The comeback of a succer ball from 3.11 tsunami (Ryuko Saito)

        

      My example is a literal comeback, not a cultural comeback.

 Boy’s ball drifted in the Pacific after 3.11 Tsunami was made a comeback to him.

It drifted to Alaska seashore after 3.11 Tsunami. The owner, a junior high school boy, said "happy" on 22th Apr, 2012. The soccer ball was found in the U.S. Alaska away from 5 thousands kilometers or more. The owner was Misaki Murakami, a high school boy who lives in Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture.

The ball was found at the coast of Middleton Island in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Alaska. Apparently, it was the first case to return to the owner what was washed away by the tsunami.

         There was written "From Osabe elementary school 3^rd grade, Mar, 2005"
         on the ball and lined up the names "Yuki", "Akinori" and "Shunsuke" as
         their words of good wishes. When Misaki transferred to another
         elementary school at the time, it was the full-hearted gift from
         classmates. He said he lost all of his belongings by the tsunami, but he was very surprised and pleased to meet his memorial soccer ball again. 

I was very impressed by the news and warm-hearted communication
over the Pacific.

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HauuJqli0bY

Blog#4: The Comeback of a Tradition 'Kouji' Marino Mori

              I will introduce the Kouji, the material used for cooking as one of the examples of products came back in Japan. Kouji is a traditional material used for making the taste of the meal more rich and tender. It is white colored and thick liquid made of fermented flour. Recently, ‘Shiokouji’( kouji with salt) is popular among house wives, to use fish and meat making it tenderer. Shiokouji were shelved on the supermarkets, and many recipes were published in Japan. Even ‘Shiokouji restaurants’ and lunch menus were made when this boom came. The peak of this trend was in 2012, and enen though the popularity is getting steady, it is still popular for the cooking material.

              I consider that this trend has come on the background of changing food cultures in Japan. Currently, Japan is filled with fast food restaurants and oily meals imported from the Western culture. According to that situation, Japanese people’s health got worse than the previous times. Many diseases such as health-related diseases are now in concern among all generations in Japan. Therefore, in order to tackle these health issues, people in Japan started to seek the forgotten traditional food culture. As a result, healthyKouji attracted many people’s attention, because it uses few flavoring, and it became a boom around the country.

              I think this trend will give a positive impact on Japanese health issues. Once people in Japan found out that traditional food culture is healthy and delicious, their health concerns will increase, which means that more sound people may increase in our society. Since the medical fees cost much in Japan, it is one of the solutions to lower the costs for the medication. Besides, as the food culture in Japan has now more attention among Japanese after the Japanese food culture has registered in the World Heritage,   I assume that more traditional healthy foods will revive in our society.

              In conclusion, while many western style foods are still popular among Japanese people, booms of healthy traditional foods such as Shiokouji may have an influence to change the people’s eating habits.

 

 

  Koji　　　　　　　　Koji Cafe　　　

 

Blog #4: The comeback of a tradition ―YU-TAMPO (Minori Nagata)

Hi, this is Minori.

I would like to introduce YU-TAMPO, a hot water bottle. It has been traditionally used to warm our feet in bed during winter. It became old-fashioned and stale several decades ago, but around 2007 it has become in fashion again, due to the rise in fuel expenses.
We use YU-TAMPO by filling it with hot water and wrap it with a blanket or thick cloth. It is very convenient because we can make use of the warm water in it to wash our face in the morning. The warmth is mild and there is no worry about fire. Since it has become in fashion again in 2007, many types of YU-TAMPO has been for sale. there are ones made of ceramic, metal, rubber, jerry, etc.
Using YU-TAMPO is very comfortable and economical. Keeping your feet warm and your head cool is healthy and gives you sound sleep. If you try to keep your room warm with air conditioning, your blood  will go to your head; it might make you catch cold because of dry air. If you use YU-TAMPO, however, you will feel more comfortable with your feet warm and therefore sleep well. It is also very economical; you only have to heat water. It is also eco-friendly. Owing to the rise of crude oil in 2007, people have become very conscious of fuel expenses. That's one of the reasons a number of people have begun using YU-TAMPO since 2007. As far as I'm concerned, the use of YU-TAMPO is finally very rational. in this ecological-conscious age, it is a great means of heating, even when you are awake.

The two photos of YU-TAMPO are below.

Blog #4: The comeback of a tradition – Side-Parted with Two-Blocked Hairstyle (Kazu)

Hi, this is Kazu.

            

               It is said that things come in vogue making a cycle in Japan. In other words, things that were in great vogue would become vogue again after few decades making an endless cycle. For instance, side-parted with two-blocked hairstyle is in great vogue for young men nowadays.

                                                

It was an absolute standard for men to have tightly set side-parted hairstyle few decades ago, while in 21st century, long and airy hairstyle has been in vogue. However, the latest famous hairstyle that appears in the very front of the magazine is now side-parted with two-blocked hairstyle. Moreover, I would see 5 in 1 men would have this type of hairstyle when I go to Shibuya. In my opinion, one main reason for this comeback is that side-parted with two-blocked hair gives sharp and neat impression, where recent women’s ideal image of men is “できる男(an able man)”. In addition, I believe there are huge influences to the younger people by Japanese celebrities (such as Yusuke Iseya and Ryo Isihikawa) making their hair side parted and two-blocked.

In short, I think this comeback is a good thing since this hairstyle would not give negative impression. Moreover, since I would need to cut my hair short and prepare for job hunting in the next few months, it would be a great idea to try this hairstyle in order to attain positive impression from the recruiting personnel.

                          

Summer Vacation Assignment: Ad Comparison Project (Revised)

This is Ryuko.
I introduce two companies' Ad movies referring to my revised Ad comparison report, that will be handed in to Ms. MacGregor on 25th Oct, 2013.

The first Ad movie is JAL business class service:
http://www.jal.co.jp/newsky/movie/

The second one is ANA:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K1juLU4n5s

I have never been a business class flyer but I would like to be near future.
Thank you.

 

The links to the CMs I analyzed in the summer vacation assignment (Minori.N)

This is Minori Nagata.
Here is the commercials and the links I analyzed and used in the assignment.

Salonpas : http://www.salonpas.jp/pc/cm/
Vantelin : http://hc.kowa.co.jp/cm/vantelin_s_minipat.php

Summer vacation assignment: Ad comparison project

This is the commercials that I analyzed in the homework assignment.

8×4　http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9lVcC9ZoYo

Ban http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qUrFm5p2QE

Coca Cola vs. Pepsi(Kazu)

Hi, this is Kazu!
These are the TV commercials I used in my papers comparing Coca Cola and Pepsi.


This is Coca Cola's TV commercial

This is Pepsi's TV commercial.

Blog 4 Summer vacation

Hi, everyone! This is Marino Mori.
I had a busy summer this year, especillay at the end of summer vacation.
On September 2nd to 12th, I participated in a university hosting program, visiting Alsace, France to understand the historical, cultural and social aspect of France. It was a great experience for me, so I would like to write about some of my unforgettable memories in France.

Beautiful City of Alsace
Unlike Paris which is the one of the most popular cities for tourists, the countryside of France is more peaceful and quiet. Alsace is located between the boarder of France and Germany, so the atmosphere of city is filled with mixture of German and French culture. Some of the buildings were constructed in German style, and we can also enjoy German food in Alsace.

Historical site in Alsace
We visited the Council of Europe which is a international organization  mainly dealing with European human rights topics. The Council of Europe was built at Alsace for special reasons. During the World War 1 and 2, Alsace was a battle field for France and Germany. Therefore, Alsace repeatedly change its natinonality each time the war ended. In order to understand the  history of Alsace, we also visited the le Linge, the site where a sever war occured during the World War 2. It was very special visit for me becasue it isn't common to go into the place where the battle really happened.

Introduction of CEEJA
The purpose of visiting Alsace is not only for learning about Franch history, but also assisting foreign graduate students who are researching about Japanese histories and cultures. At CEEJA, a seminar will held for two days for the graduate students to present their presentaions Before we came to France, we previously read their reports, and then we exchanged opinions about what the students researched. Even though the content of the reports wasn't easy, we were all impressed how deeply the students were interested in Japanese history and cultures.

All of the memories in France is valuable and i can't explain all of them just in words. I had a wonderful ten 10 days!!

 

The city of Alsace       

 

The Church of Strasbourg

Blog #4 My summer vacation in Germany (Minori N)

This is Minori Nagata. I'd like to talk about my summer vacation.
From 1 August to 9 september I'd been in Germany to pick up German.

So I took international language cource in German University and studied hard.

As a result I learned to speak a lot German and improved my language level. 

Since I would like to live in Germany in the future I'll continue to learn hard Germany as well as English.

 

In addition, I watched football games―Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League―in Germany.

 

 

I was able to touch the enthusiastic football-culture. Needless to say, I'm so glad to see a number of world-wide famous football players and exciting games.

 

In the beginning of September I went on a short trip to Prague. I think Prague is extremely beautiful city and the food tastes absolutely delicious.
 

After that, I went back to Germany and I spent a few days learning German and seeing trainings of a football team.

Since I came back to Japan just three days ago, I've suffered from jet lag.

 

 

                                                                                                                                               

Blog #4 Kazu

     Hi, this is Kazu. The school is already starting tomorrow and it makes me sad to realize my vacation is over, but on the other hand I cannot wait to see my friends everyday for another half an year. During my summer vacation, I had so much fun going to the sea, BBQ, and just hanging out with my circle members. Thus, I do have so much to write about how fun those events were, but I am going to write about something different instead.
     While I played hard during my summer vacation, I also did not quit working part time as a hotel staff. Few days ago, when I was arranged to a conference where most of the customers were foreigners, one man came up and asked me several questions about Japanese language such as "How do you say thank you in Japanese?" "What does Gozaimasu mean?". At this point, I answered his questions with all my best and things did go well. However, after I was done with my work, I came to think that though I name myself a Japanese, I do not know the origins and the real meanings of the Japanese words that I use everyday. Therefore, I searched the origins of Japanese basic greetings after I came back home that day. Thus, I am going to introduce several of them in this blog.
     First of all, "おはよう(Good Morning)" was originally used by Kabuki actors saying "お早いお着きですね(You are here early)” and it gradually changed to "おはようございます". Then, "こんにちは" and "こんばんは" are said that there must have been a sentence after them. For example, "今日(こんにち)は、元気ですか？(How are you today?)" or "今晩(こんばん)は、寒いですね(It is getting colder tonight)". It is said that since there were sentences after, that is the reason why Konnichiwa's and Konbanwa's "わ(wa)" is written as "は(ha)". Lastly, "ありがとう(Thank You)" came from the word "有り難し" which when you look at the Kanji, it means "あるのが難しい(hard to have)".
     Hence, after I searched about each words' origins, I feel more confident to name myself a Japanese and I am sure I would have a better explanation the next time a foreigner asks me about Japanese.

Research Report in Sydney (Ryuko)

Hi, this is Ryuko. I just came back to Tokyo from Sydney.

   

 

      I went National Archives of Australia (NAA), Sydney Office for 11 days to research the collections. Among them, there are records of Japanese companies which were active in the country before the WWII.

     On December 8, 1941, Japan declared war against the Allied. Since that day, the government of the Allied seized properties of Japanese citizens and companies, created and preserved for conducting their affairs. As soon as the war broke out, the Australian government duly started taking over records of Japanese companies.

 

 

     The Japanese Company Records Project was launched in 2003 by Gakushuin University Prof. A by the national scientific research fund. Every year, one of the graduate students of doctoral course in Archival Science can go with him together with other researchers. It was my turn this year. Our duty was cataloging those records.  Working began at 10:00am and closed at 4:45pm every day. The records were contained in the carton boxes but some of them were got dusty and damaged by moisture. Look at the photographs of working place. 

 

 

 

      NAA, Sydney Office locates in the suburbs, as far as 45 minutes by train from the center of Sydney. Getting off the train at Chesterhill Station, we must walk for 20 or 25 minutes on the way up and down sloping road, through the middle-class residential area, carrying a note PC on our back.

     At any rate, Australian government could keep their former enemy’s records in NAA. I was very impressed by their consciousness to keeping records. The office stuffs were all welcome to us. It was hard work but could enjoy working.

 

Blog#3: Meiji Sport Milk (Shoko Yokota)

Hi, this is Shoko. I chose Meiji Sport Milk which is one of products of Meiji Holdings Corporation and the CM is shown below.

In the daytime, a woman runs around town and after she goes back to her house, she drinks Meiji sport milk.

We have an idea that milk is for children because milk is rich in nutrient so that helps child's growth. However the targets are not only children but also adults. Since adults have more options of drinks, they have less chance to drink milk but this product has a way to approach them. That is sport. Recently, adults have more concern with their health and we see many people are running and doing sports. Meiji suggests to drink Meiji Sport Milk after doing spot. Selling point is healthy milk with rich in protein, and low fat and that is also on its package too.

The actress appeared on the CM is 江角マキコ. She has cool, smart, and sporty images and is admired by men and women of all ages too. Although the character of this product is a bit boring, the choice of the actress is great.

It is actually a short CM-it has only 15 seconds, the message is really simple and easy to understand: if drink this milk after doing sports, you will be more healthy. It accelerates your metabolism and recovers muscle wasting.

Nobody thinks that drinking milk after doing sport is effective. Despite the length of the time, it works really well to tell its sells point and attractiveness.

Above all, it can be said that this CM succeeds to advertise this product.

Blog #3: NTT Flet's Hikari & the new type of discount “思いっきり割”(Minori Nagata)

I'm going to introduce the TV commercial of Flet's Hikari. Flet's Hikari has started a new survice of "a drastic discount". The homepage is here. And the commercial is below.

The whole story: There is a vampire who came from the past waking up in the beginning of the ad and he is informed of a drastic increase in rent by the granddaughter of a maneger. This event happens in a sharehouse of monsters. The grand daughter notifies a wolf and a frankenstein as well. But they ignore or resist the sudden increase. So Flet's Hikari proposes the drastic discount in an electric wave on the contrary.
  The TV commercial uses the three famous acters in Japan, Eita, Ryunosuke Kamiki, and Shinichi Tsutumi. They are so popular that the audiences pay attention to the ad. Moreover, the commercial only seeks humor so there is no meaning but it is humorous.
Therefore, the Flet's Hikari emphasizes only the drastic discount using humor and handsome acters.
  The sellpoint of the ad is the surprising cheapness. By applying for the Flet's Hikari, we get a great benefit in the price. As is shown in the homepage, the Flet's Hikari uses the phrase of “２年間最大で２７９７２円割引”. This means that the FLet's Hikari gives the customers the discount of 27972 yen in the largest. So the audiences feel like to begin the suevice as soon as possible.
  In my opinion, it will be successful because the new survice is very cheap. The Flet's Hikari is good at advertising the product because of the story making.

Blog #3: PARM Icecream - Meiji Nyugyo (Marino Mori)

Hi, this is Marino. I chose an ad that shows an ice cream named 'PARM' produced by Morinaga sweets factory. The ad is here A man and a woman is acting in the scene, and the actor is a quite famous person, ' Susumu Terajima'. In the ad, the woman stops by and talked to the man that his cars are nice. As the man got excited by the woman's positive impression about the cars, he gives an ice cream. While he is talking about the cars, the woman says ' It's good!' by herself. Even though the woman has disappeared, the man is keep talking without notice. Finally, when the man finds out that woman has gone, the narrator says that 'Kodawari no oishisa-PARM' which means that PARM ice cream can enjoy a selected taste.

  I thought this ad was interesting because the ad makes a link between the man's special interest on cars and the taste of the ice cream. When the audience see that the man is having a strong preferences on cars, it is easier to understand that this company is also focusing on strong preferences of taste of ice cream. This links are not obvious, but by hearing the narrator talk in the end, i can know the importance of the scene is that the man is sticking to their hobbies just as the Meiji company sticking to the taste of the ice cream.
  In the very end of the ad, it also shows different types of the PARM series ice cream. The last scene shows that PARM ice cream has variety of flavors.
Moreover, the color of the car was red, which is the same color of the ice cream package. I think the CM producer also intended to use the car in red to associate with the PARM ice cream. I consider that the target of this ice cream is not only for young kids who usually likes ice cream, but also for adults, since the main actor is quite middle-aged person. Therefore, the company may target the wide age group to boost their benefits.
  I think this advertisement is effective because the actual product is seen in the commercial, and it makes me want to eat them. The CG image of ice cream being dipped in the chocolate sauce also attracts the audience. It also shows the clear message that the company has focused on the taste of the ice cream, just as the man has being absorbed in the car. Thus, if the audience sees this commercial, I am sure that many sweet lovers get interested in the ice cream.

Blog#3 NISSIN CHICKEN RAMEN (KAZU)

Hi, I am Kazu.

I chose a TV commercial advertising chicken ramen from NISSIN. Here's the commercial I found from youtube. 

        This commercial is played by a famous actress named Yui Aragaki. It begins with Yui Aragaki singing original chicken ramen song along with the rhythm of the nursery song "むすんでひらいて", and it ends with Yui telling her friends to dip the ramen into an egg to eat like a "つけめん". The image of the commercial is really bright and colorful showing chicken ramen's image of being loved by wide range of people. The words being said seems real catchy because we all know the "むすんでひらいて" song since we are young. The selling point of this advertisement is that chicken ramen can be made really quick, and introducing a new way to eat the long beloved chicken ramen, which tempts people to try it. 

        I think this commercial is really effective in making the audience interested in the product. Since chicken ramen is being sold for a long time, it tends to get bored of the taste. However, this commercial introduces a new way of enjoying chicken ramen, as well as still advertising its original excellence; quickness. 

Blog #3: SUNTORY Whisky, “HAKUSHU” (Ryuko)

Suntory Holdings Limited has various kinds of products, for example, foods, beer, wine, liquor, supplements, cosmetics and flowers. In this blog, I would like to introduce whisky brand “HAKUSHU” and the CM shows the environment of distillery.

http://www.suntory.co.jp/enjoy/movie/d/217135128002.html?fromid=movt_hot

The narrator, Jun Oguri, a famous Japanese actor, asks a question, “Why HAKUSHU is prepared there?”The background music is “Memory” composed by Michael Thompson. Jun is overlooking the mountains from the airplane in order to show us the grate nature. HAKUSHU distillery is located in the Southern Alps foothills near Mt. Kai-Komagatake in Yamanashi prefecture.
  Water of valuable material is the fresh groundwater that is running over granitic rocks. In the air and environment located in 700 meters above sea level, the single malt whisky HAKUSHU ripens naturally. It is the craftsmanship which is extremely reached the highest level of development among the nature power of the forest. The barrel is crafted in the forest and the whisky has been laid in the barrel. After the time of ripening, it changes to amber. The image of the whisky are reflected in three keywords of the ad: the best groundwater, ripening and craftsmanship (名水、熟成、匠の技).
Enjoying the therapeutic effect of the trees, you will soon arrive at the distillery. As a whole this ad makes us the majestic feeling and relaxing to drink a glass of HAKUSHU.
I used to go there and have a plant tour. It was very interesting for me to see the process of distillation through the glass wall with the guidance of a beautiful woman. On the way it smelled malt aroma. After the course of the tour, they gave me a mini sample bottle of whisky. You may drink it with something to eat at the coffee terrace, unless you drive a car. Anyway, the nature of neighboring area is great. The tour reservation is needed.
http://www.suntory.co.jp/factory/hakushu/?fromid=hakushubrandsite_banner

Blog #2: Answer to the question in page 107 (Kazu)

This is Kazu.

Some people say they feel overloaded with information these days, considering all the TV news shows, magazines, newspapers, and computer information services. Others say they like having so much informaion to choose from. Do you feel overloaded, or do you like having so much information available?

     I believe it is always not a bad thing to have "too much" of anything in life if you know how to take the advantage of it and use it well. I like having so much information available on the internet because it shortens so much time to get the information online at anytime instead of going to the library while it is open and take so much time searching for the book I wanted. At some point in student life, library is inevitable, but searching online in advance would help you significantly to find a book that has all the informations you are searching for. Moreover, I think having too so much information available would make you better at summarizing. Additionally, we are living in a world in which you cannot avoid from the internet and the information society.

Blog #2: The answer to the question presented in p107 of the textbook (Nagata)

This is Minori Nagata.

1. Some people say they feel overloaded with information these days, considering all the TV news shows, magazines, newspapers, and computer information services. Others say they like having so much informaion to choose from. Do you feel overloaded, or do you like having so much information available?

I don't feel overloaded with any information because I'm always selective in the choise of information.  The modern world has been flooded with information and the form of madia has got so diverse that we're confused with which information is right and most important.
Under such a situation I've got several things to do. I make a point of having the accesses to several kinds of newspaper or the TV programme. Secondly I'm trying to cultivate the insight and the ability to judge whether the information is reallly the fact or not. Third I compare an affair or information with the other one from another point of view for fear of being biased. By doing these things I'm not stressed with the flooded information. Eventually I probably like to have a lot of information.

Blog#1 Pioneering human resources needed to the African market. (Ryuko)

I'd like to introduce the article on 4th Jun The TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) three-days meetings in Yokohama, which is held every five years, and was started in 1993 at the initiative of Japan as a forum for African leaders to discuss Africa’s economic development and shape of assistance to the continent.

Africa is rich in energy resources and rare metals needed for high-tech products. China has already moved aggressively into African market to expand their business to not only developing the resources but also selling products made in China. As I watched television program last year about a Chinese aggressive young man, who stayed to build up a tower-shaped station for wireless communication network at the inland of Africa, He lived in the wilderness alone and cooked his own meals every day, because there was no accommodation around there.

On the other hand, recent Japanese young man does never stay in such wilderness. The television program reported that most Japanese young people were brought up in an indulged home environment and they did not want to stay in undeveloped countries. If spineless Japanese young people are increasing, it is said to be concerned about the nation's future and the useless to attracting development assistance and private investment by Japanese government proposal.

I think it takes to make young people mentally stronger to live alone in foreign countries. Though they see all the different kinds of trouble that will happens, their experiences would make them to be tough. I think the funds are not only for official development assistance in Africa but also the pioneering human resources needed to the market.

Blog #1: New Vaccine Developed (Kazu)

      I read an article about Osaka University developed new vaccine for malaria in 31st of May, 2013. This breaking news stated that team of researchers led by professor in Osaka University developed new vaccine that can cut malaria risk by 70%. If the new vaccine is put to practical use, it can help tremendous amount of people suffering from malaria which numbers up to 660,000 deaths a year. Toshihiro Horii, the leader of the research team, showed strong will to put this new vaccine in practical use in the next 5 years.

     I chose this article because it first caught my attention when I was looking for interesting news on the internet. Moreover, the vaccine was developed by a Japanese which surely made me proud in some ways. However, the biggest reason I chose this article is because before I got to read this article, I thought the vaccine for malaria is already put in practical use and is already saving many people suffering from malaria. 

     After reading this article, I thought this development is wonderful. At the same time, I thought that the completion of the vaccine is important, but whether the vaccine would get to children's hand suffering from malaria in Africa is more important. I think the government should create a stronger system to make sure the vaccine gets to every single person suffering from malaria infection. 

What runs through your mind reading this article? 

Blog #1: Sprinter in the US wins the men's 100-meter race in New York. (Minori N.)

I'd like to introduce the article on 27th May on track &field race on Saturday.
The reason to choose the topic, needless to say, is the passion to Track&Field. I prefer the long distance races to the short distance races in seeing, though. Japanese track&field sports have recently been more and more exciting because there are a lot of younger strong players especially in the marathon race and the 100 meters race.

Tyson Gay, the American-record holder of a short distance accomplished victory in the 100 meters, finishing in 10.02 seconds in a headwind Saturday ( 25th May )at the Adidas Grand Prix. Although he has recently recovered from his injury, he was able to run without until the end of the final race. Although he has the second fastest record of 100 meters in the world second to Usain Bolt, he missed out on a bronze medal in London Olympic games in 2012. But he was able to start this season in good condition, in preparation for the world championships in August taking place in Moscow.

In my opinion, he would regain his good condition completely by the world championships in August, and we can see the battle between Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt. However we shouldn't forget Japanese  sprinter Yoshihide Kiryu having the 100 record of 10.01. He's still been a high school student. Moreover, it is important that the other Japanese sprinters have been more strong in the short distance. So we need to look forward to seeing the World championships this summer.