Education

Akita Dogs
秋田犬

I recently traveled to Akita Prefecture for a farm stay program organized by the Odate Cultural Activity Promotion Committee. Check out my previous blog post on“Odate Farm Stay” for my experience of authentic regional cooking, harvesting rice fields, and a special appearance in a traditional cultural festival!

During my stay in Odate, I also had a great time meeting and playing with Akita Dogs!



私は最近、秋田県大館市に行って地元の農家民宿に泊まりました!
(地方料理の体験米の収穫、伝統的な文化祭への出演については、ここをクリックして「大館市農家民宿」ブログをご覧ください!)

大館市での滞在中、秋田犬との出会いや遊びも楽しかったで~す。
今日は秋田犬について書きたいと思います~

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Odate Farm Stay
大館市農家民宿

With the rising phenomenon of “green tourism” in Japan, small remote towns have drawn more attention as getaway destinations for harried city dwellers to refresh and recharge away from sprawling metropolises. Where 90% of the population lives in densely populated cities, there is no doubt that some people in Japan have never even experienced life outside of concrete jungles!

日本では「グリーンツーリズム」の人気が高まっており、都会から離れた小さな町が注目を集めています。急成長する大都市に住む人々がリフレッシュして元気を取り戻すための「逃げ場」となっているためです。90%の日本人が人口密集地に住んでいるので、コンクリートジャングルの外で生活さえ経験したことがない人々も多いでしょう。

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Shared Brewery
シェアードブルワリー

“Life in Tokyo” is a web portal run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government with the aim to support foreign residents in the city.

最近、東京都庁が運営する「Life in Tokyo」というウェブサイトのために記事を書きました!「Life in Tokyo」は、日本在住の外国人をサポートするための、生活情報サイトです。

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Uenohara
上野原

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。

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

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!

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Disaster Preparedness Drill
防災訓練

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.

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