Nomad

Nuclear power

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0900

The following is a letter I wrote that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald on February 22, 2012. The title it was given is, "Just ask Japan: Stay away from nuclear power".

YURIHONJO, Japan — I'm from Grand Forks, and right now I live in northern Japan, about 155 miles from the disaster last year at the Fukushima Power Plant. When the earthquake struck, the only things that happened to me were a few days without power, a few weeks without gasoline and a few months without some vegetables the grocery stores usually stock.

But some of my coworkers' friends and families — people who lived within 19 miles of the plant — saw their lives get shattered. They had to leave their homes, and while they may be able to return some years from now, there still is no official timetable for cleaning up the radiation or restoring evacuated communities.

The power company, TEPCO, said the earthquake and tsunami together caused the power plant to break down, and that nobody could have predicted it. But some scientists did predict it, and TEPCO's own experts had heard and ignored these concerns for years.

There also is evidence to suggest that the earthquake alone caused the damage, meaning the safety standards for the entire country could be lax, and all nuclear power plants in Japan may be at risk.

Nuclear power was thought to be cheap and safe, but reality has shown us the opposite is true. If you include the cleanup costs of Fukushima (largely paid for by the government through tax dollars, and now through a 15 percent TEPCO energy price hike), nuclear power in Japan now is more expensive than wind and thermal, and by current projections, solar will be cheaper within a decade.

There is now no place in Japan that would accept a new nuclear power plant. But despite this happening across the Pacific, recent Herald stories and editorials tout the benefits of nuclear power in the Red River Valley. Of course, as energy consumption rises and old power plants close, new power has to come from somewhere. But why are we discussing nuclear without first discussing wind and solar?

North Dakota has amazing potential for wind power, and the price of producing it is dropping.

Though the nuclear power industry is quick to claim how cheap nuclear power is, this is misleading, because the nuclear industry is good at pushing hidden costs back on taxpayers. According to 2010 Department of Energy estimates, the actual cost per kilowatt hour is higher for nuclear than for wind. Plus, when wind power plants fail, entire regions aren't destroyed.

Nuclear-power advocate Duane Sand says the valley is a safe location, but aren't there ways a nuclear power plant in North Dakota could fail? Earthquakes may be unlikely, but there are other dangers: operator error, mismanagement or any number of natural disasters.

Endorsing nuclear while ignoring wind is looking at the difficult and dangerous option while ignoring the sensible, proven and safe alternative.

Why would any region stake its livelihood on a power plant never breaking down, especially if it had a better option? We shouldn't, because we do.

Perkins teaches English with the JET or Japan Exchange and Teaching Program in Japan.

Chokai ALT

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0900

Dear new ALT, you'll be coming to Chokai! This is good news, because Chokai is a great place to work and live. Here's some information for you.

About Chokai

Chokai (鳥海町) is a town in the city of Yurihonjo (由利本荘市), which is in southern Akita prefecture. Technically speaking, "city" and "town" are political units based on population, so though it's called a city, much of Yurihonjo is rural. You can drive for 60km and still be in the same city! Yurihonjo is divided into towns, and the two of these most relevant to you are Chokai and Yashima (矢島町), where your schools are located. For information on Yurihonjo, see Wikipedia (⇗) or the AkitaJET wiki (⇗).

The urban center of Yurihonjo is called Honjo, and it has large supermarkets, City Hall, and all sorts of businesses. Chokai is far from Honjo — a 30-60 minute drive, depending where you want to go. Chokai itself is composed of villages and hamlets, the most notable of which are Kawauchi, Jinego, and Hitane. For pictures, see Wikimedia Commons (⇗) or my photo gallery (⇗). For other relevant information, see elsewhere on my website (⇗).

Schools

The position I had, which you'll have, is an elementary and junior high school ALT. There are five schools: Yashima Junior High School (矢島中学校), Chokai Junior High School (鳥海中学校), Hitane Elementary School (直根小学校), Jinego Elementary School (笹子小学校), and Kawauchi Elementary School (川内小学校). Yashima JHS is in Yashima, and the other four schools are in Chokai. Number-wise, there are only four schools in Chokai, and you'll work at all of them. There are three schools in Yashima, and you'll work at one of them (the other two are Yashima Elementary School and Yashima High School). For more on these schools, see the AkitaJET wiki (⇗ and ⇗). When you first visit the schools, they may or may not explain to you the general rules for teachers. As I remember it, here are the rules they told to me (with side comments in italics).

Your work day is 8:00-4:00. In rare cases, you'll work after 4:00, but most of the time you should not do so, because it is neither in your contract nor a good use of your time. After 4:00 you can leave. If you want to stay at school, you can help out with, join in, or go watch a club activity. When and how to go about this is up to you. Participating in club activities is great use of your time — you'll learn a lot, you can play sports if you like, and the impact on the students is large. Unfortunately, ALTs cannot be official coaches of sports teams, but you can help out in practice, either occasionally or regularly, if the coach is OK with it.
Except where noted, you work Monday through Friday. There is no school on national holidays. On occasion, there is a special event on a Saturday or Sunday, and if so, there will be a comp day around that time. Because you visit multiple schools, sometimes your comp day won't be the same as the rest of the school (i.e., the day they took off is a day you went elsewhere). If this happens, you should ask that school when they want you to take the comp day. Also, because you visit elementary schools rarely, they can't always give you a comp days for a special event. If an event is not on your work calendar, you can go to it in your free time if you like, but this is entirely up to you, and even if you go (because it looks fun), you don't have to stay the whole time.
If you are going to be significantly late for work, call the school and tell them. If you unexpectedly can't go to work for some reason, call Chokai Junior High School, even if you are scheduled to visit another school. They will relay the information. If you're taking a sick day, it's generally expected that you'll go to (or have recently gone to) the hospital. Also, traditionally you should be talking to the vice principal if you can't make it to school, because the vice principal oversees this kind of thing. If your Japanese is not up to speaking with the vice principal on the phone, you can talk to an English teacher instead, and then the next time you go to school, briefly talk with the vice principal about why you were gone. If you're unexpectedly absent for several days in a row, contact the school each morning. If you get sick and need to go to the hospital, I recommend talking with the school. The school nurse can recommend a hospital to visit, and the school can call ahead and make sure the hospital is prepared to receive you. If needed, the school can send an English teacher with you to help translate. For work-related communication regarding matters such as these, it is best to use the telephone to call the school directly (unless it's after hours or you've arranged otherwise). Emailing the English teacher's cell phone is a bad idea.
At school, your direct supervisor is the vice principal. For academic matters, your English teacher is in charge. For scheduling matters, there is a teacher in charge of scheduling for the entire school who makes your calendar. If you want to bring an outside guest to school, you need advance permission (which you can probably get) from the principal.
Technically speaking, you are a public servant (公務員; kōmuin), like the secretary and the maintenance man, and you work for the town. Other teachers at school work for the city. This means that you won't change schools between years (other teachers transfer schools every few years), your paperwork is different from other teachers', and the holidays you have might be slightly different.
You should wear presentable clothing every day. Something like what the other teachers wear is reasonable. For graduation and commencement, you should wear a suit or something comparable. For Sports Day, you should wear something suitable for running or sports. Many of the teachers wear ties and suits on a regular basis. Unless the vice principal or principal tells you to do this, you don't need to be so formal.
Your teaching responsibility is to do team teaching for English lessons. At junior high school, you'll work with an English teacher who generally plans most of the lessons. At elementary school, first through fourth grade lessons are part of the period for integrated study, which means there is no textbook or syllabus, so you should confer with homeroom teachers about what topics to cover. For fifth and sixth grade, there is a textbook and syllabus. Elementary school teachers are not English experts, so there's room for you to do quite a lot. Your first lesson will likely be a self-introduction lesson. Strictly speaking, you are not supposed to be teaching alone, though if your fellow teachers feel that you can, you might occasionally do so. It is likely that you'll do most of the work for first-fourth grade elementary school classes.
During summer vacation, you'll coach junior high school students for the annual speech contest. The English teachers will oversee this, though perhaps your instruction will be the most signficant.
You must pay for school lunch. Typically, you can pay at the end of the term. A day's lunch is something around ¥300. School lunches are very large, so maybe small breakfasts are in order.
You might be asked to pay into a teachers' coffee/tea fund. Coffee and tea are available as much as you like in the staff room. They might ask for ¥500-1000 a month. If they never ask you to contribute, you don't need to. Either way, you can have coffee.
Try to use supplies from a school at that school. A common complaint from junior high schools is that ALTs use a lot of color toner or make dozens of photocopies in preparation for an elementary school visit, which means the junior high school is paying for the elementary school's supplies. This upsets the office person at the junior high school, which is not a good thing. Using school supplies for personal use is not permitted. You will probably do prep work for elementary school at junior high school. Just keep an eye on not using too many materials. If you occasionally use a color printer to print something for another school, nobody will worry about it. But if you want to do a lot of laminating, ask the destination school to order you a box of laminating paper (which you can use wherever you like). Similarly, if you know you need a lot of supplies for elementary school, get them ahead of time from the elementary school. When preparing for work-related conferences, anything involving the education office, or similar work-related events, feel free to use materials from whatever school you're visiting.
Student privacy is very important. Students' test scores and health are things that you shouldn't talk about with third parties. If you want to use closeup pictures or videos of students on your public blog or on YouTube, you must get permission from their parents (which is to say, you generally can't). Distance shots are fine, though.

I've made a file that has a lot of useful information like maps, teachers' names, rosters, and other such materials. It will be in your desk when you arrive at Chokai Junior High School. Learning the names of teachers and students is very important — it would be hard to overemphasize how much this matters. There are also some JET Program publications from past years which might be of interest. At both Chokai and Yashima, there's a computer at your desk. You can use it to surf the internet for lesson plans, to check email, and to read the news. If you're just wasting time on the internet, try to be slightly discreet. All school internet traffic goes through a city proxy server, and while presumably nobody monitors what sites you're visiting, they could if they were so inclined. On this blog, there are entries with pictures and history for each of the five schools (Chokai ⇗, Yashima ⇗, Jinego ⇗, Kawauchi ⇗, Hitane ⇗). Chokai Junior High School's phone number is 0184-57-2309. The address is 〒015-0504 秋田県由利本荘市鳥海町上川内字西野１０８, or in English, Nishino 108, Kami Kawauchi, Chōkai, Yurihonjō, Akita 〒015-0504 JAPAN.

Education

Education is a broad topic, and because we as ALTs often lack prior experience in the field, we have to learn a lot on the fly. The two most important sources of written information are the JET Program and the Ministry of Education, Sports, and Technology (MEXT). When you arrive in Japan, you'll probably get a copy of the national Course of Study for elementary and junior high school English (⇗ and ⇗). It is worth reading this document several times, because it highlights the assorted objectives of the classes you will teach. In junior high school, English classes are taught by a certified English teacher (JTE). When you are there, you'll do team teaching (TT). Different JTEs have different styles, but most of them are very open to ideas you might have. A common difficulty that new ALTs have is that their activities are too complicated and thus take too long or are otherwise confusing, so if you're suggesting an activity to your coworkers, try to keep it simple. If you feel underused at junior high school, recognize that as you gain experience and knowledge, and as you and the JTE adjust to working together, you'll be able to do more. Also, there are many things you can do outside of class to interact with the students. For example, you can make an English poster board, do English writing journals, or play foreign music during lunch time. See the AkitaJET website (⇗). At elementary school, fifth and sixth grade students study English as part of the course called Foreign Language Activities. The objective of this course is using English, specifically in verbal form. Fifth and sixth grade teachers teach English even when you aren't there, so you'll probably do lesson planning with them by fax or email. The JHS English teachers can help translate faxes or emails. There's a textbook for fifth and sixth grade too — the Eigo Note. There is an electronic copy of the Eigo Note on your JHS computer. For first through fourth grade elementary school, English is part of the Period for Integrated Studies, which means there's no syllabus and no textbook. This also means you have a lot of freedom to choose interesting topics — see the AkitaJET wiki for ideas (⇗). The simplest way to plan first through fourth grade lessons is to pick a topic for each class (for example, fruit). In that class, teach the students roughly ten new words (apples, peaches, oranges, etc.). Play a few games to practice the vocabulary. Then end with a conversation game that uses a simple question and answer pattern (shopping for fruit, say). As you get comfortable with elementary school lessons, you can integrate short reviews of the previous class's material or to cover multiple topics. Expect students to forget a lot, because you're only teaching them once a month. For all students, and particularly younger students, activities where they move their bodies are a great idea. Two simple examples of this are Total Physical Response (TPR) and having students lie down to form numbers, shapes, or hands on a clock with their bodies. Homeroom teachers at elementary school generally don't speak much English, which can make team teaching somewhat difficult, but you should try to work with them closely, because it will make your classes smoother. To begin with, they probably have ideas for what topics or games their students might like to play. Beyond that, any time you are showing examples, you can show them with the homeroom teacher, though it would be good to chat with the homeroom teacher before class so they know what kind of example you want. Generally speaking, for first through fourth grade, the best lessons are fun, simple, and fast-paced. It is said that kids have an attention span that's about as long as their age, which means, for example, that six-year-olds should probably be starting a new activity — or changing the current activity — every six minutes or less. I don't know whether psychology research supports this rule of thumb, but that doesn't really matter, because if you keep it in mind when planning lessons, you'll find your lessons will be well received.

Annual events

All schools have an annual Sports Day (運動会). Chokai JHS and Yashima JHS tend to have theirs in May, and the elementary schools tend to have theirs in June or July. At Sports Day, students split into teams and have both serious and fun races. There are also some events for teachers and PTA members. At Hitane Elementary School, the Sports Day is a community event, not just a school event, so there are also events for grandparents. In the fall, elementary schools have a School Presentation Day (学校発表会), and junior high schools have Culture Festival (文化祭). The elementary schools have a few academic presentations followed by a chorus or band concert. In the afternoon of that day, some schools have special events. For example, Hitane Elementary School does soba-making, and Jinego Elementary School sometimes does mochi making. At the junior high schools, the event is an all-day affair. Classes compete in the chorus contest, some recite speeches, others may do a dance or performance, the school band performs a few numbers, and other interesting things may happen. There are three annual sports tournaments: spring (late April), summer (late June or early July), and autumn (late September). Various sports use different venues in the Yurihonjo-Nikaho area. Typically, baseball is the most popular, and if the baseball team wins the city tournament, the whole school will probably go cheer for them at the prefectural tournament. The English Speech Contest is held in the fall, and two students from each junior high school can join. Auditions might happen just before summer vacation, and the bulk of practice takes place in August, during summer break. In March, teacher transfers are announced. Teachers (and other workers) tend to change offices every two or three years, as decided by the Board of Education. They typically get the news in late March and start at their new place of work in April. Still, sometimes teachers stay at a school for many years — there is no official limit. Retirement age is sixty, and teachers in Akita are required to retire when they reach that age. Students who transfer schools are most likely to do so at the end of the academic year, in late March.

The Board of Education

The Yurihonjo Board of Education (由利本荘市教育委員会; Yurihonjō Kyōikuiinkai) office is in Honjo, and it is in charge of all elementary and junior high schools in Yurihonjo. You won't visit the Board of Education much. Instead, you will be supervised by the Chokai Education Office (鳥海教育学習課; Chōkai Kyōiku Gakushuka), which is a branch of the Yurihonjo Board of Education. At the moment, the guy who signs your contract is the head of the Chokai office, Mr. Sato Kakuei (佐藤覚栄), though he might be retiring this March. He is in charge of elementary school and junior high school education for Chokai, but in reality he doesn't have much to do with the ALT directly. Instead, one of the other office workers at the branch office will handle your paperwork. Generally speaking, your schools determine your schedule — Chokai Junior High School is your main school, so if you want to change your schedule, talk to them. The education office wants to know where you've visited because they pay a portion of commuting costs, so please keep track of what schools you went to on what days. And at the end of the semester or school year, they might also want to know how many times you taught each class, so try to keep track of this. If you're going to a distant place on vacation (especially if it's international), you should probably tell the education office where you're going, how long you'll be there, where you're staying, and how they can contact you in case of emergency (ideally, email and a phone number). When I went on international trips, I found it convenient to make a printout of my itinerary, give a copy to Chokai Junior High School, and put a second copy in my desk at the education office. Probably nobody will ever need this information, but in rare cases it matters, and regardless it's a professional gesture. Nobody speaks much English at the office, so if you have something complicated to convey over the phone (like some kind of emergency situation), it might be a good idea to call the junior high school and speak with an English teacher there. If you go in person, you can use online translation websites. The education office will help you with many logistical things, including: picking you up when you arrive, taking you to your schools the first time you go to them, buying a car, getting car insurance, paying car and income taxes, getting a hanko (a stamp), getting a bank account, showing you your housing (which they manage), getting internet (optional), getting cable TV (optional), getting a cell phone, your transportation allowance, how to pay bills, renewing or ending your contract, informing you of upcoming conferences, and anything else like this. For the first few days after you arrive, you'll be at the education office all day. During this time, you'll visit each of your schools once and meet the principals and English teachers. Then you'll have a short welcoming ceremony at Chokai Junior High School, and from that day on, you'll go to school every day. I typically visit the education office once a week for about half an hour so I can chat with the staff there, pick up unpaid bills, put paid bills in an envelope for safekeeping, and do any necessary paperwork. Visits to the education office are part of your job, so you can visit during working hours — ask your school for permission to go during some free time. The Chokai Education Office's phone number is 0184-57-3020. The address is 〒015-0592 秋田県由利本荘市鳥海町伏見字久保193, or in English, Chokai Education Office, 193 Kubo, Fushimi, Chokai, Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0592 JAPAN.

Housing

There is teacher housing in Jinego (笹子), a village of Chokai. Teacher housing is called kyouin juutaku (教員住宅) in Japanese. Your house is a duplex, but the common wall you share with your neighbor is your garage, so noise won't be a problem. You have a garage, which is rare and nice. The house is relatively large, in comparison with other ALTs' places in Honjo, and because it's owned by the town, rent is cheap. You'll have to pay rent, electric, water, propane (for cooking), and kerosene (for hot water). For internet, I used YB Net's fiber, and if you use it, your setup costs should be very low, because the house is already wired. There are a few other internet providers available. Probably you'll use JA Bank, which is technically an agricultural cooperative (this distinction matters for obscure paperwork). There are branches of JA Bank all over Chokai (and Japan generally), and you can use any of them. Sato Toshinobu Shoten fills your propane on a regular basis, but they only fill your kerosene tank (in the back of the garage) when you ask them to. If you run out of kerosene, you'll have no hot water, so when the tank gets slow, either call or go to the store and ask for a refill. There's a very powerful kerosene heater in the living room. You'll have to buy kerosene at the gas station or hardware store and fill the tank by hand (using the two red plastic 20L kerosene containers). The air conditioner can produce heat, and there's a portable electric space heater, but using electricity to heat your entire house on a regular basis is not economical in winter. In case of a power outage, there's also an old kerosene space heater in the garage which doesn't use electricity. Also, water and gas are not affected by power outages. In a power outage, house phones won't work, but the local cell towers have batteries that last for 5-10 hours. The apartment is fully furnished, including: a bed, several futons, sheets, blankets, a kotatsu, all of the standard things you'd need in the kitchen, a washing machine, a dryer, shovels (for snow), and some other stuff. There is an old TV that the education office might replace, though they haven't decided yet. Of the above items, most of them came with the place when I moved in, but over time, things wear out and need to be replaced. If anything big breaks — the air conditioning, the stove, a window, etc. — contact the education office and they can deal with it. For cheap small things like pillows or floor mats, you're better off replacing them on your own as needed. There is some parking next to the house for guests, and when that is full of snow in the winter, people can park at the rest area 200m away. There's also a small police branch station next to the house. A police officer lives there, and the building has a small office, but he typically works at the Yashima Police Station, so you might not see him around very much.

Bills

Generally speaking, there are five ways of paying bills: automatic payment from bank account, in cash at the provider's office, by bank transfer at an ATM, in cash at a bank, and in cash at a convenience store (i.e., Lawson). Here are some of the different bills I have and how I pay them.

Rent. Your housing is managed by the Chokai Education Office. They'll leave monthly bills in your desk at the office, and you can pay those in cash at a bank counter. These payments can only be done on weekdays before 4:00. It is possible to go to the bank during free time at school — ask the vice principal for permission.
Internet. I had YB Net internet service and did automatic payment.
Gas. Kerosene (for hot water) and gas (propane, for cooking) and are provided by Sato Toshinobu Shoten (佐藤寿信商店), a small general store located on main street in Jinego. They'll leave bills in your mailbox, and you pay bills in cash at the store itself. The phone number is 0184-59-2020, and it's located at 39.10632, 140.291444.
Electric. From Tohoku Denryoku (東北電力). I did automatic payment.
Cell phone. I used Docomo and did direct payment. The other major carriers no doubt support this, too.
Car insurance #1. Primary insurance, which is required, comes through the town office. You'll get the same excellent price that other Yurihonjo municipal servants get. This insurance is paid on rare occasion ... either once or several times a year.
Car insurance #2. Supplementary insurance, if you purchase it, is also paid on rare occasions ... either once or several times a year.
Car registration. Paid each spring, or if you buy a car later in the year, probably not long after you buy your car. It is very important to keep receipts (in postcard form, probably) for car registration payments.

It is a good idea to keep your old receipts. You can put them in an envelope and leave that in your desk at the education office. If there is some billing situation that you don't understand or are worried about, talk to the people at the education office, and they can probably explain things more clearly.

Water

Hot water in the house comes from the water heater, which is located in the garage. If you want to use hot water for the sink in the kitchen or bathroom, you need to turn it on. There's a white box on the wall in the kitchen, and if you press the large button on it and run the tap for 10 seconds, you'll get hot water. There's a little box in the bathroom for the shower and bath. If you press that button once, the light will turn on, and you'll get about two minutes of hot water until it automatically shuts off, at which point you'll need to press it again (and if you forget, the blast of cold water should remind you). If you fill up the bathtub 20% or so, the hot water will stay on, and you won't have to keep pressing the button. The washing machine runs entirely on cold water, so you might want to bleach your whites on occasion. In the winter, temperatures will drop below zero, and if you're gone for several days, your pipes could freeze and burst, and that would cost you a lot of money. So if you're leaving your place for several days, you should turn the water off. This can be done by closing the two floor valves (one in the kitchen and one in the wash room) and opening all of the faucets. There is no need to fiddle with the water heater in the garage. If you're only leaving for one night, perhaps you don't need to turn the water off. I've forgotten to turn the water off many times, and it's never been a problem for me. There's also a faucet for a hose by the stairs in front of the house. In the fall, shut off the water to this faucet by turning the knob on top with a wrench and then opening the faucet. In the spring, get your wrench back out, turn the knob the other direction, and turn the water back on.

Trash

Burnable trash days are Monday and Friday. Recycling and non-burnable trash day is Wednesday, but not every Wednesday, and what they collect varies by week. Trash pickup is sometime between eight and ten in the morning. I generally look Wednesday morning to see what they're collecting and then drop that off. If a trash day is a national holiday, it is skipped. If you only have a small amount of recyclables, you could take them to the convenience store. The trash collection point is halfway between the Jinego Police Station and the traffic light. There are two small sheds by the side of the road. Usually, the one closer to the police station is for burnable trash and the one closer to the traffic light is for recycling, but if one were full, you could freely use the other one. People generally take out their burnable trash the morning of trash day, but it's fine to take yours out the night before. Taking your trash out several days in advance is not generally recommended, but you can do so on occasion if you like. There are three kinds of trash bags: yellow for burnable, blue for non-burnable, and something else for recyclable that you don't need. These can be purchased at any local store. You should write your name on the trash bag before taking it out. Write your name in katakana, and for the location, write 下野 (Shimono). Objects larger than trash bags cannot easily be thrown out, so think carefully before buying large objects. In Chokai (unlike Honjo, perhaps), you don't need bags for recycling. There are large plastic bins that people put by the collection point the morning of recycling pickup, and you should put your recyclables into the bins directly. See the AkitaJET wiki for a description of what's burnable, unburnable, and recyclable (⇗).

Things to bring

There's a nice list of what to bring on the AkitaJET website (⇗). Most of what you'll need or want is mentioned there. Additionally, make sure you bring your driver's license and a lot of pictures (both digital and print is best) of things in your daily life at home. Otherwise, whatever you feel like bringing should be fine.

Transportation

The public bus service in Chokai will be largely discontinued March 31, 2012. It seems a van service from Jinego to Fushimi (near Chokai JHS) is set to replace the buses, though the details aren't public yet. Probably the van service will pick up riders at the Jinego Rest Area, where they will also post a time table. There are no trains. You'll need to buy a car. Some people in northern Akita lease cars, apparently, but I don't know of any places in southern Akita that have reasonable leasing deals. There's a lot of snow in the winter, so getting front wheel or four wheel drive is wise. Because of the large volume of snow in the winter, small light kei cars (with yellow license plates) are not recommended, because if a road or parking lot hasn't been plowed or shoveled, you'll get stuck. And you probably won't find any reasonable deals on used kei cars. If you're looking to save money, a small-ish sedan or hatchback is a good way to go. The simplest way to purchase a car is from one of the dealers in Honjo. Dealers are more expensive than private car lots, generally speaking, but they can offer very good service, which matters when your car breaks down 30km from the garage. If you buy a car from another ALT who is selling one, you can probably save even more money, but make certain to get extensive photography and a history of maintenance, accidents, repairs, and car inspection — it's bad for everyone if you commit to buying a car when you don't really know what kind of shape it is in. In the winter, you'll need snow tires. Large snow tires are significantly more expensive than small ones. There's a lot more car information on the AkitaJET website (⇗ and ⇗). You'll no doubt buy a cell phone. If you get a smart phone, you can use its maps. It's good to think about cell coverage and GPS. iPhones don't have real GPS — they use cell towers to determine location — so they are not as precise in the countryside, which is slightly inconvenient. Androids tend to have real GPS. Perhaps you'll want to buy a road atlas from a gas station or bookstore, in case you're driving in the boonies. For finding obscure places in Yurihonjo, OpenStreetMap (⇗) and Google Maps (⇗) are quite nice.

Recreation

There are a great many things to see and do in Chokai and Japan in general. Within Chokai, the most famous things are skiing (Yashima Ski Area), hiking (Mt. Chokai), and onsen (Foresta Chokai or Chokaiso). There are some adult baseball, basketball, indoor soccer, and volleyball teams. There's also a taiko drumming circle. At small local festivals, you might help carry a float, if you want to. Honjo and Yuzawa are a bit of a drive, but they have a lot more people and thus a lot more opportunities. Traditional Japanese pursuits like karate, judo, aikido, flower arranging, and Japanese musical instrument playing can be found, and taking up a Japanese hobby is a good way to meet people and learn more about Japanese culture. There are non-Japanese pursuits in abundance, as well. The easiest way to find out about things is to ask other ALTs. If they don't know (or even if they do), try talking to teachers at school. It might be necessary to talk to many teachers, though, so don't be shy about information gathering. You can also travel both in and out of Japan. There are direct flights from Akita to Korea. For other international travel, you'll probably go through Tokyo. The easiest way to get to Tokyo is via shinkansen (high speed train) from Shinjo. You can drive to Shinjo and leave your car there for up to a month. See Hyperdia for train time tables and fares (⇗). There may also be relevant information on the AkitaJET wiki (⇗) or Wikitravel (⇗).

Shopping

The Jinego A-Coop, a small grocery store, is at the traffic light near the house, and it's open until 7:00. Conbini Sato is on Highway 108 about 3km NW of the house, and it's open until 9:00 or 10:00. The nearest large supermarket is the Max Valu in Yashima. For general purpose shopping, there are Aeon Supercenters in Yuzawa and Honjo. For foreign food, the nearest places are in Akita City and Shinjo. Ugo, a short drive down Highway 57, has a small shopping center, though most people who live in Jinego would spend an extra ten minutes going to Yuzawa. Online shopping can be handy — Amazon Japan (⇗) has English on it. If you're occasionally getting packages sent to you from Amazon or overseas, having them delivered to school or the education office is a good idea, because if you aren't home to sign for a box, you'll have to call the shipping office back and arrange a delivery time. Nobody really knows why, but clothes in Japan are often sold for the coming season, not the current one, so if you wait until August to buy a swimsuit, for example, they might not have many left on the shelf. Dry cleaning takes a long time in rural areas, because they take the clothes by van to Honjo or Yuzawa, and that adds a few days to the process. Maruyasu Shoten in Kawauchi has the best hours in Chokai, and it's close to Chokai Junior High School. They might give you tea and snacks if you chat with them for a while, too. The dry cleaning place in Jinego, downstairs from Time and next door to Sato Toshinobu Shoten, is a short walk from the house, and their prices are comparable. In terms of clothes sizes, even those wearing XXL can find stuff to buy. If you have large feet, though, the local footwear selection might be limited or nonexistent. See also Wikitravel Yurihonjo (⇗) and the AkitaJET website (⇗).

Contact

Once you arrive and get an alien registration card, you can get a cell phone, and you'll want to do so (the alien registration card system will change in July, 2012, and the rules about getting a cell phone might change, too). In terms of cell coverage, Docomo cell towers cover the most area, but Docomo is quite expensive. The three major carriers (Docomo, AU, and Softbank) can be used at the house and the schools in Chokai, so many locals use Softbank and AU despite the smaller coverage area. Though data plans are pricey, ALTs tend to get smart phones. If you want to travel a lot within Japan, the maps and web browser of a smart phone will come in handy, since for much of Japan the best travel guide resources are online — for example, Wikitravel (⇗). Despite having internet access at school, you probably want to get internet at home, because, among other reasons, VOIP (e.g., Ekiga, Skype, or Google Talk) is the cheapest way to make international phone calls. The education office can help you figure out your choices and who to talk to for setup and installation. Japanese people tend to have email on their cell phones, and some of them set their cell phones to block non-cell phone email, which is inconvenient if you want to use your regular email account exclusively. Though some teachers have adapted to email, many are more comfortable with faxes, and official school communication is typically sent by fax or post. You can get cable or satellite TV, but I didn't bother, because you can rent DVDs, and English-language news is available online, so the only big thing missing, in my view, is Japanese sports coverage. And if you want to watch sports, you can go to a restaurant, bar, or friend's house anyway. Japanese postal service is blindingly fast. Packages travel within the country in two days, routinely. When sending boxes to the U.S., air mail is expensive but fast (less than a week, typically). Sending packages by boat is cheap but slow (think months). Letters and post cards always go air mail ... I don't know if it's possible to send them by sea even if you wanted to.

Alcohol

If you get caught drinking and driving (and the legal limit here is around zero), you'll be sent home. That's pretty horrible, so getting a personal breathalizer is a good idea if you plan on drinking much. The cops are known to look for people sleeping in their cars after a night on the town and pull those people over the next morning, and they would be very happy to give a DUI to a civil servant (it's a police pride thing). If you wake up in the morning and realize you aren't fit to drive to school, either take a taxi or call the school and ask them if you can come to work a few hours late. Getting a ride to school from another teacher might be possible, too. Certainly other teachers at your school will occasionally carpool or show up late because of drinking, though you might not notice, because it's discussed quietly. While missing work because alcohol's still in your system isn't ideal, the fact that you are responsible enough to stay off the road reflects well on you, as long it's a rare thing. One of my acquaintances here in Akita got a DUI several years ago — out drinking at night, pulled over the following morning, failed a breathalizer — and we were quite sad, but there was nothing to be done about it. Putting a change of clothes in your car is a nice idea, whether or not you drink much. That way you can stay over at someone's place (if you have a beer or if the weather is bad) and not have to drive home in the morning before going to work. Staying over at someone's house is a fairly common thing in rural Akita. Daiko is expensive, taxis are ridiculously expensive, and houses in the countryside are large enough where putting you up for the night is easy to do.

Japanese

If you want to study Japanese while you're in Japan, you'll have plenty of chances. To begin with, the JET Program will probably give you some materials. Additionally, there are great resources on the web, such as Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese (⇗) or the JLPT Kanji Project (⇗). In rural Tohoku, there are many foreign housewives from countries such as China, the Philippines, and Thailand. Some of your students have non-Japanese mothers! Local community centers offer free Japanese classes to all foreigners — ALTs and housewives alike. In the last few years, there have been weekly evening classes in Honjo, to the west, and in Ogachi (雄勝), to the east. These classes are called Nihongo Kyoshitsu (日本語教室), class sizes tend to be small, and instructors tend to be very friendly. If you have free time at school, you can study Japanese at your desk. No doubt other teachers will be interested in your studies, and they'll appreciate your efforts. A common study goal for foreigners is the annual Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT ⇗), which is offered around the world. The nearest test site is in Morioka (盛岡), about two hours' drive away. Junior high school students can take the Kanji Kentei (漢字検定 ⇗), a standardized test for reading and writing kanji. If you'd like to take the Kanji Kentei along with your students, this can be done — talk to the Japanese teacher. The local dialect of Japanese spoken in rural Akita is called Akita-ben (秋田弁). There are variants of Akita-ben, too, depending where you are in the prefecture. You might encounter students' grandparents whose use of Akita-ben is so strong that even if you speak Japanese you won't understand a single word they say. The best way to learn Akita-ben is to speak to a lot of older local residents, and if you use a little Akita-ben in conversation, it should be a source of entertainment to those around you.

Yashima Junior High School

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0900

Here are pictures from Yashima Junior High School (矢島中学校) in Yurihonjo, Akita. This school building opened in April, 2009. The old school building, located next to the softball stadium and Seishonen Home until it was demolished in 2010, had been used for 62 years. The new junior high school shares a building with the new high school. Teachers are mostly separate, but some classrooms (cooking classrooms, the gym, science classrooms) are shared between the schools.

The above maps are from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA 2.0). For the school history, see the Old Yashima JHS page. Here is a sheet music PDF of the school song.

Yashima Elementary School: 39.230491, 140.134196.
Yashima Junior High School: 39.233291, 140.144539.
Yashima High School: 39.23251, 140.145424.
Old Yashima High School: 39.230873, 140.133767.

Occupy Wall Street

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0900

The following is a letter I wrote that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald on November 14, 2011. The title it was given is, "Occupy Wall Street touches a nerve".

YURIHONJO, Japan — Jan Raaen tells us that in the 1960s, rioters were radical and anti-capitalistic, and that the same is true of the Occupy Wall Street movement today ("Occupy Wall Streeters choose wrong target," Page A4, Oct. 29).

Raaen misconstrues what’s happening.

In any movement, there is a fringe. This is true of the tea party, the National Rifle Association and the Democratic and Republican parties, and Occupy Wall Street is no exception.

So, when Herald readers see a picture of a rally and someone holding a silly sign, they should not assume the sign reflects what everyone in the rally believes.

Furthermore, some 70 percent of Occupy Wall Street participants are politically independent, according to a recent study, so certainly opinions will vary.

Still, some general ideas are quite clear and universal, and there’s no reason we can’t recognize them.

The biggest message behind Occupy Wall Street is that corporate greed is damaging our country, and we need to do something to stop it. The evidence is clear: Today, the richest 100 Americans have more wealth than the poorest 150 million Americans combined.

Some media sources say Occupy Wall Street has no constructive agenda, but that’s false. Given that the super-rich are getting richer, Occupy Wall Street participants want to see some of that money — our money — back in the hands of hard-working Americans.

When the recession hit, Washington found money to bail out the banks that caused it but did little for the millions of Americans who can’t make mortgage payments. This must change.

The American Dream is that if we work hard and get lucky, we can land a decent job, maybe buy a nice house and raise our families in happiness. But as the rich get richer and everyone else falls behind, that dream will fade. To get it back, we need to make some changes.

Right now, Occupy Wall Street is trying to start this process. Right now, it’s a lot of Americans standing up, telling us that things aren’t all right and describing the kind of country they think America should be.

Douglas Perkins

Chestnut cake

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0900

The following is a recipe for chestnut cake. It's an adaptation of a recipe by Chef Tallyrand at HUB-UK (2011).

500 g chestnuts
250 mL milk
250 g white sugar
6 large eggs
100 g butter

100 g finely chopped almonds
100 g bitter chocolate
100 mL brandy
2 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter a round 25-26 cm cake tin. Roast or boil the chestnuts. If the chestnuts are roasted, simmer in the milk for 15 minutes or until soft. Puree the chestnuts in a food processor. Put the sugar and egg yolks in a large bowl and mix. Add the melted butter, and mix. Add the almonds, chocolate, lemon juice, and brandy, and mix. Then, add the chestnuts and mix. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff, and fold into the mix. Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool for an hour or more before eating.

Cashew cardamom balls

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0900

1 cup (140 g) finely chopped cashews
1 cup (180 g) finely chopped dates
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
grated peel of one orange
1/2 cup dried shredded coconut

This is a recipe for cashew cardamom balls which I found at SCO*RECIPE (2011). Using your hands, mix the cashews and cardamom. Then mix in the orange peel, followed by the dates. The dates should make everything stick together, making a big ball. Divide this big ball into 16 small balls. Chop the coconut into as small pieces as possible, and roll each ball in coconut.

カシュー　140 g
なつめやし　180 g
カルダモン　小さじ 1/4
オレンジピール　1個の分
ココナツのパウダー　1/2 カップ

Wireless AP

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0900

My goal here is to make my laptop into a wireless access point — like a wireless router, but without buying an extra box. I'm running Debian Linux. My laptop is connected to the internet by LAN. The first challenge is to find a wireless card that can do Master mode (that is, can work as an access point). Only a few drivers supporr this (see http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers). After searching, I found a USB wifi card that works — the NEC Aterm WL300NU-AG, which uses the carl9170 driver (see http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/carl9170).

Two packages are needed: hostapd and udhcpd. Any DHCP server would work, and there are several alternatives to udhcpd. I haven't tested them, but dnsmasq and dhcp3-server were mentioned elsewhere.

# aptitude install -P hostapd
# aptitude install -P udhcpd

The network card can't be placed in AP mode the old way, because the drivers don't support it. When I tried, it produced an error.

# iwconfig wlan1 mode Master
Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) :
    SET failed on device wlan0 ; Invalid argument.

The driver for this card can do AP mode, but only using hostapd. Here's my configuration for hostapd v0.7.3. I'm not using any encryption or security at the moment — this is an open access point.

/etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf:

interface=wlan1
driver=nl80211
ssid=Openwifi
channel=1
hw_mode=g
ignore_broadcast_ssid=0
auth_algs=1
wpa=0
logger_syslog=-1
logger_syslog_level=2
debug=0

To make my wireless devices connect to the access point smoothly, I use udhcpd v1.18.5-1, a small DHCP server that's part of BusyBox. The below DNS addresses are for OpenDNS and Google Public DNS.

/etc/udhcpd.conf:

start 192.168.0.10
end 192.168.0.50
max_leases 30
interface wlan1
option subnet 255.255.255.0
option domain local
option lease 864000
option router 192.168.0.1
option dns 208.67.222.222
option dns 208.67.220.220
option dns 8.8.8.8
option dns 8.8.4.4

To start the services, use the following commands. These daemons log to /var/log/daemon.log.

# /etc/init.d/hostapd start
# /etc/init.d/udhcpd start
# ifconfig wlan1 inet 192.168.0.1

Check that the daemons are running without error and that the network interface is locally accessible.

# tail --lines=30 /var/log/daemon.log
# ping 192.168.0.1

To get IP masquerading (routing) working, use the following commands. Note that eth0 is the internet-facing interface. Add the following lines to /etc/rc.local to run them at boot time.

# echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
# iptables -F
# iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE

That's all there is — my access point is up and running. If everything is working, connect to the wireless access point using a second machine. If it doesn't appear to work, for a starting point, check the local network, the internet using IP addresses, and the internet using domain names.

# ping 192.168.0.1
# ping 8.8.8.8
# ping wikipedia.org

Rice pudding

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0900

The following is an easy recipe for tasty rice pudding. It's from a cookbook called The New Best Recipe, by Cook's Illustrated (2004, ISBN 0936184744). Pictures by Rudi Riet — see here and here.

2 cups water
2 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups half and half
1 cup rice
2/3 cup sugar

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins

Boil the water in a large saucepan. Add the rice and salt. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the water is almost fully absorbed (about 15 minutes). Add milk, half and half, and sugar. Cook on high until boiling, then lower to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and cook for another 15 minutes, or until a spoon can stand up in the pudding. Stir occasionally to avoid sticking or scorching. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla, cinnamon, and raisins. Cool and eat. (Store in refrigerator, with plastic wrap pressed onto pudding. Eat within two days.)

これは「ライスプリン」のレシピです。ライスプリンはイギリスの食べ物です。

水　2 カップ
牛乳　4 カップ
生クリーム　1 カップ
米　1 カップ
砂糖　2/3 カップ

バニラ　1.25 小さじ
塩　0.25 小さじ
シナモン　1 小さじ
レーズン　0.5 カップ

大きなソースパンに水を入れて、煮立てる。米と塩を入れる。蓋をして、水がほとんどなくなるまで（約15分間）静かに煮立てる。牛乳と生クリームと砂糖を入れる。蓋をしないで、30分くらい静かに煮立てる。弱火にして、中にスプーンを入れて立つまで（約15分間）煮る。火を止める。バニラとシナモンとレーズンを入れて、混ぜる。少し冷ましてから食べる。（冷蔵庫に入れ、二日以内に食べる。）

Time

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0900

Place	Time	Date

JavaScript based on code by Stijn Strickx at http://www.proglogic.com/code/javascript/time/worldclock.php.

Chokai Junior High School

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0900

Here are some pictures of Chokai Junior High School (鳥海中学校). It's located in Chōkai, which is a part of Yurihonjo City in Akita Prefecture, Japan. The lat/long is 39.181005, 140.19447. Students from 3 elementary schools come here — Jinego Elementary School, Kawauchi Elementary School, and Hitane Elementary School.

The above maps are from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA 2.0). Here's some history of Chokai Junior High School. The Japanese is taken from the school's records at http://www.city.yurihonjo.akita.jp/edu/chokai-jh/chokaichu.html, and I translated it to English.

Date		年	月日
2009-10-31	Chokai Junior High School 10th anniversary.	平成２１年	１０．３１	鳥海中学校創立１０周年記念式典・祝賀会。
2009-09-14	Honjo-Yuri English Recitation and Speech Contest. Recitation: Excellent. Speech: Very Good.		９．１４	英語暗唱弁論大会　弁論の部最優秀賞、暗唱の部優秀賞。
2009-08	All-Akita art contest: Winner, design.		８月	秋田県美術展覧会　デザインの部入賞。
2009-07-18	All-Akita track meet: 1st place, girls 100 meter hurdles.		７．１８	（７．１８～２０）全県総合体育大会　女子１００ＭＨ優勝。
2009-02-17	Honjo Yuri health contest: Prize for Excellence.		２．１７	本荘由利学校保健会優秀賞受賞。
2008-11-06	Building a brighter society essay contest: Prize for Excellence.	平成２０年	１１．　６	社会を明るくする運動作文コンクール　優秀賞。
2008-10-04	All-Akita newcomers track meet: 1st place, 100 meter hurdles.		１０．　４	秋田県新人陸上競技大会　１００ＭＨ優勝。
2008-09-12	Honjo-Yuri English Recitation and Speech Contest. Recitation: Very Good. Speech: Very Good.		９．１２	英語暗唱弁論大会　ベリーグッド賞。
2008-09-11	Yurihonjo crime and fire prevention speech contest: 1st place.		９．１１	由利本荘市少年非行防止防犯防火弁論大会　最優秀賞。
2008-08-10	Sister city painting contest: Special prize.		８．１０	姉妹都市オリンピック絵画競技会　特別賞。
2008-07-23	Building a brighter society public research seminar.		７．２３	社会を明るくする運動「公開ケース研究会」　発表。
2008-07-01	All-Akita art contest: Honorable Mention, design.		７．　１	秋田県美術展覧会　デザインの部奨励賞。
2008-02-14	Honjo Yuri sports acknowledgement. Baseball: 4 consecutive annual victories. Skiing: 3 consecutive annual victories.		２．１４	本荘由利中体連表彰　チーム賞野球部(４連続優勝)、スキー部(３年連続優勝)。
2007-09-13	Honjo-Yuri English Recitation and Speech Contest.Recitation: Excellent. Speech: Very Good.	平成１９年	９．１３	本荘由利英語暗唱弁論大会　暗唱の部最優秀賞。
2007-06-24	All-Akita art contest: Honorable Mention, design.		６．２４	秋田県美術展覧会　デザインの部特別賞(県知事賞)。
2007-02-16	Honjo Yuri sports acknowledgement. Baseball: 3 consecutive annual victories.		２．１６	本荘由利中体連表彰　野球部チーム(３年連続優勝)。
2007-02-16	Honjo Yuri health contest: Prize for Excellence.		２．１６	本荘由利中学校保健会優秀賞受賞。
2006-10-13	Honjo Yuri area education research group public instruction meeting.	平成１８年	１０．１３	本荘由利へき地教育研究部交流会県超過移築公開授業研究会。
2006-07-10	All-Akita table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls singles.		７．１０	県卓球選手権大会　女子個人優勝。
2006-05-28	All-Akita table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls singles.		５．２８	県春季卓球大会　女子個人優勝。
2006-03-14	58th annual Tohoku table tennis tournament participants.		３．１４	第５８回東京卓球選手権大会　女子ジュニアの部出場。
2006-01-21	75th annual northern Japan table tennis tournament: 1st place, cadet group.		１．２１	第７５回北日本卓球大会　カデットの部優勝。
2005-08-27	All-Akita table tennis tournament: 1st place, doubles. (Later joined the national tournament.)	平成１７年	８．２７	県総体卓球選手権大会　個人ダブルス優勝(全国大会出場へ)。
2005-08-26	All-Japan PTA public relations magazine contest: Japanese Education Newspaper Director's Prize.	平成１７年	８．２６	全国ＰＴＡ広報誌コンクール　日本教育新聞社社長賞受賞。
2004-11-07	All-Akita newcomers table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls.	平成１６年	１１．　７	全県新人卓球大会　卓球女子個人優勝。
2004-06-23	Hometown exploration helicopter project.		６．２３	郷土探索ヘリコプター飛行事業。
2004-04-01	MEXT designation: Plentiful experience opportunity region, plentiful experience opportunity implementation.		４．　１	文部科学省指定「豊かな体験活動推進地域」「豊かな体験活動推進校」。
2003		平成１５年
2002-11-26	All-Japan Junior Olympic Cup table tennis tournament participants.	平成１４年	１１．２６	全日本卓球選手権ＪＯＣジュニアオリンピックカップ　カデットの部出場。
2002-07-26	Akita Chuo district brassband contest: Gold Medal.		７．２６	吹奏楽コンクール中央地区大会　金賞。
2002-03-17	Town sports award. Girls table tennis: award for glory, 2 awards for promotion.		３．１７	町スポーツ賞　栄光賞女子卓球部、奨励賞女子卓球部２名。
2002-02-26	Yashima Rotary Club acknowledgement. Girls table tennis: award for glory. Ski, track, and tennis: award for promotion.		２．２６	矢島ロータリークラブ表彰　栄光賞女子卓球部、奨励賞団体スキー部・陸上部・テニス部。
2001-11-12	Essay on taxes. Honjo Yuri regional taxes and savings association chair prize, Honjo Yuri taxation cooperative chair prize, Tohoku taxation group Honjo branch chair prize.	平成１３年	１１．１２	税についての作文　本荘市由利地区納税貯蓄組合連合会長賞、本荘由利納税関係団体協議会長賞、東北税理士会本荘支部長賞。
2001-11-09	All-Akita human rights essay contest: Honorable Mention.		１１．　９	秋田県人権作文コンクール　奨励賞。
2001-11	Calligraphy contest prize.		１１月	幽玄会書道展　幽玄会賞。
2001-11	District literature contest: 5 prefectural endorsements.		１１月	郡市読書感想文コンクール　県推薦５名。
2001-06-02	All-Akita table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls.		６．　２	全県春季卓球大会　卓球女子団体優勝。
2001-01-30	Tohoku ski tounament: 1st place, boys giant slalom.		１．３０	東北中学校スキー大会　男子大回転優勝。
2001-01-19	All-Akita ski tournament. 1st place, girls giant slalom. 1st place, boys slalom.		１．１９	全県スキー大会　女子大回転優勝、男子回転優勝。
2000-10-21	Calligraphy contest: Lead Judge's Prize.	平成１２年	１０．２１	幽玄会書道展　審査委員長賞。
2000-10-21	District literature contest: prefectural endorsement.		１０．２１	郡市読書感想文コンクール　県推薦。
2000-07-28	Akita Chuo district brassband contest: Gold Medal.		７．２８	吹奏楽コンクール中央地区大会　金賞。
2000-07-23	All-Akita cadet table tennis tournament: 1st place, 2nd grade cadet girls singles.		７．２３	全県カデット卓球選手権大会　２年カデット女子シングルス優勝。
2000-07-23	All-Akita track meet: 1st place, 3rd grade girls 100 meter dash.		７．２３	全日本通信陸上秋田県大会　女子３年１００Ｍ優勝。
2000-07-15	All-Akita track meet: 1st place, 3rd grade girls 100 meter dash.		７．１５	（７．１５～１７）全県総合体育大会　陸上３年女子１００Ｍ優勝。
2000-06-03	All-Akita table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls.		６．　３	全県春季卓球大会　女子団体優勝。
2000-04-29	Akita invitational Yashima table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls.		４．２９	全県選抜卓球矢島大会　卓球女子団体優勝。
2000-03-14	School's first graduation ceremony.		３．１４	第１回卒業式。
2000-02-01	Tohoku ski tournament: 2nd place, girls slalom.		２．１	（２．１～２）東北スキー大会　女子回転第２位。
2000-01-21	Akita ensemble contest: silver medal.		１．２３	アンサンブルコンテスト県大会　混成８重奏銀賞。
1999-11-07	All-Akita newcomers' track meet: 1st place, girls team.	平成１１年	１１．　７	全県新人卓球大会　女子団体優勝。
1999-10-19	District literature contest: 6 endorsements.		１０．１９	郡市読書感想文コンクール　推薦６名。
1999-10-02	All-Akita newcomers' track meet: 1st place, girls 100 meter dash.		１０．　２	全県新人陸上競技大会　女子１００Ｍ優勝。
1999-08-09	Tohoku track meet: 2nd place, 2nd grade girls 100 meter dash.		８．　９	東北陸上競技大会　２年女子１００Ｍ第２位。
1999-07-16	All-Akita track meet: 1st place, 2nd grade girls 100 meter dash.		７．１６	（７．１６〜１９）全県総合体育大会　陸上２年女子１００Ｍ優勝。
1999-04-06	Bronze unveiling ceremony.		４．　６	ブロンズ像除幕式。
1999-04-02	School-opening ceremony.		４．　２	開校式挙行。
1999-04-01	Chokai Junior High School established.		４．　１	鳥海中学校開校。

Here is a PDF of sheet music for the school song.

Delivering fruit

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0900

Sunday was a long day, and we used the hours to deliver ridiculously many bananas to twenty-some shelters in Kesennuma. To begin with, Yui and I left at six in the morning. We met up with Jon and Jez, and headed to Yokote. Kathie was waiting for us there, and we picked her up and hopped on the expressway heading east.

There is a supermarket in Kitakami called Super Osen. They have cheap bananas. Very cheap. It seems they have cheap everything, because we got there before opening hours, and maybe 50 people were lined up outside the front door. Anyway, the doors opened, and we got our bananas. 35 boxes. Everyone was skeptical as to whether we'd be able to fit all the bananas in our cars, but we did. Then we hopped on the expressway again, and headed SE to Kesennuma.

When we got there, we met and planned out the adventure. Kathie went to help Paul with his deliveries, and Jess and Rachel, two amazing Kesennuma ALTs, helped us with ours. In the morning, we hit up Kujo Elementary School, Kesennuma High School, K-Wave, Matsuiwa Elementary School, Matsuiwa Junior High School, and the Bosai Center. K-Wave still has hundreds of residents, but several of the other shelters have decreased in numbers as people move into temporary housing or find other places to live. In the shelters with more space, people can set up tents or cardboard walls, or use several rooms, all of which help give them a modicum of privacy — far better than everyone living together on the gym floor. The food situation also seems to be improving. At several shelters, people told me they were getting canned fruit once or twice a week — and on rare occasions, fresh fruit. A month ago, in contrast, nobody said they were getting any fruit at all. Even at the shelters where people were getting fruit from time to time, they were very happy to get a few boxes of bananas. And as we were delivering, we ran into many of Jess's and Rachel's students, which was a lot of fun.

Shelter	避難所	Bananas
Kujo Elementary School	九条小学校	74
Kesennuma High School	気仙沼高等学校	222
Sogo Taiikukan (K-Wave)	ケー・ウェーブ	740
Matsuiwa Elementary School	松岩小学校	74
Matsuiwa Community Center	松岩公民館	296
Bosai Center	防災センター	444
Hashikami Elementary School	階上小学校	148
Hashikami Junior High School	階上中学校	518
Hashikami Community Center	階上公民館	158
Niitsuki Junior High School	新月中学校	252
Shishiori Junior High School	鹿折中学校	252

After lunch at 7-11, we headed to Hashikami Elementary School, Hashikami Junior High School, Hashikami Community Center, Niitsuki Junior High School, and Shishiori Junior High School. At this point, we were almost out of bananas, and it was almost dinner time in any case. Dinner time makes deliveries to shelters somewhat chaotic, and is best avoided. Yui and I started back, and the rest of the group headed off to a final stop at Omose Junior High School. 3 hours later, we were home, safe and very tired. I soon fell asleep and almost slept through my alarm clock the next morning.

This is the first time I've visited so many shelters in a day, and it's quite interesting to see the differences. The Bosai Center is a fire station, and part of it is now a shelter. But the other part is a functional fire station, and there are lots of fire trucks parked outside. Some of them have sharks pained on the back. K-Wave is a huge community center. We didn't get a chance to go inside, but we walked around the outside, and there was a skate park with skateboarders working on jumps and tricks. Hashikami Community Center is a 2-story building, and the shelter is on the 2nd floor. There are perhaps four large rooms, and because it's on the 2nd floor, all of the rooms have decent views. Shishiori Junior High School, our last stop of the day, was a fittingly stereotypical Japanese school. It's located at the top of a big hill connected to everything by a curvy narrow road which must surely be impossible to bicycle with any degree of safety. It being a Sunday, we were lucky enough not to encounter any cyclists with whom to test this theory. It should be noted that evacuation sites in Japan are typically used not only for immediate evacuation, but also for longer term use. As such, they need to have a safe location (a high location), a large space for people to sleep in (a gym, say), and a decent road for supply trucks. I am told this is one reason that schools are on the top of hills — they already fit two of the three criteria, and being atop a hill gives them an edge on safety. On the other hand, it may well be that when new schools are being built, people already have houses in the good low-lying areas, so the next best proximal locations are hill tops. It doesn't really matter what the reasons are, because whatever they are, we're very happy that many schools along the coast were on high ground. It's also good fitness training for the kids who have to walk up and down every day.

Fruit Tree Project

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0900

The Asahi Shinbun published this article about the Fruit Tree Project and VolunteerAKITA on June 7th, 2011. It's only in Japanese, and can be found at http://mytown.asahi.com/areanews/akita/TKY201106060550.html.

被災地に果物贈る　秋田県内のＡＬＴが活動

秋田県内の学校で英語を教える外国語指導助手（ＡＬＴ）が、被災者にバナナやミカンなどの果物を届ける活動を続けている。ボランティアで被災地を訪れ、食生活の偏りを知ったのがきっかけだった。これまでに宮城県気仙沼市や岩手県陸前高田市で配った果物は１万５千個以上になる。

活動名は「フルーツ・ツリー・プロジェクト」。由利本荘市の小中学校で英語を教えるポール・ユーさん（２６）＝米国出身＝が４月初旬に始めた。

「食べ物は不自由しないけど、果物が食べたい」。ボランティアで訪れた気仙沼市の避難所で、被災者からこう聞いたのがきっかけだ。ご飯とみそ汁が炊き出しで提供されていたが、野菜や果物は不足がちだった。ユーさんは「胃袋は満たされても、栄養が偏れば健康じゃない」と考えた。

東日本大震災が発生した後に立ち上げた「ボランティア秋田」のホームページ（http://volunteerakita.org）でプロジェクトを紹介し、果物代の募金を始めた。

安く買うためのルート開拓もした。宮城県内や由利本荘市内の卸売業者に相談し、特別に安い価格で果物を譲ってもらえることになった。

バナナなどを大量に載せた車で、ユーさんら県内のＡＬＴ約１０人は大型連休中の４月２９日、気仙沼市の避難所を訪れた。被災者に果物を１個ずつ手渡すと、笑顔が広がった。避難所では調理することが難しいため、「バナナは皮をむくだけで食べられるので喜ばれた」と振り返る。

県内外のＡＬＴ仲間の口コミで賛同者は１００人を超え、募金活動で５月末までの２カ月で約８０万円が集まった。一緒に行動するＡＬＴのマーガレット・コッカーさん（２４）＝同＝は「果物は被災者との連帯を示す象徴になる」と話す。
<>被災地では、住宅にたまった泥の片付けも手伝う。震災から３カ月近くたっても全面復興にはまだ遠い。ユーさんは週末を中心に当面、活動を続ける予定だ。「被災した人が復興の手がかりをつかむまでは、果物を届けなくてはいけない」（大隈悠）

The project was also featured in the Japan Times (English edition). See http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110611a2.html.

Group on a mission to deliver fresh fruit to disaster-zone shelters

Staff report

Survivors of the March 11 tsunami living in shelters need fresh fruit — this is what Minami Ishikawa and Paul Yoo from Akita Prefecture learned when they went to volunteer their time in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, in early April.

Ishikawa and Yoo talked to people at evacuation centers who told them the meals served there often consisted of a bowl of rice and miso soup but no fresh fruit or vegetables. They said they were craving such food, Yoo said.

Yoo, an assistant language teacher from the United States who teaches English at a school in Yuri Honjo, and Ishikawa, an office worker, started gathering volunteer workers right after the quake to help the evacuees in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures.

As part of their activities, they launched the Fruit Tree Project. They collected donations to buy fresh fruit and gathered volunteers — both Japanese and non-Japanese — to deliver it to evacuation centers in the tsunami-hit areas.

They started the fruit deliveries in Kesennuma during Golden Week in early May and later went to several shelters in other areas mainly over the weekends.

The project has involved more than 100 volunteers, and with support from Second Harvest Japan, a charity-based food bank in Tokyo, the group has collected more than ¥1 million in donations from all over the world. So far, they have delivered over 23,000 pieces of fruit.

"Everyone is so happy when we bring fruit to them. We want to continue bringing fruit to the shelters, especially to the small ones where people don't get any fresh fruit at all," said Yoo.

For more information about the project and to make a donation, email volunteerakita@gmail.com or visit its website at volunteerakita.wordpress.com.

The above newspaper articles are from the Asahi Shinbun and Japan Times, respectively. The pictures used in them, and the picture of the article itself, were taken by volunteerAKITA group members.

Barack Obama

Sun, 22 May 2011 00:00:00 +0900

Barack Obama and His Major Achievements

Date: Sunday, May 22, 2011

Time: 10:00-11:20 Communication Session by Mr. Douglas Perkins from US

Barack Obama became president of the United States in 2009. What do you think are his major achievements, either Japan-specific or not? I'll talk about some of the big issues within the US (the Afghanistan War, health care, Guantanamo Bay), but would like to discuss international perceptions of the US, too. Please try to think of one good thing and one bad thing you think the US has done in the past 2 years.

I gave the talk at the Akita Communicative English Studies group meeting. See http://www.edinet.ne.jp/~takeshis/images/AES06/AEStop.html for more information.

President Obama took power in January, 2009. On Sunday, we talked about his major accomplishments in the two years since then.

To begin with, there are two main political parties in the United States: Democrats and Republicans. Major issues can be divided into two categories: social issues and economic issues. To give some examples, on social issues, Democrats are likely to be pro choice. Republicans are likely to be pro gun and pro Christian. On economic issues, Democrats are typically fans of government safety net programs, like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other smaller such programs. Republicans are typically fans of military spending, opponents of other spending, and want to lower taxes. Those are some stereotypical party views, and as such should be taken with a grain of salt. But even this simple analysis shows that we have 4 classes of voters -- a person could side with mainstream Democrats or Republicans on both social issues and economic issues or on just one of each. This leads to a problem that the US currently faces, where voters decide who to vote for based on social issues, and the voters' economic views are mostly ignored.

Certainly Obama's greatest triumph was catching Bin Laden, though many of us found the execution rather unsettling. Also, Obama passed legislation that will allow homosexuals to serve in the military. This reverses a 220 year ban, and is Obama's only liberal triumph to date.

On the economic front, he passed landmark health care legislation. This bill deals with some problems in the American health care system — children can stay on their parents' insurance until the age of 25, many preventative procedures are now free, and it is harder for insurance companies to reject applicants with pre-existing conditions. Still, the big question is whether this legislation helps limit costs. If health care prices keep going up, it will have been a failure (and a gift to insurance companies who will get millions of new customers). If costs are limited, on the other hand, it will have been a success. Much of the bill takes effect in 2014 and later, so right now we can't tell.

There are some issues where the voters' views are mostly ignored by politicians. As mentioned, politicians often focus on social issues to gain votes, and this gives them some freedom to ignore popular opinion on economic issues. For example, the majority of Americans would like the US to leave Iraq and Afghanistan in the relatively near future, but it is unclear when this will happen. Also, the majority of Americans support Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in their current form, yet there is a lot of political discussion on how to change these programs. On taxes, the majority of Americans favor raising taxes on the rich, yet Obama allowed taxes to be lowered. And finally, the majority of Americans want some sort of justice brought to bear on banks and bankers responsible for the economic downturn three years ago, yet both Bush and Obama have ignored this issue entirely.

The next election is in 2012, and right now it seems Obama has a slight edge over possible Republican candidates. However, we will have to carefully watch what happens with taxes, cuts to government programs, and the wars currently being fought. Those matters will play a major role in driving public opinion in Nov. 2012.

Post card contest

Wed, 18 May 2011 00:00:00 +0900

Shuri Sato, a 2nd grader at Hitane Elementary School won the Grand Prize in NHK's 8th annual New Years Card Contest. Shuri's card was chosen out of 89,369 submissions. When asked to comment, she said, "I want to give this to my grandfather [next year]. I had fun for about an hour drawing the card. I'm very very happy to get a prize."

Japan Post website: http://www.post.japanpost.jp/contest/08/etegami/E053599.html?TB_iframe=true.
Yurihonjo monthly paper: http://www.city.yurihonjo.akita.jp/icity/browser?ActionCode=content&ContentID=1305434860912&SiteID=0000000000000.

Kesennuma

Wed, 11 May 2011 00:00:00 +0900

Following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, my friend Paul and some other guys started a volunteer group called Volunteer Akita (https://volunteerakita.wordpress.com/) with the goal of helping out tsunami victims. The tsunami hit the east coast of Tohoku (northern Japan). Akita is in the NW, so we were not affected. Directly to the east of Akita are the prefectures of Iwate and Miyagi, both of which were heavily damaged. Fukushima, home of the nuclear power plant disaster, is several hundred kilometers south.

In the past two months, the Volunteer Akita group has done various things (volunteering for orphanages, delivering toys, volunteer cleaning at Miyako). What I got involved in for Golden Week was the Fruit Tree Project (https://volunteerakita.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/tohoku-relief-the-fruit-tree-project-fund-proposal-2/). Paul and Minami made a website, and many of us solicited donations from across Japan and other countries, with the express goal of providing 2 pieces of fruit for each person in 3 shelters in Kesennuma (気仙沼), a town in Miyagi Prefecture. This is because Paul and Minami had spoken with an organizer for the shelter at Kesennuma Elementary School, and the organizer had requested two things: fresh fruit and furikake (spices used as rice seasoning). Two fruit markets, one in Honjo and one near Kesennuma offered to sell us fruit at wholesale rates. Golden Week came around, the donations came in, and we got ready to go. Thank you, everyone who contributed!

It turns out we had a large amount of cash from donations, but not enough to do two pieces of fruit for 10 days as originally hoped. After talking with the shelter leaders, we decided to do one piece of fruit per person for as long as we could, which ended up being seven days. The shelters (避難所; hinanjo) we wanted to help were Kesennuma Elementary School (気仙沼小学校), Kesennuma Junior High School (気仙沼中学校), and the Kesennuma Community Center (気仙沼市民会館; shimin kaikan). At that time, there were about 139, 478, and 250 people living in them, respectively. And once we arrived, we found out that an additional 50, 300, and 300 nearby residents were dining at those shelters. That meant a delivery of at least 1517 pieces of fruit each day (we ordered by the box, so there was always some extra). The organizers at the shelters were very friendly, and the deliveries were rather smooth. It took about 2 hours each morning to pick up the fruit and drop it off at each shelter. On the last day, we delivered fruit to a 4th shelter -- Omose Junior High School (面瀬中学校). The fruit we purchased varied day to day. Bananas and oranges were the most common, because they're fairly cheap and also don't require any food preparation (Japanese people tend to peel apples, not eat them whole, you see). We also delivered some sunfruit (a type of orange), apples, and grapefruit, just to mix things up a bit. For more detail, see Paul's daily summaries: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7. Paul and Minami organized the project, and Todd and I helped with the manual labor.

In Kesennuma (and elsewhere in Japan too, presumably), most of the shelters are in schools. There aren't many churches in Japan, and for public buildings, schools are the most common, followed by community centers. School vacation in tsunami-struck places lasted until late April, and up to then, people staying in school shelters slept in classrooms. This was good, because it provided some degree of privacy. In Kesennuma Junior High School, many people still do sleep in classrooms. This is because the school building is somewhat old, and with school enrollment numbers declining over the past many years (like much of rural Japan), there are extra classrooms. The students use half of the school, and the shelter uses the other half. Kesennuma Elementary School, on the other hand, needed its classrooms back, so shelter residents had to move back into the gymnasium. Fortunately, the shelter obtained many large silver tents which they've erected in the gym. This isn't as good as separate rooms, and it'll be too hot in the summer (though it seems like temporary housing will be ready soon, so maybe that won't matter), but it's still some degree of privacy. Even then, not all of the people in the gym have tents -- some just sleep on the gym floor, in areas demarcated by 3 foot high cardboard walls. In fact, Omose Junior High School has no tents at all -- all of its 250+ residents sleep together on the gym floor.

Next to the shelters I visited, there was extensive construction to build temporary housing. The housing looked to be somewhat similar to mobile homes, and unfortunately the housing is probably poorly insulated, and certainly the houses are very close to each other. Probably because it is convenient to do so, the housing is being built on baseball fields (for example, Kesennuma Junior High School's sports ground and baseball field is being used), but this means sometimes there isn't enough room to spread things out. It also means the baseball club and various other outdoor clubs cannot practice there. Of course, currently the gymnasium is in use, and as long as that continues, the volleyball club and basketball club don't have practice space, and there's no good way to hold gym class. That is inconvenient for the students, though certainly there are other gyms and baseball fields across town which can be used instead. Because the temporary housing looks like it'll be used for a very long time, I wonder why they didn't seize local farmland and build temp housing there, since that would have both let the schools get back to normal and given the temporary housing enough space for properly spread out houses and parking and such. Then again, converting rice fields into land fit for housing probably involves moving a lot of dirt and gravel.

On May 3, there was a small kite festival at Kesennuma Elementary School for shelter residents. Nearby students showed up too, and a big group of ALTs came down from Akita -- Ryan, Jeff, Melissa, Selina, and Liyen. All the kids and several adults flew kites for a while. Later, Todd did some magic tricks with cards and coins. It was pretty impressive, and he was videotaped by NHK, but it wasn't aired. Earlier in the week Paul and I were interviewed by NBC, and later NHK interviewed Paul, Minami and me, but those also wasn't aired. The NBC crew explained that there was too much international news at that time (a wedding, a storm, and then OBL). I blindly speculate for NHK it's a little more delicate, because NHK is within Japan, and showing a story about a small volunteer group bringing fruit to shelters might be seen as highlighting how the shelters aren't providing proper nutrition, whether or not that's even the case. Japan's Self-Defense Force provides shelter meals, and I don't know much about their system, though it's clear that they're working quite hard. Certainly complaining would be unproductive — better to do something instead — thus, the Fruit Tree Project.

Paul and I have rather large SUVs, so we slept in our car 5 nights. One night, Jessica invited us to crash on her floor, and we got our weekly shower out of the way. Three nights we parked at a nearby parking area, which was just off the highway and sometimes noisy trucks pulled in, but overall worked out pretty well. Two nights we parked at Isarabi Park (漁火パーク) on the Karakuwa Peninsula (唐桑), which has tent sites for volunteers and a large restaurant. The sunrise view from Isarabi Park was quite nice.

The March 11 earthquake did some damage to Kesennuma, but compared to the tsunami it was trivial. The tsunami affected coastal areas, obviously, but it also traveled up rivers, so even areas several kilometers from the coast were devastated, if they were near a river and at low elevation. Fortunately, Kesennuma is fairly hilly, compared to, for example, nearby Rikuzen Takata (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Rikuzentakata,_Iwate), so many houses were not hit by the tsunami. Elevation matters a lot in determining what places were damaged. The lowest-lying flat areas were totally destroyed -- there is nothing left to clean up, except mud, because mostly everything was washed away. Above that, there are houses that are partly destroyed or in pieces. Some houses that were particularly well built are still in place, but if water reached the second floor, the house is probably not salvageable. Even if water only hit the 1st floor, many houses will be scrapped, depending (I was told) on the building materials used. In the hardest hit areas, nobody will rebuild anything, and in other areas it varies — one house we saw looked repairable, but the residents said that area wasn't considered safe for houses any longer, and regardless, they'd be too scared to move back in there. They had plans to build a new house several kilometers inland, demolish their old house, and use the old location as farmland. The neighboring factory will be rebuilding at its original location, though. For other families, it is unclear what the future will bring. Rural Japan has an aging population, and elderly families whose houses were destroyed will likely find it difficult to rebuild their houses. I suppose many people will be in temporary housing for a long time, some people will build new places, some will leave the area, some will move into apartments (if they can find them, which right now they can't, because all the apartments are full), and some will move into retirement centers. Additionally, many businesses were destroyed, and people who lost both their houses and their jobs will have extra difficulty getting resettled. Even after seeing the devastation in person, it is hard to comprehend the magnitude of everything. One afternoon I took an hour drive south along the coast, and the wreckage continued, village after village, much like it was in Kesennuma. Just how many towns along the coast were damaged like this? I can't imagine it, or maybe just don't want to.

The Kesennuma Disaster Volunteer Center is quite well organized. See the website (http://msv3151.c-bosai.jp/index.php?module=blog&eid=15592&blk_id=12193) or a rough translation of part of it (https://volunteerkesennuma.wordpress.com/). They have a good supply of tools like shovels, wheelbarrows, hoes, rakes, brushes, crowbars, and whatnot. They also have backup gear for people who forget things like rain gear, gloves, masks, or work boots with metal insoles. Volunteers arrive around 9:00, and work groups are formed based on what kind of requests have been made. For example, a house owner might ask for a group of 15 workers to clean up dirt and garbage in their yard. Once formed, the group collects the supplies it needs and buses to the site. Volunteers bring their own water and lunch, and work officially finishes at 3:00. The house owners we met were very energetic, because they were mostly elderly folk who wanted to repair their house but needed help with heavy lifting and tasks that would take a long time (and because people who weren't energetic wouldn't have bothered asking for volunteer cleanup help). Even at the one house we went to with younger people, it was clear that Grandmother was in charge. She told us what to do, and later gave us instant ramen for lunch and ice cream for afternoon snack. Her two sons were her deputies — they gave us the fine details on what to clean and what to leave be. In the late afternoon after we finished, we played with one of the grandchildren for a while until the bus came. He taught us a game where two people each pick a blade of grass, cross them over each other, and pull. The winner is the person whose grass blade doesn't break, and then the entire thing is repeated. The weather was good during Golden Week, so working and playing outside worked out fairly well. I have no idea how long this type of support will be needed, but possibly for quite some time.

Yashima-Jinego buses 2011

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0900

This is the 2011 bus schedule for the Yashima-Jinego Line, Chokai, Yurihonjo, Akita. There are no trains in Chokai, and this bus goes along Highway 108, the main highway. The official site is in Japanese. In April 2012, the Jinego bus line will be discontinued.

Honjo → Yashima.
Yashima → Honjo.
Yashima → Jinego.
Jinego → Yashima.
Yashima → Yuri Technical High School. Once daily.
Yuri Technical High School → Yashima. Twice daily.
Chokai Town Office → Chokaiso.
Chokaiso → Chokai Town Office.
Naka Hitane line.
Jinego → Sarakawa.
Sarakawa → Jinego.

Yashima → Jinego bus schedule
2011-04-01
http://www.yurihonjo.matrix.jp/modules/gnavi/index.php?cid=121
矢島案内所	Yashima Bus Station	7:10	9:30	11:35	14:30	15:50	17:10	18:50
館町	Tatemachi	7:10	9:30	11:35	14:30	15:50	17:10	18:50
新町角	Aramachi Corner	7:10	9:30	11:35	14:30	15:50	17:10	18:50
矢島駅前	Yashima Station	7:12	9:32	11:37	14:32	15:52	17:12	18:52
豊町角	Toyomachi Corner	7:12	9:32	11:37	14:32	15:52	17:12	18:52
豊町	Toyomachi	7:12	9:32	11:37	14:32	15:52	17:12	18:52
栄町	Sakaemachi	7:12	9:32	11:37	14:32	15:52	17:12	18:52
大川原	Ōkawara	7:13	9:33	11:38	14:33	15:53	17:13	18:53
新ら町	Aramachi	7:14	9:34	11:39	14:34	15:54	17:14	18:54
新所	Shinjo	7:15	9:35	11:40	14:35	15:55	17:15	18:55
上新所	Kami-Shinjo	7:16	9:36	11:41	14:36	15:56	17:16	18:56
下郷内	Shimo-Gonai	7:17	9:37	11:42	14:37	15:57	17:17	18:57
郷内	Gonai	7:18	9:38	11:43	14:38	15:58	17:18	18:58
道仏坂	Dōbutsuzaka	7:19	9:39	11:44	14:39	15:59	17:19	18:59
坪渕	Tsubofuchi	7:21	9:41	11:46	14:41	16:01	17:21	19:01
矢ノ本	Yanomoto	7:22	9:42	11:47	14:42	16:02	17:22	19:02
鐙ヶ平	Abumigataira	7:23	9:43	11:48	14:43	16:03	17:23	19:03
下伏見	Tsurugataira	7:25	9:45	11:50	14:45	16:05	17:25	19:05
中伏見	Shimo-Fushimi	7:26	9:46	11:51	14:46	16:06	17:26	19:06
鳥海総合支所前	Naka-Fushimi	7:29	9:49	11:54	14:49	16:09	17:29	19:09
鳥海診療所前	Chōkai Town Office	7:29	9:49	11:54	14:49	16:09	17:29	19:09
川内診療所前	Chōkai Medical Center	7:29	9:49	11:54	14:49	16:09	17:29	19:09
伏見沢	Fushimizawa	7:29	9:49	11:54	14:49	16:09	17:29	19:09
堤鍋	Sagenabe	7:29	9:49	11:54	14:49	16:09	17:29	19:09
下平根	Shimo-Hirane	7:30	9:50	11:55	14:50	16:10	17:30	19:10
平根	Hirane	7:30	9:50	11:55	14:50	16:10	17:30	19:10
上平根	Kami-Hirane	7:32	9:52	11:57	14:52	16:12	17:32	19:12
生出谷地	Shōdeyachi	7:32	9:52	11:57	14:52	16:12	17:32	19:12
楢木平	Naranokidaira	7:35	9:55	12:00	14:55	16:15	17:35	19:15
小川	Kogawa	7:37	9:57	12:02	14:57	16:17	17:37	19:17
男鹿内	Okanai	7:39	9:59	12:04	14:59	16:19	17:39	19:19
峠	Tōge	7:40	10:00	12:05	15:00	16:20	17:40	19:20
下根子	Shimo-Neko	7:41	10:01	12:06	15:01	16:21	17:41	19:21
根子	Neko	7:42	10:02	12:07	15:02	16:22	17:42	19:22
三ノ坪	Sannotsubo	7:44	10:04	12:09	15:04	16:24	17:44	19:24
瀬目	Seme	7:45	10:05	12:10	15:05	16:25	17:45	19:25
本屋敷	Motoyashiki	7:47	10:07	12:12	15:07	16:27	17:47	19:27
上杉沢	Kami-Sugisawa	7:48	10:08	12:13	15:08	16:28	17:48	19:28
ほっといん鳥海	Hottoin Chōkai	7:52	10:12	12:17	15:12	16:32	17:52	19:32
上笹子	Kami-Jinego	-	10:12	12:17	-	16:32	17:52	19:32
中村	Nakamura	-	10:13	12:18	-	16:33	17:53	19:33
天神川熊角	Tenjin Kawakuma Corner	-	10:14	12:19	-	16:34	17:54	19:34
丁荘	Hinotosō	-	10:16	12:21	-	16:36	17:56	19:36
高鼻	Tagabana	-	10:18	12:23	-	16:38	17:58	19:38
上野宅	Kami-Noyake	-	10:21	12:26	-	16:41	18:01	19:41

Holidays		土曜・日曜・祝日運休
Holidays		Saturdays ・ Sundays ・ National holidays

Jinego → Yashima bus schedule
2011-04-01
http://www.yurihonjo.matrix.jp/modules/gnavi/index.php?cid=122
上野宅	Kami-Noyake	6:05	-	7:05	-	10:30	12:30	-	16:50
高鼻	Tagabana	6:05	-	7:05	-	10:30	12:30	-	16:50
丁荘	Hinotosō	6:06	-	7:06	-	10:31	12:31	-	16:51
天神川熊角	Tenjin Kawakuma Corner	6:08	-	7:08	-	10:33	12:33	-	16:53
中村	Nakamura	6:09	-	7:09	-	10:34	12:34	-	16:54
上笹子	Kami-Jinego	6:10	-	7:10	-	10:35	12:35	-	16:55
ほっといん鳥海	Hottoin Chōkai	6:14	-	7:14	7:55	10:39	12:39	15:39	16:59
上杉沢	Kami-Sugisawa	6:14	-	7:14	7:55	10:39	12:39	15:39	16:59
本屋敷	Motoyashiki	6:15	-	7:15	7:56	10:40	12:40	15:40	17:00
瀬目	Seme	6:17	-	7:17	7:58	10:42	12:42	15:42	17:02
三ノ坪	Sannotsubo	6:18	-	7:18	7:59	10:43	12:43	15:43	17:03
根子	Neko	6:20	-	7:20	8:01	10:45	12:45	15:45	17:05
下根子	Shimo-Neko	6:21	-	7:21	8:02	10:46	12:46	15:46	17:06
峠	Tōge	6:22	-	7:22	8:03	10:47	12:47	15:47	17:07
男鹿内	Okanai	6:23	-	7:23	8:04	10:48	12:48	15:48	17:08
小川	Kogawa	6:25	-	7:25	8:06	10:50	12:50	15:50	17:10
楢木平	Naranokidaira	6:27	-	7:27	8:08	10:52	12:52	15:52	17:12
生出谷地	Shōdeyachi	6:30	-	7:30	8:11	10:55	12:55	15:55	17:15
上平根	Kami-Hirane	6:30	7:05	7:30	8:11	10:55	12:55	15:55	17:15
平根	Hirane	6:30	7:05	7:30	8:11	10:55	12:55	15:55	17:15
下平根	Shimo-Hirane	6:32	7:05	7:32	8:13	10:57	12:57	15:57	17:17
堤鍋	Sagenabe	6:33	7:06	7:33	8:14	10:58	12:58	15:58	17:18
伏見沢	Fushimizawa	6:33	7:06	7:33	8:14	10:58	12:58	15:58	17:18
川内診療所前	Chōkai Medical Center	6:33	7:06	7:33	8:14	10:58	12:58	15:58	17:18
鳥海診療所前	Chōkai Town Office	6:33	7:06	7:33	8:14	10:58	12:58	15:58	17:18
鳥海総合支所前	Naka-Fushimi	6:37	7:10	7:37	8:18	11:02	13:02	16:02	17:22
中伏見	Shimo-Fushimi	6:37	7:10	7:37	8:18	11:02	13:02	16:02	17:22
下伏見	Tsurugataira	6:37	7:10	7:37	8:18	11:02	13:02	16:02	17:22
鐙ヶ平	Abumigataira	6:39	7:12	7:39	8:20	11:04	13:04	16:04	17:24
矢ノ本	Yanomoto	6:40	7:13	7:40	8:21	11:05	13:05	16:05	17:25
坪渕	Tsubofuchi	6:41	7:14	7:41	8:22	11:06	13:06	16:06	17:26
道仏坂	Dōbutsuzaka	6:43	7:16	7:43	8:24	11:08	13:08	16:08	17:28
郷内	Gonai	6:44	7:17	7:45	8:25	11:09	13:09	16:09	17:29
下郷内	Shimo-Gonai	6:45	7:18	7:47	8:26	11:10	13:10	16:10	17:30
上新所	Kami-Shinjo	6:46	7:19	7:48	8:27	11:11	13:11	16:11	17:31
新所	Shinjo	6:47	7:20	7:49	8:28	11:12	13:12	16:12	17:32
新ら町	Aramachi	6:48	7:21	7:51	8:29	11:13	13:13	16:13	17:33
大川原	Ōkawara	6:49	7:22	7:52	8:30	11:14	13:14	16:14	17:34
栄町	Sakaemachi	6:50	7:23	7:53	8:31	11:15	13:15	16:15	17:35
豊町	Toyomachi	6:51	7:24	7:54	8:32	11:16	13:16	16:16	17:36
豊町角	Toyomachi Corner	6:51	7:24	7:54	8:32	11:16	13:16	16:16	17:36
矢島駅前	Yashima Station	6:54	7:27	7:57	8:35	11:19	13:19	16:19	17:39
新町角	Aramachi Corner	6:54	7:27	7:57	8:35	11:19	13:19	16:19	17:39
館町	Tatemachi	6:54	7:27	7:57	8:35	11:19	13:19	16:19	17:39
矢島案内所	Yashima Bus Station	6:56	7:29	7:59	8:37	11:21	13:21	16:21	17:41

Holidays		日曜・祝日運休			Sundays ・ National holidays
		土曜・日曜・祝日運休
		Saturdays ・ Sundays ・ National holidays
		土曜・日曜・祝日・休校日運休
		Saturdays ・ Sundays ・ National holidays ・ School holidays

Honjo → Yashima bus schedule
2011-04-01
http://www.yurihonjo.matrix.jp/modules/gnavi/index.php?cid=120
本荘営業所	Honjo Bus Station	7:20	8:20	9:20	10:30	11:50	12:30	13:20	14:30	16:00	16:45	17:35	19:20
栄町一丁目	Sakaechō Itchōme	7:20	8:20	9:20	10:30	11:50	12:30	13:20	14:30	16:00	16:45	17:35	19:20
北都銀行前	Hokuto Bank	7:20	8:20	9:20	10:30	11:50	12:30	13:20	14:30	16:00	16:45	17:35	19:20
岩渕下	Iwabuchishita	-	8:22	-	-	11:52	12:32	13:22	14:32	16:02	16:47	17:37	19:22
本荘第一病院前	Honjo Daiichi Hospital	-	8:23	-	-	11:53	12:33	13:23	14:33	16:03	16:48	17:38	19:23
県立大学入口	University Entrance	-	8:24	-	-	11:54	12:34	13:24	14:34	16:04	16:49	17:39	19:24
由利高校入口	Yuri High School	-	8:25	-	-	11:55	12:35	13:25	14:35	16:05	16:50	17:40	19:25
羽後交通整備工場前	Ugo Traffic Garage	-	8:26	-	-	11:56	12:36	13:26	14:36	16:06	16:51	17:41	19:26
由利組合病院前	Yuri Kumiai Hospital	-	8:29	-	-	11:59	12:39	13:29	14:39	16:09	16:54	17:44	19:29
羽後交通整備工場前	Ugo Traffic Garage	-	8:29	-	-	11:59	12:39	13:29	14:39	16:09	16:54	17:44	19:29
由利高校入口	Yuri High School	-	8:29	-	-	11:59	12:39	13:29	14:39	16:09	16:54	17:44	19:29
県立大学入口	University gates	-	8:30	-	-	12:00	12:40	13:30	14:40	16:10	16:55	17:45	19:30
本荘第一病院前	Honjo Daiichi Hospital	-	8:31	-	-	12:01	12:41	13:31	14:41	16:11	16:56	17:46	19:31
岩渕下	Iwabuchishita	-	8:32	-	-	12:02	12:42	13:32	14:42	16:12	16:57	17:47	19:32
桜小路	Sakurakōji	7:22	8:33	9:22	10:32	12:03	12:43	13:33	14:43	16:13	16:58	17:48	19:33
本荘駅前	Honjo Station	7:25	8:36	9:25	10:35	12:06	12:46	13:36	14:46	16:16	17:01	17:51	19:36
本荘駅前角	Honjo Station Corner	7:25	8:36	9:25	10:35	12:06	12:46	13:36	14:46	16:16	17:01	17:51	19:36
御門町	Gomonmachi	7:25	8:36	9:25	10:35	12:06	12:46	13:36	14:46	16:16	17:01	17:51	19:36
一番堰	Ichibanzeki	7:26	8:37	9:26	10:36	12:07	12:47	13:37	14:47	16:17	17:02	17:52	19:37
上薬師堂	Kami-Yakushidō	7:28	8:39	9:28	10:38	12:09	12:49	13:39	14:49	16:19	17:04	17:54	19:39
薬師堂	Yakushidō	7:29	8:40	9:29	10:39	12:10	12:50	13:40	14:50	16:20	17:05	17:55	19:40
埋田入口	Ueda Entrance	7:30	8:41	9:30	10:40	12:11	12:51	13:41	14:51	16:21	17:06	17:56	19:41
埋田	Ueda	7:31	8:42	9:31	10:41	12:12	12:52	13:42	14:52	16:22	17:07	17:57	19:42
玉の池	Tamanoike	7:32	8:43	9:32	10:42	12:13	12:53	13:43	14:53	16:23	17:08	17:58	19:43
元屋敷	Motoyashiki	7:33	8:44	9:33	10:43	12:14	12:54	13:44	14:54	16:24	17:09	17:59	19:44
俵巻ガード	Tawaramaki	7:33	8:44	9:33	10:43	12:14	12:54	13:44	14:54	16:24	17:09	17:59	19:44
南福田	Minami Fukuda	7:35	8:46	9:35	10:45	12:16	12:56	13:46	14:56	16:26	17:11	18:01	19:46
鮎川	Ayukawa	7:36	8:47	9:36	10:46	12:17	12:57	13:47	14:57	16:27	17:12	18:02	19:47
寺田	Terada	7:37	8:48	9:37	10:47	12:18	12:58	13:48	14:58	16:28	17:13	18:03	19:48
下黒沢	Shimo-Kurosawa	7:38	8:49	9:38	10:48	12:19	12:59	13:49	14:59	16:29	17:14	18:04	19:49
上黒沢	Kami-Kurosawa	7:39	8:50	9:39	10:49	12:20	13:00	13:50	15:00	16:30	17:15	18:05	19:50
明法	Myōhō	7:40	8:51	9:40	10:50	12:21	13:01	13:51	15:01	16:31	17:16	18:06	19:51
曲沢入口	Magarisawa Entrance	7:42	8:53	9:42	10:52	12:23	13:03	13:53	15:03	16:33	17:18	18:08	19:53
善隣館前	Zenrinkan	7:43	8:54	9:43	10:53	12:24	13:04	13:54	15:04	16:34	17:19	18:09	19:54
前郷駅前	Maegō Station	7:46	8:57	9:46	10:56	12:27	13:07	13:57	15:07	16:37	17:22	18:12	19:57
仲町	Nakamachi	7:46	8:57	9:46	10:56	12:27	13:07	13:57	15:07	16:37	17:22	18:12	19:57
前郷	Maegō	7:46	8:57	9:46	10:56	12:27	13:07	13:57	15:07	16:37	17:22	18:12	19:57
西小路	Nishikōji	7:47	8:58	9:47	10:57	12:28	13:08	13:58	15:08	16:38	17:23	18:13	19:58
森子	Moriko	7:48	8:59	9:48	10:58	12:29	13:09	13:59	15:09	16:39	17:24	18:14	19:59
下川原	Shimogawara	7:48	8:59	9:48	10:58	12:29	13:09	13:59	15:09	16:39	17:24	18:14	19:59
神田	Kanta	7:49	9:00	9:49	10:59	12:30	13:10	14:00	15:10	16:40	17:25	18:15	20:00
米山	Komeyama	7:50	9:01	9:50	11:00	12:31	13:11	14:01	15:11	16:41	17:26	18:16	20:01
新屋敷	Arayashiki	7:50	9:01	9:50	11:00	12:31	13:11	14:01	15:11	16:41	17:26	18:16	20:01
奉行免	Bugyōmen	7:51	9:02	9:51	11:01	12:32	13:12	14:02	15:12	16:42	17:27	18:17	20:02
山田	Yamada	7:52	9:03	9:52	11:02	12:33	13:13	14:03	15:13	16:43	17:28	18:18	20:03
西滝沢	Nishitakisawa	7:53	9:04	9:53	11:03	12:34	13:14	14:04	15:14	16:44	17:29	18:19	20:04
新上条	Shinkamijō	7:53	9:04	9:53	11:03	12:34	13:14	14:04	15:14	16:44	17:29	18:19	20:04
上条	Kamijō	7:54	9:05	9:54	11:04	12:35	13:15	14:05	15:15	16:45	17:30	18:20	20:05
吉沢	Yoshizawa	7:55	9:06	9:55	11:05	12:36	13:16	14:06	15:16	16:46	17:31	18:21	20:06
荒沢口	Arasawaguchi	7:56	9:07	9:56	11:06	12:37	13:17	14:07	15:17	16:47	17:32	18:22	20:07
小板戸	Koitado	7:57	9:08	9:57	11:07	12:38	13:18	14:08	15:18	16:48	17:33	18:23	20:08
岩坂	Iwazaka	7:57	9:08	9:57	11:07	12:38	13:18	14:08	15:18	16:48	17:33	18:23	20:08
熊の堂	Kumanodō	7:58	9:09	9:58	11:08	12:39	13:19	14:09	15:19	16:49	17:34	18:24	20:09
川辺駅前	Kawabe Station	7:59	9:10	9:59	11:09	12:40	13:20	14:10	15:20	16:50	17:35	18:25	20:10
田中	Tanaka	7:59	9:10	9:59	11:09	12:40	13:20	14:10	15:20	16:50	17:35	18:25	20:10
川原	Kawara	8:00	9:11	10:00	11:10	12:41	13:21	14:11	15:21	16:51	17:36	18:26	20:11
小坂	Kozaka	8:01	9:12	10:01	11:11	12:42	13:22	14:12	15:22	16:52	17:37	18:27	20:12
小田住宅前	Koda Jūtakumae	8:03	9:14	10:03	11:13	12:44	13:24	14:14	15:24	16:54	17:39	18:29	20:14
曲り渕	Magaribuchi	8:04	9:15	10:04	11:14	12:45	13:25	14:15	15:25	16:55	17:40	18:30	20:15
矢島幹部交番前	Yashima Police Station	8:05	9:16	10:05	11:15	12:46	13:26	14:16	15:26	16:56	17:41	18:31	20:16
新ら町	Aramachi	8:06	9:17	10:06	11:16	12:47	13:27	14:17	15:27	16:57	17:42	18:32	20:17
大川原	Ōkawara	8:06	9:17	10:06	11:16	12:47	13:27	14:17	15:27	16:57	17:42	18:32	20:17
栄町	Sakaemachi	8:07	9:18	10:07	11:17	12:48	13:28	14:18	15:28	16:58	17:43	18:33	20:18
豊町	Toyomachi	8:07	9:18	10:07	11:17	12:48	13:28	14:18	15:28	16:58	17:43	18:33	20:18
豊町角	Toyomachi Corner	8:07	9:18	10:07	11:17	12:48	13:28	14:18	15:28	16:58	17:43	18:33	20:18
矢島駅前	Yashima Station	8:10	9:21	10:10	11:20	12:51	13:31	14:21	15:31	17:01	17:46	18:36	20:21
新町角	Aramachi Corner	8:10	9:21	10:10	11:20	12:51	13:31	14:21	15:31	17:01	17:46	18:36	20:21
館町	Tatemachi	8:10	9:21	10:10	11:20	12:51	13:31	14:21	15:31	17:01	17:46	18:36	20:21
矢島案内所	Yashima Bus Station	8:12	9:23	10:12	11:22	12:53	13:33	14:23	15:33	17:03	17:48	18:38	20:23

Holidays		日曜・祝日運休					Sundays ・ National holidays

Yashima → Honjo bus schedule
2011-04-01
http://www.yurihonjo.matrix.jp/modules/gnavi/index.php?cid=123
矢島案内所	Yashima Bus Station	6:00	7:00	8:05	8:40	10:30	11:25	12:25	13:25	14:50	15:40	16:25	17:30	18:20
館町	Tatemachi	6:00	7:00	8:05	8:40	10:30	11:25	12:25	13:25	14:50	15:40	16:25	17:30	18:20
新町角	Aramachi Corner	6:00	7:00	8:05	8:40	10:30	11:25	12:25	13:25	14:50	15:40	16:25	17:30	18:20
矢島駅前	Yashima Station	6:02	7:02	8:07	8:42	10:32	11:27	12:27	13:27	14:52	15:42	16:27	17:32	18:22
豊町角	Toyomachi Corner	6:02	7:02	8:07	8:42	10:32	11:27	12:27	13:27	14:52	15:42	16:27	17:32	18:22
豊町	Toyomachi	6:02	7:02	8:07	8:42	10:32	11:27	12:27	13:27	14:52	15:42	16:27	17:32	18:22
栄町	Sakaemachi	6:02	7:02	8:07	8:42	10:32	11:27	12:27	13:27	14:52	15:42	16:27	17:32	18:22
大川原	Ōkawara	6:02	7:02	8:07	8:42	10:32	11:27	12:27	13:27	14:52	15:42	16:27	17:32	18:22
新ら町	Aramachi	6:02	7:02	8:07	8:42	10:32	11:27	12:27	13:27	14:52	15:42	16:27	17:32	18:22
Yashima Police Station		6:03	7:03	8:08	8:43	10:33	11:28	12:28	13:28	14:53	15:43	16:28	17:33	18:23
曲り渕	Magaribuchi	6:04	7:04	8:09	8:44	10:34	11:29	12:29	13:29	14:54	15:44	16:29	17:34	18:24
小田住宅前	Koda Jūtakumae	6:05	7:05	8:10	8:45	10:35	11:30	12:30	13:30	14:55	15:45	16:30	17:35	18:25
小坂	Kozaka	6:07	7:07	8:12	8:47	10:37	11:32	12:32	13:32	14:57	15:47	16:32	17:37	18:27
川原	Kawara	6:08	7:08	8:13	8:48	10:38	11:33	12:33	13:33	14:58	15:48	16:33	17:38	18:28
田中	Tanaka	6:09	7:09	8:14	8:49	10:39	11:34	12:34	13:34	14:59	15:49	16:34	17:39	18:29
川辺駅前	Kawabe Station	6:09	7:09	8:14	8:49	10:39	11:34	12:34	13:34	14:59	15:49	16:34	17:39	18:29
熊の堂	Kumanodō	6:10	7:10	8:15	8:50	10:40	11:35	12:35	13:35	15:00	15:50	16:35	17:40	18:30
岩坂	Iwazaka	6:11	7:11	8:16	8:51	10:41	11:36	12:36	13:36	15:01	15:51	16:36	17:41	18:31
小板戸	Koitado	6:11	7:11	8:16	8:51	10:41	11:36	12:36	13:36	15:01	15:51	16:36	17:41	18:31
荒沢口	Arasawaguchi	6:12	7:12	8:17	8:52	10:42	11:37	12:37	13:37	15:02	15:52	16:37	17:42	18:32
吉沢	Yoshizawa	6:13	7:13	8:18	8:53	10:43	11:38	12:38	13:38	15:03	15:53	16:38	17:43	18:33
上条	Kamijō	6:14	7:14	8:19	8:54	10:44	11:39	12:39	13:39	15:04	15:54	16:39	17:44	18:34
新上条	Shinkamijō	6:15	7:15	8:20	8:55	10:45	11:40	12:40	13:40	15:05	15:55	16:40	17:45	18:35
西滝沢	Nishitakisawa	6:15	7:15	8:20	8:55	10:45	11:40	12:40	13:40	15:05	15:55	16:40	17:45	18:35
山田	Yamada	6:16	7:16	8:21	8:56	10:46	11:41	12:41	13:41	15:06	15:56	16:41	17:46	18:36
奉行免	Bugyōmen	6:17	7:17	8:22	8:57	10:47	11:42	12:42	13:42	15:07	15:57	16:42	17:47	18:37
新屋敷	Arayashiki	6:18	7:18	8:23	8:58	10:48	11:43	12:43	13:43	15:08	15:58	16:43	17:48	18:38
米山	Komeyama	6:18	7:18	8:23	8:58	10:48	11:43	12:43	13:43	15:08	15:58	16:43	17:48	18:38
神田	Kanta	6:19	7:19	8:24	8:59	10:49	11:44	12:44	13:44	15:09	15:59	16:44	17:49	18:39
下川原	Shimogawara	6:20	7:20	8:25	9:00	10:50	11:45	12:45	13:45	15:10	16:00	16:45	17:50	18:40
森子	Moriko	6:20	7:20	8:25	9:00	10:50	11:45	12:45	13:45	15:10	16:00	16:45	17:50	18:40
西小路	Nishikōji	6:21	7:21	8:26	9:01	10:51	11:46	12:46	13:46	15:11	16:01	16:46	17:51	18:41
前郷	Maegō	6:22	7:22	8:27	9:02	10:52	11:47	12:47	13:47	15:12	16:02	16:47	17:52	18:42
仲町	Nakamachi	6:23	7:23	8:28	9:03	10:53	11:48	12:48	13:48	15:13	16:03	16:48	17:53	18:43
前郷駅前	Maegō Station	6:26	7:26	8:31	9:06	10:56	11:51	12:51	13:51	15:16	16:06	16:51	17:56	18:46
善隣館前	Zenrinkan	6:26	7:26	8:31	9:06	10:56	11:51	12:51	13:51	15:16	16:06	16:51	17:56	18:46
曲沢入口	Magarisawa Entrance	6:26	7:26	8:31	9:06	10:56	11:51	12:51	13:51	15:16	16:06	16:51	17:56	18:46
明法	Myōhō	6:28	7:28	8:33	9:08	10:58	11:53	12:53	13:53	15:18	16:08	16:53	17:58	18:48
上黒沢	Kami-Kurosawa	6:29	7:29	8:34	9:09	10:59	11:54	12:54	13:54	15:19	16:09	16:54	17:59	18:49
下黒沢	Shimo-Kurosawa	6:30	7:30	8:35	9:10	11:00	11:55	12:55	13:55	15:20	16:10	16:55	18:00	18:50
寺田	Terada	6:31	7:31	8:36	9:11	11:01	11:56	12:56	13:56	15:21	16:11	16:56	18:01	18:51
鮎川	Ayukawa	6:32	7:32	8:37	9:12	11:02	11:57	12:57	13:57	15:22	16:12	16:57	18:02	18:52
南福田	Minami Fukuda	6:33	7:33	8:38	9:13	11:03	11:58	12:58	13:58	15:23	16:13	16:58	18:03	18:53
俵巻ガード	Tawaramaki	6:35	7:35	8:40	9:15	11:05	12:00	13:00	14:00	15:25	16:15	17:00	18:05	18:55
元屋敷	Motoyashiki	6:35	7:35	8:40	9:15	11:05	12:00	13:00	14:00	15:25	16:15	17:00	18:05	18:55
玉の池	Tamanoike	6:36	7:36	8:41	9:16	11:06	12:01	13:01	14:01	15:26	16:16	17:01	18:06	18:56
埋田	Ueda	6:37	7:37	8:42	9:17	11:07	12:02	13:02	14:02	15:27	16:17	17:02	18:07	18:57
埋田入口	Ueda Entrance	6:38	7:38	8:43	9:18	11:08	12:03	13:03	14:03	15:28	16:18	17:03	18:08	18:58
薬師堂	Yakushidō	6:39	7:39	8:44	9:19	11:09	12:04	13:04	14:04	15:29	16:19	17:04	18:09	18:59
上薬師堂	Kami-Yakushidō	6:40	7:40	8:45	9:20	11:10	12:05	13:05	14:05	15:30	16:20	17:05	18:10	19:00
一番堰	Ichibanzeki	6:42	7:42	8:47	9:22	11:12	12:07	13:07	14:07	15:32	16:22	17:07	18:12	19:02
御門町	Gomonmachi	6:43	7:43	8:48	9:23	11:13	12:08	13:08	14:08	15:33	16:23	17:08	18:13	19:03
本荘駅前角	Honjo Station Corner	6:44	7:44	8:49	9:24	11:14	12:09	13:09	14:09	15:34	16:24	17:09	18:14	19:04
本荘駅前	Honjo Station	6:47	7:47	8:52	9:27	11:17	12:12	13:12	14:12	15:37	16:27	17:12	18:17	19:07
桜小路	Sakurakōji	6:47	7:47	8:52	9:27	11:17	12:12	13:12	14:12	15:37	16:27	17:12	18:17	19:07
岩渕下	Iwabuchishita	6:47	7:47	8:52	9:27	11:17	12:12	13:12	-	-	-	17:12	-	-
本荘第一病院前	Honjo Daiichi Hospital	6:48	7:48	8:53	9:28	11:18	12:13	13:13	-	-	-	17:13	-	-
県立大学入口	University Entrance	6:49	7:49	8:54	9:29	11:19	12:14	13:14	-	-	-	17:14	-	-
由利高校入口	Yuri High School	6:50	7:50	8:55	9:30	11:20	12:15	13:15	-	-	-	17:15	-	-
羽後交通整備工場前	Ugo Traffic Garage	6:51	7:51	8:56	9:31	11:21	12:16	13:16	-	-	-	17:16	-	-
由利組合病院前	Yuri Kumiai Hospital	6:54	7:54	8:59	9:34	11:24	12:19	13:19	-	-	-	17:19	-	-
羽後交通整備工場前	Ugo Traffic Garage	6:54	7:54	8:59	9:34	11:24	12:19	13:19	-	-	-	17:19	-	-
由利高校入口	Yuri High School	6:54	7:54	8:59	9:34	11:24	12:19	13:19	-	-	-	17:19	-	-
県立大学入口	University Entrance	6:55	7:55	9:00	9:35	11:25	12:20	13:20	-	-	-	17:20	-	-
本荘第一病院前	Honjo Daiichi Hospital	6:56	7:56	9:01	9:36	11:26	12:21	13:21	-	-	-	17:21	-	-
岩渕下	Iwabuchishita	6:57	7:57	9:02	9:37	11:27	12:22	13:22	-	-	-	17:22	-	-
北都銀行前	Hokuto Bank	6:59	7:59	9:04	9:39	11:29	12:24	13:24	14:13	15:38	16:28	17:24	18:18	19:08
栄町一丁目	Sakaechō Itchōme	7:00	8:00	9:05	9:40	11:30	12:25	13:25	14:14	15:39	16:29	17:25	18:19	19:09

Holidays		日曜・祝日運休					Sundays ・ National holidays
Holidays		土曜・日曜・祝日運休					Saturdays ・ Sundays ・ National holidays

Jinego Elementary School

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0900

Here are pictures from Jinego Elementary School (笹子小学校) in Chōkai, Yurihonjo, Akita.

The above maps are from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA 2.0). Here are some pictures of the Jinego Gakushu Center (笹子学習センター), which used to be Jinego Junior High School (笹子中学校). The junior high school closed in 1999, and its students were sent to Chōkai Junior High School.

Here's some history of Jinego Elementary School. The Japanese is taken from the school's records.

Date		Era	年
1874	School established.	明治	7	創立
1883-08	New school building construction complete.		16.8	校舎新築落成
1894-12-03	Shimo-Jinego Branch School established.		27.12.3	下笹子分校設置
1902-02-22	Shimo-Jinego Branch School becomes a standalone school.		35.2.22	下笹子分校独立して本校となる
1902-05-11	Nishikume Branch School established.		35.5.11	西久米分校設置
1909-04-03	School building catches fire.		42.4.3	校舎類焼
1911-09	School building complete.		44.9	校舎落成
1922-04-01	Ohira Branch School established.	大正	11.4.1	太平分校設置
1927-04	Noyake Branch School established.	昭和	2.4	野宅分校設置
1949-04-01	The 3 branch schools adopt regular 2-class system.		24.4.1	３分校とも常置２学級となる
1950-12-01	Kami-Tsubaki Branch School and Harimizu Winter Branch School established.		25.12.1	上椿・針水冬季分校開設
1955-04-01	School name changes to "鳥海村立笹子小学校".		30.4.1	鳥海村立笹子小学校となる
1955-11	Mizunashi Winter Branch School established.		30.11	水無冬季分校開設
1961-11-15	Schoolyard expansion.		36.11.15	校庭拡張
1962-04-01	3 branch schools add milk to school lunch.		37.4.1	３分校ミルク給食開始
1964-11	School song is written.		39.11	校歌制定
1966-10-01	Nishikume Branch School complete.		41.10.1	西久米分校完成
1967-08-20	Nishikume Branch School gymnasium construction complete.		42.8.20	西久米分校体育館竣工
1970-11	Main school building construction phase 1 complete.		45.11	校舎改築第一期工事完了
1971-11-17	Main school building construction phase 2 gym complete.		46.11.17	校舎改築第二期工事で体育館完成
1972-03-31	Ohira Branch School closes.		47.3.31	太平分校廃止
1972-12	Jinego Elementary-Junior High School joint kitchen complete.		47.12	笹子小中学校共同調理場完成
1974-09-18	School centennial ceremony.		49.9.18	創立百周年記念式典
1975-04-30	For prefectural tree-planting day, award for planting trees and the environment is received.		50.4.30	県植樹祭で環境緑化優秀賞を受賞
1976-07-19	In the courtyard, playground construction is complete.		51.7.19	中庭プレーグラウンド及び芝生完成
1978-03-18	Nishikumi Branch School and Noyake Branch School merge with main school. Kami-Tsubaki Branch School, Harimizu Branch School, and Mizunashi Branch School close.		53.3.18	西久米・野宅分校本校に統合上椿・針水・水無各冬季分校廃止
1979-03-31	In a windstorm, the south roof and gymnasium are damaged.		54.3.31	暴風雨で南面屋根と体育館破風全面損壊
1980-11-01	Administrative redistricting occurs, and the school becomes "鳥海町立笹子小学校".		55.11.1	町制施行、鳥海町立笹子小学校と改まる
1981-02-24	School awarded special prize by table tennis federation.		56.2.24	学体連卓球特別賞を授与
1984-04-01	"Welfare of the Heart" 3-year research project is awarded.		59.4.1	「福祉の心」研究委嘱（３年間）
1984-09-18	Chokai area academic instruction research meeting held.		59.9.18	鳥海地区学習指導研究会公開
1988-10-01	District table tennis tournament: Girls 1st place. Acknowledgement for 5 successive championships.		63.10.1	郡市卓球大会、女子団体優勝（５連覇表彰を受ける）
1988-11-22	Statue of child placed in courtyard.		63.11.22	中庭に子供像建立
1988-12-12	Chuo area dormitory research meeting held.		63.12.12	中央地区寄宿舎研修会開催
1989-10-20	Area research meeting on Japanese and science.	平成	元年10.20	地区公開研究会（国語科学習）
1990-06-20	District baseball tournament: 3rd place.		2.6.20	郡市野球大会３位入賞
1991-10-05	District table tennis tournament: Girls 1st place.		3.10.5	郡市卓球大会女子団体優勝
1992-05-06	Cavity prevention program implemented.		4.5.6	「虫歯予防」学校保健会推進指定
1993-02-16	Jinego Hirameki Group donates 3-dimensional village map.		5.2.16	笹子ひらめき会より「笹子地区立体模型地図」寄贈
1993-09-25	District table tennis tournament: Girls 1st place.		5.9.25	郡市卓球大会　女子団体優勝
1993-10-04	Cavity prevention program research meeting.		5.10.4	「虫歯予防」学校保健推進公開研究会開催
1994-09-29	School dentistry program recognized for quality.		6.9.29	学校歯科保健推進優秀校として表彰
1994-11-02	School health program recognized for quality.		6.11.2	健康推進優秀校として表彰
1995-05-11	School recognized for safe commuting practices.		7.5.11	交通安全優良校として表彰
1995-10-02	District table tennis tournament: Girls 1st place.		7.10.2	郡市卓球大会　女子団体優勝
1995-10-31	Large-scale school renovation complete.		7.10.31	校舎大規模改修完成
1996-07-07	District table tennis tournament: Recognition for school excellence.		8.7.7	郡市卓球大会で優秀学校賞受賞
1996-08-24	Participation in Matsunoki Tunnel Opening Event.		8.8.24	松ノ木トンネル開通イベント参加
1996-09-10	Major gymnasium repair complete.		8.9.10	体育館大改修工事完成
1996-11-17	1996 Sasanoko Festival.		8.11.17	笹の子フェスティバル96開催
1997-02-05	Parent-child ski tournament at Okojoland Ski Area.		9.2.5	親子スキー大会を町営オコジョランドスキー場で開催
1997-04-15	Jinego Elementary School support group inauguration. Agriculture experience program created.		9.4.15	笹子小学校後援会発足　農業体験実習校として栽培体験学習に取り組む
1997-11-16	Sasanoko marching song written.		9.11.16	「笹の子音頭」完成
1998-10-30	District rural area cultural exchange meeting.		10.10.30	郡市へき地交流会を開催
1998-11-08	1998 Sasanoko Festival. A CD is produced.		10.11.8	笹の子フェスティバル98を開催ＣＤを制作する
1999-05-30	Sports day for Jinego Elementary School independence held.		11.5.30	笹子小学校単独で運動会を開催する
1999-11-07	1999 Sasanoko Festival.		11.11.7	笹の子フェスティバル99を開催
2000-11-05	2000 Sasanoko Festival.		12.11.5	笹の子フェスティバル2000を開催
2001-02-05	"Hometown" cards created at Dream Up project.		13.2.5	ドリームアップ事業でふるさとカルタ完成
2001-10-21	District table tennis tournament: Boys 1st place.		13.10.21	郡市卓球大会　男子団体優勝
2003-06	With support of Dream Up Project, exchange event with Sendo Elementary School held.		15.6	ドリームプロジェクト支援事業で仙道小学校と交流する
2003-07-07	Pool repairs.		15.7.7	プール改修
2003-08-22	Kitchen improvement complete.		15.8.22	調理場改修
2004-04-13	Prize for excellence for "Dreams of Science in the Future" picture exhibition.		16.4.13	「未来の科学夢画展」全国優秀賞を受賞
2004-10-13	"Jinenko Shinbun" insert in Akita Sakigake Newspaper for 130 year anniversary.		16.10.13	秋田魁新報社に創立130周年「じねんこ新聞」が掲載される
2004-10-23	School celebrates 130 year anniversary at Sasanoko Festival. "Jinenko Plaza" unveiling ceremony.		16.10.23	創立130周年記念笹の子フェスティバルを開催　「じねんこ広場」除幕式開催
2005-06-04	District track meet: 1st place, boys 400 meter relay.		17.6.4	郡市小学校陸上競技大会　男子400Mリレー優勝
2005-06-12	District table tennis tournament: Boys 1st place, Girls 1st place.		17.6.12	郡市卓球大会　男女総合優勝
2005-06-21	"A School Day for Everyone" 3-day program.		17.6.21	「みんなの登校日」実施（３日間開催）
2005-07-21	All-Akita track meet: 3rd place, boys 400 meter relay.		17.7.21	秋田県少年少女陸上競技大会　男子400Mリレー第３位入賞
2005-10-20	"A School Day for Everyone" 3-day program.		17.10.20	「みんなの登校日」実施（３日間開催）
2006-05-24	First crime prevention volunteer group meeting. "Watching over Jinenko" committee established.		18.5.24	第１回防犯ボランティア立ち上げの会を開催し、「笹ん子を見守る会」を設立する
2006-06-22	"A School Day for Everyone" 3-day program.		18.6.22	「みんなの登校日」実施（３日間開催）
2006-10-26	"A School Day for Everyone" 3-day program.		18.10.26	「みんなの登校日」実施（３日間開催）
2006-10-28	2006 Sasanoko Festival.		18.10.28	笹の子ﾌｪｽﾃｨﾊﾞﾙ2006を開催する
2006-11-08	Usui memorial dental health merit award received.		18.11.8	臼井記念歯科保健功労賞を受賞する
2007-07-28	Participants in All-Japan table tennis tournament.		19.7.28	全日本卓球選手権大会参加
2007-07-30	Honjo Marina Oasis picture gallery production.		19.7.30	本荘ﾏﾘｰﾅｵｱｼｽ画廊製作作業参加
2007-10-26	"A School Day for Everyone" 2-day program.		19.10.26	「みんなの登校日」実施（２日間開催）
2007-10-27	2007 Sasanoko Festival.		19.10.27	笹の子ﾌｪｽﾃｨﾊﾞﾙ2007を開催する
2008-02-14	Public acknowledgement for adoption of health safety practices.		20.2.14	保健安全実践活動優秀校として表彰
2008-10-17	Prefectural branch chairman's prize, "Dreaming of Science" picture contest.		20.10.17	｢科学ゆめ画展｣発明協会県支部長賞
2008-10-25	City cooperative chairman's prize, "Dreaming of Science" picture contest.		20.10.25	｢科学ゆめ画展｣市発明振興協会長賞
2008-10-29	2008 Sasanoko Festival. Prize for excellence awarded by prefectural school agriculture group. "Study on the fertilization of rice."		20.10.29	笹の子ﾌｪｽﾃｨﾊﾞﾙ2008を開催する県学校農園展｢優良賞｣受賞｢稲の発芽と受粉の観察｣
2009-01-30	Parent-child ski tournament at Okojoland Ski Area.		21.1.30	親子スキー大会をオコジョランドスキー場で開催
2010-02-16	Public acknowledgement for adoption of health safety practices.		22.2.16	保健安全実践活動優秀校として表彰

Many years ago, there was a branch of Yashima High School in Jinego — Jinego Branch School. At that time, many teachers lived in teacher housing in Jinego. In 2000 or 2001, the old teacher housing was torn down and replaced with only three new houses, which are located next to the Jinego Police Station. The shift to fewer apartments coincided with the closing of Jinego Junior High School, which meant there was reduced demand. There are 2 tunnels on Highway 108 southeast of Jinego, and these were built several decades ago. Prior to their construction, teachers living in southern Yuzawa would have had a long commute via Highway 57 through Ugo, to the north, which would have made teacher housing quite appealing. Similarly, teachers working in Jinego who live along the coast have at least a fifty minute commute, which in the winter can take much longer and is generally undesirable.

Jinego Elementary School: 39.109222, 140.28905.
Jinego Junior High School: 39.110059, 140.289348.
Teacher housing: 39.107659, 140.292514.

Here are the lyrics to the school song.

1	出羽山地　　　　奥広くさわやかな　　　この朝あけの大気をあびて　　たくましく希望わきたつ　　笹子われらああ月山の　　　見守るところ心すなおに　　　はつらつと伸びてゆこうよ　正しく強く
2	笹子川　　　　　水きよくたゆまずに　　　進む姿を学びの日々に　　うけついでひとみ輝き　　　励むわれらああふるさとの　明日をにない雪にあらしに　　まけないで伸びてゆこうよ　楽しく共に

Kanji flashcards

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0900

Here are some flashcards for studying kanji. They are designed to printed double sided on relatively thick A4 paper. The flashcards use colors, but if you only have a black and white printer, you could either print them anyway or open the odg files and modify the styles. You can read odg files with the free LibreOffice (or other software).

Here are the flashcards sorted by elementary school grade level. In Japanese, this collection is called the kyōiku kanji. Below that are cards for the JLPT.

Set	Kanji	LETTER		A4
1st grade	80 kanji	odg	pdf	odg	pdf
2nd grade	160 kanji	odg	pdf	odg	pdf
3rd grade	200 kanji	odg	pdf	odg	pdf
4th grade	200 kanji	odg	pdf	odg	pdf
5th grade	185 kanji	odg	pdf	odg	pdf
6th grade	181 kanji	odg	pdf	odg	pdf
JLPT N5	103 kanji	odg	pdf	odg	pdf
JLPT N4	103 kanji	odg	pdf	odg	pdf
JLPT N3	Sorry, set does not exist.
JLPT N2	103 kanji	odg	pdf	odg	pdf
JLPT N1	103 kanji	odg	pdf	odg	pdf

Regarding the JLPT N3, these flashcards rely on KANJIDIC2, and that file does not reflect 2010 JLPT changes. I think there is no official list for new JLPT. Here N2 and N3 kanji are combined into the N2 set. If you're testing for N3, consider using 3rd and 4th grade cards from the above list — those are something close to the N3 kanji.

The front of each flashcard has the following information.

The kanji itself, in a big font.
The grade level, in the lower left corner.
The stroke count, in the lower right corner.

The back of each flashcard has the following information, from top to bottom.

An English word matching the meaning of the kanji as closely as possible.
The kanji definition. Omitted if the same as the above English word.
Onyomi, in katakana. Zero or more may exist.
Kunyomi, in hiragana. Zero or more may exist.
Example words using the kanji, along with their definitions.

I think the above cards are useful as they are, but if you're interested in making your own, it is possible. My ruby script cardmaker.rb gets the relevant kanji from KANJIDIC2, frequently used words from wordfreq_ck.txt, and word definitions from EDICT. My script, KANJIDIC2, and EDICT are Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike licensed. See the README and this directory for details on my software. EDICT and KANJIDIC2 are Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group projects — see that site for information on those files. If you have comments or questions, feel free to contact me (see the contact page).

Kawauchi Elementary School

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0900

Here are pictures from Kawauchi Elementary School (川内小学校) in Chōkai, Yurihonjo, Akita.

The above maps are from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA 2.0). Here are some pictures of the Chōkai Gakushu Center (鳥海学習センター), which used to be Kawauchi Junior High School (川内中学校). The junior high school closed in 1999, and its students were sent to Chōkai Junior High School.

Here's some history of Kawauchi Elementary School. The Japanese is copied from http://www.city.yurihonjo.akita.jp/edu/kawauchi-es/, and I translated it to English.

Date		Era	年
1874-07-07	Kami-Kawa School opens.	明治	7.7.1	上川学校創立。
1879-11	Kami-Kawa School splits into two schools: Kami-Kawa School and Hirane School.		12.11	上川小学校が分かれて上川学校と平根学校になる。
1882-04	Shimo-Kawa School changes its name to Kōya School.		15.4	下川学校を興屋学校と称す。
1882-04	Hirane and Kami-Kawa merge. Kogawa and Kōya become branch schools.		15.4	平根学校と上川学校が合併、小川と興屋は分校となる。
1888-04	A major education revision occurs. The school becomes Kami-Kawa Simple School.		21.4	簡易科設置、上川簡易学校と改称す。
1892-04	A major education revision occurs. The school becomes Kawauchi Common Elementary School. Kōya Branch School becomes independent and its name becomes Kōya Common Elementary School.		25.4	尋常科を設置し、川内尋常小学校と改める。興屋分校独立し、興屋尋常小学校となる。
1901-04	Kōya and Kawauchi merge, becoming Kawauchi Common Elementary School.		34.4	川内、興屋両校合併し、川内尋常小学校と改める。
1902	A new school building for Kawauchi Common Elementary School is built at Uedano.		35	上田野の現在地に、川内尋常小学校を建てる。
1903-04-19	5th and 6th grade are added to the school, and the school becomes 川内尋常高等小学校.		36.4.19	高等科を併置、川内尋常高等小学校と改称す。
1922-09	A school building addition is completed.	大正	11.9	校舎を新増築。
1924-07	School building addition completed.	大正	13.7	校舎を新増築。
1927	Supplementary education building addition completed.	昭和	2.10	小学校増築、補習学校新校舎落成。
1929-08	Uedano Sports Ground is completed.		4.8	上田野運動場拡張。
1935-03-26	School song is written for 60 year anniversary celebration.		10.3.26	校歌制定（６０周年記念）。
1940-10-10	Uedano Sports Ground is expanded.		15.10.10	上田野グランド拡張。
1941-04-01	The school becomes Kawauchi National Elementary School. Because of the wartime nationalistic influence, elementary schools in Japan changed to this system from 1941 to 1947.		16.4.1	国民学校令により、川内国民学校と改称。
1956-05-10	A big fire occurs at the Hirane school. 45 students and 1 teacher are affected.		31.5.10	平根部落大火、児童５４名、教師１名罹災す。
1959-05-01	School flag is created.		34.5.1	校旗制定。
1967-11-01	New school building completed.		40.11.1	新校舎第二期工事完了。
1967-11-02	Water pipe construction complete. For the first time, the school has running water.		40.11.2	水道工事完了、校舎に給水開始。
1970-06	Limited school lunch program begins.		43.6	学校給食開始（牛乳）。
1973-02	Full student lunch program begins.		46.2	完全給食開始。
1976-09-01	The school celebrates its centennial.		49.9.1	創立百周年記念式典を行う。
1978-08-01	The PTA assists the school in creating a rock garden.		51.8.1	ＰＴＡ奉仕により、岩石園を造成す。
1982-09-01	Town public research meeting focusing on mathematics.		55.9.1	町公開研究会（算数）。
1982-11	The school name becomes 鳥海町立川内小学.		55.11	町制施行、鳥海町立川内小学校と改称。
1985-02-02	School receives a thank-you letter from the prefectural school insurance promotion group.		58.2.2	県学校保険推進校として感謝状を受ける。
1985-07	Uedano Ground is expanded. Restrooms are built there.		60.7	上田野グランド拡張、屋外トイレ設置。
1985-10	Area public research meeting focusing on Japanese.		60.10	鳥海地区公開研究会（国語）。
1986-09-01	Library and music room construction complete.		61.9.1	図書館、音楽室校舎工事完了。
1989-02	Gymnasium renovation complete.	平成	元年8.2	体育館、改修工事完了。
1990-08	Staff room, staff changing room, and staff restrooms are rebuilt.		2.8	職員トイレ、更衣室、用務員室工事完了。
1990-10	Chokai area public research meeting.		2.10	鳥海地区公開研究会。
1992-08	1st major reconstruction is completed. Toilets are converted to flush toilets.		4.8	第一期大規模改修工事完了、水洗トイレ完備。
1993-04-01	Kogawa Elementary School merges with Kawauchi Elementary School.		5.4.1	小川小学校と統合。
1993-10	2nd major reconstruction is completed.		5.10	第二期大規模改修工事完了。
1994-06-09	The school celebrates its 125th anniversary.		6.6.9	創立百二十周年記念事業として航空写真撮影。
1995-09-01	Area public research meeting.		7.9.1	地区公開研究会。
1998-08-02	Lunch room construction completed.		10.8.2	給食室改修工事完了。
1999-01-02	Computer room is completed.		11.1.2	コンピュータ室工事完了。
2000-08-20	20th National PTA Public Relations Paper Contest commendation.		12.8.20	第二十二回全国PTA広報紙コンクールで表彰。
2001-08-24	A dumbwaiter is installed for getting lunches up to the classrooms.		13.8.24	ダムウェーター（給食運搬昇降機）取り付け工事
2001-08	Fluorescent lighting is added.		13.8	照明器具改修工事（蛍光灯）。
2002-08	Flush toilets are added next to the school kitchen.		14.8	調理員用水洗トイレ工事完了。
2003-07-18	Security assurance system is introduced.		15.7.18	警備保障システム導入。
2007-10-18	Chokai area public research meeting focusing on mathematics.		19.10.18	鳥海地区公開研究会（算数）。

Chokai Junior High School was built in 1999. Prior to that, there was a junior high school — Kawauchi Junior High School (川内中学校) — located next to the elementary school. When the old junior high school was closed, it became a community center: the Chokai Gakushu Center (鳥海学習センター). The gym of the old junior high school has been converted into a baseball practice area — there's a dirt floor, and there are nets over all the windows.

Kawauchi Elementary School (Uedano): 39.19009, 140.193668.
Kawauchi Junior High School: 39.191037, 140.193076.
Uedano Sports Ground: 39.191851, 140.194897.
Kogawa Elementary School: 39.156599, 140.246461. The elementary school and Kogawa Junior High School were located on this hill.
Kōya Elementary School: 39.207,140.179. This is the location of the Kōya hamlet. The old school's exact location is unclear.

Tacos

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0900

The following taco recipe makes about sixteen tacos small tacos.

16 8" flour tortillas
2 red (or white) onions
2 orange (or yellow) peppers
1 head lettuce
3 avocados
vegetable oil

300 g sliced cheddar (or mozzarella) cheese
1.3 pounds (600 g) beef
1 package taco seasoning
1 jar sliced jalapeño peppers
1 jar (16 oz.) salsa

Dice the onions and fry with a little vegetable on very low heat for 10 minutes or until brown. In a frying pan on medium heat with a little vegetable oil, brown the beef. Add taco seasoning (or make your own with garlic, cayenne, salt, and pepper) as desired. Cut the orange peppers into thin slices. Shred the lettuce. Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit. With a spoon, put the green inner part into a bowl. Crush with a fork until smooth. Cut the jalapeños into very small pieces, unless you like the heat of them as is. Separate the tortillas. Store bought flour tortillas often stick together, and if yours do, microwave for 30 seconds first.

To serve, take a tortilla and add the desired amount of meat, onions, and cheese. Do this first (so the cheese will melt). Then add lettuce, avocado, orange pepper, and jalapeños. Optionally, try with sour cream, or perhaps with cilantro and limes mixed in with the avacado.

8" フラワートルティーヤ　16枚
玉ねぎ　2個
オレンジ色ピーマン　2個
レタス　1個
アボカド　3個
植物油
300 g チェダーチーズ

牛肉　600 g
ガーリック
一味唐辛子
塩
コショウ
スライスハラペーニョ
サルサ(ソース)

Lunchtime melodies

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0900

At Yashima Junior High School (矢島中学校), I often make lunchtime music requests. I did this before, but when we moved to a new building, the system changed and there wasn't any music at lunch. As of last month, though, lunchtime music is back.

	1. Wanna Be Startin' Something. Michael Jackson, Thriller. 1982. Most students couldn't guess that this was Michael Jackson, to my surprise.
	2. Baby Be Mine. Michael Jackson, Thriller. 1982. Same as above.
	3. Right Now. Van Halen, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. 1991.
	4. Welcome Home (Sanitarium). Metallica, Master of Puppets. 1986. Someone asked, "Is all American music so loud?" Another commented, "... and so long?"
	5. 1979. Smashing Pumpkins, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. 1995. Too quiet for noisy lunchtime.
	6. The Way. Fastball, All the Pain Money Can Buy. 1999.
	7. Waiting for the End. Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns. 2010.

Eggnog

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0900

This is a recipe for eggnog. It's rather strong, so care should be taken when consuming. Also, some people worry about the uncooked eggs. My family has used this recipe for decades without a problem, but regardless, use your own judgment. I got this recipe from my parents, who got it from my grandparents.

12 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 qt heavy cream

1 qt brandy (or bourbon)
1 cup rum
A bit of nutmeg

Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Then beat in 1/2 cup sugar. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks, 1 cup sugar, and salt until very light. Combine the egg mixtures and stir until blended. Beat the heavy cream until stiff. Then add it to the egg mixture along with the milk, brandy, and rum. Mix well, pour into a gallon jug, and store in a cool place for 10 days to let it mellow. Shake well before serving. Serve with a sprinkle of nutmeg. Drink sparingly.

これはアメリカの卵酒（エッグノッグ）のレシピです。アルコール分が多いので注意してください。

卵　12
砂糖　375 cc
塩　小さじ 1/4
生クリーム（ヘビークリーム）　1 L

ナッツメッグ
牛乳　1 L
ブランディ　1 L
ラム　250 cc

卵白を泡立てる。砂糖（125 cc）を1.に入れて混ぜる。他のボールで、卵黄と砂糖（250 cc）と塩を混ぜる。これを上のボールに入れて混ぜる。生クリームを泡立てる。これと牛乳とブランディとラムを上のボールに入れて混ぜる。混ぜたものを大きなガラス壺に入れる。涼しい場所で10日間待つ。もう一度混ぜる。クラスに注いでナッツメッグを少々振りかける。ゆっくり飲む。

WikiLeaks revelations

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0900

The following is a letter I wrote that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald on December 3, 2010. The title it was given is, "WikiLeaks offers vital global revelations".

YURIHONJO, Japan — On Dec. 2, the Herald opined, "The big surprise is that there are so few surprises. That’s the general consensus about the WikiLeaks release of diplomatic documents, most of which offer frank views ... that already had been more cautiously expressed in public" ("DL gets the WikiLeaks treatment," editorial, Page A4). Has the Herald done its research on the subject? I think not, for the above claim simply is ridiculous. It’s easy to find dozens of important global issues revealed by the Cablegate leaks. Here are a few.

** The CIA tortured many people in the past decade — which should be a headline on its own. Regardless, in the leaks, we also find out that the Obama administration pressured Spain and Germany to ignore the CIA's actions. Now we know that both Bush and Obama feel torture is justified — a sad state of American human rights.

** The leaks show that the U.S. has been conducting drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. Many people suspected this, but now we know exactly where our military is fighting — something that Americans should have a right to know.

** The leaks show that Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice ordered our diplomats to spy on foreign leaders. The diplomats were ordered to collect biometric data, such as DNA and fingerprints, as well as credit card numbers and computer passwords of foreign leaders, including the secretary general of the United Nations. To turn our country's diplomats into poorly trained spies simply is disgraceful.

** The leaks show that Afghanistan's vice president carried $52 million to the United Arab Emirates last year. It's not clear why he had so much money — he stated no reason — but theft seems likely.

** The leaks show the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Jordan privately asking the U.S. to attack Iran while publicly saying the opposite. Such behavior makes the U.S. look bad, because Saudi and Jordanian citizens see the U.S. as the aggressor against Iran, when in fact their own leaders are in favor of an attack.

In short, the leaks reveal many important secrets about the way America and other countries have engaged in shady dealings over the past decade. As American citizens, we need to be informed about such things. When our government lies to us, we desperately need groups such as WikiLeaks to help us. If citizens don't have access to information, they cannot make good decisions. An informed public is a fundamental requirement for a stable democracy, and the Cablegate leaks are a big step in the right direction.

Douglas Perkins

Teshirosawa

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0900

When I was researching the history of Hitane Elementary School (直根小学校), I found reference to Teshirosawa Elementary School (手代沢分校), which was open from 1948 to 1961, according to the Hitane Elementary School history records (http://www2.chokai.ne.jp/~hitane/enkakusi1.htm). But Teshirosawa Elementary School doesn't show up on the major map websites — neither does Teshirosawa or Teshiro. The school and hamlet itself revolved around the timber industry, which apparently died off in the late 50s. After much searching, I found an old map showing the general location -- Momoyake, a hamlet now part of Hitane. Hitane is located in Chokai (鳥海), Yurihonjo (由利本荘市), Akita, Japan.

Ms. Sumiko, a resident of Hitane, explained that Teshirosawa was a branch school with only a few students, the kids who couldn't make the walk into Momoyake Elementary School (百宅分校). The road to Teshiro starts SW of the highway's main fork in Momoyake. The school and other buildings were located just before the bridge over a small stream, and are no longer there. These days, that road leads to the Momoyake Trailhead of Mt. Chokai and is almost exclusively used by adventurous hikers, and perhaps occasionally by motorbikers (see http://www.cyclingtalk.net/rindo/touhoku/yamagata_tyoukai/ or http://www.rindo21.com/touhoku_minami/yamagata_tyoukai/akita_tesirosawa/). The hamlet was located around lat/long 39.101458, 140.127268.

Hitane Elementary School

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0900

Here are pictures from Hitane Elementary School (直根小学校) in Chōkai, Yurihonjo, Akita.

The above maps are from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA 2.0). Hitane Elementary School goes back to 1874 — here's the school's history. The Japanese is copied from http://www2.chokai.ne.jp/~hitane/enkakusi1.htm, and I translated it to English.

Year		Era	年
1874-10-15	Hitane Elementary School is formed. The temporary location is Shōjūji. Hitane Elementary School is in University 7, Middle School 62-64 Group. At this time, the country's education is divided into 8 university groups, each containing 32 middle school groups, each containing 210 elementary school groups. Also, elementary school is divided into lower (6-9 years old, 3 years) and upper (10-13 years old, 3 years).	明治	7.10.15	直根学校として本校の創意をみる。（仮校舎正重寺，修業年限3年の下等小学校） ※直根学校は第７大学区13番中学区62〜64小学区であった。これは学制発布が全国を８大学区とし，1大学区に32中学区を，１中学区に210小学区を設けたことによる。　また，下等小学は６〜９才の３年間，上等小学は10〜13才の３年間であった。
1879-01-11	First graduates of lower grade elementary school.		12.1.11	下等小学校の最初の卒業生を出す。
1880-04-10	Hitane Elementary School instruction tour to Momoyake, Kami-Hitane, and Sarukura.		13.4.10	直根学校の巡回教授所を百宅・上直根・猿倉に置く。
1880-12	A major education revision occurs. Schools are split into a 3 year primary course, a 3 year intermediate course, and a 2 year upper course. This school has only elementary level students.		13.12	教育全改正により初等科３年，中等科３年，高等科２年となり，本校は初等科のみ。
1883-08-12	Shōjūji is destroyed by a fire. The school temporarily moves to 3 new locations at houses of local residents: Jūbē Satō, 新田宗祥太, and Denjūrō Takahashi.		16.8.12	正重寺焼失により，佐藤重兵ヱ・新田宗祥太・高橋伝十郎方に分散仮校舎とする。
1886-04-01	Momoyake Branch School is established.		19.4.1	百宅に分教場を設置する。
1887-04	A major education revision occurs. Schools are split into a 4 year ordinary elementary course and a 4 year higher course. The school becomes 直根簡易小学校.		20.4	学制改革され，高等小学４年，尋常小学４年，簡易小学３年となり，本校は直根簡易小学校となる。
1887-05-31	Kami-Hitane Branch School and Sarukura Branch School are established.		20.5.31	上直根・猿倉に分教場を設置する。
1889-10-01	Momoyake Branch School, Kami-Hitane Branch School, and Sarukura Branch School close.		22.10.1	百宅・上直根・猿倉の３分教場を廃止する。
1892-06-05	An elementary school reform is ordered. Under the new age grouping, the common section level is 3-4 years, and the upper level is 2-3 years. The school becomes 直根村立尋常小学校. The school adds a 4th grade class.		25.6.5	小学校令の改正により，尋常科（３〜４年）高等科（２〜３年）となり，直根村立尋常小学校と改称，修業年限４年となる。
1893-02-01	Small branch schools are opened in Kami-Hitane and Momoyake.		26.2.1	上直根に分教場を設置し，百宅分教場と称する。
1897-11-25	In Chikoshi, a private house of 116m² is purchased. In 1901, it is enlarged to 132m², and in 1908, it is enlarged to 172m².		30.11.25	打越に民家を購入，35坪の校舎を建築する。（34年40坪増築，41年模様替と増築52坪)
1898-02-19	In Kami-Hitane, the Momoyake Small Branch School gets a new building in the neighborhood of Nakamura. On the same day, in the village of Mamenashi in Kami-Hitane, Kami-Hitane Small Branch School is opened. In 1902, Momoyake Small Branch School moves to a new building located in Yama no Sawa.		31.2.19	上直根に設けた百宅分教場を百宅字中村に移し，百宅分教場を建築。同日上直根字豆梨に上直根分教場を新築する。（百宅分教場は35年山の沢に改築）
1902-03-12	Kami Hitane Small Branch School becomes Kami-Hitane Ordinary Elementary School. On 1911-03-18, the school is demoted back to a small branch school. At that time, the branch school was located in Momoyake.		35.3.12	上直根分教場は上直根尋常小学校に昇格する。 44年3月18日再び分教場に降格する。独立校当時は百宅は上直根の分教室。
1908-04-01	By imperial edict, the length of compulsory education is extended to 6 years. 5th and 6th grade are added to the school.		41.4.1	勅令により義務教育年限は尋常科６年，高等科２年となり，本校は修業年限６か年。
1911-01-19	In Sarukura, a special winter classroom is added, teaching 1st-4th grade in a single classroom.		44.1.19	猿倉に冬季特別教場を置く。（４年まで単級）
1912-01-11	At 11:40 a.m., fire breaks out. All of the school's official documents burn. Following this, a new graduation ledger is created.		45.1.11	午前11時40分学校より出火，校舎書類の一切を焼失する。（卒業台帳はこの年度より新たになる。）
1914-10-01	To replace the school destroyed in the 1912 fire, a new building is constructed in Nakamura, Shimo-Hitane.	大正	3.10.1	火災により焼失した校舎を下直根字中村に再建落成する。
1919-04-01	Upper grade levels are added and the school becomes a regular elementary school with the new name "直根村立尋常小学校".	大正	8.4.1	高等科を併置し，直根村立尋常小学校と改称する。
1927-11-22	Addition to school building complete.	昭和	2.11.22	校舎増築落成する。
1936-12-30	Momoyake Branch School building renovation complete.		11.12.30	百宅分校改築落成する。
1941-04-01	The school becomes Hitane National Elementary School. Because of the wartime nationalistic influence, elementary schools in Japan changed to this system from 1941 to 1947.		16.4.1	直根村立直根国民学校と改称する。尋常科は初等科という名に変わる。
1947-04-01	In an educational reform, schools are divided with 6 years for elementary and 3 years for junior high. The school becomes 直根村立直根小学校.		22.4.1	６・３制実施にともない，直根村立直根小学校と改称する。
1948-11-30	Sarukura Branch School building renovation complete.		23.11.30	猿倉分校改築落成する。
1948-12-01	Teshirosawa Branch School opens. 1st-6th grade use a single classroom.		23.12.1	手代沢に分校設置。（１〜６年の単級）
1950-02-10	Major structural repairs are completed on Kami-Hitane Branch School. In 1958-1959, the gymnasium is renovated. In 1971, the building is extended.		25.2.10	上直根分校改築落成する。建物粗悪で33年，34年に校舎体育館を再建築する。 46年一部増改築。
1952-04-04	In Sodegawa, a branch school is established, containing 1st-5th grade. The building is renovated in 1959.		27.4.4	袖川に分校設置。（１〜５年の単級）34年改築。
1954-09-15	School celebrates its 60th anniversary. A publication is produced, a commemorative event is held, and playground equipment is improved.		29.9.15	創立80周年記念式典を行う。記念誌発行・記念行事として記念文庫・遊具などの整備。
1955-03-31	The three villages of Kawauchi, Jinego, and Hitane combine to form Chōkai. The school name becomes 鳥海村立直根小学校.		30.3.31	川内・笹子・直根3村の合併により鳥海村誕生，鳥海村立直根小学校と改称する。
1956-05-08	The school flag is established.		31.5.8	校旗を樹立する。
1959-12-04	The school song is created. The lyrics are written by Takahashi, from Naka-Hitane. The music is written by Komatsu, from Higashiyuri.		34.12.4	校歌を制定する。作詞:高橋亮吉氏（中直根出身）作曲:小松耕輔氏（東由利町舘合出身）
1961-10-01	Teshirosawa Branch School closes.		36.10.1	手代沢分校を廃校にする。
1961-10-23	In 1960-1961, Kami-Hitane Branch School is designated a "Teaching Japanese for Combined Class Instruction" school by the Akita Prefectural Board of Education. The school receives a commendation from the Akita Board of Education on October 8, 1962.		36.10.23	上直根分校を会場に35・36年度県教委指定の「複式学級に於る国語科同単元学習指導の研究」を公開する。（37年10月8日県教委より表彰）
1963-04-01	Momoyake Branch School separates from Hitane Elementary School and becomes 鳥海村立百宅小学校.		38.4.1	百宅分校は本校より分離して鳥海村立百宅小学校となる。
1966-11-14	Renovation of Sarukura Branch School complete.		41.11.14	猿倉分校を改築落成する。
1968-03-31	Sodegawa Branch School closes.		43.3.31	袖川分校を廃校にする。
1969-11-19	In Nakamura, Shimo-Hitane, school building renovation complete. Full school lunch is introduced.		44.11.19	下直根字中村に校舎改築落成する。（校舎完成とともに学級給食はじまる。）
1970-11-15	In Nakamura, Shimo-Hitane, gymnasium construction complete.		45.11.15	下直根字中村に体育館落成する。
1974-10-25	School's 100 year anniversary ceremony.		49.10.25	創立百周年記念式典を挙行する。
1976-07-03	Schoolyard enlarged by 180m².		51.7.3	校庭180m²の拡張工事完了する。
1979-07-03	"Town-designated Special Activity Research Project" exhibition occurs.		54.7.3	「町指定特別活動研究」を公開する。
1981-03-31	Kami-Hitane Branch School closes. Its students move to Hitane Elementary School. A school bus route is created.		56.3.31	上直根分校を廃校する。（上直根の通学はスクールバスになる）
1983-09-22	As part of a prefectural rural area research project, a town-designed "Educational Guidance" research meeting occurs.		58.9.22	県へき地教育研究会，町指定「学習指導研究会」を公開する。
1984-03-31	Sarukura Branch School closes. Its students move to Hitane Elementary School.		59.3.31	猿倉分校を廃校する。
1984-04-01	Momoyake Elementary School closes. Its students move to Hitane Elementary School. A school bus route is created.		59.4.1	百宅小学校を統合する。通学はスクールバスになる。
1985-08-08	Hitane Elementary savings group receives commendation from farm cooperative treasury director.		60.8.8	直根小学校貯金会，子ども信用協同組合農林中央金庫理事長表彰を受ける。
1986-11-13	Hitane Elementary School PTA receives commendation from All-Japan PTA organization chair.		61.11.13	直根小学校PTA日本PTA全国協議会長表彰を受ける。
1987-10-10	Chōkai area public research meeting with the theme, "Educational planning on how to improve math and science fundamentals."		62.10.10	鳥海地区学習指導公開研究会，研究主題「算数科における基礎学力の向上を図る学習指導」
1988-11-25	School facade and lunch room walls resurfaced. Gymnasium exterior wall repainted.		63.11.25	校舎正面及び給食室の壁面全張替と体育館外部壁面張替塗装完成。
1989-03-30	6 classroom ceilings and 5 special use room ceilings resurfaced.	平成	1.3.30	教室（6），特別教室〈5）の天井，壁面の塗装完成する。
1989-04-30	School yard and driveway are paved with asphalt 4m wide.		1.4.30	校庭通学路全面改修舗装（巾員4.0mアスファルト）
1989-08-23	In the school yard, a athletics facility (with 5 parts) is constructed using donations from the PTA.		1.8.23	校庭にアスレチック施設（５種類）をPTA奉仕作業で完成する。
1989-02-08	School designed as part of Ministry of Education's "Diligent Service Manufacture Practice" program. Hallway walls resurfaced. Staff bathrooms completed.		1.2.8	文部省指定「勤労生産学習」初年度，校舎廊下のし板全面張替，職員トイレ完成。
1991-10-02	Ministry of Education's "Diligent Service Manufacture Practice" exhibit occurs. Gymnasium is refurbished.		3.10.2	文部省指定「勤労生産学習」公開，体育館内装張替。
1993-02-25	School is presented with a thank-you letter from the Akita Prefectural Children's Museum for "Tomato Universe Cultivation".		5.2.25	宇宙トマト栽培の功績により，秋田県立子ども博物館より感謝状と記念品を贈呈される。
1994-10-15	120 year anniversary.		6.10.15	創立120周年記念の年を迎える。
1995-12-13	A new school flag is introduced.		7.12.13	校旗及び略旗を新調する。
1996-07-31	Hitane Elementary savings group receives commendation from farm cooperative treasury director.		8.7.31	直根小学校貯金会，子ども信用協同組合農林中央金庫理事長表彰を受ける。
1997-10-02	Chōkai area public research meeting with the theme, "Raising children who can vividly express themselves with thought and passion."		9.10.2	鳥海地区公開研究会，研究主題「思いや感動を生き生きと表現できる子どもの育成」
1998-10-29	The Ministry of Education designates the school as a "Rural Area Research School" for 1998-1999.		10.10.29	文部省より，へき地教育研究校に指定される。（H10〜Hll）
1999-10-07	As part of the Ministry of Education's "Rural Area Research School" project, there is a research meeting. The meeting theme is, "Think independently; raise and teach children in a lively fashion."		11.10.7	文部省指定へき地教育公開研究会，研究主題「主体的に考え，生き生きと学ぶ子供の育成」
2000-04-01	The former Hitane Junior High School building is renovated and becomes the Hitane Elementary School building. At this time, Chōkai Town's three junior high schools — Kawauchi, Hitane, and Jinego — merge to form Chōkai Junior High School.		12.4.1	旧直根中学校を増改築した新校舎に移転する。

The current school building is not so old. It was created to house Hitane Junior High School. In 1999, Chokai Junior High School opened and Hitane Junior High School closed, so the elementary school changed from its old building (near the nursery school in Nakamura, I believe) to the current location. According to the above documentation, the school building at Nakamura was first built in 1914 and significantly renovated in 1969. As described above, there were branch schools in several locations: Momoyake, Sarukura, Kami-Hitane, and Teshirosawa. The largest and longest-lasting of these was in Momoyake, which also had a junior high school. Some of the Momoyake school buildings are still there, though they aren't used for anything these days.

Hitane Elementary School (2000 — 2013): 39.165535, 140.162705.
Hitane Elementary School (pre 2000): 39.155, 140.166. I don't know the exact location, but this should be fairly close.

Here are the lyrics to the school song.

１	空高き　鳥海山を仰ぎつつ　生いたち来にしほこらかに　共に学ばん山の子われら　心けだかく
２	雪の中　こぶし花咲きぶな芽ぶく　清き故郷いきいきと　共に学ばん山の子われら　生命光りて
３	澄みわたる　丘べの空にてりはえて　たてる学舎いそしみて　共に学ばん山の子われら　望み輝く
４	幸を　明日にのぞみて新しき　世のみちびきにたくましく　共に学ばん山の子われら　力あわせて

No censorship

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0900

Persimmon cookies

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0900

This is a nice recipe for persimmon cookies. It's a modification of Patty Tindall's recipe at allrecipes.com (2010).

3 ripe persimmons
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup crushed walnuts
1 cup raisins

Puree persimmons and mix with baking soda. In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar. Mix in persimmon mixture and 1 egg. Mix in flour mixture. Add walnets and raisins, and mix. Place in small balls on buttered cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 15 minutes. Let cool and eat.

Apple crisp

Sat, 13 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0900

3 tart apples
3/4 cup (75 g) flour
1 cup (170 g) brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup (45 g) walnuts
1 stick (110 g) butter
1/4 tsp salt

This is an old and wonderful recipe for apple crisp. It's a modification of the 1979 Fannie Farmer Cookbook recipe. Add cloves or extra cinnamon if you like. Butter a baking dish. Cut the apples into small slices and put in the baking dish. Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts, butter, and salt with your fingers or a fork. Then pour this mix on top of the apples. Bake at 350°F (175°C) until crust is brown (30-40 minutes). Let cool and eat. Optionally, serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

すっぱいリンゴ　3本
ケーキ用の薄力粉　175 cc (75 g)
黒砂糖　235 cc (170 g)
くるみ　120 cc (45 g)

シナモン　小さじ 1
バター　120 cc (110 g)
塩　小さじ 1/4

天板はバターをします。リンゴを切って、天板に入れる。フォークで薄力粉と黒砂糖とくるみとシナモンとバターと塩を混ぜて、リンゴの上に入れる。175°Cでオブーンに焼きます、30～40分。10分待って、食べる。

Old Yashima Junior High School

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0900

Here are pictures from old Yashima Junior High School (矢島中学校) in Yurihonjo, Akita. It was used for 62 years and closed in April, 2009. The town built a new building across town and subsequently demolished the old one. The old building was located at lat/long 39.2253, 140.1358, next to the softball stadium and Seishonen Home.

The above maps are from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA 2.0). Here's some history of Yashima Junior High School. The Japanese is copied from http://www.city.yurihonjo.akita.jp/edu/yashima-jh/syokai.html, and I translated it to English.

Year		Era	年
1947-05-01	Yashima JHS opens at location by softball ground and Seishonen Home.	昭和	22.5.1	開校式を挙行
1949-03-31	North building construction complete. 4 school buildings of size 30m².		24.3.31	北校舎増築竣工４校舎100坪増築
1951-10-26	Hearing and sight education research project.		26.10.26	視覚聴覚教育公開研究会
1953-05-28	4 school building additions. School flag and school song established.		28.5.28	西校舎増築、校旗・校歌制定
1957-03-31	New school building construction phase 1. Size 112m². Cost ¥24,000,000.		32.3.31	新校舎第一工期竣工（370坪約2,400万円）
1958-03-31	New school building construction phase 2. Size 112m². Cost ¥35,000,000.		33.3.31	新校舎第二工期竣工（370坪約3,500万円）
1958-06-12	Move to new school building complete.		33.6.12	全校生徒新校舎に移転
1959-05-31	Indoor gym built. Size 102m². Cost ¥19,200,000.		34.5.31	屋内体育館竣工（338坪約1,920万円）
1961-11-30	Administrative building and special classroom construction. Size 150m². Cost ¥35,580,000.		36.11.30	管理棟、特別教室竣工（496坪約3,558万円）
1962-10-10	Prefectural Board of Education curriculum teaching research project.		37.10.10	県教委指定教科指導公開研究会
1964-07-17	Shop classroom built. Size 56m². Cost ¥1,080,000		39.7.17	技術室竣工（185坪約108万円）
1967-10-28	School's 20th anniversary celebration.		42.10.28	20周年記念式典挙行、同窓会を設立
1968-04-01	Handicapped class established.		43.4.1	特殊学級を設置
1968-10-30	Prefectural industry education research program.		43.10.30	県指定産業教育公開研究会
1969-03-22	Student winter dormitory built. Size 56m². Cost ¥7,300,000.		44.3.22	生徒合宿所（冬季寄宿舎）竣工（185.7坪730万円）
1970-11-12	"Sōzō Yūgō" education project opening ceremony.		45.11.12	「融合創造」の教育像除幕式挙行(45.11.3建立）
1970-12-24	"Green Youth Unity" award ceremony.		45.12.24	緑の少年団結成（団旗授与）
1971-10-28	All-Akita Flower Bed Contest, Special Excellent Prize.		46.10.28	全県花だんコンクールで特別優秀賞
1973-04-23	Rice-based school lunch program begins.		48.4.23	米飯給食開始
1973-10-05	MEXT student guidance research project.		48.10.5	文部省指定生徒指導公開研究会
1974-10-18	Prefectural Board of Education student guidance research project.		49.10.18	県教委指定生徒指導公開研究会
1975-06-30	Pool built. Size 1,994m². Cost ¥45,000,000.		50.6.30	プール竣工（1,994㎡約4,500万円）
1976-11-14	School repair project.		51.11.14	校舎改築工事着手
1977-05-20	Gynmasium repair project.		52.5.20	体育館改修工事着手
1977-10-06	School's 30th anniversary celebration.		52.10.6	30周年記念式典挙行
1977-10-06	Toyama Botanical Garden creation project, gift from alumni reunion.		52.10.6	高山植物園の造成（同窓会より寄贈）
1978-11-25	Steam pipe and radiator heating system completed.		53.11.25	温水暖房工事完了
1979-04-01	Prefectural career guidance research project (continuing to 1980).		54.4.1	進路指導県研究協力校指定（〜55年度）
1980-08-10	Tennis court construction. Cost ¥5,000,000.		55.8.10	テニスコート造成（約500万円）
1981-08-10	Sash exchange construction begins.		56.8.10	サッシ取替工事開始
1985-08	Gymnasium floor refinished.		60.8	体育館床張替工事
1987-08	Major repairs to administrative building.		62.8	管理棟大改修
1987-11-08	School's 40th anniversary celebration.		62.11.8	創立40周年記念式典　祝賀会
1988-07-01	Major classroom renovation construction.		63.7.1	教室棟大改修工事
1988-08	Kendo gear purchase. Cost ¥7,500,000.		63.8	剣道用具購入（約750万円）
1990-10-09	MEXT martial arts instruction research project.	平成	2.10.9	文部省指定武道指導公開研究会
1991-12	Computer room completed. 40 machines purchased.		3.12	ｺﾝﾋﾟｭｰﾀｰ室完工、ｺﾝﾋﾟｭｰﾀｰ40台設置
1993-08-31	School ground and tennis court fences built.		5.8.31	ｸﾞﾗﾝﾄﾞ･ﾃﾆｽｺｰﾄ周囲のフェンス完工
1994-04-01	Prefectural career guidance program.		6.4.1	県より進路指導推進校の指定を受ける
1995-09-14	Resurfacing of sports ground.		7.9.14	グランドの土地改良
1995-10-31	Gymnasium outside wall repairs.		7.10.31	体育館外壁改修工事
1996-04-05	Complete school lunch program begins.		8.4.5	完全給食開始
1996-10-18	Prefectural Board of Education career guidance teaching research project.		8.10.18	県教委委嘱進路指導公開研究会開催
1997-11-09	School's 50th anniversary celebration.		9.11. 9	創立50周年記念式典挙行
1998-08	Computer room renovations.		10.8	ｺﾝﾋﾟｭｰﾀ更新
1999-11	Exchange program with Jonai JHS, Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture.		11.11	香川県高松市城内中学校と交流
2000-07	Old dormitory demolished.		12.7	寄宿舎解体
2000-08	"Furusato Childrens' Dream" assistance project.		12.8	ふるさと子どもドリーム支援事業
2001-04-01	School and district activity project for understanding begins.		13.4.1	学校と地域を通じた奉仕活動推進事業
2002-04-01	School changes to semester system.		14.4.1	２学期制を開始する
2003-04-01	Frontier scholarship advancement project event.		15.4.1	学力向上フロンティア事業
2004-11-02	Frontier scholarship advancement project conference.		16.11.2	学力向上フロンティア公開研究会開催
2005-03-22	Town merger. School name becomes Yurihonjo City — Yashima Junior High School.		17.3.22	新市発足に伴い由利本荘市立矢島中学校となる
2006-04-01	Career education project		18.4.1	キャリア教育実践プロジェクト指定
2007-10-20	School's 60th anniversary celebration.		19.10.20	創立60周年記念式典　講演　祝賀会
2008-07	All-Akita JHS Baseball Tournament 2nd place.		20.7	全県中学校少年野球大会準優勝
2008-03-14	Ceremony announcing the start of Yashima Junior High/High School partnership.		20.3.14	矢島中高連携校竣工記念式典

Here is a PDF of sheet music for the school song. Here is a page for the new Yashima Junior High School.

Chokai buses 2010

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0900

This is an old schedule. See the new schedule.

This is the bus schedule for some buses in Chokai, Yurihonjo, Akita. There are no trains in Chokai. I transcribed and translated this from Japanese ─ see http://busnavi.g.ribbon.to/line/Chokai/Chokai.php.

In Chokai, bus drivers will pick up passengers anywhere along the route. Even if you are not at a bus stop, wave to the driver to get on the bus. Bus drivers will let passengers off anywhere along the route, too.

これは鳥海町のバス時間割です。鳥海町は秋田県の由利本荘市の一部です。

Sarukura Line: To Chokaiso

Bus number	1	2	3
Days off	Saturdays ・ Sundays ・ holidays
Starting point	Chōkai Town Office
Chōkai Town Office	06:55	11:45	16:10
Chōkai Medical Center	06:57	11:47	16:12
Kaizawa	07:01	11:51	16:16
Shimo-Sainokami	07:05	11:05	16:20
Kami-Sainokami	07:08	11:58	16:23
Miyanosawa	07:10	12:00	16:25
Sarukura Kaikan	07:12	12:02	16:27
Chōkaisō	07:15	12:05	16:30
Ending point	Chōkaisō

猿倉線：鳥海荘行き

番号	1	2	3
運休	土・日・祝日
始発駅	鳥海総合支所前
鳥海総合支所前	06:55	11:45	16:10
鳥海診療所前	06:57	11:47	16:12
貝沢	07:01	11:51	16:16
下才ノ神	07:05	11:05	16:20
上才ノ神	07:08	11:58	16:23
宮ノ沢	07:10	12:00	16:25
猿倉会館	07:12	12:02	16:27
鳥海荘	07:15	12:05	16:30
行先	鳥海荘

Sarukura Line: To Chokai Town Office

Bus number	1'	2'	3'
Days off	Saturdays ・ Sundays ・ holidays
Starting point	Chōkaisō
Chōkaisō	07:16	12:31	16:31
Sarukura Kaikan	07:19	12:34	16:34
Miyanosawa	07:21	12:36	16:36
Kami-Sainokami	07:23	12:38	16:38
Shimo-Sainokami	07:26	12:41	16:41
Kaizawa	07:31	12:46	16:46
Chōkai Medical Center	07:35	12:50	16:50
Chōkai Town Office	07:36	12:51	16:51
Ending point	Chōkai Town Office

猿倉線：鳥海総合支所行き

番号	1'	2'	3'
運休	土・日・祝日
始発駅	鳥海荘
鳥海荘	07:16	12:31	16:31
猿倉会館	07:19	12:34	16:34
宮ノ沢	07:21	12:36	16:36
上才ノ神	07:23	12:38	16:38
下才ノ神	07:26	12:41	16:41
貝沢	07:31	12:46	16:46
鳥海診療所前	07:35	12:50	16:50
鳥海総合支所前	07:36	12:51	16:51
行先	鳥海総合支所前

Naka-Hitane Line: To Kawakuma and Shimo-Momoyake

Bus number	1	2	3	4
Days off	Saturdays ・ Sundays ・ holidays
Starting point	Chōkai Town Office
Chōkai Town Office	06:00	09:50	11:45	16:10
Chōkai Medical Center	06:01	09:51	11:46	16:11
Nagasaka	06:06	09:55	11:51	16:16
Kuride	06:08	09:58	11:53	16:18
Ōkawabata	06:09	09:59	11:54	16:19
Shimo-Hitane	06:12	10:02	11:57	16:22
Hitane Preschool	06:13	10:03	11:58	16:23
Hitane Medical Center	06:14	10:04	11:59	16:24
Hitane Branch Office	06:15	10:05	12:00	16:25
Isonosawa	06:18	10:08	12:03	16:28
Magaki	06:20	10:10	12:05	16:30
Yamasaki	06:22	10:12	12:07	16:32
Ogunai	06:25	10:15	12:10	16:35
Kawakuma	06:28	10:18	12:13	16:38
Ogunai	06:31	10:21	12:16	16:41
Yamasaki	06:34	10:24	12:19	16:44
Nakamura	06:42	10:32	12:27	16:52
Shimo-Momoyake	06:45	10:35	12:30	16:55
Ending point	Shimo-Momoyake

中直根線：川熊・下百宅行き

番号	1	2	3	4
運休	土・日・祝日
始発駅	鳥海総合支所前
鳥海総合支所前	06:00	09:50	11:45	16:10
鳥海診療所前	06:01	09:51	11:46	16:11
長坂	06:06	09:55	11:51	16:16
栗出	06:08	09:58	11:53	16:18
大川端	06:09	09:59	11:54	16:19
下直根	06:12	10:02	11:57	16:22
直根保育園	06:13	10:03	11:58	16:23
直根診療所	06:14	10:04	11:59	16:24
直根出張所	06:15	10:05	12:00	16:25
礒ノ沢	06:18	10:08	12:03	16:28
馬垣	06:20	10:10	12:05	16:30
山サキ	06:22	10:12	12:07	16:32
大宮内	06:25	10:15	12:10	16:35
川熊	06:28	10:18	12:13	16:38
大宮内	06:31	10:21	12:16	16:41
山サキ	06:34	10:24	12:19	16:44
中村	06:42	10:32	12:27	16:52
下百宅	06:45	10:35	12:30	16:55
行先	下百宅

Naka-Hitane Line: To Chokai Town Office

Bus number	1'	2'	3'	4'
Days off	Saturdays ・ Sundays ・ holidays
Starting point	Shimo-Momoyake
Shimo-Momoyake	06:47	10:37	12:47	16:57
Nakamura	06:50	10:40	12:50	17:00
Yamasaki	06:59	10:49	12:59	17:09
Ogunai	07:02	10:52	13:02	17:12
Kawakuma	07:05	10:55	13:05	17:15
Ogunai	07:08	10:58	13:08	17:18
Yamasaki	07:11	11:01	13:11	17:21
Magaki	07:13	11:03	13:13	17:23
Isonosawa	07:15	11:05	13:15	17:25
Hitane Branch Office	07:18	11:08	13:18	17:28
Hitane Medical Center	07:20	11:10	13:20	17:30
Hitane Preschool	07:21	11:11	13:21	17:31
Shimo-Hitane	07:22	11:12	13:22	17:32
Ōkawabata	07:25	11:15	13:25	17:35
Kuride	07:26	11:16	13:26	17:36
Nagasaka	07:28	11:18	13:28	17:38
Chōkai Medical Center	07:33	11:23	13:33	17:43
Chōkai Town Office	07:35	11:25	13:35	17:45
Ending point	Chōkai Town Office

中直根線：鳥海総合支所行き

番号	1'	2'	3'	4'
運休	土・日・祝日
始発駅	下百宅
下百宅	06:47	10:37	12:47	16:57
中村	06:50	10:40	12:50	17:00
山サキ	06:59	10:49	12:59	17:09
大宮内	07:02	10:52	13:02	17:12
川熊	07:05	10:55	13:05	17:15
大宮内	07:08	10:58	13:08	17:18
山サキ	07:11	11:01	13:11	17:21
馬垣	07:13	11:03	13:13	17:23
礒ノ沢	07:15	11:05	13:15	17:25
直根出張所	07:18	11:08	13:18	17:28
直根診療所	07:20	11:10	13:20	17:30
直根保育園	07:21	11:11	13:21	17:31
下直根	07:22	11:12	13:22	17:32
大川端	07:25	11:15	13:25	17:35
栗出	07:26	11:16	13:26	17:36
長坂	07:28	11:18	13:28	17:38
鳥海診療所	07:33	11:23	13:33	17:43
鳥海総合支所前	07:35	11:25	13:35	17:45
行先	鳥海総合支所前

Sarakawa Line: To Sarakawa

Bus number	1	2	3
Days off	Saturdays ・ Sundays ・ holidays
Starting point	Hottoin Chōkai
Hottoin Chōkai	09:35	12:10	14:15
Jinego Branch Office	09:37	12:12	14:17
Fukujima	09:42	12:17	14:22
Bunabuchi	09:43	12:18	14:23
Harimizu Kaikan	09:49	12:24	14:29
Akakura	09:56	12:31	14:36
Tōgenozawa	10:00	12:35	14:40
Sarakawa	10:05	12:40	14:45
Ending point	Sarakawa

皿川線：皿川方面行き

番号	1	2	3
運休	土・日・祝日
始発駅	ほっといん鳥海
ほっといん鳥海	09:35	12:10	14:15
笹子出張所	09:37	12:12	14:17
福島	09:42	12:17	14:22
模渕	09:43	12:18	14:23
針水会館	09:49	12:24	14:29
赤倉	09:56	12:31	14:36
峠ノ沢	10:00	12:35	14:40
皿川	10:05	12:40	14:45
行先	皿川

Sarakawa Line: To Hottoin Chokai

Bus number	1'	2'	3'
Days off	Saturdays ・ Sundays ・ holidays
Starting point	Sarakawa
Sarakawa	10:10	12:40	14:50
Tōgenozawa	10:15	12:45	14:55
Akakura	10:19	12:49	14:59
Harimizu Kaikan	10:26	12:56	15:06
Bunabuchi	10:32	13:02	15:12
Fukujima	10:34	13:04	15:14
Hottoin Chōkai	10:36	13:06	15:16
Jinego Branch Office	10:40	13:10	15:20
Ending point	Jinego Branch Office

皿川線：ほっといん鳥海行き

Bus number	1'	2'	3'
運休	土・日・祝日
始発駅	皿川
皿川	10:10	12:40	14:50
峠ノ沢	10:15	12:45	14:55
赤倉	10:19	12:49	14:59
針水会館	10:26	12:56	15:06
模渕	10:32	13:02	15:12
福島	10:34	13:04	15:14
ほっといん鳥海	10:36	13:06	15:16
笹子出張所	10:40	13:10	15:20
行先	笹子出張所

Show me the evidence

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0900

The following is a letter I wrote that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald on August 17, 2010. The title it was given (not my choice) is, "Show me the evidence against gay marriage".

YURIHONJO, Japan — In his Aug. 16 column, Herald columnist Lloyd Omdahl makes the same mistake Proposition 8 supporters made in the trial ("Judge missed the compelling state purpose," Page A4).

Omdahl says that bans on gay marriage ought to be constitutional because they promote a compelling state interest — "safety of the public" — but he presents no facts to back that up.

Omdahl writes, "[Judge Walker] went far afield with a number of unfounded suppositions and conclusions without recognizing any compelling state purpose for protecting the benefits of traditional marriage."

But to be constitutional, Prop 8 needed to have a basis in something other than a private moral or religious belief.

At the trial, Prop 8 supporters argued two key points: that Prop 8 promotes stable relationships because men and women naturally produce children, and that Prop 8 promotes optimal households for raising children properly.

But expert witness testimony showed that these claims are mere guesswork, unsupported by evidence.

Thus, the judge struck down Prop 8.

Here, Omdahl briefly mentions "public safety" but never says what that means. If gay and lesbian couples get married, are they going to do something dangerous? Omdahl never explains how gay marriage is a public safety issue — probably because it isn't.

In fact, evidence in the Prop 8 trial showed that gay and lesbian parents are as good at raising children as heterosexual parents. Also in the Prop 8 trial, even the star witness for Prop 8 admitted, "Gay marriage might contribute over time to a decline in anti-gay prejudice [and] a reduction in anti-gay hate crimes." This is the exact opposite of Omdahl's claim that legalizing gay marriage threatens public safety.

States can't discriminate based on sexual orientation without a "compelling state purpose." Religion doesn't qualify, and neither do vague and unfounded assertions of "safety of the public."

If Omdahl wants to oppose gay marriage, he might start by looking for a reason grounded in fact, not thin air.

Douglas Perkins

Cornbread

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0900

This is a nice recipe for cornbread. It's a modification of the 1979 Fannie Farmer Cookbook recipe.

3/4 cup (120 g) yellow cornmeal
1 cup (110 g) flour
1/3 cup (80 cc) sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (90 g) milk

1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter
onions (optional)
jalapeños (optional)
sausage (optional)

In a big bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat the egg, melt the butter, and add the egg, butter, and milk to the mixture. Mix well. Optionally, add some fried onions, jalapeño peppers, and cooked breakfast sausage. Pour the mix into a hot buttered 6" or 8" cast iron frying pan, and bake at 425°F (220°C) for 20 minutes. Let cool and eat.

これはコーンブレッドのレシピです。

コーンミール　120 g
小麦粉　110 g
砂糖　90 g
ベーキングパウダー　小さじ 3

ミルク　235 cc
卵　1個
バター　大さじ 2杯分
塩　小さじ 1/2

コーンミールと小麦粉と砂糖とベーキングパウダーと塩を混ぜる。バターを溶かしておく。ミルクと卵とバターを入れて混ぜる。混ぜたものを鉄板のフライパンに入れる。220°Cのオーブンに20分入れる。少し冷まして、食べる。（日本にはコーンミールが珍しいですが、外国の食べ物の店はコーンミールを売っています。）

Chocolate chip cookies

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0900

This is an old and wonderful recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It's a modification of the 1979 Fannie Farmer Cookbook recipe.

1 stick (110 g) butter
1/2 cup (100 g) white sugar
1/2 cup (90 g) brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 tsp vanilla

1 1/8 cups (155 g) flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (45 g) walnuts
1 cup (170 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Soften the butter and mix with the white and brown sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda, and then add to the butter mixture. Mix in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Place in teaspoon-size balls on a buttered cookie sheet and bake at 375°F (191°C) for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Let cool, eat, and enjoy!

バター 115 g
砂糖 1/2 カップ (100 g)
黒砂糖 1/2 カップ (90 g)
卵 1個
バニラ小さじ 3/4

小麦粉 1 1/8 カップ (155 g)
塩小さじ 1/2
ベーキングパウダー小さじ 1/2
くるみ 1/2 カップ (45 g)
チョコチップ 1 カップ (170 g)

バターを常温にして、ボールに入れる。砂糖と黒砂糖を入れて混ぜる。卵とバニラを入れて混ぜる。他のボールで小麦粉と塩とベーキングパウダーを混ぜる。これを上のミックスに入れて混ぜる。くるみとチョコチップを入れて混ぜる。くっつかないようにトレーにバターをぬる。食べやすい大きさ形にする。191°Cのオーブンで8~10分焼く。冷まして、食べる。

Yashima-Jinego buses 2010

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0900

This is an old schedule. See the new schedule.

This is the bus schedule for the Yashima-Jinego Line, Chokai, Yurihonjo, Akita. There are no trains in Chokai, and this bus goes along Highway 108, the main highway. This list is a translation from Japanese ─ see http://busnavi.g.ribbon.to/line.php?line=28. The only other buses in Chokai go to Naka-Hitane, Sarukura, and Sarakawa. The information is online in Japanese ─ see http://busnavi.g.ribbon.to/line/chokai/chokai.php.

Yashima-Jinego Line (Line 28): To Jinego

Bus number	JNK01	JNK03	YSM05	JNK07	YSM15	JNK11	YSM21	JNK15
Days off	Sundays holidays	Saturdays Sundays holidays	ー	Sundays holidays	ー	Sundays holidays	ー	ー
Starting point	Yashima Bus Station		Honjō Bus Station	Yashima Bus Station	Honjō Bus Station	Yashima Bus Station	Honjō Bus Station	Yashima Bus Station
Yashima Bus Station	06:30	07:10	09:30	11:25	14:30	15:50	17:10	18:50
Tatemachi	06:30	07:10	09:30	11:25	14:30	15:50	17:10	18:50
Aramachi Corner	06:30	07:10	09:30	11:25	14:30	15:50	17:10	18:50
Yashima Station	06:32	07:12	09:32	11:27	14:32	15:52	17:12	18:52
Toyomachi Corner	06:32	07:12	09:32	11:27	14:32	15:52	17:12	18:52
Toyomachi	06:32	07:12	09:32	11:27	14:32	15:52	17:12	18:52
Sakaemachi	06:32	07:12	09:32	11:27	14:32	15:52	17:12	18:52
Ōkawara	06:33	07:13	09:33	11:28	14:33	15:53	17:13	18:53
Aramachi	06:34	07:14	09:34	11:29	14:34	15:54	17:14	18:54
Shinjo	06:35	07:15	09:35	11:30	14:35	15:55	17:15	18:55
Kami-Shinjo	06:36	07:16	09:36	11:31	14:36	15:56	17:16	18:56
Gonai	06:38	07:18	09:38	11:33	14:38	15:58	17:18	18:58
Dōbutsuzaka	06:39	07:19	09:39	11:34	14:39	15:59	17:19	18:59
Tsubofuchi	06:41	07:21	09:41	11:36	14:41	16:01	17:21	19:01
Yanomoto	06:42	07:22	09:42	11:37	14:42	16:02	17:22	19:02
Tsurugataira	06:43	07:23	09:43	11:38	14:43	16:03	17:23	19:03
Shimo-Fushimi	06:45	07:25	09:45	11:40	14:45	16:05	17:25	19:05
Naka-Fushimi	06:46	07:26	09:46	11:41	14:46	16:06	17:26	19:06
Chōkai Town Office	06:49	07:29	09:49	11:44	14:49	16:09	17:29	19:09
Chōkai Medical Center	06:49	07:29	09:49	11:44	14:49	16:09	17:29	19:09
Fushimizawa	06:49	07:29	09:49	11:44	14:49	16:09	17:29	19:09
Sagenabe	06:49	07:29	09:49	11:44	14:49	16:09	17:29	19:09
Shimo-Hirane	06:50	07:30	09:50	11:45	14:50	16:10	17:30	19:10
Hirane	06:50	07:30	09:50	11:45	14:50	16:10	17:30	19:10
Kami-Hirane	06:52	07:34	09:52	11:47	14:52	16:12	17:32	19:12
Shōdeyachi	06:52	--:--	09:52	11:47	14:52	16:12	17:32	19:12
Naranokidaira	06:55	--:--	09:55	11:50	14:55	16:15	17:35	19:15
Kogawa	06:57	--:--	09:57	11:52	14:57	16:17	17:37	19:17
Okanai	06:59	--:--	09:59	11:54	14:59	16:19	17:39	19:19
Tōge	07:00	--:--	10:00	11:55	15:00	16:20	17:40	19:20
Shimo-Neko	07:01	--:--	10:01	11:56	15:01	16:21	17:41	19:21
Neko	07:02	--:--	10:02	11:57	15:02	16:22	17:42	19:22
Sannotsubo	07:04	--:--	10:04	11:59	15:04	16:24	17:44	19:24
Seme	07:05	--:--	10:05	12:00	15:05	16:25	17:45	19:25
Motoyashiki	07:07	--:--	10:07	12:01	15:07	16:27	17:47	19:27
Kami-Sugisawa	07:08	--:--	10:08	12:02	15:08	16:28	17:48	19:28
Hottoin Chōkai	07:12	--:--	10:12	12:07	15:12	16:32	17:52	19:32
Kami-Jinego	07:12	--:--	10:12	12:07	--:--	--:--	17:52	19:32
Nakamura	07:13	--:--	10:13	12:08	--:--	--:--	17:53	19:33
Tenjin Kawakuma Corner	07:14	--:--	10:14	12:09	--:--	--:--	17:54	19:34
Hinotosō	07:16	--:--	10:16	12:11	--:--	--:--	17:56	19:36
Tagabana	07:18	--:--	10:18	12:13	--:--	--:--	17:58	19:38
Kami-Noyake	07:21	--:--	10:21	12:16	--:--	--:--	18:01	19:41
Ending point	Kami-Noyake	Kami-Hirane	Kami-Noyake		Hottoin Chōkai		Kami-Noyake

Yashima-Jinego Line (Line 28): To Yashima and Honjo

Bus number	YSM54	YSM56	YSM58	JNK08
Days off	Sundays holidays	Saturdays Sundays holidays school holidays	Saturdays Sundays holidays	ー
Starting point	Kami-Noyake	Kami-Hirane		Kami-Noyake
Kami-Noyake	06:05	--:--	--:--	07:25
Tagabana	06:05	--:--	--:--	07:25
Hinotosō	06:06	--:--	--:--	07:26
Tenjin Kawakuma Corner	06:08	--:--	--:--	07:28
Nakamura	06:09	--:--	--:--	07:29
Kami-Jinego	06:10	--:--	--:--	07:30
Hottoin Chōkai	06:14	--:--	--:--	07:34
Kami-Sugisawa	06:14	--:--	--:--	07:34
Motoyashiki	06:15	--:--	--:--	07:35
Seme	06:17	--:--	--:--	07:37
Sannotsubo	06:18	--:--	--:--	07:38
Neko	06:20	--:--	--:--	07:40
Shimo-Neko	06:21	--:--	--:--	07:41
Tōge	06:22	--:--	--:--	07:42
Okanai	06:23	--:--	--:--	07:43
Kogawa	06:25	--:--	--:--	07:45
Naranokidaira	06:27	--:--	--:--	07:47
Shōdeyachi	06:30	--:--	--:--	07:50
Kami-Hirane	06:30	07:05	07:35	07:50
Hirane	06:30	07:05	07:35	07:50
Shimo-Hirane	06:32	07:05	07:35	07:52
Sagenabe	06:33	07:06	07:36	07:53
Fushimizawa	06:33	07:06	07:36	07:53
Chōkai Medical Center	06:33	07:06	07:36	07:53
Chōkai Town Office	06:37	07:10	07:40	07:57
Naka-Fushimi	06:37	07:10	07:40	07:57
Shimo-Fushimi	06:37	07:10	07:40	07:57
Tsurugataira	06:39	07:12	07:42	07:59
Yanomoto	06:40	07:13	07:43	08:00
Tsubofuchi	06:41	07:14	07:44	08:01
Dōbutsuzaka	06:44	07:17	07:47	08:04
Gonai	06:45	07:18	07:48	08:05
Kami-Shinjo	06:46	07:19	07:49	08:06
Shinjo	06:47	07:20	07:50	08:07
Aramachi	06:48	07:21	07:51	08:08
Ōkawara	06:49	07:22	07:52	08:12
Sakaemachi	06:50	07:23	07:53	08:13
Toyomachi	06:51	07:24	07:54	08:14
Toyomachi Corner	06:51	07:24	07:54	08:14
Yashima Station	06:54	07:27	07:57	08:17
Aramachi Corner	06:54	07:27	07:57	08:17
Tatemachi	06:54	07:27	07:57	08:17
Yashima Bus Station	06:56	07:29	07:59	08:19
Ending point	Yashima Bus Station (Honjō Bus Station)	Yashima Bus Station (Yuri Technical High School)	Yashima Bus Station (Honjō Bus Station)	Yashima Bus Station

Yashima-Jinego Line (Line 28): To Yashima and Honjo (continued)

Bus number	JNK10	JNK12	YSM74	JNK16	JNK18
Days off	ー
Starting point	Kami-Noyake		Hottoin Chōkai		Kami-Noyake
Kami-Noyake	10:30	12:25	--:--	--:--	18:05
Tagabana	10:30	12:25	--:--	--:--	18:05
Hinotosō	10:31	12:26	--:--	--:--	18:06
Tenjin Kawakuma Corner	10:33	12:28	--:--	--:--	18:08
Nakamura	10:34	12:29	--:--	--:--	18:09
Kami-Jinego	10:35	12:30	--:--	--:--	18:10
Hottoin Chōkai	10:39	12:34	15:39	16:40	18:14
Kami-Sugisawa	10:39	12:34	15:39	16:40	18:14
Motoyashiki	10:40	12:35	15:40	16:41	18:15
Seme	10:42	12:37	15:42	16:43	18:17
Sannotsubo	10:43	12:38	15:43	16:44	18:18
Neko	10:45	12:40	15:45	16:46	18:20
Shimo-Neko	10:46	12:41	15:46	16:47	18:21
Tōge	10:47	12:42	15:47	16:48	18:22
Okanai	10:48	12:43	15:48	16:49	18:23
Kogawa	10:50	12:45	15:50	16:51	18:25
Naranokidaira	10:52	12:47	15:52	16:53	18:27
Shōdeyachi	10:55	12:50	15:55	16:56	18:30
Kami-Hirane	10:55	12:50	15:55	16:56	18:30
Hirane	10:55	12:50	15:55	16:56	18:30
Shimo-Hirane	10:57	12:52	15:57	16:58	18:32
Sagenabe	10:58	12:53	15:58	16:59	18:33
Fushimizawa	10:58	12:53	15:58	16:59	18:33
Chōkai Medical Center	10:58	12:53	15:58	16:59	18:33
Chōkai Town Office	11:02	12:57	16:02	17:03	18:37
Naka-Fushimi	11:02	12:57	16:02	17:03	18:37
Shimo-Fushimi	11:02	12:57	16:02	17:03	18:37
Tsurugataira	11:04	12:59	16:04	17:05	18:39
Yanomoto	11:05	13:00	16:05	17:06	18:40
Tsubofuchi	11:06	13:01	16:06	17:07	18:41
Dōbutsuzaka	11:09	13:04	16:09	17:10	18:44
Gonai	11:10	13:05	16:10	17:11	18:45
Kami-Shinjo	11:11	13:06	16:11	17:12	18:46
Shinjo	11:12	13:07	16:12	17:13	18:47
Aramachi	11:13	13:08	16:13	17:14	18:48
Ōkawara	11:14	13:09	16:14	17:15	18:49
Sakaemachi	11:15	13:10	16:15	17:16	18:50
Toyomachi	11:16	13:11	16:16	17:17	18:51
Toyomachi Corner	11:16	13:11	16:16	17:17	18:51
Yashima Station	11:19	13:14	16:19	17:20	18:54
Aramachi Corner	11:19	13:14	16:19	17:20	18:54
Tatemachi	11:19	13:14	16:19	17:20	18:54
Yashima Bus Station	11:21	13:16	16:21	17:22	18:56
Ending point	Yashima Bus Station (Honjō Bus Station)	Yashima Bus Station	Yashima Bus Station (Honjō Bus Station)	Yashima Bus Station

Clean air

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0900

The following is a letter I wrote that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald on June 10, 2010. The title given was, "Court left EPA with no choice on CO2".

YURIHONJO, Japan — Scott Hennen dislikes the Environmental Protection Agency, but his reasons are not grounded in reality ("Will senators stop EPA’s assault on N.D.?", Page A4, June 5).

Hennen says the EPA is "out to regulate" tons of things; but in fact, the EPA has not announced any such plans. Hennen simply is repeating empty propaganda, probably created by people who don’t want the Clean Air Act enforced.

He also claims the EPA is a rogue agency making a "power grab," but this is just not true. The EPA is considering rules on CO2 for two reasons: First, the agency is required by law to protect our air resources for public health, and second, the Supreme Court ordered it to. Regulating CO2 is the EPA’s only reasonable course of action.

Regarding the economy, the Clean Air Act has been around for 47 years. It didn’t stop business growth before, and there’s no reason to think it will now.

Does Hennen believe in regulating dangerous pollution at all? From his letter, it seems not. This is dangerous and short-sighted. Many studies show that if we don’t take reasonable steps to curb global warming, the cost to us and our children will be massive.

Douglas Perkins

Contact

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0900

I'm on identi.ca (@dper) and Twitter (@dpp0). My identi.ca account cross posts to my Twitter account, so my content on the two is almost the same. Also, email is good.

Karate tests

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0900

In the Japanese Karate Association (JKA or 日本空手協会 in Japanese), beginners start off at 10 kyū, with a white belt. Every few months they take a test, advancing down to 1 kyū. There are various belt colors at this point. After 1 kyū is 1st degree black belt (shodan). After 1st degree black belt is 2nd degree black belt (nidan), continuing up to 10th degree.

For kyū tests and low level dan tests, there are three parts: kihon (fundamentals), kumite (sparring), and kata (forms). Here's a description of the JKA test requirements as of 2010, closely following http://www.jka.or.jp/english/karate/kyu.html.

Level	Requirements
10-9 kyū	Kihon: chūdan junzuki →, jōdan ageuke →, chūdan sotouke →, maegeri →.
	Kumite: none.
	Kata: none.
8 kyū	Kihon: chūdan junzuki →, jōdan ageuke →, chūdan sotouke →, chūdan gidanbarai →, shutōuke →, maegeri →.
	Kumite: Gohon Kumite - jōdan/chūdan.
	Kata: Heian Shodan.
7 kyū	Kihon: chūdan junzuki →, jōdan ageuke ←, chūdan sotouke →, chūdan uchiuke ←, shutōuke →, maegeri →, yoko keage (kibadachi) left/right.
	Kumite: Gohon Kumite - jōdan/chūdan.
	Kata: Heian Nidan.
6 kyū	Kihon: chūdan junzuki →, jōdan ageuke+gyakutsuki ←, chūdan sotouke+gyakutsuki →, chūdan uchiuke ←, shutōuke →, maegeri →, yoko keage (kibadachi) left/right, yoko kekomi (kibadachi) left/right.
	Kumite: Kihon Ippon Kumite - jōdan/chūdan. Left/right.
	Kata: Heian Sandan.
5 kyū	Kihon: chūdan junzuki →, jōdan ageuke+gyakutsuki chūdan ←, sotouke+gyakutsuki →, chūdan-uchiuke+gyakutsuki ←, shutōuke →, maegeri →, mawashigeri →, yoko keage (kibadachi) left/right, yoko kekomi (kibadachi) left/right.
	Kumite: Kihon Ippon Kumite - jōdan/chūdan/maegeri. Left/right.
	Kata: Heian Yondan.
4 kyū	Kihon: chūdan junzuki →, jōdan ageuke+gyakutsuki ←, chūdan sotouke+gyakutsuki →, chūdan-uchiuke+gyakutsuki ←, shutōuke+nukite (kokutsu-dachi to zenkutsu-dachi) →, maegeri →, mawashigeri →, yoko keage (kibadachi) left/right, yoko kekomi (kibadachi) left/right.
	Kumite: Kihon Ippon Kumite - jōdan/chūdan/maegeri. Left/right.
	Kata: Heian Godan.
3 kyū	Kihon: chūdan junzuki →, sanbon renzuki →, jōdan ageuke+gyakutsuki ←, chūdan sotouke+yoko enpi (zenkutsu-dachi to kibadachi) →, chūdan uchiuke+gyakutsuki ←, shutōuke+nukite (kokutsu-dachi to zenkutsu-dachi) →, maegeri →, mawashigeri →, yoko keage (kibadachi) left/right, yoko kekomi (kibadachi) left/right.
	Kumite: Kihon Ippon Kumite - jōdan/chūdan/maegeri/yoko kekomi. Left/right.
	Kata: Tekki Shodan.
2 kyū	Kihon: chūdan junzuki →, sanbon renzuki →, jōdan ageuke+gyakutsuki ←, chūdan sotouke+yoko enpi (zenkutsu-dachi to kibadachi) →, chūdan uchiuke+gyakutsuki ←, shutōuke+nukite (kokutsu-dachi to zenkutsu-dachi) →, maegeri →, mawashigeri →, yoko keage (kibadachi) left/right, yoko kekomi (kibadachi) left/right.
	Kumite: Jiyu Ippon Kumite - jōdan/chūdan/maegeri/yoko kekomi. Left/right.
	Kata: Student's choice of Bassai-dai, Kanku-dai, Jion, or Empi.
1 kyū	Kihon: chūdan junzuki →, sanbon renzuki →, jōdan ageuke+gyakutsuki ←, chūdan sotouke+yoko enpi+yoko uraken (zenkutsu-dachi to kibadachi) →, chūdan uchiuke+gyakutsuki ←, shutōuke+nukite (kokutsu-dachi to zenkutsu-dachi) →, maegeri →, rengeri (chūdan/jōdan) →, mawashigeri →, yoko keage (kibadachi) left/right, yoko kekomi (zenkutsu-dachi) left/right.
	Kumite: Jiyu Ippon Kumite - jōdan/chūdan/maegeri/yoko kekomi/mawashigeri. One side.
	Kata: Student's choice of Bassai-dai, Kanku-dai, Jion, or Empi.
1 dan	Kihon: sambon renzuki →, jōdan ageuke+gyakutsuki ←, chudan sotouke+yoko empi+yoko uraken (zenkutsudachi to kibadachi) →, chudan-uchiuke+kizamizuki+gyakutsuki ←, shutouke+nukite (kokutsudachi to zenkutsudachi) →, maegeri →, rengeri (chūdan/jōdan) →, yoko keage/yoko kekomi (kibadachi, alternate feet), yoko kekomi (zenkutsudachi) →, mawashigeri →.
	Kumite: Jiyu Kumite.
	Kata: Student's choice of Bassai-dai, Kanku-dai, Jion, or Empi.
2 dan	Kihon: kizamizuki+sanbon renzuki →, maegeri+junzuki →, yoko keage/yoko kekomi (kibadachi, alternate feet), ageuke+mawashigeri+yoko uraken+chudan junzuki, yoko kekomi+gyakutsuki (zenkutsudachi) →, mawashigeri+gyakutsuki (zenkutsudachi) →, maegeri/yoko kekomi/ushirogeri (zenkutsu-dachi, same foot left/right).
	Kumite: Jiyu Kumite.
	Kata: Student's choice of kata.

Giving away your work

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0900

Giving Away Your Work On the Internet

Date: Sunday, January 24, 2010

Time: 10:00-11:20 Communication Session by Mr. Douglas Perkins from US

We can use the internet to find lots of information, and we can use it to share our own work. We can also find other people's work, reuse it, and then share our new creations. This is particularly useful for amateurs who don't have the resources to do everything on their own. Personally, I make many education materials and want to give them away. Although few people use my materials, anyone can copy them and do whatever they like, such as improving them and in turn giving away the improved materials. Let's talk about what we can do to make the things we create high quality, easy for others to reuse, and legal.

I gave the talk at the Akita Communicative English Studies group meeting. See http://www.edinet.ne.jp/~takeshis/images/AES06/AESadd11.htm for more information.

ATM bank transfer

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0900

The banks here have inconvenient hours. If you want to do a bank transfer, it can only be done between 8am and 3pm. Also, the local dry cleaner is open from 9am to 5pm. Inconceivable! Anyway, so it's possible to do a bank transfer at the ATM until 5pm, which is better than 3pm, except I can't read the ATM.

So I strolled into the bank at 4pm and asked about doing a bank transfer. The teller stated that they only do bank transfers until 3, so I should come back tomorrow. I asked for help with the ATM, it being all Chinese. She blinked. No eye contact, but in my direction. 8 times, precisely. After the 8th blink, another teller came over -- the mom of two of my students. She asked me to fill out some paperwork, which took 5 minutes, and we didn't use the paperwork and later shredded it. But after the paperwork, she helped me figure out the ATM. If only I had a photographic memory...

Here's a step-by-step walkthrough of doing a bank transfer (振り込み; furikomi) at a JA Bank ATM. Note that in rare cases (extremely expensive purchases, for example), a bank transfer must be done inside the bank with a teller.

	Press the bank transfer button -- 振込 (short for 振り込み; furikomi). It's on the right in the middle.
	This warning tells you that you're about to do a money transfer. Press green button in the lower right.
	Press the top button, 電信振込 (denshin furikomi). This will do a wire transfer, which is normal. The bottom button, 文書振込 (bunsho furikomi), is for a paper transfer, and it's very rare.
	Put your card in the slot.
	Enter your PIN (暗証番号; anshou bangou).
	Enter the amount of money, followed by 円.
	If the amount of money is OK, press the green button in the lower right.
	Choose how to select your destination. To do a registered furikomi for which you have a number, press 登録番号 (touroku bangou). To look up a registered furikomi number, press 登録照会 (touroku shoukai). However, I've never done this, so I can't be sure. To search by bank name, press 振込先指定 (furikomi saki shitei). This is very common. To use a furikomi card you already have, press 振込カード (furikomi kaado).
	Choose the appropriate button for your destination. If you're sending money to a regular bank, press 普通銀行 (futsuu ginkou). If you're sending money to JA Akita Shinsei Bank, press 秋田しんせい農協 (akita shinsei noukyou). If you're sending money overseas, press 外国銀行 (gaikoku ginkou).
There are two screens I'm missing. They involve choosing what branch of the bank you want and should be obvious.
	Enter the account number (口座番号; kouza bangou), make sure it's right, and then press the green button in the lower right corner.
	If you want to make a furikomi card, press the top button, 振込カード必要 (furikomi kaado hitsuyou). If you don't want a furikomi card, press the bottom button, 振込カード不要 (furikomi kaado fuyou).
Take your receipt, ATM card, and furikomi card, if you made one. It's done.

Japanese karate

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0900

In Japan, it seems there are 3 popular flavors of karate. The flavor I practice is Japanese Karate (日本空手協会; nihonkaratekyoukai), sometimes called JKA. It's a variation of Shotokan Karate. Kyokushin Karate is the third popular karate style, and it is quite different from JKA and Shotokan. My club has 3 tests a year, and each test has three parts: kihon (fundamentals), kumite (sparring), and kata (forms). Kihon is simply fundamental techniques -- we demonstrate various kicks, punches, and blocks with no opponent. Kumite is sparring. For beginners, the moves are determined ahead of time. For example, Person A will try to punch Person B in the head, and Person B simply has to block it and counter. High level sparring is free sparring (自由組手; jiyuukumite), where you can attack and block as you like. This is the same as at tournaments. The third part of a karate test is a kata. A kata is a 30-60 second routine that one memorizes in advance.

Karate tournaments are much like karate tests. There are two categories, kumite and kata. Men only fight men, women only fight women, kids only fight kids their own age, and for adults there are no age classes. There are no weight classes, there are no skill classes, opponents are chosen randomly, and it's single elimination. There are categories for individuals and teams (3 people per team). In Akita, there are only two tournaments a year: the All-Akita Tournament, and the All-Tohoku Tournament.

Our rank starts at 10 kyuu, white belt, and we work our way down to 3 kyuu, brown belt. After about 3 years, if things go well, one can obtain a black belt, and become 初段 (shodan) -- literally, first degree black belt. After first degree black belt is second degree black belt, and so on. Adults don't use yellow, green, or purple belts -- we just go from white to brown. Anyhow, different branches of different martial arts all have their own color scheme.

Rank	Belt color
10 kyuu	white
9-8 kyuu	yellow
7-6 kyuu	green
5-4 kyuu	purple
3-1 kyuu	brown
shodan-	black

2009-07-05.tohoku_taikai.ogv	The kata here is Heian Godan. 2009 Tohoku Taikai. Hirosaki, Aomori. 青森県弘前市。
2009-09-13.akita_taikai.1586.ogv	The kata here is Heian Nidan. 2009 Akita Taikai. 秋田県立武道館。
2009-09-13.akita_taikai.1588.ogv	Kumite. 2009 Akita Taikai. 秋田県立武道館。

My grandfather

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0900

One of my pictures is in the 2009 JET Journal, page 189.

The following is an essay I submitted to 2009 JET Journal. It was rejected.

My Grandfather's Last Journey

My grandfather died last June, and I didn't go to the funeral. It was too far away, too expensive. The truth is, I didn't want to go, though. Getting together after someone dies is a way to bring closure and to grieve, and no doubt that's important. But it's much more important to get together before the person dies. That's what we had done. In May, a month before my grandfather died, he came to Japan. His friends told him not to go, asked him to think of his failing health. But I think it was precisely because of his failing health that he insisted on going. The man loved to travel and be with his family, and to have that taken away is a burden I don't want to imagine. Neither did he, as it turns out.

So, in May my grandfather came to Japan with my parents. The four of us went to Tokyo and Kyoto and Himeji. We worried, my parents and I did, that my grandfather might wander off somewhere and get lost. So when we got to the hotel, we gave him three hotel business cards -- one for his wallet, one for his jacket pocket, and one for his pants pocket. We worried because there are three things my grandfather wanted every day: coffee, the New York Times (or failing that, the International Herald Tribune), and to check his email. Every morning, he got up and tried to find these three things. Of course my grandfather spoke no Japanese, so watching him find a newspaper was a sight to see. In the train stations he walked from vendor to vendor asking whether they had a newspaper in English. Most of the vendors had no idea what he meant, but nobody was ever rude, and in any case he didn't give up until he found something to read.

I clearly remember the day he died. I went to Yashima Junior High School, and when I checked my email after first period, there was the sad news. "Oh shit ... shit ..." I said, not loudly, but surely audible to the other teachers in the staff room. Nobody said anything. Not knowing what to do, I decided to take a walk through the hallways. This is a good strategy: when you're at a loss for words, go take a walk and look around. It will no doubt not solve your problem, but nobody would expect it to, anyway.

Yashima is an old building. It turned 61 this year, and the tea lady remembers when she studied there, the year it was built. When she was a student, the building was heated by a stove in each classroom. Steam pipes were added later, and they weave through the hallways at head level. As is standard for buildings of that era, the exterior is drab concrete. Off-white paint is peeling, and the wooden gym floor is buckling. I walked through the hallways that morning trying to figure out how I felt. The school has character, and places with character have the quality that they color the memories you form there. This April, Yashima is moving to a new building, and I think the old one will be torn down. I can't help but imagine that the memories I have, what my grandfather meant to me, will somehow be taken away too. This doesn't make sense, but even so.

In the hallway of Yashima there hangs a sign. The sign, which displays the school motto, reads, 「自分で決め　自分で歩く　自分の道。」. "Make your own choices. Walk your own pace. Choose your own path." I have always liked that motto, and it seems my grandfather did too. He loved to travel, and visiting Japan was his way of chasing his dreams, even in the end. Especially in the end. And that makes me smile.

Jinego Festival

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0900

The 2009 Tsukiyama Matsuri (月山祭り) was held on Saturday and Sunday, September 5-6. Tsukiyama Matsuri is the annual festival for Jinego (笹子), a village in Chokai, Yurihonjo, Akita. The festival is typically the first weekend in September, and the Saturday night is the most interesting part. The parade goes down main street, ending at the small shrine. In the parade there are several floats, carried by young men who chant and are given sake to drink by passers by. If you look for it in the video, you might notice a woman filling a small cup with a tea kettle — the tea kettle is full of sake, not tea. Girls are recruited to do a festival dance, and boys are recruited to drum. The parade ends at the shrine, and after everyone arrives, there are various performances on the stage there. As is standard at Japanese festivals, there are many street vendors with stands for festival food, games, and apparel.

2009-09.Tsukiyama.ogv

Video download: 2009-09.Tsukiyama.ogv.

Elementary school Japanese

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0900

My junior high school students were overjoyed to find my Japanese study books. This month I'm reviewing elementary school 2nd grade kanji and grammar, using practice books for 7 year olds. In particular, Kumon Kanji Drill (くもんの小学ドリル国語漢字) books. There's a standardized kanji test, the Kanji Kentei (漢字検定) — Kanken for short — that I wanna take with my students.

Many foreigners studying Japanese take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), or in Japanese, 日本語能力試験 (Nihongo Noryoku Shiken). There are four levels, 4-kyuu (beginner) to 1-kyuu (expert). In 2010, a 5th level will be added. There are many good studying websites you can easily find. In particular, The JLPT Study Page has word, kanji, and phrase lists in Japanese and English. For kanji radicals, see All About Radicals or Kanji Radicals.

There are two good Japanese study games for the Nintendo DS. First, 250 Mannin no Kanken (250万人の漢検) is a kanji quiz game. It's designed for Japanese kids taking the kanken, but works well for foreigners too. You can practice reading, writing, stroke order, and stroke count through simple quizzes. Second, Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten (漢字そのまま楽引き辞典) is a Japanese-English dictionary. You can look up words in English or Japanese, using the pen to write kanji. The cheapest electronic dictionaries cost $100 or more, and this game costs $40, so if you already own a DS it's a good buy.

These lists are taken from the National Course of Study, written by the Ministry of Education (MEXT). Here are the 1st grade kanji (80字).一二三四五六七八九十百千日月火水木金土上下左右大中小手足目耳口人子女男名年山川林森田空雨天気夕花草竹犬虫貝石王玉力糸車音学校先生字文本村町赤白青円正早入出立休見。

Here are the 2nd grade kanji (160字). 春夏秋冬光風晴雲雪朝昼夜午明星野原岩谷海池公園東西南北時分週曜今元間親父母兄弟姉妹自友体毛頭顔首声心思考才言記話書読聞国語算数理科社会図画工作楽歌絵色紙黄黒形点丸線直角合計何答電教知万毎回半当番組交通道場地方京市里家寺店門室戸台汽船弓矢刀牛馬魚鳥鳴羽肉米麦茶食活用前後内外遠近多少古新太細強弱長高広同歩走行来帰止売買引切。

Here are the 3rd grade kanji (200字). 悪安暗医委意育員院飲運泳駅央横屋温化荷界開階寒感漢館岸起期客究急級宮球去橋業曲局銀区苦具君係軽血決研県庫湖向幸港号根祭皿仕死使始指歯詩次事持式実写者主守取酒受州拾終習集住重宿所暑助昭消商章勝乗植申身神真深進世整昔全相送想息速族他打対待代第題炭短談着注柱丁帳調追定庭笛鉄転都度投豆島湯登等動童農波配倍箱畑発反坂板皮悲美鼻筆氷表秒病品負部服福物平返勉放味命面問役薬由油有遊予羊洋葉陽様落流旅両緑礼列練路和。

Here are the 4th grade kanji (200字). 愛案以衣位囲胃印英栄塩億加果貨課芽改械害街各覚完官管関観願希季紀喜旗器機議求泣救給挙漁共協鏡競極訓軍郡径型景芸欠結建健験固功好候航康告差菜最材昨札刷殺察参産散残士氏史司試児治辞失借種周祝順初松笑唱焼象照賞臣信成省清静席積折節説浅戦選然争倉巣束側続卒孫帯隊達単置仲貯兆腸低底停的典伝徒努灯堂働特得毒熱念敗梅博飯飛費必票標不夫付府副粉兵別辺変便包法望牧末満未脈民無約勇要養浴利陸良料量輪類令冷例歴連老労録。

Here are the 5th grade kanji (185字). 圧移因永営衛易益液演応往桜恩可仮価河過賀快解格確額刊幹慣眼基寄規技義逆久旧居許境均禁句群経潔件券険検限現減故個護効厚耕鉱構興講混査再災妻採際在財罪雑酸賛支志枝師資飼示似識質舎謝授修述術準序招承証条状常情織職制性政勢精製税責績接設舌絶銭祖素総造像増則測属率損退貸態団断築張提程適敵統銅導徳独任燃能破犯判版比肥非備俵評貧布婦富武復複仏編弁保墓報豊防貿暴務夢迷綿輸余預容略留領。

In total, there are 1006 elementary school kanji. Here are the 6th grade kanji (181字). 異遺域宇映延沿我灰拡革閣割株干巻看簡危机揮貴疑吸供胸郷勤筋系敬警劇激穴絹権憲源厳己呼誤后孝皇紅降鋼刻穀骨困砂座済裁策冊蚕至私姿視詞誌磁射捨尺若樹収宗就衆従縦縮熟純処署諸除将傷障城蒸針仁垂推寸盛聖誠宣専泉洗染善奏窓創装層操蔵臓存尊宅担探誕段暖値宙忠著庁頂潮賃痛展討党糖届難乳認納脳派拝背肺俳班晩否批秘腹奮並陛閉片補暮宝訪亡忘棒枚幕密盟模訳郵優幼欲翌乱卵覧裏律臨朗論。

Pictures on cellphones

Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 +0900

Here's how to take images from your computer and put them on a Docomo FOMA P703iu cellphone. The phone can read microSD cards, and using a microSD/SD adapter, so can the computer.

Of course, you can grab images from the internet using the phone directly. In that case you don't need a microSD card, but there's less storage and you pay for bandwidth.

Put your microSD card in the adapter and put that in the computer. Make the following directory: /path_to_card/dcim/999_pana. Use any 3-digit number instead of 999.

Choose an image to put on your phone. Convert it jpg. According to the FOMA P703iu manual, the maximum dimensions are 1632x1224 and the maximum image size is 700kBytes. To resize and convert, use a program like the GIMP or ImageMagick. According to the manual, the phone supports gif as well as jpg, but my phone can't display gif at normal resolution.

Copy the jpg to /path_to_card/dcim/999_pana. Rename the jpg to STIL0010.JPG. Use any 4-digit number instead of 0010.

Put the microSD card in your camera and try to view the picture. メニュー → DataBOX → My picture → 6. microSD. The picture should show up. If the file is listed but not viewable, maybe your image format is wrong. If the file isn't listed, maybe it's too big, maybe the file name is wrong, or maybe the directory name is wrong.

Hot water

Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 +0900

The other day I came home after basketball practice and there was no hot water. Ten o'clock at night, and the onsen was closed. So, I took a freezing shower and caught a cold the next day. After that miserable experience, here's what I learned.... For cooking, my apartment has propane, and for hot water it has kerosene (灯油) -- the big kerosene tank in the garage. To get them filled, I have to call Sato Toshinobu Shoten (佐藤寿信商店), 39.106539, 140.291390, (0184) 59-2020.

While we're on the topic of utilities, you can see from the above picture that my stove has a "fish drawer", a small oven for cooking fish. I never use it. In Japan, it is said that Western-style gas ovens were not uncommon decades ago, but now they're quite rare. Instead, we have fish drawers. And, the microwave has a heating element in the top of it, which isn't good enough for cookies but works well for frozen pizza.

It snows a lot here in Chokai, but for some reason there's no central heating. I heat my apartment with a kerosene heater. They sell kerosene at the gas station and the hardware store. In the winter, I fill a can weekly. There is an electric heater too, but maybe electricity is much more expensive than kerosene.

Shurei bow

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0900

For formal ceremonies in Japanese schools, everyone bows at the beginning and end of the ceremony. This bow is called a shurei (修礼). First, everyone stands at attention. On the piano, a C chord is played. Next, a G7 chord is played, and everyone bows. Finally, a C chord is played, and everyone stands at attention again.

Romaji styles

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0900

There are many ways of writing Japanese in romaji. In Japan, all elementary school 4th graders study Kunrei style romaji, which is approved by MEXT. However, when writing names of places and people, we usually use Hepburn style romaji. Here are some examples of Hepburn style romaji.

ローマ字はスタイルいくつかがあります。日本では小学校4年生は訓令式ローマ字を勉強します。文部科学省は訓令式ローマ字を選びました。しかし、場所の名前や人の名前を書くときに、普通はヘバン式ローマ字を使われます。これはヘバン式ローマ字の例です。

チ = chi.
- ちなつ = Chinatsu.
- 川内 = Kawauchi.
シ = shi.
- 柴田 = Shibata.
- たかし = Takashi.
オウ = o.
- こうた = Kota.
- 鳥海 = Chokai.
- 本荘 = Honjo.
- 佐藤 = Sato.
オオ = o.
- 太田 = Ota.
- 大竹 = Otake.
ジ = ji.
- 笹子 = Jinego.
- けんじ = Kenji.
- 藤原 = Fujiwara.
フ = fu.
- 富士さん = Mt. Fuji.
- 三船 = Mifune.

Actually, when writing names, we use something like the Hepburn style. But where Hepburn style romaji has characters like ' (Ken'etsu) and ō (Satō), we often simplify those and just use a-z, A-Z. For example, Kenetsu and Sato.

実は、名前書くときに、ヘバン式ローマ字はほとんど使います。ヘバン式ローマ字には、「'」（「Ken'etsu」）や「ō」（「Satō」）がありますけど、普通は、そのことをスキップをして、「a-z, A-Z」だけを使います。たとえば、「Kenetsu」や「Sato」。

Graduation songs

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0900

Here are lyrics for some songs sung at elementary and junior high school graduation in Japan.

Tabidachi no hi ni (旅立ちの日に) was written by the principal (小嶋登) and music teacher (坂本浩美) of 秩父市立影森中学校 in Saitama. SMAP's cover of Tabidachi no hi ni is very nice. Ai Kawashima released a different song with the same name, which could be confusing.

旅立ちの日に

Tabidachi no hi ni

白い光の中に　山なみは萌えて
遥かな空の果てまでも　君は飛び立つ
限り無く青い　空に心ふるわせ
自由を駆ける鳥よ　ふり返ることもせず

勇気を翼にこめて　希望の風にのり
この広い大空に　夢をたくして

懐かしい友の声　ふとよみがえる
意味もないいさかいに　泣いたあのとき
心通った　うれしさに抱き合って日よ
みんなすぎたけれど　思いで強く抱いて

勇気を翼にこめて　希望の風にのり
この広い大空に　夢をたくして

今　別れのとき
飛び立とう　未来信じて
弾む　若い　力信じて
この広い　この広い　大空に

今　別れのとき
飛び立とう　未来信じて
弾む　若い　力信じて
この広い　この広い　大空に

Shiroi hikari no naka ni yama nami wa moete
Harukana sora no hate made mo kimi wa tobitatsu
Kagiri naku aoi sora ni kokoro furuwase
Jiyu o kakeru tori yo furi kaeru koto mosezu

Yuki o tsubasa ni komete kibo no kaze ni nori
Kono hiroi ozora ni yume o takushite

Natsukashi tomo no koe futo yomigaeru
Imi mo nai isakai ni naita ano toki
Kokoro kayotta ureshisa ni daki atta hi yo
Minna sugi takeredo omoi de tsuyoku daite

Yuki o tsubasa ni komete kibo no kaze ni nori
Kono hiroi ozora ni yume o takushite

Ima wakare no toki
Tobitato mirai shinjite
Hazumu wakai chikara shinjite
Kono hiroi kono hiroi ozora ni

Ima wakare no toki
Tobitato mirai shinjite
Hazumu wakai chikara shinjite
Kono hiroi kono hiroi ozora ni

Furusato (ふるさと) is a traditional Japanese song that may be sung throughout the year.

ふるさと	Furusato
うさぎ追いしかの山こふな釣りしかの川夢はいまもめぐりて忘れがたきふるさといかにいます父母つつがなしや友がき雨に風につけても重いいずるふるさと志を果たしていつの日にか帰らん山は青きふるさと水は清きふるさと	Usagi oishi kano yama Kobuna tsurishi kano kawa Yume wa ima mo megurite Wasuregataki furusato Ika ni imasu chichi haha tsutsuganashi ya tomogaki Ame ni kaze ni tsuketemo Omoi izuru furusato Kokorozashi wo hatashite Itsu no hi ni ka kaeran Yama wa aoki furusato Mizu wa kiyoki furusato

Kimi Ga Yo (君が代) is Japan's national anthem.

君が代	Kimi ga yo
君が代は千代に八千代にさざれ石のいわおとなりてこけのむすめで	Kimi ga kayo wa Chi yo ni ya chi yo ni Sazare ishi no Iwa oto narite Koke no musume de

Sakura (さくら) was written by Naotaro Moriyama (森山直太朗) in 2003. Here's a video of Moriyama singing the song.

さくら

Sakura

僕らはきっと待ってる
君とまた会える日々を
さくら並木の道の上で
手を振り叫ぶよ
どんなに苦しい時も
君は笑っているから
挫けそうになりかけても
頑張れる気がしたよ

霞みゆく景色の中に
あの日の歌が聴こえる
さくら　さくら　今、咲き誇る
刹那に散りゆく運命と知って
さらば友よ　旅立ちの刻
変わらないその想いを今

今なら言えるだろうか
偽りのない言葉
輝ける君の未来を願う
本当の言葉

移りゆく街はまるで
僕らを急かすように
さくら　さくら　ただ舞い落ちる
いつか生まれ変わる瞬間を信じ
泣くな友よ　今惜別のとき
飾らないあの笑顔で　さあ

さくら　さくら　いざ舞い上がれ
永遠にさんざめく　光を浴びて
さらば友よ　またこの場所で会おう
さくら舞い散る道の上で

Bokura wa kitto matteru
Kimi to mata aeru hibi o
Sakura namiki no michi no ue de
Te o furi sakebu yo
Donna ni kurushii toki mo
Kimi wa waratteiru kara
Kujikeso ni narikakete mo
Ganbareru kigashita yo

Kasumiyuku keshiki no naka ni
Ano hi no uta ga kikoeru
Sakura sakura ima sakihokoru
Setsuna ni chiriyuku sadameto shitte
Saraba tomo yo tabidachi no toki
Kawaranai sono omoi o ima

Ima nara ieru daro ka
Itsuwari no nai kotoba
Kagayakeru toki no mirai o negau
Honto no kotoba

Utsuriyuku machi wa maru de
Bokura o sekasuyo ni
Sakura sakura tada maiochiru
Itsu ka umare kawaru toki o shinji
Naku na tomo yo ima sekibetsu no toki
Kazaranai ano egao de sa

Sakura sakura iza maiagare
Towa ni sanzameku hikari o abide
Saraba tomoyo mata kono basho de ao
Sakura maichiru michi no ue de

Sayonara Tomoyo (さよなら友よ) was written by 阪田寛夫 and 黒沢吉徳.

さよなら友よ

Sayonara tomoyo

心を映して　空の色
少し悲しく　光る朝
別れの時が　今迫る
さよなら友よ　さよなら友よ
忘れまいこの日を　いつまでも

何にも言わない　校舎さえ
心ありげに　見える今日
勇んで行けと　声がする
さよなら友よ　さよなら友よ
忘れまいこの日を　いつまでも

草の芽伸び行く　春の道
行手示して　浮かぶ雲
別れの時が　今迫る
さよなら友よ　さよなら友よ
忘れまいこの日を　いつまでも

Kokoro o utsushite sora no iro
Sukoshi kanashiku hikaru asa
Wakare no toki ga ima semaru
Sayonara tomoyo sayonara tomoyo
Wasuremai kono hi o itsu made mo

Nani mo iwanai kosha sae
Kokoro arike ni mieru kyo
Isan de ike to koe ga suru
Sayonara tomoyo sayonara tomoyo
Wasuremai kono hi o itsu made mo

Kusa no me nobi yuku haru no michi
Yukute shimeshite ukabuku mo
Wakare no toki ga ima semaru
Sayonara tomoyo sayonara tomoyo
Wasuremai kono hi o itsu made mo

The Yurihonjo City Song (由利本荘市歌) is used for commencement, graduation, and various other events. The city website has PDFs of the vocal and piano sheet music.

由利本荘市歌

Yurihonjo City Song

時に添い歴史つらめき
里をうるおし人をむすんで
小吉川　海へと向かう水の道
その海はせめぎあう世界へひらく
先人の知恵に学んで今日を生きる
la la la la la la

ふるさとの四季おりおりに
花はほほえみ風は薫って
鳥海の　山きよらかに裾をひき
頂きはめくるめく宇宙につづく
子どもらとともに夢見て明日を創る
la la la la la la aah aah

Toki ni soi reikishi tsurameki
Sato o uruoshi hito o musunde
Koyoshigawa umi e to mukau mizu no michi
Sono umi wa semegi au sekai e hiraku
Senjin no chie ni manande kyo o ikiru
La la la la la la

Furusato no shiki oriori ni
Hana wa hohoemi kaze wa kaotte
Chokai no yama kiyo raka ni suso o hiki
Itadaki wa mekurumeku uchuu ni tsudzuku
Kodomora to tomo ni yume mite asu o tsukuru
La la la la la la aah ahh

鳥海中学校校歌	Chokai Junior High School Song
鳥海の峰　　空に映えけだかき姿　わが誇り縄文の丘　　つつじ咲き出で歴史を胸に　よろこび学ぶすこやかに　すこやかに英知を磨きああ鳥海中学校理想に燃える	Chokai no mine sora ni hae Keda kaki sugata waga hokori Jomon no oka tsutsuji sakiide Rekishi o mune ni yorokobi manabu Sukoyaka ni sukoyaka ni Eichi o migaki Ah ah chokai chuu gakkou risou ni moeru
若鮎躍る　子吉川清き流れぞ　わが鏡勤労の日々　汗さわやかに大地の恵み　永久に忘れじたくましく　たくましく体を鍛えああ鳥海中学校いのち輝く	Wakaayu odoru koyoshigawa Kiyoki nagarezo waga kagami Kinro no hibi ase sayaka ni Daichi no megumi towa ni wasureji Takumashiku takumashiku Karada o kitae Ah ah chokai chuu gakkou inochi kagayaku
ぶなの林の　やまどりは希望はばたく　わが未来文化薫りて　のびゆく町の夢語り合う　友情の和ようつくしく　うつくしく心一つにああ鳥海中学校明日を拓く	Bunano hayashi no yamadori wa Kibo wa bataku waga mirai Bunka kaorite nobiyuku machi no Yumegatari au yujo no wayo Utsukushiku utsukushiku Kokoro hitotsu ni Ah ah chokai chuu gakkou ashita o hiraku

	矢島中学校校歌	Yashima Junior High School Song

一	清く淀みなき小吉川の流れは	Kiyoku yodominagi Koyoshigawa no nagare ha
	我らの心を洗う	Warera no kokoro wo arau
	耳を澄ませ聞けよあの深淵の響きを	Mimo wo sumase kikeyo ano fuchino hibiki wo
	矢島中学の永久の教え	Yashima chuugaku no towa no oshie

二	天の上原はきわまりなく	Ama no Uwabara ha kiwamarinaku
	学びの広野はつきることなし	manabi no hirono ha tsukiru koto nashi
	科学正義我らみないそしむところ	Kagaku seigi warera mina isoshimu tokoro
	矢島中学の強き信念	Yashima chuugaku no tsuyoki shinnen

三	土に香りありふるさとあり	Tsuchi ni kaori ari furusato ari
	伸びゆく我らの望みも豊か	Nobiyuku warera no nozomi mo yutaka
	若葉萌ゆる八汐の木かげに思う	Wakaba mo yuru yashio no kokage ni omou
	矢島中学の窓は楽し	Yashima chuugaku no mado ha tanoshi

四	雲にそびえ立つ鳥海山	Kumo ni sobie tatsu Chokai-san
	白雪輝き我らをみがく	Hakusetsu kagayaki warera wo migaku
	仰げ進め希望の高峰をさして	Aoge susume kibou no takane wo sashite
	矢島中学の永久の使命	Yashima chuugaku no towa no shimei

Going to the top of Akita

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0900

The following is an essay I wrote for the Feb 2009 Hanabi, the Akita JET quarterly.

I got up too early, put three rice balls, a chocolate bar, a bottle of water and a thermos of tea in my bag, and walked out the door. Conbini Sato wouldn't open for another hour. In Jinego there's only one convenience store and it was closed. The vending machines were open. So I bought two cans of coffee instead of sunblock.

Forty-five minutes later, I arrived at Haraikawa, the trailhead. It was a beautiful April day. Maybe in Kisakata spring had arrived, but not here on the slopes of Mt. Chokai. The snowbanks by the road formed a tunnel. The mountain was sitting snow-covered, waiting patiently. Fifteen minutes later, Mr. Murayama arrived. He's the oldest teacher at my school and is somehow faster for it. He loves to hike and so do I.

The trail up Mt. Chokai winds its way, zig-zagging over rocks and streams, but not when it's covered with snow. When it's covered with snow you can go straight to the top. I suppose you could turn, but your boots might lose traction. A hundred people were hiking that day, most of them with skis. Mr. Murayama and I weren't carrying skis, because we believe in the saying, "No pain, no pain." Still, we wanted to have fun going down, so we brought two pieces of heavy duty plastic. Calling them sleds would be an overstatement.

We got to the top three hours later. Not a bad time, all things considered. I suppose you don't want to stop for long water breaks when, if you sit down, your butt gets cold. Like I said, it was a beautiful April day, but at the top it was windy. It was ridiculously windy and very cold too. So we quickly took some pictures, feeling pretty good about the ascent, and started back down. We couldn't use our sleds at the top because it was too steep. But a little way down we could, and in 10 minutes we slid back to the halfway point.

I had assumed we would go up and down fast, maybe finishing with a late lunch in Yashima. But Mr. Murayama disagreed -- apparently it's traditional in Japan to have a large lunch when hiking. Mr. Murayama took out his stove, canned meat, tea, ramen, rice balls and chocolate, and gave half to me. I felt a little embarrassed, considering how little I brought, but that feeling soon passed and we enjoyed the bleak and lifeless, magnificent and pristine, scenery. We could see Yashima and Honjo to the north and the Sea of Japan to the west.

After lunch and some more sledding, we got back to the cars. Mr. Murayama drove home, and I drove to the onsen to nurse my sunburned face. It was a bad sunburn that hurt even a week later before my face peeled and I grew a new one. But the mountain and onsen are still there. I'll be back to visit both, as soon as it snows a bit more.

Chokai schools

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0900

If you want to see what these schools and students look like, see my photo gallery or do a web search for the school websites. You can find a map using the latitude and longitude shown below. Try OpenStreetMap or Geohack. The Akita JET website may also be of interest.

Name	学校	Lat/long
Hitane Elementary School	直根小学校	39.165510, 140.162719
Jinego Elementary School	笹子小学校	39.109151, 140.289370
Kawauchi Elementary School	川内小学校	39.189577, 140.193805
Chokai Junior High School	鳥海中学校	39.181451, 140.194441
Yashima Junior High School	矢島中学校	39.234190, 140.140507
Old Yashima Junior High School	旧矢島中学校	39.225410, 140.135848

Chokai ALTs
2007-2012	Douglas Perkins	North Dakota, USA
2005-2007	Kevin Kelly	Ireland
2004-2005	Cisco Dilg	California, USA
2002-2004	Greg	California, USA
2001-2002	Tracy	Canada

Yurihonjo gyms

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0900

Here are some gyms in Yurihonjo (由利本荘市), Akita (秋田県). You can find a map using the listed latitude and longitude. Try Geohack or maps.google.com.

	鳥海町トレーニングセンター (Chokai Training Center) Near Momoya in Kawauchi. 39.187039, 140.187103.
	矢島青少年ホーム (Yashima Seishonen Home) Next to the old Yashima Junior High School. 39.225121, 140.137361.
	市民第二体育館 (Shimin Daini Gym) Behind Ozaki Elementary School, east of Honjo Park. 39.383844, 140.050138.
	セミナーハウス (Seminar House) Behind Ozaki Elementary School, east of Honjo Park. 39.383336, 140.049875.
	石脇体育館 (Ishiwaki Gym) Northern Honjo. 39.398574, 140.047633.
	由利本荘市総合体育館 (Yurihonjo Sougou Gym) Very large gym in Ouchi. 39.441896, 140.087869.
	岩城総合体育館 (Iwaki Sougou Gym) Near the Town Office in Iwaki. 39.543393, 140.057423.

Chokai stores

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0900

Here are some businesses in Chokai Town (鳥海町), Yurihonjo (由利本荘市), Akita (秋田県). You can find a map using the listed latitude and longitude. Try Geohack or maps.google.com.

	ちひろ (Chihiro) Restaurant, open by appointment. At the traffic light in Jinego. 39.1081, 140.291239.
	ほっといんレストラン (Hottoin Restaurant) Ramen restaurant. At the Jinego Rest Area. 39.109561, 140.291593.
	ももや (Momoya) Soba restaurant. Next to Sairando on the 108 in Kawauchi. 39.188594, 140.188806.
	横丁 (Yokocho) Ramen restaurant. Across from the Chokai Town Office in Kawauchi. 39.194522, 140.191252.
	こうや (Kouya) Ramen restaurant. Across from the Yashima Max Value. 39.227138, 140.148656.
	どん平 Soba restaurant. Between Yashima Station and Lawson's. 39.231173, 140.141017.
	清吉そば (Seikichi Soba) Ramen restaurant. Near the Lawson's by Honjo Park. 39.382764, 140.049527.
	鳥海荘 (Chokaiso) Onsen and hotel. Near Okojoland Ski Area in Hitane. 39.168199, 140.133373.
	Aコープ (A-Coop) Grocery store. At the traffic light in Jinego. 39.108248, 140.290786.
	ほっといん直売所 (Hottoin Chokai) Vegetable store. At the Jinego Rest Area. 39.109561, 140.291593.
	Saison Fugetsu (セソンふーげつ) Dessert store. Near Yashima Station. 矢島駅近い。 39.228805, 140.140706.
	菜らんど (Sairando) Vegetable store. Next to Momoya on the 108 in Kawauchi. 39.18876, 140.18847.
	BARBER ONUMA Barber. Across from the Chokai Town Office in Kawauchi. 39.194082, 140.191316.
	Daily Yamazaki Convenience store. Highway 108 in Kawauchi. 39.200311, 140.190007.

Japanese grammar

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0900

Junior high school English teachers in Japan use this grammar vocabulary on a regular basis. It may be useful to know in order to explain mistakes to students. See also Jim Breen's WWWJDIC, goo dictionary, and Tae Kim's Japanese guide to Japanese grammar.

English	Kanji	Kana
Sentence	文	ぶん
Grammar	文法	ぶんぽう
Composition	作文	さくぶん

Noun	名詞	めいし
Pronoun	代名詞	だいめいし
Proper noun	固有名詞	こゆうめいし
Relative pronoun	関係代名詞	かんけいだいめいし
Adjective	形容詞	けいようし
Adverb	副詞	ふくし
Particle	助詞	じょし
Verb	動詞	どうし
Helping verb	助動詞	じょどうし
Participle	分詞	ぶんし
Preposition	前置詞	ぜんちし
Conjunction	接続詞	せつぞくし
Gerund	動名詞	どうめいし
Object	目的語	もくてきご
Question word	疑問詞	ぎもんし
Reference term	指示語	しじご

Comparative	比較級	ひかくきゅう
Superlative	最上級	さいじょうきゅう
Same rank	同格	どうかく

Past tense	過去形	かこけい
Present tense	現在形	げんざいけい
Future tense	未来形	みらいけい
Normal form	原形	げんけい
Perfect form	完了形	かんりょうけい
Continuous form	進行形	しんこうけい
Singular form	単数形	たんすうけい
Plural form	複数形	ふくすうけい

ESL flash cards

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0900

I compiled many flash cards and art for teaching elementary school English in Japan. Many files are Creative Commons licensed (if written in the file itself), so you can modify them and redistribute them, if you like.

The flash cards cover many topics: days of the week, months, weather, fruit, emotions, family members, greetings, pizza, school rooms, buildings, vehicles, and more. For each topic, there are A4 flash cards and karuta cards. You probably want the PDFs. If you want to edit the files, download the original images or the odg files. You can edit Open Document Graphics (odg) and Open Document Text (odt) files with OpenOffice, among other programs. OpenOffice is free. See also Clker, PD Clipart, and Wikimedia Commons.

I find it disgusting that I can't include mp3s of The Beatles' "Hello Goodbye" or Eric Clapton's "Willie and the Hand Jive" on my website. These 40-year-old songs that I can use in my classroom, that I think you should use in yours, they are part of our history. They are part of our culture, but they're locked away from us, and for no good reason.

The price of oil

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0900

The following is a letter I wrote that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald on August 15, 2008. The title it was given is, "Lower oil prices are no longer an option".

YURIHONJO, JAPAN — The August 12 Herald carried an editorial about a supposed tradeoff between lower gasoline prices and reduced dependence on foreign oil ("Energy policy has a question at its core," Page A4). In reality, there is no tradeoff. No matter what we do, gasoline prices will keep going up. The world is running out of oil, global demand for oil is increasing, and there's nothing we can do to stop it. The resources in Alaska, North Dakota and offshore seem large, but in fact the amount of oil in those places is just a fraction of global demand. And developing those resources takes a decade, so they certainly won't help us any time soon.

On the other hand, there are many good ways to deal with high oil prices. They all involve using less oil.

Douglas Perkins

ALT course of study

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0900

Two of my pictures are in the 2008 JET Journal, pages 95-96.

The following is an essay I submitted to the 2008 JET Essay Contest (Japanese Language). It was rejected.

ALTの練習課程
ダグラス　パーキンス

私は去年8月、小さいながらも居心地よい家を出て日本に来ました。自己紹介で、「日本語は上手じゃないですけど、英語は上手です。だから、みんなは英語の勉強をして、私は日本語の勉強をします」と私は言いました。自己紹介を5回しましたが、5回とも同じ事を言いました。何度も同じ事を言い続ければ、だんだんそうなると信じ込むようになります。私は毎日日本語の勉強をします。多くの方法を使います：本や教科書やカード、漢字プリントや会話やエッセイです。実は私はこのエッセイを書きましたが、一人で書いた訳ではありません。数ヶ月前、中学生と話して、「日本語でエッセイを書く。でも日本語は難しい。だからYou should help me with it.」と言いました。もしかしたら彼らにはそのアイデアが面白く聞こえたのかもしれません。彼らは「should」と「must」と同じ意味としてとらえたために「yes」と答えたかもしれません。つまり、私は「一緒にしましょう」と誘ったわけですが、彼らは「しなければならない」という責任や義務として理解したわけです。もしかしたら生徒は分からなくても、「yes」と答えたのかもしれません。私には分かりません。「私と生徒たちの努力が成功するだろうか？」と今思っています。今あなたが読めているということは成功したことになります。まあ、読めなくても私たちはとても楽しめたと思います。

中学校で、日本語の学ぶことは興味深い事だと思います。もし時間に余裕があるなら、あなたも毎日使う機会のある日本語の勉強をされたらいかがですか。学校の先生方も喜んであなたの勉強を手伝ってくれるはずです。先日、教頭先生が私にポエムをプレゼントしてくれました。漢字の練習のため、私はそのポエムを手本にコピー、手書きしました。でもポエムの漢字はまったく分かりませんでした。今に至ってもそのポエムの意味は私にとって不可解です。辞典で漢字を調べるのは長い時間がかかり大変です。そこでお話を作りました。モンスターと魔術を使って戦う魔法使いの話です。その呪文は日本語でしたので、魔法使いは一生懸命日本語を勉強しなくてはなりませんでした。つまり私が言いたいのは、「Slime Forest」と「Number Crunchers」とファンタジーロールプレイ、双方の利用ということです。おそらくあなたは紙で書く練習が好きでないかもしれません。でも幸運な事に、学校には漢字練習に使えるニンテンドーDSの漢字ビデオゲームがあるはずです。僕はまだそのゲームを試してみたことはありませんが、試してみた人がいたら、メールを下さい。何か分からない日本語に出会うとき、あなたは廊下を歩き回り、生徒を見つけ、質問をします。でもその生徒はあなたから逃げてしまいます。しかし10秒後には、その生徒のクラスメイトたちがその分からない日本語を説明してくれます。生徒たちは最初、日本語で説明します。でも10秒後には、なんとか英語で説明してくれます。その時彼らの英語は正しい英語ではないかもしれません。しかしそれは大事な事じゃないと思います。生徒のアドバイスは後でチェックすることが無論大切ですが、「学生に助けを求めて質問することは有益な戦略です。」「たしかに、眺めてみればなにかが見つかるのが普通です。しかしそれが求めていた何かでは、かならずしもないかもしれません。」とトールキンは書きました。つまり日本語の宿題やCLAIR日本語テストの準備をするとき、その事実を私たちは忘れてはいけません。なにしろ生徒たちはまだ敬語などの文法を十分には習得していない訳ですから。

日本語は色々な場所で勉強できます。自分の家で、中学校で、図書館で、Mr. Donutで、小学校で。小学校では、一年生は優しいですが、大変です。ALTと一緒に折り紙したり、絵を描いたり、遊んだりすることは大好きですが、自分の言っていることがALTに通じないことを気付きません。子供たちは大学で勉強したテキストの日本語では話しませんので、ちょっと大変です。その結果、私は二つの日本語を勉強しています。ひとつはですます体や敬語の日本語で、もうひとつは動詞がなくてもいい、1・2語文の日本語です。一年生と話す時ですます体を使えば、子供たちは私が言ったことを原形でリピートします。つまり、子供たちは動詞の変形をしてくれます。うれしい動詞活用サービスです。

ALTは学生と日本語で話してはいけないと言われています。時々そうではありませんが、ほとんどの場合において真実です。もちろん、ALTは少しどころか、全く日本語を教室で使いません。また、ALTが日本語を使えば、何人かの学生は日本語だけで話したがるでしょう。それはよくないことです。ですから、私は度々いくつかのトピックに生徒たちを引きつけるために、ほんの少し日本語を交えながら話します。間もなく、自分が話していることが分からなくなり、英語で話さなければならくなります。それでも、私の戦略はいつも上手くいくとは限りません。佐藤君というある優しい学生は、教室以外では決して私に英語で話さないことを人生の目標に決めました。しかし、ある日私たちは互いに中国語で挨拶をしましたから私は楽観的です。一方、もう一人の同姓の佐藤君は恥ずかしがり屋です。でも、「趣味は何ですか」と私は佐藤君に聞いて、彼は少しリラックスしました。先月、「佐藤君の趣味はバスケット」と言うのを見てから、今では「NBAでは誰がナンバーワンフォワードか」を一緒に論じています。クリーブランド・キャバリアーズのレブロン・ジェームズです。お互いの共通の興味を知らなければ、私にとって最初に紹介した佐藤君は、二番目に紹介した佐藤君と同じくらい離れた存在です。つまり、もしあなたが全くコミュニケーションをとらなければ、何を言語で話すかはあまり問題ではありません。ですから、昼食時間、バスケット練習、ブラスバンドクラブでチェロを弾いている時、何人かの生徒たちと私は日本語と英語の両方を使って話します。英語と日本語の程よい組み合わせで話すことによって、その彼も英語と日本語でもっと会話ができるために準備をするようになります。ここでの目的はコミュニケーションです。コミュニケーションはとても大切だと考えます。とりわけ、コミュニケーションは海外旅行、学校生活、親善、国際交流、エッセイの執筆、龍と会話、15小節をどの楽器が演奏するか尋ねたり、空手で新しい方を習うなど好奇心の真髄です。コミュニケーションはおそらく、いいえ、きっと楽しいですから。

ALT Course of Study
Douglas Perkins

Last August, I left my comfortable little home and came to Japan. In my self-introduction, I said "I don't speak Japanese very well, but for the classroom maybe my English is quite good. So, you will study English, and I will study Japanese." I gave my self-introduction only five times, but perhaps if you say something enough times you start to believe it. I study Japanese every day and in many ways: books, flashcards, writing drills, conversations, and essays. This essay was written by me, but certainly not me alone. Several months ago I told some junior high school students they should help me work on it. Maybe they thought it sounded interesting. Or maybe there was a translation error with the word "should" -- sometimes "should" is a command, but other times it's an invitation. Or maybe they simply said "yes" without understanding. I don't know. Sometimes I wonder whether our collective effort was a success. If you're reading this, then perhaps it was. Even if you aren't, we enjoyed it.

Studying Japanese at junior high schools is an interesting thing. If you have some extra time, why not spend it learning a language that you use every day? Other teachers will happily help you with your studies. For example, one time the vice principal gave me a poem. I copied the poem for kanji practice, but I didn't know the kanji. To this day I have no idea what the poem meant. Of course, looking up kanji takes a long time, so I made up a translation. It was about a wizard fighting monsters with magic, but the spell's words were in Japanese, so the wizard had to work very hard. I guess I'm saying it was a cross between Slime Forest, Number Crunchers, and fantasy role playing. Perhaps you don't like practicing on paper. Fortunately, there's a kanji video game for the Nintendo DS that one can use to practice kanji at school too. I haven't tried this yet. If you do, please email me. And when you don't understand something, wander the halls until you find a student. The student will run away. Then, ten seconds later the student's class will be explaining the Japanese you don't understand. They'll explain ... in Japanese. And ten seconds after that they'll figure out how to say it all in English. It may not be proper English, but I think that's not a problem. Asking students for help is a useful strategy, though it's important to double check their advice. As Tolkien said, "You always find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after." This fact should be borne in mind when doing Japanese homework and CLAIR Japanese tests. After all, kids may have not learned such grammar (honorifics) yet.

Japanese can be studied in many places: at home, exciting classes at the library, Mr. Donut, junior high school, and elementary school. At elementary school, first grade students are friendly and frustrating. They love to do origami or draw pictures or play, but they cannot tell when you don't understand what they're saying. This is challenging because they simultaneously use Japanese and basic English, but not the Japanese taught to foreigners at the university. Consequently, I know two Japaneses. On the one hand, keigo and masu and desu verb endings, and on the other hand, one- and two-word sentences, verbs optional. If you use desu and masu with first graders, they will repeat what you said except in direct form. It's like a happy and free conjugation service.

It may be remarked that one should not speak in Japanese with the students. Most of the time, this is true, but sometimes it isn't. Of course, in the classroom there is little or no role for Japanese. Also, there is a risk that if the ALT uses Japanese, some students will speak to the ALT only in Japanese. This is no good. So, I often use just enough Japanese to get them hooked on some topic. After a while, I will not understand something, so we will have to start using English. Even so, my strategy does not always work. One friendly student, Sato-kun, has decided it is his goal in life to never, ever, speak to me in English outside the classroom... Although, the other day we greeted each other in Chinese, so there is yet hope. On the other hand, another student, Sato-kun, is very shy. Yet, when I asked him, "Shumi wa nan desu ka?", he relaxed a little. After finding out that his hobby is watching basketball, we now regularly argue about who the best forward in the NBA is. It's LeBron James. Without finding that common interest between us, Sato #1-kun would be as distant from me as Sato #2-kun. In short, if you aren't communicating at all, it simply doesn't matter in what language you would speak if you were to do so. So, during lunch or at basketball practice or when playing cello with the brass band, some of the students and I speak to each other in both English and Japanese. By talking in a reasonable mix of Japanese and English, we become prepared to talk more, later, in Japanese and English. The aim here is communication, which I think is very important. After all, communication is at the heart of our interests, be it for travel abroad or school or friendship, cultural exchange, writing essays, speaking with dragons, asking what instruments play in measure fifteen, or learning a new form in karate. Or maybe, mostly, because it's a lot of fun.

Continued growth

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0900

The following is a letter I wrote that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald on April 27, 2008. The title is, "World can't sustain continued growth".

YURIHONJO, Japan — Brett Narloch of the North Dakota Policy Council wrote, "Sustainable development is nothing more than socialism by another name." ("'Socialism by another name' at UND," Page A4, April 22). Narloch is wrong. I don't know the group he mentions at UND; it doesn't matter. What matters is this: when you have increasing demand for resources that are running out and can't reasonably be replaced, you're setting yourself up for disaster. That's a simple fact.

Sustainable development says to develop along lines that work with this fact. For instance, continued growth is not sustainable. You run out of things such as oil, farmland, water and clean air. Unsustainable development is ... unsustainable. That means it won't work later, even if it does now. Let's face development with our heads on straight so we don't get surprised at where we end up.

Douglas Perkins

Listen to this

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0900

At Yashima Junior High School (矢島中学校), I often make music requests. Some of the kids know The Beatles or The Carpenters, and they all know Michael Jackson is creepy (but not his music). 90s rock music is foundational to their growth as individuals.

	1. Ojo. Leo Kottke, 6 and 12 String Guitar. 1969. Not sure the students know how to handle 12 string solo guitar.
	2. Basket Case. Green Day, Dookie. 1994. Plus the next three songs on the album, because they didn't bother to change the CD after the song.
	3. Stairway to Heaven. Led Zeppelin, IV. 1971. Vice principal likes.
	4. In the Meantime. Space Hog, Resident Alien. 1995. Everyone who knows this song loves it.
	5. Give Up the Funk. Parliament, The Best of Parliament Funkadelic. You have to party while listening to George Clinton.
	6. Me and Bobby McGee. Janis Joplin, Pearl. 1971.
	7. Tank! Seatbelts, Cowboy Bebop OST. 1998. 中学生 were too young to see it on TV.
	8. Blue Sky. The Allman Brothers, A Decade of Hits 1969-1979.
	9. Steven's Last Night in Town. Ben Folds Five, Whatever and Ever Amen. 1997.
	10. Beat It. Michael Jackson, Thriller. 1984.
	11. Come On (Let the Good Times Roll). Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ladyland. 1968.
	12. Promises. Eric Clapton, Backless. 1978.
	13. Follow the Leader. Eric B. and Rakim, Follow the Leader. 1988.
	14. Maria. West Side Story (Original Broadway Cast). 1957.
	15. Wish You Were Here. Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here. 1975.
	16. Stickshifts and Safetybelts. Cake, Fashion Nugget. 1996.
	17. Feel. Robbie Williams, Escapology. 2003.
	19. Strawberry Fields Forever. The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour. 1967.
	20. Everlong. Foo Fighters, The Colour and the Shape. 1997.
	21. Where It's At. Beck, Odelay. 1996.
	22. Out of My Head. Fastball, All the Pain Money Can Buy. 1998.
	23. The Kids Aren't Alright. The Offspring, Americana. 1998.
	24. Fade to Black. Metallica, Ride the Lightning. 1984.

The Intercalation Calculus

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0900

In my master's thesis, I describe use of the intercalation calculus in an automated theorem prover for the purposes of hint generation in proof construction software. See also Wilfried Sieg's paper, Normal natural deduction proofs (in classical logic) (with John Byrnes); Studia Logica 60, 1998, 67-106. The programming related to my thesis was in Java, which suited our purposes well (creating a cross-platform graphical tool).

On the other hand, the intercalation calculus can be expressed more directly in a functional language (OCaml). Whether this is an advantage is, of course, context dependent. In any case, here is a propositional logic automated theorem prover.

Sourceforge project.

The long walk north

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0900

The following is a speech I delivered to the Akita Interpreting Service at Joinus, Akita City, Japan.

Description

Bill Bryson wrote a book entitled "A Walk in the Woods". The name says it all. The Appalachian Trail is a footpath, a hiking trail that starts at Springer Mountain, in Amicalola State Park near Dahlonega, Georgia and ends -- after five million footsteps -- at the summit of Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park, Maine. My brother and dad hiked the Appalachian Trail (or A.T. for short) twice, so when I graduated from college and had no summer job, the natural thing to do was to follow in their shoes and go hiking. The day after I graduated I drove a thousand miles from Colorado to North Dakota, two days later flew to Atlanta, and started walking. I later got a job offer -- Grand Canyon National Park had me on their backup list -- but by that time I'd hiked two hundred miles and had no intention of stopping.

Location

The A.T. goes through fourteen states: Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The shortest state is West Virginia, containing less than fifty miles of trail, whereas the longest state is Virginia, consuming five hundred fifty miles. Hikers often lament that they're experiencing the Virginia Blues when crossing this state. As a point of consolation, it is believed that if you can get from Georgia through Virginia with enough time left in the year, the rest of the trail cannot stop you.

The easiest stretch of trail is two miles of road walking along the river near Harpers Ferry, Virginia. For me it was very difficult, though, because I had eaten a large deep-dish supreme pizza in Harpers Ferry and could barely walk. The hardest stretch is Mahoosuc Notch, in Maine. It's a large boulder field with scrambling, climbing, crawling, and jumping from boulder to boulder. Thru hikers typically hike three to four miles an hour (4.8 to 6.4 km/h), but the one-mile Notch takes even speedy hikers at least forty five minutes -- which is to say, it is three times slower than normal. I passed two eighty two year-old men in Mahoosuc Notch, and it was so inspiring to see them there. You could tell that they were going to finish the whole thing, and what an accomplishment. The easiest states are Virginia and West Virginia -- the trail is gently rolling hills with no big climbs or rocks. The hardest states are Maine and New Hampshire, where the elevation changes are extreme and many climbs and descents are scrambles over rocks and boulders. Maine and New Hampshire also have the most lookouts and views.

Length and Pace

The trail is two thousand one hundred seventy four miles long, or about three thousand five hundred kilometers. Its length varies by a few miles each year as sections of the trail are diverted or closed. In New York the A.T. goes through the Bear Mountain Zoo, but the zoo closes at night, so if you hike that stretch in the evening your trail is a quarter mile longer than everyone else's. The Kennebeck River has a canoe ferry, but if you were to ford the river (I tried but the water was too deep) it'd add a few hundred yards.

I hiked two thousand one hundred seventy four miles in ninety six days, which is an average of twenty two point seven miles a day. My longest week was three thirty mile days, a zero day, and three more thirty-mile days. My longest day was in Pennsylvania. I hiked about 22 miles in the morning, so I got to my scheduled stop, but it was such a wonderful day I decided to continue to the next shelter. I started towards it and began crossing the Palmerton Superfund Site. The Superfund is the American funding agency for cleaning up the country's worst environmental disasters. Palmerton once had a zinc mine, but its fumes killed everything in the hills, and the mine eventually closed (without doing anything to repair the damage it caused). The Superfund has provided some money to try to rejuvenate the land, but nothing has worked. After climbing an exposed ridge, the trail crosses a large plateau, and there are no birds or grass or flowers, just trunks of dead trees. The silence is eerie. But after a few miles, you come to some plants -- blueberries. And there are tons of blueberries; the animals and birds won't eat them. Then you're faced with the dilemma ... do you really want the blueberries that can survive heavy metal poisoning better than any other plant or animal? But they do look so tasty. There's also a spring that's unfit for drinking called Metallic Spring. Later that day, after several thunderstorms, I got to a road crossing where a man I'd met a month earlier -- The Mechanical Man, he called himself -- lived. My friend Sea Legs and I walked down the road to his house and knocked on the door. He and his wife --The Crayola Lady -- let us in, and they also took us to town for large calzones and beer. That day was thirty eight point six miles (62 km).

Lodging

One question I regularly hear when discussing thru hiking is, "Where do you sleep?" When you're hiking, you can sleep in shelters or tents. Tents work well, of course, but they're heavy and not so great if they get wet. Tents are also nice because you can stop wherever you want, so it's easy to spend the night alone. Shelters are three-walled lean-tos with a floor and roof and space for maybe six or twelve people. They're located near the trail every five to fifteen miles, so it's usually feasible to find one for the night. On the other hand, sometimes the shelters fill up. Most thru hikers start in April from Georgia, and at that time most of the shelters are busy places, though at other times not so much. A few shelters have doors and windows, none have electricity, and three are close enough to pizza places that you can order pizza to them. I recommend a large supreme pizza and a 2-liter of Coke.

Towns and Resupplying

Thru hikers sometimes sleep in town -- I did twenty nights. Much like there are small towns all over Honshu, the eastern United States has a large number of small towns. There's always a bar, sometimes a gas station, and if you're lucky, a hostel or hotel. The best hiking hostel is Rusty's Hard Time Hollow. Rusty is an old Mennonite who lives alone with no electricity, phone, or running water. He does have water, though -- he pipes a spring to his house. Some of the spring water runs through a concrete pit in the ground that acts as a refrigerator. There's also a cold water shower and a wood-powered sauna. You can stay in Rusty's barn if you like, and if you talk to him for a few hours in the evening he'll make you blueberry pancakes in the morning. In Vermont, there's a hotel and bar with the best Irish Whiskey selection in the state; thru hikers like this place. The most unique hostel is in New Jersey. A bar decided they'd get a few more patrons if they put some bunk beds in a storage shed, so hikers can go there, drink until closing time, and sleep in the less-than picturesque storage shed for the night.

The second question I regularly hear when discussing thru hiking is, "How do you get food?" On average, there's a town every three days, and the longest stretch without one is five or six days. A person eats maybe two pounds of food each day, so that's at most twelve pounds of food in your pack. When you get to town, you resupply at whatever store is there. Typical foods are instant pastas, couscous, King-Size Snickers bars, candy bars, Pop Tarts, peanuts, bagels, cheese, Little Debbie-brand desserts, Hostess-brand fruit pies, and anything freeze-dried. Hikers tend to eat five or six meals a day, with names taken from The Lord of the Rings: breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, first lunch, second lunch, and dinner. One hiker I knew called himself Bilbo. He had hairy feet, was short, and wore a ring on a chain around his neck. For the most part the foods are high-sugar, except for a carbohydrate-rich dinner. Sometimes people hike with or while drinking beer ... this is called a brew hike.

The halfway point of the Appalachian Trail is in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Pennsylvania. It is tradition among thru hikers to eat a half gallon (1.89 liters) of ice cream at the halfway point. I finished mine in 43 minutes. But that wasn't enough -- thru hikers are always hungry -- so I then had two bacon cheeseburgers, a 2-liter of Coke, and 12 oatmeal cream pies. That's around five thousand calories in one meal. People crave food when they're hiking, but after a while you don't crave anything in particular -- you crave any food.

History

The first person to thru hike the Appalachian Trail was Earl Shaffer in 1948. The trail was first conceived in the 1920s, but it wasn't completed until 1937 -- this was mostly by building connections between preexisting shorter trails. Some years later, the north end was moved farther north, and the south end farther south. The trail starts and ends at the top of mountains, and it goes over as many high peaks as it can, which is good for views.

National Parks and Trails

The A.T. is a National Scenic Trail, which means it has some limited protections under the law. There is hiking along the trail, but there aren't mountain bikes or ATVs (that is, 4-wheelers), and there are only horses in a few places. The trail goes through two national parks -- Great Smokey Mountains National Park and Shenandoah National Park -- and many state parks. It's mostly located on public land, but in a few places it goes through private property. There's some federal money for upkeep on national trails, but most of the maintenance money and labor is through private donations and volunteer efforts. Some people who live near the trail leave jugs of water and coolers of sodas at trail heads -- such people are called Trail Angels. Their efforts are particularly important in states like New York where, for no apparent reason, there aren't many good water supplies. Over time, some of the Appalachian Trail has been seized for other uses. The Blue Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah's Skyline Drive, for instance, were part of the Appalachian Trail until they were converted into a summer road for an old Presidential retreat. The trail was rebuilt nearby.

Thru Hikers

In 2007, one thousand one hundred twenty five people started the trail. A hundred of them quit by 32 miles (51 km) into the trail. Half of them made it to the halfway point, and two hundred seventy people finished the entire thing (See the Appalachian Trail Club's website for more on this.). Bryson's book came out in 1999, and this inspired a great many people to try the hike. Numbers of attempted thru hikes peaked and has been declining since 2000. Yet while the numbers of attempts are significantly down, the quality of hikers must be increasing, because completions are only marginally down.

When my dad was hiking in 1999, he encountered many pilots and flight attendants. That year, apparently one of the major U.S. airlines offered extended furloughs to employees to save some money, and many of its employees decided the outdoor life appealed to them. Maybe pilots and flight attendants tend not to be tied town as much as other people. Perhaps what with the current and continuing American recession, more people will go back to nature. Hiking takes money and time -- not that much money, but even so -- and this limits the kinds of people who decide to do a thru hike. For the most part, thru hikers are either in their low twenties or recent retirees in their late fifties or early sixties. The majority of hikers are men, and it's rare to encounter older women. Sometimes you find men between jobs, and many middle-aged women hike with big dogs. In the past eighty years, only three people have been murdered on the A.T. -- all women, and all in Georgia. Unfortunately, the latest of these was just last month. They caught the man who did it. The murderers were locals, not other hikers. Even so, it's sad that while the trail is generally incredibly safe, it wasn't safe enough last month.

Section Hikers

There are plenty of people who would like to hike the A.T. but don't have the time. Apparently getting married and having kids makes it hard to take a four month vacation. Anyway, many of these people take their summer vacations every year and go hiking for a week or two. They finish the A.T. in sections, so they're called section hikers. It shows a great deal of dedication to finish a two thousand mile trail over ten or twenty years, and section hikers have that dedication.

Weekend Warriors

The most entertaining guests on the trail -- other than the black bears, porcupines and skunks -- are weekend warriors. Weekend warriors can't get much time off from their high-paying jobs in the big city, but come Friday afternoon they're out to the wilderness. Weekend warriors don't have much experience with long-distance hiking, though, so they tend to be insulting or very useful. It's common for them to carry too much food and give it away -- the Boy Scouts do the same. On the other hand, I once had a conversation with a weekend warrior couple who told me I smelled. I laughed, because of course I smelled. All thru hikers smell. Then they suggested I take a bath, and I assured them that I would ... when I got to the next town. I'm not sure that appeased their noses, but I never saw them again, so who knows. A man in New Hampshire once ordered me to "Stop running up the mountain." It's true I was running up the mountain -- Mount Washington, in fact, a rather big climb -- but as I explained in vain to him, after hiking for fifteen hundred miles, it would be embarrassing if I weren't faster than him.

Blazing

The Appalachian Trail is marked by white blazes. That is, a two inch by one inch painted rectangle on a tree or rock can be seen every fifty or five hundred yards. To get to Maine you just follow the white blazes. There are also blue blazes, marking side trails to water and shelter, and Dartmouth College blazes the trail with its school colors, orange and black.

Like most pursuits, there is a purist element to hiking. People who hike every foot of the trail call themselves white blazers, since they pass (and sometimes count) every white blaze. Some hikers skip sections of the trail -- Bill Bryson skipped a thousand miles -- and they are called blue blazers. Some people look down on blue blazers and consider them not to be real hikers. Hikers who hitchhike are called yellow blazers. Hikers who skip sections of the trail by taking a boat or raft are called aqua blazers, and as a point of humor, those who get injured on the trail are called red blazers.

Hiking Solo or in Groups

I hiked alone, and Bill Bryson did too, but he missed something important about hiking alone. When you're walking with nobody around, you can think about whatever you want. Some people spend time remembering song lyrics from their childhood. Sometimes people ponder what gear is best, or what they'll do after they finish the trail. It doesn't really matter what you think about, of course. Some people walk alone and get bored, so they carry MP3 players and listen to music. If you walk alone, you determine your own pace and tend to move faster, and there's typically company at shelters in the evenings anyhow. Other people walk in groups. My dad hiked with my brother; husbands and wives hike together; and it's not uncommon to encounter one girl hiking with two or three guys. Many people start the trail with friends, but many others make friends while walking. It's an interesting thing that most hikers are laid back, friendly people. In their regular lives maybe they're actually real jerks -- we don't know -- but when people are out on the trail for months on end with no responsibility except to slowly walk north, they tend to be generally enjoyable company. Reading Bill Bryson's book, it's clear he never actually enjoyed two things: (1) the people around him on the trail and (2) walking in itself. Other than these two very important things -- they aren't problems, per se -- the book is quite good. I believe his writing lends itself better to spoken language than written words, so I'd recommend the audio CD.

Pace

I hiked twenty two point seven miles a day on average, but as they like to say, hike your own hike. Most people average between ten and twenty miles a day, going faster in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Most of us start off well below our average and take a month to get up to speed. If you aren't in good shape when you start hiking the trail, that's no problem, because you can start slowly and increase your speed as your fitness improves. One man I met started with eight mile days, but by his third week he was hiking eighteen miles a day. There's no particular reason to go fast, except that the faster you go the more often you hit towns, which means you don't have to carry as much weight in food. Also, it's recommended to hike quickly in Virginia because the state is just so big.

Gear and Other Requirements

I once spent an entire day contemplating the contents of a 1-quart ziplock bag. From six in the morning to six at night, scouring every inch of its contents in my mind, I was hoping to find a way to slash a few ounces. That day it was the first-aid kit, but other days and weeks it was other gear. In terms of gear, it's weight that matters the most. Less weight means less work, fewer injuries, and a faster pace. This provides the hiker with increased flexibility and improved health. What gear is truly necessary for a thru hike? The three heavy items are the tent or tarp, the sleeping bag, and the stove. Whatever you decide on gear, it's reasonable to spend five hundred to a thousand dollars in total on it.

Cooking

There are four options for cooking. First, don't. This works fine in places where you hit town every other day, but for longer stretches pasta and rice are too valuable. Second, you can carry a white gas stove. The fuel is essentially a pure diesel ... these are the kinds of hiking stoves that you pump before using. Third, you can use isobutane stoves, a variant of propane stoves. Fourth, you can use Pepsi can stoves. Pepsi can stoves are made from ... Pepsi cans. The design is based on a Swedish stove (the Trangia), and they burn rubbing alcohol, medical alcohol, or very strong vodka. Thru hikers can become gear freaks, and they have done the research on stove weight. The research shows that Pepsi can stoves are the most efficient in terms of BTUs per pound, followed closely by isobutane stoves. Also, you can make a Pepsi can stove yourself for supplies that cost a dollar.

Sleeping

I didn't carry a tent or tarp, though hikers in groups tend to find them useful. As for a sleeping bag, a lightweight fleece bag weighs about a pound and a half ... it won't help you much in the snow, but in warm summer weather it's fine. Some people like sleeping pads, but if your back doesn't mind the wood floor you can skip them. Lightweight fanatics are known to trim straps on their packs, cut the handles off of toothbrushes, not carry soap, never change clothes, and buy expensive titanium cook pots. When you're hiking for that long, the difference of a few ounces is noticeable, and the difference of a few pounds is important. If you don't use gear every day, you probably don't need it. If you can replace gear with lighter gear that does the same thing, you probably should. A hardcore lightweight backpacker would say that the only essential piece of gear is the bandanna. My pack weighed between ten and twenty five pounds, depending on food and cold weather gear. But even if you have a lightweight pack, sometimes you just want an extra item. I once found a copy of a trilogy of books by Asimov, The Foundation Series. I carried it for four days and finally finished it. The extra pound was worth it, for a short time anyway.

Emergencies

Hiking without a tent is an interesting thing. If it rains, you either find a shelter or get wet. On the 4th of July, I was hiking with a guy named Doc Gnarley in Shenandoah National Park. We were about ten miles from the next shelter and heard the thunderstorm coming, so we set up camp on the front porch of a private hut that was locked. Ordinarily you'd watch fireworks on July 4th, but instead we drank Coors Beer and ate potato chips while watching the lightning. On another occasion, I arrived at the Brink Road Shelter in New Jersey only to find it full, so I pulled the picnic table under the edge of the roof and slept on the table ... until my friend Sea Legs showed up two hours later, whereupon I slept at the foot of the shelter. I got kicked a lot, but it was dry.

Thru-hiker etiquette dictates that a shelter is never full, no matter how many people are in it. Since staying dry is very important to avoid getting hypothermia, you'd never want to turn someone away. So sometimes ten or twelve people will crowd into a space built for six. But generally, when people show up and put a shelter over capacity, some of the people who are already there go set up their tent (if they have one), so it tends to work out. One time it didn't work out for me, though. In central Maine, I arrived at a six-person shelter with six people in it at six in the evening. They informed me it was full, so I picked up my pack and hiked another nine miles in the rain with my headlamp battery dying, arriving at West Carry Pond Lean-to four hours later. When I woke up in the morning, it was so pleasant to be surrounded by friendly hikers who didn't mind sharing their shelter.

Finishing the Trail

The trail ends in Baxter State Park, at the top of Mount Katahdin. The hike up the mountain is the biggest climb on the trail, and it's a rather difficult one too, but soon enough you get there. There's a sign at the top, so people tend to celebrate when they arrive. I had a cigar and a can of beer. Some other people that day brought margaritas. I suppose it's an interesting feeling, finishing the A.T. You hike for months on end, going north to a mountain in Maine, and then you get there. People stand on the top for a while, get cold from the wind, and then hike back down the mountain. A few people decide they aren't done hiking, and start the long trek back to Georgia, but most thru hikers go back to civilization. When I finished the A.T., I took a bus to Monson, ate lobster, and flew to North Dakota. Two days later I drove twelve hundred miles to Pittsburgh, found an apartment, and started graduate school. In summary, in the week before and after hiking the Appalachian Trail, I drove as far as I walked in four months. But thru hiking stays with you. Trying to describe the beautiful views is difficult, so let me leave you with a quote about Mt. Katahdin, which to me is symbolic of the trail as a whole.

"Man is born to die. His works are short-lived. Buildings crumble, monuments decay, wealth vanishes, but Katahdin in all its glory forever shall remain the mountain of the people of Maine." -Governor Percival P. Baxter

Deductive reasoning

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0900

Deductive Reasoning, Using Several Proofs of God's Existence

Date: Saturday, January 12, 2008

Time: 10:00-11:20 Communication Session by Mr. Douglas Perkins from US

What makes an argument a good argument? Philosophers have attempted to answer this question for thousands of years. We'll look at one standard for argumentation: deductive reasoning. After defining 'valid' and 'sound', we'll create some examples of valid, invalid, sound, and unsound arguments. Next, we will take a look at St. Anselm and St. Aquinas, Christian priests trying to prove the existence of God. For each of these mens' arguments, we'll determine what we think its problems are.

Rational discourse goes back thousands of years, but what is it that makes an argument good? We examine valid arguments and sound arguments, two terms that can help us determine whether arguments are good. This is done with two main examples: proofs of God's existence by St. Anselm (the Ontological Proof) and St. Thomas Aquinas (the Unmoved Mover Proof); in each we attempt to see if and where the arguments are problematic.

"An argument is a set of statements where one follows from the others: an argument is valid if whenever the premises are true the conclusion is also true: an argument is sound if it is valid and the premises are true..."

I gave the talk at the Akita Communicative English Studies group meeting. See http://www.edinet.ne.jp/~takeshis/images/AES06/AESadd7.html for more information.

About

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0900

In 2007, I came to Yurihonjo, Japan, with the JET Program.

In 2007 I obtained an M.S. Logic & Computation from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. My master's thesis, titled Strategic Proof Tutoring in Logic (HTML, PDF), describes using an expert system, an automated theorem prover, to generate hints for a proof construction tool. See the thesis or the AProS project website for more.

My undergraduate university was The Colorado College in Colorado Springs. I majored in Mathematics with emphasis on Computer Science and minored in Philosophy, and I graduated in 2004.

Conference presentations

Kids Having Fun with Elementary School English Activities. 2011-06-07. 平成23年度研修講座子どもが楽しむ小学校英語活動 (Research Seminar for Japanese Elementary School Teachers). Akita Prefectural Board of Education. Akita Prefectural Education Center, Akita, Japan.
Communicative Activities for Fifth Grade English. 2010-09-16. Conference for Fifth Year Elementary School Teachers. Akita Prefectural Board of Education. Akita Prefectural Education Center, Akita, Japan.
Interview Games for Elementary School English. 2009-10-30. Conference for Fifth Year Elementary School Teachers. Akita Prefectural Board of Education. Akita Prefectural Education Center, Akita, Japan.
Microteaching Workshop: Prepositions. 2009-10-16. Presented with Masami Murakami. 2009 Akita Mid-Year Conference. Akita Prefectural Board of Education. Akita Prefectural Education Center, Akita, Japan.
Proof, Functions, & Computations (A Web-based course as a laboratory for enhancing teaching and learning in logic, mathematics, and computer science). 2007-01-06. MAA Poster Session on Projects Supported by the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education. Joint Mathematics Meeting. New Orleans, LA.
Virtual Mathematicians: Automated Theorem Provers. 2004-04-16. MAA Spring Meeting, Rocky Mountain Section. The Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO.

Masters thesis

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0900

My masters thesis, Strategic Proof Tutoring in Logic, is online.

Text (PDF).
Slides (PDF).

In the mostly online course Logic and Proofs, students learn to construct natural deduction proofs in the Carnegie Proof Lab, a computer-based proof construction environment. When given challenging problems, students have difficulty figuring out how the premises connect with the conclusion. Through use of a modification of the intercalation calculus, a strategy is provided to students on choosing which inference rules to apply in various circumstances. The strategy is also implemented in AProS, an automated theorem prover. In this thesis I describe how the Carnegie Proof Lab has been extended to provide three different modes of dynamic strategic proof tutoring, using AProS to help generate hints. The Explanation Tutor explains how tactics apply to partial proofs, the Walkthrough Tutor guides students through strategically constructed proofs, and the Completion Tutor provides on-demand strategic hints. When properly used, they should provide students with support in learning how to construct proofs in a strategic fashion.

Default settings

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 00:00:00 +0900

.vimrc:
set uc=0
set nobackup
set nowritebackup
set noswapfile
set nomodeline
syn on

.Xmodmap:
!Swap caps lock and escape
remove Lock = Caps_Lock
keysym Escape = Caps_Lock
keysym Caps_Lock = Escape
add Lock = Caps_Lock

On the Kinesis keyboard, Progrm + \ turns off sound for all regular keys. Progrm + - turns off Caps Lock and Num Lock sound.

.bash_profile:
# Colors.
NC='\e[0m'
black='\e[0;30m'
BLACK='\e[1;30m'
red='\e[0;31m'
RED='\e[1;31m'
green='\e[0;32m'
GREEN='\e[1;32m'
yellow='\e[0;33m'
YELLOW='\e[1;33m'
blue='\e[0;34m'
BLUE='\e[1;34m'
magenta='\e[0;35m'
MAGENTA='\e[1;35m'
cyan='\e[0;36m'
CYAN='\e[1;36m'
white='\e[0;37m'
WHITE='\e[1;37m'

# A prompt showing the current directory.
PS1="\[$GREEN\]\W \[$BLUE\]$\[$NC\] "

.bash_profile or /etc/profile or (on Gentoo) /etc/env.d/99local:
# Enable scim-anthy for Japanese character input.
export XMODIFIERS='@im=SCIM'
export GTK_IM_MODULE="scim"
export QT_IM_MODULE="scim"

.hgrc:
[extensions]
color =

[defaults]
pull = --verbose --update --debug
update = --verbose
push = --verbose --debug
commit = --verbose

.conkyrc:
cpu_avg_samples 2
net_avg_samples 2
out_to_console no
use_xft yes
xftfont Courier New:size=12
xftalpha 0.1
own_window yes
own_window_type normal
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_argb_visual yes
own_window_argb_value 100
update_interval 1
double_buffer yes
draw_shades no
draw_outline no
draw_borders no

default_color white
default_shade_color black
default_outline_color white

alignment bottom_right
gap_x 10
gap_y 10

use_spacer right
no_buffers yes
uppercase no

TEXT
${time %A, %B %d}${alignr}${time %H:%M}
${nodename}  -  ${sysname} ${kernel}  on  ${machine}

Battery: ${battery_percent}%
Uptime:  ${uptime}
CPU:     ${cpu}% (${freq_g}GhZ, ${execi 5 acpi -t |grep 'Thermal 0' |cut -b 16-19}°C) ${alignr}${cpugauge 15,30}
${cpugraph}
Memory:  ${memperc}% (${mem} of ${memmax})
${membar 5}
Swap:    ${swapperc} (${swap} of ${swapmax})
${swapbar 5}
${color slate grey}
(CPU) NAME         PID   CPU%   MEM%
${top name 1} ${top pid 1} ${top cpu 1} ${top mem 1}
${top name 2} ${top pid 2} ${top cpu 2} ${top mem 2}
${top name 3} ${top pid 3} ${top cpu 3} ${top mem 3}

(MEM) NAME         PID   CPU%   MEM%
${top_mem name 1} ${top_mem pid 1} ${top_mem cpu 1} ${top_mem mem 1}
${top_mem name 2} ${top_mem pid 2} ${top_mem cpu 2} ${top_mem mem 2}
${top_mem name 3} ${top_mem pid 3} ${top_mem cpu 3} ${top_mem mem 3}
${color}
(eth0)  ▲ ${upspeedf eth0} kB/s ▼ ${downspeedf eth0} kB/s
(wlan0) ▲ ${upspeedf wlan0} kB/s ▼ ${downspeedf wlan0} kB/s
        Mode:  ${wireless_mode wlan0}
        Essid: ${wireless_essid wlan0}
        AP:    ${wireless_ap wlan0}
${color slate grey}
/     ${fs_used /}/${fs_size /} (${fs_used_perc /}%) ${fs_bar 5 /}
/home ${fs_used /home}/${fs_size /home} (${fs_used_perc /home}%) ${fs_bar 5 /home}

The following does forwarding to the transmission daemon when browsing to /transmission/web/, where the daemon should be running. It is also necessary to enable mod_proxy in lighttpd. It would be appropriate to put access control somewhere in lighttpd.conf. By default, the daemon listens for local requests on port 9091, and using this, one can access it remotely. The transmission daemon is quite picky about its location — even a slight variant of this may fail.

/etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf:
...
$HTTP["url"] =~ "^/transmission/" {
  proxy.server = ( "" => ( (
                   "host" => "127.0.0.1",
                   "port" => 9091
                 ) )
  )
}
...

Long Trail 2005

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0900

not dead yet
    at journey's end --
        autumn evening

-Basho, autumn 1684

In 2005 I hiked the Long Trail, a hiking trail in Vermont going from the Canadian border to Massachusetts. Here are lists of my stops and gear.

Day	Date	Location	Daily Miles	Total Miles
0	8/07	Journeys End Camp	0.0	0.0
1	8/08	Tillotson Camp	23.3	23.3
2	8/09	Roundtop Shelter	23.7	47.0
		Jonesville - Resupply at Richmond General Store
3	8/10	Taft Lodge	20.1	67.1
4	8/11	Duck Brook Shelter	20.0	87.1
5	8/12	Cowles Cove Shelter	18.1	105.2
		Waitsfield - Resupply at gas station
6	8/13	Battell Shelter	15.3	120.5
7	8/14	Boyce Shelter	16.0	136.5
8	8/15	David Logan Shelter	20.2	156.7
9	8/16	Inn at the Long Trail	12.7	169.4
		Rutland - Resupply at Price Chopper
10	8/17	Minerva Hinchey Shelter	20.1	189.5
11	8/18	Bromley Warming Hut	26.7	216.2
12	8/19	Story Spring Shelter	23.8	240.0
13	8/20	Congdon Shelter	23.3	263.3
14	8/21	North Adams	10.0	273.3

Type	Name	Size	Ounces	$	Vendor	#	Location
Backpack	GoLite Dawn	M	14.7	80	GoLite	1	In pack
Books	ID, 2 credit cards, bills & ziplock		0.6	0		1	In pack
Books	The Long Trail Guide & mile cards & ziplock		7.8	15	GMC	1	In pack
Clothes	Bandana		0.8	3	Wal-Mart	1	Wearing
Clothes	Clothes stuffsack		0	0		1	In pack
Clothes	CoolMax socks	M	1.2	15	Wal-Mart	1	Wearing
Clothes	CoolMax socks	M	1.2	15	Wal-Mart	1	In pack
Clothes	Duofold Varitherm mock turtleneck shirt	M	7.2	12	CampMor	1	In pack
Clothes	Emergency Poncho		6.8	5	Wal-Mart	1	In pack
Clothes	Nike soccer shorts	M	4.4	20		1	Wearing
Clothes	Patagonia silkweight capilene pants	M	5	30	REI	1	In pack
Clothes	REI nylon t-shirt	M	6.6	20	REI	1	Wearing
Clothes	Wristwatch with alarm		0.8	8	Wal-Mart	1	Wearing
Cooking	BIC lighter		0.7	1	7 11	2	In pack
Cooking	Evernew Ultralight titanium pot & bag	1.3L	5.8	40	REI	1	In pack
Cooking	Plastic bottle with denatured alcohol	0.3L	8	2	7 11	1	In pack
Cooking	REI polycarbonate teaspoon		0.3	2	REI	1	In pack
Cooking	Soda-can stove		0.4	2	7 11	1	In pack
Cooking	Stove stand from duct		0.5	1	Lowe's	1	In pack
Cooking	Wind-screen from foil		0.8	2	Safeway	1	In pack
Health	Bert's Res-Q Ointment		0.8	5	Walasi-Yi	1	In pack
Health	First-aid kit & extra moleskin & ziplock		7.8	7	Wal-Mart	1	In pack
Health	Toilet paper & ziplock		3.2	1	7 11	1	In pack
Health	Toothbrush & paste & ziplock		1.8	4	7 11	1	In pack
Health	Vitamin I	30 pills	1.2	5	7 11	1	In pack
Poles	Lekis		19.6	60	Mountain Chalet	1	Wearing
Shoes	Flip-flops	10	5.4	5	Wal-Mart	1	In pack
Shoes	North Face Vapor Lights	9.5	25.8	90	North Face	1	Wearing
Sleeping	Fleece bag & stuffsack & plastic bag		23.1	40	REI	1	In pack
Tools	20' cord & 3 AAAs & ziplock		2.2	5	7 11	1	In pack
Tools	Pen		0.2	1	7 11	1	In pack
Tools	Petzl Tikka headlamp w/ batteries		2.7	28	REI	1	In pack
Tools	Swiss Army Climber knife		2.8	30	REI	1	In pack
Water	Aquafina bottle	1L	0.8	1	7 11	2	In pack
Water	Polar-Pure		4.8	20	REI	1	In pack

Pack weight: 7 lbs 6 oz., total weight: 11 lbs 1 oz., price: $577.

Nicaragua

Sun, 01 May 2005 00:00:00 +0900

I left Pittsburgh on Saturday 5 March 2005 and arrived in Managua in the afternoon. Lilia and Vera greeted me at the airport and showed me around town. The next morning we went down to Granada, an hour's drive away. The town is nice, with the exteriors of buildings suggesting pleasing interiors -- which end up being even more beautiful than expected. A few hours of exploring was enough to see most of the attractions (a few churches, a view of Lake Cocibolca), and after lunch, the family headed back to Managua. I planned to take the bus down to Rivas, two hours south along the lake, but plans change. After finding the spot where the bus was supposed to leave, a conversation (of sorts) revealed that the bus was not leaving until manana (the locals took great care to make sure that I understood the situation -- it's amazing how helpful they were, considering the communication difficulties). Not surprised, I decided that renting a car was the next best thing, but even in Central America, Budget Rent-A-Car won't rent to those under 25. Feeling pretty discouraged, and tired from walking across town, I found a room for $5 and crashed.

Monday morning proved more promising. A breakfast of fruit from a fruit stand (for a mere $0.50) followed by a successful trip to Rivas, showed that despite a few slow-downs, things were good. The cab driver charged $2.00 for a 10 minute ride, the same price as the two-hour bus ride. A ferry trip cost half that amount, taking me from San Jorge to Isla de Ometepe, located in the middle of Lake Cocibolca. With only two full days left available to me, renting a car seemed, again, to be a good option. This time, Central America prevailed, and from the Hotel Ometeptl in Moyogalpa I obtained a Suzuki for $60/day. The steep price was offset by two things. (1) To climb both of the volcanoes on the island -- Concepcion and Maderas -- managing time appropriately was crucial, and (2) upon seeing two travelers on the side of the road, and offering them rides, we struck a deal where I paid for the rental car, and Shelley and Ben paid for the hotel room. This Canadian-but-now-living-in-L.A. pair had a room at Hotel Istian along the Playa Santo Domingo, which fortunately sported space for YT. The road proved slow and bumpy, and the car that must have been older than me took it quite well. Third gear was only in my imagination, but the view of the pair of smoke stacks was immediate and spectacular. We arrived at the Hotel Istian, enjoyed beer and dinner, and eventually went to sleep.

Waking from a knock at 5 a.m., the three of us enjoyed a quick breakfast, and departed for Volcan Concepcion. The steep climb was quite nice, while the clouds covered it, providing glimpses of several howler monkeys, and a great many orchids. After climbing straight up for 5 hours, we arrived at the peak -- and crater -- of the volcano. Looking down into it revealed several steam vents, and some exciting-looking colors. Reds, browns, yellows, and the ground was too hot to sit on, because the escaping heat was too great. Taking a guide is required, and ours cost $10/person, but he was nonetheless a useful companion, showing us flowers and wildlife and testing our Spanish abilities. The view looking out from the top was enjoyed by all -- including some people we encountered from France, the Netherlands, and England -- as we could see a great distance. Mombacho was visible to the NW, and I later realized that the Pacific Ocean was probably chilling along the western horizon. A downhill descent of four hours led to weary legs, but the good companionship of everyone back at the hotel -- along with a Nicaraguan cigar, thanks to Jim -- revitalized our spirits, and a quick swim in the lake capped off a fine day.

It was Wednesday, and having only until Friday in the country, I had no choice but to climb Maderas. Three others at the hotel were also interested, so we formed a group and left early. Evert, from Holland, and Dave and Judy, from Ketchikan Alaska, and I drove to the Finca Magdalena, a large organic coffee farm, had a delicious breakfast, and hired a guide for the mountain. This climb was entirely in the trees, which helped me from getting even more sunburned, and we saw both howler monkeys and white-face monkeys. After three hours up to the cone, we descended down to the lake inside it. While there were no great views, the fog on the lake produced a strange -- and wonderful -- effect, as it billowed across the water to cover everything. One of the guides had a dog, which made us look like hiking weaklings, but the lower half of the descent was runnable, and this alleviated my jealousy towards the canine follower. Again, the guides were keeping track of us but letting us hike our own pace. Later, after a beer and an orange juice and a quick 1.5 hour drive around the island, the car was returned ($30 late fee), dinner was eaten ($5), and I was asleep ($3).

The early morning was a good time to leave that great island, so I took the ferry ($1) and later the bus ($1) up to Managua. A 70-year old guy from Honduras (and also Nicaragua and Costa Rica) was nice enough to practice his English on me while helping me with my Spanish. I Arrived in Managua, and a taxi took me back to the Wood family's house. Following a good lunch, Vera and I went to the Mercado Huembres, where we shopped for a chair, curtains, and whatever we saw. While we purchased very little, it was great to see a place where the small businesses provide such a neat market area. Friday morning was a good time to read, and I departed from Managua just after noon.

Appalachian Trail 2004

Sat, 28 Aug 2004 00:00:00 +0900

In 2004 I hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Here are lists of my stops and gear.

Start Date: May 20, 2004.
End Date: August 23, 2004.
Total Days: 96.
Total Miles: 2174.1.
Miles per day: 22.6.
Zero days: 3 (3%).
Days above 05 miles: 92 (96%).
Days above 10 miles: 90 (94%).
Days above 15 miles: 82 (85%).
Days above 20 miles: 66 (69%).
Days above 25 miles: 39 (41%).
Days above 30 miles: 16 (17%).
Days above 35 miles: 01 (01%).
Days with resupply: 31 (32%).
Nights in town: 20 (21%).

Day	Date	Location	Daily Miles	Total Miles
0	5/20	Amicalola Lodge Road	0.0	0.0
1	5/20	Springer Mountain Shelter	0.2	0.2
2	5/21	Wood's Hole Shelter	26.4	27.0
		Neel's Gap - Package at Walasi Yi
3	5/22	Low Gap Shelter	14.7	41.3
4	5/23	Tray Mountain Shelter	14.9	56.4
5	5/24	Muskrat Creek Shelter	22.4	78.4
6	5/25	Big Spring Shelter	19.3	97.7
7	5/26	Siler Bald Shelter	12.8	111.0
8	5/27	Wesser / Nantahala Outdoor Center	21.2	132.2
		Wesser - Package at N.O.C.
9	5/28	Sassafras Gap Shelter	6.9	141.0
10	5/29	Fontana "Hilton" Dam Shelter	20.9	162.8
11	5/30	Mollies Ridge Shelter	11.0	174.1
12	5/31	Double Spring Gap Shelter	19.4	193.0
13	6/01	Pecks Corner Shelter	21.2	214.6
14	6/02	Davenport Gap / Mountain Mamas	20.9	235.5
		Davenport Gap - Resupply at Mountain Mamas
15	6/03	Roaring Fork Shelter	20.9	256.0
16	6/04	Hot Springs / Camp Ground	14.9	270.9
		Hot Springs - Package at Elmers
17	6/05	Jerry Cabin Shelter	25.0	297.3
18	6/06	Bald Mountain Shelter	24.8	322.0
19	6/07	Erwin / Uncle Johnnys	16.9	338.9
		Erwin - Package at Miss Janets
20	6/08	Erwin / Uncle Johnnys	0.0	338.9
21	6/09	Clyde Smith Shelter	25.1	364.1
22	6/10	Apple House Shelter	20.2	385.1
23	6/11	Dennis Cove / Kincora / Peoples	24.1	409.2
		Kincora - Resupply at grocery store
24	6/12	Iron Mountain Shelter	24.3	433.5
25	6/13	Damascus / The Place	26.3	459.8
		Damascus - Package at Mt Rogers Outfitters
26	6/14	Lost Mountain Shelter	15.8	475.6
27	6/15	Old Orchard Shelter	23.2	498.8
28	6/16	Partnership Shelter	24.7	523.5
		Grouseclose - Package at Relax Inn
29	6/17	Knot Maul Branch Shelter	25.5	549.0
30	6/18	Helveys Mill Shelter	33.1	582.1
31	6/19	Woods Hole Hostel	30.1	612.2
32	6/20	Pearisburg / Holy Family Hostel	10.0	622.2
		Pearisburg - Package at Rendezvous Inn
33	6/21	Pearisburg / Holy Family Hostel	0.0	622.2
34	6/22	Bailey Gap Shelter	23.5	645.5
35	6/23	Niday Shelter	27.0	672.5
36	6/24	Campbell Shelter	26.0	698.5
		Daleville - Package at Outdoor Trails Outfitter
37	6/25	Wilson Creek Shelter	26.6	725.1
38	6/26	Thunder Hill Shelter	30.9	756.0
39	6/27	Punchbowl Shelter	25.1	781.3
40	6/28	The Priest Shelter	31.8	812.9
41	6/29	Rustys Hard Time Hollow	13.6	826.5
42	6/30	Waynesboro / YMCA Camping	21.1	847.6
		Waynesboro - Package at P.O.
43	7/01	Calf Mountain Shelter	7.0	854.9
		Lost Mountain Campground - Resupply
44	7/02	Pinefield Hut	25.6	880.9
45	7/03	Rock Spring Hut	32.1	913.1
		Elkwallow - Resupply
46	7/04	Range View Cabin (porch)	23.5	936.6
47	7/05	Jim And Molly Denton Shelter	23.5	959.9
48	7/06	Bears Den Hostel	28.8	988.7
49	7/07	Harpers Ferry Hostel	22.4	1012.1
		Harpers Ferry - Package at ATC Headquarters
50	7/08	Pine Knob Shelter	20.1	1032.2
51	7/09	Tumbling Run Shelters	25.9	1058.1
52	7/10	PGFSP / Ironmasters Mansion	29.4	1090.2
		PGFSP - Resupply at General Store
53	7/11	Darlington Shelter	31.2	1121.4
		Duncannon - Resupply at gas station
54	7/12	Clarks Ferry Shelter	15.9	1137.3
55	7/13	Rausch Gap Shelter	24.3	1161.9
56	7/14	Eagles Nest Shelter	32.5	1194.4
		Port Clinton - Package at P.O.
57	7/15	Eckville Shelter	23.8	1218.1
58	7/16	Smith Gap Road	37.4	1241.6
59	7/17	Delaware Water Gap / Hostel	20.2	1279.0
		Delaware Water Gap - Resupply at gas station
60	7/18	Brink Road Shelter	24.8	1304.0
61	7/19	Pochuck Mountain Shelter	32.0	1335.8
62	7/20	Wildcat Shelter	23.8	1359.6
		Bear Mt Lodge - Resupply at candy machine
63	7/21	Graymoor Friary	34.9	1394.5
64	7/22	RPH Shelter	18.8	1413.3
65	7/23	Ten Mile River Lean-to	29.3	1442.9
		Kent - Package at Outfitters
66	7/24	Stewart Hollow Brook Lean-to	15.7	1458.6
67	7/25	Riga Lean-to	29.8	1488.4
68	7/26	Mt Wilcox North Lean-to	31.5	1520.2
69	7/27	Dalton / Rob's Place	34.6	1554.8
		Dalton - Resupply at grocery store
70	7/28	Dalton / Rob's Place	0.0	1554.8
71	7/29	Seth Warner Shelter	29.2	1584.9
72	7/30	Story Spring Shelter	30.5	1615.4
73	7/31	Peru Peak Shelter	31.2	1646.4
74	8/01	Clarendon Shelter	23.3	1669.8
75	8/02	Inn At Long Trail	18.3	1698.1
		Inn At Long Trail - Package
76	8/03	Cloudland Shelter	27.3	1725.4
		Hanover - Resupply at grocery store
77	8/04	Hanover / Jonjon's Place	16.9	1732.2
78	8/05	Hexacuba Shelter	28.7	1761.2
		Glenncliff - Package at hostel
79	8/06	Beaver Brook Shelter	22.6	1783.8
80	8/07	Lonesome Lake Hut	15.0	1798.3
81	8/08	Ethan Pond Campsite	27.7	1826.2
82	8/09	Pinkham Notch	28.9	1855.1
		Pinkham Notch - Package
83	8/10	Gorham / The Barn	21.2	1876.3
		Gorham - Package at P.O.
84	8/11	Carlo Col Shelter	17.0	1893.5
85	8/12	Frye Notch Lean-to	19.9	1913.1
86	8/13	Bemis Mountain Lean-to	23.3	1936.4
		Rangeley - Resupply at I.G.A.
87	8/14	Piazza Rock Lean-to	19.5	1955.9
88	8/15	Sugarloaf Summit House	19.8	1975.7
89	8/16	West Carry Pond Lean-to	33.2	2008.9
		Caratunk - Resupply at Caratunk House
90	8/17	Pleasant Pond Lean-to	19.7	2028.6
91	8/18	Monson / Shaw's	31.0	2059.6
		Monson - Package at Shaw's
92	8/19	Cloud Pond Lean-to	19.1	2079.0
93	8/20	East Branch Lean-to	27.6	2106.3
94	8/21	Wadleigh Stream Lean-to	29.6	2135.9
		Abol Bridge - Resupply at Camp Store
95	8/22	Pine Point	27.2	2163.1
96	8/23	Mount Katahdin	11.0	2174.1

Type	Name	Size	Ounces	$	Vendor	#	Location
Backpack	GoLite Jam	M	22	80	GoLite	1	In pack
Books	AT 2004 Databook		4	5	ATC	1	In pack
Books	Thru-Hiker's Companion		8.5	20	ATC	1	In pack
Clothes	Bandana		0.8	3	K-Mart	1	Wearing
Clothes	Cabela's Wind-Stop Hat		2.1	20	Cabela's	1	In pack
Clothes	Clothes stuffsack		4	5		1	In pack
Clothes	Compression shorts	M	3.8	20		1	Wearing
Clothes	Emergency Poncho		6.8	5	Wal-Mart	1	In pack
Clothes	Fleece jacket	M	12	30		1	In pack
Clothes	PolyPro long underwear	M	5	30		1	In pack
Clothes	REI nylon t-shirt	M	6.6	20	REI	1	Wearing
Clothes	REI nylon t-shirt	M	6.6	20	REI	1	In pack
Clothes	Smartwool mini-crew socks	M	2	15	sockcompany	1	Wearing
Clothes	Smartwool mini-crew socks	M	2	15	sockcompany	1	In pack
Clothes	Umbro shorts	M	3.8	20		1	Wearing
Clothes	Wristwatch with alarm		0.8	8	Wal-Mart	1	Wearing
Cooking	BIC lighter		0.7	1	K-Mart	2	In pack
Cooking	Evernew Ultralight titanium pot	1.3L	4.6	40	REI	1	In pack
Cooking	Margarine tub	4C	0.8	2	K-Mart	1	In pack
Cooking	REI polycarbonate teaspoon		0.3	2	REI	1	In pack
Cooking	Soda-can stove		0.4	2		1	In pack
Cooking	Stove stand from duct		0.6	1	Ace Hardware	1	In pack
Cooking	Wind-screen from foil		0.8	2	Safeway	1	In pack
Health	Bert's Res-Q Ointment		0.8	5	Walasi-Yi	1	In pack
Health	First-aid kit		6	11	REI	1	In pack
Health	Toilet paper & ziplock		3.2	1	K-Mart	1	In pack
Health	Toothbrush & paste & ziplock		3	4	K-Mart	1	In pack
Health	Vitamin I	30x	1.2	5	K-Mart	1	In pack
Poles	Leki hiking poles		19.6	70	Mountain Chalet	1	Wearing
Shoes	Flip-flops	10	5.4	5	Wal-Mart	1	In pack
Shoes	North Face Vapor Lights	9.5	27	90	North Face	1	Wearing
Sleeping	Fleece bag		22	40		1	In pack
Tools	20' cord & 3 AAAs & ziplock		2.2	5		1	In pack
Tools	Petzl Tikka headlamp w/ batteries		2.7	28	REI	1	In pack
Tools	Swiss Army Climber knife		2.8	30	REI	1	In pack
Water	Dasani bottle	1L	0.8	1	Safeway	2	In pack
Water	Polar-Pure		4.8	20	REI	1	In pack

Pack weight: 8 lbs 10 oz, total weight: 12 lbs 10 oz, price: $683.