your opinion of the current nuclear power policy in Japan and do you have any recommendations?

To tell the truth, I don't know much about nuclear power policy in Japan. Part of the reasons is because both the government and media didn't tell us enough information with clear explanation. Those who object to have a nuclear station just hold a demo against it. Most Japanese people don't know much about the merits and defects of nuclear power.

Dorothy is to American lechers what girls in sailor to Japanese lechers!?

According to the Internet, one of the popular Halloween costumes is Dorothy cosutumes. I like the movie "the Wizard of Oz" to some extent. But I still wonder why adults are so obsessed with its main character. Maybe some American guys fantasize about being with Dorothy like some of the Japanese guys fantasize about being with high school girls in sailor blouses.

A very weird dream

I just had a dream, which was too real. In the dream, I see one of my friends who I haven't met for a while. We talk about what we are doing each other. And then, I see her filing newspaper articles. They're from the Mainich Shimbun. She says that she has keeping a frontpage article and her translation of it every day for a while, and that she is preparing for a translation job. I come to know that I haven't done anything that requires some consistent efforts and I feel ashamed...

Rigth after that, I woke up. But, I feel very odd because those kind of things often happend to my life. It might be my homework God assigned me.

It is not easy to lie in English.

I went to Tokyo American Center yesterday to listen to the speech by Christopher F. Wurzel, Enonomic Policy Unit Chief, US Embassy. I wasn't interested in the topic that much. But, joining the speech was free and it was a nice opportunity to listen to educated American's speech.

Anyway, he discussed global economy. He insists that Japan needs to be open for global market, citing the growth of UK economy and criticizing protectionalism.

I was very impressed when he said "globalization did seem to increase income gap between highest and lowest." And I thought that it was hard to hide your weekness when you discuss English. In Japanese debates, you don't have to answer any questions about the weakness of your opinions.

http://japan.usembassy.gov/j/irc/ircj-kisokoza35.html

Court Name or Code Name?

Call her "Shin"? No, I never wanna do that. She should be called "Takahashi."

Recently, I don't like to watch volleyball games on TV. Why? Because Japan's national team is so gross that I don't feel like supporting them, especially women's. I'm not saying that they are too weak or something like that. However, they are behaving like Morning Musume, Japan's top idol group. Each member of them has her "Court Name," which is really weird.

Did he live up to your expectation?

Yesterday, the Red Sox captured the American League pennant and a trip to the World Series.

As you know, Japanese media praised Daisuke Matsuzawa.

Matsuzaka gets his revenge at the moment of truth.
Matsuzaka produces results at the crucial moment.

But, I think that Hideki Okajima is to be appreciated. He came in to pitch relief at the sixth and got away with the crisis in the 7th.

Better than anybody else

I happend to find this column in the newspaper, which I bought for classified ads. This would be a good reading text for English learners in Japan. It is written in good English and tells you about some characters of American people. I believe that EFL learners ought to read authentic materials like this. They tend to read only passages in workbooks for college entrance exams or the TOEIC test.

Ambitious to a Fault
By Robert J. Samuelson

Thursday, October 18, 2007; A25

A great strength of American society is the drive to succeed -- well, not just to succeed but to do better than anyone else; to be a star, a tycoon, an authority, a power, a celebrity or a leader; to be admired, respected, feared or obeyed more than your peers. It is the belief in these possibilities that motivates countless Americans to strive for excellence, to work hard, and to
search for new discoveries and inventions. As for one of the great weaknesses of American society, see all of the above.

It is an enduring paradox of the American condition. There is a point at which ambition and the determination to succeed, which generally serve us well, turn destructive, corrupting and dishonest. Success becomes its own god. Winning is what matters; the methods or consequences count little or not at all.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702117.html?sub=new

Natsumi Abe's new song? Well, that doesn't interest me.

I was a little bit perplexed by the news that Natsumi Abe releases her new song. She just showed up in the media when she was caught in a car accident, which seems to have been her fault. I thought that she would back out for a while until her public image that went bad fade out as other celebrities often do.


Natsumi Abe belonged to Morning Musume a long, long time ago.

However, celebs in the United States don't do such a thing as you know. Britney Spears is producing her latest song while trying to get parental rights and causing several incidents.


She sings, "gimme, gimme, gimme...," and not a few people wants to say something about her recent looks. She doesn't fade away from public. This comment might be kind of corny, but it seems difficult to keep getting public attention any way.

To tell the truth, I have another question about Abe's producing new song. How come she sings despite the fact that she's not a good singer. I know whether or not a female singer can be popular depends on her appearance rather than her singing skills. In her case, she could be a TV personality because she is already popular as an ex-member of Morning Musume.

She is getting popular because she is pretty. She also has good voice and her songs aren't bad, though.

Mop Girl cannot beat Tru Calling.

Yesterday I watched the drama named Mop Girl and came to know that the drama took some ideas from Tru Calling, which is one of my favorite drams. Although Mop Girl is a comedy, several scenes are quite similar to those of Tru Calling. For instance, Mop Girl's female main character is working at a funeral home, while Tru, the main character in Tru Calling, is working at a morgue. Anyway, I don't think that I will watch Mop Girl. Tru Calling gives me a very philosophical question about whether or not man has a right to change others' destinies, but Mop Girl doesn't make me think about such a profound question.

Naruse vs Darvish

I can't take much time to update this blog site just because I have to read a book relevant to my work and my thoughts are occupied with other things such as baseball.

Today, the final game of the Climax Series of Pacific League is held. Since two of the best pitchers in Japan will be starters, it will be a good game, I guess.

Are you wearing a butt?

It seems like shoes shaped like boots named "booty " are in fashion. But, It sound odd to me. As you know, "booty" is a slang item that means "ass" or "butt." I wonder whether or not this type of shoes are called "booty" in English-speaking countries.

Well, I am a guy who's not interested in fashion items. So, probably I shouldn't talk about it too much.

The French are a tolerant people.

It is said that truth is stranger than fiction. Sometimes truth is funnier than fiction, I guess. I read an article about Sarkozy, President of France, today. And this is very impressive.

The French are a tolerant people. Their presidents have had mistresses and even fathered illegitimate children and life went on. But divorce? How . . . conventional. How . . . bourgeois. How . . . unconventional, actually.

This part tells you about French people. Plus, the first sentence might be difficult for English learners in Japan.

People is plural when it refers to human beings in general or to many indivisual human beings together; but when people refers to a particular racial, ethnic, or national group, it's singular, and the plural is peoples. (Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of American English)

English teachers in Japan often give their students this example:

- The Japanese are a hard-working people.

Let's get back to Sarkozy and his wife. How they have been since they met each other is described below:

Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz, a onetime political aide, was married and had two small children when the two fell in love in 1987. Nicolas Sarkozy, then mayor of a Paris suburb, was also married with two children and assionate about politics. They moved in together, but it took several years of divorce wrangling for Sarkozy before they were able to marry in 1996. A few years later, after he became interior minister, he set her up in the office next to his as an aide-de-camp.

But in 2005, she ran away with another man to New York for eight months. While she was gone, he took up with another woman only to dump her to lure Cecilia back.

One more ESL stuff. Japanese people tend to think that "in" is the only preposition that comes after "absorbed" because they have been required to memorize "be absorbed in" as an idiom. However, in this article, we can find "by."

"She saw him as completely absorbed by politics, unbearable to live with," Clerc said, "and I think she wanted more."

It often happens that learners' choices of prepositions will be restricted by the instruction they have had before, especially when "be + past participle + preposition." I call this "The rule of 'be surprised at.'"

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sarkozy13oct13,1,7855575,print.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=2&cset=true

Dental Care in the US -- "Some people can get it, and some people can't."

I read the article named "Boom Times for Dentists, but Not for Teeth" (Oct 11, The New York Times). This sentence makes me think about the gap between have and have-not in the US.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/business/11decay.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

For middle-class and wealthy Americans, straight white teeth are still a virtual birthright. And dentists say that a majority of people in this country receive high-quality care.

But many poor and lower-middle-class families do not receive adequate care, in part because most dentists want customers who can pay cash or have private insurance, and they do not accept Medicaid patients. As a result, publicly supported dental clinics have months-long waiting lists even for people who need major surgery for decayed teeth. At the pediatric clinic managed by the state-supported University of Florida dental school, for example, low-income children must wait six months for surgery.

One more quote from the same article for another purpose:

“Most dentists consider themselves to be in the business of dentistry rather than the practice of dentistry,” said Dr. David A. Nash, a professor of pediatric dentistry at the University of Kentucky.

This sentence would be a good example of "rather than" for English learners in Japan. High school students in Japan are often taught "not... so much as..." as a commonly used English phrase.

- He is not a manager so much as a salesman.

However, this phrase is not easy for Japanese. They often get confused where to put "a manager" and "a salesman." Therefore, I recommend that you use "rather than."

- He is a salesman rather than a manager.

Do you like to be monitered?

Being monitored doesn't sound good even for security. It reminds me of Orwell's 1984.

According to MSNBC.com:

Several U.S. auto insurers have begun offering in-car cameras or global positioning equipment to help parents monitor their teenagers’ driving behavior, hoping to reduce the alarming number of crashes involving young new motorists.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21225268/

Wal-Mart

A few years ago, some big foreign supermarket chains such as Carrefour and Wal-Mart were starting business in Japan or buy the stock of a Japanese supermarket. However, Wal-Mart seems declining. This news doesn't surprise me. When I lived in the states, most people bought meat at other supermarkets looking for freshness.

According to MSN:

- Talk back: Is Wal-Mart past its prime?

Today, though, Wal-Mart's influence over the retail universe is slipping. In fact, the industry's titan is scrambling to keep up with swifter rivals that are redefining the business all around it. It can still disrupt prices, as it did last year by cutting some generic prescriptions in the United States to $4. But success is no longer guaranteed.

Convenience, selection and quality

Rival retailers lured Americans away from Wal-Mart's low-price promise by offering greater convenience, more selection, higher quality or better service. Amid the country's growing affluence, Wal-Mart has struggled to overhaul its down-market, politically incorrect image while other discounters pitched themselves as more upscale and more palatable alternatives.

The Internet has changed shoppers' preferences and eroded the commanding influence Wal-Mart had over its suppliers. As a result, American shoppers are increasingly looking for qualities that Wal-Mart has trouble providing.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/TheEndOfTheWalMartEra.aspx?page=1

Aren't you annoying somebody at work?

Some of these habits can be applied to me. How about yourself?

By Mary Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com writer

10 Habits of Highly Annoying Co-Workers:

Habit No. 1: You make a daily call to your partner to "check in," which can last anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes and, depending on how you two are getting along these days, can result in either a nasty fight or the sweet murmurings of baby talk.

Habit No. 2: You just can't seem to make it to those early morning meetings on time. If only the wait at the Starbucks next door weren't so slow, you'd never have to ask your co-workers what you missed.

Habit No. 3: You almost always leave the office early "to beat traffic." You're positive that you have the worst commute of all your officemates.

Habit No. 4: You buy a huge gift basket for someone in the office without consulting any of your co-workers, and then tell everyone that they owe you $10 to chip in.

Habit No. 5: You borrow your neighbor's stapler without asking and only remember to return it when your neighbor complains that he or she can't find it.

Habit No. 6: You can't understand what the big deal is whenever you ask your co-workers for "a tiny favor." Don't they know how much work you have piling up? You talk about it all the time.

Habit No. 7: You've once again forgotten to take home and wash the container that has the remnants of your tuna salad lunch a few days ago.

Habit No. 8: You answer questions or reply to comments with "That's what she said."

Habit No. 9: You don't see the need to learn how to send a fax or fix a paper jam when there's always someone around to help you do it.

Habit No. 10: You play your favorite boy band CD on repeat. All day. Every day.

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1164&SiteId=cbmsnhp41164&sc_extcmp=JS_1164_home1&GT1=10466&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=abe45d5d019c42559feca2f243f1f7a3-245322541-JF-5

I am sure you don't want to have a coworker like her.

leggy actress? Sure she is.

I just learned a new word.

According to MSN Entertainment (Bolded and colored by outrageous 2007):

Cameron Diaz and Bradley Cooper must have really bonded over those "flirty messages" they were recently rumored to be sending to one another. According to the New York Post, the leggy actress, 35, and the easy-on-the-eyes B-lister, 32, just enjoyed a "romantic weekend" in New York.

http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/hotgossip/10-04-07_2

According to Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of American English:

If you describe someone, usually a woman as leggy, you mean that they have very long legs and usually that you find this attractive.

Coffee milk crazy

I like coffee. In the United States, most people drink only regular coffee. In Japan, however, people have canned coffee and packed coffee as well as regular coffee. So do I.

She doesn't drink canned coffee in the morning as Keisuke Kuwata does.

I have been having AGF’s Blendy Hikitate (freshly ground) Café au Lait, a plastic bottled one you can easily find at any convenience store. I’ve found some other good ones these days, though. I was fascinated by TOYOBEVERAGE’s KO:HI:KAN Sumibi Baisen (charcoal roast) Blend Coffee and AGF’s Maxim Caffè Latte Premium Taste.


I’m not a big fan of canned coffee. But, my favorite one is DYDO’s American Coffee, whose can is bigger than that of other canned coffee.

"American Coffee" is one of the English phrases Americans coming to Japan will learn in Japan. They feel that coffee most Japanese prefer is a bit too strong.

Japan for non-Japanese

I showed a vistor from the states around Tokyo today. I took her to Shibuya and Harajuku. She didn't seem to be interested in Japan's old stuffs (kabuki, sumo, shrine...) and very new stuffs (animé, costumes,...). Therefore, I felt difficulty showing her around. Even if you have a good command of English and you are Japanese, it is hard to teach others about Japan.

How Westerners view the case of Asashoryu

The phrase "Japanese spirits" sounds very stinky.

I don't like sumo. But, I was wondering how Westerners would think about the case of Asashoryu. I found an essay written by one of them. Basically, I agree with him.

According to the Japan Times:

Sunday, Sept. 30, 2007
Asashoryu fiasco illustrates incompetence of
sumo's leaders

Case closed?

Well, not quite like the JSA wanted.

Instead of a repentant yokozuna, it got a seriously depressed one who required medical treatment, resulting in days of more negative coverage of the sumo community.

It was another instance of the JSA's seriously backward ways.

The people who run the organization are old and antiquated in their thinking, and were more concerned with making an example out of Asashoryu, than taking into account the overall welfare of the sport.

Singer Gil Scott-Heron once said: "America loves to live in the past, even if it was only last week."

Well, it seems as if the JSA is still living in another century-- the 19th. The handling of Asashoryu's case illustrates this.

The Mongolian isn't the first 26-year-old who has done something unwise, and won't be the last, but it seems evident to me that he has been treated unfairly.

He most certainly has a different temperament than the foreign yokozuna (Akebono, Musashimaru) who came before him. So expecting him to act like they did is illogical.

Some people may not like that, but that's the way it is.

The prevailing opinion from the Japanese critics of Asashoryu centers around why he can't behave like the Japanese rikishi do.

But that is precisely the point ? Asashoryu is not Japanese. Expecting him to act Japanese is not realistic.

The punishment in this case clearly did not fit the alleged crime.

Back in December of 2000, maegashira Toki hit and killed a pedestrian while driving in Osaka. It was sad enough that somebody died as a result of his carelessness, but it didn't help matters that sumo wrestlers are prohibited from driving while still active.

Nevertheless, Toki, who is Japanese, was suspended for just one tournament for his negligence.

Seems like a bit of a double standard, doesn't it?

There will be those who say, "The yokozuna has to be held to a higher
standard."

I wonder what would have happened if Asashoryu's alleged transgression had been committed by a Japanese yokozuna?

That would be impossible now, because there hasn't been a Japanese yokozuna for more than 4 1/2 years, since Takanohana retired in January 2003.

Which brings us back to the JSA. Let's face it, folks, if sumo continues on its current course, it is on the road to oblivion.

The vacuum in leadership and vision in the organization is immense. Tickets sales and television ratings continue to decline for the six major tournaments held each year.

For years the official JSA Web site stated openly, almost proudly, "No English is spoken in our office."

Boy, that's really progressive, isn't it?

The J. League and Nippon Professional Baseball both have several staff who can speak English. But the sumo guys just don't get it.

What is even more worrisome is the lack of interest shown by the Japanese youth in sumo. It is often referred to as "Japan's national sport," but I don't think that is anywhere close to the truth now.

I will bet there are a lot of kids on the street who could not tell you the name of the two current yokozuna, but they could surely tell you who Ichiro and Hideki Matsui are.

Sumo still contains a great allure for those outside the country. It is synonymous with Japan and serves as a great ambassador for the nation.

But if the sumo elders don't get their act together quickly, the sport will continue on its downward spiral, which would be a real tragedy.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20070930jg.html

Why has the pro baseball become unpopular?

According to The Yomiuri Shimbun:

The Dragons fell two full games behind the Yomiuri Giants, whose magic number to clinch the Central League pennant dropped to two. The Giants are idle until their final home games of the regular season on Oct. 2 and 3.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/sports/20070929TDY24002.htm

Japanese pro baseball is getting less popular, although both the CL and PL are showing close games. Some people say that one of the reasons why Japanese pro baseball has become unpopular is that some superstars are playing in MLB. But, I don't think it's a main reason.

According to USA TODAY:

BOSTON (AP)-- The 12-year wait for the Boston Red Sox is over. At last,
they're the AL East champions.

Moments after the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 10-9 in 10 innings, completing Boston's clinch, Red Sox players popped champagne corks in their clubhouse while thousands of fans jumped up and down in nearly empty Fenway Park.

...Daisuke Matsuzaka had set up the celebration with eight strong innings against the Twins. He won for just the second time since early August and David Ortiz homered for the fourth time in seven games.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2007-09-28-red-sox-twins-clinch_N.htm

There's nothing you can call "perfect."

Nobody is perfect. And so is he.

According to the Japan Times:

At Yokohama Stadium, Yuki Yoshimura doubled home the winning run off ace closer Kyuji Fujikawa in the bottom of the 10th as the BayStars sent spiraling Hanshin to its sixth defeat in a row.

Shuichi Murata reached on a single to left with one out and after Fujikawa
struck out Takahiro Saeki, Yoshimura hit a full-count forkball off the right-hander to deep left for the "sayonara" victory.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20070926j1.html

http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/fc/hanshin_tigers/

Okada, the Tigers Manager, didn't accuse Fujikawa of being unable to keep the team win twice. Probably, he is right because Fujikawa has been used too frequently since the last three weeks. However, Okada shouldn't have accused the starters and batters, I think. Any member of the team knows too much about relying on the JFK and it can't be helped, you know. Okada's accusing words may freak the team out rather than motivating them.

language matters in Japan

As soon as I got up, I went out to buy the Japan Times. It's Sunday. Help Wanted Ads was on the paper. That's what most English-speaking jobseekers in Tokyo do. There was nothing interesting. But, it is not unusual. Today, the things are worse. The paper announced that the price of the Japan Times will be 180 yen (1.50$) per copy from the current 150 yen on October 1st and later, which let me down a bit.

Today's issue was good, though. There's some articles about language.

Japanese: A language in a state of flux

...one may use loanwords just to show off -- despite there being plenty of Japanese expressions to convey the same meaning -- the other may not understand a word rooted in another language. In other words, communication is being lost -- not in translation, but because of no translation.

This is very true.

...Unlike kanji, which are ideograms whose combinations can convey intricate nuances of meaning, katakana characters are phonograms, meaning they convey only the sound of a word -- though their Japanized pronunciations often bear little resemblance to those of the English originals. It's also not unusual for imported words to take on different meanings in Japanese, such as ridusu (derived from "reduce"), which in Japanese refers only to "reducing"-- in other words, cutting down-- the amount of garbage we create.

I just didn't know that to "reduce" means to "cut down" in Japanese. Probably, my Japanese isn't that good.

But, the best part of the article is this:

Perhaps the next prime minister of Japan can demonstrate linguistic, as well as political, leadership. Whoever that person is, he would have to do better than his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, who, despite his nationalist policies and his "Beautiful Japan" slogan, often sprinkled his speeches with katakana jargon.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070923x1.html

The same page contained a different article by the same author:

"The English alphabet seems to be preferred because katakana phrases are ubiquitous and so they no longer sound fresh," Ito said. "When you consider the size of English-language school chains, and the fact that so many Japanese are studying English, few people find it odd to find English around them any more."

As a result, some movie titles and newspaper headlines today include "the" and "in" between Japanese words, although the grammatical concept of articles and prepositions has never existed in Japanese, Ito said. "It is quite a big deal (if everybody starts using those words), because it means Japanese grammar is changing as well."

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070923x3.html

I have to admit that the current Japanese is influenced by English. However, that change has never contributed to Japanese people's English language skills.

Surprisingly, today's issue had another article about the Japanese language. The article below explains Japanese idioms that contain "stomach," referring to Takashi Saito's book. He is well-known, but he hasn't reached the level of being called a popular linguist, such as William Safire or Deborah Tannen, I think.

Linguists gutted by body-talk blight
Traditional expressions are dying out as thought patterns change


On this point, Saito says: " 'Hara ga dekite iru' refers to having a calm mind even in times of urgency ? meaning someone who is able to deal with any situation calmly." To put this in its cultural context, he explained: "In the past in Japan, training in Zen or the martial arts strengthened your spirit and allowed you to keep your presence of mind even in the face of death."

It seems like he wants to connect expressions with "stomach" with Japan's traditions. I suspect that few old Japanese had the spirits of Zen or the other martial arts. Also, there's still many phrases that contain "stomach" in modern Japanese.

For example, "hara ga suwatteiru" literally means "stomach is sitting." It means "emotionally stable."

Also, some English idioms contain the word "stomach" in them:

turn sb's stomach: to make sb upset or sick

have butterflies in my stomach: to get nervous

This point is said in this article too.

...However, Japanese do not own the copyright on this line of thinking. In English, too, there are various phrases that make use of this central part of
the body.

...In Japanese, many other terms using hara still exist. There is, for example, hara wo kimeru, literally meaning "decide in your stomach," which denotes that you have made a firm resolution. Then there's hara-guroi, literally meaning "black stomach," an adjectival phrase for someone who is evil-minded.

Are you obsessed with something?

I watched a movie named "the Commitments" (1991). This movie describes youngsters in Dublin who makes a band, which I think is good. I guess anyone who wants to be a artist, such as a musician, writer, and actor, has got a strong ego that irritates others. And if these people get together to accomplish one goal, there will be a lot of trouble. This movie reminds me of a group meeting of school paper editors I belonged to when I was a high school student. Although they were not artistic, most people in the group had strong egos and arguments. I just observed them and always wondered why they needed to be that excited.

Dubliners who engaged in making a soul band

Probably if you are like them, you don't know why I'm talking about now. Well, I couldn't be like them because I wasn't able to be absorbed in editing school papers, which didn't look that cool. But, at the same time, I envied them because I knew that it is a previledge of young people to get crazy about something, whatever it is. In a way, my youth was already gone even when I was in high school. That sucked.

You can't learn anything about your life from detective stories.

I finished reading Yusuke Higuchi's A Good-For-Nothing Fellow last night. Not bad. However, I didn't find myself obsessed with his novels as much as I used to be. I don't know why. Probably people around me would say it is because I has become too old. Yeah, people can't stop getting old and becoming old means giving up a lot that excites you.

Anyway, this book was based on his other book, which is written ten years ago. However, he changed the main character into one of the heroes he created, Sohei Yuzuki. Anyway, Yuzuki is kind of a girl who appears in the novels of Raymond Chandler, Micheal Z. Lewin, and so on.

I am a fan of detective stories, and I know that there's a kind of group of people who are fond of hard-boiled mysteries. I don't say that I hate to read those novels, but I don't want myself to be like heroes in those novels, which don't seem to be cool.

Gotta have some nookie!?

According to the Mainichi Daily News, Ai Iijima said:

"I was thinking the other day that ever since my life started, it has lacked sensuality," Shukan Asahi quotes Iijima posting on her blog. "I haven't got a boyfriend. I haven't even got a sex friend. Oh my god, I'm dying for a bit. I've just got to have some nooky."

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/face/news/20070831p2g00m0dm006000c.html

In this article, Iijima was called "sex camel." Anyway, I don't understand why her banal comment has become sensational or interesting. Although some people may have thought that she is very honest or brunt, she seems to be cleverer than they think. Probably she put the comment on her blog knowingly in order to get some public attention.

For ESL learners, "nookie," or "nooky" means sexual intercourse.

Spellcheck? Why is it necessary? Hmm... maybe you could avoid an accident like this...

Sometime we feel like this: "Spellcheck? It is a waste of time. Who cares?" However, sometimes missspelling will bring big trouble.

English Translation of a news article in Japan:

Misstyped for invitation letters regarding Emperor family members' visit: "bad emperor" for "bad weather"

Akita prefecture announced that a staff member was fired because of sending invitation letters with missspelling, and that the head of the department the staff belonged to was also reprimanded.

According to the department, what happened was because of misstyping and the staff was in such a letter and he didn't wait for check by his boss. He sent 181 invitation letters to people who would see them off before the Emperor and Empress left for Tokyo. Out of the 18l letters, 21 letters contained the phrase "bad emperor" instead of "bad weather."

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20070918-00000141-jij-soci

Japan's English education industry is in danger.

About ten days ago, I talked with a Japansee lady who's got an American husband and some children. She said that she want to have their children go to an "international school," where they are educated in the English language. And I am very surprised by the fact that they have got to pay more than 3,000,000 yen per year for tuition (probably, much more. She said that she would have to pay donation as well).

Not only international schools but also cram schools, which intend to teach practical tips to pass the entrance exams, are a booming market. Anyway, parents expect their children to have good education, although I think that their expectations are too much at times.

Compared with the two industries above, Japan's English teaching industry is in danger. Some Eikaiwa (English conversation) schools are closed and English teachers are losing their jobs.

Incompetent teachers need to give up teaching. However, it is kind of sad that some Japanese EFL teachers who acquired English language skills and teaching skills after a lot of time and efforts are losing their jobs and some people who acquired English just because they have studied at an international school is appreciated as a "bilingual and intelligent".

Japanese blog

Some of my Japanese friends told me that I should write in Japanese more often. However, I don't want to write Japanese on this blog site any more just because I've felt that the blog written in the two languages doesn't look beautiul. Therefore, I decide to have another blog site that I will write in Japanese.

http://outre2007.exblog.jp/

Furuta leaves the Swallows.

These two are really good. But, their team is...

Yakult Swallows reported on 17th that Fukuta will announce his resignation of the team both as a player and the manager. Despite the fact that there are some players with .300, including the leading hitter Norichika Aoki, and Greisinger who has been gaining the best wins, the team is at the bottom. So, it can't be helped, I think.

Furuta was thought to be a very intelligent player and a prospective manager. He is not doing a good job as a manager now. Probably, playing in the team is totally different than managing the team.

Actors and generations

I drank with my friend at Shinjuku last night. He said, "Juliette Binoche has become old." He also referred to Jodie Foster, who has been in the movies for ages. He might have wanted to mention that time goes so fast.

Juliette Binoche was in "Trois Couleurs (Three Colors)" trilogy (1993/1994)

Actually, I've never felt that I belong to any particular generation. So, I don't have any pop culture that makes me think about my age. I like many actors and books that are generally thought to represent an era.
I know that Jodie Foster is a very famous actor. But, I don't know which movie is thought to be the one.

Hayden Panettiere in "Heroes" is just eighteen. Also, Michelle Trachten berg in "Ice Princess" is a young and prospective actor.

Even so, it must be true that more and more young talented actors are taking positions of older actors. I think that you don't have to think about actors' ages that much, though. you can just enjoy them acting in the movies regardless of how old the actors are as long as they are good movies. I recommend Woody Allen's "Match Point." In the movie, Scarlett Johansson is good.

I don't know how many times I recommend this movie, but this movie is really good. Not only Scarlett Johansson but also other actors are very contibuting to the whole plot.