Autumn Has Come

It has been about a month since when I posted to this blog last time.

At the end of last month, my school was started.

In Japan, new school term starts in April. But in many foreign countries, it starts in September. Thus, many international students come to Japan in September. Due to this difference, international students can’t take classes from start to finish. It’s the same for Japanese students who go abroad to study.

To improve this problem, Tokyo University is planning to change the system. They are going to do the entrance ceremony in September. I'm sure that it will be realized, and other universities will follow it.

By the way, I saw two movies “The Tree of Life” and “Remember Me” after I posted my previous post.
I felt the theme of both movies was “Life”

“The Tree of Life” is so religious movie. Many symbols of the biblical story are included in this movie. But most Japanese people are Buddhists.

So I felt it was hard for many Japanese people to understand the message of the movie. Indeed, the reputations of this movie were so bad.

When I was a high school student, I learned about Christianity.

I don’t think I could understand all, but I could learn a lot.
Thanks to my knowledge of Christianity, I could understand what the movie meant.

There are various religions in the world. It’s the fact that there are religious conflicts.

I never think it’s not good that people believe in only one religion, but I think people should try to know about other religions.

I know that a lot of knowledge helps people to understand what’s right and wrong.

....and I know that I have to learn about many things more and more x)
Anyway, I think mutual understanding and cultural exchange are very important to make a peaceful world. 

“Remember Me” was released in the U.S. last year, but in Japan, it was released last month.

It’s related to 9.11. Through this movie, I reconfirmed that the victims of 9.11 had each life. Moreover, the movie reminds me of the victims of 3.11. I think we mustn’t forget them and we have to live strong.

In Japan, it’s getting cold. I want to put pictures of nature, but I don't have any good pictures. If I took a good one, I’ll put it here.

There are many things which I want to write here. But I have no time.

Thank you for reading . See you again! :D

Koreatown and The Ancient Greece Exhibition

Today I went to Tokyo to go to Koreatown and Ueno with my friend.
About Koreatown, we went there to have lunch. Last time when I visited the place, a lunch I had was so delicious. So I wanted to have lunch at the same restaurant again.

The town is located in Shin-okubo. It's very famous place, especially among the people who like Korean food or Korean idols.
In the town, there are many Korean restaurants and idle goods shops. Walking down the street, you can see many hangeul characters.

As my plan, I went to the restaurant where I visited before and I ordered the same set meal which I ordered before.
This set meal had rice, grilled ribs with bones, kimchi (korean pickles), namul (marinated food), Korean miso soup, Korean dried seaweed, and so on.
I want to say about why I added "Korean" to "miso soup" and "dried seaweed". Because these are different from Japanese miso soup and dried seaweed xD

After lunch, we went to a K-pop goods shop. In the shop, they were selling Korean idol goods, cosmetics and snacks.
I'm not a big K-pop fan, so I bought only my favorite Korean snacks.
Ah, but I like Taeyang of BIG BANG so much. I found his Live DVD at the shop. I wanted to get it, but it was too expensive. lol xD

After the shopping, we went to Ueno.
Our purpose for today was The Ancient Greece Exhibition which is held at The National Museum of Western Art in Ueno.

There were some copied works outside of the entrance doors. In those copies, there were Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker" and "The Gate of Hell"

While we were seeing these works, an old man talked to us. Maybe, he was a volunteer curator. He told us a lot about Rodin and some historical stories which are related to art.
He gave us some important words.

"You can learn about art from text books without seeing them. But the important thing is not knowing about them as knowledge but actually seeing them. And I want you to have interests in many things."

The real things and the pictures of them are so different. Seeing something carefully and thinking about it give the ability of imagination and creation. I think these abilities are very important to live :)

At the exhibition, there were a lot of artistic things including decorated vases, statues, and tools which were used in the fight.
I was surprised by the technique of ancient Greeks. It's unbelievable that they had techniques to make miniature metal sculptures when Japanese people began making earthenware pots.

Moreover I was impressed by many works which were made as personification.
For example, there were personification of grapes, old, and desire.

At the museum, I was surprised so many times. lol x)
Anyway, I enjoyed a lot at the museum.
I like the history and culture of ancient Greece. But I became more like ancient Greece today x)

Finally, we had dinner at a restaurant. I ate delicious cake for dessert.
It was sooooo beautiful. So I took a picture xD

I slept only 3.5 hours last night. So I'm very sleepy now....
I'm sorry if I made many mistakes due to my half-sleeping head xD
Thank you for reading this post. See you again!! :D

Cultural Events

Last week, I went to Tokyo three times.
On Wednesday, I attended to Peko-chan museum. On that day, I went to Ginza and Ueno.
About Peko-chan Museum, please read my previous post.

On Friday, I went to Harajuku to attend World Travel Expo 2011 with my friend.
About this event...honestly, it was not so good. The number of countries which participated to this event was very few.
We had a lunch lightly at the event, and then we went out from the venue.

Ah, by the way, when I went to Askusa last time, I decided to say hello to foreigners if I have a chance to talk to foreigners.
In Asakusa, foreign girls sit down next to me. I wanted to say hello to them soooo much. But I was too shy to do that XD So I decided that. lol
At this international event, I said hello to a foreigner....but his reply was this "atsui desu ne" This means "It's very hot, isn't it?"
Oh my...he talked in Japanese!!! XD

Okay, I turn the story back. After lunch, we went to a cafe which is selling Northern European goods. We ate Swedish snacks with Swedish tea at the cafe.
While having teatime, we decided to go to IKEA which is located near our town.  In the end, we went to IKEA, and we enjoyed shopping and dinner.
Our purpose was World Travel Expo, but we enjoyed shopping at IKEA rather than that event. lol
Of course, I ate Swedish meatballs :] All dishes which I had for dinner were so delicious, and I was glad that I could many Swedish goods x)
I want to go to IKEA with my family next time :]

Next day, I attend to Sumida-river Fireworks Festival! This festival is bigger than any other fireworks festival in Japan.
They launched 20,000 fireworks.
When I arrived to a meeting place of my friend and me, I got an email...
"I'm so sorry, I can't go to the festival"
....What!?!?!? DD:
I was really sad, so I wondered if I'd go home soon. But the sound of fireworks changed my mind, and I walked to a nearby place of the launch.
I could see the sparks blowing up and hear the big sound of fireworks.
There were so many people at that place. So I walked a bit away from there and I watched fireworks on the road.
I took a video of fireworks, and I uploaded it on YouTube. So I put it here :]
I was so sad when I got an email, but in the end, I was really excited and happy x)

I have about a month left as my vacation. So I want to visit to soooo many places until the end of my vacation :]
...I already have many plans to go out with my friends. lol
Well, thanks for reading. See you again! :D

Peko-chan Museum

Today I attended to an event Peko-chan Museum Milky Town 2011.
This event has been held every year since 3 years ago. It's held for only 2 weeks.
This year is the 60th anniversary of birth of Milky, so they were showing the history of Milky and many old items.
Do you know Milky candy? It's milk taste soft candy which is produced by Fujiya company. This candy is so popular in Japan. I've eaten Milky since when I was a kindergartner. I like it very much.
On the red package of Milky, the picture of Peko-chan is printed. Peko-chan is a mascot character of Fujiya company. This character is as popular as Milky. There are many character goods are sold.

At this event, I saw many old items and pictures, and I saw that children was experiencing how to make Milky candy by themselves.

After all, I bought some goods at the store. I'm glad that I could get a cute water bottle :D

If you have a chance to get Milky, I want you to try it. It's really delicious xD

After that, I went to a famous curry restaurant, and ate curry. This is one of my favorite restaurants. I put a picture of dishes which I had for lunch. Curry was so hot and delicious as usual x)

I'll attend to an international event the day after tomorrow. So I'm already excited.
I want to buy many imported goods there. lol I really like imported goods, especially foods xD
I like imported things since I was in kindergarten. I liked playing imported toys and eating imported snacks very much.
Come to think of my childhood, I liked seeing national flags and listening to national anthems from all over the world.
I think I may have been a strange child. And it's funny that I've been interested in the world since when I was such a little girl xD

Thanks for reading!! See you again! :)

A Part of My Summer Vacation

It has been about 3 weeks since the beginning of my summer vacation. I think I haven't done anything so much, but I did a few things which I couldn't do in the school term.

I was too busy to watch movies. So I watched some movies :)
I had wanted to watch "Schindler's List" since then I watched a TV program about Oskar Schindler. As you know, the movie is based on a true story. It was too shocking to watch. But I thought that I had to watch it and thought about a historical fact, so I could continue to watch it. I'm hesitating to write about this movie, because I feel it's rude that I say something about the historical fact. So I want to say only that we have to learn a lot from history, and we have to take care not to make the same mistakes.
Thanks to the movie, I could reconfirm the importance of each life. This movie will have been kept in my mind.
As for other movies, I watched Titanic. This is one of my favorite movies.
Every time when I watch it, I can't stop crying. This time, as I expected, I cried and cried. I can't wait to see 3D version Titanic in the theater next year.

By the way, I went to Costco a few days ago. You may know, Costco is an American store. Costco stores are in many countries, and Japan is one of these countries.
I like this store very much, because I can enjoy American style shopping and I can buy many imported foods. At the store,  I enjoyed shopping and I ate a piece of big pizza, a hot dog and a churro x)

::

I couldn't take many pictures, but I'll put some pictures which I took at the store.
Ah, I took a picture of jelly beans bottles. I wanted to get that 1.8kg jelly beans bottle, but I bought a big bag of Hershey's chocolate instead of it x]

I want to write about my visiting to Narita Airport and about Obon, but I already wrote a lot here.
Okay, I'll write about them in another day. Obon will continue until 3 days later, and I'm planning to visit to Narita Airport and Haneda Airport next month x]
I'm sorry, I couldn't write about Japanese culture today. Two weeks later, I'll go to Sumida River Fireworks Festival. The festival is bigger than any other Japanese fireworks festival. Please wait for my writing about the festival with pictures x)

By the way, I wrote about Japanese instant noodles before. After I finished shopping at Costco, I ate ramen and I took a picture of it :)

I have to say sorry about this self-sufficient blog spot.

I'll do my best to write something good next time :)

Thank you for reading. See you again! :D

My Day in Asakusa

Today I had to go to school to take a medical checkup. So my friend and me made a promise to meet at 9:00am. But I was awakened by a friend's call "Why are you not here?" It happened at 9:00am. lol x)
I could take the checkup afternoon, but I wanted to go to Asakusa as soon as I can. So I went to school in a hurry, and took it during the morning.

Asakusa is a part of Tokyo. There are many traditional Japanese shops and an old temple in Asakusa. The name of the temple is Senso-ji. It was built in 628.

Near the Assakusa station, Tokyo Sky Tree is standing. It's really high!!! The height of it will be 634m next year. I can't still believe such a high building will be built in Japan where so many earthquakes occur. I'm also impressed by the Japanese seismic technology.

In Asakusa, I could see many Japanese traditional goods. When I visited to Asakusa last time, I was 12 or 13 years old. I was too young to understand Japanese traditional culture from them. Today I could know about Japanese traditional culture from foods, structures and scenery. So I'm glad that I could visit there today.

I took many pictures today, and put them here. So I think I don't need to write so much. Ah, but there is one thing which I want to write down here. I bought a furoshiki today. Furoshiki is Japanese traditional wrapping cloth. It's like a big handkerchief. People make various shape bags bags with tying it. You can call it "instant bag" ;) I made a bag with using furoshiki and rings. I put its picture too.

I have more pictures which I want to show you. haha x)

By the way, I'm not good at taking pictures. I have to study how to take good pictures x)

Thank you for reading. See you again :]

Japanese Stores

Yesterday I went to a grocery store to get ingredients for dinner. While taking pictures, I thought about Japan objectively. At the store, peaches were being sold so cheaply. These peaches came from Fukushima, so these were so cheap. The problem of radiation contaminated foods is very serious. However many Japanese people are eating foods without care about the problem of radiation. It's really horrible.

I like this sushi picture. This is colorful and appetizing! :D

By the way, a few days ago, I took some pictures at a convenience store. When I was a high school student, I worked one year at a convenience store. There are many latest foods and goods at convenience stores :)

Drinks

                         

Leaving that aside, I think Japanese people stick to things' appearance. So people are apt to buy cakes which have good appearance rather than the taste. lol 

I think that's why we use hiragana, katakana and kanji. Katakana and kanji make sentences more stylish. haha :)

"Kawaii" became a universal word. Japanese beautiful traditional culture and kawaii culture must have been made from the habit of sticking to appearance. I'm proud of this habit x))

At the last, I got a cake of soap as a souvenir from my shop manager yesterday. The shop where I'm working at was elected as one of the best 20 McDonald's shops. So he was invited to a party which was held in Singapore. About Singapore, I was going to travel to Singapore as a school trip. But we traveled to Malaysia due to a price increase.

The trip to Malaysia was very good. I want to write about the trip another day :)

If you have any questions about my pictures, please ask me ;)

See you :D