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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About me

My name is Kayo. I work at the art gallery in a department store in Osaka Japan.
I make plans for art exhibitions and sell artwork.
It is not easy but it is interesting and exciting to meet various artists and our customers.


In my spare time,I enjoy seeing art in museums and visiting temples to see old Japanese art.
I would like to go to museums all over the world in future.
I also like music so I like going to concerts.Recently classical music is one of my favorite types of music.
And I like playing the electone. I enjoy practicing the electone in my free time.
Do you know the electone? An electone is a kind of electronic organ. It can make many sounds and
I can play like an orchestra all by myself.
I also like walking.
But I don't have enogh time to do, so I have started to go to gym for keeping fit on this month.


I 'm interested in other culture. I would like to make friend all over the world.
Please comunicate thourgh this blog . thank you.

                                                      this is the electone

Trip to Kanazawa -Geisha, Japanese laquer ware

I went a went on a trip to Kanazawa last month. Kanazawa is a one of the traditional cities in Japan. It is similar to Kyoto. They maintain a lot of traditional culture.

One of the traditional cultures is the "Geisha". A "Geisha" is a traditional female Japanese entertainer whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.
Luckily, I was able to watch the performance at an Ochaya in Kanazawa. An Ochaya is a traditional geisha house, normally only regular customers can see a performance by a Geisha so it is not open for the general public, but I went there on New years day so they performed especially for us. Their performance was graceful and beautiful. One geisha played shamisen (three-stinged Japanese instument) while the other two geisha danced to it. The classical Japanese dance is not easy, it needs special training for a long time. Most Japanese people can't dance it. It can not be seen often so I enjoyed very much.

After that, I went to an art gallery for "urushi" to experience making 'makie'. "Urushi" is a Japanese lacquer ware. It made from the sap of Urushi trees. 'Makie' is the name of the decoration technique, in which powder of gold is put on the Japanese lacqure ware. I made sakazuki by makie. It was so interesting and fun.

I would like to keep Japanese traditional cultures and tell the people all over the world.

My friend in Switerland

I met one of my friends for the first time in 3 years. She got married to a Swiss guy and she has been living in Switzerland. Last year she got pregnant so she didn't come back to Japan last year. This year, she came back to Japan with her baby boy. His name is Noel, and he is so cute and full of energy. I am so happy to see her and her son. It is not easy to live in a foreign country and raise a child in another culture. She returned to her old job when her baby reached 6 months old. Even in Japan it is hard to work at the same time as raising a child. They made my heart warm and cheered me up.