SANKO Sanjo High School

Sanjo High School will celebrate the 111-year anniversary of its founding on May 1. I am an alumnus of the school and even taught there until I moved to a nearby university eight years ago.

These days, I am a board member of the alumni association and I make it a rule to attend the annual founding celebration. I hope to see many of my past students as well as older graduates at this year’s ceremony.

NUM's New Computer-Assisted Language Learning Center

Niigata University of Management continues to improve its English education facilities by converting an outdated language laboratory into a state-of-the-art computer-assisted language learning center. We encourage all students who wish to improve their English to use our new facilities to help them meet their goals.

Grown Younger

Take a look at the picture of me giving a lecture that is posted on our school’s website (http://www.niigataum.ac.jp/news/2012_20121218083847.html). I’ve lost more than 10 kg of weight and have been keeping the lost weight off. When all is said and done, I found that a version of the low-carbohydrate diet worked best for me. I would like to recommend my method to those who wish to treat or prevent some chronic diseases and conditions including metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, a stiff neck and shoulders, lower back pain, and diabetes.

It also helped me turn back the clock. I am now what I was 30 years ago in terms of weight. I was suffering from many lifestyle-related diseases and conditions, including a fatty liver, chronic snoring, back pain and skin rashes. However, these have all improved or disappeared since I started my diet in late September.

I was always up and down in the course of my struggle to control my weight. Each time I would lose weight using a certain diet I would relapse and put back on the weight. My former method was basically to diminish the total intake of calories which always proved to be stressful.

My stay in San Francisco last September was sort of my last chance to test if my theory was right. I walked and walked and ate less for two weeks. While I lost a kilo, I felt very stressful and missed a chance to eat a lot of delicious food.

Low-carbohydrate diets, which are dietary programs that restrict carbohydrate consumption usually for the treatment of obesity and diabetes, have only recently become accepted in Japan. You limit foods high in digestible carbohydrates (e.g. rice, bread, pasta), but you can eat foods containing a higher percentage of proteins and fats (e.g. meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, cheese, beans, nuts, and seeds) and other foods low in carbohydrates (e.g. vegetables, mushrooms, Japanese konnyaku and edamame) as much as you like.

I decided to reduce substantially the amount of rice I eat during each meal and when I drink sake, which is rice wine, I decided not to eat rice at all. The hardest part for me was to decline going to ramen noodle restaurants and drinking beer. Usually, when I drink alcohol these days, I only drink whiskey or other distilled drinks.

Currently, I feel healthier and happier than I've felt for years. The only downside for me is that I had to change all my suits to fit the new smaller me.

Back in San Francisco

I escorted a small group of students to San Francisco again this year. They are attending Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, south of San Francisco, which has an affiliated language school within the campus that offered them a two-week special language course. I am responsible for taking care of them during the program.

The students enrolled are from all over the world – Brazil, Colombia, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Taiwan, China, Russia, Vietnam, etc.

The language school, TALK at NDNU, is a thriving community on the NDNU campus. They have small class sizes and students can therefore work very closely with their teachers. Teachers and staff enjoy spending time with students, taking them on activities, showing them the area, and making sure they get the most out of their experience with them. On Friday after class they are taking all of us to Pescadero, a small beach town. We are looking forward to the trip.

According to the instructors, my students’ English has indeed improved and their vocabulary has improved as well. Thank heavens.

“Hayabusa” Falcons

While the nation gazes at the Japanese crested ibises on Sado Island, I prefer to fix my eyes on the falcons of Mt. Yagigahana. Located in the Shitada area of Sanjo City, the birds are designated as one of Niigata Prefecture’s protected species.

According to a story in May 31 edition of the Niigata Nippo Newspaper, a breeding pair of falcons, who have inhabited the area for years, once again hatched eggs this year. Two young birds have been spotted in the nest on the cliff, but they are not yet fledglings.

In Japan, their nesting location was believed to be along the rocky stretches by the sea, but recent reports indicated that falcons choose to nest on high-rise buildings and iron towers. One such nest has been found on the Niigata Prefectural Government Building.
Still, it is not so usual that falcons inhabit mountainous areas.

When I was very small, falcons actually inhabited the area around my family’s house. In fact, the birds were so famous that many clubs and buildings were named after the “hayabusa.” However, they vanished from there soon after and were gone for a very long time, though there are some who say the birds never really left and were just hidden from view. Regardless, some twenty years ago, they made a comeback and can be seen in plain sight once again. I wish that the two young birds will soon be able to leave their nest safely.

Family Reunion in Venice

For many Japanese people, Italy is a dream destination. In Japan, Broadcast Satellite TV programs featuring Italian towns and villages run almost every weekend. Italy has the largest number of World Heritage sites and is one of the most popular destinations for Japanese tourists.

My wife, daughter and I had a chance to visit there and to appreciate its historic and traditional buildings, breathtaking architectural landscapes, natural beauty and rural villages during Japan’s Golden Week holidays. Our tourist guide was my son who has been enrolled at a Venetian university since last September.

He made sure to take us to St. Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco in Italian), which is the most famous of the many churches of Venice and is one of the finest examples of Byzantine architecture in the world. Located just off the Grand Canal, the gleaming basilica overlooks the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) and adjoins the Doge's Palace.

Another pleasant trip was strolling along the cobbled streets of Milan. Amongst its splendors were the many types of traditional architecture all about us. However, what most thrilled me in Milan was when I stood within Santa Maria delle Grazie just in front of “the Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci.

A great experience many tourists would rarely get to partake in was a visit to an ordinary house in an Italian village. My son’s roommate was kind enough to take my family to his home and to treat us to a typical Italian lunch with good wine. He also showed us around the historical sites there and I felt as if I were immersed in its culture.

I was so happy we were able to make the best use of the short time we had there and to find such a relaxing place to stay in with my family.

Azaleas are at their best

My daughter is safely off to college, the weather has become more comfortable, the days grow ever longer and the azaleas are in full bloom. Finally, spring has truly sprung, and one of its most relaxing pleasures is to take in all the beautiful flowers while having a cup of hot black tea on the wood deck in my garden.

However, these relaxing moments seem to happen less these days. We had a very long winter and too much snow this year. Last week our area had unusually strong winds. Not to be outdone, the very temperate central Tokyo area was pummeled by hail. Most unusual of all were the many tornadoes that surprisingly struck the Kanto area in the early part of May, something I cannot ever recall happening before. It looks like abnormal weather is becoming normal in many parts of the world.