CHANGE.

Kouhaku utagassen just finished, and only 10 minutes is left this year.
Fortunately, nothing very bad happened to me and people around me this year.
I met many new people, that was a good thing.
And I thank you for having read this journal.

This year, the world experienced many big changes.
The U.S. president changed, probably for better.
The world economy changed, for seriously worse...

I changed, too.
I newly joined Aikido Club this year.
Doing aikido made me stronger both in body and mind.

.........

Hi.
Year 2009 began.
I hope this year will be a good one for me, you, and the world.
And that I will still be able to be your friend.

I will change this year too.
I will challenge many new things, know new world, and grow as a person.

Then, see you later.

Friends and Motivations.

Yesterday, I was talking with one of my friends who belongs to the same volunteer club with me. He is a very serious and passionate guy with high consciousness of world poverty. He does part-time job, and spends most of his earning on traveling alone in countries such as India, Vietnam, Turkey, Egypt, and so on during Spring and Summer vacations. Even though he is younger than me, I really respect him.
He said he wanted to work for JICA, JETRO or that kind of organization supporting developing countries economiclly. I had heard their names, but didn't know in detail. I asked him how they get earnings, and he said it was from ODA. I knew ODA only by the name, and didn't know what actually it is.
I became ashamed.
I don't even know how they are working, let alone take some actions.

The same thing happened several weeks ago. During our media discussion, Miho and Aoi gave us presentations on current political issues. However, I could hardly follow the discussion, for I didn't know very much of the news. Aoi asked us for which party we would be, The Liberal Democratic Party, or The Democratic Party, but I didn't know their policies.
It must be a thing I should know, because I'm already an adult. I thought I lacked the consciousness as a member of this society of Japan. I have to commit myself more.

Today after school, I went to Aoi Shoten in Machida, and searched the shelves of sociology. I browsed through many books, and after about 6 hours, I bought four books: a reference of highschool subject,Gendaishakai, an economic book by Heizo Takenaka, a book by Masaru Sato, a famous diplomat and a writer, and Nihon no Ronten, a standard item.
Maybe I bought too many.
It 's my habit that I buy more books I can read. There are tens of books I'm not finished with in my room. It's not that I'm a diligent student. What is bad about me, I lack concentration, and easily burn out give up!

Anyway I'm now motivated, and I thank you very much for giving me the incentive, my frirends. I'm always brought up by you!

Atsuhime.

Today, there was the final of my favorite TV drama, Atsuhime.

I was sad and I already miss Atsuhime.

What I like most of this drama is the opening title.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KKfv31fcDg

Atsuhime in golden peices (1:00) is so beautiful, and the emotional music fills my heart with warmth. I actually came near crying every week.

The scene reminds me of Klimt's The Kiss.

The difference is that Atsuhime is alone and looks firm.

Atsuhime loses her hasband and becomes alone. But after that, she never gives in to the sorrow, and decides to live firmly to succeed her hasband's will, to keep Tokugawa family. And as the episode of several weeks ago shows, her hasband's spirit is still keeping his eyes on her.

Atsuhime held in the golden pieces makes me think that even though she looks alone in the scene, she is held by him.

Starbacks time and Training.

Last saturday, after the 2nd period, I went to Starbacks in Machida with Lydia. I seldom go to such a smart cafe, and it was actually the first visit to Starbacks, for the reason of money(I don't have a part-time job), so I was in a little high spirit. The atmosphere was comfortable and nice. Dark Cherry Mocha and a sandwich tasted very good, and I felt rich and happy. I thought I should get a part-time job and visit there more often! We chatted about two hours and I had a very nice time.


Yesterday, I went to UNIQLO near my house with my mother. I was very pleased that she bought me two shirts and a sweater. However, as I tried them on and looked into a mirror, I noticed that I had gained some weight. I remenbered that recently when I was changing clothes for Aikido club, a friend of mine said that he felt sad when he saw my stomach. I thought, maybe my body is too untidy and kind of shameful as a martial artist. I have to do somrthing, I thought. As soos as I went home, I took off the sweater, and then took soccer shoes from the depth of the shoes drawer, put them on, and run out home. It was so cold outside, but I soon got warm. I went to a park, where there was nobody fortunately, and did some exercises and run. While I was doing hanpukuyokotobi, I noticed that my right leg and left leg had muscles in different ways. It was an important discovery, because it was causeing the distortion of hip joint. Fortunately I found an exercise suitable for this problem, and I felt my hip joint got set right again. I run there for about 90 minutes with some pauses within, and I felt very refreshed and detoxified. When I went home and looked into a mirror, I looked as I slimmed a little. I was very tired but enjoyed exercising, and was satisfied with the result, so I decided to make it a habit. Well, only, as I'm generally a quitter, and it's getting colder outside, it's gonna be a mental challenge!

Future.

Ooops, so many days have passed since I wrote the last entry! I often had things to write, but I miss the chance every time. I'm sorry if you had checked this blog often!! I'm gonna write more often from now on;



Talking about these days o mine...when I went to the university's book store several days ago, a book titled "絶対内定" caught my eyes by chance. I had been thinking about job hunting then, so I picked up the book. The cover said the book was the No.1 recommended by the students who succeeded in job hunting. I thought maybe I should read it then, and I just bought it. And at home, as soon as I started reading it, I got absorbed in it. The author, Taro Sugimura, explained passionately the importance of reflecting throughly on oneself, finding what one really wants to do, and the effort for it with high mind and moral. With these efforts, one can get his ideal job and do soul trembling job. The book contained worksheets for the self-reflection over a few hundred pages, and he says everyone who complete them over and over again can get a strong self-confidence and get accepted to first-level companies. Actually nothing special was written there, but the book inspired and encouraged me very much. Thanks to the book, I'm filled with passion for the future! I also liked that the book of 540 pages cost just 1900 yen. It seems to show the author's good intention and high moral. I highly recommend this book for you to read, even if you are the freshman. It's never too early!

Lives

Yesterday, my sister went back to Bangkok.
She at first had planned to stay here for 2 weeks, but she prolonged it some times and after all, she stayed here for 4 weeks.
More than anybody, she wanted to spend time with her mother, I think.
My sister is going to have a baby in February, and this stay was probably the last time she can spend with her mother before that, purely as a mother and a daughter. After she had a baby, she becomes a mother, and not a pure daughter any longer. She wanted to nestle up to her mother as a child for the last time, as well as to study what a mother is, I think.

She was loved by her mother very much, and she knows that. I think it is very important for a woman when she becomes a mother. She can hand down the memory to her child. I'm sure she becomes a nice mother.

She maybe wanted to stay here longer, but her husband is working hard everyday and spends lonesome nights in Bangkok. She had to return to her home.

She was usually in the living room here, and I was there, too, often watching TV together. Even if the program was not good, I was there, if she was there. I did homework at midnight.

Last night, after the meeting of volunteer circle I belong to, I went to the diner with the members, that I usually don't do. When I got home, it was the same as before she came. My usual life with father, mother, grandma, and school began again.

Class Kai!

I attended the class kai today, and I had a nice time!

The Sweet Paradise is awesome! With several kinds of pasta, a curry, sandwiches, salad, senbei, and drink bar, it cost only 1500 yen. I loved it! I had fun at karaoke, too. But I wanna be a better singer! I decided to go practicing karaoke alone.

I'm very glad that I could talk for the first time with some people and became closer.
Many people in this class are the same members from the former semester and already friends, so at first in this semester, I was kind of afraid if I can get into the circle, now that turned out to be a needless worry.
Thanks, guys!
And I hope that I can see the people who couldn't come this time at the next class kai!

Now it's 3:20 am, and I'm not yet finished with my essay for tomorrow's IE Writing! Well, I'm gonna cheer myself up with Lipovitan.

See you later, guys!

Tests.

I belong to Aikido Club, that I joined this April, and have practice on Monday and Wednesday. (There are practice on Friday and Saturday as well, but I can't attend them because I have classes on the times. I make up for them by watching a manual DVD of aikido I got at Amazon and practicing by myself at home.)

For last Wednesday and today, we had the advancement tests, and I, with other freshmen, took a test for 5th class. At the previous night of the test, I practiced myself at home about three hours for this test. I got confident for the test at the time.
However, although I practiced much and seniors said there was no need of my worrying, I became kind of tensed on the performance. When there was a call of start, the whole techniques were blown out of my mind. I became panic at a moment. But I soon got back calm, and they came back to my mind, and could give moderate performances. As a result, I could get 5th class. Yeah!

Today, happily all members passed the tests, so we had a congratulatory dinner at Jonathan. For our happiness, it's a treat of the third graders. What a generousness!
I ordered a chicken and rice casserole and a drink bar, and the drink bar was wonderful! They have great variety, especially on tea. I had 7 cups in the end. I especially liked green tea latte. The hot sweet and Japanese drink thawed me and made me happy.

And today, I sent an application for the third class of French examination, Hukken. I have a month before the test. I'm not yet confident, so I'm gonna study from now.
Taking tests is sometimes hard, but it gives tension to my life. I'm kind of thrilled about the test!

Family Reunion

For yesterday and today, my brother, who lives in Chiba, came to stay at our's.

He actually couldn't come to our sister's wedding, because he had the final of a very important exam for his career the following day, for his and her pity. It was quite a difficult test, and he had studied 3hours everyday for a year for the exam. So he couldn't miss it.
And, soon after the wedding and the test, we got an e-mail from him. it said, he passed the test. We all rejoiced!

When he arrived, on seeing each other, he and our sister said congraturations to each othter with smiles. And in the livingroom, we talked happily over the wedding, seeing the pictures, and his test and his job. He said he is really enjoying his job. There was actually an interval of several years until this day when all 5 family members get together, and we were happy.
On TV, there was a program on Myanmarese country life on beautiful sea. We all, especially my sister and brother, like scuba diving, so it was a good timing. It was as if TV was celebrating us. It was quite a nice time.

At night, our sister had a diner with her friends from her junior high school at Tamaplaza, so we gave her a ride there. Actually, Tamaplaza is the birthplace of us three siblings. (We left there since I was six for Shizuoka) I have been there a few times since we left there, but it was the first time that we family got together and go there. It was a little different from back then, and looked smaller than we remenbered, but it brought back our happy memories.
On driving, my brother asked me if I had intention to get a driver's lisence. I said yes, but I don't need it now. I think I will get it after getting an acceptance for job. But he reccomended me to get lisence soon. He said, if I had a car, it will be a great weapon when I got a girlfriend. Oh, I didn't think of that! I have to hurry!

Today, we three siblings went to UNIQLO. 60% of my clothes are their's, and it's my brother's favorite brand, too. He bought many shirts, saying he won't have to buy shirts for next 5 years.
They said they would pay for me, so I chose a bag. My bags I usually use are worn-out, so I'm happy to get a new cool one.

My brother is calm, gentle and sunny guy often saying jokes. He has gone back to Chiba, and we all miss him.

My Family.

Hi, everyone! My name is Shouzou.

Actually, I had Mr.Richardson's Core class last semester, so I'll keep writing my journal on this same page.

I live in Tsurukawa on Odakyu line, two stations from Machida, with my mother, father, and a grandma. I have an older brother who live alone in Chiba, working for luggage delivery company at Narita airport , and an old sister who lives in Bangkok, working for Thai air line.

And, the sistrer just got married recently. She married a Japanese, 13 years older than her, who runs scuba diving shop in Bangkok and Phuket. She does diving often, and they met at the shop. Two weeks ago, there was their wedding, and we went to Bangkok to attend it. Only, we could stay there no more than 30hours, because I couldn't miss many classes, but I had a wonderful time. We had a cocktail party at a jazz bar, screening video and photos of bride and groom, and then dinner at the restaurnt up the bar. I first met my sister's husband's mother, father and sister there. I talked a while with them, and was glad to find that they are nice people. And, off course my brother- in-law is nice person. He respects justice and heart, and is smart and a hardworker. My sister got a new family name, and I was kind of sad feeling as if I lost half of a family menber, but instead I got many new wonderful family. They all looked happy, and I'm happy, too!
What I thought pity was that most of my sister's friends in japan couldn't come to the wedding. When I do my wedding, I want my friends I made at this university to be there by all means!

And, today, my newlywed sister came here at our home in Machida. She is taking a long vacation now, because she is now pregnant! She will be here for two weeks, to my gladness. Today we took an old album from the depth of the drawer, and mused over old memories of Hirata family. It was very nice time, identifying that we are a family.

Love, in the end.

I met the friend I talked about before about three years ago.
I remenber how I felt when I first saw him.
His face and body had a strong frame, and was wearing bright-colored, not fashionable clothes stately and a straw hat on his head, according to my memory.
He had a unique aura and was giving off powerful energy from his whole body.
I thought, that's it, here comes a queer guy.
Seeing me, he smiled brightly and said hello to me.
We imediately became familliar with each other.
We found that we had the same hobby of movie, and we talked about it a lot. However, we had almost the opposite tastes.
I mainly like heart-warming human dramas.
On the contrary, his main favorites were kind of grotesque, horror, or violent ones.
In spite of the gap, we became very good friend.

Recently he sometimes gave me e-mails. they said he misses hanging out with me. I heard from our common friend that he doesn't come to school at all, so I was worried about him. Maybe he is not in good condition. He said we would have a drink at our common female friend's so I went to her's with worries in my mind. Howenver, when I went into the door, I found him in great condition. He was very cheerful and gave me a little hug. He used to have a feeling that a big energy without exit was squirming inside him, but he had lost the feeling. He looked fresh.
Soon I realized that he spoke dialect of Fukuoka, his hometown, that he didn't spoke when he was with me. He looked very natural and obedient.
Later, he told me that he and the girl were going out. She was the first girlfriend for him in the three years.
It was because he was with her that he didn't come to school.
I was glad that he got the happiness. Off course we are still the same best friends.

Later, he said he didn't know that violence was that disagreeable thing.

Another birthday

The host sister of when I went to America is now in Tokyo and we met three weeks ago, as I wrote before.
There, I met a 9 year old boy, who was her hostbrother.
He was a very cute and friendly boy, and we became good friends. We built a country named Shouzou Republic, that consist of me, the president, him, the minister, and Shouzou Kuwagata, an insect he showed me in the picture. The land is where we are.

Tomorrow is my minister's birthday, and today we, I, his parents, my host sister, his brother, and our common friend from Korea, had a little party for him at his house.
I and he first did a TV game, Mario Cart, a car racing game with 12 cars, on Wii. We did that three weeks ago, and he got for average the fourth rank, and I got the last rank for the all races. I wanted to get the higher rank this time, but I got only the last rank this time, too, while he got the first or second rank this time. Anyway, we had fun.
Then we had pizza and tacos for dinner. We, adults spoke a lot, and he didn't have very much chance to speak, for our bad. We asked him if he wanted to go studying abroad in the future, but it sounded he doesn't have very much intention. I know he is too small now, and hope he will change his intention in the future, that is 6 years from now.
Next we had a birthday cake, a short cake. We sang the birthday song in English, in Japanese, and in Korean.
They passed a little quick, and the next is the waited present time. First his parents gave him a in-room struck out game. He liked it very much, and we had a little game with it. I and he got good score. We enjoyed it very much. Next, my hostsister gave him a yonmokunarabe, kind of like Othello. I and he did two games, and the score was 1-1. I lost a game for 10 year old boy. I was kind of ashamed. The last present was mine. What i chose for him was a mini robot of an insect. It walks, and turns when it touches a wall or hears a big sound. It was really cool and I liked it very much, but I was afraid if he would like it. It was a needless worry. He gave a little exclaim seeing it, and played with it for a long time. I was very pleased. We named it Shouzou mushi, and it became the fourth menber of Shouzou Republic.
That was all for the party, and I went home. On parting, we made a promise to meet again. I really like him and his familly very much, so I hope this relationship will last for life. I'm looking forward to his future.

Birthday

I have a 4th grader friend, my best friend I met in the art club.

I got an e-mail from him this morning, saying he comes to Fuchinobe today and proposing our meeting after school today.
I was surprised that he still comes to Fuchinobe, and what surprised me most was that today was my birthday. I didn't have any plan for today. Off course I said yes.

It was a few weeks after we had met before, but we felt it had been long when we met.
We first went to EXCELSIOR CAFE in front of Fuchinobe station. I was terribly poor then, but I thought it was time to use money, for it was my birthday spent with a friend. I orderd Roma Chicken sandwich and medium caramel almond coffee. It cost about 800 yen. I usually don't eat luch to save money, so it was a great expence for me. We talked about movies (we both love movies), our club, and about Aikido, that I recently started, and so on. He gave me a few cigarrets. I don't smoke very much, but I sometimes smoke when I'm with my friends. I don't know why for sure, but I feel very happy when smoking with my friends. We had a very nice time there.

Then we went to Machida to have dinner. He loves ramen, and I had a ramen restaurant I had wanted to go, so we went there. The name is Karamen Shinkuu. We both ordered big size ramen. It was 850 yen. It was my birthday.
It was violently hot, but very tasty, so we loved it.

Then we went to convinence store for him to get a beer. I didn't drink, for I couldn't drink alcohol very much, but I smoked while he was drinking, in front of the store.

Then we walked slowly to the Odakyu Machida station, and parted at the plathome, doing greeting of having fist meet each other's, that we always do on parting, my favorite greeting.

He didn't say happy birthday or anything. Maybe he didn't know it was my birthday, and perhaps it was just coincidence that we met today. But I'm not surprised if he did. He is such a guy, and I'm such a guy that doesn't tell him it's my birthday, and we like each other very much.

It was a very nice birthday today.

love and peace

I belong to art club, although I don't do very much artistic activity.( I have been interested in movies and other arts, and I just liked the people when I went to the freshmen canvass.) I think I made a really good choice. I have made many good friends there and have had happy time in this club.

This spring we had a new cool guy who likes hippie culture.
Maybe I need an explanation for hippie.
Hippie is a people who protest against the Establishment, and advocate returns to nature. They love freedom, nature, peace, and art. As the Vietnam war, so in late 60's, it became very popular all over the world. Of course they were against the war.
Today after school, we, about 10 or so, gatherd in the grass before chapel, and had a Hippie Night, proposed by the guy. Some of us tied their hair and wore like hippie, and played "Imagine" of John Lennon and "Like a Rolling Stone" of Bob Dylan with guitars and harmonicas.
When the clear blue sky gets darker and gets mixed with orange, it was so beautiful and we felt very nice.
I'm happy to have them, and I'm very happy that it's still June. We have much time left.

Martial Art.

This is my essay for IE Writing class. I have been wondering what martial art is, so I chose this topic. I tried to find the charactreristics of 3 kinds of martial art and analyze their thought from their technics. It was quite interesting to see the differences between them.


Martial Art

Shouzou Hirata

Martial art has an aspect as a kind of body language between two bodies. Each kind of martial arts has a philosophy on how the player looks on the opponent and it is represented in its techniques. There are two types of martial art according to how the player approaches the opponent: one is a battle with blows (In Japanese, it is called Go, which means hard and strong), and the other is with throws (In Japanese, it is called Ju, which means soft and adoptable). The difference between Go and Ju comes from the difference in philosophy in each on how the player looks on the opponent.

The typical sport of Go is boxing. The players keep firing blows at each other until one is knocked out, gives up or time runs out. In this sport, the opponent is not a human but a wall. He stands in front of the player like a wall that tries to illustrate the limit of his physical ability. To overcome the limit in himself, he has to crush the wall. According to Wikipedia, this sport started in ancient Europe. As the background, there is probably the dualism of traditional European philosophy. The structure that either is to be ruled by power is the same thing that we can see in the history of European science’s ruling nature.

On the other hand, the typical sport of Ju is aikido or judo that both have, according to Wikipedia, stemmed from jujutsu. The player throws the opponent and ties him down. According to it, the fundamental philosophy of this sport is survival of both self and others, and discipline of mind is an important aim. So, on the contrary to that opponent is a wall that should be crushed in boxing, the opponent is to be respected and cared in Judo and he is not an object but a person whose path should be changed to avoid collision. One of the best ways to know what Judo is to watch the movie “Sugata Sanshiro” by Akira Kurosawa. In the movie, a judoist Sugata, with a match near at hand, sees his opponent’s daughter pray to God for her father’s win. Sugata finds unbeatable air in her unselfish shape, and realizes that unselfishness is the essence of invincibility. Sugata, who achieved unselfish mind through training under his master, at the match, throws the opponent. Carried from the hall, he tells Sugata that he felt good when thrown by him and expresses gratitude. However, judo has a match, so the players are still eager for win. Aikido puts more importance in mentality than judo. Aikido denies conflict, so doesn’t have a match. Tatsuru Uchida, who is a philosopher and also an aikido player, says, in aikido, the players become one creature at heart and body, so he feels sad when the training is over feeling as if he parts with a part of himself.

As we live our life, there are both times when we have to crush a wall and when we have to change a path of a person, so we need them both. Boxing is originated in Europe, and judo and aikido are in Japan, but now boxing has gained great popularity in Japan, and in European country such as France the number of people who plays aikido or judo is bigger than in Japan. As we assimilate each other’s martial arts, we can reach the better way to balance with our world.


Works cited
Sugata Sanshiro. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. With Susumu Hujita. Eigahaikyuusha, 1943
Uchida, Tatsuru. Home Page. Uchida Taturu no kenkyuushitsu. 12. May. 2008. 13. May.2008
“Judo” Wikipedia. 12. May. 2008
“Boxing” Wikipedia. 12. May. 2008 <>

Reunion

When I was a high school student, I lived in Minnessota, America for a year as an exchange student. It's 4 years ago from now.

First, I stayed at a family's in Minneapolis, which is the biggest city of the state, for 3 months. The hostfamily consisted of a hostmother, hostfather and a hostbrother of 12. He was such a cute boy. His hobby was to watch Japanese animes, and I was often made to watch them with him at midnight after hostparents went to bed. If I fall asleep, he got angry. He said he had had been up for four days straight watching animes, that I don't know if it's real. His favorites were Dragon Ball, FLCL, Cowboy Bebop. I had not seen FLCL and Cowboy in Japan , but they were really cool, high quality animes, and they became my favorites, too. They are not so popular in Japan, but they are really in the U.S. I was surprised at American kids' good sense. Anyway, I had nice times with him. He often came to my room to do a loud game on computer which is only in my room, even when I was doing my homework, that kind of annoyed me, but I knew that he was actually wanted to be with me. I love him. Hostparents, they were both really nice, and took good care of me. I'm really thankful for them.
Second, I stayed at a different family's in the same city for two months. The hostfamily consisted of a hostmother, hostfather, and a hostbrother of the same age. His real parents had divorced, and he had lived with his mother and a father in a low to whom she remarried, and with his real father who lives very close to them weekly in turn. Hostmother liked reading, watching movies, and we had same hobbies. So we talked a lot about them and other things. I spent Christmas season with them and we had many parties with their relatives. It is a really fantastic memory. I really liked this family, so when I parted with them, I cried really hard.
Third, I stayed at a family's in a small town which is about 3 hours car ride from minneapolis for 6 months. It was a big family. I had hostmother, hostfather, 2 hostsisters, and 2 hostbtothers. The oldest was a girl of the same age as mine, and so she introduced me to her friends. We sometimes had parties, and I had really good times. The second oldest was 2-year younger boy. He was a black, and an adopted child. He was not a good student at school and kind of difficult child, but was really a kind and nice guy. We sometimes did a basketball together. The youngest and second youngest were shy boy and girl. And I was, too. So actually we didn't have much conversation, but they were cute and I liked them. And, the hostmother and hostfather, they were really really nice people. They took really good care of me, and tried all their best to have me have good time. They always talked to me who were shy and not good at English, with as much humor and cheerfulness as possible, and took me to all the events going on around the town. They were really nice to me. I had really good time with them, and I'm really thankful for them.

I had a really nice year in minnessota.

From the last summer, the oldest hostsister at the third family is in Tokyo. She stoped out from college, and works here. The family have lived in Akita for about 10 years for father's job, so she wanted to come back to Japan again, though she couldn't speak Japanese very well. I was thinking about going back to Minnessota, so it was a big welcome surprise. When I met her last year for the first time after I left the U.S., we were so glad and had a happy time. She grew more and more nice and brilliant. She is learning japanese at a high speed, which surprises me, and now we talk in japanese. Actually her Japanese is better than my English. We have met for a few times since the last summer, and we became much better friends than before.

And now, her family is visiting her here in Tokyo. I met them yesterday. Well, what a delight it was for me to see them after 4 years! The youngest and second youngest grew so big, and I couldn't recognize thtem until introduced. The youngest boy became a gentleman, and the second youngest girl became very beautiful. We had BBQ with many other hostsister's friends, and had a very nice time. And today, we met again. My mother was together this time. She showed her great thankfulness to my hostfamily for having me, and talked a lot. We went to tenpura restaurant, and it seemed that they liked it, to my delight. However, I still have a serious problem. I still couldn't talk with the youngest and second youngest kids very well. We are still shy, and I was nervous.
I do want to get close to them soon. They will be here for another 2 weeks.

Hi, my name is Shouzou.

As the first entry for this blog, I would like to talk about cities I have lived.


For my family's work or school, I have lived in a lot of cities: born in Midoriku in Yokohama, then next to Shimizu, Mannilla, Miyazaki, Minneapolis in Minnesota, Marshall in Minnesota, again in Miyazaki, and now in Machida.

So I have lived in both big city with population of 10 million and small with less than 10 thousand, tropical city where you can see palm trees at any direction and where it reaches -20℃ in winter, sea shore and inland flat, Japan and other Asian country and America. I used to think negatively about my life not staying long at one place to take a root on, but now I think I was lucky that I have such a various experiences, that made me what I am now with wide range of tastes and sight. I think the places have brought me up. And I love all these places!

By the way, the cities above have something in common.
They all have "m" in their name.
I believe that there is some kind of en working. I'm kind of religious guy.