2019/02/19 The click-clack mountain Part one

Once upon a time, there lived an old man and his wife. The old man grew vegetables in his field, but a bad raccoon dog would come into the field at night. The raccoon dog ate many of their vegetables. This happened almost every night. The old man was very angry. He decided to set a trap.

One morning, the old man came out to the field. He found the raccoon dog caught in the trap.

The raccoon dog said to the old man, Please let me go. I promise I'll never, ever be bad again.

But the old man didn’t believe him. He tied up the raccoon dog with a long rope and took him home.

He told his wife, Let's have raccoon dog soup with mochi rice cakes tonight.

Then, the old man put a hook in the ceiling and threw the long rope over it. He pulled on the rope, and the raccoon dog was up in the air.

After the old man left to work in his vegetable field, the old woman started making mochi with a hammer and mortar.

The raccoon dog said in a weak voice, Kind lady, I promise never, ever to be bad again. Please let me go.

The old woman said, I’m sorry, but I can't.

She started making the mochi again. But it was difficult work for the old woman.

The raccoon dog had an idea.

He said in a kind voice, Kind lady, you must be getting tired. If you let me go, I'll help you make the mochi.

At first, the old woman said, Thank you, but I don't need any help.

But the raccoon dog kept saying he could help again and again.

He even said, I just want to help you. You can tie me up again when the mochi is finished.

Finally, the old woman let him go.

The raccoon dag said, Thank you. I'll help you make that mochi now.

He picked up the hammer and suddenly hit the old woman with it. The poor old woman fell down. She was dead. The raccoon dog ran back to the forest. When the old man came home and saw his wife, he cried and cried.

A few days later, a kind rabbit came to see the old man. The rabbit was a friend of the old man and his wife. When the rabbit learned the old woman was dead, he became very sad.

He said, Your wife was a good woman. I will stop that raccoon dog from ever hurting anyone again.

The following day, the rabbit went to the raccoon dog’s home and said, Mr. Raccoon Dog, it's such a fine day. Let's go to the mountains together and gather some firewood.

The rabbit smiled at the raccoon dag, and the raccoon dog smiled back. He didn’t know the rabbits plan.

2019/02/18 A&B @ Akiyoshido Cave

Akito, look. Sheep.

Sheep?

Yeah. There are hundreds, no, thousands of them.

Ben, look closely. They're not sheep. They're limestone rocls.

Huh?

I’m Akito. Today we’re in Mine City in Yamaguchi Prefecture. We are on our way to Akiyoshi-dai.

This is the largest karst area in Japan.

Karst? What's that?

It's an area of land that’s made of limestone.

Right. Limestone is made from the bones of animals living in the sea. This area used to be part of the sea.

The sea?

Uh-huh. A long time ago, the earth’s plates moved and pushed up this land. Then, the rain and wind shaped the limestone. It took many, many years.

You know a lot.

I came here on a school trip in elementary school.

Oh, that’s cool.

And under this area is one of Japan’s largest limestone caves.

A cave? I want to go.

I thought so. Let's go.

We go inside. Akiyoshido Cave is about ten kilometers long, and the first kilometer is open to the public.

The entrance looks like a scene from an adventure movie.

The inside is even better. This is called Aotenjo, or Blue Ceiling. There's a lot of space here, but the space becomes smaller and smaller.

Look at that. They look like large plates. I've never seen anything like that.

This is called Hyakumai-zara, or One Hundred Plates.

So nature created them?

Yes. I think I took hundreds of years.

That’s unbelievable.

Ben and I go further into the cave. We are both amazed by the beauty of nature.

What's this?

Ben. Don't talk so loudly. There are other tourists here, too.

Sorry. It's just so beautiful.

This is called Kogane-bashira, or Golden Pillar. It's the symbol of Akiyoshido Cave.

It's 15 meters high, and four meters wide.

How was it made?

Water came out of the ceiling of the cave and went down the walls. When that happened, the limestone in the water stayed here and built up.

I wonder how long it took to become this big.

I’m sure it took a really long time.

Oh, Look. The next limestone shape is called Jellyfish Climbing a Waterfall.

Wow. They do look like jellyfish. I really like these names they're funny.

You know, experts are still exploring this cave. People don't know what the whole cave is like yet.

Really?

Yeah. Experts are still discovering new areas.

That means there might be more interesting-looking limestone shapes.

That’s right. In the future, we will be able to see new ones with unique names.

Or maybe we can find new ones and give them names ourselves. I’m going to find one that looks like a hundsome man and call it.

Ben.

2019/02/15 Red candles and the mermaid E2

The mermaid girl grew older. She was shy about her different body and didn’t go outside much. However, those who had seen her were all surprised by her beauty. Some people came to buy a candle at the old couple’s shop just because they wanted to see her.

One day, the old man was making candles as usual. The girl came up to the old man and said, I have a good idea. May I paint pictures on the candles that you make? I am sure people will buy more and more candles if I do.

All right, you can try painting some.

The mermaid girl started to paint. Althought no one had taught her, she painted wonderful pictures of fish, seashells and seaweeds on the white candle with red paint. The old man was very surprised. There was something mysteriously beautiful about the painting. He thought Of course the paintings are great. She's a mermaid.

The candles with red paintings quickly became famous. Children and adults all came to buy them. The candle shop became very busy.

It was around this time that a new story began to be told. People started to say,

These candles will protect your ship in any storm, and you will never drown.

The candles with red paintings sold quickly. The old man worked hard from morning to night to make the candles. And the mermaid girl sat beside him and painted although her hand hurt.

The mermaid girl’s eyes filled with tears as she thought about the old couple’s kindness. She had a good heart.

I am greatful that they took care of me even though I am not human. I cannot thank them enough.

People heard about the candles even in faraway villages. Fishermen and sailors came from all over to buy the special candles. They all climbed the mountain, prayed at the shirine, lit the candle and waited for it to become short. Then, they took the candle home.

So the shrine on top of the mountain was always shining with candles, day or night. It was especially a beautiful scene from the sea at night.

The shrine suddenly became famous for its powerful gods. The gods of the shrine became well known, but no one thought about the girl who created the paintings. So there was no one who cared if the girl was working too much.

The mermaid girl was tired. She put her head out of the window and cried when the moon shone brightly. She missed the blue sea of the north.

Then one day, a greedy merchant came from the south. He came to the north to find something interesting so he could make money with it when he went back home.

2019/02/14 Sri Lanka

Ayubowan.

Vanakkam.

That means Hello in my contry’s two official languages. Can anyone guess who I am? My capital city used to be Colombo, but now it is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte. Good job if you know who I am. I am the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Sri means brightly shinig and Lanka means island.

I am about 20 percent smaller than Hokkaido, and you can find me in South Asia. I am an island in the Indian Ocean just south of India. My population is about 20 million, and 70 percent of them are Buddhists. I theink a lot of you know of me because of Ceylon tea and curry. Both are delicious, so you should try them when you come to my country.

Today, I want to tell you about mysterious drawings of several ladies. You can see them on a giant rock in the center of my country. The rock is a big rock mountain called Sigiriya. It is in the jungle, and I am sure you will be surprised when you see it for the first time. It looks like the gods Budda put a big rock down in the middle of the jungle.

Sigiriya is about 180 meters north to south, 100 meters east to west, and 200 meters tall. There are stone paws of a lion in the north part of the rock mountain. The name Sigiriya comes from this. It means lion rock.

You can see the colorful and elegant drawings of 18 ladies on the rocks today. But it is said that there used to be more than 500. People don't really know who these sigiriya ladies are, but the drawings are certainly wonderful Sri Lankan art.

A long time ago, monks used to live on Sigiriya. But in the fifth century, a king built a new capital at Sigiriya. The Sigiriya ladies were drawn during this time. The king built a palace on the top the mountain so his enemies could not attack him. The main entrance of palace was between the lion’s paws.

There are also amazing gardens and ponds, and there is a water fountain that still works. Oh, and there is a mirror wall. Can you imgine a wall being a mirror? The stone wall was polished so the king could see himself in the wall.

Sigiriya is sometimes called the Eighth Wonder of the World. But there are many other things to see in my country. There is a special Buddhist temple called the Temple of the Tooth, and you can enjoy the wonderful view of tea fields. I hope you can came so you can see everything for yourself.

2019/02/13 A taste of summer

Hey, where's Mom?

She had to go to work today.

Again? I’m hungry. Is there anything to eat?

I’m going to make you somen noodles.

Somen again? You always make somen.

I’m good at it.

Some is not even a real dish. You just boil it and serve it cold. And you can buy the dashi soup at the supermarket. You don't even have to make it.

Oh, come on. Somen is a refreshing summer dish.

I want to go to a restaurant and eat spaghetti.

That would be nice, but restaurants are usually crowded on Sundays. Hey, I have an adea.

What is it?

Let's go look at the bamboo trees in our yard.

Are we going to eat bamboo shoots?

You'll find out later. Let's go.

Dad and I go behind the house. He starts to look at the bamboo trees. He finally finds one that he likes and starts cutting it down.

Watch out. It's going to fall over. Let's cut off all the leaves. And then, we’ll cut the bamboo in half.

Wow. It's a perfect half-pipe shape. The edges are so smooth. Why is a it like that.

Because the fibers of the bamboo run up and down the tree. Okay, can you use this hammer and make the inside of the bamboo smooth?

Sure. What are you going to do?

I’m going to get water.

Bamboo and water? I wonder what kind of somen we’re having.

Okay, let's put them together.

Put them together? What are we making?

We are going to make a waterway with this bamboo. We’ll put one end up high so that the water will go down.

I work with my dad and make the waterway. Finally, we’re finished. It looks like a mini waterslide.

Dad, I’m so hungry. Can we eat now?

Yes, you can. Take this bowl of dashi soup and a pair of chopsticks and stands at the end of the bamboo waterway.

Okay.

Here it goes.

What?

Suddenly, water and some somen noodles come flowing down the waterway.

Hey. You have to catch the noodles.

Dad, this is just somen.

No, it's not just somen. It's nagashi-somen, or flowing somen. If you don't catch the noodles, they’ll be gone.

Okay. Wait. Not so fast.

I put my chopsticks in the water and catch the noodles.

Yay. I did it.

Good job.

The noodles are cold and delicious.

Okay. Are you ready? Catch these.

What? Wait.

I look at the bamboo waterway and see some cherry tomatoes coming down.

I can't catch them.

Just use your hands.

Okay. This tomato is so good.

This is a lot of fun. I forget about the time and eat lots and lots of somen. Nagashi-somen in the summer is the best.