(Thursday, December 1, 2005)
　December is called "shiwasu" or "the month for the masters to run around." Yes, it really is the busiest time for the school teachers. Especially those teachers who are in charge of 9th graders have to have meetings with the students and their parents in order to help them decide what the students are going to do after graduation. Some of the slow learners still hope to enter high school. It's quite difficult to let them understand what kind of situation they are in.

　But for us English instructors working at a language school, it is one of the twelve months. There's nothing special for us to do. For the students learning English from us, it's an important time to decide whether they should continue learning English conversation during the coming school year too.

(Friday, December 2, 2005)
　Recently I don't feel like trusting others easily. I see many people smiling at me, but some of them are not smiling at heart. However hard I try to work, if they find only a little piece of fault in me, they soon start speaking ill of me. Now I know that I only have to do things that are just worth my pay. Nothing less, nothing more. Now I don't enjoy teaching English to anybody. Basically I don't like those who depend on someone else when there're lots of things they could do themselves. I've been learning English myself. I've never wanted to learn the language from someone else. I don't know what I'm talking about. But if I keep on feeling like this, someday I'll have to quit working at a language school. I respect those who try to do whatever they can do. I'll be glad to help them improve their English. But I hate those who don't understand their true ability and who expect too much from others easily. There's a very famous saying in English which goes like this: God helps those who help themselves.
　
　It's fun to learn English. But when you want to reach a certain level of speaking ability, you have to do lots of things that are sometimes very much tiring. Many people can't go over the rather higher walls standing just in front of them. Only those who can stand hard work to go ahead can get out of an elementary stage. But there're a lot more to do left. Mastering a language is not such an easy job. I think we English instructors should let the students enjoy learning English, but the students should realize that they themselves have to try their best. Some people complain about their English which is not easily improved. But do they try to memorize the dialong in the textbook? Do they try to read aloud the skits in the textbook before going to bed? No, they don't. Then how can they be good speakers of English as quickly as they expect they can? There's no royal road to learning.

　I also teach English to a class of 8th graders at KGC. One of them has passed the 3rd Grade STEP test, and the other three have passed the Pre-2nd Grade test. When I think of my junior high school days, I cannot but regard them as just geniuses. I myself passed the 4th Grade test when I was in the 9th grade. In the class they practice speaking English in a very special way that I cannot reveal in public. I wish they could become touchstone for the KGC method.

　After an elementary school girl was murdered in Hiroshima, another elementary school girl was found dead without any clothes on. Some people insist that schools have to take some action to prevent children from becoming victims of those kinky killers. But can it be the final solution? I don't think so. This is a huge problem that all the grown-ups have to work together to solve. Every day patrols could be effective, for example.

(Saturday, December 3, 2005)
　Next Saturday special free-of-charge courses for STEP test will start at KGC. This time again I'm supposed to take care of the five courses from STEP 4th Grade to Pre-1st Grade. The principal will take care of the little children who are going to take the 5th Grade test. It needs a special technique to help them pass the 5th Grade test, because they can repeat English after the instructors, but they don't know what words they are pronouncing. It's necessary to help them learn to be able to look at written English and then make its correct pronunciation. So after the 45-minute short lesson, we feel exhausted, as you could easily imagine.

　Home Page Builder V10 of IBM has just delivered. I've successfully installed all the data and I'm using the new version now. Still I don't feel much difference from the former version. Maybe I'll learn to use the new device little by little. I bought the package from Amazon, which cost me just 4,640 yen. It's much cheaper than the prices offered by other companies.

　I'm soon leaving home for Takinosawa, Fujisawa City, to tutor a 9th grader in English. He's been studying so hard that he's got good grades for the second semester. As I promised him, I'm going to give him an e-dictionary as a gift for his good job. I hope he'll be encouraged by the gift to study harder for the entrance exams that are waiting for him in Feburary next year.

(Sunday, December 4, 2005)
　As I expected, I failed the United Nation English Proficiency Test this time. The borderline was 65 points out of 100 and my score was 55. You can think that it's just 10 points behind. But you can also think that you still have ten points to reach the borderline. When I opened the envelope from the U.N. office in Japan, I slowly opened the folded result paper to find the three Chinese characters "fu-go-kaku," which discouraged me a little. However on my way to Takinosawa, I tried to pull myself together so that I could meet the boy with a smile. Of course I could make it successfully. There are going to be two more chances next year, and I'm sure I'll try my best to pass either of them. I wish myself good luck.

　Recently I often feel like seeing Ryoma's mother. Ryoma is a good-looking Shiba dog, which is quite different from his owner, so his mother dog must be so cute. I'm sorry for Ryoma because he couldn't spend his baby days with his mother. Does Ryoma sometimes dream of seeing his mother? But maybe it's not good thing to let him see his mother, because they might not be able to recognize each other.

(Monday, December 5, 2005)
　How long has it been since the trend of protecting personal data started? These days even the instructors of the language school are not informed of their students' addresses or phone numbers. More and more people even hate to write in the mimic board using their real names. They usually like to use their so-called "handles(=nicknames)," which are often referred to as "handle names" in Japan. I also have my own handle, but when I express my idea on the Internet, I often use my real name. I hate to give my opinions without telling my real name. But today when personal data could be used without the owner's permission, it might be wise of you not to make your real name public.

　Today there are ATMs(Automated Teller Machines) here and there in Japan. They're so convenient, but there is one big problem. Most of the banks charge us from 105 yen to 315 yen for depositting money into someone else's account. If the account is of other banks, you have to pay more than extra 400 yen. Why is that? Even when you try to pay 100 yen into your friend's account in the same bank, you have to pay 205 yen for doing that. If poor people go to the bank and ask them to lend some money to them, they will be reluctunt to meet your needs. But if you're rich enough, they will be willing to come to you and ask you to use their money. My mother was once a president of a small real estate company. Her company itself was small in scale, but she made such a lot of money every month. Whenever she went to the bank, she was treated as a VIP. But once the bubble economy collapsed, the bank people became suddenly cold to her, because she was having a hard time to make money. I heard that story from her, so now I never believe in banks. The small sum of money 105 yen will pile up to become 105 million yen when a million people use the ATMs of the bank. What do you think?

(Tuesday, December 6, 2005)
　It's been so cold today, isn't it? We're now getting into the winter season. When you ride a bike or a motorbike, you feel as if your cheeks would be cut by the freezing wind. But in such a weather just a piece of muffler will really work. You put the muffler around your neck, and you will no longer feel the chilly wind hitting your face.

　It's 8:08 in the morning now, and it's freezing cold. How could the weather change into the winter mode so suddenly? I guess there are many people who can't adjust themselves to the drastic changes and catch a bad cold. This year it's especially dangerous to catch a flu, because the only effective medicine called "Tamiflu" might have terrible side effects on you. You can't be too careful if you are office workers who take crowded comuter trains to go to work. It's a good idea for you to wear a mask even if you're in good health.

　On my way back home on my motorbike, I felt as if my cheeks would be frozen because of the freezing-cold wind. I should have had my muffler on. What if it snows in the middle of winter? There's no snow belt for a motorbike. I might have to use the public transportation.

(Wednesday, December 7, 2005)
　Today I'm as happy as a boy who has finally got a SONY Play Staion 2. I've got the most intelligent e-dictionay of Seiko. The original price is ￥78,300, but I got it for just ￥38,300 on the Internet. I tried to find the cheapest shop. The e-dictionary has been designed for a professional use. It contains lots of precious dictionaries for those who work as English professionals. You might say it's too much, but for me it's a knife and fork for dinner.

　These days I strongly feel that it's so difficult to make my self understoon even in Japanese. People have different senses of value. Just as a coin has is head and tail, the same thing looks good for some people, while it's just a garbage for others. I'm now too old to keep trying to let them understand me. I tend to think that they can go their own way and that I'll go my own way. Because it's true that tastes completely differ. I sometimes feel scared to show my true color to others, which never happened to me when I was younger.

(Thursday, December 8, 2005)
　65 years ago today, Japanese Navy made a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. I don't understand why the Japanese government decided to fight against the United States. Some of the top military men including Isoroku Yamamoto had studied in Ameirca and knew there was almost no possibility for Japan to win the war. Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had been predicted by some U.S. specialists for a long time.
　Then president Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted Japan to attack Hawaii without any declaratin of war, which would surely make American citizens angry to support the U.S. government to open war with Japan.
　There's no evidence of his cunning plan, but it was almost impossible for Japan to win the war again the greatest super power in the world. I'm really sorry for Japanese young soldiers who had to lose their lives in order to continue the meaningless war.
　Here in Japan August 15, when Japan made an unconditional surrender, is considered to be a special day for praying for world peace, but in my opinion December 7 is also remembered as the day when the Japanese government made a ridiculous decision to lead Japanese people to an incredible disaster. For all the young lives lost in the war, we should not get into any war again. We are destined to try our best to keep world peace.

(Friday, December 9, 2005)
　I didn't know that there's a major language school hiring Japanese English instructors as permanent employees. I found the advertisement of the school in an English newspaper. But the instructors they're looking for should be under the age of 35. I sent an e-mail to ask if I had any possibility to be hired regardless of my age. I got the answer mail last night which said it was OK for me to apply for the job. Of course it didn't mean that I would pass the exams. Anyway I have to try to take any chance available.

　Today's children cannot live without video games. Most of them have at least one of those high-tech game machines like SONY Play Station 2, Nintendo 64, Microsoft X-Box, and so on. They're so expensive that their parents must have paid for those machines. At the lobby of my language school, children are crazy about playing games with Game Boys. I seldom see them enjoy talking to one another. It seems that video games are their best friends. Now that they don't spend much time communicating with their friends, their language ability is rapidly going down. They should learn how to speak their mother tongue Japanese properly rather than learning how to speak English. What shoud we do to stop this bad trend?

(Saturday, December 10, 2005)
　It usually takes us some time to catch Ryoma when we're going to take him for a walk. We don't know why he doesn't want to be easily caught when he can go out for a walk. It's not because he doesn't like cold weathers. Even in summer he tries to run away from us when we want to catch him. Maybe he feels that he will be robbed of his freedom.

　From 5:45p.m. to 6:45p.m. I had a STEP Pre-1st Grade class. All the students in the class are so-called returnees. Some stayed overseas for as long as nine years. I tried letting them read some English sentences. Their procunciation was perfect. But even for a returnee it's tough to pass the Pre-1st Grade STEP test, because the words needed for the test are too difficult for them. At the same time detailed knowledge about economy and politics are required. So far tow junior high students passed the Pre-1st Grade. I hope some of the students in today's class will pass the test to be carried out coming January.

(Sunday, December 11, 2005)
　There're not a few people who expect too much from others. They themselves are not perfect at all, but somehow they expect others to be as perfect as God. Why is that? If they have time to ban others for something they are not capable of doing, they should look into themselves and know what they're lacking. The Bible says, "To err is human, to forgive is devine."

　The TOEIC(Test of English for International Communication) test is going to change its style in May next year. In the new style of the test, detailed questions about English grammar will b e gone and the paragraphs in the Reading Section will get much longer with more quesions. English used for Listening Section will cover various types of English―American English, British English, Australian English, Scotch English, and so forth. But the test will be valid aor a certain period of time as it has been.
　Most of the Japanese business companies think of TOEIC as the best of its kinds, but I think STEP is much more difficult than TOEIC and it has its own value. Those who get 990 full score in the TOEIC test cannot always pass the Pre-1st STEP test. The 1st Grade STEP test is far away. It is said that even native speakers cannot easily pass the test, which is, in a sense, a big problem to be solved about STEP.

(Monday, December 12, 2005)
　It is well-known that plane crash happen one after another, but we have never heard that murders of children occur one after another. But that's what actually happens here in Japan. The first 1st-grader girl was killed by a 30-year-old Peruvian, the second 1st-grader girl was murdered by someone who has not been arrested yet, and this time a 6th-grader girl has become the victim of her "juku" school teacher. The killer goes to Doshisha University and has been very popular among students. But according to the people in his neighborhood, he sometimes yelled at midnight, which means he is mentally unstable. However it was almost impossible for the "juku" school managers to know about his daily life. I wonder why the room could be locked from inside. Didn't they have a TV camera attached to each classroom for the managers to know what was going on in the lessons?

　Is it really OK to give a green light for lifting Japan's two-year ban on U.S. beef? Fast food chain Yoshinoya D&C Co. says that it will take them two more months before U.S. beef is served at its shops. Isn't this a kind of political settlement? Has the Japanese government agreed to resume the import of U.S. beef just because it wants the U.S. government to help become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council? To eat U.S. beef, or not to eat U.S. beef―that's the question. It's all up to us. The choice is ours.

(Tuesday, December 13, 2005)
　Now we're suddenly in the middle of winter. It snowed a lot this morning even on the Pasicic side of Japan including Kagoshima. Interestingly here in Shonan Area we had a very warm morning today. I feel as if we lived in a different country. Because of the progressive global warming, I didn't expect any snow this winter, but I was wrong. The weather on the earth has now become pretty unstable, so we can't tell a certain pattern of weather in a certain part of the world. As a matter of fact, they're having a really cold winter in Europe this year.

　On my way back home, I dropped in at a Chinese food chain shop near Fujisawa Station. I ordered a set of Mapo doufu rice and mini ramen. But about ten minutes later one of the men working in the shop came to me to tell that they were running out of Mapo doufu. I wondered why it took them about 10 minutes to know that they were out of Mapo doufu. Even if they were working part-time, they should do what they have to do. I could leave the shop pretending that I was really pissed off, but I stayed there just because I was hungry. I had just changed my order. I don't like young people today who don't know how to behave. The one who took my order didn't come to me to say sorry for his mistake.

(Wednesday, December 14, 2005)
　I'm glad to see the ex-architect in question Mr.Aneha in the Lower House questioning. In understand he's been afraid that someone might be sent to kill him in order to bury all the secrets about the construction scandal. At the beginning of the questioning Mr.Aneha answered that he started to falsify quake-resistance data under the pressure of Mr.Shinozuka, head of the Tokyo branch of Kimura Construction Company. All the poeple who are related to this scandal denied their connection with Mr.Aneha, which has been proved quite different from the truth. Now is the time for the lawmakers to put strong pressure on other people who must have been involved in this scandal.

　I was too surprised to utter a word. How dare Mr.Uchikawa could keep telling lies in the sworn testimony? It is obvious he was the one who pushed all the construction companies to use Mr.Aneha to make up the data for construction. A short while ago he got divorced with his wife in order to protect part of his property. When we think of so many innocent people suffering from the falsified quake-resistance data scam, we cannot ignore Mr,Uchikawa's cunning trial to protect his property. I hope Tokyo Prosecutor's Office will take some effective action against Mr.Uchikawa's egoistic deeds.

(Thursday, December 15, 2005)
　Did you hear the news that the government had decided to raise the tax on cigarettes? 270 yen of a pack of Mild Seven will become 290 yen. Of course if that is put into practice I'll surely quit smoking. I don't want to pay extra money to the government. No way!

　After all the classes at ECC were over, I walked to Yoshinoya near Fujisawa Station. On my way there, a Chinese woman talked to me to ask if I would like some massage. When I looked around, I saw some more Chinese women shivering by the side of the main street. "No, thank you," I said to the woman and smiled at her. I felt like saying to them, "Take care not to catch cold." But they would say, "It's none of your business!" It's true that they can make a lot of money if they come to Japan, however, at the same time it's obviously a very sad story.

　Tomorrow morning I have to go to KGC to take care of the 3-month Intensive Course class that has been handled by a native teacher. I nusually teach English grammar to them, but tomorrow I'm going to do a conversation lesson all in English. It'll be a lot of fun.

(Friday, December 16, 2005)
　It was really hectic today. I left home just past 10:00 in the morning and came home around 9:00 in the evening. But didn't feel tired because when I got home, I was welcomed by heart-warming smiles of my wife and Ryoma. I played catch with Ryoma for a while, but he was not satisfied with that. When I was working with my computer, I heard him roar. I turned and found him lying on the floor with his belly upward, watching me as if asking me to come and pet him. I smiled at him and did what he asked for me. No other animal is as cute as him.

　Now that Mr.Aneha seems to be the only one who has been telling the truth, I'm sorry for him. He was reportedly a very serious students who worked so hard to study architecture. It was on his fourth trial that he passed the first-class architecture licence test. After graduating from high school, he didn't go on to college and started working at a construction company. When he got his first-class licence, Kimura Construction company urged him to falsify quake-resistance data to cut the cost of construction. If he had been a real first-class architecture, he could have rejected Kimura's unreasonable order, but his educational background didn't allow him to be strong enough to turn down Kimura's offers. Who is to be blamed in this scam?

(Saturday, December 17, 2005)
　Today I visited an office in one of the skyscrapers in Shinjuku. The officed was on the 16th floor. I was surprised to see six to eight elevators on the first floor. I was surprised again when one of the elevators carried me up to the 16th floor so swiftly and quietly. I felt as if it had not been moving at all. "Japan's such a great country full of high-tech equipments," I said to my self in the moving box.

　Shinjuku has an image of crowded people walking among tall buildings, but actually it's a city with a large space. It's not so busy as is usually expected. On my way back from the office, I dropped in at a cute curry shop. First I was attracted by a ramen shop, but the curry shop was more inviting. There're so many restrants in Shinjuku that it's difficult for you to decide which restaurant you have, for example, lunch at. The building I went in was located in the area called West Shinjuku where my wife Kayoko once worked for some time. I promised her that I would someday take her there so she would be able to enjoy the changes it had made since she had left the place.

(Sunday, December 18, 2005)
　Last night it was blowing so hard. The cold biting winter wind is called "kogarashi" in Japan. At this time of the year it's wise of you to wear a mask, which will also help you stay away from a bad flu. Do I have to get a vaccination this year? Have you got one yet? We're in danger of bird flu today, so vaccination might be necessary.

　It's been a cold day today, but the junior high school softball girls of 8 teams in Kanagawa Pref. did some exercise games in two schools in this city of Chigasaki. Most players looked shivering with short pants on. But the players and the managers in the bench must have felt much colder than the players who actually played on the diamond.

　At night there held the exhibition of figure-skating in Tokyo. The 15-year-old world champion Asada tried to perform the triple axel, but she didn't succeed, which never disappointed the audience, of course. She looked so cute and at the same time as beautiful as a grown-up lady. I hope she'll be given a special chance to take part in the Torino Winter Olympic Games.

(Monday, December 19, 2005)
This maneki neko beckons customers to purchase takarakuji tickets in Tokyo, Japan.

　Did you buy some end-of -year lottery tickets? There are many "takarakuji"-selling stand called "chance center" throughout this country. In this world of economic depression, it's only too natural for so many people rushing to those stands to get some lottery tickets dreaming of getting 200 million yen with just one lucky ticket. Year-end Lottery will be sold until tomorrow, but I still wonder whether I should buy some or not, because I've been out of luck in terms of "takarakuji."
　This time one ticket costs just 300 yen. But so many tickets are sold every year that the regional governments gets such a big sum of money every time the event is carried out. If you have a strong luck, just one ticket will be good enough to become a millionaire. So I might buy just one pack in which ten lottery tickets are enclosed.

　The Meteorological Agency has reportedly changed its prediction and says that the unexpectedly cold weathers will continue until January next year. The mass of cold air staying over Japan is about -50℃, which is giving lots of snowfall to the Japan Sea side of Japanese mainland. When I was an elementary school kid, snowfall of about 50 centimeters deep was not so strange. I often made my own skis out of two pieces of wood and tried to go to school on those skis. On the schoolground we made a large hill of snow and enjoyed sliding down the hill on a cardboard or something. If it really snows a lot, I'd like today's kids to enjoy the same experience on their schoolground too. It must be a lot of fun even for video-game age kids.

(Tuesday, December 20, 2005)
　Yesterday afternoon the result of the TOEIC test was made public on the Internet. I soon checked my score and found that I had got 925 points out of full 990. As an English instructor it's not a satisfactory result, but I have to go up the mountain step by step. Next time I take the test in January in 2006, I'm sure I'll be able to get around 950. I have to hustle.

　Early this morning obligatory investigations by the Metropolitan Police Department were done into some private houses and construction-related company offices in terms of Aneha's fake quake-proof date scam. Am I the only one who feels it's too late? I feel some strong power behind the case has been working against the investigations. I mean some big guys of the two ruling parties have something to do with the construction scandal.

　I expected that my third book entitled "Uragiri," or "Bitrayal," would be selling a lot more, but things are not so easy today. It was published on September 15 this year, and so far about 400 copies have been sold. I hope more and more people will be interested in the book. It's a novel based on something that really happened in school.

(Wednesday, December 21, 2005)
　After all I didn't buy the year-end lottery tickets, because I thought I would be able to make more money spending 3,000 yen in Pachinko parlor. But I should not stay at the parlor any longer than two hours. If I do, I will lose more money than I get.

　Last night during a conversation class at ECC, one of the students talked about her plan to go skiing this winter. I haven't been skiing more than ten years, but skiing sites really attract me. I like the clear atomosphere of ski resorts. I'll have to buy a new skiing suit if I try to go skiing after a long absence, though. About 15 years ago when I went skiing in Yuzawa, I almost fell down the cliff. I actually fell, but my skis stuck into the snow wall and I was saved by some people nearby. I could have been dead at that time. It's one of the reasons that I stopped going skiing. I'm not a poor skier, but not so good either. The photo in the left shows the ski slopes in Echigo-Yuzawa.

　I think President of Soken Uchikawa is a good actor. Showing up in the TV program he answered Mr.Tawara's questions. When asked how he felt about being suspected as the big cheese behind the scam, he almost cried and told Mr.Tawara that he had often thought of killing himself. How dare he could tell such lies in public? He's a real liar!

(Thursday, December 22, 2005)
　It is obvious that President of HUSER Ojima knew that the condominium complexes he was going to sell had been constructed based on falsified quake-proof data. It was a great fraud. Noone knows where he's been hiding now. The property of HUSER rapidly went down from 3 billion yen to just 50 million yen. The residents of some buildings are worried that Mr.Ojima is trying to run away from his crime and that they will get no compensation from the company.

　Did you know that an air-conditioner is an equipment which makes the air cool? Japanese air-continioners can make the air both cool and warm, but there's nothing like that in the United States, which one of my American colleagues told me. I asked him what the right word for the one we have here in Japan, but he didn't think of any good word. Should we call it a cooler and heater? In western countries, they usually use a big heating system when they want their rooms to be warm.

　The price of oil has been increasing rapidly. My mother and I went to a self-service gas station to buy three tanks of oil. Each tank can contain 20 litters of oil, which cost as much as 1,320 yen. When it was still cheaper, it only cost us less than 1,000 yen per 20 litters. We're having such a cold winter this year that lots of people rush to gas stations to get oil, which has been raising its price.

(Friday, December 23, 2005)
　Now it is suspected that not only Mr.Aneha but also some other architects falsified the quake-resistance data. This means that there were certainly some people who ordered to commit those crimes. The ruling LDP has finally agreed to the idea of summoning Mr.Ojima, President of HUSER, to five a sworn testimony at the Lower House Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport committee. Mr.Ojima will show up again in public at the beginning of next year, which might reveal some hidden facts about the construction scam.

　My wife and I visited my father in the hospital in Ebina City this afternoon. It's a hospital especially for older people with some problems. There are a few nursing homes near our house, but they don't accept those who need medical care. That's why we asked the hospital, which is about 25 minutes' ride in a car from our house, to take care of my father. He's so active that he's broken his bones twice so far. The first time he boke his sholder bone was when he fell from his wheeling chair. The second time was when he fell from his bed. He broke the joint bone of his leg, which needed a surgery operation of about two hours. When we were leaving his room, he looked so sad that somehow I felt guilty about leaving him behind. All I can do is visit him as often as possible. I'm sorry, Dad.

(Saturday, December 24, 2005)
　Last night I saw the concert of Oda Kazumasa, who was once one of the two vocalists of the famous Off Course. At the very end of his concert he invited Nakai Masahiro of SMAP and sang "Yozorano Mukou," or "Over the Night Sky," with the nervous guest. Nakai-kun looked so nervous and serious that I felt as if I could hear his heart beating hard, but it must have given him something very special.

　This afternoon I visited an office in Shinjuku again. It was surprisingly chilly in the city of Shinjuku. I felt tears coming down from my eyes because of the cold wind and I also felt as if the tear drops would instantly change into ice cubes. I took some photoes of the skyscrapers with the clear blue sky at the back, so please enjoy seeing them in Photo Galary 7.

(Sunday, December 25, 2005)
　We had a friendship softball game between Hagisono Junior High and the team instantly composed of former members including me as a former manager. We had four graduates―Ayumi Kimura(then catcher), Itsumi Tomizawa(then catcher: continued playing at Kojo High School), Michiko Yano(then pitcher: also continued playing at Kojo), and Yumiko Suzuki(then pitcher: continued playing at Atsugi Shogyo High School). They soon remembered how to play and made lots of nice hits. As for me, I was good at catching, throwing, pitching, but I was no good at batting.

　Our team lost the game by the score of 3-8, but we really enjoyed playing together. When they were playing in my team, there was a lot of shouting and yelling, but today there was always laughter. After the game was over, we were welcomed by warm-hearted dishes cooked by the mothers. It was a kind of lunch party celebrating Mr.Ide's coming back from his operation. I was so happy to see both players and mothers thinking much of the sincere magager. I hope the present team will grow to get the Championship next summer.

(Monday, December 26, 2005)
　We're having a beautiful morning here in Shonan Area when many parts of Japan are suffering from heavy snow. Why is that? It's just like a spring morning. But my wife has got a stomachache this morning. She was watching the softball game in the bench yesterday morning and might have caught a cold. But she was not going to absent from her work, so I drove her to the office just now. This evening when her work is over, I'll go and pick her up in front of the office again. I hope she'll get better in a few hours.

　It's almost time to pick out some of the biggest events of the year. I think one of them is several types of scams. "It's-me-it's-me scams," "reform scams," etc. that targeted older people were in the spotlight. Those who are more than 70 years old tend to trust other people, just because they lived their younger days in good old days. Thanks to their hard work today's young people can enjoy peaceful life in this country. We should respect them. Trying to deceive them is completely out of question. We should not forget that we'll also get old sooner or later.

(Tuesday, December 27, 2005)
　This morning I went to my brother's house to teach English to his son and daughter. My sister-in-law asked me to do that, because she thought here children were no good at English. But actually they were quite OK.

　After the one-and-a-half-hour lesson, I went to the beach maybe for the first time in about half a year. I always feel that the winter sea is so calm and beautiful. And it really was this afternoon. But I noticed the sand beaches were getting narrower and narrower every year. It's because of the change of water stream. I wondered why it was so warm here in this Shonan Area when most of Japan is covered with heavy snow. I'm happy to have a warm winter, but at the same time I'm afraid some natural disaster is ready to happen. I'm most afraid of another great earthquake that will surely occur in the near future.

(Wednesday, December 28, 2005)
　"Accidents will happen," a famous English phrase we learned at school goes. But this year there have been big accidents that are too terrible. We still clearly remember the train crash which happened in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture. And this time another disaster in Yamagata Prefecture, in which five passengers have already been found dead.

　For the last two months I've been interested in the plane crash that occurred 20 years ago. The JAL Flight 123 lost control about 20 minutes after its take-off from the Haneda Airport. I've been reading some books about the worst plane accident in history. The true cause of the accident has never been found out. Has anything been changed about public transportation during the last 20 years? Every time a miserable accident happens, somebody tries to prevent the truth from being revealed. I'm afraid such atomosphere has been leading to another serious accident continuously. Investigations should be done completely.

　We have only three days left excluding today for this year. For the ruling LDP it's been a great year of victory, but what about next year? There will be lots of things they can't put into practice without our approval. Constitution adjustment, rise in some taxes, and so on. Are the relations between Japan and North Korea going to be improved? How are they going to solve problems with China and South Korea? They will have much tougher days in 2006.

(Thursday, December 29, 2005)
　Today is the last chance to get 200 million yen with a lottery ticket. I'm talking about Loto6. I've been analyzing its data for these few years, but I can't easily get the luck. So I added some new data and guessed the last 6 numbers for today's Loto6. God bless me, please!

　This afternoon I got a discouraging letter from a one of the major language schools. I wanted to work full-time, so I applied to the school. I passed the first stage, but I couldn't pass the second. Maybe they didn't want to hire a veteran instructor, because they would have to pay a certain sum of money for those who has lots of experiences. With the same sum of money, they could hire two young guys who might have bright futures. Anyway the feeling of having been rejected is so depressing. But I have to be positive and keep walking forward.

(Friday, December 30, 2005)
　Last night I sent an e-mail to the personnel office at ECC in Sshinjuku. They were kind enough to permit my applying for another language school because of a financial reason, but this time I have to ask them again to hire me in the coming school year too. I think I'm so selfish that it's a little bit hard for me to ask them a favor. If they renew the contraction for the next school year, I'll work hard so that I could become one of the star instructors at ECC.

　It's been warm since this morning and Ryoma is now enjoying his nap on the sofa. Yesterday I was shocked to find a bitten piece of a cockroach on the floor of the living room. It was obvious that Ryoma had eaten half the body. It's quite natural for a dog to get interested in something moving, but I hope he won't do it again. If he should eat whole the body of a cockroach, its eggs might hatch in his stomach and could cause a great damage to his health. Recently he's been eating a lot. I sometimes feel he has no sense of fullness―just like his owner.　　


(Saturday, December 31, 2005)
　Today is called "Oh-misoka" in Japan, which means the very last day of the year. I'm going to clean up my study upstairs where so many things have been keeping their own places for more than 10 years. Now is the time to for me to change the room with lots of memories into the room with a bright future to come. I'll have to throw away all the stuff that was piled up while I was a school teacher. All the garbage that I don't need any longer.

　Once on the mimic board of my website, there was a writing said, "It seems that you think you're the only one who's doing his best. I'm not doing by best, so I don't feel like listening to you. Does everybody have to live a serious life?" It was written by one of my ex-students. I was a little bit shocked to read her opinion at that time. I understand you can't admire anyone when you're not trying your best. I think it's sometimes very important to stop walking and take a rest. But you should not envy someone who's trying to improve himself/herself sincerely. It's a nagative way of thinking, isn't it?

(Sunday, January 1, 2006)
　Now the new year of 2006 has started peacefully. I couldn't hear the temple bell toll on New Year's Eve, which I usually hear toward twelve midnight. This is the year of the dog. I was also born in the year of dog, 1958. I'm a so-called "Toshi-Otoko," so I hope this year I could bring lots of good luck to my family with the help of my pet dog Ryoma.

　The weather forcast was accurate as to the sunrise of our place. We had a cloudy morning and we couldn't see the first sun of the year 2006 rise in the east. Too bad. But even if it had been a beautiful morning, I couldn't have got out of bed. I was sitting up till late last night watching CSI on TV.

　Last year some of our relatives passed away, so we couldn't send New Year's cards to anybody. But some people sent us their warm-hearted New Year's cards and I made answer cards for my wife and myself with the computer, using the pretty photo of our dog Ryoma. Tomorrow I'm going to go get some special postcards for ink-jet printing.

(Monday, January 2, 2006)
　Last night on a TV show the fortune teller Hosogi told that we were going to have lots of disasters in some advanced countries, including some big earthquakes. She also predicted that our country would disappear in 30 years. According to her the number of terrible crimes would get much bigger than last year. I personally don't like that type of a woman, but some of her stories could be trusted, I felt.
　Do you believe in fortune-telling? In some dark places in big cities like Shinjuku, there are some palmists who claim that they can tell our futures by reading the lines on our palms. If they should say that something bad will happen to you, will you believe their words? Or will you be worried about what actually will happen in the future? Maybe I'm the type of person who believes what are told about his/her future, so I'll never sit at their desks to listen to their stories.

(Tuesday, January 3, 2006)
　Watching the Hakone Ekiden Running Race on TV is so exciting that we tend to worry about any runner who looks too exhausted to keep running at his own pace. The runners resistered for the race are all so great. They're from various parts of Japan. Some from Kyushu and other from Hokkaido. This year's race is still going on. I wish every runner the best luck.

　Have you seen the most popular U.S. drama "Lost"? It's a very mysterious story and once you see a part of it, you'll never be able to stop watching the next story, I'm sure. The drama, or we may have to call it a movie, was located in Hawaii. I didn't know that even for American people it was a gorgeous dream to stay in the tropical state for a long period of time.
　I've traveled abroad five times and every time I went out of Japan I chose an tropical island to visit. It was partly because I didn't feel like traveling to a big crowded city. Maybe the biggest reason was that I loved the particular atomosphere those tropical islands had. I went to Fiji once, Tahiti once, and the Maldives three times. Someday I'd like to take my wife to an island in the Maldives, which is filled with incredible beauty.

(Wednesday, January 4, 2006)
　Mr.Ojima, President of HUSER, is going to make a sworn testimony on the 17th this month. Do you think he's going to reveal every fact he knows? No, it's impossible. It is obvious that Mr.Ito, the former minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, had something to do with this incident. But the LDP hasn't agreed to summon him, which means that the LDP has no intention of making sincere investigaion into the incident. If everything is made public, maybe Prime Minister Koizumi will have to resign before September. Do you think it could happen? Nobody would answer in the affirmative. What a world!

　Did you know that the dog's sense of smell is 400 times as sentitive as that of ours? For examaple when we are about to eat something our Dog Ryoma is already there. He's so quick to response to the smell of food, which really surprises us so often. Sometimes while we're walking him, he suddenly starts running forward. In such a case I'm sure he smells some other dog's walking far ahead of him. And he's always right. Surprising, isn't it?

(Thursday, January 5, 2006)
　More and more people are now talking about the Trino Winter Olympic Games. Most of them are interested in how many medals Japanese athletes are going to get. Why always talking about the number of medals? In their daily lives they're not interested in winter sports at all, but once the Olympic Games have come they suddenly change into "temporary sports fans." Results are everything? Of course not. Then we should support Japanese athletes in many ways, both mentally and financially.

　Why is it suddenly so cold even inside the house? Our living room is so large that just one oil heater is not enough to keep the room warm. But if we turn on the air conditioner, monthly electlicity charge will get surprisingly high, which would be too big a problem to ignore.

(Friday, January 6, 2006)
　Last night I got two e-mails from the staff at the ECC main office in Shinjuku. They were from Ms.Ebata and Mr.Miyagi who decided to hire me in February last year. They're both such great people and they've been so nice to me since I started working at ECC. They've always tried to encourage me in many ways. I really owe them what I am now.

(Saturday, January 7, 2006)
　Today was the first day for KGC to start the classes of the year 2006. I had a TOEIC class in the morning, and after lunch I had 5 special classes for the STEP test. After that I moved to Takinosawa to teach English to a 9th grader as a tutor. I thought I was going to be a frozen rider while I was riding my motorbike to Takinosawa. It was so cold tonight. So I started teaching at 10:30 in the morning and finishied teaching at 9:10 in the evening. Did I work too hard? Yes, I did! I'll have to change this busy schedule before I get sick,

　After coming home I had dinner and then laid myself on the sofa watching CSI on TV. It seemed that I had gone to sleep before I knew. When I was woken up by my mother after midnight, I found myself sleeping side by side with our dog Ryoma.

(Sunday, January 8, 2006)
　It's a warm beautiful morning we're having today. I think I'm going to take my wife's parents to a farm in Samukawa Town where lots and lots of cyclamens are grown and sold at a very cheap price. You'll be impressed to see so many pots of cyclamens in the warmhouses. They're so beautiful. You can find ones with very unique petals.

　Every year around this time someone jokingly say that there're only 356 days left before the year comes to the end. Time really flies. The older you get, the more strongly you feel that way. I feel a week is so short, which means I've got old enough. My God! I've got only a week left before the first TOEIC test of this year. Am I ready already? No, I'm not. Too bad.

　Do you know what these shoots in the seed bed grow on? Yes, that's right. They grow on to be beautiful cyclamens. The farm we visited today was run by a young couple and their parents. The young wife was kind enough to show us the seed bed and told that it would take 13 months for the shoots to become beautiful cyclamens. They have to replant the young cyclamens every three months. So next March will be the best time for us to visit the fam again when those shoots are replanted for the first time. We didn't know that cyclamens grow from young shoots. We thought they would grow from bulbs of a certain size, but we were wrong. I wanted to buy two pots for my parents-in-law, but they told me just one pot was enough for their small room. They knew I was not so rich. Maybe someday I hope I'll be able to buy another beautiful pot for them. They liked a pale pink flower and so did my wife. I guess the beautiful pale pink cyclamen will make my parents' room brighter than before. I was happy to see them look so happy.

(Monday, January 9, 2006)
　Today is Coming-of-Age Day, when we celebrate 20-year-old people to start being a social member who has te be responsible whatever he/she is involved in. But can today's young people of that age be old enough to take respinsibility for everything they do? No, I don't think so. Most of them are not interested in what's going on around them. That's why so many older people are worried about the future of this country.

　Every time he comes back from a walk, Ryoma starts to run around the living room. I should use the word "dash" instead of "run" to be more exact. Is that because he's still so excited after coming back from free walking? Or is that his own way of expressing his gratitude? If you see him dashing around the living room, you would think he's gone mad and you woudn't feel like touching him. Don't worry. His excitement session only lasts for a few minutes at most.

(Tuesday, January 10, 2006)
　The diary which was kept by Ishii Shiro who was commander of the notorious Ishii Unit 731. They are said to have done a lot of experiments using Manchurians. One of their studies was to invent a chemical weapon using plague virus. I once read in a book that they even cut into pieces a Manchurian without using any anesthetics. Many people know what happened in the concentration camps conducted by the Nazis, but only little has been known what was going on inside the labs of Unit 731.

(Wednesday, January 11, 2006)
　I wrote whatever I wanted to say on the Japanese diary, which might invite some criticism on the mimic board of my website. I know a lot of attractive Japanese women, of course, but most of the women teachers I worked with when I was a school teacher were nothing but cunning foxes. They wanted themseves look clever, which even more made them look ugly. They said lots of positive things, but they never put what they had said into practice. They had too much pride in themselves to show their own colors. They were so mean that I sometimes thought we didn't need women teachers in the teachers' room. I know many more mothers who were much more attractive as human beings than the women teachers I worked with.

　At the teachers' meeting they showed their really good opinions, but when some gangsters from another school showed up at the gate, for example, they just expected us men teachers to go to them to deal with the problem. "Hey, you can't do anything. Then you have no say at the meeting.. You know that?" I always wanted to shout at them. I hate women teachers. Many of them spoiled the good boys. They tended to take too much care of the boys they liked. On the other hand they took away bad girls they hated. I thought they had no sense of justice. Is this too much to say? If you think so, go into school and check it out yourself.

(Thursday, January 12, 2006)
　I'm now thinking of opening my own language school at the end of this March. At first I'm going to keep the school open just for one day, perhaps on Saturday, every week, because this year I'm going to work for both ECC and KGC too. I have my own idea as to how to teach English conversation, which cannot be put into practice while I'm working for ECC or KGC.
　In general I agree to the teaching ideas of ECC and KGC, but of course some of their ideas I can't agree to. For example I'm told not to descipline young students too much, but I think it's important for anyone called "teacher" to teach young kids how to behave as well as how to speak English. On national holidays both of the two school have no lessons, but I don't think it's a good idea. In addition to that both schools have too long a vacation in summer and winter. When you learn English, the most important thing is to keep learning it every day. Why do they have so many holidays throughout the year? I don't understand. We English instructors work part-time, which means we can't get payed if they have no classes. That's why we don't welcome too many holidays. I sometimes suspect they're trying to cut the personnel costs by making as many holidays as possible. I hope I'm wrong about that, though.

(Friday, January 13, 2006)
　Today Jenny, an exchange student from Australia, is leaving Japan for her home country. The date itself, Friday the thirteenth, is no good in western countries, but I hope she's going to have a nice flight back to Australia. I taught Japanese to her for about half a year and I learned much more from her. It was a pity, though, that I was not told the she was leaving Japan today. Why not? Who's trying to prevent me from getting in touch with her? Is it because she's just a high school girl? Could I be a dangerous person for her? I think she's sorry that I haven't had any contact with her since our last lesson. Can you believe that after the last lesson of ours was over they let me now it was suppposed to be the last lesson? I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to her. Why? Am I just a teaching machine without having human feelings? I hope God will tell her that I'm missing her and that she should write to me someday, because I don't know anything about her personal information, including her address back in Australia. I'm ashamed of my own country with so many narrow-minded people.

(Saturday, January 14, 2006)
　We could now locate where the North Korean Dictator, Kim Jong Il. He is sai to have visited some facilities in the southern China. I believed he was planning to exile himself because of a critical situation he's been facing these days. I still think there's some possibility of his running away from his country, leaving lots of poor hungry people behind.
　I don't think he's as evil as Adolf Hitler who ordered his men to terminate nearly 10 million Jewish people just because he wanted to construct a country of one race, the Anglo-Saxon. In those days no other country did any harm to Germany, which didn't give Hitler any reason to invade nearby countries. But the situation is different in North Korea. Korea was divided into to parts, North Korea and South Korea, after the Korean War. For this historical fact, America, the Soviet Union(now Russia), and China should be blamed. After the communism in both China and the Soviet Union broke up, North Korea was left behind to go on its own way without any economical basis. Who could blame the North Korean people to have permitted a dictator like Kim Jong Il to rule their country? They needed a strong leadership.

(Sunday, January 15, 2006)
　My wife and I have just been to the HCU(High Care Unit) of the Municipal Hospital where my 68-year-old cousin is being taken care of at present. He was sent to the hospital in an ambulance after falling down from brain hemorrhage(bleeding). He was conscious for a while after arriving the hospital, but as time went on he lost consciousness. He is now medically alive thanks to the respirator. Now we're in a situation in which all the relatives are waiting for the doctor to pronounce his death.

(Monday, January 16, 2006)
　In today's Japan it's a little bit dangerous to immediately decide who to trust. Those who look nice might suddenly change into different people, which is what's happening in our country today. A Japanese old saying goes: When you see a stranger, you should think of him as a thief. It's a sad saying, isn't it. Nobody would say today that you should be kind to everyone.
　In this sense I'm so afraid of the day when we have a great disaster like another Great Kanto Earthquake. What would happen? Many people will be victims. That's what we can't do anything about. But among those who can survive the disaster, will there be any sense of co-operation? Or are most survivors going to be self-defensive and never try to help other people out of ther troubles? Many of us blame the Dictator Kim Jong Il, but how about ourselves? We can't tell for sure what would happen if Japan should become a miserable country like North Korea. I'd expect a more terrible situation would happen to us.

　Shiro Ishii, the former commander of the Ishii Unit 731, seems to have lived a rich happy life after the war was over. Not much is known as to why he was not blamed for what he had done in the Korean Peninsula. The Japanese government intentionally made him hidden from public, becuase if his mission was made public it would have been a critical problem for the Japanese government. Much more military people would have been sentenced to death. History alwasys has its dark sides. And according to a special TV program, the U.S. military forces made a deal with Shiro Ishii and put his name out of the criminal list in exchange for all his information he got from inhuman experiments. When we think of the revealed fact, we cannot but regard the A-boming on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was also an experiment done in the name of bringing the terrible war to an end.

(Tuesday, January 17, 2006)
　Suddenly a forced investigation was made for the LIVEDOOR led by Takafumi Horie. Everybody was surprised at the incident including the popular president "Horiemon." But one of the specialists points out that the government has tried to take the public eyes from Mr.Ojima's sworn testimony what is planned today. That's what could happen in today's Japan.

　What kind of democratic country are we living in? Susumu Ojima, the suspected president of HUSER, denied to answer so many questions asked by law-makers. He sat quietly at the special committee accompanied by an advisory lawyer. He was only permitted to talk with the lawyer when he couldn't decide whether he should answer or not, but the lawyer helped him too often, which was maybe against the regulations. But surprisingly nobody could stop the situation from going on. I thought there would be many law-makers who were happy if Ojima didn't answer honestly. Is Japan really a democratic country where we coould belive in justice? Or could the ruling party do whatever they want to? I personally don't like Ojima, but while I was watching his dark espressions on TV, I couldn't but feel sorry for him. I understood it was impossible to for him to tell all the truth he knew. If he did that, he would be killed by the next morning.