Do you have any colors you like to wear? I like black and white best, but I also wear red, green, and blue. Adults choose whatever color they like. What about children? You rarely see a kindergarten boy wearing a pink shirt or a little girl wearing a dinosaur printed T-shirt in your neighborhood. 

That’s because there are gender norms in our society: we unknowingly follow the social values of women being womanly and men being manly. We are not asked or ordered, but we tend to follow the rules. These social norms limit one's actions and choices in life. It has been pointed out that women, in particular, are disadvantaged in their daily lives and in situations such as finding employment. I knew it was not a good idea to do anything that would instil such norms in children from an early age.

However, when I had a daughter of my own, I faced a problem when it came to choosing her clothes. In the kids wear section, there is a clear distinction between clothes for girls and for boys. The colors of girls' clothes are pink and pastel colors with flowers, strawberries, or ribbon motifs. For boys, the main colors are blue and green, and the patterns are mostly vehicles and dinosaurs. If you had to choose from the two, who would choose boys’ wear for girls?

When I have to purchase my daughter’s necessities, I am always faced with a dilemma. My 65-year-old mother used to say that girls should wear pink and bought her granddaughter pink clothes. I talked to my mother about the issue, and then, she accepted my idea and tried to choose other colors too. Yet sometimes I don't know what the right thing to do is. My daughter was often mistaken for a boy. Each time it happened, I wondered if I should have dressed her in pink. However, I didn't want to end up in a situation like the one in JeongMee Yoon’s photographs. The artist took pictures of contrasting children's rooms: girls' rooms filled with pink, and boys’ rooms filled with blue. This is what I've been worrying about ever since she was born. Now I try to balance between my beliefs and common sense.

The other day, I had to prepare a pair of sandals for my daughter because she uses them at daycare. I’d been looking at several online stores and finally decided to get pink ones with white polka dots. I liked the functionality and the reasonable price. How do you think my daughter reacted to the sandals? For the first time, she got interested in her stuff and wanted to put them on by herself! 

According to Hidemi Horikoshi's "Do Girls Really Like Pink?", many parents in Japan and abroad are troubled by the fact that their young girls have become obsessed with pink. I shudder at the thought that one day my daughter will be crazy about pink.

JeongMee Yoon’s website: http://www.jeongmeeyoon.com/aw_pinkblue.htm

堀越英美『女の子は本当にピンクが好きなのか』（河出文庫、2019）

Photo Credit: The Author

Quiz

What is 131 meters tall, changes color, and has steam coming out from under it? If you answered Kyoto Tower, then you can stop reading because you probably know more about it than I do. If not, keep reading because Kyoto Tower is one of the most iconic buildings in Japan, and you should know more about it.

By most accounts, the story of Kyoto Tower begins with the relocation of Kyoto’s Central Post Office in 1961. With this move, a large tract of land facing Kyoto Station’s Northern Central Exit became available for redevelopment. Such large parcels are rare in old cities like Kyoto, something that was not lost on businesspeople, politicians, and civic leaders of the day, so everyone agreed that the space should be used for the public good. A company was formed, a prominent architect hired, and the work of creating a suitable structure was begun.

Originally, the structure was not intended to be a tower, but rather a modern nine-story building with a modest observation facility on its roof. After all, Kyoto city had laws that limited the height of all buildings to 31 meters—the height of a nine-story structure. It seemed impossible that something taller than that could be built.

However, the 1960s had just begun; Japan’s growth rate was above 10 percent, Tokyo would be hosting the Olympics, and a new bullet train would be connecting Japan’s previous capital with its current one. The times were ripe for people to think big, and at that point in history, thinking big often meant building a tower. Osaka had Tsutenkaku (1943), Tokyo had Tokyo Tower (1957), and even Yokohama had Marine Tower (1961).

In English there is an expression, “where there is a will, there is a way”, which means that if someone wants something badly enough, he or she will find a way to get it. This certainly seems true for the people who wanted to build a tower. To overcome the obstacle of a 31-meter height limit, a loophole was found. Since even the tallest buildings were allowed to have structures like elevator shafts and water tanks on their roofs, why couldn’t a 100-meter tower be considered “a rooftop structure”? Experts were consulted, the possibility of building a rooftop tower was confirmed, and the rest is history. The 131-meter structure—which contains a hotel, restaurants, steamy public bath, and 100-meter tower—was opened to the public on December 28, 1964. Today, Kyoto Tower continues to be used for the common good. In addition to housing the facilities mentioned above, its colorfully illuminated silhouette acts as a guide to those seeking Kyoto Station after a hard day's work or a night on the town.

Photo Credit: Eva Elijas@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

 1. Before Kyoto Tower was built, what was on that land?

   a. The Central Post Office

   b. The Century Hotel

   c. Yodobashi Camera

2. Before Kyoto Tower was built, the tallest buildings in Kyoto city were around __ .

   a. 31 meters

   b. 100 meters

   c. 131 meters

3. What is the source of the steam coming out from under Kyoto Tower?

   a. A police station (Koban)

   b. A public bath

   c. The subway

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

A1. A

A2. A

A3. B

If you can’t go on a trip, there are ways to experience the excitement of travel from the comfort of home. To enjoy your staycation, you should plan what you would like to do in advance. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

When you read a book or watch a movie set in another country, you can get absorbed in the story and feel like you’re in another place. Watching movies with subtitles can give you the experience of hearing different languages spoken. It might be fun to try a different genre of book or movie; for example, if you usually choose dramas, you could try crime or science fiction. Another idea is to visit a museum online. In fact, many galleries around the world have started offering virtual tours.

If you’re craving something different, then try pairing your movie or book with a new dish. Cooking is a sensory experience, so it can make you feel like you have traveled to another place. For example, you can smell the aroma of fresh ingredients, hear the sounds of the food cooking, and taste new flavors. If you aren’t interested in cooking, you can order something different at a local restaurant or buy imported foods at the supermarket instead.

If you prefer to spend time outdoors, then think about ways to do familiar activities in new ways. You can take a different path on your walk or run, or you can or spend time at nearby places that you don’t often visit. In fact, it is likely that there are interesting spots in your area, so try to be a tourist in your own city and then tune in to the sounds around you and challenge yourself to notice something new. Taking photos is an effective way to see your neighborhood in a different way. And after all, taking pictures is an important part of any vacation.

By planning activities that you would like to do, you’ll be able to get the most out of your staycation!

Photo Credit: jess-loiterton@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

 1. In the author’s opinion, what is the key to enjoying a staycation?

A. Doing outdoor activities

B. Planning your staycation

C. Taking a virtual tour

2. According to the article, why can cooking help you feel like you’re on vacation?

A. Because cooking is an activity that uses the senses

B. Because everyone is interested in cooking

C. Because you can take an online cooking class

3. According to the article, what can you do to see your local environment in a new way?

A. Go for a run instead of a walk

B. Cook a dish with local ingredients

C. Take pictures

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

A1. B

A2. A

A3. C

When building a house, the most important material is probably wood, but it’s never the only material that’s necessary or useful. Metal, steel, and other construction materials are also needed. In combination with wood, each of these materials has its own special purpose. When we communicate, we also use various materials that help to “construct our message”.

Language is never the only material that is necessary or useful. Sometimes people communicate with just a gesture (maybe waving hello) or a facial expression (smiling or frowning). However, we communicate most often by using different communication materials together, in combination. These different communication materials are called modes. The modes of communication include speaking, writing, gestures, facial expressions, photos, colors, and more. Using modes together is called multimodal communication.

A PowerPoint presentation is an excellent example of multimodal communication. It combines speaking (sound modes) with what is displayed on the screen (visual modes). In a PowerPoint presentation each mode has its own job to do. It’s important to understand that, even though speaking and writing are both language, they are two different modes and not the same. In a PowerPoint presentation, speaking is the most important mode, and the visual modes on the screen—the writing, graphs, photos, and various colors—support the spoken message. The PowerPoint audience doesn’t read a presentation—they listen and watch it. The few words and sentences on the screen are just key points to help the audience to follow or remember. The color mode in PowerPoint is most often used to highlight and emphasize key information.

In PowerPoint, the image modes can do different kinds of supportive work. Images create audience interest (a blank screen or a screen with just words is just boring). Images can also be used for the audience to identify the topic and what the speaker is talking about at various points of the presentation. Photo images can also be used to demonstrate actions (not just describing actions) or to show proof that something is real or really happened. Actions are another kind of supportive work. The speaker might use eye contact, facial expressions, or physically move around to interact with the audience. The presenter might point to different parts of the screen. Or the presenter could use gestures to demonstrate something. These are all action modes.

Just as it is necessary to understand different construction materials for buildings, it is necessary to understand different composition materials of communication. We need to consider all the modes and how they work together to effectively communicate the information and message we want to convey in our presentations.

Photo Credit: pexels-pixabay@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. What does multimodal communication mean?

A. Communicating with many people

B. Combining speaking, writing, images, and actions

C. Speaking more than one language

D. None of the above

Q2. How can an image on the screen contribute to a PowerPoint presentation?

A. It can make the presentation less boring

B. It can show what the presenter is talking about

C. It can demonstrate how something works

D. All of the above

Q3. Why are there words on the screen in a PowerPoint presentation?

A. To combine the different modes for the audience

B. To help the audience follow what the speaker is saying

C. So the presenter can physically interact with the audience

D. So the audience can read the presentation if they prefer not to listen

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

A1.B

A2.D

A3.B

The martial artist Bruce Lee was once asked by his girlfriend, “Why do you study philosophy?” His joking answer was, “So that I can think long deep thoughts about being unemployed.” There are many jokes about philosophy and how useless it is, but there are three good reasons for studying philosophy: it is a great way to begin thinking about what is and is not true, thinking for ourselves about what is the right thing to do, and it also helps us to improve our reasoning skills.

There was a famous philosopher called Rene Descartes who asked himself how he knows anything is true. Most people do not question that the world around them is real, but Descartes noticed that when he was asleep and dreaming, he would also believe that the dream was real. Maybe you have had the same experience: perhaps you have had a terrible nightmare about being chased and eaten by a monster and felt the dream was real. How do we know what is real in our everyday lives? Descartes decided that everything can be doubted except for one thing, and that is that his doubts proved that he existed. He came up with the famous phrase “cogito ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am). This type of philosophy is known as epistemology (the study of knowledge), and in an era of social media and overwhelming information, it is more important than ever to have some standards to know what it is real.

Similarly, philosophy offers ways of deciding the right way to live. This is known as ethics, and questions about right and wrong are related to whether it is right or wrong to do what is best for the greater number of people, or to follow rules, or whether the right thing to do is what your society has decided is the right thing. For many of us, we don’t really think beyond what we are told is the right thing to do, and yet over time we may have to reassess our values and people begin to realize that societies often decide what is right and wrong through prejudice instead of reason. Three examples of this are the ways societies treat people of different ethnicities, same-sex marriage, and treatment of animals. Philosophy can help people realize the changes society needs to make.

Finally, philosophy uses logic and reason to come to conclusions. Learning the best ways to argue and to recognize when arguments are weak, is a great skill to have. Many people find it hard to explain their ideas and why they believe something. Some examples of bad arguments are “ad hominem” arguments (attacking the person making the argument instead of addressing the argument itself), “straw-man” arguments (replacing the actual argument being made with an easy to dismiss argument that looks similar) and arguments from nature (if it is natural, then it must be good). These are known as logical fallacies. By learning better ways to argue, we can become more persuasive and clearer thinkers.

In conclusion, philosophy can help us learn what is true, what is right, and also how to argue for those things. Of course, this short blogpost can only scratch the surface of this topic. If you want to find out more, then I recommend you watch a series of videos called “Crash Course Philosophy” on You Tube, or watch the Netflix TV series “The Good Place”, or read Thomas Nagel’s book, “What Does It All Mean?”

Photo Credit: Photo by Dominika Roseclay from Pexels

Blog Quiz

Q.1 What is the name of the branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge?

Q.2 What is the name of the branch of philosophy that deals with what is right and wrong?

Q.3 What is the name of the branch of philosophy that deals with making arguments?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

A1. Epistemology

A2. Ethics

A3. Logic

In my previous two blogs, I suggested two supplemental ways of stimulating your English learning; one is familiarizing yourself with the Ritsumeikan Charter in English, the other is collecting good English quotes, both of which are rarely taught in regular English classes. In this third blog, I would like to suggest still another unconventional way of supporting your learning, that is, singing songs in English.

Some people may say singing is rather entertainment, not studying, and so you cannot develop your language skills through singing. Well, that is true if you are not serious about linguistic training for essential skills such as grammar and vocabulary. Therefore, my suggestion for singing is rather supplemental and should not replace conventional learning methods taught in regular classes.

The reason for recommending singing English songs is very simple: it’s fun! As you have experienced, language learning requires a series of routine work that is sometimes boring and even painful. Quite a lot of patience and discipline are needed to continue fundamental training of, for example, memorizing tons of words and phrases, reading difficult passages with many technical terms, or listening to long conversations or lectures. Singing in English, on the other hand, does not require such patience or discipline. You can simply pick up a song you like and start getting yourself in your rhythm. In this way, you can practice listening and pronunciation, as well as reduce stress with karaoke effects.

Of course you must first understand the lyrics accurately and memorize them fully, but it’s not as difficult as you may think. Songs are much shorter than the passages in English textbooks. The same part of the lyrics are often repeated (refrains) so your memory can be strengthened easily. Even when you encounter unfamiliar expressions, looking it up in the dictionary would not be as painful simply because you have chosen a song you like in the first place. Your favorite rhythm and love for the song (and the singer) will assist you to even enjoy discovering new meanings and usages.

Here is an interesting example of lyrics in one of the popular songs, “Honesty” by Billy Joel: ♪ I can always find someone to say they sympathize, if I wear my heart out on my sleeve…♪ The expression “wear my heart out on my sleeve” is probably unfamiliar to most of you. It is an idiomatic expression meaning “speaking of your feelings and emotions honestly”. If you encountered this expression in your homework reading material, you would most likely leave it, and expression would go unnoticed, or feel bothered to look it up in the dictionary. However, if you really like this song, you will be intrigued by the uniqueness of this expression and find pleasure in checking it by yourself. Singing this song repeatedly, then, will lead to this expression settling into your memory. The same goes for unfamiliar grammatical usages too. In this way, your learning will be assisted by singing English songs with lots of fun!

♪ Honesty ♪ by Billy Joel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0juw2ovFEOg

Photo Credit: Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Blog Quiz

Question 1. Why does the author recommend singing?

a) you can learn new grammar

b) it is fun

c) you will be famous

Question 2. What is one reason why it is easy to learn/remember the lyrics of a song?

a) the words are sometimes repeated in refrains (or choruses)

b) there are a lot of new vocabulary

c) you must learn all the new grammar first

Question 3. What does "wear my heart out on my sleeve" mean?

a) you fall in love easily

b) you have high blood pressure

c) you say your feelings honestly

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. b

2. a

3. c 

How can one enjoy this short type of poetry? The most important point when reading and creating a haiku is the viewpoint used to illustrate the scene at which one is looking. The following is a famous work by Yosa Buson (1716-1784):

菜の花や (Canola flowers)

月は東に (The moon in the east)

日は西に (The sun in the west)

Tiny yellow canola flowers are seen on the roads in spring. As the author can see the sun and the moon at the same time, the time of day is sunset. No other information is presented in the poem; therefore, the readers’ imagination is required to complete the interpretation; how many canola flowers there are, where the author is standing, if the author is accompanied by other people or if there are passers-by, the weather, the temperature, the color of the sky, and so on. The reader can add as much information as needed to complete the visualization of the scene.

While one can enjoy reading the poem and exercising one’s imagination alone, it is also enjoyable to exchange the imaginings with one’s peers, who may imagine different scenes based on the same poem. Such discussions deepen one’s understanding of the poem by considering diverse interpretations.

Once one understands how to enjoy reading a haiku, the next step is to attempt to create one. If one ignores all the rules, the poem cannot be identified definitively as a haiku; thus, I recommend following the rules as far as possible when creating a haiku in a language other than Japanese.

Poetry and art may be difficult, but the stay-at-home period provides an excellent opportunity to enjoy reading and to practice creating short forms of literature.

Photo Credit: Photo by Satoshi Hirayama from Pexels

Blog Quiz

Q1.How many sounds does each haiku have?

Q2.When was the form of the haiku established?

Q3.What time does the example haiku take place?