Such a beautiful Fireworks!!

A display of giant fireworks exploding in the night sky, one of the higlights of the Japanese summer.
Each starburst lasts just 5 or 10 seconds.  But these fleeting moment of beautiful pryotechinics never fail to captivate the watching crowds.

日本の夏の夜の主役、夜空を彩る大きな花火です。花火が光を放つのは、わずか5秒から10秒ほど。その一瞬の美しさに人々は酔いしれます。

The climax of any firework display is a rapid-fire series of bursts called 'star-maines.' Hundreds of fireworks are launched to form a blazing curtain in the sky. The colours and sizes are carefully calculated to create the perfect combinations. This type of pyrotechnic collage effect is an art form in its own right.

クライマックスは「スターマイン」と呼ばれる連続仕掛け花火です。打ち上げられた数百発の花火は光のカーテンをつくります。
色やサイズの組み合わせが巧みに計算された花火の総合芸術です。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
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Positive Phrases "future"

It sure gives me renewed hope for the future.

おかげで私は未来に新たな希望が持てます。

☆今日おぼえたフレーズ

renewed hope for ~  : ～への新たな希望

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Positive Phrases

ポジティブなことばのシャワーで日々元気に、心豊かに過ごせますように。

Why not?　Of corse it's OK！

駄目な理由はないよ。もちろん大丈夫。

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Positive Phrases "Time”

If you make good use of your time,

You'll have a lot of time left over to do the things you want.

時間をうまく使えば好きなことをやる時間をたっぷり確保できるだろう。

Witty Remarks "Time"

We need time to dream,

time to remember and time to

reach the infinite.

Time to be.

わたしたちには夢見る時間、思いを起こす時間、

そして無限に思いをはせる時間が必要です。

つまり何もせずただ存在するだけの時間です。

グラディス・テイパー（アメリカの作家）

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Witty Remarks "Time"

You will never find time for anything.

If you want time, you must make it.

何をするにも、時間は見つけるものではない。

必要なら作るものだ。

チャールズ・バクストン（イギリスの政治家）

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Witty Remarks "woman"

A woman's guess is much more accurate than

a man's certainty.

女性の推測のほうが、男性の確信よりもはるかに正確である。

ラドヤード・キブリング（イギリスの作家　1865-1936）

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Witty Remarks －安藤忠雄

It must never be forgotten,

I believe, that acts of courage

always touch people's heart.

常に勇気ある行動が人の心を打つことを

忘れてはならないと思います。

安藤忠雄（建築家）

touch=心を打つ

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Witty Remarks －マハトマ・ガンジー "Courage"－

The weak can nevery forgive.

Forgiveness is the attribute of  the strong.

弱い者は人を許すことができません。

許すということは強さの証なのです。

マハトマ・ガンジー（インドの宗教家・独立運動指導者）

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Positive Phrases "my way”

That was definitely a big moment for me.
It was extremely liberating.

それが私にとっては重大な転機だったのは確かです。
すごく解放感がありました。

a big moment     重大な転機、重大なできごと


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Witty Remarks

Believe, when you are most unhappy,

that there is something for you to do in the world.

So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain.

不幸のどん底にいるときこそ、信じてほしい。

世の中にはあなたにできることがある、ということを。

他人の苦痛を和らげることができるならば、

人生は無駄ではないのです。

ヘレン・ケラー

強い向学心を持ち、努力家であり、

重い障害を乗り越え、福祉に尽くしたヘレン・ケラーの

このことばはとても重みがありますね。

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Positive Phrases "friends"

My friends were surpportive throughout the ordeal.
つらい時、友達が支えてくれた。


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Positive Phrases

A smile has magical powers.
笑顔には魔法の力がある。

Positive Phrases

It 's now or never. Go for it!
やるなら今しかない。思い切ってやってみよう！



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Witty Remarks

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.
人が犯しがちな人生最大の過ちは、過ちを犯すのではないかと絶えず恐れることだ。
　　　エルバード・ハバード（アメリカの文筆家　1856-1915）


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Walking! Walking!walking!

月見山, originally uploaded by Kayo22.

I went to the mountain near my house this morning. It was nice weather and nice view.

Art ehibition of Tohaku Hasegawa

I went to the art exhibition of "Thohaku Hasegawa" at kyoto national museum in Kyoto.
This year marks the 400th memorial of Hasegawa Tohaku.
He is one of the greatest painters in Japan.
He was born in Nanao city in Ishikawa prefecture.
Tohaku began his career painting Buddist works.
In his thirties, he moved to the then-capital of Kyoto and expanded his works to include portraits, landscapes, and birds and flowers. He used his technique of painting, whilee at other times wielding a bold brush.
Later, he received commisions from the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi and tea master Sen no rikyu.
They orderd Tohaku to paint significant works.
They made him a famous painter.
His famous painting titled "famous painter.
His famous painting titled "Pine Trees" was so great.
"Pine Trees"was painted by using only Japanese black ink.
He represented fog laiden pine trees in a woody foreset, using only black ink. I felt like I was in the quiet deep foggy forest.
I found he was a great painter.

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The electone ( keybord) players' concert

I went to a live concert of 6 top electone players.
 An electone is the name of musical instrument.
It is kind of like an electronic organ.
The theme of the concert was "love"; love for family, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, animals, nature, country and so on.
Each player composed music about love and played them.
It was such beautiful and heart warming music and they made me happy.
 An African-American woman singer joined the electone player's music; she had a powerful singing voice.
I thought music has the great ability to make us cheer up.
They played and sung "We are the world" with the audiendce for the last song of the concert.
I enjoyed  the concert and I had a wonderful night.

Art exhibition of Setsuko Migishi

I went to see the art exhibition of Setsuko Migishi. Her works come with a description of a free-wheeling, footloose life.

Setsuko married Kotaro Migishi who was an artistic genius. At the beginning they stimulated each other, but Setsuko was sinking because of Kotaro's strong character. He lives by instinct and is selfish. Setsuko and Kotaro lived a stormy life, so she tried to kill herself... At that time, Kotaro died sudenly. After Kotaro had gone, Setsuko decided to live as an artist. She painted pictures when she was 94 years old.This exhibition was about her life journey of mind through her artworks.
From her diary, she stuggled with herself through her art. She thought about herself. Why did she paint pictures? Did she sometimes lose herself, because of her life as an artist? For an occupation? For finding beauty through painting?For the deadline of the next exhibition ? For an art dealer?
There are a lot of arists who are struggling. Despite their difficulties ,why do they paint pictures?
From her diary, she said when she found her picture, she finished a work of art.

She died at 94 years old. Her last work was a picture of yellow coloured flowers. Yellow coloured flowers represented her husband, Kotaro.

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An attractive lady

An attractive customer came to our art gallery today. She looked like she was around 60 years old. She was an elegant lady. She came here by accident. She had started learning about drawing pictures, so she came here to see many pictures in order to learn.

An artist who painted them for the exhibition came to our gallery today as well. The customer and an artist talked about the pictures and how to practice and so on. She was so happy to meet her, and she bought her work.

I talked to her after that. She said she had lost her husban, and since started to play piano and has been drawing pictures for two months. She was so beautiful and it came from her life style I thought. She told me her age and I was so surprised to hear it. She looks 10 years younger than her real age because of her sleek face and her shining eyes. She made me full of energy. I want to be a beautiful lady,regardless of Age.

I read a quote of Coco Chanel:

"Nature gives you the face you have at twenty, life shapes the face you have at thirty, but at fifty, you get the face you deserve.


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Cherry blossoms

Every spring ,the cherry trees all over Japan burst into bloom, so when cherry blossoms come out, we know the spring has come. It makes us have happy feelings, and we have a party with eating and drinking under the cherry blossoms. The cherry blossom is regarded as the iconic flower of Japan. Since ancient times, people have admired all kinds of flowers and composed poetry inspired by them. It was arround the 10th century that cherry blossoms became prominent as one of the signs of spring. The aristocrats of that time saw their own mortal lives reflected in the cherry blosssoms that bloom and fall all too quickly.
I went to see cherry blossoms near my house. The cherry tree, named Somei-yoshino, was distinguised by the austere beauty of its large whitish flowers. They were so beautiful. Many birds perched on the tip of a branch and ate the nectar of the flowers. They were so lovely.Today was still cold , but it made me have spring feelings.

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That's a good idea!

My friend and her husband came back to Japan, and my husband and I met them for lunch. I met them such a long time ago. I haven't seen them for nearly ten years. They were very well and this trip to Japan was good for refreshing themselves. I arranged a buffet style restaurant. It was eat as much as you like. Her husband Andrew is a vegetarian so this style was convenient for him. I was glad he liked Japanese food. I think Japanese food is healthy and good for vegetarians. While we were enjoying lunch, Andrew was talking about whisky. My husband also loves whisky, and we talked about Suntory whisky's Distillery in Osaka. It was not so far away, so we decided to go there on the spur of the moment. We saw many bottles of whisky that came from all over the world, and we tried to taste some of them. They were 12 years old and 6 years old, and another one was from before it was put into a cask. The last one tasted rough, it was unripe. Afterwards Andrew bought some bottles of wine and a box of chocolates with whisky inside as a souvenir. We enjoyed our short trip. I was so happy to spend time with them.

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English lessons

I tried to have English lessons after an interval of three years. I used to go to an English conversation school in Osaka, but I was busy after I got married, so I stopped going there. One day, one of my seniors in my company was interested in learning English so I introduced them to the English school where I used to go. After that the English school gave me a present which was 5 free English lessons. I haven't been speaking for such a long time. I have forgotten many English words, unfortunately. It is easy to forget. It is hard to maintain English skills for a long time.

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I love music

I am interested in joining a chorus group. I skimmed through the list of members wanted for chorus groups on web. There still isn't a chorus that interests me. It may be good for me if I can practice at one near my house, once a month. And then I can practice my electone for a few hours. I am not good yet, but I am pleased with myself when I see some improvement.

Go to the gym

I have been started going to gym as I'm going on a diet.I am busy everyday,so I didn't have enough time to do exercise. On my day off I go to the gym in the morning to do aerobic exercises and then do muscle training.
In particular, I do sit-ups because I want to reduce the size of my waist. Also, I am doing some studio exercises like yoga, taikyokuken and aerobic dance. I do these ecercises with many people,so it is fun and easy to keep training. The lesson time goes by quickly.


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Furoshiki －Origin of the word Froshiki

The word "furoshiki" actually comes from the culture of the bath, or furo. In the Muromachi period (1336-1573),When samurai bathes together in large numbers, they each wrapped their clothing in a square of silk decorated with their family crest to avoid mix-ups of belongings.　Once out of the bath,they stood on that same silk square while dressing.
　
－そもそも「風呂敷」という言葉は日本の風呂文化から生まれたもの。室町時代に武士が大勢で風呂に入ったとき、自分の衣服が他の人のものと紛れないよう家紋入りの絹の布で包み、風呂から上がった後、その布の上で衣服を着た。

Thus the "furo (bath) siki" (from the verb meaning to lay out) was born.

－これが風呂敷の原点

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"Furoshiki" part3

Production requires sophisticated dyeing techniques, such as dying each side of the fabric separetely and  incorporatinggradations of color.

－風呂敷独自の染色技術も使われている。一枚の布の表と裏に異なる柄や色を入れて染め分けたり、ぼかしをいれたりなど。


What's more, While its shape could not be simpler, furoshiki has　countless uses depending on how it is tied and wrapped.

－それだけではない。風呂敷は究極にシンプルな形でありながら包み方と結び方ができるのだ。
シンプルでありながら多目的である。


It  even offers insight into the Japanese tendency to keep feelings literally under wraps.

－そして風呂敷から日本の「心を包む文化」も知ることができる。


We Japanese often rely on materialgoods to convey such feelings as gratitude, congratulations, or condolence.

－わたしたちはモノに託して相手に心を伝えることが多い。感謝の気持ちやお祝いの気持ち、
お悔やみの気持ちなど。


So as noto to expose the object chosen to communicate these very personal feelings, and to keep it clean and safe from damage,we wrap it carefully in furoshiki before setting out to deliver it.

－その自分の気持ちを伝えるモノを露にしないように。また、汚したり傷つけたりしないように大切に風呂敷で包み、訪問するまで運ぶ。

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Furoshiki "A 1000 year expression of Japanese culture"

The furoshiki is an easy way to incorporate Japanese tradition in our daily lives.
－風呂敷は最も簡単に体験することができ、誰もが生活の中に取り入れることができる日本文化だ。

It's a piece of fabric,square in shape, which people have been using to wrap things for more than 1,000 years.
－風呂敷とは千年以上もの間、日本で使われてきたモノを包むためのほぼ正方形の布。

Each cloth is a condensed expression of our heritage, with patterns designed to look attractive when folded or tied into o three-dimensional form.
－その一枚の布には日本の伝統文化が凝縮されている。
包んで立体的になった時も、美しく映えるように伝統的な文様がデザインされている。

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Froshiki

Used for centuries, furoshiki are fabric squares that epitomize the timeless wisdom of Japanese tradition.
－古来より使われてきた日本の布、風呂敷は美しく大胆な文様の宝庫。
　そして限りない日本の「知恵」が詰まっている。

By tying them in different ways you can wrap and transport items of any shape.
－結び方の工夫一つでどんな形のものでも包め、楽に運ぶことができる。

Best of all, being fabric , they can be used over and over again.
－何よりも布だから何度でも使える。

With their eye catching patterns, they deserve rediscovery.
－一度風呂敷を使う楽しみと便利さを知ったら、誰でもきっと手放せなくなるはず。

Say goodbye to plastic bags and wrapping paper!
This will be the century of the froshiki.
－ポリ袋や包装紙はもうさよならだ。
　「大量生産、大量消費」の時代はもう終わりだ。
　21世紀は風呂敷の時代。

〈家庭画報　インターナショナルより〉

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↑I join in the blog ranking.
There are many diaries uploaded. Some of them are really helpful to learn English.
English blog Mura is good place to search nice articles.

My lovely bird

When my lovely cockatiel eats food well, I feel calm and happy.
It is an indicator of his health.


He came to our family in May last year.
When he arrived here, he was so nervous and was scared of us,
but he enjoys his life with us now.
He comes to me ask for food every morning.
The cockatiel is so clever, I would like to teach him  how to sing.
He is so cute.

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Food in Kanazawa

I ate local dishes in Kanazawa.

It is onle possible to eat some of them in Kanazawa.

"Deep fried gas shirmp": The name  "gas srimp" sounds strange.

I've never heared of gas srimp but it looks the same as shirmp and tastes  sweeter than "amaebi."

"Jibuni": "Jibuni" is the most local dish in Kanazawa."Jibuni" is boiled duck "shiitake mushroom" and "fu" is bread-like food  made of wheat. It is healty.

I also ate Kaga vegitables by templa. In the castle town of Kanazawa, the Japanese feudal loard are vegetables a long time ago, so Kanazawa has many kind of seasonal　vegtables.

Kanazawa also has precious fish called "Nodoguro".

Nodoguro  has a black colored throat, so it is named  Nodoguro.I ate grilled fish with salt.

They were very tasty, healty and beautiful looking.

I'm interested in learning about local food all over the world.

please tell me about food in your country.

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