The negative aspect of the internet has been noted since the crackdown by the Philippines police into the Japanese fraudster group who had lurked in a volk's house in the Philippines. According to the report, the masterminds collected their accomplices on the net and sweet-talked them into their group.
The municipal authorities like the city office, the local police, and the education board are grappling with harmful websites. They enlighten parents to introduce filtering software into their children's smartphones to rein in phone crimes. On the other hand, short comical skits are performed to very young kids not to follow unfamiliar people in their everyday lives. A hero, whose name is "filtering man", appears in these skits - wait for it - He is my son-in-law. He was originally a public service worker, and was featured in today's newspaper. I'll upload the article.
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The name of this island comes from the sense that one can see the island very close. It doesn't have any pier. Despite its closeness from the nearest manned island, few people had visited the island before 1988. These two islands became linked by a bridge which constituted a part of Shimanami Highway which connected Honshu and Shikoku, hopping small islands in 1988. The nearby but distant island of Michikajima has no pier to reach by a big boat and we needed a small boat to land there before 1988.
When the highway straddling Seto Inland Sea was planned, a bridge pier was designed on the island. The highway is naturally made for automobiles, but the path for small motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians is also added to the side of the bridge. Additionally, a narrow ramp to the island for those was constructed. At the same time, a campsite was created on the island. I've passed on this highway many times, but I've never visited the island, which has been accessible for only pedestrians and small bikes.
I landed on the island by my bicycle today. Going down the ramp, there was a wide campground equipped with clean toilets, shower facilities and a kitchen with several "kamado" traditional Japanese kitchen stoves. Almost all of the flat space on the island was changed into the campground. The highway runs over a few dozen meters, and the noise of cars will be irritating for campers, but the traffic at night isn't so heavy. The campers would be able to spend some very relaxing hours. And another thing, it is the trove of fresh seafood before them. I'd like to stay there for a whole night with my fishing gear.
Postscript:
The place which pokes out to the sea and moors the boats and the column which supports the bridge are described with one same word, pier. This was new and surprising to me.
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As the pandemic eases, the Japanese Government finally lifted its strict restriction on the re-entry requirements. I decided to visit the U.K. with my wife in the coming July. Our purpose is to attend my daughter's graduation ceremony from Oxford University Graduate School. Her thesis for her master's degree was accepted last year. Additionally, she got a medical license also in the U.K. during her graduate school and she is now working as a trainee in a hospital in the suburbs of London, though she had already finished the trainee course of Japan.
I learned an interesting custom about the graduation ceremony in the U.K.. In general, graduation ceremonies are held once a year and its season is March in Japan, when cherry blossoms, one of the cultural fixture of Japan, will celebrate all graduates. To my surprise, the ceremony is apparently held three times in a year in the U.K., and the graduates can choose the season of their ceremony from three options; July, November, and March. Much to my surprise, they can choose the year too. The graduates can postpone it as long as they want, even years.
My wife and I have been eager to attend the ceremony and see our daughter's beaming and proud face. It goes without saying, but Oxford University is one of the highest class universities in the world. We had just been confined to Japan due to the pandemic for three years. We asked her to choose the best season for the graduation and the sightseeing, and we got to visit Oxford city in July. The scenery in November and March doesn't seem so good. The latitude of the U.K. is above that of Hokkaido. I understood the harshness of its climate.
There are several places in the college which only authorized personnel can step in. The famous movie, Harry Potter was shot in such places. With our daughter attending, we can see inside. This sightseeing is very attractive.
The last visit to the U.K. was in 2018's autumn. I remember how hard it was to listen to the words from local people in the hotel in Oxford and a parking lot in Stratford-upon-Avon. I even wondered if their words were English or another language. The English which I could easily and comfortably understand was only the narration from the speaker of the Great Western Railway, which I took from Oxford to London. However, everything will be ok with our daughter this time. (Link)
Four years have passed since. Our daughter was to stay in Oxford for one year as a visiting scholar at first, but she was offered another year's stay with a scholarship as a scholar. Meanwhile, she was advised to go into the Graduate School, which leads to now. Additionally, she passed the National Examination for Medical Practitioners during the stay. She hopes to work in the U.K. at least for now.
During our stay, we'd like to walk around her life range and her workplace. It's the first time for my wife to visit Oxford and I'm thinking of revisiting standard sightseeing spots like the Cotswolds and the birthplace of Shakespeare, and London.
I chose ANA last time, but I found a ticket for a better price and am using British Airways this time. I'm now wondering if I should get a new suit of British taste made as a mark of respect for British culture for attendance at the ceremony. I can't wait to get on board the international flights.
(Vocabulary)
thesis (学位取得のための) 論文
a doctoral thesis 博士論文
beam にっこりほほえむ, (喜びなどで) 顔を輝かす
beam at sb/sth <…>に向かってにっこりほほえむ
Which leads to now. 今に至る
life range 生活圏
https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2018/10/parking-violation.html
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As the pandemic eased, I went downtown with my friends. The occasional get-together is delightful, but an accident occurred in my house. When I tried to take my shoes off rubbing both heels together while standing at the door, I failed to swiftly take them off. Leaning forward on the floor with my feet set on the entrance, I can take my shoes off quickly if sober, but I was drunk at that time. My upper body proceeded forward as usual, but my lower part didn't. I pitched forward. I was in a hurry to make a beeline for the toilet. If I had only sat down on the floor to untie the laces. I heavily hit my right hand. How long will it take to recover? I have difficulties even in washing my face, zipping up my pants and writing. Taking my age into consideration, it will take at least one month. So sad.
(Vocabulary)
pitch forward つんのめる
untie 〈結んだ物など〉 をほどく
Peter untied his shoelaces. ピーターは靴ひもをほどいた.
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During 49 days just after their death, the souls of the departed are said to be in limbo between this world and the next world. They need a guide to the next world and the smoke from incense sticks is thought to play this role, so the bereaved continue to burn incense until the souls reach their destination.
The soul of my father reached the next world today and my family performed a Buddhist ceremony to consecrate the Buddhist memorial tablet of my father. This tablet will be placed on the altar of my house and we will pray for him before this tablet in everyday life.
(Vocabulary)
a Buddhist memorial tablet 位牌
a Buddhist ceremony to consecrate a newly-constructed image 開眼供養
consecrate (特別な儀式で)〈建物・土地・物など〉を神聖にする, 清める, 神にささげる, 聖別する
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My father passed away in the early morning on Jan. 1st. The phone call in a thoughtless time zone sparked my uneasy feeling. My father's condition had been critically unstable since last month. I instantly understood his death from the call.
My father had just turned 90 in December. He had been forced to stay in hospital for his last three years from his condition which needs nurses. Free access to him was inhibited in the hospital even to family members due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was really regrettable that none of my family was able to be at his bedside when he left for heaven.
The principal rituals concerning Buddhism had mostly finished, but my family will continue other rituals following the Buddhism rules.
(Vocabulary)
in a thoughtless time 非常識な時刻に
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My wife and I enjoyed spending so much time with our granddaughter and lost track of the time.
Hakone is located at the southeast of Mt. Fuji and its hot spa area is considerably vast, dotted with small hot spas. We'd like to have visited some of them, but we didn't have enough time. It was dark outside and we didn't see anything through the train's window, but sharing quality time with our daughter was the best thing that had ever happened to us.
The train ran up through the pitch-dark forest and reached Gora station. We arrived at our hotel around 20:00 hours. The hotel is situated in the middle of the woods and what we heard was only the sound of wind. Some might feel loneliness, but it's not bad to stay at such places once in a while.
(Vocabulary)
pitch-dark 真っ暗な
—pitch dark [名] [U] 真っ暗やみ
once in a while たまには
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When we arrived in Yokohama, our daughter, her husband and our lovely one-year-and-eight-month-old granddaughter were waiting for us. That's why we visited Yokohama. We were going to spend a half day with our granddaughter in a zoo in Yokohama. I've visited Yokohama several times, but I've never dropped in at any zoo in Yokohama. Yokohama City has three zoos. Every zoo has its own distinctive characteristics. We picked one of them, "Zoorasia", which is a portmanteau word chosen by the public in 1996. It seems to bind "zoo" and "Eurasia" which has an image of an immensely vast continent with nature. Zoorasia has an aspect as a research institute as well as a zoo. It was divided into several areas like tundra, subtropical, rain forest district, etc. Every area has its characteristic vegetation. I used to visit a Canadian ski resort every two years and the sub-polar area reminded me of a Canadian cedar forest which I had seen in Whistler.
Anyway, it was the first time for our daughter to see real elephants, monkeys, lions, giraffes and so on. She knows a few animals like above, but her image of animals was obtained from illustrations in books for infants or from stuffed animals. She must have had no idea about the size of real elephants or giraffes. I was looking forward to observing her face at the first look at those big animals.
I was convinced that she probably understands monkeys, but maybe not lions or elephants. They didn't look so cute as ones in the baby's books or stuffed ones.
https://www.hama-midorinokyokai.or.jp/zoo/zoorasia/
(Vocabulary)
be chosen by the public 公募で選ばれた
subpolar 亜寒帯の
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The coronavirus pandemic is about to cease now and various kinds of events aiming to gather people began here and there in my neighborhood. I visited one of them; Miyanomae Park, along the bank of Niyodo River, was full of cosmos blooms and crowded with lots of visitors. The event was held under the moderate control of authorities, but I was able to enjoy a relaxing time. Along the river bed, joyous voices of lots of kids, who were playing in the water, capturing aquatic lives, or enjoying the barbecue with their family, were echoing.
Japan is this peaceful, but there are some areas in conflict on the globe. I recalled the condition of Ukraine and I couldn't help praying for an early end.
(Vocabulary)
gather 〈人が〉 集まる [自]; 〈人〉 を集める [他]
river bed 川床、河川敷(a dry river bed)
aquatic (動植物が) 水生の, 水中にすむ; 水上の, 水中の
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Sauries are common in Japan as a seasonal fish of autumn. I'm afraid its catch has been decreasing in recent years, but the price has kept relatively low. Sauries have been eaten since long ago and have been the food for commoners.
I'll tell you about a funny story descended from the Edo period. Sauries were thought to be food for ordinary people. One day, a shogun, a feudal lord, secretly went out for an inspection of the city. He was always concerned about how people's daily lives were. During the inspection, he found a cloud of smoke from a house with an appetizing smell and then he saw a saury for the first time. The shogun wanted to try one.
His subordinates were upset to hear that he wanted to eat one, because sauries were believed to be fish for lowly people. The taste, however, seemed to be supreme for him and he was so delighted. The place where he enjoyed it was "Meguro". After this happened, the shogun began to often say, "Meguro is the best place to eat sauries," though Meguro didn't have the sea in its area.
Even now, Meguro district in Tokyo hosts a "Sauries Festival" and offers lots of grilled sauries to citizens for free. This event apparently serves for accelerating the tourism business. The misunderstanding by the lord led to a big event now. What does he think about the "sauries festival"?
By the way, I grilled some sauries in my garden this evening. The weather was great for outside eating.
(Vocabulary)
saury 〘魚〙サンマ(科の魚)
catch [C] (魚の) 捕獲量, 漁獲物
lowly 身分[地位]の低い, 下層階級の
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My family used to have 2 dalmatians. We started to keep the first one for our youngest daughter, who wanted to become a vet, to be able to keep motivated. The dog was so friendly and clever that walking with him everyday became one of my best pastimes, but he died after only 6 years from an unknown cause. The vet did his best, but in vain.
We were wondering to have a second one, but we were afraid of our sense of emptiness or sadness when the dog dies on the other hand. I heard that another dalmatian was suspended to be accepted and I decided to welcome the one.
I noticed the possibility of the first dog having been almost deaf, because the second one was more sensitive to my voice than the first. Anyway, the second passed away also in about 6 years.
Both dogs are now in the same pet cemetery and the cemetery company planned to have a joint service for sleeping pets there. Buddhist priests prayed for them family by family in the meeting. I hung my head praying for their happiness in the place where they live.
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I was nervous to become a focus of public attention when I walked with my daughter on the virgin road, but the wedding party was very relaxed. Many of my relatives got together after a long interval.
To my regret, however, my youngest daughter, who lives in the U.K. now, didn't join the party, because of the confusion of the immigration office of the U.K. To be precise, she was able to depart from the U.K., but it would take a long time to get the visa to re-enter the U.K. She was set to start her new career in the U.K. on Oct. 1st in a big hospital near Oxford. If she couldn't be back in the U.K. until that day, some problems might occur. The immigration office seems to be extraordinarily busy to handle lots of refugees from Ukraine. My daughter paid a priority fee to change her visa from a student's to a working visa within 5 days in July, but the procedure didn't finish even in September. I don't understand the visa system in the U.K., but my daughter told me, "Tier something doesn't work" ,,,or such a thing.
Anyway, I never thought that the present war in Ukraine had some influence on the likes of my family who live in a rural place in a small archipelago country in the far east.
The adorable kid in the center of the following picture is my first grandchild.
(Vocabulary)
nervous 緊張した, びくびくした, 不安な
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According to reports, the typhoon was furious in the Kyushu area, but my hometown didn't get damaged heavily even though it had been in the strong wind zone of the typhoon for a whole day. My hometown had long been less affected by natural disasters, but I was prepared for the worst. Luckily, however, casualties were only a few people. This fact might be due to the fruitful measures which have been done for these 60 years.
(Vocabulary)
needless fear 杞憂
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A typhoon is coming. The authorities alerted citizens to brace against it. It seems to be the biggest class typhoon ever. It was 60 years ago that the number of typhoon victims soared up to 5000! The magnitude of this coming typhoon is comparable to it. I hope that it will veer off from my hometown, but it's coming in the direction of my hometown. I stored food and water for two days. I charged my smartphone, mobile battery and my EV. In such cases, a portable power station of high capacity would be helpful, but I don't have it yet. I wish that the damage would be minimum.
(Vocabulary)
portable power station ポータブル電源
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I came to wear a tailcoat. My second daughter legally got married last year, but wasn't able to have a party due to the coronavirus pandemic. She and her husband still wanted to have their wedding party and planned it on Sept. 23rd, which accidentally falls on my birthday.
I wrongly assumed that I had only to smile, eat and drink during the party, but I had to walk with my daughter on the virgin road. I'm so shy to do such a flashy act, but the young couple pestered me to show up on the road and I reluctantly agreed with their request.
The following picture was shot in the fitting room. I thought it was the first and last opportunity to wear the tailcoat.
(Vocabulary)
tailcoat 燕尾服
reluctantly いやいやながら, 仕方なく〈賛成する・応じるなど〉
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I own a Tesla car, Model 3. As you know, it's an EV. I usually charge it at home at midnight. Its charging speed is slow, but the charge is done while I sleep and it finishes before I start next morning, so I don't mind its slowness. You would understand what I mean if you imagine the charging of your smartphone.
On the other hand, I utilize a public charging service while being away from home. Not only Tesla cars but every EV can be charged from this service and its speed is higher than that of the charger of my home. However, its speed is not ideally high.
Tesla, Inc. is building their exclusive charging facilities across the world. The third generation of the charger was set in the adjacent prefecture recently. You have only to put the plug in the car and your car is automatically identified and the bill is also automatically charged to your credit card. The charging speed is marvelous. The electricity for the 1100km drive can be charged in an hour as you see in the following picture.
Then, the Tesla-charger will be apparently launched in my home town. I'd not use it, as I have a charger in my home, but even people who don't live in detached houses would purchase Tesla cars. The number of Tesla cars from outside the city would increase I hope.
(Vocabulary)
detached〈家が〉一戸建ての, 独立した
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Shikoku, the 4th largest island of Japan, on which I live, would be a tiny island, especially from the eyes of U.S. citizens, Canadians, or Australians whose land is vast. However, its cycle of change is unexpectedly rapid. My car is an EV, Tesla Model 3. This car is very driver-friendly and I feel that the burden of driving the car is lessened by 80%. Furthermore, the cost of energy is a third of the same class of cars. My wife and I have begun to go for a spin more often than before.
We dropped in at the automobile museum. I didn't know the museum until I happened to pass in front of it. A variety of cars from all over the world were displayed there. A museum worker told us that each car has its owner and the museum was asked to keep the car. Cars whose engines are alive seem to be sometimes driven in the parking lot for the maintenance of its function.
The DeLorean time machine, which was used in the movie, "Back To The Future", was arranged in the line of super cars of yesteryear. I forget to ask about the origin of the car. It might be a replica.
(Vocabulary)
yesteryear existing in the past: 往年の
the steam trains of yesteryear
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A beach which is well-known for the deposit of carettas has been attracting my interest for a long time. I dropped in at the beach and Hiwasa Chelonian Museum Caretta along the beach. The museum also serves as a facility for carettas' preservation and animal specialists are tackling various environmental issues.
Coming down to the carettas, I remember HAWAII! All Nippon Airways connects Narita and Honolulu with three A380s. The body of the A380s are painted with adorable carettas and those A380s are dubbed Honu, which means caretta in Hawaiian. Carettas are venerated in Hawaii. Recalling wonderful memories in Hawaii, I took a walk along the beach. I haven't visited Hawaii for almost three years due to the coronavirus pandemic, but I'm going to visit it next year and join the Honolulu Marathon.
(Vocabulary)
deposit of carettas ウミガメが卵を産み付けること
chelonian 亀、亀の
caretta アカウミガメ=loggerhead turtle
deposit (安全な場所に)〈貴重品など〉を預ける;〈鳥・魚・昆虫などが〉〈卵など〉を産み付ける.
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I happened to be nearby for work, and I hit a famous drawbridge in Kochi Prefecture. I knew it from a TV program the other day and I had wanted to visit it. As the number of cars in the area was increasing, traffic jams came to happen often. The authorities wanted to widen the road or construct a new bypass or something, but the area was a well-known historic site which was keeping the nostalgic atmosphere of 100 years ago.
For the conservation of the old fishery port, the drawbridge was designed to cancel the traffic congestion. Seeing the upright bridge from the distance, anyone would be surprised at its quirky scene.
(Vocabulary)
drawbridge (城などに架かった) つり上げ橋; (船を通せる) 跳ね橋
low-water crossing 沈下橋
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