I cannot believe how lucky I am. I would have never imagined that I would be featured on television in Japan FIVE times in a single year! Let me quickly mention the first four, and then focus on what I learned from the fifth one.

January 4: Ikegami Akira no Kansaijin ga Shiranai Kansai. This new year’s special showed me covering the Hanshin Tigers in a special way for English-speaking fans all around the world. Famous panelists that I met in the studio included Black Mayonnaise, High Heel Ringo, Miyu Honda, and Joichiro Fujiwara from Naniwa Danshi.

June 17: News Zero. This late-night nationally broadcast news program, hosted by famous anchor Yumiko Udo, was similar to Mr. Ikegami’s program, but I did not go to a studio to talk to famous people. Instead, TV directors recorded me at a separate studio and at a restaurant. Ms. Udo is a huge Hanshin Tigers fan, and she said she wants to meet and go to a Tigers game at Koshien with me. (I would love that!)

June 28: Sekai wo Chotto Dake Kaeru Summit. For this one, I had to go to the studio for a recording, and sitting right next to me was fellow guest Takeshi Tsuruno. We talked before the recording started, and he was a really nice guy! This program had nothing to do with my areas of expertise (English education and Hanshin Tigers), so I was nervous throughout.

July 7: MBS Ballpark. This was the first time a TV program visited my home, which made me (and my whole family) a little nervous. Still, it was interesting to watch the program and hear Tomonori Jinnai and Reni Takagi (Momoiro Clover Z) say that “Hanshin should acquire Trevor-san.” (I would love that!)

Q1. How many times was the writer featured on Japanese TV in 2022?

Q2. Who said she wanted to go to a Hanshin Tigers game with the writer?

a) Reni Takagi

b) High Heel Ringo

c) Yumiko Udo

Q3. On which two dates did the writer mention feeling nervous during the recording session?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. 5

Q2. C

Q3. June 28 & July 7

The other day, I finally brought myself to take an ID photo in order to apply for “My Number Card” after being hesitant to create one. I have never really liked my own ID photos before. Who would? I wonder why ID photos always look like mug shots.

In my first passport photo, I had orange hair, and I looked flushed and sweaty as if I had run a dozen miles. Why did I have orange hair? Well, upon entering college, I had my hair dyed brown for the first time. I’d hoped it would turn brown, but for some reason, my hair turned bright orange. To make matters worse, I had to take an ID photo for my passport application with that hair. I took one in the ID photo booth, and fortunately, my hair looked a lot darker in the photo than it actually was thanks to the poor lighting. I went to the passport center with the photo to apply for my first passport, but they did not accept the photo. I guess the poor lighting became a problem. I ended up having another ID photo taken at the passport center, but they did not let me see or choose the photo. My face was flushed red because I was frustrated at the inconvenience, and I was sweaty because I literally took a thirty-minute walk to the passport center. I felt mortified every time I had to looked at the passport photo for the next five years. So much for the story of my failure.

Anyway, I took an ID photo for the Individual Number Card in a photo booth. The experience was rather amusing. I was busy choosing things from many options. First, I had to choose for what purpose I needed the photo. Second, I had to choose whether I wanted to retouch my photo or keep a digital copy. Depending on the options chosen, the price of the photo varied. Then, I had to spin the chair to adjust the height so my head would be at the appropriate level. After that, the machine automatically took two shots. I had to choose if I wanted to take another two shots or choose from the two photos that were already shown on the screen. The machine even asked me to choose a skin tone, which I found very odd. I thought I was finally done with the photo taking process, but I had to choose the background color too. After fighting the audible count-down from the machine, I finally finished taking an ID photo. I did not like the photo, but I did it.

If you have to take an ID photo in a photo booth, here is a piece of advice: When the machine says, “Relax,” it means that you should relax your shoulders, not your facial muscles! My brother made that mistake, and his ID photo is the funniest of all time!

Photo Credit: Dom J@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. Did the author run a dozen miles to the passport center when she had her first passport photo taken?

Q2. What does the word ‘mortified’ mean?

Q3. What was the author’s brother’s mistake in the photo booth?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. No, she did not. She walked for 30 minutes.

Q2. Very embarrassed.

Q3. He relaxed his facial muscles too much instead of relaxing his shoulders.

When you’re a kid you don’t think about being a kid—you’re just a kid. It’s not until you get older that you become a little more aware, and maybe the “kid stuff” turns into “older kid stuff” or “teenage stuff” or, worst of all, “adult stuff.” With my kids, I’m reminded daily of the “kid stuff” and how I need to be more patient in understanding where they’re at. It becomes harder to do that when so much time has passed since I was their age.

Why share this at a university that is filled with students who don’t have kids? Because it is easy to forget where we came from. At this time, my kids couldn’t even get out of their bedroom if my wife and I didn’t pick them up and take them out. We do not remember life from that time, but that is what happens when we grow up: we forget how much we’ve grown.

I know that my kids will not remember much from this time. They may not remember the “what” from this time in their life but the “how.” Their impression of me and their mom will be made clearer, and, later, their feelings about the outside world will also be shaped. Will they be excited or fearful about the real world? A lot of that starts from the time when “the real world” for them is the play area in our home and getting a chance to see the other rooms from their height (or when we go on errands with them strapped to our chests). We can help shape those feelings up to a point, but it’s better for them to determine it for themselves.

Life can be like that. You are left to wonder how something is a certain way, but you cannot be given the answer to everything. You have to find things out for yourself. Maybe you are ready for that, or maybe you just want to be told what to do. Regardless of how you feel about stepping out into the unknown, it may help to think back on where you started out and how far you’ve already come. A few more baby steps are fine—just keep moving forward.

Photo Credit: Kateryna Babaieva @pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. Why should we remember how we were when we were young?

Q2. What is something the author's kids cannot do on their own?

Q3. How can life be difficult when we get older?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. To remember how much we've grown

Q2. Getting out of their bedroom

Q3. We have to find answers on our own.

How do you feel about giving a presentation? It can be quite a scary experience, especially in a foreign language. Practicing and improving your skills in explaining research results, expressing your opinions, introducing your ideas, and answering questions from an audience are all valuable skills for your future. Not only will those skills be useful in the workplace, but they will also give you more confidence in your social life.

This checklist of questions and advice will help you prepare for your presentation, improve your delivery, and hopefully result in a better score for your grade! Let’s look at two presentation formats: (A) poster and (B) projected. They have some similarities, but their differences are important to think about.

Topic - Q1. Are you interested in your presentation topic? If you’re not interested, your research will probably be poor, and your audience will become bored easily. Ask your teacher if you can change the topic to something you want to talk about and have strong opinions about.

Content – Q2. Does your research information match your English ability? If your research information is difficult for you to understand, it will be difficult to explain and probably very difficult for your audience to understand too. Make your content easier by first describing examples of difficult vocabulary.

Materials – Q3A. Can you read and see all the important details on your poster from 2 meters away? For a poster presentation, you will talk to a small group, face-to-face. Before you give your presentation, print a first draft, look at your poster through your audience’s eyes, and then edit it for your final draft.  

Materials – Q3B. Is there too much or too little information on each slide? For a projected presentation you will stand at the front of the room and your audience will be far from you and the screen. Your speech should be more detailed than your slides, so don’t write full sentences! Also, titles can be large, but all other key words should not be smaller than 24-point font.  

Rehearsal = Better Delivery – Q4A. How can you create appeal for your audience? A poster presentation environment is similar to a conversation, so by rehearsing in advance, it will be much easier to make eye contact, relax, and enjoy your speech. This will make a bond between you and your audience, helping them to focus and relax too.

Rehearsal = Better Delivery – Q4B. Can your audience hear you? A projected presentation is often done in a large room, so if you are looking down at the computer screen, the sound of your speech will go down to the floor! Rehearse your presentation 10 times. Then on presentation day, speak to the people at the back of the room. Good luck!

Photo Credit: Christina Morillo@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. What should you do if you’re not interested in your presentation topic?

Q2. How can you make your presentation content easier to understand for

your audience?

Q3. For a Projected Presentation, what is the smallest size your key words

should be?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. You should ask your teacher if you can change it.

Q2. By first describing examples of difficult vocabulary.

Q3. 24-point font

How do you feel when you hear the word "poison"? You will probably feel scared, or you might remember scenes from some detective movies or TV programs. Obviously, the term does not have any positive connotations.

Despite the impression we receive from the word, poison sometimes plays an essential role in our lives. For example, professor Funayama at Nihon Pharmaceutical University explains that there is basically no distinction between "poison" and "medicine". According to him, we distinguish the words only by whether the element is beneficial to the human body. We call it “poison” when it does harm to our bodies. Medicine, on the other hand, does good for our bodies. Both have in common that they have a particular influence on our bodies. We, in a sense, live with poison.

A lot of creatures live with the poison as well. For example, some animals risk their mobility to eat poison, and others intake it to protect themselves from predators. You often see sleeping koalas when you visit a zoo. They often spend their days sleeping most of the time. This is because they cannot survive without eating eucalyptus leaves, a plant which is poisonous to their body. They sleep to digest the harmful substances in the leaves.

Some frogs and snakes intake poison from their food and utilize it to protect themselves. Toads, for example, have a potent poison called bufotoxin in their body. Dogs and cats sometimes, unfortunately, lose their lives when they eat the frog while they are taking a walk. The tiger keelback, yamakagashi in Japanese, are bold enough to eat the poisonous toads, and they use the toad-derived poison as a weapon against their predators. Poison dart frogs, toxic frogs, save poison in their body using the same method. Wild poison dart frogs eat some ants and millipedes (yasude in Japanese) with poison and keep the poison in their skins. Interestingly, captive-bred poison frogs lose their toxicity because they don't have the chance to capture such food.

"Poison" might sound scary, but the substance with the label can be a blessing to animals, including us. It will be interesting to see how other creatures make use of poison.

Photo Credit: Doug Brown@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. According to professor Funayama, how are poison and medicine different?

Q2. What can happen when dogs eat a toad?

Q3. What do tiger keelbacks and wild poison dart frogs have in common?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. A substance is called poison when it has a negative influence on the human body. Medicine refers to a substance with a positive effect on the human body.

Q2. It can lead to a deadly accident for the pet.

Q3. They both capture poisonous creatures and save the poison in their body.

To those who I saw on graduation day March 20, 2022 and those who I did not get a chance to see and congratulate, I am sending a poem filled with much Love and Pride for you. Thank you for allowing me to witness your growth during your four years. I am so very proud. Good Luck and please keep in touch.

Owning Your Best

Glittering eyes

Shy side-smiles

Energetic cheerfulness

Nervous anticipation

Desire to do well

Dreaming to achieve

Sigh of relief, the rushed passing of the first year

Shoulders broaden with a bit more confidence

That wasn’t so bad, what’s next

Ears open to growing new knowledge

Formulating own thoughts, trying out new verbal

Testing uncertain shallow waters

Can I do it, can I make it, the waves may be a bit high

Paddling the mid-line, groping in the subliminal

Say goodbye to the growing pains of the terrible twos

A junior already, feeling quite grown-up

Got to make plans

Intern here, intern there

What’s the plan, gotta get concrete

Not a minute to waste

A glimmer of light, a glimpse flickering at the end of the tunnel

Three times a charm

It went by so fast

Giddy greetings of let’s keep in touch

Humble thank you to all those who mattered

A flash, a click, a heartfelt smile for the camera

The final day, unbelievable, but it’s here

A sigh of relief, tinged with a sweet sadness

Descended a small hill

A new peak awaits

Strengthened with knowledge

Assured with the certainty of experience

I watched you grow from that first hello

Up, down, up again

Becoming You of Now that I behold

I gaze as you slowly turn towards the invitation

Called to challenge by the beaming light

Beckoning the You that I witnessed grow

A future all your own

My heart beats with quiet pride

With a tinge of warm nostalgia

I send you off, with great expectations, to a very lucky future

Whispering a prayer for the Best that You will own

Photo Credit: Tara Winstead @pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. Who is the poem written for?

Q2. How many years does the poem reflect upon?

Q3. What does "Owning Your Best" mean?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. Graduating students of Spring 2022.

Q2. 4 years

Q3. Having pride in one's ability and taking ownership of all given talents

The numbers above include people who are above 18 years old. In Japan, it is recommended that even 2-year-old children wear masks. I have a daughter who is one and a half years old. It is unrealistic to put masks on children around that age. They would be full of drool, and I can’t even imagine how many times we would have to change their masks because they get too wet. Even if 2-year-old children wear masks, they share toys at nursery school, and they put everything in their mouth, they lick their hands, and they touch everything. Therefore, I feel wearing a mask would not prevent them from making close contact at that age.

Even for adults, wearing a mask all the time is hard; however, it is good manners to wear a mask when you are in public today. In my opinion, there are few things you have to be careful of. First, wearing masks all the time can cause oxygen deficiency. When you wear a mask, you inhale the carbon dioxide that you have exhaled, and that can lead to the lack of oxygen. It can cause headache, decrease immunity, decrease concentration, and increase anxiety and irritation. Second, wearing a mask in summer can increase the risk of heatstroke. When you wear a mask in summer, try to avoid vigorous exercise and keep in mind not to get dehydrated. Don’t forget you can take off your mask when you are two meters away from other people. It is important to wear masks to avoid getting infected, but at the same time, you should be careful when you wear a mask. I’m looking forward to the day when we do not have to wear masks, so I can see people’s smiles and their expressions.

Photo Credit: Tuấn Kiệt Jr.@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. Which country wears masks the least?

A: Japan

B: Sweden

C: The U.S.

Q2. In the author’s opinion, why is it unrealistic for 2-year-old children to wear masks?

A: Because most of the masks are too big.

B: Because they do not like to wear masks.

C: Because they are usually full of drool and the masks get too wet.

Q3: According to the author, what are two things we have to be careful of when we wear masks?

A: Heatstroke

B: Masks getting too wet

C: Changing masks every day

D: Oxygen deficiency

E: The materials of the masks

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. B

Q2. C

Q3. A & D

My daughter is a super-friendly two-year-old girl. Every time she goes to the park near our house, she tries to talk to the children there. My husband and I are happy about her outgoing attitude. Some people had said that this social distancing under the Covid-19 pandemic would harm the children's ability to communicate, but her attitude seemed to drown out our concerns.

Her motivation is great, but there is always something wrong. Her routine at the park is like this. First, she approaches the targeted child. Then, she speaks to them. This is the strange part. She describes what the child is doing: "(He’s) playing with the ball," "(She’s) riding her bike," and so on. The children she talks to usually ignore her or give her a quick glance and resume what they were doing as if nothing had happened. If you were nearby, you would feel sorry for my little one. The problem is not only about what she says. She usually talks to older children, like primary school students. In their eyes, a two-year-old is just a baby. Babies are not good for their playmates.

Looking back on my own childhood, I don't remember how I made friends. Do you remember what you did? Perhaps I made friends during activities in kindergarten or when I had the opportunity to meet the children of my parents’ friends, and we played together. I never really thought much about how I made friends myself.

Let us look at her situation. She also goes to daycare every day. But there are few children, and she has only about 10 friends there. According to the teachers, she is having a good time with her friends there. Since parents are not allowed to enter the nursing rooms to see their children, we learn how our children are doing through the notebook we exchange with the teachers. When my friends bring their children to our home, of course she’s happy to play with them. The other day, my friends came over to see us from Nagoya with their children. Their four-year-old daughter was kind enough to take care of my daughter, and they became nice friends right away! I wish they would live around here.

As a parent, I want to fulfill her desire to make more friends. One option might be to send her to a larger daycare or kindergarten. Another option would be to send her to a music club or an exercise class. We’d like to take her to places where she can interact with other children. But the important thing is that when she gets a little older, she will have the skills to initiate friendships on her own. I hope she will bring her best friends to our home in the future.

Photo Credit: Anna Shvets@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. What is the second thing the author’s daughter does when she finds children at the park?

Q2. According to the daycare teacher, how is the author’s daughter doing at school?

Q3. How old was the author’s friends’ daughter?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

A1. She talks to the children.

A2. She’s having a good time with her friends.

A3. Four years old.

My students in a business administration presentation class asked this question and in groups researched and presented on five companies that you may not have heard of doing interesting things. Here is a description of them.

One interesting company is called Caulipower, which has a range of food in which high calorie ingredients are replaced with low-calorie cauliflower. The presenter opened by asking the audience if they like eating junk food. Most of the audience raised their hands. Then she followed up by asking for a show of hands of people who think junk food is bad for them. Again, almost everyone raised their hands. However, with Caulipower, people can eat pizza, pasta, and even fried chicken made with low-calorie ingredients. The group presented some interesting charts comparing the calorie differences between Caulipower and its rivals and displayed some pictures of mouth-watering examples of tasty meals, such as Buffalo wings pizzas and cauliflower linguine. In addition, the products are gluten-free. The presenters ended with the company slogan, urging the audience to come on and “Join the Vegolution!”

Another delicious-sounding company was Oishii Farms, founded by a Japanese CEO and operating in the United States, which uses vertical farming to produce strawberries all year round. The strawberries are just like those that you can get in Japan, and the environment they are grown in is exactly like a perfect day in Japan and yet, the farms are in New Jersey in the United States. Furthermore, there is no need for pesticides or GMOs. The presenters made good use of satellite images to show where the farms are located and pointed out that there were opportunities within the company for those with skills in sales or engineering.

Innovation can also include how people live. Two companies were presented that aimed to revolutionize our lifestyles, and these were Sonder and VR Chat. Sonder is ranked as the number one most innovative travel company by the online magazine Fast Company. It is a competitor of Airbnb and has a similar booking system, but it also includes design and furnishing to guarantee quality accommodation. Finally, VR Chat takes its customers into cyberspace using virtual reality. In addition, those who work for the company have a lot of freedom by being able to work from home, play games, and work on their own projects.

From food to virtual reality, innovative technology, and social concerns means work opportunities will continue to change in the future. There are many more innovative companies in the world, so consider researching something fresh and interesting!

Photo Credit: Solare Flares@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. What makes Caulipower low calorie?

Q2. Where is the strawberry farm run by Oishii farms?

Q3. Which company is a big rival for Sonder?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

A1. High calorie ingredients are substituted with cauliflower

A2. In New Jersey, USA

A3. Airbnb