Blogger

I decided to set up another blog on Blogger so that more and more people in the world could read it .
So when you check out my blog next time , please click here .

http://komotaka972.blogspot.com/



And recently I've created a new website(blog) about my favorite sports.
Click here to the site.

http://komotaka972.blog14.fc2.com/?page=0

Clearing snow away

This winter it looks like we have less snow than usual , I guess .
However , there was a certain amount of snowfall since last afternoon .
Every time I clear snow away , I can't help wondering if there is any
effective way to remove it . How do they deal with this matter in foreigh countries ?
Let's check it out on the website !

These are advertising signs of snow-removing agency in USA .




A signboard in the Mt Ralston Subdivision that is located near Twin Bridges, CA. USA

source : Mt Ralston Properties Association


A firm that is engaged in clearing snow away in Duluth, Minnesota, USA .




http://www.snowduluth.com/contact.html



Rolling Snow Shovel

source : www.KitchenDinner.com

According to the website , you can work without bending or lifting .
The price is $59.95 .

http://kitchendinner.com/Home/dartboard-set.htm

It isn't likely that there is a good way to solve the problem .

INBOUND TOURISM

The Hokkaido Shinbun ( morning edition ) Jan. 24 ,2010

How to attract Asian tourists Hokkaido . They had an interview with two experts . It may be summarized as follows .

(1) We should encourage industrial tourism .We have more than 100
year's historical experience in agriculture that includes techniques
for one in the cold district .

(2) As tourism in Hokkaido can't do without agriculture , it's of
crucial importance that we promote its development .
We can't enjoy beautiful sights of Biei until they plow the
field on the hill.
What about Agricultural college for Asian students ?
Can we contribute to prosperity in Asian agriculture through
teaching them the latest style of skill , like Sapporo
Agricultural College has been playing an important role on the
development in Hokkaido .




(3) However numerous the amount of information are , it's meanningless
that that isn't what foreign tourists want to know .

A Short Course in Ski

I took a one day lecture that was obligatory to do a test for skill in alpine skiing .I've had muscle pains in my femurs because of training a few days ago that made me feel heavy .
A lecture class started at 10:30am and was over at 3:30pm except one hour lunch break . 25 participants were coached by a young teacher one by one .
In the morning we tried to slide down smooth slopes ,that I was good at. However , fatigue did'nt enable me to do just as I want to .
To my surprise , I fell down in the middle of making a short turn .



My exhaution has reached its peak in the afternoon .
I seldom go down the bumpy hillside as it's not for alpine skiing but for mogul one .I wonder why they adopted that event .
Well , anyway , I feel uneasy about how I will end up .

Your mother should know

Do you like the Beatles ? You know , they have brought about a revolution in the popular music . They have been loved across the generations in the globe for a long time .
In fact I've been listening to their music since I was young , and so I've some favorite songs of them like the rest .

“ YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW ” is one of them .
I think that simplicity is a characteristic of their music . I mean
it's easy to hum to oneself and learn by heart . And most importantly
the lyrics are filled to the brim with love for humanity .
For example , Paul told about this work as follows .

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

PAUL circa-1994: "I dreamed up 'Your Mother Should Know' as a production number... I've always hated generation gaps. I always feel sorry for a parent or a child that doesn't understand each other. A mother not being understood by her child is particularly sad because the mother went through pain to have that child, and so there is this incredible bond of motherly love, like an animal bond between them. But because we mess things up so readily they have one argument and hate each other for the rest of their lives. So I was advocating peace between the generations. In 'Your Mother Should Know' I was basically trying to say your mother might know more than you think she does. Give her credit."

Source : The Beatles Ultimate Experience

http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/index.html

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Paul is likely to make an argument that your mother should know more than you do because she is the one who gave birth to you and if you cant't believe in me , ask her about it .

Japanese pop singer , Mariya Takeuchi has already released the cover version .

Book Review

This book is about the Japanese modern history , especially focusing on a chain of Japan-China wars . It was based on a series of 4 classes in history for high school students .
So it's quite easy to read , everybody could finish it up in a several hours in spite of the content pregnant with meaning .
The author is trying to explain the meaning of the history through a
lots of historical records such as letters and diaries of important persons . We might say it's something like a positive way of doing .
At the last part of the book she introduced to subscribers the results of poll .

◆ Have the Japanese thought over what they had done before the 　
　war ?

　Nearly half of them replied “ No ” or “ Not enough ”.
This may be motives that she has decided to write the book .
Anyway , it's one of books that causes us to think about the Japanese modern history .

World GDP

A well-known English economist , Angus Maddison estimated the World GDP from 0 B.C. to the 20th century .
It's quite exciting .

【 Figure 1 】



Source : Home Maddison http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/

I made the graph from the Web site above .

It took 1600 years that the world GDP had increase nearly three times . (103 ⇒ 329) Meanwhile , that the world economy has
grown almost 50 times in less than 200 years from 1820 to 1998
(694 ⇒ 33,726) .
We can'nt help admiring the Industrial Revolution


【 Figure 2 】



When we think of the GDP of the country , we tend to do under the leadership of the U.S. because they have been a major economic power after the war .
However , if you look at the wide range of the history ,
I'm sure you will get an another historical perspective .
Yellow grapfh stands for the Asia . Until recetly , that is
to say the middle of the 19 th century , they had been a supreme ruler since A.D.0.

【 Figure 3 】



Figure 3 (above) shows GDP by country . India and China had been two major dominant powers through 2000 years .
We can learn the rise and fall of the history of man from
the fact , and come to understand the history relatively .

CHINA EYES JAPAN

CHIINA EYES JAPAN was written by Allen S. Whiting , a well-known scholar of East Asia in 1989 .
There were slapstick comedies such as contraversies surrouding Ysukuni Shrine and Japanese history textbooks contraversies between two nations then .
The author verified the Japan-China relations looking back to the past , and pointed out that there were two different attitudes toward their life in two countries.
When they expressed it quoting some passages from a common saying , the one is 前事不忘、後事の師 ( one has to learn a lesson from one's experience ) , the other “ let's bygones be bygones （水に流す）”.
　“ Remember Nanking Massacre ! ”“ Down with Japan imperialism ! ”
　The Chinese people still have been repeated those slogans every time some diplomatic issue occurred .
Meanwhile the Japanese , especially the conservatives had bad feeling toward political reaction of their neiboring country and
were embarassed .
Finallly the author told us the most important thing is to know each other .I think it's true , however difficult to do also .
It has been over two decads since he wrote this book . The situation has greatly changed since then . He may not have expected China to be such an economic giant and other emerging countries , too .

Click here to Amazon.com :

http://www.amazon.com/China-Eyes-Japan-Allen-Whiting/dp/0520065115

The results of “　Third Japan-China joint Opinon Poll　” by GENRO NPO of Japan conducted through May to June 2009 .
Click here to the report :

http://www.genron-npo.net/en/beijing-tokyo2007/002797.html

Reader's Selection , Best of the Year

I would like all of you to vote for your most favorite blog when we see the old year out and the new year in .
Unlike most celebrity blogs there are only a few visitors , about 29,248 pageviews and 12,927 visitors from the beginning .
So I am truely thankful for my eager readers and a big thanks to all the regulars.

You have only to click the button “comment” below the page and fill in the blanks . You don't have to enter your real name and URL if you don't want .
Now let's cast your votes , I'm waiting for them.
The results will get an airing on this blog before long .
I wish you a Happy New Year !


　年の瀬を迎えるにあたり、あなたが選ぶ今年のブログ　No1 を選んでいただきたいと思います。　
　これは、有名人のブログとは違い開設から累計で29,248、ページビュー 12,927 の訪問者と小規模です。それゆえ熱心な読者とリピーターの皆さまには心から感謝申し上げます。
　ページ下のコメントボタンをクリックして空欄を埋めていただくだけで結構です。実名とＵＲＬは、必ずしも必要ではありません。
是非一票をお願いいたします。結果は、近日このブログで公表いたします。

Bidet Toilet

Bidet Toilets , they are popular as a brand name Washlet or Shawer
Toilet in Japan . They have come into wide use for the last two decades .( see the chart below ) Then most people are likely to be unable to manage without them .



However , the situation seems quite different in the U.S. .

Click here

http://dvice.com/archives/2009/10/6-gadgets-the-j.php

What do you think of the article ?

Some are deeply moved and some are not .

It's interesting to know that older establishments and Asian people are fund of them .
One poster says that it depends on the culture differnce .
Most Americans are in the habit of taking their showers in
the morning so they don't need them.
The other explains fifthy Americans prefer dry toilet paper and their small clot of dung to a washed crack .