2017年6月30日金曜日

2017年6月30日金曜日 -

Luke: What makes the seasons in Japan enjoyable?

It's really rather hot. It's already the kind of hot that would lead most British people to make, with all possible haste, for the nearest beach, paddling pool or garden hose. Twenty five degrees and counting as I write this, and it will be many months before we begin counting down. By which point I may well have melted, returning, without my dignity, to water; from which the human body is apparently predominantly comprised. However, it is not actually my intention to complain about the weather here. Of course I enjoy complaining about the weather, most British people do, and we're good at it. It may in fact be the one thing we're better than average at – our 'special talent,' you could say, that and apologizing for things that aren't our fault. But, no, my plan here is to say a little about what makes the seasons in Japan so enjoyable, and so special – in spite of the frankly sometimes nauseating humidity that we must all endure in summer.
     Whenever I’m asked what I enjoy most about Japan, many things come to mind and it's difficult to put my finger on one particular thing. However, near the top of the list is always the seasons here.
Each one is so wonderfully distinct; in spring we can enjoy beautiful and ubiquitous blossom of various hues. Summer brings the aforementioned humidity, and even that has a certain kind of charm and appeal if, like me, you are used to summer being so fleeting it can often feel as though it never really occurred at all. The lush greens of summer here are also such a wonderful transformation. It may be my imagination, but the contrast here between the barrenness of winter and Japan's verdant summer seems more stark than in England. And I will likely never tire of the fact that, here in Japan, I don't need to wear a sweater for five or six months a year. Then autumn brings red foliage that really rivals spring in terms of beauty, as well as some welcome respite from the heat of summer. And winter is cold, and cold is good. Cold is especially good if you like winter sports. I don't particularly, but I do enjoy being cozy inside when it's very cold outside, and I do enjoy wearing scarves.
     We don't have this kind of clarity in England, each and every year you can hear the same kind of comments: “Is it spring or summer?” “Has summer finished now?” “Is it winter?” “It was cold yesterday but the weatherman said tomorrow might be warm.” No one is ever really sure in England. There is rarely such confusion in Japan. To my mind, this has a pretty tangible impact on my perception of time, specifically on how I perceive its passing. Such clearly demarcated seasons make the passage of time so much more apparent to me. It's a strange kind of feeling, one that I perhaps have not explained well, but one that I enjoy immensely nonetheless.

rather：幾分
haste：急いで
paddling：水遊びをする
dignity：尊厳
predominantly：圧倒的に
comprised：構成されている
nauseating：不愉快な
distinct：違いがはっきりしている
ubiquitous：至るところにある
various hues：色とりどりの
fleeting：つかの間の
as though：ちょうど
lush：青々とした
barrenness：不毛
verdant：新緑の
stark：際立っている
foliage：木を覆う葉
rivals：張り合う
in terms of：～において
respite：ひと休み
cozy：ほっこりする
tangible：はっきりと感知できる
perceive：知覚する
demarcated：区別される
immensely：非常に
nonetheless：それにもかかわらず

2017年6月23日金曜日

2017年6月23日金曜日 -

Cody:American and Japanese Tongues


     I love to cook. My mother started to teach me the basics when I was a little kid and it became a hobby soon after. I've spent decades learning recipes, making my own and perfecting them. Recently, my mother even gave me her recipe book, which had previously belonged to her mother (my grandmother).
     So, imagine my surprise when I cooked dinner and desserts for my friends here in Japan for the first time – using my tried and true recipes that are favorites back home – and was told that they were too salty, too sweet or even had too much flavor.
     I mean, I know Americans can go a bit crazy with their recipes, but I'd never imagined that such a fundamental difference existed between Japanese and American taste buds.
     However, after this disparity was made apparent to me, it started to make sense. I thought about my encounters with Japanese food in America, often at restaurants with my friends.
     Americans love to dunk their sushi in soy sauce. They also love sushi rolls that are covered in rich, sweet sauces. Most of the udon and ramen I ate in American had heavy, salty, rich broth and were loaded with things like tempura or grilled meat and seafood – light and refreshing versions were a minority.
     Perhaps a better example of the difference between Japanese and American taste preferences can be better illustrated by finding a common ground, in which there should be very little variation: Starbucks.
     But, surprise! There's a big difference in one very simple ingredient between Starbucks in America and Japan… the whipped cream. In America, it's very sweet and heavy; it tastes like dessert. Here in Japan, it often tastes like no sugar at all has been added. It's light, fluffy and creamy without being sweet.
     So, if you're ever looking to try some authentic American cuisine, you might want to prepare your taste buds for a lot more flavor than you're used to!    

decades：数十年
perfecting：完璧にする
belonged to：～のものである
tried：実際に作ってみた
fundamental：根本的な
taste buds：味蕾
disparity：不一致
make sense：理解できる
dunk：どっぷり浸す
broth：煮汁
minority：少数派
ingredient：材料
fluffy：ふわふわの
authentic：本物の

used to：なじみのある

2017年6月16日金曜日

2017年6月16日金曜日 -

Cody: The American Breakfast -A Meal For Any Time

              I think everyone knows what an American breakfast looks like; pancakes, sausage, bacon, potatoes, french toast (ironically), scrambled eggs. Butter. Lots of butter. There's toast too, which likely has some fruit jam spread on it.
              However, there are two important points about the American breakfast that I want to talk about today. The balance of sweet and savory, and the fact that in America, any time can be breakfast time!
              The classic combination that may come to mind when you see 'American breakfast' is pancakes, bacon, orange juice and eggs. There's a reason behind this array of choices. The pancakes are usually sweet and become even more so when the maple syrup is applied – but that's why the salty butter is there! Its application to the fluffy pancake (sometimes referred to as a hotcake or flapjack) keeps it from being too sweet, by adding savory notes to it. The juice, be it orange, apple or some other fruit, is entirely sweet, but that's alright because we've got some very salty bacon on the plate to counter it.　Lastly, we've got some eggs, which tend to be rich and a bit savory, though they may also be spicy depending on the preparation.
              The meal has been designed so that you can bounce between the tastes, experiencing a heightened appreciation for one when you return to it from the other and thus never tire of the sweet or savory.
              The American breakfast is like a puzzle. There are sweet pieces and there are savory pieces, and the amount of possible combinations are staggering! If you're not a fan of sweet food, you can choose all savory elements and it'll still resemble something that you could easily find on the kitchen table in an American home.
              One of the beauties of this meal, thanks to those possibilities, is that you can eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Many families in America enjoy French toast, bacon and eggs for dinner on occasion. Or perhaps scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes and pancakes.
              The final, crowning achievement of this meal is actually a bit of happenstance – when the flavors of the items on the plate combine and create something new.
              So, next time your bacon or sausage mingles with your pancakes, or your maple syrup runs into your scrambled eggs… just let it happen. Take a bite and appreciate the new flavor that was created by coincidence!


ironically：皮肉なことに
likely：可能性が高い
spread：のばす
savory：塩のきいた
come to mind：思い浮かぶ
array：配列
application：適用
fluffy：ふわふわの
flapjack：オート麦の入った甘いパンケーキ
bounce：行ったり来たりする
staggering：驚異的だ
on occasion：時々
crowning：頂上をなす
happenstance：偶然

mingles：混ぜる

2017年6月9日金曜日

2017年6月9日金曜日 -

Tony: May Seasonal impressions.


wikipedia
In my family May is when we start to get happy about Spring.  Although the cherry blossoms are finished and summer days when the temperature is 25 are not uncommon, we are finally finished with the hay fever season.  Golden week has the special meaning of by pollen allergy for us. What a blessing! 

This year I have become a student of Ultraman.  My son is five and completely into the world of Ultraman and the INSANELY HUGE cast of characters in the franchise.  Not only are there the various Ultramen and the Kaiju they fight, there are Ex types, Mecha types, Chaos types, Dark types, and I don't know what else.  

The original Ultraman series that everyone loves dates from 1966, so you can imagine that over the past fifty years there has been innumerable characters introduced that, most importantly for my son, are also available as toy figures to buy.  And as a five year old these days, he doesn't understand that the TV show he's watching was produced in the sixties or the seventies or whenever and that the toy based on the character from the show he watched this afternoon hasn't been in stores for forty years.  

And the kicker is that despite the figures not being available in stores, they are available through secondary sources like eBay, Mercari, Yahoo, or second hand shops.  Oh, my wallet!
wikipedia

Uncommon：珍しい
hay fever season：花粉症の季節
pollen allergy：花粉のアレルギー
What a blessing!：ありがたい!
INSANELY HUGE：異様に巨大な
franchise：フランチャイズ
Mecha：メカ
Chaos：カオス
over the past fifty years：過去50年間に
innumerable：無数の
despite：～にもかかわらず

secondary sources：中古の供給源

2017年6月2日金曜日

2017年6月2日金曜日 -

John：Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Hello, my name is John Hommel. I came to Japan from America. I was born in California, but I grew up in Hawaii and went to college in Florida.

When I was 13 years old I started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Honolulu, Hawaii. Now I practice jiu-jitsu at a school in Osaka.

Besides jiu-jitsu, I wrestled for two years in high school.

When I’m not practising, I like to read mystery novels, listen to jazz, and visit temples and shrines. If you also like mystery novels, I recommend reading books by Michael Connelly. He writes stories about detectives and most of his books are translated into Japanese. I especially recommend Blood Work (わが心臓の痛み in Japanese). 


And if you want to learn a fun and effective way to exercise and protect yourself, then you should learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu：ブラジルに移民した柔道家が柔道の技術をカルロスグレイシーなどに伝えて改変してできた格闘技、武術の一つ。寝技の組み技が主体。
Besides：～の他に
Wrestled：レスリングをした
Michael Connelly：アメリカのハードボイルド派の探偵・犯罪小説家

detectives：探偵

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