2019年6月20日木曜日

2019年6月20日木曜日 -

Matthew -Beautiful Kyoto


 Other than Tokyo, Kyoto is perhaps the most visited, photographed, and dreamed about place in Japan. Like Tokyo, it captures the imagination of foreigners and inspires people to travel halfway across the world to witness firsthand the elements that make it special. Unlike Tokyo, which represents modernity, sheer scale, and a hyperactive 24-hour mega city, Kyoto reminds us of the old Japan. It is beautiful, traditional, polite, and awe-inspiring in ways that are simply the opposite of Tokyo.

When visiting Kyoto, people wish to believe they have stepped back in time to another era, seeing a place that doesn't have to remember or imagine how things used to be, because they still are the way they were. Of course, with the major addition of loads of foreign tourists. Nothing can remain exactly the same forever, right? We can see old houses, eat traditional foods in quiet and peaceful restaurants, and see people in all kinds of expensive traditional dress. But just like Japan, even Kyoto has two sides. Visitors don't only enjoy the culture of old Japan, they explore big shopping malls and taste modern and international cuisine.

If you ask me, however, my favorite side of Kyoto is the older, quieter side, mostly unchanged by the passing centuries. It's a special feeling to walk through skinny, winding streets and arrive at a temple. There are so many in Kyoto, big and small, that you can walk without a purpose or direction and you'll still end up somewhere special. This is true in all of the old, great cities of the world, and Kyoto is Japan's best and most precious example. Places like this cannot be created in a single lifetime.



captures: とらえる
witness: 目撃する
firsthand: 直接自分の目で
elements: 要素
represents: 代表する
modernity: 現代性
sheer scale: 絶大なスケール
hyperactive: 活動過多の
awe-inspiring:荘厳な
era: 時代
major: 主要な
explore : 探検する
modern:　現代の
precious: 貴重な


2019年6月20日木曜日 -

Kyle A Trip to Himeji


One Tuesday in April, I decided to take advantage of some excellent sunny weather, which had arrived just in time for every cherry tree in Kansai to explode into color, and made my way over to Himeji - with a couple of friends, of course.

After an enjoyable train ride, we arrived at Himeji station, which has perhaps the most scenic exit of any train station I've ever visited: after leaving the station, you immediately find yourself looking straight at Himeji castle, down a long and wide street lined with trees. As someone who gets lost quite easily, I appreciated this immensely. We promptly made our way to the castle, stopping only twice for food (karaage and yakisoba).

Once we reached the castle grounds, I was surprised by how different they looked relative to my previous visit. When I'd last been there, the weather had been perfect, but there hadn't been much greenery – most of the trees were bare. 

 Now though, the grounds were absolutely overflowing with cherry blossoms. The colors of the flowers matched perfectly with the castle itself, while the sky was a perfect backdrop for this scene to be set against.


take advantage of ：～を利用する
explode into：爆発して～の状態になる
scenic：眺めの良い
immensely：広大に
promptly：即座に
relative：相対的な
greenery：緑樹
bare：葉のない

2019年6月14日金曜日

2019年6月14日金曜日 -

John　Morning Cinema


Watching a movie early in the morning is a strange experience and full of dilemmas. Do you have popcorn for breakfast? Is cola a good substitute for tea? And why does it feel so strange for there to be daylight when you walk out of the cinema?

 　I saw the “Avengers: Endgame” movie on opening morning. I was sooooooo excited for this one- sitting in a full house and most certainly not tearing up five times. Certainly not. No.

     The three hours flew by and I left the cinema very satisfied, except of course, for that bright sunshine blinding me at the crack of noon. I always feel like movies are made to be seen in the evening, like a special treat, and it is more acceptable to have popcorn and cola in the evening.

     The movie itself was one of the most satisfying experiences I've had in a cinema. It was a pretty much perfect ending to twenty-two movies worth of development and excitement.

     It could have been called “Avengers: Fan Service” given how many callbacks and references to previous movies there were. If you haven't seen all the previous movies recently, you would have missed so many little details. Even something as basic as the shape of a sandwich is a reference to a previous movie. The Marvel movies are successful not because of the action, although it is generally good, and recently very good, but because of the characterization. Whereas most action movies cut out moments of character development for 'pacing', the Marvel movies keep it all in, resulting in characters people can relate to even when they are flying through the air shooting lightning at monsters. When powerful characters show signs of PTSD, or still need their parents to say the right thing, or have similar foibles to us, they create characters people relate to and fall in love with.

     Another reason the movie was great was the structure. Most blockbusters have a very standard structure and contain few surprises. Endgame had it's first surprise about fifteen minutes in and continued to surprise for the other two hours and forty-five minutes. By taking risks and focusing on character they have managed to do what no other movie company has been able to and create a universe beloved around the world, whose best movie is its twenty-second.



dilemmas: ジレンマ
substitute for: ～の代わり
full house：満員の劇場
satisfied:　満足した
treat: 特別な楽しみ
callbacks:　呼び戻し
references:　参照する
characterization: 特徴付け
Whereas: 一方で
foibles:弱点
blockbusters: 超大作
structure: 構造
taking risks: リスクを負う
beloved: 愛されている

2019年6月13日木曜日

2019年6月13日木曜日 -

Anna　Travel & Music


It's finally springtime in Osaka again, and the weather is getting much warmer. In the wintertime, because it's cold, I don't want to go outside very much, and I spend a lot of time inside reading books or watching TV. But when the weather gets warmer, I always want to go outside and visit different places, and sometimes even new places. Over the last few years, I started to travel more around Japan, and try to go to two new places every year. I like sightseeing and traveling, but actually, the main reason I decided to travel more often is to see my favorite band, who tours around Japan every year or two years.

Since I learned about this band, I began to make friends from all over Japan, and even all over the world, thanks to social media like Twitter and Instagram. Although they are a Japanese band, all of the songs are in English, and the vocalist is half-Japanese, so he always talks about bringing people together and making strong bonds that go above being from the same country or culture. Many of the fans of this band, and other bands, are around my age, but I sometimes meet much older or much younger fans, and I think it's amazing that so many different people can come together to like the same thing. Even though I'm a foreigner at the concerts, where most fans are Japanese, I never feel uncomfortable or singled out. Because of the message of community and family, all of the fans are like one big family in front of the stage.
I've also been to places I never imagined I would go because of this band, and my friends. I walked all over Tokyo for a week, and even visited Okinawa for the first time last autumn. Although I don't have any real plans yet, I'm thinking about going back to Tokyo or Nagoya for more concerts this year if I get the chance. Every time I go somewhere, I find places I really like, or that surprise me, so I really look forward to seeing and experiencing more whenever I can. I'm really happy to have met so many great people and seen so many things just by becoming a fan, and I really want to do even more in the future! It's a great feeling, and reminds me a lot of the kindness of people, and the power of music.


bond：絆
go above：～を上回る
singled out：
look forward to ~ing：～することを楽しみにする
remind: 思い出さる
kindness:優しさ

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