My impressions on “Wanderers”

  I became afraid of the possibilities of human beings when I first read the script and watched the short film. At first, human beings were only a species of creatures, but thanks to human beings being wanderers, we can live now as a species that have been developing. I’m glad that our species is wanderer. I can’t imagine what we are what we do now if human being were not wanderers.

  This short film shows us the possibilities for space. Now we can live only on this planet, but in the near future, we will be able to go to other planets, and also live there. This is very exciting.

I want to see the scenery which the pictures on this website shows with my own eyes someday. Especially, I like the picture which shows the famous Rings of Saturn, “RINGSURF – (rings of SATURN).” This picture are fantastic and I feel that I were near Saturn. I know Saturn has the rings, but I don’t know these are ice blocks. The sentence written under this picture says the distance between the edge of the inner D Ring and the outer F Ring are very far. I would be impressed by this large scale rings.

Many things about space are still unknown, but I think this makes space attractive. Human beings are wanderers and are very curious, so we want to know unknown things. We will develop unknown areas in space in the future.

This short film tells us “the sedentary life has left us edgy, unfulfilled.” I think this sentence means that we should be wanderers, and if we are sedentary, we only lead dull life. I usually like to wander, but sometimes I’m sedentary. If I spend this sedentary time actively for other meaningful things, my life becomes more meaningful. So I’ll be wanderer from now on.

How to enjoy Japanese traditional music

Have you ever listened to Japanese traditional music? If you have, did you enjoy it? Do you know koto, shakuhachi, or shamisen? These are Japanese traditional musical instrument. I’ll tell you what these Japanese traditional musical instruments　―　koto, shakuhachi, shamisen ―　are and a way to enjoy Japanese traditional music.

  First, I’ll introduce koto.

  Koto is a Japanese traditional musical instrument which has 13 strings. 13 white objects called “kotozi” or “zi” support strings and we can change pitches by moving them. We play the koto with “kotozumes” which are like small white board. We wear three kotozumes and push or pluck the strings of koto with them, then we can make sounds. Sometimes we pluck or hit the strings with finger without kotozume.

  Some people think that playing the koto is very difficult, but you can play the koto easily. It doesn’t take you 1 week to learn to play “sakura”, which is a famous Japanese song.

  Second, I’ll introduce syakuhachi.

  Syakuhachi is like recorder and it has 5 holes. Shakuhachi was named after its length ― issyakuhassun(一尺八寸). I heard that there are 10 most difficult musical instruments to play in the world and shakuhachi is one of them. In fact, it is very difficult to play the shakuhachi.

  Third, I’ll introduce shamisen.

  Shamisen is like guitar and has three strings.

  You play the shamisen with “bachi”. University of Tsukuba has a Tugaru Zyamisen club, Mugenzyuku(無絃塾), so some of you have heard the sounds of shamisen. Tugaru Zyamisen is a kind of shamisen and it makes strong sounds.

  Next, I’ll tell you how to enjoy Japanese traditional music.

  I recommend first you focus on “sounds”. If you listen to the sounds of koto, you feel it is very beautiful! If you listen to shakuhachi, you will notice immediately that the sounds of shakuhachi are very different by players.

  I also recommend you imagine a scene listening to it. Many songs were made by the feelings of the impressions of any scenes.

  There are not only classical music but also modern music. Japanese traditional musical instruments can play pop music. I played a song like jazz.  Modern music may be easy to listen.

By all means, please listen to Japanese traditional music without any sense of hesitation and enjoy it.

A dialogue between 2 people centering on a conflict

(write with Daiki Kitada)

“Hi Chika!”

“Hi Daiki!”

“Do you have any pet?”

“No, I have no pet. And you?”

“I have a rabbit. She is very cute.”

“It sounds fun to play with her.” said Chika.

“What kind of animal do you raise?”

“I want to raise a snake.”

“Why?” said Daiki.

“Because snake is very cute.”

“Really?”

“Don’t you think so?”

“No! I hate snake.” Daiki shouted.

“Why do you hate?”

“Because it has poison and very dangerous.”

“But, a kind of snake I want to raise does not have any poison. So it’s not dangerous at all.”

“Um…”

“It is mild. Let’s go to buy one.”

“Do not say that stupid!” Daiki shouted again.

“The pet shop near here holds a snake sale.”

“We can’t buy it suddenly.”

“Why do you disagree with what I’m saying so.” Chika looked angry.

“Because it may bite my rabbit”

“Oh…”

“By the way, do you like cat or dog?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Which do you like better?”

“Cat!” said Chika.

“Why? I think dog is better.”

“Cat is cuter than dog.”

“But, I think dog is cuter than cat.”

“Have you seen cats at Hirasuna dormitory?”

“Yes”

“Were they cute?”

“Yes, they were very cute.”

“Does it seem to be cuter than dog?”

“Yes!!”

“Then, let’s buy a cat.”

“OK, let’s go to pet shop.”

“All right!!” Daiki and Chika went to pet shop.

A study on “An emotional marketing strategy”

 I read an article written by Ayako Taniguchi and Satoshi Fujii, “An emotional marketing strategy” toward promotion of public transport: A Case Study of Mobility Management in Wien-city.

 The decline of public transportation causes serious problems in many cities all over the world. So governments and transportation companies are trying to carry out plans to improve the use of public transportation. One of those plans is “psychological” strategy to attract people by using media, posters, events, or so on.

 This study introduces “emotional campaign” carried out by a company in Vienna, which is not considered important in Japan. In 1998, they started the emotional plan which intended to improve “image” of public transportation.

 There are many kinds of public transportation in Vienna, for example trains, buses, street cars, and subways. About 100 years ago, transportation companies were integrated into a utility, Vienna public utilities and transport service and then, it changed its name wiener linien stock company. Now, this company manages all of public transportation.

 This company puts emphasis on the appearance of transport system, specifically cleanness. They clean subway station twice every day. The marketing policy is “do what people want” and basic concept is “respect user and improve convenience.” CS investigation is carried out every year and the score has been increased.

 As examples of “emotional campaign”, 1)image strategy(use poster and pamphlet) 2)campaign when new route is opened(ex. distribution of free ticket) 3)communication with user(ex. WEB site) are carried out.

  “Emotional campaign” is intended to have people have attachment for public transportation. It is important that people have “my rail senses”. If emotional campaign is carried out properly, it is possible.

 It is often said that Japanese character is more emotional than that of Europe. So, in Japan, if emotional campaign can change people’s fundamental attitude toward public transportation, this strategy will be practical.

Reference:http://library.jsce.or.jp/jsce/open/00039/200606_no33/pdf/6.pdf

The food of Ukraine

Ukrainian cuisine is characterized by strong taste. A staple food is bread. Vegetable dishes are eaten more than fish dishes and meat dishes. Drinks are sweet or sweet and salty.

Ukraine was under the control of other countries, so Ukrainian cuisine are influenced by German cuisine, Russian cuisine, and so on.

 In Ukraine, beet is a popular vegetable and there are about 30 kinds of beet. They often use pork, lard, and Smetana, a kind of sour cream.

 

 Borscht, solyanka, kotleta, varenyky, beignet, kasha, and salo are popular Ukrainian cuisines. I will tell you a recipe of varenyky. Varenyky is like boiled gyoza but we use various ingredients. Potato, mushroom, meat, cabbage, cheese, cherry, strawberry, and… So we can enjoy various tastes from sweet taste to salty taste. Ingredients used to cook varenyky can be gotten easily in Japan and you can cook varenyky for only about 40 minutes. This is why I chose this recipe. I want to cook varenyky with my friends. Here I show a recipe of sweet strawberry and cherry varenyky and cheese varenyky.

 

The recipe of varenyky

<Ingredients>

・flour : 400g

・water : 200ml

・sugar

・salt

・strawberry : 200g

・cherry : 200g

・cottage cheese : 200g

・1 egg

 

<Directions>

1. Sift flour and put it into a bowl.

2. Add water, sugar, and salt and mix them carefully.

3. Round dough and wrap it in towel for 20 minutes.

4. Cut it to about 1cm.

5. Flatten out one piece and put strawberry and cherry or egg and cottage cheese in it.

6. After boiling water, boil them for 5 minutes

 

References：

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A6%E3%82%AF%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4%E3%83%8A%E6%96%99%E7%90%86

http://rocketnews24.com/2013/07/04/346688/

 

If we take a trip to Azerbaijan…

It is exciting to prepare for a trip. For example, thinking what clothes we were, where to go, what to buy as a souvenir and so on.

In preparing to go to Azerbaijan (staying 2weeks), We need to be careful about documents such as visa and know about peace and order.

First of all, We must be careful about visa.Before leaving for Azerbaijan, We have to get a visa on our passport in Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Japan because we cannot get it in Azerbaijan. To get a visa, we need application form, passport and Letter of invitation from a companies or a travel agency in Azerbaijan or hotel reservation confirmation.

Second,　at immigration gate, We input the terminal machine of customs declaration and hand in a customs declaration.

There are a lot of difference between Japan and Azerbaijan. There are a lot of 　diseases we Japanese are not familiar with. So we should take out the best overseas travel insurance and need to know the most believable hospital.　At the point of clothes, we have a lot of things to think of. In Azerbaijan, the temperature difference is extreme. In addition the geographic problem, there  are religious problem. People in Azerbaijan tend to dislike wearing clothes with much exposure of the skin. So we should wear long sleeve clothes.

Next, We are planning where to visit. The first day of 2 weeks is for moving day. Our plane departs Tokyo at 1 o’clock and arrive at Baku at 12:15.

First, we’ll travel to Baku for five days. Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan and the most popular sightseeing city and it is famous for the Old Town.

 First day, we will go to the Gobustan National Park and see the prehistoric carvings, which is World Heritage. I want to know life at that time.

  Azerbaijan is located near the Caspian Sea. So, next day, we will cruise around the Caspian Sea. The view of sea will be very beautiful. After cruising, we will enjoy sea breeze at a café near the sea.

Third day, we will enjoy the Old Town. First, we will walk in the city. There are castle walls and we can see how people live in this city. And, perhaps, we call talk with them.

Next, we will go to graveyard in the park. Victims of the conflict and Soviet’s invasion are buried there. We will realize the importance of peace.

Next day, we will go to the Maiden’s Tower. It is the symbol of Baku, and it has a small museum. I want to know the history of Baku. Then, we will go to the other historical museum. We will know about it more there.

Fifth day, we will go to Yanar Dagh. We can see blazing natural gas. It will be amazing. After that, we will go to Masazir Gol, a pink lake. It will be wonderful. We will be deeply impressed this day.

We will stay at a hotel by the Caspian Sea. At night, we will enjoy a beautiful night view.

 

Next day, we will leave Baku for Shemakha. Shemakha was the capital of Shirvanshah, so we will enjoy streets and houses there. After that, we will go to Sheki and stay there at night.

Next morning, we will go to the museum in Sheki and know about its history. Then, we will go to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. We will stay there for two days.

  First day, we will go to Mtskheta. It has historical buildings, for example, churches. These are World Heritage. We will enjoy these buildings and streets.

  Second day, we will go to Mtatsminda Amusement Park and enjoy attraction. I want to ride a Ferris wheel and a roller coaster. After that, we leave Georgia for Armenia.

 

  Next, we will stay at Yerevan, the capital of Armenia for two days.

  First, we will walk in the city. There are churches and other historical buildings in Yerevan, too. We will enjoy streets and buildings.

  Next day, we will go to Erebuni Museum and Erebuni Fortress. Yerevan was named after Erebuni, so we can know history of Yerevan there.

  Finally, we will come back to Baku, Azerbaijan. We will go to Taza Bazaar, a market to buy souvenir for friends. I want to buy caviar because caviar is a popular souvenir of Azerbaijan and it is cheaper there. Then, we go to see the Caspian Sea. This night will be the last night of our travel.

The last day, Our plane departs Baku at 17:45 and next day we arrive at Tokyo at 17:55.

We hope this plan will work out.

If I knew then what I know now

 

　 If I knew then that I study at Tsukuba University now, I wouldn’t have been so troubled.

Actually, I had studied to enter other university with my friend before I realized what I really wanted to do.

 I didn’t know what I wanted to study at the university and what I wanted to do in the future. So my teacher recommended me to study to enter the other university and I started to study. My teachers game me more difficult questions than questions we solves in the normal classes or as homework. I had to study more than other students in my class because the university was hard to enter.

A few months later, I knew that my friend studied to enter the same university, too. I became happy to know that because I had thought I had to study alone before then. I started to study with him. Teachers gave problems to us, we tried them, and we went to teachers’ room to be taught how to solve them many times. He was very hardworking unlike me. I often thought “I must study hard like him!” But, I knew that his situation was the same as mine. He didn’t know what he wanted to do in the future. I admired him because he studied very hard without any goal.

 

When I became a high school senior, I hadn’t decided what I want to study at the university and what university I should go to yet. I was troubled by deciding what to do in the future. So I continued studying with him to enter the university my teacher recommended.

But I didn’t like to study and I had little time to try difficult questions in addition to everyday homework as I was busy with the club activity. I didn’t want to go to the university in some reasons, so I got tired of studying for the university. I often thought and said to him “Why I have to study so hard to enter the university I didn’t want to go to!” I should have quit studying for the university then, but I continued studying with him because I knew how lonely studying alone was and I didn’t want him to study alone.

 

One day, however, I quarreled with him. I decided to quit studying for the university with him. I really didn’t want to go to and study for the university.

Then, I happened to find the Department of Social Engineering at Tsukuba University! When I accidentally read the explanation what we can study in this department, I thought “This is very what I want to do! I want to study here!” I was surprised and glad to find what I want to do! I now think this was destiny.

 

Now, I am in Tsukuba University, and to my surprise, my friend I studied with is also in this university! He is still my best friend. I am very happy to study what I want to do!

 

Thank you for reading.