Why has Prime Minister Abe's popularity dropped? I believe his halfhearted attitude bears scant fruit. He has pledged to built "a beautiful Japan", reformthe education system and revise the Constitution. However, its policy is vague. His idea doesn't reach to our pleasant impression at all. I hope he can bring his effort against reforming Japan on track.

To become a full fledged worker -- "Shakaijin", the keyword isindependent."Shakaijin" -- full fledged worker should be independent economically and technically. First, economic independence. Generally, we live with our parent and take their support until we get the job. Once we join a company, we can earnmoney. But is our contribution worth being paid to us? The contribution would include making sales and profit. At the beginning, it might be difficult to bear fruit. After that period, we might be considered as"Shakaijin" when we can contribute to the company and our society.
Second, technical independence. Let's confine the issue into engineering field.(Because I'm engineer) As you may know, engineering is very difficult to master even supecific technical issue. It takes a lot of time to be full fledged engineer.Three years are not good enough. However, it might be good enough that we learn fundamental theory and basic notion to design. Besides, a way of handling our assignment is also important. What should we deal with chaotic situation when we encounter difficulty on the job or when the progress is not so good.It's very important to think over it and have an idea to tackle with the problem on our own.

I have a lot of things I want to do. I have a lot of things I'm interested in.
Yoga: I believe that Yoga is good for my health to prevent from ageing.
Karate or kung fu: I've been fascinated by martial art. Scene from Matrixintrigues me.
Guitar:I want to be able to perform Rock music.
Piano: I want to be able to perform J.S.Bach.
How should I start? That's the big issue.

The other day, I took a day off to see AIG Open tennis tournament held in Japan. Recently, I've been captivated by tennis. I always have tennis in the back of my head. It seems unlikely that I spend a lot of time andenthusiasm to tennis some years back. To tell you the truth, I used to look down on it because it seemed too light or too recreational sports compared to Rugby foot ball. But I totally changed my perspective. Anyway, let's get down to AIG Open. I could see the world number one ranker -- Roger Federer's match. Yes, I could see his real play!!What amazed me was his accuracy and his low percentaged unforced error.Of course, he made misshots and lost points by receiving tough attack from his opponent. However, his probability of unforced error is pretty low. He has an excellent ability to handle his opponent attack. Especially,his pinpoint shot down the line was perfect! I can describe him that he is a magician of line. I knew him as a famous tennis player. But I'm completely fascinated by his play. His tennis becomes my highest model.

How cute she is! My niece(the 2nd from the left) appeared on stage in herballet recital. Her performance was more sophisticated than I expected. Ican easily guess she dedicated much time to her lesson. Harmony betweenprimary kids(including her) and senior dancers was brilliant. I've neverseen live ballet in my life. Even one on TV. But it's good to see for achange.

I rarely have a crush on TV drama. But "My boss, my hero" is exceptionto me. It's brilliant. It depicts struggle of gangster boss's son -- 27 years old. He forced to join a high school to get certificate. The boss insists that a boss who supervises the group should have not only physical power but also intelligence. As symbol of that idea, graduation is mandatory. But it would not surprise us that the son struggles among school mates and teachers. Especially, fighting with conflicts inside him is facetiously depicted. At school, he tries to be a nice student and not to fail graduation exam. Besides, romance, bonds of friends, abomination for violence and so on. Actor/actress are also cool. The right hand photo is my favorite girl. I can't wait for the sequel from the bottom of my heart.

Singapore -- What an exciting city it is! I've never visited such a red hot city. We can experience vaious ethnic group, food, religion and so on in one tine area. Let's say, Chinese, Indian, Buddhism, Islamism etc. Well miexed in various culture, neat, well advanced in IT. I wish I could live there.

Recently, I've gotten into the rut. In some reasons or other, my life isvery hectic. I don't need much money. Already well-paid. If I'd be givenmuch leeway, I'd accept the half cut of my salary. Now I envisage mylife becomes 9-to-5 work style at the cost of diminished revenue.

Popular Chinese restaurant in Japan -- Bamiyan. It serves very good fried rice.This is more yammy than I expected. It's worth while eating.

I can't stand it! How many people are pertinent to discuss a technical issue? When my boss and I mapped out our team management, we haggled over trivial thing like above question. He insited on limiting the number less than or equal to four. To the contrary, I insisted that the number of people doesn't matter. Seven people would be still acceptable. Small number might be preferable to deeply discuss. However I can't understand such a limit should be applied. I believe that a chairperson, though I always play a role as, should/can facilitate the meeting. What a weird boss he is!!

"Rossana", "Africa", "I won't hold you back", "99" and "St. George and the Dragon". Legendary Rock group -- TOTO's songs. I expected too much those songs from old albums. Now TOTO is visiting Japan for its concert. I got a ticket and looked forward to going. But I was disappointed by many brand new songs. Most songs they performed were ones I've never heard. On the second thought, I might be wrong. One of their purpose would be promotion for TOTO's new album -- "FALLING IN BETWEEN". It's no wonder they perform songs out of it. But "Africa" at encore was any port in a storm.

Osaka is very an interesting town in Japan. Amazing, exciting, deep! I visited Osaka during Golden Week. This is the first time to hang around. At the first face, there is no big difference between Tokyo and Osaka. Modern, skyscraper city, tidy. But once you enter the renowned downtown area,"Doutonbori" and "Shinsekai", you would be fascinated by unique world. Chaotic atmosphere would overwhelm you.We went to one Okonomiyaki restaurant -- Japanese-style pancake containing vegetables and other foodstuff. One talkative, brisk, crisp lady served us with humor. Apparently,there is such a woman even in Kanto area. But chaotic environment and talkative personality would be good matching. I'd like to visit thereonce again.

I have a brief that vocabulary should be placed in the first place for proficiency. I had a chance to talk with one lady who had just started her life as teacher of English in high school. Her English is fluent and her response is good. She has gone abroad to study for 4 years. She seems to be proud of her English. It's no doubt that her English is better than me. But I could find the room to have a slight edge in. Those are vocabulary and natural expression, I believe. I noticed her vocabulary in her English is quite limited. She doesn't know even "pollution". Hmm, it might slip her mind, may be. How about "wear the pants"? When we talked about the dress code in her school, I said she might wear the pants in her school. I intended to just play a joke on her. But she had no sense of humor. Essentially, she doesn't know the real meaning. One native English speaker hearing our conversation gave me a wink. Besides,when I asked her about her new start as a teacher of English, I used the expression, "What springs to your mind about new start in your life?".
She) Spring?
Taka) Yep
Taka) What springs to your mind about new start in your life?(Slowly)
She).........
Taka)What do you think of new start in your life?
She)Aha! well I think bra bra bra ...(She starts to express her idea)
Now my English is far below her English. But I have a confidence that I can catch up with her. I won't be beaten.

Golden Week holidays might be an unique system in Japan. It's a holiday-studded week or a week with a string of holidays. In this year, it starts from Apr 29th and ends on May 7th except for May 1st and 2nd on calendar basis. In my case, I'm taking nine consecutive days off with strong will. Do you envy me? Yey! But, what I'm going to do is just adding two days off -- May 1st and 2nd, with using paid holiday. Yesterday, I had achance to talk about Golden week with a native english speaker and a few Japanese. The Japanese told that they would work on even the problematic days off. Besides, they exclaimed that they HAVE TO WORK or HAVE TO BE in their offices as if working is virtue and taking holidays is vice. It's weird to me. I hate such a "have to" notion or obligation as is often the case for Japanese. I dislike that the perspective -- No rest for the wicked, is virtue. Of course, the individual situation/case would not compromise. It might be difficult for them to take holidays. But they have paid holidays and are entitled to use them. Whether they take a holiday or not is up to their volitions. I strongly recommend that they bear in mind one proverb -- Hard work and no play make Jack a dull boy.

This morning, I met one eye disabled lady on my way to the office.When I got off the train, I noticed her walking with a white stick. She was engulfed by a wave of commuter crowd. She could narrowly walk along with the wave. But she didn't know the queuing at the ticket gate.So I assisted her to stop for a while until her turn came. After we passed the gate, she expressed her thanks to me. I was worry about another difficulty for her. I followed her without saying. She found thestair and walk up the stair on her own. When I saw her taking walkman or iPod from her bag, I thought excessive help is not necessary for her. She might be more independent than I expected.

I'm very tickled to pink to know that there is one guy who has an avant-garde idea and realize it. One enterprising young guy -- William Christophers, he sells Takoyaki(Japanese octopus dumpling) in the UK. I'd like to send hearty cheers to him. http://www.willyaki.co.uk/index.htm
Why do I have a particular fondness of him? To tell you the truth, I had a completely same idea with him. About 9 years ago, I came up with this idea. When I visited the US and the UK on business trip, I noticed one thing. There are tons of Japanese food restaurants there. But I've never seen Takoyaki. They serve Sushi or Tempura. However they don't serve Takoyaki. I thought it might become a good bussiness. Renting tenant is a little bit risky. So I thought Yatai(food stall) type would be suitable. Besides, it's easy to move. It must be a huge advantage, I believe. Mr. Christophers actually runs the business with stall. He knows a good thing when he sees it. And he named Takoyaki "Willyaki". Probably, "Willyaki" comes from his first name -- William. I wanted to name Takoyaki "Takayaki" as same manner. Taka as in Takayaki comes from my first name -- Takahide. I used to express this idea to my friends and acquaintances. Some said it's cool idea. Others vilified me. Now, I'm very pleased to know Mr. Christophers realized the idea in stead of me. I'd like to express great sympathy from the bottom of my heart. I hope for his continued success on his challenge.

These days, I'm interested in responding to some questions people studying Japanese have. There are some web pages providing free learning services to people who wish to study the Japanese language. For example, Japanese-online.comhttp://www.japanese-online.com/forum/ Bunch of questions are posted everyday and answered by native Japanese. It's very good for me to know other's way to respond or answer questions. I'm impressed by various perspectives each Japanese has. I'll keep posting anonymously. I won't use my name -- Taka(^^) Guess which messageI post.

A couple days ago, I went to Niigata prefecture -- North Japan, to offer my last respect to grand farther-in-law at a funeral service. A lot of people made a call to express their condolences. I notice one thing. The bereaved were busy like bee to serve them food, drink and so on. This kind of situation lasts for a few days. After this period, they leave the bereaved, then only sorrow is left to the bereaved. The more people pay their respect, the more the bereaved feel emptiness.

What a big change! I was so surprised at drastic transformation in a town.I went to the town I used to live in two years ago. This town isNoborito on Odakyu line. It's located in 20 minutes away from Shinjukuby express train. New buildings, remodeling andturnover rate for tenant such as shops, restaurants and so on is veryhigh. Here are some photos I took. For example, a restaurant whose nameis "music paper" is very popular in that town. It has a good reputationfor the antique decoration. Now it's remodeled to relatively modern one.I love this town no matter how change.

Amber beer! This is my favorite beer in the world. I've been seekingthis beer in Japan. At last, I reached this at T.Y. Harbor Brewing.The first time I drunk Amber beer was visiting the U.S -- Santa Cruz inCalifornia. My friends took me a pub called "Front St. Pub" home-brewing.Once I drunk this beer, I was fascinated by a broad variety oftop-fermenting yeast which produces richer flavors and aromas.