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The Japanese people are known to be sensitive and appreciative of the seasons. We have four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter, and each has its own beauty. There are many festivals and customs to celebrate the seasons.

One of the customs is called “Koromogae”: a seasonal change of clothing. In Japan, it’s usual for the people to start wearing short sleeved clothes at the beginning of June, and they go back to long sleeves at the beginning of October. I have always followed this tradition up until 2024.

The world had its hottest summer in 2024, including Japan. Global warming seems to be speeding up these days. In Osaka, where I live, from July to September for 2 months, the temperature was over 35 degrees Celsius. And even in mid-October, the temperature was as high as 29 degrees. In my entire life, this was the first time that I wore short-sleeved shirts in mid-October.

However, the majority of the people here in the Kansai area wear long-sleeved clothes in October, even when it is hot. Why?! I believe that’s because the Japanese people are faithful in following tradition. Let me share my personal experience of when I was going to graduate school in the U.S.A.

I went to a university called Brigham Young University, the largest private university in the U.S. It’s in a small town called Provo, an hour south from Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah. Utah has a lot of deserts, so it’s very dry. It gets very hot in the summer, but very cold in the winter. Utah is famous for its snow and has many famous ski resorts.

What surprised me was that most people in Utah wear short sleeves all year around. In the winter, they just wear heavy jackets over the short-sleeved shirts. And in the spring, even though it’s still cold, when there was a sunny day, I saw many students (boys) lying on the grass shirtless. I thought this would never happen in Japan.

I love the fact that Japanese people are sensitive to the seasons and there is a custom like “Koromogae,” but this custom may change in the near future due to the unusual warm weather. I think that we should be wearing short-sleeves when it’s hot, even if it’s in the middle of October. Until then, Japanese people will be wearing long sleeves regardless of the high temperature in October!

Questions:

Q1. Why does the author think that Japanese people wear long-sleeved clothes regardless of the high temperature in October?

Q2. What surprised the writer when he was going to school in America?

Q3. When do Japanese people usually start wearing short-sleeved shirts?

Scroll down↓for answers

A1. They are faithful in following the custom of "Kromogae."

A2. Male students would lie down on the grass shirtless in April when it was a sunny day.

A3. They usually start wearing them at the beginning of June.

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As with learning anything - the guitar, calligraphy, yoga, cooking - a new language takes time to acquire. If you’re going to be a good guitarist, writer, yogi, cook or foreign language speaker, you need many hours of practice over a long period of time. Many people feel motivated to start learning a language in the beginning, but that motivation often falls away as time goes on. What are some simple ways to keep motivation up?

At the beginning, habitualise your language learning. Embed it in your day. Set your alarm in the morning to play a new English song every day. Prepare an alert on your smartphone every morning to read that day’s news or weather in English. Listen to regular English podcasts on your commute into school. These are three technology-based ways to bring language learning into your daily routine in a simple, regular, automatic way.

Further to this, reward yourself if you do these three things in any one day. Keep a record of it in your smartphone calendar or ‘notes’ app. At the end of the month, if you have done these listening / reading tasks every day of that month, buy yourself a prize like an English magazine or book. Rewarding yourself on a regular basis for your language learning efforts is a smart way to keep up your motivation.

Lastly, set a tangible goal. Download the next year’s calendar for the EIKEN or TOEIC tests in your area. Pencil in a few target test dates over the course of the year - for example, EIKEN in January; TOEIC in June; TOEFL iBt in November. Many of the most popular language proficiency tests are spread at different dates throughout the year. Having a few concrete test dates and a sensible target level will give you sufficient motivation to keep up your language learning all through the year. Measure your progress by taking practice tests along the way too.

Questions:

Q1. An action that you ‘habitualise’ is something you do…

a: At your own pace

b: On a regular basis

c: Only in your free time

d: Sometimes

Q2. True or False? Rewards enhance motivation.

Q3. A goal is ‘tangible’ when it is…

a: Sensible, achievable, measurable

b: Ambitious, difficult, expensive

c: Clever, motivating, impossible.

Scroll↓down for answers

A1. On a regular basis (B)

B2. True

C3. Sensible, achievable, measurable (A)

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I grew up in the southeastern part of the United States. While there is a lot that comes as a result of being from that part of the country, lately it has involved natural disasters. The state where I’m from was horribly affected by Hurricane Helene (hurricanes are Atlantic Ocean-equivalents to typhoons in the Pacific Ocean). It should always be sad to see the effects of disasters around the world, but it’s different when the location is your hometown.

For me, I’ve been away from my hometown almost all of my adult life, and only really have an address there for citizenship purposes. With family and friends moving on in their lives, I had felt the connection weaken recently, but the effects of the hurricane have challenged that some for me. Even if there is less of what connects you to a place, there are still memories of what was.

It is hard to see so much of what used to be in my hometown either be totally flooded, uprooted from its foundations, or simply washed or blown away. Images and videos I saw almost seemed like they were from another place, but then I’d see a familiar storefront, a very particular street name in a headline, or adjacent towns or counties being mentioned. Then, the feeling just sinks in that it both is and isn’t the place I used to know.

Over time, places that we know will change their meanings for us. Sometimes a positive will become a negative, a negative will turn positive, or they’ll stay the same but we’ll find something new to maintain that feeling. Buildings and people will come and go, and, in the case of me with Hurricane Helene, entire towns practically disappear. It is a part of life you cannot always predict.

Change will happen, and the reasons for it do not have to be bad, though they sometimes are. The main thing to remember is changes to where you were do not suddenly change who you are. The people and places you have and had known will always hold their place in your memory, but what you do with them now determines their weight.

Do not let circumstances decide what you know to be true in yourself. You know what has made you the person you are today.

Questions:

Q1. What recent event has happened in the author’s hometown?

Q2. How long has the author been away from their hometown?

Q3. For the author, what should NOT have final say in what influences our lives?

Scroll down↓for answers

A1. Hurricane Helene

A2. Almost all of his adult life

A3. Circumstances

Photo Credit: Roman Ska @pexels.com 

Imagine you are a fresh university student who decides to live by yourself. What kind of home would you like to live in? There is quite an interesting housing option in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which is easy on the wallet. Can you guess what it is like? They are container homes. I once found an article about these unique houses, and I would like to introduce them to you.

First of all, why were container homes born in Amsterdam? The biggest reason is that housing in the city is quite expensive, similar to living in Tokyo, and it is very challenging for students to find low-cost apartments. Therefore, there is a shortage of reasonable housing for students. The next question would be, “Where did the idea of building houses made of containers come from?” The answer is that there are thousands of unused shipping containers in ports around the world. Although steel companies recycle some of the old containers, they cannot recycle all of them. That’s why there are just so many containers left behind. Therefore, the idea to reuse the shipping containers as student housing came up. Actually, the materials are suitable for creating houses.

First of all, shipping containers are basically all the same size, so it is quite easy to build up and it does not take a lot of space to make a new residential area. Also, it takes very little energy to reuse the containers for housing because there is no need to create a house from scratch. Next, containers are made of steel and the steel is strong. Strength is quite an essential factor when building a house. Finally, the containers are so widely available that they are quite cheap to buy. That can lead to offering students affordable housing.

How affordable is it, by the way? According to the article, the monthly rent is about €400, which is around \65,000. (Note: it was in 2015 when this container housing project started) It is about half the price of the average rental fee of a so-called studio apartment in the Netherlands. That is a brief background that shows why the container houses were born and why they are suitable for housing.

What is the inside of the container houses actually like? Do you think it is attractive enough for university students that they would want to live there? According to students who have actually lived in the container houses, each apartment is quite spacious. It has a kitchen, a bedroom with a study area, and a bathroom. Some students say that it is bright, and it also has its own balcony. It is warm and quiet. In addition, it has a high-speed Internet connection, too. Therefore, it seems like a comfortable environment for university students.

Nowadays, shipping containers are not only used for homes but also for a huge container shopping mall, container offices, restaurants, coffee shops, and mobile health clinics, for example. Would you like to live in a container house?

Questions:

Q1. In which city are the container homes the author talks about located?

a. The Netherlands

b. Amsterdam

c. Tokyo

Q2. Which of these is NOT an advantage of container homes?

a. They are strong

b. They look beautiful

c. They are affordable

Q3. How do you think the author feels about container homes is?

a. They are a good idea.

b. They are over-priced.

c. The author would prefer a normal apartment

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

Answers:

1. b

2. b

3. a

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Popular entertainment figures can change the way people think and behave. I was sad to learn that in July 2024, the fitness instructor, entrepreneur, and television personality Richard Simmons had died at age 76. Richard Simmons was someone who started to become famous when I was in junior high. I first saw him on The Phil Donahue Show, a popular television talk show. Simmons’ energy, message, and theatrical style on the show demonstrated a great charisma that made him immediately popular. I bought his first exercise album, called “Reach,” when I was 15 years old. Years later, I still sometimes listen to recordings of it and do the exercises, along with his “Sweating to the Oldies” exercise videos. Richard Simmons was not a typical “hero” in the fitness industry: he was not particularly handsome, nor was he a super-athlete with a very muscular body. Nevertheless, there were several reasons why I really admired him:

1. Simmons himself had struggled to lose weight and become fit. While growing up he was picked on for being fat. When he was 15, he weighed about 83 kg (182 pounds) and eventually gained weight and hit 122 kg (268 pounds). However, his fitness programs and healthy eating helped him lose weight and stay at 56 kg (123 pounds) during most of his professional career.

2. He built a public stage persona that was super-energetic, outlandish, and silly, and made it a goal for people to have fun and enjoy themselves when they were working out. For example, his “Sweating to the Oldies” exercise videos had themes such as being in an old-fashioned diner, or at an amusement park, and had exercises designed for fun and laughing while moving. He would wear very bright, sparkly costumes or exercise wear with colorful stripes, and make amusing jokes.

3. His workout videos featured real people of different ages who were average looking, and many of whom were (or had been) quite overweight. They were not all beautiful young models or athletes. At the end of many of his videos, he would highlight each of the people in his video, commending how much weight they had lost.

4. He was a successful entrepreneur. He knew how to market himself and become a very well-known television personality, while producing dozens of videos and books. In addition to his successful workout studio and myriad exercise videos, he also had his own television show for four years. Later he had a popular membership-based website and maintained a strong social media presence through 2014.

5. He deeply cared about people who struggled with eating addiction and obesity, and his messages were motivational and inspiring. His books and videos motivated people to take better care of their eating and exercise habits. Although some people discounted Richard Simmons as being too silly, I will always admire him for his energy, his sense of fun, and his sincere caring for other people. Our heroes shape our lives.

Questions

Q1. Which of the following is true about Richard Simmons?

a. He was a former Olympic athlete.

b. He became popular and famous at age 15 as a child actor.

c. His popularity as a fitness trainer and personality was based on his flamboyant and fun style, as he tried to help average people get healthier.

d. He focused on helping wealthy Hollywood celebrities get fit.

Q2. What is NOT one of the reasons that the blog writer admired Richard Simmons?

a. Because he was a successful entrepreneur.

b. Because his sense of caring for his audience who were struggling with weight and fitness issues seemed very genuine and inspiring.

c. Because it was easy to relate to him as a real person who also had experienced trouble with being overweight and unfit in the past.

d. Because he had a very strict, serious, and commanding style of leading his exercise videos, and his workouts were extremely hard, even for very fit people.

Q3. According to this blog’s writer, why is considering our heroes and why we admire them valuable to do?

a. Because the heroes we choose look beautiful and strong so we want to try to look like them.

b. Because the positive characteristics they show can motivate us to change the way we think and behave.

c. Because our heroes inspire our sense of fashion.

d. Because our heroes are better than we can ever aspire to be ourselves.

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

A1. c

A2. d

A3. b

Photo Credit: Erik Mclean @pexels.com 

You probably know “The God of Manga”, Tezuka Osamu, but do you know “The King of Comics”?

You may not know who this King is, but you might know many of his characters. Over the past 15 years, superhero movies from Hollywood have become very popular worldwide. The most popular of these superhero movies were the Avengers movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). These box-office hits featured characters such as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, and Nick Fury. All of these characters were created or co-created by Jack “the King” Kirby.

Kirby started working in American comics when he was about 20 years old. A few years later, he met up with his creative partner Joe Simon, and together they created Captain America in 1940. On the cover of the very first Captain America comic, Captain America punched Adolph Hitler, This was a year before the United States entered the Second World War. It established Captain America as an ideal of America: the very best that America could be.

After joining the American army and fighting in Europe during the war, Kirby returned to drawing comic books. By this time, superhero comics had become less popular, so Kirby and Simon created a new genre of comics: romance comics. In 1947, their comic magazine Young Romance was the first and most popular of over 100 different romance comics published until the mid-1950s.

But it is from the 1960s that Kirby became the King. He joined Marvel Comics, and in 1961, Marvel published The Fantastic Four with art by Kirby. In a period of about ten years, Kirby helped create some of the most famous superheroes of American comic books. Not only did Kirby create the characters named above, he also was the original artist for the X-Men (made into their own series of movies) and helped co-create Ant-Man and Black Panther. In all, 21 of the MCU movies feature Kirby-created characters as the main heroes of the story.

By this time, Kirby had developed his own dynamic art style and innovative storytelling techniques that changed the way comic book stories were told. His art had a sense of movement and energy when many other comic artists drew stiff figures that seemed motionless in comparison. The stories that he told through his art were often at a cosmic scale. With these stories, he made the reader think about the meaning of being human in a universe that was so vast. Kirby’s work set new standards for visual storytelling that still influences artists today.

Questions:

Q1. Kirby co-created Captain America in 1940. Who was his co-creator?

Q2. When did Kirby do his famous work for Marvel Comics?

Q3. What was special about Kirby's art?

Scroll down ↓ for answers.

A1. Joe Simon

A2. During the 1960s

A3. It was very dynamic with a lot energy. He told stories that were on an epic scale.

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A former graduate student of Ritsumeikan University wrote me an e-mail from the London School of Economics (LSE) in England. She was coming to Kyoto for a visit and wanted to come by the campus to say hello. A few years ago, when she was going through the application process, another graduate of Ritsumeikan University who was already there studying took her under her wing and showed her the ropes. Now, here she was already about to graduate and very willing to help her kohais who were curious about their own future after Ritsumeikan. I felt proud and happy that she wanted to keep this magic chain going.

Often many students are divided between going immediately to graduate school and working after graduation. Some feel that they want to expand their knowledge and study further. Others, for various reasons, want to work and gain experience in the “real world.” More often than not, those who choose the latter path of working immediately say that they may also like to eventually go back to school for a higher degree. I wanted to share the pros and cons of these two paths for my very active and ambitious students this semester and knew that she would be perfect to give a talk to her kohais.

Just in time, a message came to my Linkedin account. It was a former student, now a career woman working her way up the corporate ladder as a bilingual human resources consultant. She wanted to inform me of how her consulting session went with an advanced student of mine who was at the moment looking for employment. The young, vibrant, and smart international consultant of Bangladeshi and Japanese heritage, and the passionate, savvy, and cosmopolitan graduate student of sociology of Indian ethnic background from LSE volunteered their time, knowledge, and experience on May 24, 2024, during the Senpai Kōhai Network Connection Spring 2024 Event titled “Graduate School and Corporate Life: Advice from Senpais.”

I sat in the back watching these two young, powerful, and energetic women, full of life and passion speak and share their experiences, knowledge and wisdom with their kohais who listened carefully to their every word with awe and respect. They confided that they, too, felt unsure and insecure during their first year but through the help of their senpais who reached out and lent a helping hand, they eventually also found their best path – one that has brought them to where they stood now. I felt proud – not only of their brilliant shine but also because they were solidifying the circular connection of the “Magic Chain” by never forgetting to give thanks to the outreach of helping hands.

Questions:

Q1. Who came for a visit and from where?

Q2. How many speakers were there and who were they?

Q3. What is the "Magic Chain"?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

A1. A graduate student from England and a consultant from Bangladesh

A2. Two. They were former Ritsumeikan students.

A3. The practice of receiving knowledge from those who have come before and passing knowledge on to those who come after.

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I am a sloth. When the morning alarm rings, I stay cocooned in my bed, stretching those “just five more minutes” into eternity. No matter how bright the light streaming through the window, I revel in the soft warmth, savoring the continuation of my dreams.

Being called lazy may sound like a criticism, but within this idleness, I find life's little pleasures. Amidst the rush of daily life, I often pause to watch the clouds drift across the sky or to enjoy the fragrance of flowers in the garden. This, too, is a privilege of being a sloth.

Household chores are frequently postponed. Laundry piles up, and dishes accumulate in the sink, but I view this scene as a “challenge for another day.” Without self-reproach, I whisper to myself, “Well, I’ll do it tomorrow.” This ease alleviates daily stress.　Yet, one might wish to say so; curiously enough, I manage to tackle household tasks with thoroughness.

Work follows the same pattern. As deadlines loom, I calmly brew a cup of coffee and take a deep breath before I start. Rather than rushing for results, I proceed slowly and surely. Although others may urge me to be more diligent, I believe in maintaining my own pace.

This slothful nature is, in fact, the wellspring of my creativity. In those moments of doing nothing, sudden ideas emerge, and solutions present themselves. What remains unseen in the rush of busyness often becomes clear in the quiet moments.

I am a sloth. Yet, these lazy times are precious to me, enriching my life in their own way. No matter how fast the world spins, I will continue to savor these leisurely moments. This is my way of living.

Questions:

Q1. How does the author react when their morning alarm rings?

Q2. How does the author feel about being called lazy?

Q3. What does the author believe helps their creativity?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

Answers:

A1. The author stays in bed, for longer and (probably) goes back to sleep again.

A2. The author acknowledges it might sound like criticism but finds things he enjoys in his idleness.

A3. The author believes that moments of doing nothing (being idle) are important for their creativity.

Photo credit: Nancy Guth @ pexels.com

I used to think, until a few years ago, that the idea of dogs understanding people's feelings and words was just a subjective notion held by dog lovers. However, once I got a dog as a pet, it didn't take me long to realize that dogs are incredibly intelligent and emotionally rich creatures. In fact, I have become convinced that dogs can, indeed, understand human feelings and language.

For example, my dog can distinguish simple words such as his name, 'food,' and 'walk.' My dog's name is Blue. He does not turn around when I say Taro. He doesn't like taking a walk very much, so when I say, 'Let's go for a walk,' he runs away in a heartbeat. Or even if I don't say, "Let's go for a walk," he runs away as soon as he sees me with a walking pouch hanging from my neck. This shows that he not only recognizes his name but also recognizes the context and meaning of the word 'walk.'

What is even more surprising is that my dog remembers our family members' names. One day, my daughter hid somewhere and I said to Blue, 'Huh? Where's Hana (my daughter's name)?', he stopped playing and started scurrying around, going from room to room, earnestly looking for Hana. Isn't it a real surprise?

Furthermore, I often see videos on social media of dogs seemingly conversing with their owners. These dogs communicate using verbal information by pressing buttons that play pre-recorded sounds such as their owner's name, 'walk,' 'cuddle,' 'water,' 'later,' 'now,' or other phrases. It's fascinating to see how some dogs can string together multiple words to form simple sentences.

Scientific studies also support the idea that dogs can understand human emotions and language. Research has shown that dogs can recognize human facial expressions and vocal tones, reacting differently to happy, sad, or angry cues. This ability to empathize and respond appropriately suggests a deep emotional bond between humans and dogs.

In conclusion, the belief that dogs can understand human feelings and language is not just a romantic notion held by dog lovers. It is supported by both my personal experiences and scientific research. Dogs' ability to comprehend and respond to human emotions and words highlights their remarkable intelligence and the profound bond they share with us. Whether it's recognizing their name, responding to commands, or empathizing with our feelings, dogs consistently demonstrate their amazing capabilities.

Questions:

Q1. How did the author's perspective on dogs' understanding of human emotions and language change over time? Why?

Q2. What are two examples that show the author's dog can understand language?

Q3. What have some scientific studies found regarding dogs’ understanding? How do these studies contribute to the overall argument presented in the essay?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

Answers:

A1. The author’s thinking changed when she got a dog as a pet. After she got the dog, she felt that it could understand some words and concepts.

A2. When the dog hears the word “walk” it tries to escape since it doesn’t like going for walks. Also, the dog could seemingly understand that “Where’s Hana?” meant she should look for Hana.

A3. Studies show that dogs can understand some language and emotions. These findings support the author’s observations.