Doraemon vs. Goku

Some people debate about not real battles like pirates vs. ninjas. The debates make any sense, but it is fun. This time, I want to talk about Doraemon vs. Goku. Doraemon is one of the most famous characters. He is a cat robot, and he is from twenty-two century. He helps a weak boy by a lot of unique items such as “Every where door”. He can go anywhere he wants when he uses it. On the other hand, Goku is a popular character all over the world. He is a hero of “Doragon-ball”, and he is so strong. He usually fights against bad people who invade the earth. If they meet one day and they battles, what’s going to happen? First, Goku is going to use “Kamehameha” which is strong shot that can make people damaged. Then, Doraemon will use “Dokodemo door” so that escape from it. But Goku is also able to move wherever for a moment, so he will catch up with Doraemon. Then, Doraemon will use “Small light” which can make people small. Goku becomes so upset. He is going to try “Kamehameha” again and again, but it is going to work. Finally, Doraemon will use “Time machine” to send him to the future. Doraemon has hundreds of tools so he may be a winner. If Doraemon can use the tools well, he can win against even Goku. But, he will never kills people because he is so kind. I like the both characters, so I made a happy ending.

Different flavors in the world

When people travel some other countries, they can eat different flavor to their home country. Many people would be surprised the taste because it is new flavor for them. I was also surprised many different flavor when I travel other countries. First, although I like eating almost every food, I couldn’t accept any real Chinese food when I went to China. When I was 18, I went to Japan with my friend because I had studied Chinese at that time. Also, the purpose of the trip was to enjoy real Chinese food. The day we arrived China, we searched one of the most famous Beijing dag restaurant that our Chinese teacher recommended. When we entered there, we really excited because it was the first time to try real Chinese food. We ordered a Beijing dag, soup, and tea. The tea was really nice, though, we couldn’t eat Beijing dag more than 2 bites because it was too oily. I had never eaten oily food like that. After this day, I tried some Chinese food, but I couldn’t accept any spice flavors, so I’d eaten some Italian food or MacDonald’s in China. Second, I don't like gravy. In America, gravy is everywhere, but I always choose not gravy. I tasted gravy, the flavor was not bad, but I heard that it made of beef soup. In Japan, it was a problem to import American beef because some of them causes a disease. I ate a lot of american beef, but I'm afraid to eat gravy because I cannot make sure where the beef from. In addition, I couldn’t drink Saudi Arabian coffee when Saudi people gave it to me. Many Saudi people prefer it, but the taste was too unique for me. I thought it is impolite when I don’t finish it, so I took all. But after that, my stomach felt so bad. I think there are many foods that I can’t accept in the world, but I want to try as many as I can.

Journal Question #3

In my country, Japan, usually do not grave any words that is written in memory of the person buried there. However, some people want to have unique grave. I also want to have a unique grave that is written words. I want to have written that "I was the most freedom person ever". Why I want to be written in my grave? First, the words look not nice, and I don't want to be written bad words in my grave. But this is what I want to be in the future. I want to do what I want, and I don't want to excuse in my life. Sometimes I did what I don't want, but it is easier way. If I was said that I should be a teacher and I would be a teacher that I don't want to be, I can excuse and complain all the time. But I cannot complain when I would be that I wanted. It is harder, but bracing. Moreover, it is the sign of my intention that I want to decide by myself. Some people want to decide someone who is important for them, such as their mother and their friends. They ask about their future plan and influenced a lot. I think it is good thing to listen many people's opinion. But I want to decide by myself eventhogh I ask someone about my future plans or problems. I also don't want to excuse mycelf. That is why I want to be written that I was feedom person. Freedom person sounds irresponsibility person, but I want to live responsibly, and think by myself.

Gangro and Yamanba

My country, in Japan, has a lot different kind of people especially young people. They are usually looked down and considered badly, but their appearance is the signs of help. They tend to have pressure and stress by the society, school, and the parents, so many young people try to act against to them. Older people have to notice about instead of being hate them. At first, one of the group is called "Yamanba", a part pf "Ganguro" who content with the bleached hair and tanned skin. Ganguro gals were usually in high schools, and they represented the Japanese bubble society in 1990. "Yamanba" is similar to "Ganguro", but they looks like the old evil woman in a Japanese old tale, and her appearance is horrible. They has bleached hair, tanned skin, and unique make looks like a panda. (The first picture is Ganguro gals, and the second and third picture is Yamanba gals.) This subculture originated shortly before the turn of the century in Shibuya, close to the famous fashion precinct of Harajuku. It reached its peak in 2000. And it hasn’t regained a large amount of popularity since. That being said, there are still some who remain faithful to this look. Outside of Shibuya and its surrounds I don’t think it is likely that you will see any ganguro girls. Whilst the trend has always been looked down upon by Japanese society in general, and certainly mainstream media. Nowdays you’ll find that most high school students aren’t too keen on it. Ganguro and Yamanba usually consists of high school students, and they are hated by older people. Also, their behavior is not good; for example, they seat wherever they want. they sit down in front of a convenient store, the side of the road, on the train where is not accepted to seat. Moreover, they talk in a train louderly, and they make up in there. Plus, they creates many young word, and they use many creative letter in text messages. It's not acceptable behavior, so many older people doesn't like these kinds of young people. However, the society made the kinds of people, and older people have to think about the education and the system of the society. I think young people is always represent the society, and they show us "help" sign.

About Hinomaru

Do you know the Japanese flag? Red circle in white square, it is very simple, but has a long history and complicated problems. First,the flag has a name and a meaning. Long time ago, in 5 century, Japan was called "sunrise country", so the red means the sun, and white and red are considered auspicious colors. The flag is called "Hinomaru" which means "a circle sun" in Japanese. Then, Hinomaru has a long history. After Japan opened a country to foreign relations, Japan and America concluded the Treaty of mity and Commerce Between the United States and Japan in 1898. Then, Japan needed a flag for it, and Hinomaru is used on a large scale. In heian era, Genji fought against Heike, and Genji won. Genji had the hinomaru flag, but Heike had a flag that a white dot in red square, so if Heike won at that time, the color of the japanese flag may be opposite. When Japan invaded Asian countries in world war 2, hinomaru was used as a symbol, and recentry hinomaru was legislated as a symbol flag of Japan in 1999. Yet, there are some argue that people should agree with this flag or not. People agree with it because it is used for a long time, and investigator reported that more than half of Japanese citizens recognized hinomaru as a Japanese flag. In addition, it is the impressive moment that olympic athletes get first prizes with Hinomaru. In contrast, some people disagree with the flag because it remains them the tragedy of the world war 2, and it was the symbol of a Japanese emperor. Also, it causes some problems in educational situations; for example, some teachers did't respect hinomaru in school ceremonies and they were punished. Also, some group of theachers decided to behave unrespectful in school celemony. In conclusion, hinomaru has some sad histories and difficult problem. I think people need to respect hinomaru even though it was used in world war 2, but people should not punished the teacher who reject to respect to the flag because it againsts a democracy. People have to teach the history about hinomaru not only in schools but also in families and social communities.

Journal Question #6

My best memory of CESL is that I could make international friends. First, I used to think that we cannot share funny things or feeilngs with international people because I had never talked with international people when I was in Japan, and we grow up in different culture. But now, here in America, I could make friends with not only Americans, but also international people. I can share feeling about hard CESL schedule, delicious food, funny movie, and sadness of partings. Also, when I was sad because of the many partings, international friends were very niced to me. Some of them said, "Do not cry." or "We can meet again." It was amazing for me because it was the first time to make "real" friends with not Japanese but International people. In addition, I could have a good dream in the future thanks to the internatonal friends. I became that want to visit Korea, Taiwan, Saudi arabia, and China because many my friends introduced good spots in their own country, and I can meet them again if I go there. It is my dream that I'm going to visit them alone after go back to Japan. To sum up, it was my memorable experience to made friends with people who is from all over the world.

Reading Reaction Journal #3 -Kids' English education business thrives

In this article, the number of English private schools and products related English education for children has been extremely increased because English education at public school is not enough, and parents want them to study English at an early age. First, Benesse Corporation, one of the biggest companies, has succeeded at their business about English education for children 4 or older. They focus on listening, and teach English through playing games except spelling and grammar. Also, toys for children to study English have sold well. According to the Ministry, many children in elementary school have taken English class, but the number of hours and contents are not enough. To sum up, a large number of children study English at an early age.


In my opinion, it is good thing to start to study English at an early age, but people have to care about some problems. It is better for children to study in the early stage, because their brain can accept new language easily when we start to study English. Also, the government decided that elementary school students will have to study English in the near future because nowadays English skill is required in many places. With my experience, it is a good way to study English through music or games. When I was a junior high school student, I did not like English, but one of my English teachers tried to teach us English with music. He gave us time to listen English songs before the class started. It helped a lot to not be nervous about English. However, there are several problems if children start English early. First, if children are taught English at an early age, they have no time to study their own language. Recently, the decreasing ability of Japanese is a big problem in Japan. I think they don’t have to study English hard instead of studying Japanese or at their expense of studying Japanese. Moreover, studying English early makes children more stressful. According to this article, people who want to take an entrance exam have to study more if they have to study English at young age. Therefore, I agree with this article basically, but parents have to think about the problems when they make their child study English.


Kids’ English education business thrives (2004, April 7). The Japan Times. Retrieved on February 16, 2009, from http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20040407f1.html

Journal Question #5

Until now, I had had a lot of uneasy things. Especially, entrance exam was one of the most nervous and memorable evperience in my life.

First, I started to study hard earlier when I was high school sudent. Entrance exam was considered one of the most important event to get better career in Japan. The higher level of the university if you enter in, the better job you can get in the future. So, I had to prepare as soon as possible, and I started to study hard the bigining of the third gread in high school. I used to go one cram school, but I started to go two cram school to get more skills and knowledge to pass the exam. Also, I begun to take a chart and note to control myself. I wote down that what time did I wake up and sleep and how long did I stady. Sometimes I wote words to cheer up myself. It helped me to find wasteful time, and kept my motivation. I kept these things to get higher score until took the exam. At the end, the day before had come. I was so nurvous, so I could not eat anything at the dinner, and I could not sleep until two o'clock. Then, I woke up, and went to the assembly hall early. There was my teachers who taught me at high school and clam school, and they made me felt easy. They gave me charms, and they also gave me power. I was still nurvous, but I took the exam. My heart beat strongly while the exam, but my experience of the effort brung confidence. Finally, I could not pass the first school of my choice, but I could pass different university to use my strong mind.

It was unbelievablly nervous day for me, but it taught me a lot of things. If I have a chance to consentrate one thing for one purpose, I want to try again.

Journal Quesiton #3

Japanese Valentine's Day

Nowadays, Valentine's day is extremely general in Japan, but it is a little different from America.

First, Japanese people usually give a chocolate women to men. Japanese women tend to be shy, so it is thought good opportunity to deliver a message, such as "I love you" or "Thank you". The history about the day is also dissimilar. It goes along the Christian religion in America, but it was started by chocolate company to sell chocolates in Japan. In addition, Japanese Valentine's day has some original, called "Duty chocolate", "Friend chocolate", and "Reverse chocolate". Duty chocolate means women give chocolates to not lovers but coworker or opposite sex friends. In friend chocolate, women give or exchange chocolate each other with the same sex friends. Reverse chocolate is men give chocolate to women. Moreover, there is White day in Japan on March 14th. Usually, men return some candy to women on the day.

In conclusion, people is doing different things with their own history on Valentine's day. But it is same that it is good day to give special message to their special person.

Reading Reaction Journal #2-Shame over poor English level lies with education minisrty

Dezaki, M. (2009, January 20). Shame over poor English level lies with education ministry. The Japan Times. Retrieved on February 4, 2009, from http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090120hn.html


In this article, Japanese people often are shamed about being unable to speak English, but it is caused by the Education Ministry. First, the origin of the problem is the Japanese education system. Although students have opportunities to speak English in a class, they cannot focus on it because of the important entrance examination. Then, people who are working in the ministry do not recognize what students require and helpful to improve their English skill at schools. They don’t know what citizens want students to be taught. Furthermore, people have no hope for the ministry and their own future because they know that they cannot change the bad systems. To sum up, it is not Japanese citizen’s failure that they cannot speak English, even though they learned it for many years.


I agree with the author’s opinion for many reasons. First, I actually faced the hard entrance examination, and I also focused, not on listening and speaking, but on what is important for the next exam or entrance exam. At that time, I had no question about it because everyone did it the same way, and if I focused on listening and speaking, I would lose and I could not get my career. However, I considered again, and I noticed that it was a waste of time, because I had a good opportunity to speak English with native speakers, but I didn’t pay attention to them. I couldn’t speak English, even though my major was English. I think it was not my fault, because I had an environment where I could learn how to speak English, and it was taught for a long time that all I have to do is to pass the entrance exam. It is the worst education system in Japan. When I go back to Japan, I would feel frustrate, so I want to change this system. If I become an English teacher, I want to break this system and I want to teach students that the entrance exam does not just define for your future. I hope this system is going to be changed and children can speak English.

Journal Question #2

How much do you know about Japan? Many people misunderstand Japan because of many factors.

First, when I came to the United States, I was asked a lot of weired things from American. For example, "Were you wearing Kimono (Kimono is traditional clothes in Japan) everyday in Japan?" or "Is it common Seppuku (stab oneself to suiside especially for samurai) in Japan?" Actucally, it is not common in Japanese modern society, and it is one of a stereo-tipical thing because of media or gossip. It is also prejudice that Japanese people have a lot of money. Japanese people tend to be aimed by robbers when they go out of Japan because they think Japanese people rich. It is not totally wrong but not all Japanese people is rich. Furthermore, Japanese women are regarded as gracious and they follow men by American men. It is not true because time is changing. When you look for polite Japanese women, you have to be careful.

To sum up, people should not follow media or rumor to judge Japanese people. It is not always true.

Journal Question #1

I was the most influenced by one of my high school teacher, who was called Hori. He was loved by many student and he was so popular in the high school. He influenced to many students, and I was also influenced for many reasons.

At first, he said to me a changeable and memorable thing. we had to choose a person who is the reader of the class. We choosed by a finger-flashing game. Unfortunately, I lost the game and I had to be a reader. At that time, I was called by the teacher and he said to me, "I'm feeling easy because you became the reader. You have a sense of responsibility, so you can do it." I didn't have confidence, but after I heard his opinion, I felt delightful and I sifted my mind to be full of drive. He also lead me good way when I was undecided to enter a tennis club or not. This time, he suggested to enter the club with his experience. He told to me that it is good oppotunity to enter the club because I can have precious friends and it can be last forever. I decided to enter the club after listen his word, and I could meet metirreplaceable friends. Moreover, he made me strong when I had to decide university. I didn't want to challenge higher level of university, but he suggeted to me "You can do it, because you have great ability." After that, I studied very hard for a year to pass the enter examination. Although I could not pass the exam, I felt satisfaction and I could think myself strong.

That is why he is the person who changed my life exactry and I respect him so much.

RRJ Teachers Struggle to teach in English

Yamashita, s and kano, A. (2009, Jan.15). Teachers struggle to teach in English. Daily Yomiuri Online. Retrieved Jan.15, 2009, from http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/20090115TDY14001.htm

Some Japanese English teachers try to teach English not in Japanese but in English. Murakoshi, who tries to teach in English, mentions that the ways to teach are not so difficult when the teacher uses easy vocabulary. He teaches English in a very unique way and he is teaching in English almost all hours of the class. Reaction of the students is good, because they are more interested in taking the class.

I felt this summary is very interesting because I want to try to teach English not in Japanese but in English. I thought it is difficult to teach in English, but the teacher named Murakoshi mentions that it is not so difficult if you didn’t use difficult vocabulary. It is one of the Japanese English education problems to that they teach English without using oral English in a class. Students cannot get used to listening and speaking English, so their ability is just reading and on the paper test. Our problem is that we can’t speak English even when we have to study English at least 6 years. I think it is the best way to get used to oral English in the class. However, I was surprised that just 70 percent of English teachers can teach English only in the language. I think it should be around 100 percent because they are professional. I felt that it is better learning in all English than almost all Japanese because of the process. If people try to translate English to Japanese, He/She have to start to translate at the end of the sentence. If English learners keep do it, they cannot get the skill of shift their brain English to Japanese. That is why I want to try to teach English this way.