Bilingual Blog - Rachel Leng

Kanreki Celebration at Ukai Toriyama
還暦の祝い＠うかい鳥山

June 22, 2018

At the end of May, my family came to visit Japan to celebrate my father’s 60th birthday. At 60, according to the Chinese zodiac, a person has returned to the calendar sign under which the person was born after completing a full cycle of the twelve-pronged zodiac calendar. Although originally a Chinese tradition, it is arguable that Japanese society probably observes this tradition more closely now.

5月下旬、私の家族は日本に来て、父の60歳の誕生日を祝いました。日本では、還暦祝いは満年齢で60歳（数え年で61歳）を迎えたことを喜び、長寿を祝う行事です。還暦は元来中国からの伝統ですが、今は日本の方がもっと人気で、伝統を守っていますね。今まで、中国、韓国やシンガポールも住みましたが、日本以外では、この行事は残っていません。

Asakusa Sanja Festival
浅草三社祭

June 15, 2018

Iwami-san, one of the fund managers at Whiz Partners, invited me to join him and his wife at Asakusa’s Sanja Festival (三社祭, Sanja Matsuri) held during the end of May. One of Iwami-san’s former colleagues, Yamaguchi-san, is a local from the area and has been involved in organizing one of the main attractions of the festival for more than 20 years!

皆様、三社祭に行ったことがありますか？石見さんは浅草の三社祭に招待されました。石見さんの元同僚の山口さんは、浅草の地元の人ですので、20年以上にわたって、この祭りを長く組織しています。

Uenohara
上野原

June 4, 2018

Have any of you heard of Uenohara (上野原市 Uenohara-shi)? It is a rural city located in eastern Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan with an estimated population of fewer than 30,000 people. Read more about my experience trout fishing, gold panning, and woodworking in Uenohara!

皆様、上野原市について、聞いたことがありますか？上野原市、山梨県の中部最東端に位置する市です。

地方自治体は、観光客誘致に関する情報を収集するために、外国人のモニタツアーを開催し、自治体から招待されたので、このモニター・ツアーに、最近参加しました。今回は私の経験について、話したいと思います。

Clam Digging
潮干狩り

June 4, 2018

May and June are the most popular months of the year to go clam digging (潮干狩り, shiohigari ) in Japan. You may think that clam digging itself is not so special, but “clam digging” is seriously an important keyword in Japanese society and history! I was very surprised by the extent to which the Japanese people love clam digging as a family activity! It also appears to get significant news coverage every year.

日本では、5月と6月が潮干狩りの季節ですね。日本人が家族と一緒に潮干狩りに行くはとても人気のある娯楽ですね。

初めて聞いた時、貝を掘ることはそれほど特別な活動ではないと思うかもしれませんが、日本の社会や歴史の中で「潮干狩り」は重要なキーワードらしいですね！また、今まで、毎年ニューズになっているそうです。私は、日本人が「潮干狩り」を楽しむことに驚きした！

Tiger Kingdom Thailand
[虎の王国]　タイガーキングダム・プーケット

June 1, 2018

皆様、虎と一緒に写真を撮ったことがありますか？猫のような虎に会ったことがありますか？タイに虎と直接戯れることができる夢のようなスポットがあるのはご存知でしょうか。プーケットにある「Tiger　Kingdom・タイガーキングダム」（虎の王国）という観光スポットです。そこでは、虎と一緒の珍しい写真が取れます。

Sumo Practice at Musashigawa-beya
武蔵川部屋の朝稽古

June 1, 2018

To the Japanese, sumo is not merely a popular wrestling sport, it has long been performed ritually at festivals since ancient times. Many ancient traditions have been preserved in sumo, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt purification, from Shinto. Life as a wrestler is highly regimented, with rules regulated by the Japan Sumo Association, and tickets to sumo tournaments are pricey and often sold out. This is one of the reasons why, besides watching sumo matches on TV, we usually have few occasions to enter the world of sumo.

日本人にとって、相撲はとても大事なスポーツですね。皆様、自分自身で、直接お相撲さんに会ったことがありますか？先日、私は武蔵川部屋に行く機会がありました！朝稽古を見学に行きました。素晴らしい経験でした！

Disaster Preparedness Drill
防災訓練

May 25, 2018

The island nation lies along the western edge of the Ring of Fire, making it one of the most tectonically active places on Earth, with as much as 10% of the world’s volcanic activity!

Most local Japanese have practiced various disaster drills (for earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.) since their childhood years. Foreigners like myself who have never grown up with the frequent risk of earthquakes, however, have to take extra measures to get familiar with what to do in the case of a disaster in Tokyo. Recently I took part in my office building’s earthquake drill and also a Disaster Preparedness Drill for Foreign Residents government sponsored by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

2017 Harvard Prize Book Awards at Junten High School
順天高校の2017年度ハーバード・プライズ・ブック授与式

May 18, 2018

Junten High School has been awarding Harvard Prize Books annually since 2014. This year, there were many contenders for the Prize. The final winner selected was Mr. Takeru Ohmura　(大村武尊), who has demonstrated great persistence and determination in pursuing his passion for studying hospitality.

順天高校では２０１４年度から実施していて今回は４人目の受賞者を選出しました。今年の受賞者は大村武尊君です。

ArtBar
アートバー

May 11, 2018

Went to the ArtBar studio in Daikanyama recently for a painting session on “Greek Islands: Santorini”! Painting themes change every session~ The philosophy of “Paint & Sip” is brought to Tokyo from New York and emphasizes having fun painting while sipping wine. Free flow wine, soft drinks, and snacks are included in the lesson fee! (Although you are allowed to bring your own wine as well, which is what I did~) I have not painted for a very long time since art class in school and was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to complete a full painting in 2 hours, but it turned out alright (or so I think – check out the photos)!

Spring Yakuzen Medicinal Cuisine
春の薬膳料理

April 27, 2018

Last October, I attended an Autumn Yakuzen Cooking Class and wrote about it in a post on 「薬膳教室 Yakuzen Cooking Class」(Japanese only). Had the chance to go for another class at Hills Yakuzen to learn more about medicinal cuisine for the Spring season!

去年の１０月ごろ、一旦薬膳料理の教室に行ってきました。その経験で、「薬膳教室 Yakuzen Cooking Class」について、書きました。健康に役立つ漢方の知恵を、手軽な薬膳料理で取り入れてみたかったので、薬膳料理教室にとても興味があります。そして、ヒルズ薬膳の教室では、初心者にも嬉しい薬膳の基礎知識から、簡単な薬膳レシピや薬膳理論解説まで教えてくれました！

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