Christmas holiday

On 27th of December, I went back to Tokyo to spend my Christmas holiday there. As soon as I left my baggage at home, my best friend came around to my place and we went out for dinner. We went to a bar/cafe called 'Pronto', which is one of my favourite cafe, and had some pasta and went to a British bar called 'Hub'. Hub is getting popular in Tokyo because of the British styled atmosphere and of course, drinks. They have many different varaeties of drinks and since it is a British bar, 'Gin' is the main base of the drinks. Gin is my favourite alcohol, so this is what I like the most about this bar. Also, drinks are not expensive especially from noon to five, they have a discount called happy hour. During this hour, you can get any drinks at lower prices. For entertainment, you can watch football and rugby on TV.

I heard that they have this bar in Osaka as well but I've never been to one around here.

I strongly recommend you to go to this bar if you are interested in British culture.

Best buddy

All foreigners at KGU are leaving on Friday which is really depressing for me. Before they leave, I would like to introduce my best foreign friend whoes name is Steve. He's from America and he will not come back to Japan for at least a year. His father is Japanese and mother is American. Although his father doesn't speak Japanese, Steve was really interested in learning Japanese language and also a culture.

In today's blog, I'd like to write about the days I spent with him here.

This is the purikura we took few days ago. I took Steve to Mos burger which I think is the best fast food shop in Japan, and we went to Torikizoku to get some beer.

We talked about the first day we met and those silly things we have done (drinking mostly).

He was really sweet and everytime when I had problems, he gave me advice and cheered me up. But in terms of friendship, Mari was closer to him so I'm sure she's more upset than me. I hate it when I have to say goodbye to my friends especially when they were really close to me.

I wish him luck with everything he does in the future.

My owesome 20th Birthday

Yesterday was my 20th birthday which was the greatest & happiest day of my life.

Last Saturday, Takuji organised my birthday party at his bar in Umeda.

Approximetly 13 came over to the party and we had so much fun!! Before I got there, I went shopping with Hitomi Tsuchida in Umeda and bought loads of clothes for my birthday present.lol

My dad came to Osaka for his business trip so I went to Namba to meet him up with Hitomi to have dinner together.

After dinner, he paid for a taxi and we got to Umeda at around 10pm. We waited for Mari, Ryoko and Hiotmi Takeuchi to come and when they got to the bar, the party kicked off!!

Takuji's bar manager gave us a champaign as a birthday present so I opened it. Ryoko brought me a birthday cake which she made with Mari, Takuji, Keiko and Hiromitsu!!

I put cream on practically everyone's faces which was hilarious!lol

These are some pictures from the party!

Ok. Some of us were pretty drunk and quite a few people passed out in the bar.lol Better not to mentions their names.....

Also, yesterday, the last day of my birthday, my boyfriend came to my place at around 10pm and took me to driving. We went to Ikoma skyline to watch a night view which was so beautiful....we could see the whole view of Osaka!! Unfortunately, it was clowdy so we couldn't see the starts but still, it was exquistic!!

In his car, he gave me a surprise birthday present which was a Vivienne Westwood cigarette case and a doll of Jack from Nightmare before Christmas!!

Got so much stuff of Jack from him...lol

Anyway, I had a great birthday with my friends and my boyfriend. You guys have been great and so kind to me and I will never forget my 20th birthday for the rest of my life.

Maybe.

Christmas illuminations!!

Today, I'd like to introduce some exquisite Christmas illuminations in Tokyo!!

Every December, you see new wonderful illuminations on TV. I went to see an illumination in Odaiba and Yokohama with my best friend last year which was....kinda sad. Because seems like those illuminations are for couples. But hopefully this year, I can go to see those illuminations with my boyfriend in Osaka!

Anyway, what makes good illuminations? Size of the buildings? Number of light bulbs? Locations?

Take a look at this illumination.

This is an illumination in Roppongi Hills. My friend has been there with her boyfriend and she said she really liked the view and the streets with beautiful lights. It seems like lluminations have a big impact on people to feel romantic.

There are 47 illuminations in Tokyo and one of the most popular illumination is the one in Odaiba. This is because Odaiba has a big shopping centre called 'Venus Fort' and also 'Fuji TV'.

This is the illumination in Odaiba. Odaiba has a city called 'Aqua City' and there are a few illuminations in different places in city but this is one of the main illuminations in the city. Not only they gave a decorated Christmas tree, but they also have a big illumination of a heart too.

So, if you have time or interested to go and see those illuminations, you should go to this link;

http://www.rurubu.com/season/winter/illumination/

You can also search for illuminations in Kansai area as well.

Have a Happy Christmas!

Not so welcome to Japan anymore

The use of fingerprints can be a powerful solution for preventing your country from terrorists. This solution is used in America since the horrible attacked that happened on 9/11th. However, Kevin Rafferty complains that fingerprints are useless. This is because it is hard to identify terrorists with the use of fingerprints. Also, he mentions about the attack by Japanese terrorists in Japan and even if fingerprints help to prevent from foreign terrorists, it won't prevent from Japanese terrorists. Moreover, to make this solution sufficient, Japan's immigration would have to take 7 million sets of finger prints every year. This seems almost impossible and a waste of time.

This new system will definitely affect foreigners. They feel they are suspected from Japanese people, which make them feel uncomfortable to visit Japan.

Discrimination

Response to Mike Dewood;
Discrimination;
Since I am Japanese, honestly I do not understand the discrimination against foreigners in Japan. However, I was in England for 6 years and from my experience, I was discriminated by minority of British people around me. They called me 'Jap' or 'retard' because I could not speak any English and so I was frightened to speak a word. Although discrimination happens in any countries, it doesn't apply to everyone. Majority of people were nice to me in England and so supportive. Since then, I grew my confidence and now, I have no problems speaking English. Mike Dewood experienced outrageous discrimination by Japanese people in Nagasaki, and it might be true because Japanese people are not used to foreign people (especially old people). Discrimination should not happen and no one should suffer or experience from this. However, I just want Mike and other people who have been victimized from discrimination to know that there are people who are nice,and not racists against you. It is frightening and pathetic, but once you are able to ignore this situation, you will grow your confidence and at the same time, enjoy yourself. Japanese people who behaved towards Mike were so inappropriate,and unnecessary things to do. Therefore everyone should learn and try to support foreigners in order to prevent discrimination and foreigners should not be afraid of living in other countries because for sure, majority of people in other countries are nice and friendly to foreigners.
Yuri Yoshida

Response to Japan Times

Response to:'Don't judge marines too fast.'



Police would not suspect the marines if they did not have an ulterior motive or evidence to show that they committed this incident. MANUEL SANDOVAL made a criticizable comment on women saying; 'She must have known what kind of situation she was in from the get-go.'

Of course, some women may notice or realize what kind of situation they are in and expect what they will experience from the situation.

However, this is not always the case and majority of women do not expect this kind of situation. Manuel Sandoval's comment on this article points out 'sex discrimination' where women are always victimized by men. Men do not get victimize, no matter what they do, whereas women are always criticized by men and society if they do something inappropriate.

As Kevin Egan made a comment on the Sandoval's article that US soldiers and US military have nothing to do with this problem. Can US soldiers do whatever they want just because they are so important in terms of protecting Japan from North Korea and China? This is not true.

Rape happnes in any countries and women are always their victims. Rape is an unforgivable crime and should not happen but unfortunately, because of these crazy men, it happens. In order to prevent this problem, society and everyone should think and care about women who have been victimized more instead or criticizing them.