2018/07/23 A&B @ Himeji Castle

Thank you very much. Don't forget, we are A&B, Akito and Ben. See you again. Bye.

Uh, Ben, what are you looking at?

Look at that castle.

That’s Himeji Castle.

Ah, it's beautiful. It looks like it was made yesterday.

I hear that it was repaired and painted a few years ago.

I’m Ben. Today, Akito and I are in Himeji in Hyogo Prefecture. We were performing in front of the station. But I couldn’t take my eyes off that castle. It is so beautiful.

I think we can walk there. Do you want to go?

Yes.

Himeji castle is nicknamed Shirasagi-jo, or White Heron Castle.

Ah, it looks like a large, white bird with wings. The lord must have lived a calm and happy life in that castle.

Uh, actually, it wasn’t like that.

We turn around and see a person standing there.

Hello. I’m a tour guide. Welcome to Himeji Castle.

Hello. I’m Ben, and this is Akito. Can you tell us about this castle?

Sure. It was built about 700 years ago. Every time the owner changed, the castle was repaired, and new parts were added.

What was the new parts for?

They were added to win the battle.

It doesn't look like there were battles here.

You’d be surprised. Look over there. Do you see those holes in the walls?

Yes. The holes have different shapes. It's a nice design.

Are the holes there to let the samurai sunlight in?

No. They're used to protect the castle. When an enemy came to the castle, the people inside shot arrows or fired guns from those holes.

Really?

Yes. Also, some parts of the castle are built like a maze, so the enemy would get lost. It looks beautiful on the outside, but this castle was created to be difficult to attack.

I see. Every It remainds me of a famous saying. Every rose has it's thorn.

I heard that Himeji Castle wasn’t damaged by the bombing during World War two.

That’s right. Many things have happened since it was built. But the castle still stands here. It might be because this castle has a secret.

 A secret?

Yes. The last time this castle was repaired, we found out that the family symbol on the roof was upside down.

Maybe someone made a mistake.

Well, there's a saying in Japan. When something is complete, it starts to break down. Maybe the workers who built this castle put the symbol upside sown so that the castle would not break down.

Wow. That’s interesting. Hey, Akito, it's the same as performing.  We don't want to be perfect, because we will stop working hard.

But I want to be perfect.

Oh, Akito. You don't understand.

Understand what?

2018/07/20 A bunch of grapes Episode three

My teacher looked a little surprised when she saw us. But she tached touched her short hair with a her right hand and looked at us with her usual kind face. She moved her neck to one side as if to ask what the problem was.

Then, the big, smart boy stepped forward. He told her everything about how I had stolen Jim’s paints. Her face clouded for a moment. And then looked at us with a serious face. When she looked right at me, I was about to cry. She asked me, Is this true?

It was true. But I didn’t want my favorite teacher to know the bad thing I did. So instead of answering, I started to cry.

My teacher looked at me for a while. Then, she said to my classmates in a quiet voice, You can all go now.

My classmates didn’t look happy and noisily went downstairs.

After they laughed left, my teacher didn’t say anything and didn’t even look at me. She only looked at her fingernails. But then, she quietly keen came to my side and help held me. She asked me in a quiet voice. Did you return the paints?

I wanted her to know that I did, so I nodded deeply. Then, my teacher said, This is not something to be proud of. You know that, don't you? When I heard that, I felt so bad. I bid bit my lid lips to stop them to from shaking. Then tears felt fell from my eyes. I felt like I wanted to die in my teacher’s arms.

You can stop crying now. I understand. You do not go have to go to the next class. You can stay in this room. Stay here until I come back, okay?

She made me sit on a sofa. Then, she reached out the window and grabbed a bunch of grapes from the grapevines. She put the grapes on my lap and quietly left the room. I was still crying.

I had disappointed my favorite teacher. It made me feel so bad. I didn’t feel like eating grapes. I continued to cry and cry.

I woke up when someone lightly shook my shoulders. I had fallen asleep I in my teacher’s  room. She was smiling down at me. I returned the smile with a small smile of my own and quickly picked up the bunch of grapes. They were about to fall off my lap. Then, I remembered what I did. My smile quickly disappeared.

You don't have to look so sad. Everyone has gone home. You go home, too. and you must come to school tomorrow to no matter what. I will be very sad if I don't see your face tomorrow. Make sure you come, okay?

Saying so, she put the grapes in my bag.

2018/07/19 Congo

Bonjour. Hi. I am the Republic of the Congo. You can find me in central Africa. Do you know that there are two countries in Africa with the name Congo? The other country is to my east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is much bigger than me, about seven times bigger. The Congo River flows between our capital cities.

By the way is the deepest river in the world. My land is about the size of Japan, and about half of it is tropical rain forests. If you want to meet gorillas up close, I am just country for you.

My capital city is Brazzaville, and my official language is French. I am hot and humid all through the year. The average temperature is about 25 degrees Celsius. And more than 70 % of population is Christian.

My country has exrienced some difficult times, and most of my people are not rich. There are many people who find it hard to feed their families. But even in such an environment, you will meet very fashionable people wearing colorful clothes walking on the streets of my capital city. They are called sapeurs. This word comes from a name meaning a group of fashionable and elegant gentleman. The sapeurs wear top designer brand suits, shoes and accessories. You will know a sapeur immediately when you see one. They are colorful, elegant and clean, too. They even have a unique way of walking to show their stylish clothes. This is not just a fashion style, but a way of living and a way of thinking.

You ask why they dress like this? Well, you see, do you remember that I told you there were difficult times in my country? You have to have peace to enjoy fashion. So as sapeurs say, You can't have wore war and be a sapeurs at the same time. It's one way to show that they are against wars. And you have to take care of your hair, smell nice and be well dressed as a famous sapeur singer sang in one song. There is no always enough water, so it is easy to get dirty. If you are always too dirty, you might get sick. But these sapeurs take good care of themselves so they won't get sick. It's good for many reasons.

The sapeurs are men with ordinary jobs like taxi drivers, shoemakers and police officers. But after they get off work, they spend many hours choosing their clothes and accessories. Then, they walk around the city. They walk as sapeurs to make people happy and show them that life is good.

The sapeurs, tropical rain forest safaris, gorillas and forest elephants are all here. Aren’t I an amazing country?

2018/07/18 A big adventure

We’re going to see a movie?

Yes. Our next-door neighbor told me about a good movie.

I haven’t been to a movie theater in almost twenty years.

It’ll be fun. I'll get the tickets.

What are you doing?

I’m reserving our tickets online.

You know how to do that?

Yes. Miki taught me how. Our grandchildren are so good at these things. Okay, done. Now let's go.

Oh, I can't wait.

Honey? Where are you? Honey?

I’m here. I told you to stay close to me.

There are so many people here. It's easy to get lost.

I know. Oh, there is a the ticket machine. Uh, how do I do this? A password? I don't remember my password… Maybe it's 1 2 3 4

Excuse me. I think you received an email what with the password in it.

Any An email?

Yes. Everyone gets an email when they make a reservation.

Did I really get one? I can't find it.

Could you look at his smartphone for us?

Sure. Here’s the email. This is your password.

Thank you.

Honey. Where are you? Honey?

I’m here. I told you to stay here and wait.

I’m sorry. I just wait went to the ladies’ room.

Anyway, I bought us some popcorn and drinks. Let's go and sit down.

Tickets, please.

Here you are.

Uh, these tickets are for tomorrow.

What?  But I got them at the ticket machine today.

Umm, maybe you chose the long wrong date when you were reserving them.

Really? What should I do?

Honey, maybe we can come back tomorrow.

But we already bought popcorn and drinks.

We can't change the reservation, can we?

Please wait a moment. I'll check if there are any seats available for today.

What is that machine she is using?

I have no idea. It looks like something from the future.

Okay. We have two seats available.

 You do?

Yes, but they are not together, so you will have to sit separately. Would that be all right?

I guess so.

But I wanted to sit next to you during the movie.

We have no choice, Dear.

Oh, okay.

Honey? Where are you? Honey?                                          

I’m here. We’re in the theater, so we should be quiet.

I feel so lonely sitting by myself.

It will be okay when the movie starts.

Excuse me. I can change seats with your wife. Huh?

I came here alone, so it's okay.

Really? Thank you so much. Dear. This kind person says she can change seats with you.

Oh, thank you.

No problem. Enjoy the movie.

Ah, I’m so glad I can watch the movie with you.

I’m glad, too. But the movie hasn’t even started, and I already feel tired.

Yes. It feels like we were the main characters of an adventure movie.

2018/07/17 The hatsuyume millionaire ~part 1~

Once upon a time, in a mountain village, there lived an old man and his family.

One New Year’s morning, the old man asked his three sons about there their hatsuyume dreams. A hatsuyume is the first dream that a person has in the New Year. If you have a good hatsuyume, it is said that you'll have a good year. Also, some people think a hatsuyume dream will come true. But they also think it won't come true if you talk about it. The first and second sons told there their father about the dreams they had. But the youngest son didn’t want to talk about his dream. He only said, I had a good dream. The old man asked, What kind of good dream? Tell me what it was. But the youngest son would not tell. The old man became very angry. He threw his youngest son out of his house. Don't come back.

The youngest son now had no home. He sadly walked down a mountain road. He had nowhere to go. That’s one when a Tengu came flying down from the sky and said,

Hey, why do you look so sad? I had a very good hatsuyume dream. But I didn’t tell my father about what I saw. And then, he threw me out of the house.

Well, well. That’s too bad. What was your dream about?

I’m sorry. I can not talk about my dream even to you, Mr. Tengu. But it was a really good dream.

Tell me your dream, and I will let you have this mino cloak and kasa hat. With them, you'll be able to travel 3000 miles in one jump. Will you tell me your dream now?

All right, then. But can I really fly with those things?

Of course.

The Tengu put the mino cloak on the youngest son’s shoulders. Then, he put the kasa hat on the youngest son’s head. Make me fly 3000 miles. The youngest son shouted.

Suddenly, he flew away without telling the Tengu his dream. The Tengu was very angry, but there was nothing he could do.

The youngest son flew far, far away. He landed in front of the kids a cave. A big dangerous demon came out of the cave.

Why have you ccme flying to my cave?

I had a very good hatsuyume dream. But I did not tell my father about what I saw, and he threw me out of the house. I was walking along a mountain road and met a Tengu. He gave me this mino cloak and this kasa hat that can make me fly 3000 miles. The cloak and hat brought me here.

So what was your hatsuyume dream about?

The demon waited for the youngest son to answer.