Never Let Me Go on Japanese TV

A Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go will turn into a tv-show on January. I'm listening to the audiobook now, so I'm interested in the dramatizing. 

Clone and donation will be superficial issues, but the main theme might be another thing. I'm interested in how they handle the theme in the show. 

Anyway, it would be great if Ishiguro become popular in Japan due to the drama. 

Have a great new year everyone!

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Looking Back 2015

It's already December 30th today. Time flies so fast. Thankfully, my family and I could spend healthy whole year. 

For learning English, I didn't study much, but I enjoyed reading and listening stuff in English. I tried Eiken for the first time and I managed to get Pre-1st grade. 

Next year, I'll read at least one book in English every month. Plus, I'll listen to at least two English audiobooks in a month, probably. 

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Never Let Me Go

I downloaded a Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, "Never Let Me Go" on Audible. I read the novel several years ago and I liked it. The novel was like a mystery, but Ishiguro didn't wrote the story like that. I think that the story was about inevitable destiny and how calmly they accepted that. 

When I read the book before, it took several months to read it. The audiobook is 9 hours long and it'll take five days to listen to it for me. Listening to novel in English is easier than reading it for me. 

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Busy

Too busy. Since I work for fishery industry, the end of the year and new year are really busy. I can't take a day off until January 3rd. Help me. 

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Rebecca

I'm watching SONGS on NHK. Rebecca is featured this week. It's nice. I liked the band when I was in my twenties especially during the first to the fourth album. 

They got back on stage for the first time in twenty years and will appear on NHK Kouhaku Song Festival this year. 

Watching their reuniting concert, I can see lots of funs around the same ages as I. I'll enjoy watching Kouhaku on December 31st. 

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Mao Returns

Mao Asada has returned to the All Japan Figure Skating for the first time in two years. She was absent from competitions one year after Sochi Olympics. Many fans have been waiting for her come back to the rink. 

As many young skaters have made remarkable progress in their performances, Mao couldn't perform well this time, but I believe she will regain her ability on the ice. She might be too nervous to perform this season because of her short retirement. 

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School Report Card

I received my son's high school report card. It was obviously dropped. Obviously he didn't study much. He was supposed to study during the exams, but he played video games and went to karaoke. 

It's Christmas today. The report card was a good Christmas present for me. Sigh. 

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A Grammar Girl's Grammar Book

I bought a grammar reference book on kindle titled "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing". 

The author is famous for her podcast for English grammar tips. It has reached #1 at iTunes. And even she was invited to the Oprah Winfrey Show. On the show, she answered language questions they had received from listeners. 

Anyway, the book shows simple rules for English written in plane English. It starts A and An. I enjoy reading the book. 

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I'm Waiting

I'll be available to get new audiobooks in five days. In my contract, I can download two titles in a month. 

By the day I'm able to get one, I've been listening to available three audiobooks again and again. Each time I can found unfamiliar scenes in every novels. I don't know why, but maybe I lost concentration on these parts at the time or just it came from lack of my English ability. 

Anyway, I've already decided what titles I get next. I'll definitely enjoy the next stories. 

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A Land Slide Disaster in China

GA huge pile of construction wast collapsed and hit on buildings in Shenzhen, China. Under the landslide, more than 80 people were missing, said Chinese media. 

I watched the incident on TV. The pile of waste was so big and that was almost a mountain. It looked like a massive natural disaster, but it was a man-made disaster. The city has been growing rapidly. The waste came from subway construction sites in the city. 

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High School Ekiden

I watched Japan's National High School Ekisen on TV. Sera high school, Hiroshima, won both boys and girls races this time. Boys team has got ninth victories and girls team has got the first one. More over, the boys team surpassed the previous high school record. 

Boys course is as the same distance as marathon. Looking up the results, many boys teams recorded faster than men's marathon world record. How fast they are! 

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Traveling

I've finished listening to The Alchemist for the second time. I don't really like fantasy novels, but I like this. 

Listening to this story, I really wanted to travel around. If I read the novel when I was young, I would drop everything to do so. The boy, Santiago, learned a lot from his travel. He lost everything and got everything too during the journey. 

The most meaningful thing to find the treasures was, I think, the place where he found them in the novel. 

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Reading

In the beginning of the year, I decided to read two English books every month. Obviously, I'll fail to do so, even ten days left. 

I promise I will do it next year. Don't worry, I have enough English books to read in the bookshelves and kindle. 

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Quotes from The Alchemist

I've listened to an audiobook titled The Alchemist. It took three days to listen the novel. I already read the book once and it was one of my favorites. 

I've found many nice sentences to quote in the story. For example, "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure" or "The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them". They are wonderful, aren't they?

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Sawa Retires

Japanese female succor legend Sawa Homare announced that she will end her football career in this season. 

She was called Japan's National Team when she was only 15 years old. Since then, she took part in the World Cup six times including the 2011 victory. 

She has at most 3 matches left. Japanese football fans might miss her. 

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Listening to Audiobooks

I listened to some audiobooks for 2 hours and 40 minutes today. I'm listening to The Alchemist now. I've read the novel once. 

I don't really like the voice of the narrator, so I couldn't concentrate the story so far. But that's okay. It might happen, of course. 

In these audiobooks, l learned that even the same sentences have different meanings. For example, "What can I do for you?" has many meanings. Sometimes, it means what do you want? Sometimes, I want to help you. That's really interesting.

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Kanji of the Year 2015

"An" or 「安」became Kanji of the Year 2015. 

The kanji character means safety, peace or cheap, but for me, it means "anshin shite kudasai" or "please be at ease" by Yasumura. 

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A Rude Question

I joined a meeting held by a volunteer tour guide group yesterday.  An American young guy gave us a lecture about foreign tourists. He was a 23-year-old New Yorker. 

After his presentation, he allowed us some questions. The questions should be related tourism or so. But some member asked a weird question. He asked, "before World War 2, we have lots of reminded original castles here in Japan. During the war time, the U.S troops were bombing many Japanese city and destroyed historical landmarks including castles. Now, we have only 12 of them. What do you think of that?"

The atmosphere there was frozen. Obviously, he shouldn't ask that kind of question at the time. If he really wanted to ask that, he should ask him after they made a trust relationship and in private. 

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Guiding Shimane

I had a lecture which was held by a volunteer tour guide group about guiding for foreign tourists in Shimane prefecture from American young man.  He came from New York with JET program. He has been here for 18 months. 

He said that tourists visiting Shimane want to have special experiences here. Special experiences they don't have in big cities. 

After his presentation, we discussed recommend spot in here, Matsue. The presentation and discussion were held in English. We had a good time today. 

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A War

Two days ago, a war broke out between my wife and son. It looks like a Cold War now. They've never told me what caused the fight. They are just angry at each other. 

My son can't get up by himself in the morning, usually. My wife gets him up almost every morning, but she stopped do so. He managed to get up in time yesterday, but he couldn't today. Poor my son. 

When will it end? No one knows. 

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Listening Again

I have listened two audiobooks in English this month. I don't have any available audiobooks until next month if I don't pay extra money. So l began to listen the two novels again. 

I'm able to understand them more than before. I'll continue to do so. 

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My Wife and Son

My wife and son have been quarreling each other. I'm not sure what happened between them. When I came home they were already fighting. It happens so often. 

My wife said that she never make meal for my son. She is so angry. I'm scared. I'm relieved that I'm not my wife's son. Really.  

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10th Anniversary

Japanese girls singer group AKB48 has marked its10th anniversary this year. They become really popular in Japan and also popular overseas.    

I'm not familiar with them, but I've heard many of their songs. They have even sold  36,000,000 single CD copies and that is the top record in Japan.  My favorite group B'z had the previous record. 

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Easy Reading

I downloaded two audiobooks via Audible the other day. The reading time were about 7 hours and 5 hours. All I should do is listening to them by iPhone.  Easy. I used to listen some audiobooks and these were CDs. I had to use CD player or copy to PC. That was a really bother for me. 

I can download two titles with a fixed price in a month. If I want to listen more audiobooks, I have to pay the costs, but cheaper than usual. 

I will have finished two books tomorrow, but I don't want to spend more many on audiobooks so far. I think I will listen these books again with reading the texts.  A friend of mine recommended the way of listening audiobooks for English learners. 

One thing would be important. You should buy proper level books for you. 

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Class Reunion

I took part in a class reunion party on Saturday. Some friend has become grandfather and some friend has survived from a cancer surgery. Good things happen, bad things happen. 

Twenty years after graduated from high school, we started this class reunion. Since then we have been holding this party ever year. I think I have such a good friends. 

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Skype with a Friend

I talked with an Australian friend on Skype for the first time in almost two years. He was a high school student when we talked with the last time and now he is a second year college student. He has grown up with wearing beard. His major is computer science. 

He studies Japanes by himself now because he likes Japanes manga and animation. He is struggling with learning kanjis. He really wants to read Japanese novels, but kanjis prevent reading them smoothly. 

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My Father and Son

My older son lives in a remote city. He's been busy with work, but sometimes he comes home. Recently, I often surprise how he resembles his grandfather, my father. 

My fathe couldn't see his grandson. He died before his grandson was born. He wanted to see his grandson. 

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Deaths in Novels

People will die in novels. I downloaded two audiobooks recently and both of them were on the theme of death. I didn't intend to pick up the theme, though. I don't know why. 

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14 Dead in Gun Shots

Another gun violence has happened in the U.S. That kind of tragedies happen so often. How many people have died for gun shootings? 

The government should make a strict low of gun possession. It might be a long way to do so, but they should take one step for saving lives from guns. 

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Today's English

I listened to an audiobook for two hours today. The narrator read a little too fast for me, but I could understand the story so far. That was because I once read the book. Without the previous reading, I couldn't catch up the story. 

Anyway, I'll continue the routine as much as I can.

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Audiobooks

I listened some audiobooks before. These were CDs and did not convince for listening. Some book lovers use Audible, so I've just become the member of the service. 

At first, I couldn't subscribe to Audible, but thanks to my Twitter friend, I managed to became a gold member, so I can download two books in a month. Two novels, "Looking for Alaska" and "A Walk to Remember" were my starter. I've already read the two books and those were my favorites. 

I used to listen English radio programs in the morning, but I'll listen to audiobooks instead. 

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Mizuki-San Dies

A popular manga artist Mizuki Shigeru known for "Ggege no Kitsro" has died at age of 93. He might become a real yokai, traditional Japanese monster. 

His "Gegege no Kitaro" adapted into TV animation series many times. I think almost every Japanese know Kitaro. He is so beloved manga character. 

Mizuki's hometown Sakaiminato-shi, Tottori has featured him and displays more than 100 statues of his characters alongside the "Mizuki Shigeru Road" which is a major tourists spot in the prefecture. 

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A Small Success

Two years ago yesterday, I posted this blog for the first time in five years at the time. Since then I have been writing this tiny blog everyday for two years. Sometimes, I could write only few sentences, but anyway, I could continue this blog. It's a small success for me. 

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Busy...

It's been very busy lately, so I can not socialize with SNS world so often. And it was a good excuse for not studying English hard. Exhosted...

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Norwegian Wood

I'm reading Norwegian Wood in English. I'm a big fan of Haruki Murakami, so I have read it as soon as it was published. But that was a long time ago and I forgot about the details. I feel it's a new novel for me. 

Thanks to kindle, I can look up unfamiliar words immediately and review these words easily. 

I'm not reading only that book, but some other books. That is because I'm losing interest in books quite easily. That's not bad for English learners. 

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Winter Has Come

I had my tires changed today. I usually change tires in December, but I did it earlier this year. I thought the first snow will come soon this season. 

In Sapporo, over 40 cms of snow had fallen and that was the highest record in 62 years for this time of November. Is that a signal that heavy snow will fall in this winter?

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Audiobook

I wanted to listen to audiobook, so I tried to subscribe audible.com, but I couldn't. My credit cards didn't work for the service. 

I can join Japanes version of it, but it doesn't have English audiobook. So sad. 

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Satomi Wins the Fourth Title of Shogi

Satomi Kana from Shimane has won the fourth major women's shogi titles in Kurashiki. There are six major titles in Women's Shogi League. 

Satomi had at most 5 of 6 crowns in 2013, but she lost 4 of them due to bad health conditions. She is gradually getting back her conditions and adding major titles. 

She is also trying to be a Japan Professional Shogi League player. That is her dream. If she will be the one, she becomes the first female Shogi League player. I hope she realizes the dream. 

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National Identification Number

My national identification number notification card has just arrived today. The number system has been a controversial issue in Japan. 

I think the system would simplifying administrative procedures. We wouldn't need to write many documents than before. 

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Japanese Immigrants to the South America

Kita Morio wrote many popular books. Kagayakeru Aoki Sorano Shitade was a series of novels that described Japanese immigrants to the South America in Meiji era.

The immigrants figured a bright future in the new world, but the reality was different. The places assigned to them were not suitable for agriculture. People died one after another due to starvation. 

The novel was not completed. Kita could not wrote the last part before he died.
「輝ける碧き空の下で」

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Kataoka and Murakami

When I was in my twenties, one of my favorite writers was Kataoka Yoshio. After reading his books, I wanted to buy a Yamaha and wear white t-shirts and blue jeans. 

Then, Murakami Haruki appeared with a novel called "Hear the Wind Sing". I began to drink a lot of beer and ate spaghetti. 

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A Music Score on the Wall

The city had over 3,500,000 people. It was a big city. 

The high way run the south of downtown. A huge parking lot faced the highway and a wide white concrete building stood at the back of the parking lot.   

The building's wall had a music score on it. The score was a polka of Joseph Strauss and it could be looked clearly through the parking lot. 

Hundreds of cars' body in the parking were flushing in the sunlight. The score was looked over the flushing cars. 

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A Boy on the Hill

A bicycle was under the grassy hill near the highway. I looked up the top of the hill, a boy stood there alone with both hands in his pants pocket. He looked down the highway. 

The sun was setting down and the sky began to be dark. The wind blew cold as if it was late at night. The boy's black hair streamed in the wind. 

The boy put out his hand and waved to a car driving on the highway. 

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Reading

My younger son likes playing video games. His older brother likes it too, but he also likes reading, so I don't worry about him. Reading has made him mature. 

I often say "you should read books" to my younger son, but he doesn't listen to me. Manga would be great if he doesn't want to read novels. At least, they have Japanes in it. 

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Sony PS4

Terrorists might use Sony PlayStation 4 for communication for each other because it is so hard to monitor. 

The Paris attacks which killed at least 127 people and left more than 300 injured would be planned by using Sony PS4, Belgian authorities have discovered. 

Privacy protection is a fundamental factor for democracy, but terrorist's activities should be exception for that. 

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Table Tennis Match

My son took part in a high school table tennis tournament on Sunday. My wife and I went to watch it. 

My son played well more than I thought. He reached the top 16 in the tournament. I hope he reaches the top 8 in the next tournament. 

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Tenryu Retires

Japanese pro wrestler Tenryu Genichiro has ended his 39 years of fighting career in the ring. The last match was IWGP title match with Okada Kazuchika at Kokugikan. 

More than 10,000 people came to watch the 65-year-old legend Tenryu's last fight in Ryougoku where the home town of Sumo. Tenryu was a former Sumo wrestler and his ring name Tenryu was his shikona. 

 I liked him even though he didn't have good pro wrestling technique. Instead of that, he had a passion for pro wrestling and he could make audiences excited. His series of battle with Jumbo Tsuruta were really exiting. Pro wrestling fans would miss him a lot. 

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Murakami Becomes Popular in the World

Haruki Murakami is the most successful writer overseas. No one can deny it. I thought he was not involved in the success directly, but I was wrong. As he described that in his new book, he tried to do so as much as he could. 

When he was around 40 years old, he decided to sell his books in the United States. He moved to the US and looked for his agent and publisher all by himself. They treated Murakami as an American writer. That was because Murakami himself ordered translation and checked it and then brought it to the agent and publisher. That meant they got Murakami's novels in English first. 

After twenty years efforts, some of his books often became the No. 1 selling book in America and other countries. 

An American magazine New Yorker gave him more credit on his works. They picked up Murakami's stories in the magazine 25 times in 25 years. 

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Making Characters in a Novel

Every characters in a novel were part of my own self, said Haruki Murakami in his new book. He continued that he could be anyone he wanted to be and that was the most significant thing for a writer. You could be a young beautiful lesbian or a 15-year-old boy. 

These characters began to take action and made the Murakami's world automatically. He just followed the characters' movement, Murakami said. That was his way of making a story. 

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