Should smoking in public places be banned in Japan?

 

     Every year in Japan, 350 billion cigarettes are consumed by 30 million smokers. That means an average smoker smokes around 11667 cigarettes annually, 31 cigarettes daily. Now the question is where do they smoke those 31 cigarettes? Living in Japan for a few years now, I see that most smokers smoke in public places. In my opinion, smoking should be banned in public places, especially in Japan. First of all, smoking in public places will be physically bad for your health and the people near you. According to the experiment of Dr. Hirotsugu Ueshima, a member of the Department of Health Science, out of 9638 that smoke, 807 people died because of strokes. There is also the chance of getting lung cancer. Actually, 90% of men who get lung cancer are smokers. Side stream smoke is also a big problem. The other people who get lung cancer are victims of side stream smoke. By inhaling venomous smoke from cigarettes indirectly, you receive the chance of getting lung cancer. Secondly, smoking has a bad influence over the environment. The smell emitted from the burning cigarette will irritate non-smokers young to old. Smoking also sets a bad example over the children. Smokers make children think that smoking is “cool”. Third, smoking causes many incidents. The bad smokers might “accidentally” start a fire by littering there tobacco. Also, many sculptures displayed in the public places are damaged by burned cigarettes. For these three reasons, I feel that smoking in public places should be banned in Japan.  

Memories of Christmas Abroad

    Christmas is a cherishable, jolly time filled with presents that you long wished for, delicious Christmas dinners, and last but not least wacky parties. Today, I want to write about one Christmas day that I still remember vividly.

     During Christmas time when I was 6 years old, my family and I decided to go on a vacation to either Disneyland located in Anaheim, California or Legoland which was located in Carlsbad, California. I was very excited and pumped up when I heard this, but at that time, I was frightened by the life sized characters that were roaming around Disneyland, so I decided to go to Legoland. When I was 6 years old I craved for Lego, and made buildings on my own during my spare time. I also loved the product Bionicles made by Lego so I was interested in what kind of attractions there were featuring Bionicles.

    The day had come for my family to go to Legoland. It took 7 to 8 hours from my house to Legoland, so I woke up at about 6 am to get ready. Many people might think that a 6 year old waking up on 6 am is insane but, as you may know, you wake up incredibly fast when you are very excited. On the first day, we went to Legoland we arrived at 4 pm so we decided to rest at the nearest hotel. On the next day, we went to Legoland. Legoland California is actually a pretty recent amusement park, opened on 1999 so there were pretty few rides but the attractions there were amazing. I loved the life sized Bionicle figures and Darth Vader from the Star Wars series. Next to the Darth Vader figure there was a sign that this figure was actually made out of 100% small Lego pieces, so I didn’t have the guts to touch it because I was afraid that the figure was going to break. Unluckily, there were no Bionicle rides or attractions other than the Bionicle figures but I was satisfied with the figures because my parents bought me the newest Bionicle toy. There was also another interesting ride that I still remember which was like a water cruise that took you to many famous places around the world. However those famous places are all minimized into a 1/20 scale and were all made by Legos. The scenery of San Francisco is very beautiful. It vividly shows the beautiful sceneries of the Golden Gate Bridge and the buildings located in Pier 39. There were also sceneries from Washington DC. When I heard that it took 6 people 60 hours to make the Washington Monument I was very surprised. After having a lot of fun we went back to our hotel and rested there for another night. On the next day, we went to go adventuring Legoland again. I still remember taking a picture of me in a cell of a prison which was also made out of Legos. After playing another day at Legoland, we went back home where I opened my Christmas presents waiting for me under the Christmas tree.

      That was one of my memories of Christmas when I lived overseas. Personally, it was the best Christmas vacation that I had ever taken.

Opinion Piece (Free Choice)

   
    There many things in this world that I like and dislike. Out of these I want to write about fishing. Fishing is one of my hobbies that I just cherish. I usually go to Enoshima with my friends or family and enjoy fishing there. Today I want to talk about why I love to go fishing and other facts about fishing.

    First of all, fishing can be divided in three different types. They are sea fishing, river fishing, and manmade pond fishing. Sea fishing is a great hobby because I can enjoy the tug of fish and can eat the fish if I can catch it. I feel the adrenaline in my body when the edge of fishing rod starts to shake little by little and my mother usually makes tempura with the fish I catch. I also love fishing at manmade ponds because there are a lot of fish living in a small space so first of all it is easy to catch fish, and you can get points for how many fish you catch and the size of the fish. If you collect a certain amount of points, then you are able to fish there for 4 hours free! There are also fish that are bigger than 50 cm so you can enjoy the tugging of fish. The manmade ponds near my house keep carps, which are known to be great tugging fish. I can enjoy the tugging of carps even if they are only 20 cm big. We give back the fish we catch to the manmade pond at the end of our time limit, but if the fish is bigger than 80 cm we got to take a picture with it. My family actually caught this fish, so we have a picture on the "Wall of Fame" at my nearby manmade pond. I still don't have a chance to go river fishing, and my father says I shouldn't go because we can't eat the fish because it might have parasites living in it since it lives in dirty river water. My family also doesn't own a fishing rod for river fishing so I think I won't experience river fishing, at least while I'm a teenager.

    In conclusion, I cherish fishing because there are three options to choose from. I also like the idea that if you try and catch a lot of fish, prizes are waiting for you during dinnertime. Next time I go sea fishing I hope that I will have a rich haul of various fish.

A Beginner's Guide to the Bunkasai

A Beginner’s Guide to the Bunkasai

 

In Japan, there is one type of event that is held annually in most schools. It is called “Bunkasai” otherwise known as the Cultural Festival. In this essay, I will describe the “Bunkasai” with two different perspectives. Firstly, the general idea of a “Bunkasai” and secondly the description of the “Bunkasai” that takes place in SFC every year.

First, the general idea of a “Bunkasai” is a fun and jolly event. Not only does it display students’ projects and achievements, but there is an array of food you can eat. Usually, a classroom or the gymnasium is temporarily made into a restaurant or café where one can comfortably eat a meal. There are also some plays, dances, and concerts performed by the drama club, the dance club, the orchestra club, and the band club. In many schools, the “Bunkasai” is traditionally held around November 3^rd which is holiday a called Culture Day in Japan. The “Bunkasai” normally lasts for about 2 days, Saturday and Sunday. The visitors to this kind of event are usually people who are interested in the school’s atmosphere, people who want to enter the school, friends of the students attending the school, and parents of the students attending the school.

Next, the “Bunkasai” that takes place in SFC annually is very exciting. Firstly, a theme is chosen for each “Bunkasai” and each class has to make something that has to do with that theme. First grade classes make a big piece of art and put it up somewhere in the school. Grades two to five make an attraction in their class to entertain the visitors. The sixth graders make a 30 minute skit and play it around three times a day. Other than that, the members of the culture club activity are each given a space to promote their clubs’ activities. Since SFC has many kinds of clubs, it is very interesting to see what kind of things they make or do to make their club look interesting. I especially like the cooking club because they make delicious and tasty treats for only 300 yen.

 In conclusion, “Bunkasai” is an event that not only shows the projects and achievements of students but it is also the only opportunity each year for students to see what life is like in other schools. It also helps enrich people's lives by increasing social interaction with people outside of the school.

Review of Ender's Game

Ender’s Game

  

     Earth has been attacked by aliens called the Buggers for the second time. Everyone is sure that there will be a third assault and there it is only a matter of time to see there planet getting invaded and destroyed. The military launches a program to train many people and find their next military genius. The people gathered up are mostly children, and they are trained very severely from the age of 6. Actually there training is mostly playing games, both tactical and physical. However, they just can’t find the right person who will command the troops to crush and conquer the Bugger’s home planet. However, the might have found the right guy to do this job.

Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is no ordinary child, he is the “Third” which means he is the third child in his family. In this part of the future, only two children are allowed in one family. His older brother, Peter Wiggin is a ruthless and violent child with a lot of ambition. On the other hand Valentine Wiggin is Ender’s elder sister who is a nice child but is too compassionate. So the government believes that Ender has a high potential and has good qualities of both his brother and sister. Ender seems to be the only hope of Earth but can he outwit all the obstacles out there waiting for him at Battle School and defend Earth from the Buggers?

What I liked of this book is the action and battle scenes in this book. Yes, some parts are gory but this book is worth reading. The explanation of the experiences that Ender endures during his training is fabulous. This book is actually quite addictive for sci-fi lovers as I am myself, it makes you want to read this book a couple more times.

The advantages and disadvantages of summer vacation

    Summer vacation is a time when one should relax, hang out with friends, and go visit one's family members. However, most of the time we end up doing piles of homework or job assignments and get beaten up by club activities. In this piece of writing, I will first write about the advantages of summer vacation, second about the disadvantages of summer vacation, and lastly my opinion of summer vacation.
   First, there are three advantages to having a long summer vacation. First, summer vacation is a time to relax. On free days, you can do anything you want! For example, you can wake up at noon, watch the TV all day, or even go to a tropical island with your family. Since there is no school, you can go watch movies during normal school hours. Second, you can go hang out with your friends. You can go to the beach at Enoshima on a hot summer day to tan, play, or even fish. I especially like to go to new movies with my friends. Some movies I enjoyed were The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Grey. Some movies I want to watch during the near future are Prometheus and Resident Evil 5 Retribution. Third, you should visit your family members when you have time, maybe during "Obon" break. Having a good relationship with your family members is a good thing because they can help you in times of need.
   On the other hand, there are two big disadvantages of our summer vacation. First, there are piles of homework during summer vacation. Back in the US there was no homework during the summer excluding summer reading. I mean since it's called a "summer break" give us a "break". Second, even if we have homework we have a lot of club activities so we have hardly enough time to finish it. I'm not against club activities but I just want some time to finish summer homework and prepare for the exams. The students' schedules are all very busy so I want the teachers to discuss this and give us less homework in the future.
    In my opinion, I love summer vacation but I want it to be a little bit longer and with less homework. Since our school changed the school's system from three-term to two-term, students have to study for their exams during summer break while finishing homework. This is a very difficult thing to do considering the amount of club activities we have. During this year's summer vacation, I had hardly any chance to relax or hang out with my friends. I hope that this will change next year. This is a very difficult thing to do concerning the amount of club activities we have.
    In conclusion, the advantages of summer vacation are that you can relax, hang out with friends, and go visit your family members. However, the disadvantages of summer vacation are that your schedule becomes crammed up. I hope that next year's summer vacation will become a vacation that I can relax more.

How to be Successful in School

   Follow these simple steps to make your school life a fabulous time. First, never be tardy. You will be standing out, in a bad way. Instead, try to communicate with your teacher in a friendly way. This may be sarcastic but try to be a teacher's pet. Remember, a first impression is very important. Next, you should take good notes during class. By taking good notes during class, there is a good chance that you will get a good grade in your test.  Finally, you should be cooperative in school activities. Teachers want their students to be successful, so if you make a great effort during class or outside class the teacher would notice. School life is a very important time in life, being successful will help you in the future when you become an adult.