Category Archives: Japan (日本)

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) December 7, 2019 During the years of the Japanese economic bubble, companies used to print and give away calendars like crazy. After the bubble burst, free calendars became somewhat of a rarity. It took a while, but things picked up during the past few years and I’ve managed to get enough large-sized calendars to meet my home and office needs. This year, though, seems to be a small calendar year… It might be the result of the tax increases imposed by the government this year…??? 無料カレンダー バブル経済期にはどの会社でもカレンダーを印刷・配っていた。しかし、バブル崩壊後、無料カレンダーは珍しい物となった。しかし、この過去数年間、自分が必要とする家と事務所の数を再び貰えるようになった。今年は大型カレンダーはまだけど…現在の増税日本経済を反映しているかな？？ *********** English novels by Billy Hammond published by AELS (AELS出版英語書籍リスト）   I. Majoh Gakuin and Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools Trilogy 1. Majoh Gakuin & Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools 2. Lost Witch (The second book) 3. Fate & Magic (The final book in the trilogy) […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) November 9, 2019 The Japanese government is embroiled in a controversy regarding subjecting prospective university students to English exams developed and graded by private companies. In addition, the move to introduce English education in elementary schools has been underway for the past few years. My question is, “Is this really helpful for everyone?” Some kids are quick learners and will suck up knowledge like vacuum cleaners, while others struggle to master even a single lesson in class. Why should English take priority over learning Japanese? Learning a second language at the grade school level takes time away from studying subjects like Japanese and arithmetic that the student will absolutely need later in life. Perhaps it’s time to rethink priorities and prevent wash-outs who are failures in all subjects due to being forced to have study […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) Diabetes in America and Japan I was listening to a lecture in the University of Colorado EMT course by Whitney Barrett, M.D. who stated that ” About 30 million Americans have diabetes or 9 percent of the population. Of these people, about 1.25 million have type 1 diabetes. Diabetes and its complications are the number one cause of death in the US and it probably contributes to even more deaths.” I recalled the many of my classmates and folks I know in Hawaii and the US who suffer from the disease and wondered how the ratio compared to Japan, where very few of the people in my circle of friends suffer from the disease. A quick web search revealed that there were about 7.2 million cases of diabetes (7.7 percent of the population) suffering from […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) The Numbering of the Individual When I was a 4-H club member in elementary school, I embarked on a hog-raising project with two gilts. I learned about the ear notching system to number them and tell them apart, but never notched them because there were only two of them and I could tell the difference. This was my introduction to the numbering of animals to keep track of them. Since then, I’ve seen tatooing, ear tagging, and RFID being used for the same purpose. In prisons, numbers are used to keep track of inmates and Hitler made use of tatoos to keep track of the Jews at Auschwitz. The Japanese government has taken it upon themselves to number everyone in Japan with their glorious “My Number” system. They tried it before with the almost forgotten […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) Yesterday as I was tilling my garden, I had a flashback to my elementary school days in Hawaii and recalled working in our school garden. At the same time, a very popular antiwar song by PP&M (Peter, Paul and Mary) written by Pete Seeger started reverberating in my mind. As I thought of the lyrics, I remembered that I’d head the song before in Japanese as well. It’s entitled “hana wa doko e itta” in the translated version. Here’s a link to the Japanese version by the Peanuts done in 1964 if you’re interested. If you’re from a younger generation and have never heard of the song, here’s the English version by PP&M on youtube. 花はどこへ行った 昨日、耕運機で土を耕していたときに、なぜか母校の小学校の畑が記憶に浮き上がった。それと共に当時のPete Seeger作曲のPP&M (Peter, Paul and Mary)が歌った有名な反戦歌が頭に聞こえた。 歌詞を思い出しながら、その歌は日本語にも聞いたことがあることも。日本には「花はどこへ行った」との曲名で知られている。 1964年のThe Peanutsの日本語版。 PP&Mへのyoutubeリンク。 ************* Novels published by AELS (AELS出版書籍) 魔女学院＆光塾：魔女ガールズの冒険 原作＆翻訳：ビレー　ハモンド 日本語編集：伊庭野れい子 […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) October 11, 2019 Typhoon 19 is set to hit our area tomorrow. Yesterday, I added mulch pins to hopefully keep the mulch film on the ground. 台風19号準備 台風19号は明日近畿に接近するらしい。昨日、マルチが飛ばされないよう、マルチピンを増やした。 ************** English novels by Billy Hammond published by AELS (AELS出版英語書籍リスト）   I. Majoh Gakuin and Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools Trilogy 1. Majoh Gakuin & Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools 2. Lost Witch (The second book) 3. Fate & Magic (The final book in the trilogy) II. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire Trilogy 1. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire 2. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire – Returns 3. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire – Challenges (The final book in the trilogy) III. Fantasy fiction set in Japan 1. 21st Century Ninja 2. Regressed 3. Japanese Woman IV. Fantasy fiction set outside of Japan 1. Dimension Jumpers ************

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) October 10, 2019 October 10, 1964 was the day the Tokyo Summer Olympics opened. It was the first Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first to be relayed worldwide by satellite. The Olympics ended on October 24, 1964. 1964年10月10日 1964年10月10日は東京夏オリンピック(第18回オリンピック競技大会)の開催日だった。アジアでの初めてのオリンピックで、世界中に衛星放送転送された初めてのオリンピックでもあった。10月24日の閉会式で終わった。 ************** English novels by Billy Hammond published by AELS (AELS出版英語書籍リスト）   I. Majoh Gakuin and Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools Trilogy 1. Majoh Gakuin & Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools 2. Lost Witch (The second book) 3. Fate & Magic (The final book in the trilogy) II. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire Trilogy 1. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire 2. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire – Returns 3. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire – Challenges (The final book in the trilogy) III. Fantasy fiction set in Japan 1. 21st Century Ninja 2. Regressed 3. […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) October 9, 2019 Credit Card Cashless Transactions When I went to a Family Mart convenience store to buy cigarettes last week, I noticed that the convenience store had a sign announcing that it was a participant in the government’s 2% or 5% discount plan to hasten in cashless transactions. I had planned to pay for my purchase in cash, but when I was told it was 5,100 yen as opposed to last month’s 5,000 yen, I asked the sales clerk if the 2% applied to tobacco purchases. She didn’t know and said the system hadn’t been explained to everyone, so I asked her if I could try an experiment. She canceled my cash transaction and I gave her one of my credit cards. Sure enough, the total dropped to 4,998 yen. Many older Japanese don’t […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) Written: October 2, 2019 The Japanese government raised the sales tax yesterday on most items other than food and non-alcoholic beverages to be taken home from 8% to 10%. What the idiot politicians probably didn’t count on is that 10% is a percentage that the highly math literate Japanese will calculate automatically in their heads as soon as they see a price. 8% is cumbersome and most people won’t bother to figure it out, but 10% coupled with the Japanese ability to do quick reflex addition in their heads is a suicide number for sales. For example, an item that cost 989 yen is unlikely to make a normal person calculate it at 8%, but when you tax it at 10% the 98.9 yen tax comes out automatically. You round it to 99 yen, which […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) September 30, 2019 I was looking for something to watch on hulu yesterday and stumbled upon “Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura” (2017). It turned out to be a wonderfully done fantasy adventure with special effects that equal those used in the Harry Potter series. It’s based on the manga series drawn by Ryouhei Saigan published by Futabasha and is a Japanese tale set in Kamakura that introduces the many ghouls, goblins and other creatures that abound in Japanese folk culture. It was directed by Takashi Yamazaki and stars Masato Sakai and Mitsuki Takahashi who both outdo themselves in creating a heartwarming and exciting romantic adventure. If you’re a serious student of Japanese culture, this is one film that you really shouldn’t miss viewing. It turned out to be one of the best movies I’ve seen […]