The report of the meeting on 29/12/2021

We divided into two groups and discussed following the STIE whiteboard.

1. What’s new
・COVID-19
The online class has started again in Canada due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
The number of positive cases of the COVID has been increased again day by day, but this is not only in Canada but also in most areas in the world, the spread of the Omicron variant is one of the reasons.
Certificate of vaccination for COVID-19 has been introduced in Japan.
We have to coexist with it next year as well.

FYI, in the UK, People can distinguish between Asian people and other people even if the mask cover their face as only Asian, specially Japanese and Koreans wear the mask outside.
This can be one of the reasons why relatively Japan can control the COVID.

・Traditional new year food
There is traditional new year food in Fukushima, the name is Kuzuyu.
It looks delicious and nutritious.
One participant said don’t have traditional New year food for many years.

2. Today’s topic
It is almost the end of the year. How was the year? Let’s look back on 2021.

・What did you start this year?
One participant mentioned, "I started to go to school but it is hard to remember new things".
However, others insisted "it doesn’t matter the age, as recently ever elderly people go to school so it is totally up to the person".
Learning with joy is important to continue something.

・What made you happy this year?
New skin product improved the skin trouble

・What kanji do you select if you describe this year?
One selected “無” which means nothing, as people can not do anything due to the COVID-19.
One said ”蛇” which means snake as the person started to work at snake-related business this year although the person dislike the snake.
And one said the Kanji is “疫” as this is also related to COVID-19.

Thank you for reading and have a good new year!
(Ken)

The report of the meeting on 25/12/2021

There were 4 members at the session.

What’s new

Her husband’s relative runs the High school Ekiden Marathon as a representative of Mie Prefecture. He is proud of her as a runner from his hometown and making calls to all his relatives to tell them to watch the race tomorrow. She and her husband are eagerly awaiting the race.

His wife’s phone broke recently, so he is now thinking about buying a new cell phone with the best plan to get the lowest price possible. With the recent release of new iPhones, it can be expected to see price reductions on older models, and also the competition among cellular companies for the year-end sales season.

She usually makes Mochi on the day of Christmas using homemade Mochi rice grown by her husband, when she is at her home. But she cannot this year. Instead, she got a lot of Mochi from her local community, so she has plenty of Mochi to eat.

About watching a movie titled Don’t Look Up. The film follows two third-rate astronomers as they go on a media tour to warn people about an approaching massive comet that will destroy the Earth.

Today’s topic

We first read the short article about a romance between Scot and Zelda Fitzgerald. Then, we picked a favorite question to answer. Those questions below were chosen.
・What genre of books do you like?
・What kind of books do you usually read?
・Have you ever gotten a letter?

Thank you for sharing.
(Toru)

The report of the meeting on 22/12/2021

There were 5 participants in tonight's session.

As always, we talked about our favorite topics.

Mr. A said that the National Police Agency has announced the implementation of a model project for online training for excellent drivers using the Individual Number Card.
A good driver can replace the on-the-job license renewal course online. The target person is a driver who has no accidents and no violations for 5 years or more and who holds an Individual Number Card.

Ms. B said that about two years ago, she had a bronchial problem. She was diagnosed with asthma. The symptom appeared at night when sleeping. Thanks to the medicine prescribed by the doctor, the symptoms have now subsided.

Ms. C said that she often shops at Amazon.
Recently, she is particularly worried about being asked for a review after shopping.
She feels annoyed because she receives emails from Amazon frequently.

Mr. D said that he attended this online session for the first time last Wednesday.
He had two online sessions before that. That means his online meetings three times a day, so he felt exhausted after a four-hour meeting in a day.

Mr. E said that the penetration rate of My Number Card is still about 40%.
The delay in the digitization of Japan is remarkable compared to other developed countries.
It is one of the causes of the delay in benefits in the Corona disaster.

What’s something that will always be in fashion, no matter how much time passes?
Mr. A said it was sneakers.
It's practical and feels good when you're wearing it. It's the easiest shoe to walk on. They will continue to exist over a long period of time

What’s legal now, but probably won’t be in 20 years?
Ms. B said it was fake meat.
From the SDGs point of view, it is problematic for people all over the world to continue eating meat as it is.
It would be natural to replace it with fake meat made from soybeans.

Who is the most creative person you know?
Mr. D said it was Steve Jobs.
With his appearance, Microsoft's computer-centric world changed with the advent of iPads.
They are very user-friendly, basically, and became the products that attracted people who lived in a world unrelated to computers.

What’s the most boring sport, and what would you do to make it more exciting?
Mr. A said it was soccer.
Soccer is very boring for him.
After two teams have fought for 90 minutes or more, there are many low-score games such as 0-0 and 1-0.
He suggested doubling the area of the goal post to get more goals.

(Libran)

The report of the meeting on 18/12/2021

There were 8 members today, so we were divided into 2 groups.

●What's new?

A: Omicron variant
Recently the number of positive people has been increasing. So we should take care. In Tokyo, there are many people in the town. He worries about the expansion of positive patients, and Go To campaign will be postponed, because he wants to travel somewhere.

B: Nippon Chinbotsu
She watched the drama; Nippon Chinbotsu. She talked with her husband about where they should move. Then, they decided to live in Hawaii. But she also thinks Hawaii is a good country, so it is competitive to live in.

C: Covid-19 situation
In her place, the COVID-19 rapidly has spread, even though 80% of residents are vaccinated. Since yesterday, her son has been on Christmas holidays. She predicts that he cannot go back to school after the holiday. Her son's friend's birthday party may be held with ZOOM at the end of this month.

●Today's topic ; Phrasal verbs
・Have you watched a TED video? Which video have you watched?
A: In the past, he did. TED videos are easy to understand. He watched videos with English subtitles about IT technology and education. His favorite video is the video on how to provide online education. According to the video, each person has their own situation. So Internet education is a good way to provide education for students all over the world.

・What are the phrasal verbs you use most frequently?
B: She uses it most; get back, which means "returning". She has learned phrasal verbs through the Internet and dramas. When she finds the words she doesn't know, she just guesses the meaning of the words except terminology words. That way of learning is the way her ESS teacher.
She doesn't like studying from paper because sometimes that information is old-fashioned.

(Nao)

The report of the meeting on 15/12/2021

This is a report of the session held on Wednesday, December 15, 2021. Welcoming a new guest attending the session, we had seven participants in total.

Starting with a brief introduction to the new guest, we split into two groups and moved on to the initial part, the “What’s new?” question. One brought a question to choose an environmentally friendly cleaning product between a vacuum machine and a lint roller. Another talked about the review of the concert band he went to, and the other shared his story about the zoom meeting he joined earlier in the session.

In today’s topic, we had a lively discussion of the environmental issues on the Earth our offspring may face by the year 2500. In global warming, the sea level will rise 66 meters in 200 years, and the hot weather will produce tornadoes. Many places will turn to deserts, while others may suffer from flooding. In the Maldives, the resort islands, the land is sinking caused by the sea level rise, and climate change will affect its coral reefs. The tourism and hospitality industry is the hardest hit. We need to consider slowing or stopping global warming leading to climate change.

Thank you very much for coming to the session. See you next time!
(Masako)

The report of the meeting on 11/12/2021

There were five attendees at the session on Saturday, December 11.
We first made short speeches as usual.
They were about as follows:
-her transfer to another branch office within days,
-ZOZO founder's space travel and 12-days stay in the ISS,
-his re-realization of how cold his place is after visiting tropical areas,
-her efforts to increase vocabulary with a book written by her favorite YouTuber,
and so on.

Then, we moved to today's topic:
"Bedtime"
According to the article, bedtime between 10 pm and 11 pm is best for our health. People who sleep between these times have a lower risk of heart disease, which seems to be related to the body clock.

After reading the article, we discussed
・ What is the best time to sleep? And what is the best time to wake up?
・ Do you ever have problems sleeping? What's your advice for people who cannot sleep?
・ What do you do to prepare for bedtime?
・ Does your smartphone stop you sleeping early?

Additionally, We did role play.
・Role A - Sleep
You think sleep is the best thing for our health. Tell the others three reasons why.
・Role C - Laughter
You think laughter is the best thing for our health. Tell the others three reasons why.
・Role D - Living in the Countryside
You think living in the countryside is the best thing for our health. Tell the others three reasons why.

The best time to go to bed or to wake up may depend on the person. Each should find their best time.
For good sleep, some methods were introduced: for example, taking a bath 1 or 2 hours before going to bed, stretching after bathing, listening to healing music to make your feeling calm down, counting sheep in English, getting the doctor's advice, and so on.
Smartphones' blue light affects you to become wide-awake, so you should keep your smartphone away before sleeping. A member says he falls into sleep while using his smartphone. He must be tired.
(Yuki)

The report of the meeting on 8/12/2021

We had 5 attendees, tonight.

“What’s new?”
A: She bought a wireless mouse for 300 yen at the 100 coin shop.
B: He will visit Amami island for research about a venomous snake.
C: She talked about her city's serves for the elderly by city hall.
D: He explained about the latest robot which has much modern technology made by Sony.
E: He said the USA decided the diplomacy boycott that doesn't send the representative of the government to the Beijing Olympic game in Russia.

After that, we moved to today's topics.
New Year is coming soon, we talked about seasonal questions below.
1. Have you ever hit the temple's bell on New Year's Eve?
2. What was the thing you have to carry over to next year that you couldn't do this year?
3. Do you have any special local Osechi dishes in your hometown or current site?
4. How much do you prepare the money as Otoshidama?
for kids, for schoolchildren, for junior and senior high school students.
5. How many points out of 10, do you give yourself about self-assessment in 2021? What are the reasons?
6. What is anything you expect in 2022 most?
7. How do you answer the question from kids that Santa Claus exists or not?
(Ue)

The report of the meeting on 4/12/2021

There were 6 attendees on December 4th. Therefore, we made 1 group.

First, we started the session with “What’s new”. There were several news about stories of vaccinations of Covid-19, electric heater, water blooms of the lake, finding a cafe restaurant, Apple Watch and a trip to Kamishima of Mie prefecture. Kamishima is famous for “Shiosai (the sound of waves)“ of Yukio Mishima, so I want to read this book again.

Then, we moved to “today's topic about “December events”. There are stories of “Toshikoshi soba”, travels using “go to travel campaign” and Illuminations of German Village. I also learned that depending on the area, people eat udon instead of soba, which I found very interesting.
(Hiroshi)

The report of the meeting on 1/12/2021

There were six participants at the session on December 1st. We started out with self-introduction since we had a new person.

Afterwards we moved on to 3-minute speeches. We talked about “Kouhaku”which is a well-known singing competition in Japan, one’s current situation, black porgy, and Queen Elizabeth.Everyone made a great speech, and that created an atmosphere in which it is easy to converse.

After we made short speeches, we talked about the following topics.

・Studying English
(The methods you have tried, your favorite way of learning, etc...)
・Please tell us about the kind of news that you are into.

We talked about Coronavirus drugs, the struggle that one’s has, online English lessons, and playing the piano in public.

That is a great news that we managed to develop the drugs for Coronavirus, I hope it will work out and helps things settle down as soon as possible.

It was really beneficial to know how the other members of this group study English. I found it very valuable, and made me realize that learning English is all about having fun!

We had a really good conversation, I enjoyed every single topics. I hope everyone had a good time as much as I did.
(Naoko)

The report of the meeting on 27/11/2021

There were 6 members in total at the session.

What’s new
There are camellia trees in her garden and its red and white flowers are blooming beautifully now. Whenever a strong wind blows and scatters its petals, she picks them up and throws them away to clean up her garden. She was exhausted from collecting them.

He took a long trip on the bullet train to call on his daughter last weekend. He and his daughter visited some tourist spots together, including Oga peninsula, Hachiro Lagoon and had a great time.

There are Black Friday sales everywhere. She is considering purchasing a new mobile phone. Smaller in size and good cameras would be prefered. It turns out that most of us have android phones made by Chinese companies. They are mostly very reasonable in price and offer good cameras.

Though she usually watches US or UK TV drama series in her free time, she wanted to watch something new. Then she watched a Japanese movie and found it interesting. Now she is looking for Japanese contents with English subtitles to keep learning English. Also Youtube helps learn live and useful English phrases.

She went on a picnic on a sunny day with her little son and mom friends. It was warm and a great day to go out. She had a nice chat with her friends.

Today’s Topic
The topic was about an article taken from university entrance examination 2020.
Every member picked a favorite question about the article and answered it. Those questions below were chosen.
・Please talk about anything that comes to your mind about the article.
・What do you think about the recent early retirement movement?
・What do you expect from the Kishida administration?
・What do you expect from the next generation?

Thank you for sharing
(Toru)

The report of the meeting on 24/11/2021

There were four attendees at the session on Wednesday, November 24.
We first made short speeches as usual.
They are about:
-an railroad crossing accident caused by watching a smartphone while walking,
-visit to her uncle-in-law while new infected people of COVID-19 is decreasing,
-the fact that some companies prod their workers to retire around the age of 45,
-encountering leakage of personal information of credit card,
and so on.

Then, we moved to today's topic:
"Facebook reveals its new name: Meta"
Facebook recently changed their company name to “Meta”. It is from "metaverse", virtual space.

We discussed
1. Is social media helpful to you? Why or why not?
4. Do you like Facebook’s new name, “Meta”?
6. Have you ever heard of a virtual community named "Second Life", a kind of metaverse? What do you think about the virtual community? Do you want to live in the metaverse?

According to a member's explanation, "meta-" means "beyond", and "-verse" means "universe".
(Yuki)

The report of the meeting on 20/11/2021

There were 7 members, and we were divided into 2 groups today.

●What’s new?

A: Fake commute
When she was surfing the net, she found a new word; fake commute. Under COVID-19, many people feel stressful, because there is no border between private time and working time. So they create a new concept; fake commute. Before working, they do something like walking, running or driving instead of the actual commute.

B: New habit
She watched a video on Youtube. The speaker in the video said that it is important for small children to commute with others. So she has tried to speak to small children during her speed walking in the morning, such as hello or you're walking well. The child's mother as well as the child looks happy. She wants to make it a new habit.

●Today’s topic: Do electric cars help the environment?

・What do you do in daily life to save electricity?
A: In the evening, she doesn’t use much light. She uses three lights in her room. The glooming makes her at ease before bed time. Additionally, her husband made windows with acrylic boards by himself and uses them for double windows.

C: She tries to save electricity and that fee. In the winter, her family uses the floor heater, so the electric fee is especially high. In the living room, there is a lot of sunlight. That helps her keep the room warm.

・What do you think about the article?
B: She learned about EVs from the article, and found that it is important to switch to renewable energy from fossil fuels. Japan government should encourage much more renewable energy such as solar and wind power. She believes that the problem is the battery's capacity, because eco-friendly power generation is unstable.

(Nao)

The report of the meeting on 17/11/2021

There were a total of 4 participants tonight.

Mr. A said, "The Chinese fleet passed through the Tsushima Strait from the East China Sea, entered the Sea of ??Japan, and participated in joint training with the Russian Navy. They have advanced into the Pacific Ocean. I am concerned about such disturbing movements."

Ms.B is taking care of her partially paralyzed old father with a stroke. He was recently transferred to another hospital. At that time she accompanied him.

Ms.C was vaccinated with pneumococcal vaccine. It's an expensive vaccine, but with government support, she was able to be dosed it for 3,000 yen.

Mr. D talked about a self-driving car. Today, JR East Japan conducted a test drive for the unmanned operation of the Shinkansen. The automobile industry will also develop the technology toward fully autonomous driving.

Mr.A can watch "Ben-Hur" over and over without ever getting tired of. Ben-Hur is a 1959 American religious epic film. Ben-Hur had the largest budget, as well as the largest sets built, of any film produced at the time.

Negative emotions have various adverse effects on the mind and body. On the other hand, positive emotions open up the possibilities of people's actions and expand the area of ??thinking activity. (Ms.C)

She thinks a person's name will affect his or her life. Her name translates to "Happy River" in English. She believes her parents gave her the name with the hope that her life would be happy. (Ms.B)

(Libran)

The report of the meeting on 13/11/2021

Here is the summary of the meeting report for Saturday, November 13.
Eight people participated in the session splitting into two groups. Group A initiated the session with the topics we wanted to share as usual. One talked about an incident that happened between a biker and a pedestrian on the sidewalk. Another talked about an animal translation app, which she used for her cat. The other was about meeting an online friend for the first time in person.
Around 8:20 pm, we moved to Today’s topic. I prepared 14 general conversation questions to answer freely. The picked questions were: 1. Food changes after getting older (Most of us did not like raw fish, but now we can eat). 2. What animals we have seen in the wild (raccoons, kangaroos, turkeys, monkeys), 3. Bad habits of others bothering you (cannot give up alcohol/chocolate). It revealed that the favorite food of all members of the group was chocolate. Girls like chocolate, and it has become an addiction to us.
Thank you very much for coming! I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the next meeting.
(Masako)

The report of the meeting on 10/11/2021

We divided into two groups and discussed following the STIE whiteboard.

1.What’s new
・Care for family
One member’s family had a stroke, the surgery was succeeded however the person has the aftereffect of the stroke which, paralyzed the left side of his body and left him with aphasia.
He needs rehabilitation and it needs support for the family, which means the care needs not only the patient but also the family.

・Second life (post-retirement life)
Our lifespan is now almost as long as 100 years. How do we live after retirement?
According to one member, her friend opened a restaurant recently, which was her dream.
We have to think about our post-retirement life, and it is depended on the person. One says to recommend to go to university or silver college, or one says to keep the STIE group is good to live in the post-retirement life.
Considering the above topics, QOL(quality of life) is important and may not be avoided to live well.

2.Today’s topic
Today is the day of the Declaration of Abstinence (from alcoholic drinks), the day of the hand cream, the day of the elevator, and the day of the toilet. We discussed each topic.

Toilet
Which do you prefer to use an old Japanese-style toilet or a western-style one?
Our consensus is usually we use the Westen style toilet, but considering the current COVID-19 situation, we hesitate to use the Westen one at public toilet from the viewpoint of infection control.
There is a gap between the toilet in Japan and a foreign one, make surprised us and the Japanese one give relief us after an overseas trip.

Sleep
We cannot live without sleep, which means thinking sleeping improves life.
It is said that short sleep/ staying up late is not good for health, we want to keep long sleep hour and don’t want to stay up late. But it is difficult due to the lifestyle and the habit.
Our consensus is the quality of sleep is more important than the above sleeping things.

Thank you for participating and see you!
(Ken)

The report of the meeting on 6/11/2021

There were 10 attendees on November 6th. Therefore, we made 2 groups.

First, we had a new trial member today, so we introduced ourselves to each other. After that, we started the session with “What’s new”. There were several news about stories of watching DUNE movie, sweets and tea, dancing, panini, and insect catching etc. I like insects like grasshoppers, but most of the other members didn't like insects.

Then, we moved to today's topic about “November events”. There are stories of Soba Festival, Seedless persimmon, Kyoto sightseeing, and stories that looks forward to “go to travel campaign”. Autumn is one of good seasons for travel, and the number of new covid-19 infections is decreasing, so I hope that next “go to travel campaign” will start as soon as possible.
(Hiroshi)

The report of the meeting on 3/11/2021

Tonight, we got together 5 members include one trial one.

1, What is new?

A-san has stayed at her father's house in Hiroshima and she is home alone instead of her father recently.
One day some mice appeared suddenly, she is trying to attempt how to catch them.

B-san visited the snake section in a zoo for his research despite a national holiday.
The other member was interested in a snake and snake's venom and the researcher B-san always answer our questions.

C-san loves to watch the morning drama by NHK. The new drama started this week, the title is "Come come everybody" which is a drama after world war 2 period. She was taught this greeting words from the drama today.
"You make my day"
This is emphasized word of the "Thank you", maybe.

D-san enjoyed the firework event in the autumn sky with her son. We are in a Pandemic. She said, "This is fire-work at home".
How do I say 「お家で花火」in English?

E-san talk that Why did the 5 waves of the coronavirus settle rapidly? He said that spreading vaccines and people who had the experience to infect coronavirus are increasing. Maybe, many people who are infected without knowing and get well without knowing and they had immunity without knowing. Therefore a big cluster is difficult to the outbreak than before.
It is might be small social immunity.

A-san added that is In the Delta variant, the enzyme which can restore the variation of the genome changed, the working of the coronavirus might become down.

2, Topic

New rice is in season now. Talk about rice as a Japanese staple diet. (The rest is omitted)
(Ue)

The report of the meeting on 30/10/2021

There were 7 members in total at the session. So we made 2 groups.

What’s new

There are 2 supermarkets within walking distance from her house. Each one has different selections of products and a sale everyday. She selects one or the other to go depending on the purpose and enjoys shopping.

It was windy that day. While she was doing her business at the bank, the strong wind knocked her bicycle over and dented its back frame. On her way back home, an elderly man found her struggling with her bicycle and offered to fix it. She was thankful for the man. Then she returned to the man and gave him a cup of coffee as a thank you.

It was Halloween. Her son's kindergarten organized a Halloween march, and on the day of the march, the children wore costumes and marched down the street to the station. They made their own costumes on their own. She watched the march and that was so cute.

In Russia, over 40,000 people have been newly infected with the virus a day recently. However, many people don’t take the PCR test unless they become seriously ill, the newspaper reported. The government has designated a non-working period throughout the country to control the infection. However, it doesn't go into restrictions on movement, and reservations for domestic and international travel are increasing rapidly during the period.

Today’s Topic

The topic was about an experiment regarding the Theory of Mind.
After reading the article, we picked a favorite question and answered it.
These questions below were chosen.
・What do you think about the article?
・Do you think children nowadays are more spoiled than they used to be?
・Do you think this kind of change due to growth only happens to children?

Thank you for sharing.
(Toru)

The report of the meeting on 27/10/2021

There were five participants at the session on October 27th. After we made short speeches, we talked about the following topics.

・If the world were to end in 24 hours, how would you spend your day?
・Please tell us about the kind of news that you are into.

One shared how to spend the last day of the world which was a daily life of her. Initially I thought it was completely different from what I have in mind, however that made me realize that we can’t take normal life for granted. We should appreciate what we already have.

We also talked about what to get for Black Friday, and Vaccination rate in G7. Even though Black Friday in Japan is not as prevalent as western countries, it’s great opportunities to encourage consumers to spend more money in order to keep the economy going.

I was amazed that Japan ranks in top three among G7 regarding the vaccination rate. I personally think that Japanese people’s group mentality play a significant role to contain the pandemic in a good way.

We had a good conversation, it was a lot of fun!
(Naoko)

The report of the meeting on 23/10/2021

There were 6 attendees including one trial member today.
First, there was a trial member, so we introduced ourselves.

●What's new?
We talked about

A: Second Vaccination
B: Hospital patient online meeting
C: School dress code

●Today's topics: Coffee grown in the lab
We talked about the following questions.

・Do you care about caffeine?
A: Yes. he is. Before, he drank a lot of coffee, then, he felt caffeine addiction. One cup of coffee is fine, but more is too much. Now, he sometimes drinks a cup of coffee. He doesn’t like decaffeinated coffee.

・What do you think about the article?
B: She thinks this kind of coffee should be accepted all in the future. There is great climate change, so in the near future, it will be difficult to grow coffee beans. She doesn’t care if it’s grown in the lab or in the field.

・Do you like coffee? Are you picky about coffee beans?
C: She used to drink 4 or 5 cups of coffee before, and she cannot sleep at night. Now, she drinks only ground coffee for one cup. She thinks the coffee machine is important for coffee taste.

E: She likes coffee, but she’s not picky about beans. She drinks instant coffee with maple syrup after lunch. She uses syrup instead of sugar, because it sounds healthy.

・When do you drink coffee? ex)In the morning, lunch time
D: She drinks three times a day. A couple of years ago, she stopped drinking, and had terrible headaches. Then, she restarted to drink again. She drinks coffee at night, but she sleeps well everyday.

(Nao)

The report of the meeting on 20/10/2021

There were four attendees at the session on Wednesday, October 20.
We first made short speeches as usual.
They are about:
-3D printers which can make mouth pieces, artificial bone, organs, guns, coins, etc.,
-alcoholic drinks, especially beer, which are deeply impacted by the pandemic of COVID-19,
-a suspicious e-mail from a parcel delivery company,
and so on.
Then, we moved to today's topic:
"Solar Power Mobile Home Can Travel 730km on Sunny Day"

This mobile home, which runs on solar power, was built by the University students in the Netherlands. It can travel 600 kilometers on a full battery. It is also a "self-sustaining house on wheels." That sounds so nice.
However, one says that solar power needs a lot of sunlight and high capacity batteries which can be charged efficiently. Without them, the mobile home would have to stop somewhere for charging. Thus, solar-powered electric vehicles will not be commonplace in the future in Japan.

Another says she wants to take a trip in a camper with family some day in the future. When she feels tired in sleeping in the camper, she will stay at a hotel.

Although there are still some problems to be solved, such solar power mobile homes give us a sense of romance.
(Yuki)

The report of the meeting on 16/10/2021

Five members participated in Saturday’s session.

As usual, the meeting started with each of us sharing the recent news. We talked about the family, playing football and where the word “soccer” came from, driver’s license renewal and dentist, the meaning of Gacha - a Japanese capsule toy vending machine, and a child’s birthday party.

Today’s topic was “Japan’s Princess Mako Goes Ahead with Marriage Plans”. Many Japanese are paying attention to the marriage of her choice in the spouse who was her university classmate. They have gone through all the twists and turns; Prince Akishino, her father, finally gave them the green light to their marriage. We discussed our thoughts on the controversial topic.

Thank you very much for coming to the meeting. See you the next time!
(Masako)

The report of the meeting on 13/10/2021

The number of attendants was six, including a newcomer.
First, we introduced ourselves to each other.

Ms. A is now in Hiroshima prefecture to care for her father. He collapsed due to a severe illness and is now in the hospital.

Ms. B was asked by his son to cook turkey for Thanksgiving Day, but she didn't. Instead, she made sushi.

Mr. C is a soccer fan. The Japanese team has barely beaten Australia with a 2 to 1 score. The Japanese team is forced to fight hard in the final qualifying round of the World Cup.

Mr. D is expecting the first oral drug for the new corona.

Merck, a US pharmaceutical company, and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, a partner of the company, have applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorization for oral antiviral drugs.

If the drug becomes available in Japan, we will have the second weapon after the vaccine against covid 19.

Communication devices such as smartphones are indispensable to Ms. A's life. She has contracts with two companies to connect to the internet.

Mr. D compared his 50-year-old youth with the current youth and decided that the former was happier.

The era 50 years ago was not as rich as it is now.

But today's generation of young people works at low wages. They are less likely to feel proud as Japanese. They have to live in constant exposure to fierce international competition and the looming climate change issues.

Ms. C's family lives in an English-speaking country. She is worried about her son's English education, which grew up only in a Japanese environment because both she and her husband are Japanese nationals.

Ms.E likes the outdoors. She's really into climbing mountains. She went to Nagano prefecture this summer for climbing.

(Libran)

The report of the meeting on 9/10/2021

There were 7 attendees on October 9th. Therefore, we made 2 groups.

First, we started the session with “What’s new”. There were several news about stories of re-painting the wall, re-roofing, Antigen Kit of covid-19, and Zazen etc. Home maintenances like re-painting the wall or re-roofing are very important to make our home last longer, and there are a lot of vendors who puts leaflets in our houses, and who provide businesses on the Internet. I think I want to be familiar with home maintenance to become more and more detailed.

Then, we moved to “today's topic about “October events”. There are stories of a lot of social situations of October like breakthrough infection of COVID-19, new oral drug of COVID-19, Influenza vaccine, Go To Travel campaign, and expectations for the new Prime Minister Kishida etc. I think Prime Minister Kishida is a nice person, and so I want him to do his best for Japan from now on.
(Hiroshi)

The report of the meeting on 6/10/2021

Four members participated in today’s session and shared short speech and today's topic one by one.

1. Short speech
We shared our recent story each other such as taking care of family live alone, plastic problem, and Pandora paper.
Taking care of family alone: we cannot avoid this kind of problem under the aging society in Japan. Priority is the person’s will and health condition but cannot ignore the family’s will and their condition as well.
Nursing care insurance and community support/pressure might help the person and family.

The plastic problem, or having alternative instead of plastic one: Now, we are facing the environmental issue, some companies abolish plastic products and try to use an alternative, for example using wooded cutlery, paper container.
We tackle the issue of global warming individually for sustainable development.

Pandora paper: it pierce the corporate veil and reveal how trusts are prolifically used as a vehicle in conjunction with offshore companies set up for the sole purpose of holding investments and other assets by business families and ultra-rich individuals, however, is this illegal in Japan?

2. Today’s topic
It is international cooperation day today, we shared our opinion regarding international cooperation: should abolish United Nations or not? the disadvantage of international cooperation and how to achieve world peace…
As these are difficult and tough matters/questions, we cannot conclude it. However, is important we can contribute the cooperation by thinking about these matters.

Thank you for reading
(Ken)

The report of the meeting on 2/10/2021

There were 8 members at the session. So we made 2 groups.

What’s new

We talked about some COVID-19 related topics. When people go out to visit restaurants, public facilities, etc., Carrying a vaccination passport is required in her province now. Because vaccination is now mandatory. However there are still people there who have not been vaccinated yet.

Some of us got the first dose this week. Side effects were relatively lighter. It’s said that the side effects of the second dose will be something severer.

There is a prefectural prize campaign for residents. He heard it from his fellow and then applied it. Rewards are a brand new car and travel coupon. He expects he will win the prize.

Today’s Topic : TELSTRA Payphones are now free phones for all calls in Australia

Although public telephones are positioned as one of the universal services essential to the lives of people in Japan and other countries, the use of public telephones is rapidly declining worldwide with the spread of cell phones.

After reading the article, we picked up some questions and talked about them. Those questions below were chosen.

・Have you had a chance to use a pay phone recently?
・Have you seen a pay phone around you recently?
・When was the last time you used a pay phone?
・When did you start to use your cell phone?

Thank you for sharing.
(Toru)

The report of the meeting on 29/9/2021

4 members got together tonight.
We talked about “What’s new?”
We talked about repainting her father's house located far place, anti-virus against the 6 waves, and the presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party.

<Topick>
The extinction of the human beings 人類の滅亡
Our humankind has been surviving or not until 2×××, imagining is difficult.
There are many factors the extinction of human beings, which is possibility most? Please choose one.

1. By the nuclear world war.
2. By the worst virus.
3. By global warming.
4. By a giant meteor.
5. By an alien.
6. By super high-performance robots made by humankind.
7. By an explosion of the core of the earth.
8. By other factors.

4 members chose 1, 2, 4, and 8. (Omit the contents)

About the session,
Recently, it seems that the member structure of the two classes tends to be fixed. Of course, we have a job and are busy, therefore it's unavoidable.
As far as possible, I have thought that we try more interaction each other is better if you have free time.
(Ue)

The report of the meeting on 25/9/2021

There were 5 attendees today.

●What’s new?

A: White balloon found in sky in Fukushima and Miyagi
A mysterious object was found in the sky last year. Some people said it was a UFO, but finally it’s found to be just a white balloon from the US, which was one of the many balloons with a transceiver were launched in a science festival.

B: Her father’s house
His house is around 45 years old, so he decided to ask to paint the wall as the maintenance to protect from the damage. 10 days have passed, but the painting has not been finished yet. She hopes the construction will be completed by the end of this month.

C: Football & Covid-19
He will play football tomorrow. His position is forward. It rained a little today, so he was worried about the approaching typhoon.
So he checked the condition of the COVID-19. He feels many people think if they get COVID-19, they cannot go to the hospital, so they still stay at home.

●Today’s topic: World’s safest city for 2021
We talked about the questions below.

1, Have you ever been to Copenhagen?
C: He has never been to, but he wants to. He has a good image because there are Copenhagen stores, whose name is “Flying tiger”, in Tokyo. They sell cheap and cute items.

2, Do you think Tokyo is the safest city in the world?
B: Few years ago, she used to think it was. Tokyo has a big population, and there are many foreigners now. She also thinks there are no safe cities in the world. She doesn’t go out at night, even though there is little crime around her area.

3, Is the safety of the city important for you when you decide where to travel?
D: Of course yes. She has been to a couple of foreign countries. All of them are safe countries. She studies in advance about the places she will visit, and she never goes to the sketchy area.

4, Do you do something in daily life to protect your own life?
A: He does nothing. He doesn't feel dangerous because his area is a rural area. Most dangerous thing is traffic accidents. But he is always a driver, so he cannot be a victim.

(Nao)

The report of the meeting on 22/9/2021

There were four participants at the session on October 22nd.After we made short speeches, we talked about the following topics.

Please tell us about the kind of news that you are into.
What seasonal Autumn foods do you like?

We talked about a documentary of the psychiatrist who researched about dementia, the memory of harvest moon, and a local speciality of mackerels.

The declining birthrate and aging population is progressing currently in Japan.There are countless problems that need to be solved, therefore the government must take measures to resolve the issues.

I didn’t notice there was harvest moon a day before the session. Japan has four distinct seasons, and each of them has their charms unlike some countries. I truly realized how important to enjoy seasonal events in Japan.

It was a great conversation. I had a really good time as always.
(Naoko)

The report of the meeting on 18/9/2021

This is reporting for Saturday, September 18, with six members participated in the meeting.

Starting with “What’s New” questions, each of us talked about up-to-date topics that are concerned or happened just recently. We brought the following topics: Cup Noodle developed 200 kinds in 50 years, the recent typhoon hit western Japan, One brand from Asahi Beer is no longer sold due to the high demand, covid vaccine reaction, parents are not allowed to participate in children’s milestone event, and sleep study to check sleep apnea.

Our “Today’s Topic” was “Child Covid-19 cases increased nearly 240% since July, pediatricians’ group says - Officials debate when child vaccines will be ready.” Child covid cases are becoming serious after school has started in September. In the news on September 20, Pfizer confirmed that the covid-19 vaccine works in kids ages 5 to 11. Whether or not to make this new step available to the country, the choice is parents and kids who have a right to decide. We might have to live with covid-19 just like the flu, but we, at least, do not want to be worried about being severely infected.

(Masako)

The report of the meeting on 15/9/2021

There were four attendees at the session on Wednesday, September 15.
We first made short speeches as usual.
They are about:
-genome-edited tomatoes the Japan health ministry has approved,
-breakthrough infection and antibody combination cocktail treatment,
-vaccination status of her family,
and so on.
Then, we moved to today's topic:
"Is it okay to fall out of friendship?"

Under the pandemic, we have had fewer chances to meet and talk with friends.
Now we've been vaccinated and allowed to go out. However, some may notice that our social lives and how we approach relationships have changed dramatically as a result.

After reading the article by the paragraph, we discussed.
1. How often do you contact your friends?
5. Would you cut communications with someone who has not talked with you for the past six months? Why or why not?

After retirement, some don't have many intimate friends. That means there is no big difference before and after the pandemic.
IT gave us a new-type human relationship through the internet. We enjoy the online meeting, although it is a little different from the real one.

One decreased the number of New Year's cards he sends. But still, he keeps sending some by inertia. Before the pandemic, he attended the reunion, but now he cannot. That is a reason he cannot stop all the New Year's cards.
Another sends only a few cards, and she uses online messages instead.
So do I. I send my friends New Year's greetings through LINE.
(Yuki)

The report of the meeting on 11/9/2021

There were 6 attendees on September 11th. Therefore, we made 1 group.

First, we started the session with “What’s new”. There were several news about stories of children's toys such as Pokemon, Fukushima’s coronavirus spread, a person bitten by a snake, Adler psychology, airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center 20 years ago, and playing football game etc. Regarding Adler psychology, almost human problems are interpersonal problems, and I want to read books related Adler psychology by Ichiro Kishimi to facilitate interpersonal relationships.

Then, we moved to “today's topic about Autumn events”. There are stories of some events like Fukushima’s Scarecrow Festival, seeing autumn leaves, and House of Representatives election, etc. It is difficult to participate in the Autumn event due to the continuous coronavirus spread, but I wanted to enjoy it while preventing coronavirus infection.
(Hiroshi)

The report of the meeting on 8/9/2021

There were 3 participants in the meeting tonight.
As always, we talked about topics and personal events that we were interested in.

Last month the United States completed a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan. From the international community's perspective, this seems to be irresponsible for the United States because Afghanistan will be a hotbed of terrorism in the future. The Taliban has announced an interim government, which does not include female ministers. We must keep an eye on women's rights in Afghanistan and their policies towards ethnic minorities.

It is recommended to drink milk tea before an ultrasound examination of pancreatic cancer. "Drinking milk tea gives a clearer image of the pancreas," said a medical scientist in Osaka. And he added, "Kirin Co., Ltd.'s "Afternoon Tea" is the most effective. Other drinks, such as lemon tea and carbonated water, have no effect. "

The LDP presidential election campaign has begun. So far, five candidates are likely to run in the campaign. Nobody knows who will win the race. Whoever wins, it is hoped that that person will end the pandemic and raise Japan's economy.

The two participants answered the following two questions, respectively.

Q What’s the most depressing meal you’ve eaten?

It's the lunchtime he experienced when he was in elementary school. There was a big difference in lunch between children from wealthy families and children from low-income families. Lunch boxes for children in wealthy families included white rice with fried eggs and side dishes. The poor child's bento had only one rice ball mixed with barley. It was tough to see the lunchtime scene except for Wednesday and Saturday when he did not need to eat lunch at school.

Q If you could know the truth behind every conspiracy, but you would instantly die if you hinted that you knew the truth, would you want to know?

No, she doesn't want to know.
Because, by knowing, she will be held responsible. She wants to prevent getting into trouble. If she doesn't know it, she won't be held responsible.

(Libran)

The report of the meeting on 4/9/2021

There were 7 members at the session. So we made 2 groups.
Each member talked about what’s new as usual.

・Year-end sales of “Osechi”
Department stores have already entered the year-end sales season. Advertisement says “Osechi” dishes will be offered 20% off as an early bird discount if you order now.
They look very gorgeous and deluxe and are so expensive. Smaller sizes are popular now.

・US TV series named Good Doctor
The main character is a resident doctor who suffers from autism disorder and Savant syndrome. It is hard for him to communicate with other people because of autism disorder although he has a great ability to recognize three-dimensional space. It is a story about the growth of the main character and the people he interacts with.

・New technology for recycling rare earths
Nissan Motors and Waseda University have jointly developed a new technology for recycling rare earths. An experiment has been launched with the aim of practical use in the mid-2020s and confirmed that more than 95% of the rare earths used in motors can be recovered by this method.

Today's Topic : Wonders around the world

After reading the article, each member picked a favorite question and talked about it.
・Have you ever visited a World Heritage site?
・Please tell us about a picture you took.
・Which do you prefer to travel by bicycle, train, car, airplane, and ship?

Thank you for sharing.
(Toru)

The report of the meeting on 1/9/2021

Four members participated in today’s session.

1. Short speech

We exchanged our recent news and/or interesting topics such as the difference in the value between Japanese and American, vegetable garden, and marriage of the Imperial family.

Difference of the value between Japanese and Americans: while Japanese people tend to seek balance and harmony, American people tend to value individual opinion rather than the balance and harmony. Hence, it can be difficult to live for the foreigner in a homogeneous society.

Vegetable garden: it might be suggested to grow fig tree for a beginner of gardening as easy to grow and can live many years.

Marriage of the Imperial family: there are opinions for and against this marriage as the female is one of the Imperial family and the male is under suspicion of financial problem, which might occur conflict of the money. However, the female refused to accept the wedding money. Our consensus is should prioritize and respect the couple’s opinion.

2. Today’s topic

It is disaster prevention day today. We discuss disaster and its prevention.

Disaster drill work: continuity is important to minimalize the damage of the disaster so that we have to have drill work every year since we are young. On top of that have to care for vulnerable people such as elderly people, handicapped people.

The naming of disaster: the naming of a hurricane/typhoon is different depending on the country. For instance, while it tends to name person’s name for the hurricane/typhoon in abroad, we give just number as a name of the typhoon in Japan. The person’s name leads to bullying or discrimination but that can give an impression so that be effective to prevent the disaster.

That’s all. Thank you for joining. See you.
(Ken)

The report of the meeting on 28/8/2021

There were 6 attendees today.

●What's new?
A: American university programmes
Recently, he has been challenging American university programmes in English through the Internet. Almost free for one week, he paid 5,000 yen for it, because he wants to study more than one week. He heard about it from foreign friends, and applied.

B: Electric scooter dangerous driving
He has never seen electric scooters, so he is interested in the news about their dangerous driving. Electric skaters can speed up to 50km/h, be driven for 7 hours. Additionally, they need a driving license, helmet, and direction indicator. They are very economical vehicles.

C: Japanese population
The Japanese population is 127 million. The main causes are aging, low birth rate and reduction of foreign people because of COVID-19. In the future, many foreign workers will come to Japan. He thinks the Japanese government should make working condition for foreign workers.

D: Health service
Yesterday, she visited the health service and asked for a check. Her home doctor is not good. So she uses the school clinic. Her school has 100,000 students, which is one-tenth of the population of her city. After that, she brought her son to the children's hospital. After the care, she gave many treats to him.

E: Vegetable price
Last 2 weeks, there has been much rain. That is why vegetable prices are very expensive recently. Her husband grows vegetables for his family. So she isn't concerned about the price of them. But, she came to her father’s house and went to the supermarket. She was surprised that popato’s price was double.

●Today's topics
We talked about the questions below.

・Which do you like most, Ramen, Soba or Udon? Why?
・Which do you like better, tea or coffee? Do you drink with sugar or milk?
・Did you do any after school activities when you were a child?(ex.piano, soccer, baseball...)

(Nao)

The report of the meeting on 25/8/2021

We got together４ participants tonight.
First, We talk about "What's new?"

The first attendee said he had an accident to slip by bicycle on the commute road due to it was a heavy rain day. He got some injury but no broke a bone and got well after four days.

The second said she finished the second vaccination after two months since the first one, and fortunately, she didn't get any side effects.

The third said that she got an online study from Stanford University about the vegetarians and the vegan who don't eat even eggs and dairy products.

The fourth said about the speed of the vaccination. The number of the vaccination in Japan reached 120 million, this number is almost same with Japanese population.
About 50% of Japanese vaccinated once, and 40% of Japanese vaccinated twice.
Japan is the fifth place speed all over the world and top5 was China, India, USA, Brazil.
All Africa which is a high rate percentage of death does not still reach 100 million times.
The USA is trying the third time vaccination.
The developed countries should provide the vaccine to the developing countries because the coronavirus is an enemy against all humankind.

After that, we moved to today's topic.
About
Yakuza (gangster)　ヤクザ
Different surnames. 夫婦別姓
vaccination passport ワクチン接種パスポート
Q) Are they necessary or unnecessary?
Four attendees talked about all of them, and their contents were very interesting and funny. Thank you, everyone.
(Ue)

The report of the meeting on 21/8/2021

We had six members in the meeting tonight.

Starting with “what’s new?” as a warm-up, members talked about the recent dentist appointment, the effects of chewing tobacco, a short supply of semi-conductor, and covid vaccine updates. It was my first time knowing about chewing tobacco. In North America, E-cigarettes are very popular among teens/young adults, and it has become a big issue.

Today’s topic was character analysis according to blood type. The blood type personality is the theory in Japanese culture that became popular in 1927 by the paper published by Takeji Furukawa. Our members’ blood types were A, B, O, and missing AB. It is not surprising as blood type AB is the smallest group in Japan. Most members seem not to believe in blood-type personalities. Scientific facts are rather more credible, they said.

This meeting is always sharing meaningful information and experiences and providing updates to all the attendees. I appreciate all the sharing given by members.

Thank you very much for coming again. We had a great meeting. See you at the next meeting!
(Masako)

The report of the meeting on 18/8/2021

There were four participants at the session on August 18th. After we made short speeches, we talked about the following topics.

・Should countries boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics?
・Please tell us about trips you have taken.
(The places you have been to, the places you want to go to, etc...)
・Please tell us about the kind of news that you are into.

We shared each opinions about the Beijing Winter Olympics. Obviously Japan is in a difficult position with regard to the point, and there could be more than one answer. We had a really meaningful discussion in terms of that.

One shared her mishap during her trip in U.S. I find it interesting that there are not as many public restrooms overseas as in Japan. I thought we need to make sure before we go sightseeing.

Currently we face manifold global issues that are not easily solved, however I do hope one day we could see a more peaceful world.
(Naoko)

The report of the meeting on 14/8/2021

There were 7 attendees on August 14th.
Therefore, we made 2 groups.

First, we started the session with "What’s new". There were several news about vaccine shots, atmosphere of the arrival of autumn, and epidermoid cyst, etc. Regarding vaccine shot, a member get the pfizer vaccine first shot this week. She concerned about side effects of next second shot. Regarding atmosphere of the arrival of autumn, changes in the global environment are occurring recently, and forest fires are caused by factors of global warming globally.

Then, we moved to "today's topic about the heat of summer". Some members take care of summer heat and any other summer diseases to use air conditioners, or to drink water frequently, or to control appetite by limiting eating ice creams and snacks etc. Any other member will enjoy his home town’s Obon festival like "Daimonji yaki" in Kyoto between August 13th and 16th in the heat of summer.
(Hiroshi)

The report of the meeting on 11/8/2021

There were five attendees at the session on Wednesday, August 11.
We first made short speeches as usual. They are about:
-top 3 unique national roads ranked by him,
-recent low cabinet's approval rate, and one of mass media that acted rather irresponsible,
-an African terrible tradition of sacrificial ceremony,
and so on.
Then, we moved to today's topic:
"The history of minimalism"

After reading the article by the paragraph, we discussed about:
1. It is said that minimalism means living “less.” Do you agree with this?
5. What do you think can you learn from living a minimalist lifestyle?

According to the article, the root of the philosophy dates to about 2,500 years ago. Those days, minimalism seemed to be very severe philosophy.
Modern minimalism started in the 20th century, Some enjoy their minimal lifestyle with less possessions.

A member thinks it is hard for him to live life owning only few necessary things in this mass production and mass consumption time.

However, there are many good points in a lifestyle with less things. For example;
it doesn't take time to find each item among very few belongings,
we can decide quickly which clothes to wear today,
small space is enough to keep them,
we can clean the room easily,
when we have to move somethere, we can prepare quickly,
and so on.

On the other hand, of course, there are some bad points. A minimalist says that conveniece stores or supermarkets would be a kind of refregeratores to us. So, we don't have to keep stock so much at home.
However, in times of disaster, it may be difficult to buy things at stores. Therefore, we should keep some stock of food or drinks at home.

A member describes some minimalists seem to minimize even relationship with their friends. They tend to stop going dine or walking around with friends, which may make their friends feel sad.

It depends on person, but living a simple life with less things sounds nice for me. I'd like to get calmness of mind without trouble to look for things.
(Yuki)

The report of the meeting on 7/8/2021

There were 6 members in total at the session.
Every member talked about What's new in the beginning. Then moved onto today's topic.

Global Warming

It is forecasted that the temperature in his city will be 40℃ after the typhoon landed. The climate zone of Japan nowadays is different than it used to be. We can no longer enjoy a large variety of seasons.

Tokyo Olympic

The Japanese soccer team lost their game and missed the medal. The opposition was a very good team and strong. Japanese player Mitoma scored a goal during the game and that was excellent.

Hiroshima Peace Ceremony

The ceremony is held every year. The declaration of peace by young boys and girls gives us deep emotion. However, Prime minister Suga made a big mistake during his speech. That was broadcast live on TV. He watched the whole program on time.

Tokyo Olympic

Here's an example of some who missed the medal although they could have won.
This happened in the 400 meter relay race. The 2nd runner of the Japanese team could not receive the baton from the 1st runner. So they dropped out of the race. The 1st runner had to hand the baton to the 2nd runner carefully and surely but couldn't. Because the 2nd runner was running faster than the 1st runner and the distance between them was getting longer.

Local Train

The city council announced that Japan Railway decided to de-electrify the train in certain sections. The operation of trains with power supplied from the ground is unprofitable unless there is a large number of passengers and trains because of the high cost of overhead wires and other power equipment. This may be the future of local trains.

Today’s topic was about Obon Festival

Every member picked up their favorite question and talked about it.

What do you think of the idea of Obon?
What kind of festivals or events do you like to visit?
Are there any local festivals in your city? What are they?
What are your good memories of summer?
What are the “shun” foods of summer? What foods do you like?

Thanks for sharing. It was fun.
(Toru)

The report of the meeting on 4/8/2021

There were 5 participants tonight.

The cost of the corona vaccine is said to be 7,500 yen per person, including labor costs, etc. This enormous cost will put pressure on the national budget.

Ms.B plays badminton at the gym twice a week.

Ms. C takes her kid to the nearby indoor pool every day because he likes to swim.

Ms .D returned to her hometown, and she started going to a driving school yesterday.

Mr.A’s worst travel experience was at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. He had an hour on board, so he started walking around to take pictures. It was a huge airport, so he was walking in the opposite direction on a one-way road before he knew it. Therefore, he was stopped by security officers. He trembled because they were big policemen with a gun. Finally, he talked about the situation and asked them to guide him to the boarding gate.

Ms.B’ｓ worst travel experience is be hit by air turbulence. It happened that she was in the toilet with her child changing diapers. The turbulence lasted for 40 minutes. Various pieces of luggage were scattered on the floor.

Photography technology has changed the world. Now anyone can take beautiful pictures with a smartphone without any special technology. We can freely upload photos online and enjoy each other. However, you have to be careful that your personal information will be leaked.
(Libran)

The report of the meeting on 31/7/2021

There were 6 attendees today.

● What's new?

A: Football games in the Olympics
He is interested in the football games in the Olympics recently. Japan beat the New Zealand team, and goes to the semi-final game. He expects Japan to go to the final game. Japan got the second most gold medals, and he feels many young athletes have gained power.

B: Swimming membership
Her son and she like swimming, so she bought the swimming memberships. With the membership, they can enjoy any pools in the city. The situation of COVID-19 in Canada has been getting better, so many public pools start their business again.

C: badminton games in the Olympics
She was disappointed about badminton games, because many famous and powerful players lose. Fortunately, her most favorite badminton players won a bronze medal. She also likes watching skateboard games. She was surprised by the dream one of the young skateboard players, whose name is Horigome, has.

D: Summer vacation
Last week, she was busy with exams and homework, but she was free today, and is excited about her summer vacation. She plans to go to driving school near her hometown with her friends. Her father will come to give her the ride, because of COVID-19.

E: Cats
He drives to his office. On the way, there are three cats in the middle of the road. They don’t move even when his car is approaching.
Yesterday, he only found one of them. He wandered where the other cats went and he was worried about their safety. maybe they move to a dark place, because of the hot temperature.

● Today's topics
We talked about the following questions.

1. Do you walk alone at night in your home city?
4. When you were a child, What was your dream for the future? Has it changed?
7. Do you think Japanese people work too much?
9. What is the most important thing you would look for when choosing a house to live in?
10. If you could live anywhere, where would you like to live?
(Nao)

The report of the meeting on 28/7/2021

1.Short speech

We exchanged our recent news and/or interesting topics such as Tokyo Olympic 2020, the new service of Mercari is a Japanese e-commerce company, and COVID-19.

Tokyo Olympic 2020: Needless to say, the Japanese representative, do a very good job in the game. Especially, we focused on badminton and table tennis, which is popular in Japan.

It took us all by surprise that a badminton birdie is the fastest recorded object in sports: 493km/h. We praised that Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito win Japan's first Olympic gold in table tennis at the later.

New service of Mercari: it has been launched the new business for small companies, which deal with other companies depending on the demand, One participant explained the Mercari trade services for the some have never used it.

COVID-19: While we get very excited Olympic games, the positive case for COVIT-19 has been increased. Young or middle-aged people get the infection as they don’t receive a vaccination. Please be careful and enjoy the Olympics at home.

2. Today’s topic

We exchanged each opinion for each topic:

1.Cosmetic procedures should be covered by health insurance.

We are not in favor of the ideas as it has never achieved depending on the unlimited demands.
At first, we have to change our discrimination society, people should be judged not so much by how they look as by who they are.

2.Climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity today.

Especially vulnerable people suffer from climate change.

3.The death penalty should be abolished.

The point is in the case of a false accusation.

Thank you for joining. See you.
(Ken)

The report of the meeting on 24/7/2021

There were five members participated in today’s session.

As usual, we initiated the session with “what’s new?” topic to update ourselves. Our most concerns for today were the Tokyo Olympic games that just started a few days ago. Other updates were the famous local food and covid vaccines.

“Today’s topic” covered the general open-ended questions to answer freely. Members picked school related questions and the current threatening issues happening in Japan. We also talked about how to maintain our health.

The session was very productive and meaningful as always. Thank you very much for coming. See you in the next session.
(Masako)

The report of the meeting on 21/7/2021

We got together４ participants tonight.
We talked about high school students life in turn.
A high school student's life was a memorable period for everybody even if that was not good. That depends on the person but it is true that at that time was one page of adolescence for everyone.

One of four members talked that when he was a student of the academic-track high school by the tramcar, he used to drop in Y city where was for adult entertainment sometimes.
Another member said he tried his best to do school club activities. He joined in football club first, but he changed to a basketball club, and he got to be a regular member of the team.
The third member talked that one of her current hobbies is studying and enjoying English, but she didn't like English subjects, especially English grammar, in her high school life. What made a change to her anything?

Passing time is changing the human's character sometimes.
It is a good thing to compare between today and with nice old days, for future.
(Ue)

The report of the meeting on 17/7/2021

Tonight’s session started on time with six members. We also welcomed a new trial guest who was her first time to join the STIE session. Hope she was relaxed and enjoyed the 1.5-hour session.

Breaking into two groups, one had four members and three in another group. In the “What’s new?” topic as an ice breaker, instead of making a speech, we freely asked questions each other.

For today’s topic, we talked about the directness/indirectness of speech in English and Japanese language. Language consists of smaller components such as words, spelling, grammatical structures to form larger ones like phrases and sentences. However, our cultural background also affects our ways of speaking. Japanese language shows politeness such as when talking to customers/clients and superiors. This cultural background influences us in a polite way when we speak English. In my opinion, however, it is safe to be polite anyway whatever language you speak to someone who you meet for the first time. Our first impressions give the huge impact to people to determine who you are.

Thank you very much for coming today. See you in the next session!
(Masako)

The report of the meeting on 14/7/2021

There were four participants at the session on July 14th. After we made short speeches, we talked about the following topics.

・When you watch the Olympics what sports do you like to see?
・Please tell us about the kind of news that you are into.

We talked about Olympic sports, baseball, and Major League Baseball. One shared the notable badminton players. I’m not knowledgeable about badminton, but I got curious about them after hearing what she said.

We also talked about Shohei Ohtani who is currently showing excellent performance in MLB. Actually I wasn’t interested in Baseball very much, however he caught my attention and captivated many people greatly in the world!

Despite the fact that I joined the session for the last 20 minutes, I had a great time. I hope everyone enjoyed the session as much as I did.
(Naoko)

The report of the meeting on 10/7/2021

There were 6 attendees on July 10th.
Therefore, we made 1 group.

First, we started the session with “What’s new”. There were several news about global warming, windows PC failure, reading book, sushi shop and corona vaccine etc. Regarding the book, a person read “Yabunonaka” of Ryunosuke Akutagawa and it is very interesting for him. The flow of the story is that a man's corpse was found in the bush, and the testimony of the witnesses cross-examined by the “Kebiishi” prosecutor followed by the confession of the parties. Each testimony was subtly inconsistent, and the truth was becoming more and more obscure.

Then, we moved to “today's topic about Tokyo Olympics”. Some seemed to be interested in artistic swimming, softball, and badminton, while others were not interested in the Olympics. I felt that Everyone are interested in the Tokyo Olympics being held without spectators.
I heard that we are joining a new member next week. Let's welcome a new member and have fun discussions.
(Hiroshi)

The report of the meeting on 7/7/2021

There were five attendees at the session on Wednesday, July 7.
We first made short speeches as usual.
They are about:
-Prime Minister Suga's irresponsible statements about supply of COVID-19 vaccines,
-a shop to sell marijuana which is legal in the province she lives,
-recent tsunami-like mudslides caused by torrential rains, deforestation and inappropriate land-raising work,
and so on.

Then, we moved to today's topic:
"How convenient are Singapore’s vending machines?"

After reading the article by the paragraph, we discussed about:
1. Do you agree that having vending machines is a low-effort way of testing a product? Why or why not?
2. What is your opinion about vending machines for books?
3. What types of vending machines are there in your country?
4. Which are more popular in your country, convenience stores or vending machines?
5. What kinds of vending machines do you want to have or see in the future?

During disasters, we seem to be able to get food or drinks from vending machins for free.
In the past, porno magazines were bought from vending machines, although we can't find such vending machines these days.
A member's country seems to be behind in the vending machine business.
There are vending machines to sell Funa-zushi (or sushi with topping of fermented crucian carp).

Additionally, there are some unique vending machines in the world. For example;
vending machines to sell Gold in UAE,
ones to sell crabs in China,
ones to sell Marijuana in USA,
and ones to sell cars in USA.
(Yuki)

The report of the meeting on 3/7/2021

There were 5 attendees at the session.
We talked about what's new at the beginning as usual.

She watched a movie titled 127 hours based on a true story. The story is about a rock criming mountaineer who visited Bluejohn Canyon in the US and had an accident.
He got stuck in a narrow space between the rocks by the accident and struggled to get out. He had to make a big decision to survive.

The 1st of July is the National Day of Canada called Canada Day celebrating the anniversary of independence day.
She showed us all the pictures of the celebration with fireworks she took when she visited the parliament hill in Ottawa.
There are a lot of events put up and people visit there. They usually wear clothes with red and white on them just like the national flag and sing the national anthem.

He has got his 1st vaccination and booked for 2nd vaccination this week. No symptoms were found but little shoulder ache after the shot. These vaccinations are provided by his company.

He works as a nurse during the weekend. And because of that, he has got the vaccination already. The 2nd shot will be in 4 weeks. The vaccination venue was far from his home, so he had to rent a car and drive down to get there.

Today's topic : Group of Seven wealthy nations backs steps to deter tax dodging by multinational firms
We read the article and answered some questions below.
・What do you think of a global minimum corporate tax?
・What do you think of the article?
・What is the upside of a global minimum corporate tax?
・What kind of news are you into recently?

Thank you for sharing your ideas and stories.
(Toru)

The report of the meeting on 30/6/2021

There were 5 participants in the meeting.
As always, we talked about our favorite topics in the first half.

・　Minazuki is one of the Japanese sweets that originated in Kyoto. They are made of sweetly boiled azuki beans and are placed on the top of white Uiro and cut into triangles. In Kyoto, it is customary to eat the sweets on June 30th, when the Natsukoshi Harae is held, in prayer for the rest of the year without any illness.

・　She got a vaccine dose manufactured by Pfizer. At first, she showed the clerk her QR code on my smartphone.
The procedure up to inoculation at a large venue went very smoothly.

・ There was a sewage blockage, so she bought a cleaner and repaired it herself.

・　It is difficult to get natto at a reasonable price in my neighborhood. So she cooks natto herself in a pressure cooker with a soy and yogurt maker. In that way, you can make a large quantity of natto at once.

・　Her dream is to run a guesthouse exclusively for foreigners, but the biggest problem is that the owner is not good at cooking.

・　She still has friendships with her basketball club friends when she was in the third year of junior high school. She hasn't been able to meet them lately due to the influence of Covid 19.

(Libran)

The report of the meeting on 26/6/2021

Today, there were 7 attendees, so we were divided into two groups.

● What's new?
We talked about below;

A: Windows 11
Windows 11 is the new OS Microsoft will provide this year. The aim of it is connecting PCs and android smartphones more strongly, because of the rapid smartphones' market growth in recent years. The OS will be dramatically reformed, and may have a lot of applications compared with before. He wants to use it.
B: The smartphones Microsoft sold before are not popular, because they don't have many applications. She looks forward to the information about Windows 11 A will tell us.

B: Rakuten Mobile
From this April, she has been using Rakuten Mobile for her computer, because of the one year free campaign. Rakuten Mobile provides customers with their own band and au band. When she uses 5 GB with au band, her internet speed slows down. So she wants to catch the Rakuten own band, but sometimes she cannot. For example, in her father's house, she cannot catch the band on the ground floor, maybe because the house is surrounded by steel. She is going to continue using Rakuten Mobile, and wants Rakuten to get a pratina band.

C: Vaccination coupon
She got the coupon yesterday, and will reserve it at the end of next month.
A: He has already finished the second vaccination. After the second vaccination, he got a slight fever.
B: She got the first vaccination, and will have the second in the week after next.

● Today's topic
Each member picked up a favorite question from the below and answered it.

1. What is the funniest advertising you have ever seen?
2. Do you sometimes want very expensive things you cannot afford?
3. Are you afraid of growing old?
4. Where do you wish to live when you are old?
5. Do you like to travel by airplane?
6. How old were you when you went on your first flight? Where did you go?
7. Have you ever felt confused by the actions of someone from another culture?
8. When you were a child, what was your dream for the future?
9. What is the best memory you have of your family doing something together?
10. What are your hobbies? How long have you had your hobby?

(Nao)

The report of the meeting on 23/6/2021

Five members joined today
1.Short speech
We exchanged frank opinion about
・Married couple’s surname (Although top court says laws requiring married couples to have the same surname constitutional, the top priority is the child.)
・Support for a family who lives in remote area(consider to used nursing care insurance)
・Vaccination for COVID 19(society immunity against COVID 19 bring us peace)
・One female wrestler’s tragedy (committed suicide due to the SNS trouble)

2.Today’s topic
Exchanged frank opinion and had a hot discussion the following topics specially
・Unusual name(kira kira name)
In his impression, the number of the child who has the name has been decreased.
The parents name the child in their way so that the name is difficult to pronounce.
But it is none of our business, we don’t have the right to complain.

・Work from home pros and cons
Some people prefer to work at the office as some feel lonely? the advantage is we can avoid the 3c as a countermeasure of COVID19.

Thank you for joining. See you.
(Ken)

The report of the meeting on 16/6/2021

As we had 7 participants tonight, we spirited into 2 groups.
After we talked about "What's new?", we enjoyed today's topic.

Topic: Which is the most possible below.
1. In the USA, the new law of gun control is passed, and no one has it except policemen now.
2. An alien attack on earth.
We don't understand when the fiction will turn to nonfiction. In space, there are uncounted planets except for the Galaxy. The number of people who found a UFO is increasing nowadays. Some of the aliens who have more clever than Martian might be targeting our earth.

3. An Interest of a bank will be 10%.
4. Complete earthquake prediction is invented.
Nowadays, it is possible to get information about the earthquake in advance. But the getting time of the information of the earthquake is too short.

5. The US bring nuclear weapons into Taiwan.
6. The next Japanese Emperor will be Aiko Princess.
The successor of the male line of the next generation is only one Hisahito Prince. Nowadays, gender equality is common sense in the world. Even if the eternal one line was broken, it's unavoidable.

7. The consumption tax is abolished and all coins will be total abolished as well.
Recently, the cashless system has advanced rapidly. In near future, a coin might be unnecessary.

The conclusion.
The most possibility was the NO 6,
6. The next Japanese Emperor will be Aiko Princess.
All participants favored that due to she has been loved by almost all Japanese even if that is not allowed in current law.
( Ue )

The report of the meeting on 12/6/2021

Ten members joined the session on Saturday, June 12. Following the rule, members were split by two groups and the session covered the two parts:
“What’s new?” and “Today’s topic”.

First, we talked about the origin of English alphabets and how the lowercase was formed. We also had the recent updates on the covid vaccines and introduced the historic site in Fukushima.

The topic of the day was questions roulette. The first member picked one member with a question to ask him/her. Once answered, she/he picked another member with a different question. Since we had to be ready to answer right away whichever questions were picked for us, I think it was a good speaking practice.

Thank you very much everyone for coming. I will see you in the next session.
(Masako)

The report of the meeting on 9/6/2021

There were five participants at the session on June 9th. After we made short speeches, we talked about the following topics.

・Do you have any memorable events from your school days?
・Please tell us about the kind of news that you are into.
・Have you been seen any T.V.shows, movies that you're into recently?

We talked about the memories of school days, China’s population, and the TV show called “フランケンシュタインの誘惑”.

One shared the memories of cultural festival in junior college.The time she spent with her friends must be precious and unforgettable ones.

One touched on the issue of decreasing birth rate in China. This is what Japan need to tackle currently, therefore it was interesting to hear his view on that.

The session was lively, and I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.
(Naoko)

The report of the meeting on 5/6/2021

There were seven attendees at the session on Saturday on June 5.
At first, we started from “What's new topic.” as usual. Perhaps because of the current situation, there were many topics relate to health. Be careful not to get sick in this enduring life.
Toda's main theme was “ Plastic waste ”
At first, we read article and answered about below questions.

1. What do you think about this news?
2. Is there anything you are doing to reduce plastic consumption ?
3. What do you think we can do to reduce plastic consumption ?
4. What do you think what happen if we run out of plastic ?
5. Do you think we can find an alternative to plastic in the future ?
6. Do you think “ shale gas ” will replace oil ?
7. Is there any product that you were surprised to find out that it is made of plastic ?

There were various opinions, but it seems that everyone's opinion is that is a difficult problem.
Petroleum resources will not be exhausted immediately, but it will eventually run out if we continue use it.　We may have to find new resources to replace oil so that future generations will not have a hard time.　In recent years, shale gas has been taken up as a new resource, but in order to put it to practical use, various problems must be solved, and it is uncertain whether it replace oil.
For a while we will have to device various ways to save resources.
(Maru)

The report of the meeting on 2/6/2021

There were seven attendees at the session on Wednesday, June 2. We split into two groups. We first made short speeches as usual.
They are about:
-electric kickboards which are recently used for commuting to and from work,
-e-mails from SHARP saying he is a winner to buy their facemasks,
and so on.

Then, we moved to today's questions for discussions:
Out of 27 questions, No.4 and No.19 were chosen.

4) What social changes would you like to see in your country?
19) Do you think marriage as an institution is outdated? Why or why not?

For over 2,000 years, there is no example of the female emperor through the maternal line in Japan. There existed some female emperors in the past, but all of them are through the paternal line. It would be controversial from now on whether or not female emperors through the maternal line should be inherited.

Marriage as an institution may be necessary considering the decrease of the population in Japan. Although arranged marriage is not seen many recently, in the past it had functioned well to make the match by a matchmaker. Nowadays the number of young people who don't get married is increasing, which is a big problem. It may be time to need a matchmaker.
(Yuki)

The report of the meeting on 29/5/2021

There were 7 attendees and another person would join late at tonight’s session on May 29th. Therefore, we made 2 groups.

First, we started the session with “What’s new”. There were several news about the corona vaccine. While it is said that more than 100 million times of Pfizer vaccine will be provided by September, there is also talk about exporting the Astra Zeneca vaccine to Taiwan. And it seems that the progress of vaccine shot is still difficult to see now. Also there was talk about the review when purchasing USB type-c cable from China on Amazon. Regarding review of Amazon, the feeling of review may be different between Japan and China. There was also talk of buying a home desk with more opportunities for teleworking.

Then, we moved to “today's topic”. Although there were positive opinions about the Olympic holidays, there were many negative opinions to carry out the Olympic game . It was said that the Indian species of coronavirus are scary because they are easy to spread and become severe in Japan ,but NBC in the United States has the right to broadcast the Olympics, and so there were stories with complicated interests. However, everyone was looking forward to Olympic games such as baseball, soccer and rugby.
(Hiroshi)

The report of the meeting on 26/5/2021

Since there are seven participants, we divided two groups so that person can talk more.

Short speech
A san’s speech regarding bone conduction earphones, which is an ear-friendly gadget, saying we have to take care of ear carefully. According to WHO, now, hearing disability is a serious problem as some listen to music at full volume with earphones. However, we can reduce the burden of the ear by the bone conduction earphone because they don't rely solely on the eardrum.

B san’s speech regarding Japanese major league baseball player Shohei Otani performs well even today he contributed to his team’s victory by the home run.
Who is the best pitcher?
Who is the best batter?
In B san’s opinion, the former is the Hideo Nomo or Shohei Otani.
The latter is Shohei Otani as same above or Ichiro.

Today’s topic
We read the article titled “EU Approves Sale of Mealworms as Food” and exchanged the opinion regarding the article.

Thinking food leads to a good life as we cannot live without eating. Insect food is common in some areas in Japan. They are eaten as traditional food. Although the appearance may spoil appetite, it is nutritious and can help food crisis which may happen in near the future because it is relatively easy to get.

What we think is common food here in Japan usually does not apply in other countries. For example, eating egg rice is surprised foreigners however we like it. FYI, the egg rise gets popular in China. We cannot imagine eating crocodile meat but the food is popular and common in Australia.
Food is culture and would say the only way to understand the culture is to be immersed in it.
Thank you again and see you.
(Ken)

The report of the meeting on 22/5/2021

There were 6 members at the session.
We started with what’s new as usual. Here’s what we talked about.

She is going to put herself in quarantine for a while though she would love to join the usual badminton club. Because she was visiting her father and came back home just the other day.

The snake that ran away from home two weeks ago was found. The owners have to be responsible for taking care of their pets.

On a TV gossip show at noon, an audience sent a letter to the show and pointed out that the wristwatch the comedian emcee wears was actually one day behind. The comedian emcee apologized with a sense of humor for his carelessness about the date.

She is awaiting vaccination against Covid. It is hard to book for vaccination, but she could make it for her family. She feels ashamed that she has not got vaccinated yet even though a lot of people in her country have been vaccinated already. The economy and social activity will be back to normal before long.

He has been away from usual football club because of Covid. Instead, he trains at home lately.

The old computer courses some problems sometimes. Replacing it to a newer model gives a smooth and quiet user experience.

Today’s topic : Hockney and Van Gogh: How images of nature bring us joy Topic was about an article from BBC culture. We talked about the following questions.

・Do you like art? Why/Why not
・Do you like painting? Why/Why not
・What kind of art is there?
・What do you know about Vincent van Gogh?

It is fun to share a lot of opinions and stories. Thank you for joining.
(Toru)

The report of the meeting on 19/5/2021

There were a total of 7 participants at the meeting.

The Reservation for vaccination has started almost everywhere in Japan.
Mr. A, who lives in Kyoto, successfully made a reservation to inoculate at a local clinic using the Internet. It was less crowded than he expected and so he was able to make a reservation.
Mr. B, who lives in Osaka, also made a reservation for his parents.
I hope as many Japanese as possible will complete the vaccination promptly.

In Japan, the problem of vacant houses and abandoned land is becoming serious.
It is said that the area equivalent to Shikoku is abandoned all over Japan.
In spite of the fact that even dangerous buildings and houses with a large amount of garbage are left as they are, basically, even public officials cannot touch it without the permission of the landowner or landlord.
It is important for local governments to put in place legislation that can handle such real estate promptly.

If he has the fortune he has at his disposal, he wants to create a free school for underprivileged children. So he wants to give them the academic ability to go to an excellent university.

There are many useful applications on smartphones, among them the voice recognition app is the one that surprises everyone.
In particular, Siri provided by Apple is very complete. You can comfortably write and take notes freely. And also it is also a very useful tool for learning English.
(Libran)

The report of the meeting on 15/5/2021

There were 6 attendees today.
●What’s new?
A: Favorite baseball player
A is a fan of Shohei Otani, who is a strong and friendly baseball player. He can be a pitcher and batter, and hit 11 home runs in the game. Japanese players seemed to be weaker than American before. But he has incredible power, and is stronger than American. That is why he is called “Monster”.
D introduced 9 policies he keeps.

B: Covid-19
In his office, one colleague had Covid-19 in GW holidays, and the colleague stayed at home. Yesterday, B knew 6 employees had the doubt of Covid -19, and cleaned everywhere with alcohol. B feels the situation gets harder, and Covid-19 is a close problem.
A feels angry for people who go out by midnight, and enjoy dinner or drinking.

C: Effect of Vaccination by Pfizer
On TV, scientists said that first vaccination by Pfizer gives 10-25% people immunity, and second vaccination gives 95%. It takes 1 month from first vaccination. In Japan, the first vaccination has started, and less than 2% Japanese have their first vaccination now.
D can have reservation for vaccination. It was hard, and she spent one and a half hour from 8:30 to 10:00 making a reservation.
B’s parents also had reservations, but he was concerned about side effects.
C had a vaccination coupon, and he waits for the announcement of the city now.

D: Visit her father in Hiroshima
D is in her father’s house in Hiroshima for 5 days. Her father, whose hobby is gardening and grows some vegetables, is fine. D will go back next Monday from Hiroshima where the emergency state is announced, and wonder if she should be absent from the next badminton club.

●Today’s Topics: Let’s play games in English
Game: 2 Truths and 1 Lie
Player: F
I have an iPhone, Macbook, and iPad.
I had a dog before.
My nearest convenience store is Roson.

Player: A
I met Katsura Sanshin.
My device is all black.
I have a dictionary for more than 10,000 yen.

Player: E
I have never been to the US.
I like Korean food.
I enjoy cooking.

(Nao)

The report of the meeting on 12/5/2021

There were five attendees at the session on Wednesday, May 12.
We first made short speeches as usual.
They are about:
-replacing the net of the screen door by himself,
-expecting Japan-made vaccine against COVID-19 within the year,
-starting vaccination to children over 12 years old in her country,
and so on.

Then, we moved to today's topic:
"Over 3-meter-long pet python on loose after escaping in Yokohama".

After reading the article by the paragraph, we discussed about three questions out of 5.
1. What do you think about this news?
2. What do you think about why people keep animals as pets?
3. Did you have a pet, or do you have a pet?

Some had dogs. They had really good memories with their dogs. That's why they don't want to have other dogs any more.
One also had a dog which died some years ago. In the present circumstances, it is difficult for her to own another dog.
One has three birds (paddy birds and cockatiel). They are so cute but in the morning, all the three strat to scream to show their complaints. They want to go out of the cage as soon as possible.
It may depend on person why they keep animals as pets. However, animals have healing power which is helpful for us in the stressful life.
There seem to be some people who own really dangerous animals such as python, alligator, bear cat, tiger, etc. Such owners have to take great responsibility, so that their pets never get out of the cages and never hurt people.
First and foremost, I can't understand the mind of those who keep dangerous animals as pets.
(Yuki)

The report of the meeting on 8/5/2021

There were 10 attendees at the session on May 8th.

First, we talked about each other's recent news or topic that they want to share.
We talked about the snake that escaped from a man's home and went missing. The snake is 3.5 meters. It is not venomous, but it can constrict its prey to death within minutes. It sounds too scary.
We also talk about vaccination, football game, and TV show.
Then, we moved to Today's topic.
★China passes law against food waste
Recently a binge-eating video has been popular in China. Those videos influence an excessive amount of food waste.
Under the newly enacted law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), misleading or inducing excessive food ordering could face a fine of up to 10,000 yuan (about $1,546).
One of the members said Chinese hospitality. During a banquet, Chinese hosts like to serve guests the best foods they have. When they host a meal or invite their guests, they usually prepare food way more than usual. Another member told us about similar hospitality in Bangladesh.
I had a great time as usual. Thank you.
(Akemi)

The report of the meeting on 5/5/2021

We had 8 participants tonight.

Today's topic was "Japan".
Japan has lots of advantages points and disadvantages. On the other hand, how Japan has been imaged by foreigners?
This article is written by a foreigner who came to Japan from the USA. He wrote his image about Japan while he stayed for 2 years. There are contents even the Japanese don't know.

● Country. Territory.　　Continental
The typical feature of Japan is a narrow road.
(I'm sure Japanese driving skill is number one in the world.)
Japan consists of over 6,800 islands.
(So, Japanese sea territory is the 6 place in the world.)

●Nature　　Japan has been blessed by nature. but・・・
Japan suffers 1500 earthquakes every year.
The number of small earthquakes that we don’t feel is more than 100 thousand times.
In Japan nature remain here and there, even if in the town.

● Politics.
Japan and Russia still haven’t signed a peace treaty to end World War 2, due to the Northern Territories dispute. 　This is a strange problem for foreigners.

● Society
Japan has 5.52 million vending machines.
Japan has more than 100,000 people who are over 100 years old The general price level is so high(一般物価水準) When Japanese eat noodles (Slurp up noodles) they make a noise, which is against eating manners.

● Culture
In Japan, about 90% of smart phones are waterproof because youngsters use them even in the shower.
Square watermelons are grown by Japanese farmers.
They can't eat and are easier to stack and store.

● Rules.
They have been keeping a social rule as common sense.
At the escalator, the user makes two lines with standing and running up.
We don’t forget that the orderly society at the West Japan great earthquake.
Japanese trains are among the world’s most punctual.
(Their average delay is just 18 seconds.)

● Safety and no crime
Japanese can go outing with only one even if at night.
Japan has just 2 gun-related murders per year.
Japanese children can take a train alone. (without their protector)
(This situation is unbelievable in the USA.)

● Service
hospitality
Japan has no tip culture, but they greet a guest like a God with a smile.
When we into a restaurant's many clerks said “Welcome here”

● Japanese
The Japanese who survived the Titanic crash was called coward in Japan.
General Japanese tend to want to study English.
In Japan, there are more pets than children.
All Japanese tend to lose weight.
My friend couldn’t buy clothes. The XL size in Japan is M in the USA. Japanese have good manners and also have kindness.
(He was surprised that when he ask the route, a Japanese took me there.)
Thank you.
( Ue )

The report of the meeting on 1/5/2021

The session covered our recent updates and topic discussion as usual. Eight people attended the session on May 1st breaking into two groups to allow everyone available to talk as much as possible.

As an icebreaker, we talked about our daily life, family and plans for Golden Week holidays. During the state of emergency, we cannot do what we used to do before. However, we can at least enjoy our daily living by finding the safe ways to spend time indoors and outdoors.

Today’s topic was “household appliances”. As the technology is more advanced, our life gets more convenient. We quickly adjust the innovative changes which will be accepted as our new norms and standard living. Microwave ovens, rice cookers, washing machines…, every home must have these appliances to make our life easier. Roomba, the smart robot vacuum cleaner, attracts and stimulates customers willingness to buy. In any appliances, there are two options to buy in-store or online whichever convenient for us. We can also do a research on our own or use the market research tools to check the best pricing and customer reviews before purchase.

It was nice to exchange and share our thoughts/information freely in the session. Thank you so much for your participation. I enjoyed today and look forward to the next session!
(Masako)

The report of the meeting on 28/4/2021

There were five participants at the session on April 28th. After we made short speeches, we talked about the following topics.

・Please tell us about the kind of news that you are into.
・Are there any foods you avoid for your health?

We talked about the news that young wife who was arrested for killing Japanese “Don Juan“, Food and nutrition, and Japan-South Korea relations.

Since the news of the murder has been making headlines across Japan, our conversation became lively!

We also talked about the issue of comfort women.It seems like it will take a long time to solve the problem, but I hope things will get better anytime soon.

As we get older, we tend to be more health-conscious. It was great to share eating habits to improve them, and most importantly you should take good care of yourself.

It was a great session, I had a really good time thanks to all the participants.
(Naoko)

The report of the meeting on 24/4/2021

There were 9 attendees in today's session on April 24.
At first, we started from “What's new topic.”
Although we continue to be self-restraint, it is always a precious time for me because members bring up various topics and I can know what is happening in the world and the situation in this What's new topic.
Next, We moved into today's Main theme is picked up from Forbes magazine article “BILLIONAIRES AT RECORD NUMBER”. We talked about rich people, along with below questions.

1. What do you think about this news?
2. Do you want to be a billionaire?
3. If you were billionaire, What you want to do?
4. What do you think about the wealth of the world being concentrated in some people?
5. Should there be a wealth gap or should it be eliminated?
6. What is good point / bad point of wealth people life?
7. Do you think rich people should use their wealth for society?

And We talked about “rich people”. Globally, we talked about the fact that a lot of wealth has gathered in a small proportion of the wealthy, while the number of poor people is increasing.
When asked if you wanted to be rich, many answered NO, and I don't think that getting rich would make me happy.
Dividing wealth evenly is not a good policy, but I think it will be important to enhance welfare to help the poor people.
(Maru)

The report of the meeting on 17/4/2021

There were 9 attendees at tonight’s session on April 17th.
Therefore, we made 2 groups.

First, we started the session with “What’s new”. There was the story about parents’ vaccination of coronavirus. For coronavirus vaccination, there were people who wanted to get the vaccine and people who didn't want to get the vaccine because of concerns about side reactions. At work, there was talk of fewer meetings recently because it is the influence of coronavirus. There was also the story about the recent increase in self-payment register in supermarkets and the story of using Uber Eat for the first time.

Then, we moved to “today's topic”. In the topic, we talked about whether we should change the start of schools and companies in April, and the special event at the end of the term in March and April. We also talked about graduation trips the member went abroad to Italy, UK, France, etc. in the past, and which mobile companies the members use ,or how do they get smartphones, etc. There were many valuable stories.
(Hiroshi)

The report of the meeting on 14/4/2021

There were five attendees at the session on Wednesday, April 14.
We first made short speeches as usual.
They are about:
-his birthday and the ideal image of himself,
-current circumstances of vaccination against COVID-19,
-stressful life in prolonged lockdown,
-introduction of EV cars by package delivery companies,
and so on.

Then, we moved to today's topic:
"Even Short Phone Calls Can Reduce Loneliness".

After reading the article by the paragraph, we discussed three questions out of 10.
1. What are your thoughts on the findings of this study?
2. Do you spend much time talking on the phone?
8. Do you expect the number of people experiencing mental health issues to increase over the next few decades? Why? Why not?

Recently many people use LINE or other SNS for chat, voice call, and video call, which makes them easy to keep in touch with friends and family. They seldom use phone calls.

For people with hearing loss, sending postcards is a better choice. Handwriting cards show a lot about writers' personalities and can be repeatedly read. However, video calls with sign language are another choice.

Under the pandemic, many people have been facing mental health issues.
Considering the elderly who are not familiar with PCs or SNS, receiving phone calls and hearing the voices of friends or family must be very helpful to keep their mental condition better. Of course, it may be much better to meet and talk directly, though.
(Yuki)

The report of the meeting on 10/4/2021

There were 5 members at the session.
We started with What’s new as usual.
We talked about the things below.
・About the recent coronavirus situation in his city.
・To overcome the cold climate he underwent.
・About spreading the virus and its influence on plans for spring holidays.

Today’s topics were reading a riddle and playing some games.
First, we read the article “Marching to Stand Still” and answered the questions.
Second, we played 3 different games.
1, One person thinks of something he/she likes. Then the rest of us gather information about it by asking questions that can be answered with yes or no.
2, Proceed to tell a story with each person saying one sentence at a time which starts with either “fortunately” or “unfortunately”.
3, While all of us except one is talking about a particular word without stating it, one makes a guess what the word is.

Thank you for joining.
(Toru)

The report of the meeting on 7/4/2021

5 members took part in the session.

North Korea recently announced that they will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
The reason is that they can't put their team at risk of Covid 19, but in reality, there are many other reasons. For instance, it is likely that they cannot afford to send the team to Japan because they are subject to long-standing economic sanctions.

The United States mentioned the possibility of non-participation in the Beijing Olympics next year.

I went to the dentist for the first time in years.
Dental treatment is very expensive in Canada. And the dentist who treats the patient may change with each treatment.
I have experienced an environment of -50 degrees Celsius. During that time, I walked from the bus stop to school for 20 minutes, and eventually, all my hair froze. Frostbite warnings are often issued in winter there.

If I was given a three-day vacation that I can use freely, I would like to stay alone at a Japanese-style inn, eat Japanese food, and soak in the hot springs to relax.
(Libran)

The report of the meeting on 3/4/2021

There are 8 members in today’s talk. We were divided into two groups.

●How’s going?
A: Torch relay of Olympic
There was Torch relay in Gunma prefecture last Tuesday and Wednesday. Fortunately, Wednesday is her day off, so she watched the relay in her city online.

B: Cherry blossom are full blooming
He went to Kishiwada-Castle to see the cherry blossoms. Kishiwada-Castle is famous for cherry blossom viewing, and it takes 40 minutes by car from his house.

●Today’s Topics: Hometown tax system in Japan
1. Have you ever used the hometown tax system?
A: She knows the system because CM comes on at the end of the year, but she has never tried. She thinks it’s interesting, and she will try this year, and already find some good candidates. She is interested in food and local beer for the returning gifts, because she likes alcohol.
C: Her husband has used the system, but she hasn’t. She is glad to receive the returning gifts such as rice and beef.

We talked about the experience associated with alcohol;
B: He doesn’t like alcohol much because he doesn’t like to lose his memory. He shared the experience that he drove for his club members in his university days. His family loves to drive, that is why he got a driver license at 18 years old. His relative gave a second-hand car to him.

2. What are the benefits of the hometown tax system?
B: People who live in another town can donate to their hometown. He has lived in the same city so far, so that he has never tried the hometown tax pay system. He said that he wanted to try if he would live in another city.

We talked about the experience associated with the dialect;
A: Gunma prefecture’s dialect is strong, and sometimes their conversation seems like fighting. She can speak the dialog, but she doesn’t.
B: People in his city are more like Wakayama and Kyoto people.
C: She has the dream to speak in a dialect. For her, Aomori dialect is very difficult to understand.

3. Did you leave your hometown? Which do you prefer: the place where you live now or your hometown?
C: She has lived in the same city, the same as B. She doesn’t like big cities such as Tokyo. Her city's convenient and economic life makes her comfortable. Her place has easy access to Tokyo and the hot spring in Gunma prefecture, and she can live cheaper compared with Tokyo.
(Nao)

The report of the meeting on 31/3/2021

Seven members attended tonight’s session.

What’s new
We exchanged “ what’s new” on an individual basis and discussed the quantum computer, smartphone, hate crime, assignment on the web, careless people for COVID-19, and so on.
Especially excited the topics were the “hate crime” and “careless attitude of people for COVID-19”.
Both are related to the COVID-19. The former one is Asians in the West are increasingly faced with discrimination as some say the origin of Corona is China.
The latter means some people enjoy eating and drinking without observing their social distance as it has started the cherry blossom season and the state of emergency has been lifted.

Today topic
The topic was “travel”, which make a wide range of discussions.
We exchanged each experience such as the temple and shrine in Japan, Okinawa, Medicine Hat in Canada, New York, and Santa Fe in the USA.
Many of us especially recommended it based on the landscape. For example, Shuri Castle in Okinawa, Yakushiji Temple, and the wilderness of Canada. They are fabulous beyond description.

One unique episode was shared, which is one participant touched the wonderful afro hair of an afro hair man on a trip.
Even in Japan, there may be something familiar to this experience that we have an impulse to touch if there is a shaved person.

That’s all.
Thank you for attending. See you again.
(Ken)

The report of the meeting on 27/3/2021

There were 8 attendees at the session on March 27.
We were divided into 2 groups.

First, we talked about each other's recent news.
We talked about…
・enjoying the freshly bloomed cherry blossoms.
・natural disaster
・online community

Then, we moved to Today's topic.
★Uber worker benefits 'will make a difference'
According to the article, Uber drivers in the UK got recognition as workers. The company has offered holiday pay, a guaranteed minimum wage, and pension benefits to its drivers.
We got these opinions.
・Employees benefits such as holiday pay, a guaranteed minimum wage are too much. The government should support workers, not the company.
・Uber taxis are cheaper than regular taxis. When you use Uber taxis, you can check the drivers' reviews. In some areas, there are risks that the taxi drivers cheat the fare. When you use Uber, you don't need to worry because you can check it beforehand.

I've never used neither Uber taxis or Uber eats. They are not available in my area. When the time comes, I'd like to try them. I think I will appreciate the advancement of technology.
(Akemi)

The report of the meeting on 24/3/2021

We got together six participates tonight.
1. We talked about "What's new?"
A-san She changed the communication company to Rakuten- mobile.
B-san He told us about Banksy who is a mysterious artist.
C-san He had a meeting at his workplace, but he couldn't get the conclusion from the meeting. He asked us do you have any idea?
D-san She who lives in Canada told us about the Canadian natural museum.

2. Today's topic.
Q1. Please tell us what your breakfast style is.
Why do you eat rice/bread as breakfast?
Q2. Chose one in ten questions, and talk us about "rice"
(omission the 10 questions)

3. Do you have snack time?
All members have had snack time and enjoy it every day.
Having cookies, chocolates, crackers, and also drinking an alcoholic drink.
The snack time is an essential time in the nesting life by covid 19 crisis.
Thank you
( Ue )

The report of the meeting on 20/3/2021

There were nine members in attendance on March 20, 2021.
The meeting kicked off with “What’s new?” topic as an icebreaker:

We had a friendly chit-chat about the recent warmer weather that changes in temperature variation between day/night, and exploring the famous town in Tokyo. We also talked about introducing the consumption tax inclusive prices in the housing, food and clothes retailing markets, and the Covid-19 vaccine upcoming plans.

Today’s discussion about living in a big or small city:

In some areas famously known for international events have a huge traffic a few times a year. In Tokyo, the number of populations is decreasing, and people are moving to wherever they can find more comfortable to live.
However, it is still hard to say which urban or suburb living is better for us. There are pros and cons for both such as high rent prices in the countryside and high crime rates in the urban area. As we move to a different life stage, our preferences change; once we are settled and start raising a family, there is no need to move out of the city as long as we can get everything there.

Today’s assignment: I should have used the chat box to list the names when splitting into groups. This way, it would be easier to know which group we are going to. Thank you very much for coming!
(Masako)

The report of the meeting on 17/3/2021

There were five participants at the session on March 17th.
After we made short speeches, we talked about the following topics.

・Do you have foreign friends? Do you want foreign friends?
・Do you shop online?
・Please tell us about the kind of news that you are into.

We talked about Automatic cars, foreign friends, Amazon U.S., the Myanmar’s protest, and the Meghan and Harry interview.

One shared the interaction with friends who live in U.K. It has become more accessible to communicate with foreign people since we have the internet, and it is important to see things from different perspectives in order to understand cultural differences. Furthermore, English plays an important role to connect people. It is definitely worth studying it!

We had a lively conversation, and I hope everyone enjoyed the session as much as I did.
(Naoko)

The report of the meeting on 13/3/2021

There were 7 attendees at tonight’s session on March 13th.
First of all, we divided into two groups, and started from “What's new topic”. In talking about topics everyday life, entirely, we have tend to talk about corona pandemic.
I want to believe that the situation will change with the arrival of spring. The members of the circle will give a lot of information, so anyway, I'd like to devise a way to prevent infection and do my best for a while.

Next, today's main topic was about Japanese school rule. We talked about it on the story of the trial about forcing a girl student to dye her hair.
After all, there were many opinions against forcing, but even if we want to keep the school rules, I think that it is better for teachers to give guidance after giving a solid explanation without taking a high-pressure attitude.
(Maru)

The report of the meeting on 6/3/2021

There were 10 attendees at tonight’s session on March 6th.
Therefore, we made 2 groups.

First, we started the session with “What’s new”. The stories of the riot in Myanmar, the corona vaccine, my number card, etc. were talked about. I thought everyone is familiar with the latest news. In addition, there were stories about a person living on the 12th floor of the condominium who cannot use its elevator, and talking about purchasing an air conditioner.

Then, we moved to “today's topic”. In the topic, we talked about spring events and seeing various flowers including cherry blossoms. Some people don't like cherry blossom viewing, but many of them like flowers, and they seem to enjoy various flowers such as plums, cosmos, wisteria, rape blossoms etc. throughout the year. Under the corona environment, this year's cherry blossom viewing and banquets at the end of the fiscal year or the beginning of the fiscal year seemed to be in our self-restraint mode, and I thought it was especially difficult for newcomers to communicate.
(Hiroshi)

The report of the meeting on 3/3/2021

There were five attendees at the session on Wednesday, March 3.
We first made short speeches as usual.
They are about:
-fatigue under the pandemic which has been lasting over one year,
-a visit to a science museum with her family for the first time in over a year of stay-at-home advisories,
-taking supplement to prevent from forgetfulness by aging,
-considering how to cope with error messages which make our sign-in difficult,
and so on.

Then, we moved to today's topic:
"'Goats on Zoom' Service Makes $68,000".

Although it started as a joke, sometimes a small idea may become a big hit, even during the economic stagnant.
If goats attend zoom meetings or video calls even in a short time, how well we are healed, especially under this lasting terible pandemic situation.
Have you ever seen goats' faces? They look always smile filling with a gentle atmosphere.
As the farm owner says in this article, the best way to get through difficult times may be with humor.

All the attendees favorably reacted to today's topic.
So I was a little relieved. Thanks a lot.
(Yuki)

The report of the meeting on 27/2/2021

There were 8 member’s in total at the session.
We started with What’s new as usual.
・About a dream she had recently. She had a dream which was very strange but made her feel happy. Something wonderful like you feel someone distant very close happens sometime.
・About a mountain railroad at Mt.Fuji. Yamanashi prefecture announced the plan to build a railroad on Subaru highway. It will provide access to the fifth station of Mt.Fuji from Fujiyoshida city. They have 5 million visitors every year. Having this option will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles.
・About a column from a newspaper. NASA’s explorer vehicle called perseverance has successfully landed on Mars. Searching for signs of life. It won't be easy, however it always excites us to hear such slogans.

Today’s Topic : Tasteless Naming
We read the article and answered the questions.
There has been a Tofu burger for years, she said. McDonald's’ attempt is not so new. Tofu burgers are healthier and lower in fat than usual burgers. However, the taste is slightly different.
Soybeans are called meat of the field, according to him. Because they contain a lot of protein. Itoham sells plant based meat called “just like meat” aimed at families. It will eliminate food shortages.
Having the option is good for vegetarians, she said. In another country, being vegetarian is popular. She has cooked hamburgers with Tofu and meat mixed. and yet she prefers hamburgers with meat.
None of the members have ever bought plant based meat at a butcher. However, buying them instead of meat will help reduce the greenhouse effect, because cows produce a lot of CO2.
The fast food restaurants are perhaps for young people in Japan. Some elder people are reluctant to enter the store.

Thank you all.
(Toru)

The report of the meeting on 24/2/2021

There were 5 participants in the session.

In the first half, each one gave a brief speech.
Each speech is briefly summarized as follows:

・As Covid 19 vaccination has begun in Japan, it is crucial to make the public aware of the side effects of the vaccine.
Due to the lack of vaccines, the scramble for them is taking place. It is important to secure an ample amount of them for all the Japanese people.

・Spring is approaching and a troubling season has begun for people with allergies to pollen. A mask is an essential item not only for corona prevention but also for pollen prevention.

・Recently, a celebrity gave a pet that he had kept for five months to someone who have recently lost his loved pet. People are arguing the pros and cons regarding the celebrity's behavior. At least, we should not blame his actions unconditionally.

It is difficult to realize a world without discrimination, but we must constantly strive to achieve it.

We tend to judge people only by their appearance. Of course, appearance alone does not determine everything, but the first impression is important.
Judging people by online chatting without video is a daunting task.
However, even in such a situation, we can understand who the other person is like by spending a lot of time interacting with each other.
(Libran)

The report of the meeting on 20/2/2021

There were 8 attendees today.
We divided into 2 groups.

●Short speech
・Herd immunity
A said that every healthy person should get a vaccine.
B are afraid of the side effects. After more data are collected, he will take a vaccine.
・The closest Ramen shop from his house
That shop still opens under the situation of COVID-19. It encouraged him.
We talk about the most favorite Chinese food.
・Cafe
B recommended some places in Kobe city such as Kobe-mozaiku and Sannomiya area. We can see big ships in Kobe port.
A also recommended Kobe tower.

●Today's topic: Flying car
・What do you think about this article?
A : He said that there were two developing cars, flying cars and self-driving cars. Flying cars need drivers' attention to the engine. Self-driving cars have problems with the responsibilities of traffic accidents. Such cars require AI technologies, but it is not good at handling unexpected things. 75% of drivers are afraid of flying and self driving cars.
He would like to believe the technologies, but he doesn't want to drive such cars.
drive a car almost every day.
B: He feels flying cars are dangerous. Even if cars are on the road, there are many traffic accidents. He has experienced a car accident only once, even though he drives every day.
C: She feels flying cars are like movies. When she was a child, she imagined such kind of cars. She is not used to driving even a usual car, so hesitates to drive a flying car. However, she wanted to enjoy flying cars as a passenger.

・Do you often use cars in daily life?
B: He drives every day because he lives in the upper of the mountain. It takes 40 minutes to walk to the nearest convenience store or supermarket. Even to the closest station, it takes around 30 minutes on foot. He often drives to the seaside, and he likes to drive. He listens to music with his walkman or smartphone. Yoasobi is now his favorite musician, because he can empathize with good lyrics.
A: He doesn't listen to anything while he drives, because the roads he uses are always so crowded that he needs to concentrate on driving.
C: She has her driving licence, but she doesn't drive. Her husband is a professional driver, so he is very good at driving. She has an electric bicycle, which is very convenient when going out with his son.
(Nao)

The report of the meeting on 17/2/2021

Six members attended tonight’s session.

What’s new
We exchanged “what’s new” on an individual basis and discussed the electric bicycle, entrance exam’s memory, crisis at Senkaku island, recent cold weather, and so on, which based on the “what’s new”.
Especially excited the topic of the influence of China, which affect Japan’s defense and prevent the freezing of the pipe due to the cold.
We keep from responding to a provocation against China and take measures for pipe problems, such as keep the water or trickling water.
We have to get along with China and cold weather.

Today topic
We exchanged the opinion about the environment, smartphone, TV programs and so on. Especially had a lively conversation about the environment and life without a smartphone.
For the environment topic, we need to refrain from air travel, or it needs prohibiting to use a private jet for especially rich people as much as possible to reduce the emission of CO2. The opinion is similar to Greta Thunberg who is an environmental activist from Swedish.
For the without smartphone life, some say we can live without it but is difficult the life as we are used to it. Our lifestyle is possible thanks to the phone in a sense. In a sence we are addict to use apps such as LINE Google map etc.
FYI, IT fasting is popular in some people according to B san. If you are interested, give it a try.

That’s all.
Thank you for attending. See you again.
(Ken)

The report of the meeting on 13/2/2021

There were 8 attendees at the session on February 13.
We were divided into 2 groups.

First, we made a short speech.
We talked about…
・Japanese pop music which is categorized as city pop
・real estate investment trends
・Groundhog Day

Then, we moved to Today's topic.
★Healthcare Clowns
According to the article, healthcare clowns are becoming especially popular in Israel, which is considered a world leader in the field.
Healthcare clowns are not common in Japan, but instead, therapy dogs are. For example, therapy dogs visit nursing homes, hospitals ,and prisons. They bring moments of happiness. They help people with sick and dimentia.

I believe "laughter is the best medicine".
When I laugh I feel refreshed and happy.
It is said that laughter strengthens your immune system.
I try to laugh a lot.
(Akemi)

The report of the meeting on 10/2/2021

Four members got together tonight.

A-san bought a new laptop-style PC made in HP and the PC works much smoothly. She was seemed satisfied.
B-san talked about the royal family of Thailand. Thai people don't respect the current Emperor and some of the people are arrested.
C-san said he has felt harmful in his eye when he is using PC and the eyes of the human being are breaking little by little every day.
D-san also said about the operation of his eyes.
E-san talked about car-accident on the snow day.
F-san said about the tax return system. He has thought that are there any other useful way to return, except the current tax return system?

After that we talked about a topic.
"Flaming Torch-inspired skyscraper set to be the tallest building in Japan"

After the session, I felt that When Naoko san was absent, even if the participants member was six, we should divide into two groups. All members were not enough to talk tonight, I thought. Thank you.
( Ue )

The report of the meeting on 3/2/2021

There were eight attendees at the session on Wednesday, February 3rd. After we made short speeches, we talked about the following topics.

・Studying English
(The methods you have tried, your favorite way of learning, etc...)

・If you take English lessons, which do you prefer: Online learning vs. classroom learning?

・What are the 3 best movies you have ever seen?

We talked about English lessons, English clubs, movies, and favorite actors. Since we all are into English, it’s always fun to talk about it and share each other’s opinions.

We also talked about the difficulty of discussing in a group. Group settings substantially differ from individual situations. Therefore, it is difficult to find the right balance in a conversation.

We had a good session as always, I’m looking forward to next one!
(Naoko)

The report of the meeting on 30/1/2021

We have nine members in today's session.
I am grateful that many members have participated in the difficult situation due to the corona.
At first, we separated into two grope, and then we talked about some questions.

1. What news have you been interested in lately?
2. Do you have a new hobby that you started recently?
3. Is there a place you would like to go when the corona pandemic end?
4. What are the pro and con of comparing Japanese and foreign culture?
5. What do you want to change the most in Japanese customs?
6. Do you have any recommended TV shows these days?
7. Do you have any recommended music these days?
8. Do you have any recommended English study materials?

We enjoyed the conversation on these topics. It seems that we should continue to refrain from living, and it is difficult to enjoy traveling and eating out freely, but talking with someone about where I want to go is encouraging and I can feel hope for the future.
Keep hang in there, believing that we will definitely be able to our original life in the near future.
(Maru)

The report of the meeting on 23/1/2021

There were 8 attendees at tonight’s session on January 23rd.
Therefore, we made 2 groups.

First, we started the session with “What’s new”.
Recently, there was talk of watching movies on Netflix. All the participating members seem to be subscribed to Nelflix, which seems to be a very useful tool for entertainment from home in the situation of Coronavirus pandemic.
There was also a story that a member who got a new smartphone at a mobile phone shop due to a bad internet connection is thinking about changing the new contract plan to 25GB. Recently, cheaper plans than before from mobile phone companies will be available this time, and so I thought it was a good time for everyone to consider changing smartphone plan.

Then, we moved to “today's topic”.
In the topic, there was a story that they are looking forward to hosting the Olympic Games such as soccer, baseball, and softball under the circumstances of Corona.
In addition, there were needs waiting for the resumption of the “go to travel campaigns” and “go to eat campaigns”, and needs that they should not be done to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Furthermore, the Tamori Club TV program introduced an online travel plan. It's hard to travel under the coronavirus pandemic recently, so I thought it was an interesting attempt, and it seems that souvenirs are included in this online travel.
(Hiroshi)

The report of the meeting on 20/1/2021

There were eight attendees at the session on Wednesday, January 20.
We split into 2 groups.

We first made short speeches as usual.
They are summarized as follows:
-He changed the smartphone plan from a plan with 500 MB data and pocket wifi router to a plan with 12 GB data,
-He thinks plans and contracting procedures of Japan's mobile phone companies are conplicated and not customer-friendly,
-A COVID-19 cluster has broken out in a nursing home in her town,
and so on.

Then, we moved to today's topic:
"Programmer Lost Password to $240 Million in Bitcoins".

A computer programmer cannot access bitcoins in his digital wallet, because he lost a password he set and has kept in the IronKey hard drive. The problem is he lost the paper where he wrote down his IronKey password. To be regrettable, he cannot use his bitcoins which are now 5700 times more valuable than they were when he got them.

About digital money there are pros ad cons. However it might be a main currency in the future. We talked about how to keep passwords, and about a software "a password manager".

One says he makes passwords in a systematic way in order to memorize them easily.
Considering the risk to lose or forget passwards that may lead your important things to be sealed off forever, writing down them in a few notebooks sounds better.
Anyway, there seems to be no perfect methods to keep passwords safe and to prevent from forgetting them.
(Yuki)

The report of the meeting on 16/1/2021

There were 9 members in total at the session.
So we split into 2 groups.

What's new
・To parchase a new washmachine
・Visiting her father and taking PCR test
・About institute he serves for and an accident happened to him
・About rules company asks against coronavirus

Today's topic
"The power of social interaction for happiness"

We read the article about social interaction under the pandemic.
Then we talked about our thought on it.
Additionally we answered a couple of questions. These are list of them.
・Do you talk to strangers?
・Are you a person that people can easily talk to?
・Has the pandemic affected your social interaction?

Thank you for sharing your idea. That was fun!
(Toru)

The report of the meeting on 13/1/2021

There were 6 participants in today's session.
As always, each person talked about recent events.

It snows a lot in his area this year, Mr. A said. He vividly remembers when he was little, he enjoyed making snowmen.

Ms.B said one of her friends had become a close contact with a Covid-infected person and had been quarantined for a week or so, even though she was negative on the test.

Ms. C said the lockdown had begun again in the country she lives in. Those who violate the law may be fined or imprisoned.

In Japan, seven prefectures have issued a state of emergency, and it is still difficult to legally crackdown on those who do not comply with the request.

Ms. C said she was against buying and selling kidneys. We should also be cautious when even performing common organ transplants for small children because it can cause serious problems.

Ms. B visited Auschwitz in 2017　with her friend. She explained to the participants about the concentration camp where millions of Jews were executed while showing the pictures she took.

The incident that happened there is one of the greatest tragedies committed by mankind.

During the last 15 minutes, several members gave quizzes and showed mysterious pictures, and the party became more lively and enjoyable.
(Libran)

The report of the meeting on 9/1/2021

There are 7 attendees in the session today.
We are divided into 2 groups.

● Short speech
We talk about the below.
・The movie; parasite
・The president of US; Trump
・The state of emergency

● Today's topic ; how to make a good goal
・Do you have any methods you want to try this year to improve your English?
　One attendee said that she tried to attend the meeting to speak in English 10 times a month, including STIE. She also plans to listen to English news with app, and sometimes read aloud them.
　Another attendee said that he also attended the english club which is speaking class twice a month. In the class, they talk in English with the partner for 15 minutes, then they change the partner and repeat that 6 times. He continues to join the club around 7 years, however, now the club is closed because of COVID-19.

・What do you think about the article? Is it useful for you?
　One attendee said that his last year resolution was reducing his weight by 7kg. He measured his weight after bath, and record it in the table on the wall everyday. It had a good effect, and he succeed to loose 5kg last year.
　Another attendee said that she also reduced 10kg weight 2 years ago. She succeeded the reduction by the record of what she eats as well as her weight, joining the badminton club and walking.

・Do you have a New Year resolution? What is it?
　One attendee said that her resolution is keeping a daily. She had a habit of keeping the diary in Junior high school, but she quit. Her diary is created using google spread sheet, and she shared her diary.
　Another attendee said that his resolution is the reduction of his 5kg weight. He will continue to record his weight every day, and join every morning radio exercise for 25 minutes in the park near his house.
(Nao)

The report of the meeting on 6/1/2021

"Happy New Year."

The night was the first session of the STIE in 2021.
We split into two groups.

The first member said that her daughter's couple came to her house and they had a long talk. She show us her original Osethi cuisine. There were a lot of dishes in the Juu Box. sweet black soybeans. herring roe. candied sardines. fish paste. sweet rolled omelet. candied chestnut (with sweet potatoes). and so on. What a gorgeous Osethi cuisine are!

The second said that his rice cooker was broken and he bought a new one. And he spent the New Year with watching and sharing the virtual U-tube. I didn't understand it in detail but I knew the U tube has been becoming evolve now.

The third said she visited her mother in law who has lived close. She said that living nearby with her mother-in-law is very convenient to her, but it's too convenient sometimes. Her mother in law gave money to her son as a OTOSHIDAMA.

The fourth said he visited his guardian deity named Uji shrine.
Although we are under the coronavirus crisis, but many visiter made a long line, he said. He climbed a small mountain, it is his yearly routine.
There is an observation platform on the top of the mountain and there are many mountain birds in the area and the bird named Yamagara that become tame was sitting on the visiter's palm and eating feeds.
His first day of the new year was quiet, peaceful and it made me forget the corona world, he added.
Thank you.
( Ue )


The link to the report of 2019-2020
The link to the report of 2018
The link to the report of 2017
The link to the report of 2016
The link to the report of 2015