Japanese lifestyle ~53~ Hanami party

I went to a park yesterday.
I could see a flower festival there.

  Sakura season has almost finished. But there were a lot of people under the
trees. Some were eating, and others were drinking.

This is Fuji (wisteria flowers)
I saw many shops.

Dango = Japanese traditional sweets

 Jaga(potato) butter

This is a old stylish house. Some kinds of agricultural equipment were exhibited.

A carpet made of many petals of Sakura.

Japanese lifestyle ~52~Golden week

 It is said that Japanese people work so much.
We have long holiday, called "Golden week(ゴールデンウィーク)".
I guess this word,　ゴールデンウィーク　 is made in Japan.
 There are national holidays from May 3rd to 5th.
In this year, May 6th is a Monday makeup holiday.
And also, today, April 29th  was national holiday.
Some companies have holidays from from April 30th to May 2nd.
This Golden week is the longest vacation in a year.

 Today, I went to a park and a shrine.
I will attach some photos tomorrow.

  And a story came up in my mind when I was staying at the shrine.
I will write down it in the near future.

Japanese style ~51~ gas station

  Are gas stations run on a self-service basis in your country? In Japan,
Some of the gas stations are run on a self-service, but others are
not. There are a few staff members at the station. And they lubricate
oil after they ask a driver how much he or she wants to put gas in a car.
  The staffs need to behave politely. I think almost all staffs at the gas
station are polite. They need to wipe outside of the car by a dustcloth.
They give the drive one dustcloth. And the driver wipe inside of the car
by himself. After lubrication, the staff guide the driver so that the driver
can get in a roadway.
  Usually, the self-service gas station is more inexpensive than the gas
station run by staffs. But I like the non self-service basis gas station.
I heard that most of the gas station are self-service basis in America.

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Japanese lifestyle ~50~ ice cream あたり！！

I really like to eat ice cream after work. In Japan, there are some
kinds of ice cream that have lots.
     Can you see the word あたり付き?
    If you hit the あたり(Atari), you can get one more ice cream.
If you hit the Atari, it is shown on the bar of ice cream.
   Today I decided to write about this kinds of ice cream because
I just want to know if there is this kinds of ice cream in a foreign country.
   There have been this kinds of ice  cream since I was child.(more than 20 years ago)

Japanese saying ~14~ そ so

そなえ　あれば　うれい　なし sonae areba urei nashi

  You should prepare before you have trouble.
If you do that, you don't need to worry about it.

  I really take care of preparing for my English class.
Preparing is everything...

  In Japanese, I have heard preparing is 80% and doing job is 20%.

Japanese expression ~8~ issyou benkyou 一生勉強

Benkyou（勉強） means "studying".

  I have heard that in English, people use the word "study" when 

children or students learn at school.

  But in Japanese, people use this word "benkyou(=studying)"

whenever you learn something in our daily life. 

  We use this word when you experience something important 

for your life. If the person is eager to learn something, old man or

woman would use this word.

  Many Japanese people think he or she is immature

even if he or she becomes adult.

  It means, we need to keep learning something as long as we live.

When you praise Japanese people, people would usually try to become

modest. Maybe this behavior comes from the idea that

he or she is still immature.

  

  There is a word "life long learning".

  In Japanese, we say 生涯学習（しょうがいがくしゅう）

生涯しょうがい＝life long

学習がくしゅう＝learning

　I play the piano for fun. I would like to keep studying music all my life

 And also I would like to write stories all my life.

 I sometimes hear people say「 一生勉強だよ」

"We need to study all our life." I think this attitude is very important

if you want to have a good life! 

  Well, a few days ago, I showed my work (A white cat)

I attached on this blog, to a person who won a prize at local competition 

on children's story. And he corrected some parts. I will check it out

from now...

Japanese lifestyle ~49~ cars I see on the street

  When I drive my car, I like to watch an oncoming car.
I am not a car OTAKU(nerd). And I don't know about car well.
But I often observe what kind of car is coming on the opposite
lane on the street.
  I show here what kind of car I often see in my hometown.

  First of all, I think I see TOYOTA's car the most frequently.
Secondly, I often see Nissan and Honda.
  Lexus, the TOYOTA's car are recognized as a luxury car.
And also I see Mazda.(My car is Mazda) You would not know about
this maker. I think this maker is one of the most popular car makers.
  And, I sometimes see Benz BMW and volkswagen.
  These days, I can see Alfaromeo. But it is so rare.

  Some decades ago, young people used to have dreams to but
such a luxury car. But it is said that young people who want to
buy such luxury cars have been decreasing. If you live in Tokyo,
you don't need cars to move because you can go anywhere in Tokyo
by getting on trains or subways.
  And it is because of the financial reason. You have to pay tax,
insurance, parking fee, and so on. I heard that you have to pay around 1000 yen
per one hour for parking car if you live in Tokyo. (In my hometown, we just
pay 100 yen per one hour. hahaha)

Japanese education ~1~ syuushin part 1

  After nidone, I went driving and bought many books.
I spent money too much! (Ｔ＿Ｔ）

Most of the books I bought today was about education.
I just bought them because I want to learn something.
I haven't studied anything about education. I was not the faculty of education
in university. So, I need to learn by myself...（;￣ー￣A ｱｾｱｾ･･･
  I found a book about "syuushin"「修身」
About 60 years ago, there was a kind of ethic class called syuushin in Japan.
I bought the book. So, after reading it, I would like to introduce what the class
was like.
  I am looking forward to reading the book.
  And I bought a book about "Terakoya"「寺子屋」（てらこや）
That is a kind of Japanese school of 300 years ago. It is said that
in those days, a literacy rate of Japanese people was so high.
Hopefully I would like to learn something from Terakoya system.
  And I want to write something about it on this blog.

Japanese expression ~7~ nido ne

  I teach one Japanese word. That is "nido ne", which means
two times sleeping.
  Nido means "two times". We pronounce two "ni" in Japanese.
  Ne means "sleeping".
  Nido ne is to sleep again after you wake up in the morning.
  For example, you get up at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. And you
may sleep again in bed because you don't want to get up.
I've heard that it is not effective to do nidone if you want to
take a rest.
  But, it is hard to overcome temptation to do nidone especially on Sunday.

Japanese lifestyle ~ 48 ~ school club at junior high school

  Now,  a new school term started in junior school.
In Japan, a new school term begins from April.
  New students need to decide which school club they
get in.
  I asked some students what kind of school club they
were in. Those school clubs are like...basketball, volleyball,
soccer, tennis, table tennis, badminton, baseball and so on.
  They play such sports until around 6:30 P.M. and then they
come to juku(cram school).
  Maybe they go to juku two or three times a week.
  I guess students in the other country are not so busy like Japan.
At juku, teachers(including me) assign some homework.
My boss asks me to assign homework because students never
study if I don't do that.

Japanese lifestyle ~ 47~ World map

The world map which is used in Japan looks like this.

  Japan comes the center of the world map.
Japan is so small country.
  When I was kid, I used to think everybody in the world uses this world map.
But the map in your country shows your country at center, right?
  I have got used to seeing this kind of map.
  I am interested in what the world map used in Australia is like...

Japanese saying ~13~ せ se

せんりの　みちも　いっぽから(Senri no michi mo ippo kara)

It's difficult for me to translate this saying...

Senri means thousand "ri" Ri is a unit when you tell the distance.
This word comes from China maybe. It means like "km".

Michi means "the road"

ippo means "one step"

If you go somewhere far away, that journey begins from one step.
 (；￣ー￣)...ﾝ?

Does it make sense???

It means like...

  If you want to achieve big job, that will be achieved by small efforts.

I remind this saying when I try to do something that requires a lot of
dedications.(for example, when I translate my work into English...)

Japanese habit/custom ~47~ Bunkei(文系ぶんけい) or Rikei（理系りけい）?

  Now I'm engaged in a job that related to Japanese education.

So, I would like to write something about Japanese education.

Well, if you intend to go to a college or a university, you need to

choose the course in high school.

 That is, you have to choose Bunkei or Rikei.

 Bunkei is the course for those who like Japanese, English, social studies.

 Rikei  is the course for those who like math, science, physics, biology and chemistry.

 Each student decides the course, thinking what kind of job they want to be

in the future. If you choose Bunkei course, you have English classes than 

Rikei students. And if you choose Rikei course, you have to study math more

than Bunkei students. If you intend to enter faculty of medical science at the 

university, you need to choose Rikei course.

  When I was in high school, I chose the Bunkei course. I used to like  math in 

high school. But I wanted to do something internationally in the future.

And I used to like studying English. So I chose Bunkei course.

  We sometimes talk about which type you are, Bunkei or Rikei.

  

  I haven't yet achieved my dream which I used to have in high school.(￣Д￣；；

But I enjoy taking contact through this blog. I want to know many people 

all over the world. I want to have good friends all over the world.

Short trip in Gunma ~8~ Cherry blossoms again!! Akagi Senbon Zakura 赤城千本桜（あかぎせんぼんざくら）

  Today was an only holiday.
I went to see Akagi senbon zakura.
Akagi is the name of the mountain.
Senbon means, "thousand".
Zakura means "sakura"= cherry blossoms.

  I can't see sakura blooming around my house.
Their petals have already been scattered.
But the sea level of Akagi area is higher(500 meters) than my house.

  Do you know why Japanese people like sakura(cherry blossoms)?
After Sakura blooms, their flower petals scatter so quickly.
Japanese people feel beauty when they see the scene.
Maybe they feel special sense to see them.
  That may be the sense of sympathy.
  If the sakura bloomed for a long time, Japanese people would not
like them. Because they don't find the scene of blooming valuable.

  The color of cherry blossoms is nice. It is light blue.
And it is soft color.
  The scene of scattering their petals looks nice.
  The petals are just scattered without any sounds...

From this point, the arch of cherry blossoms starts. You can see thousands sakura along the street.

Watch out the a mamushi pit viper(it's a kind of snake)

The pylon was painted pink color.

シダレザクラ is one of the kinds of Sakura.
They look like below.

"This sakura festival is managed by a private volunteer group. The expenses are covered by
the parking fee."

  The sakura season has gone in my hometown...

Japanese habit/custom ~46~ Cyumoku rei 注目、礼（ちゅうもく、れい）

  I introduce how our cram school begins the each class.
The class is from 50 minutes to 70 minutes. (I guess 70 minutes
are hard for children.)
  Before the class starts, one of the students who is on day duty
need to say "Cyumoku  Rei"
  Cyumoku （ちゅうもく　注目）means "Look at the teacher".
  Ｒｅｉ (れい　礼)means "Bow".
  And students bow and teacher also bow.
  I think all cram school practices this manner in Japan.
But I think most of public schools practice this kind of manner in Japan.
 
  By the way, I taught the way of greeting of the other countries at the
English class for 10 years old.
  For example, American shake a hand, and Russian do hugging.

Japanese saying ~ 12 ~ す su

  I introduce the Japanese saying that begins from す(su).

すきこそ　ものの　じょうずなれ sukikoso monono jouzunare
　
じょうずなれ sounds an archaic word.
　
But if you are a Japanese learner, you may know the term　じょうず.

That means, "do well"

This saying means, What one likes, one will do well.

Do you have same kind of saying? Have you ever heard of this?

I sometimes hear this saying in daily life especially when someone

start to learn something new  such as instrumental, learning

new language, or singing a song...

  If you are interested in Kanji, you would remember a lot of Kanji.

I sometimes see students who are curious about many things.

They absorb a lot of knowledge quickly. If you are so interested in Japanese

culture, you would absorb a lot of knowledge about Japanese culture so

quickly...

Japanese lifestyle ~46~ English education in Japan

  As an English teacher at cram school, I think Japanese English education
doesn't catch up this modern age. Now people go abroad easily and have
many opportunities to communicate with people who have various cultural
background.
  In my impression, when I went to Germany two years ago, I saw many people
speaking English. Why is that???
  And I guess people in Europe can speak English much better than Japanese
people.
  One of the biggest reason is that we do not have the chance to practice
to speak English in our daily life.  At English class in Japan, we still focus on
reading skill and writing skill. There is a pity story here.
There was a English teacher when I was in high school. The teacher graduated
the best university, Tokyo university. I heard that he had tons of knowledge of
English vocabulary. But he could not speak English. I heard that foreign people couldn't
understand his English... I don't know if it's true. It was a legend in my school days.
  I guess there are a lot of teachers who can teach grammar but can't speak English.

  Fortunately, I can speak English now without big difficulties. But if I had not had
chances to practice in foreign countries since before, I would not have been
 able to speak English like now.
  I would like to teach speaking skill as much as possible at my class. But
unfortunately, teacher at cram school are told to teach children so that children
get the good result on  paper tests. And the tests have a lot of questionnaires
on vocabulary and grammar.

  Maybe, we can gain writing skill and reading skill in our English classes in Japan.
Actually, English teachers used to say OK about writing skill.


There are many obstacles.
1
  We have to learn Alphabet when we start to learn English.
Around 12 years old children start to learn Alphabet. Usually, they can't write
words correctly at all.
2
  Japanese people are shy. There are many people who are not good at talking
with unknown people.
3
  Teachers who can teach speaking skill are a few.
4
  We don't have the chance to practice English in our daily life.
My hometown,Gunma prefecture is country side. I don't see
people who are from countries spoken English.
  So far, people don't need to speak English in our daily life.
5
 I have ever read a book about English education. When Japan used to
develop the country 50 years ago, government wanted to increase
people who can read documents to learn from other countries.
The education style has still been remained.
6
 I read an article on Internet.
The bureaucracy who decide the policy on English education can't speak English...
I don't know if it's true. But it's possible...

Japanese saying ~11 ~ し shi

したしき　なかにも　れいぎ　あり　(親しき仲にも礼儀あり）
Courtesy should not be forgotten even between close friends.

  I like this saying. From my experience, relationship would get worse
If you are too familiar with your friends. Maybe it is same in other cultures.
I think keeping the appropriate distance between persons is very important
for good relationship.
  In Japan, we have three kind of an honorific expressions called Keigo敬語（けいご）
A term of respect for the person is sometimes confusing for people to use
appropriately. But, it is useful to keep appropriate distance between person.
If you keep using Keigo, you can show your respect for the person.
That prevents from becoming  too familiar with the person.

Short trip in Gunma ~9~ A rural landscape 田園風景(でんえんふうけい)

  Today is an entrance ceremony in Japanese elementary school.
Cherry blossoms are still blooming here. So, we connect an entrance
ceremony with cherry blossoms.
  I took some photos of a rural landscape that tells us the beginning of
the spring. But it was cloudy...(￣Д￣；；

My home town is a country side.