Red and White Song Battle

Kōhaku Uta Gassen, more commonly known as simply Kōhaku, is an annual music show on the New Year's Eve produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and broadcast on both television and radio, nationally and internationally by NHK's networks and some overseas (mainly cable) broadcasters which bought the program. The show ends shortly before midnight (when NHK switches to a frenzy of "Happy New Year" greetings from around the nation).

Literally "Red and White Song Battle," the program divides the most popular music artists of the year into competing teams of red and white. The "red" team or akagumi is composed of all female artists (or groups with female vocals), while the "white" team or shirogumi is all male (or groups with male vocals). The honor of performing on Kōhaku is strictly by invitation, so only the most successful J-Pop artists and enka singers can perform. In addition to the actual music performances, the costumes, hair-styles, makeup, dancing, and lighting are also important. Even today, a performance on Kōhaku is said to be a big highlight in a singer's career because of the show's large reach.

I watched Red and White Song Battle. When I watch this TV program, I feel that this year finished it. Did you watch This TV program?


[211 words]

I was surprised

I was surprised…… I got a ticket of NEWS. It is a group name of the singers. I will go to a concert for the first time on January 13th. I’m looking forward to meet NEWS. Thank you for giving a ticket of NEWS, Momoka. I put You Tube. This is NEWS’s music. This title is weeeek. Please listen it.

[61 words]

coooold!!

Recently, it is very cold, isn’t it? Especially morning is very cold. It snowed yesterday. It’s just inconceivable. I can’t wake up early. And I would not wash my face. I don’t like winter…

[34 words]

New Year's Eve

Today is New Year’s Eve. 2008 begins from tomorrow. It’s just inconceivable. I retraced past 2007 and I thought this year was bad year because I have got sick. So my class attendance was irregular. I want to reflect it. Of course there is the good aspect. My vocabularies have improved this year, I think. I was so happy. So I want to study English more 2008.

[67 words]

crab meet

Maine of my supper of today was a crab. I have a feeling that I eat a lot of luxurious meals recently. My mother ordered the crab from Hokkaido. It was delicious.

[32 words]

Book review2-14: British life

I read British life. British and tea interested me.

The British population (over the age of ten) drinks about 200,000,000 cups of tea a day. That is an average of nearly 1,040 cups of tea a year for each person. Tea- mostly green tea from China- came to Britain in the late 1500s, but it was only for the very rich. It became cheaper about three hundred years later, when it was planted in India and later in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). People from all classes started drinking it. But some people thought that too much tea was bad for your health. So they started putting milk in it, to make it healthier!

Afternoon tea, high tea, lunch and dinner

Afternoon tea is a small meal, not a drink. Now most ordinary British families do not have time for afternoon tea at home, but in the past it was a tradition. It became popular about a hundred and fifty years ago, when rich ladies invented their friends to their houses for an afternoon cup of tea. They started offering their visitors sandwiches and cakes too. Soon everybody was enjoying this exciting new meal. But the British working population did not have afternoon tea. They had a meal at about midday, and a meal after work, between five and seven o’clock. This meal was called ‘high tea’, or just ‘tea’. Some families in Scotland and the north of England still have ‘high tea’ and some restaurants in these areas offer it too. High tea is a big meal with a main dish – meat for fish – followed by bread and butter and cakes. You drink lots of cups of tea with tea. Today most people have a meal between 12 and 2 p.m. In the past, this meal was called ‘dinner’ in working families. But now most people call it ‘lunch’. ‘Dinner’ has become a bigger meal in the evenings.

Reading this book, I thought it is important for British to drink tea. I like tea very much, so I understood British feelings.

[340 words]

postal clerk

　I worked part-time today in post office at 6 hours. I was so busy because a New Year is coming soon, but I have never been this happy. I think I want to be postal clerk in the future. So I ask staffs. ‘ Tell me how to become a postal clerk?’ Staffs said ‘ it was very difficult question, however, it is important that you gain experience by practice’ I heard it and understood. I thought I wanted to become postal clerk more and more.

[86 words]

yellowtail

Yellowtail has been sent to my father as the year-end present by my grandparents. Yellowtail was very, very big, so I was surprised. My mother cooked fish. We like sashimi very much. We ate as sashimi. It was very good taste.

[41 words]

year-end party

Yesterday, Year-end party was held in the house of Asumi. The party started about 6:30 p.m. We ate many dishes, snacks and drink. It was very good taste. We talk about TV program, our school, part-time job and so on. We had a good time. Thank you for preparing, Asumi.

[50 words]

new friend

Today, I worked part-time first day. I had none of the people whom I knew it in workplace, so I felt lonely. Then, a girl talks to me about work. I thought she was very kind. I said ‘ shall we make friends with me?’ She said ‘yes’. I was very happy. She is 21 years old, so She is old than I. We talk about hobby, family, school and so on. We made friends rapidly. So I was so happy.

[81 words]

Happy Christmas

Today is Christmas Eve.

I will introduce Christmas song. I like Mariah Carey, All I want Christmas is you. I found this song in You Tube. Please, enjoy it.

[29 words]

Today's dinner

Today was Christmas Eve. I thought today's dinner is absolutely Kentucky and a Christmas cake. However, it was wrong. Today’s dinner was sushi. ‘Why do we eat sushi?’ I though. Oh, I will forgive it because it was delicious and I love sushi.

[43 words]

♬karaoke♬

　Today, I went to karaoke with my friends. I saw my friends in high school days after a long time, so I was very happy. We sang for seven hours. I like singing. Especially, I often sing J-pop. Recently, my favorite singer in Japan is Kanjyani-8. This is a name of the group. I like their songs because it makes me cheerful and happy. We sang Christmas song, for example, ‘ Last Christmas’, ‘Happy Xmas’, ‘All I want Christmas is you’. But it was not good, so we thought we must practice more them. We had a good time to song.

[101 words]

Book review-2-13: little women

I read Little women. In Japan, Little women is called Wakakusa story. This story is famous story, but I have never read it. 　

Little Women is a novel published in 1868 and written by American author Louisa May Alcott. The story concerns the lives and loves of four sisters growing up during the American Civil War. It was based on Alcott's own experiences as a child in Boston and Concord, Massachusetts, with her three sisters, Anna, May, and Elizabeth.

The four March sisters- Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They have problems. Their father is away in the war and they don’t have much money, but the girls have happy times too! Read this story of family love in a difficult year for the March. I thought they are massive. Especially, Meg, I thought. I think I want to become her.

[140 words]

winter vacation

A winter vacation begins from tomorrow. I am very, very happy. There is the plan that I work part-time, and play with friends. Anyway, I want to have a good time at winter vacation.

[34 words]

Juicy fried chicken

Yesterday, Satomi and I went to LAWSON in the Student’s Hall. We bought Juicy fried chicken. We like it very much. It is always sold for 155 yen. However, It was sold for 135 yen today. We felt having saved. It was delicious.

[43 words]

learning with computers

This year, I took Writing III& IV. This class was learning with computers. We learned how to write a blog and learned about computer. On this essay, I will write about before, during and after Writing III& IV.

Before Writing III&IV

I liked using computer before Writing III&IV because I liked searching a lot of home pages and playing online game. But, I was poor at typing because I didn’t know how to touch- typing. When I was a high school student, my teacher of information taught me touch- typing. I bought a soft of touch-typing and I practiced it every day. So, the speed of my typing became fast than before. However, this is only Japanese input.

During Writing III&IV

Writing III&IV is in English, of course. This class always tests the typing each other. The test is to check how long we can type in English in five minutes. I can type quickly in Japanese but I cannot do very well that in English. My typing speed is too late. Take the average; I type 70 words. I think it different from Japanese typing and English typing. I cannot type while thinking about an English sentence. Then, My typing becomes slower and slower. Therefore, I thought only typing that I type fast recently. Speed of my typing became fast than before. I’m so happy.

I came to like reading a book through this class. I read a lot of books during Writing III&IV. At first, I didn’t like reading English books, because it is difficult for me. But recently, I like reading book. I came to go to the library three times a week. Thanks to, Writing III&IV, my vocabulary is increasing. I think that it is killing two birds with one stone.

I like writing blog posts recently. I put a lot of my favorite pictures and media. It is very pleasant that I write blog for me. I thought that blog was the first troublesome. However, I knew the pleasure of writing blog.

After Writing III&IV

Before I took writing III & IV, I don’t like writing in English. It was difficult for me to write in English. During writing III & IV, I wrote a lot of sentences in English, so I like writing and reading in English. I would like to continue my blog after writing III & IV. I also would like to continue reading English books.

[404 words]

The holiday

I watched the holiday. This is the movie that I want to watch for a long time. But I didn't have a chance to watch during this movie's release. So, I rented this DVD from TSUTAYA. I was very excited when I finished this movie. I like this movie very much.

After three years of an on-again off-again relationship, Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) is still in love with Jasper Bloom (Rufus Sewell), her co-worker at The Daily Telegraph, despite his infidelity and exploitation of her feelings. However, during her company's Christmas party, Jasper announces that he is now engaged to Sarah Smith-Alcott, the woman with whom he cheated on Iris, and she is crushed.

Meanwhile, Amanda Woods, (Cameron Diaz) in Los Angeles, has just recently found out that her boyfriend, Ethan (Edward Burns), has been sleeping with his 24-year-old receptionist. She dumps him, but reveals that she is unable to cry. On a whim, Amanda decides to take a break from her hectic job and love life and rent a house somewhere far away. While surfing a house rental site, she finds Iris in Surrey, who just happens to be in the same situation as her. Rather than rent the house, Iris says that she's willing to do a home exchange, to which Amanda agrees.

I recommend this movie. If you have not watch this movie, please watch it.

[229 words]

running for money

Today, I watched a TV program, ‘Jump!’ for 2 hours. I like this TV program. This program is broadcasted in Fuji TV at 10:00 of every Wednesday. This TV program has a lot of corners. Especially, I like ‘running for money’. It is tag, but it is not simple tag, because challengers get the prize money if they can succeed in escaping, but if they were arrested by hunter, they don’t get money. They can be given the prize money of 300 yen per second. It is 55 minutes in escape time.

This game is a thrill for me. I scream in excitement unintentionally. I found it on You Tube, so please watch it.

This program’s home page is here.

[120 words]

a very memorable exprience

I have a very memorable experience. This summer vacation, I went to Hokkaido by a tour. It was held to learn the Northern Territories issue. I have decided to take part in this tour by myself. It was difficult for me to understand the Northern Territories, but I understood it only a little. I made a lot of friends through this tour. I had a lot of friends who lived in Osaka, Okayama, Fukui and Kyoto. These friends are all girls and same age with me. Native places are different each other.

[92 words]

figure skating

I watched figure skating on TV. I was moved to tears by Mao Asada, she is a figure skating player in Japan. She is only 17 years old. Her performance was very beautiful and cool.
Her short program was the last place, but she came from behind, she came second. I was surprised it.

[54 words]

Christmas decorations

Christmas is a week away. There are many Christmas trees and illuminations in the center of the city. It is very beautiful, I think.

There is not Christmas tree in my house, so I want very big one. Is there the Christmas tree in your house?

[46 words]

Happy birthday

Today, My father's birthday. My mother and I made a feast and cake. He looked happy. 'Happy birthday, father!'

[19 words]

Book review2-12: Leonardo DiCaprio

I read Leonardo DiCaprio. He is a very big movie star. His blue eyes are famous and teenage girls love his smile. I like him too. He has fans in every country, and his movies, Titanic and Romeo and Juliet, are big hits. I watched both Titanic and Romeo and Juliet. I have a DVD of Titanic. I think it very good movie. I watched American movie for the first time. I was well impressed by his performance. Reading this book, I want his to make a lot of good movies.

[91 words]

new part-time job

My new part-time job is to sort the New Year's card in post office. I did the same work last year. This work is a short term, but I like working in post office because I want to be postal clerk. This job is very hard. It must repeat the same work every day, but I’m looking forward to working it.
I write a New Year's card to a close friend and relative now. I draw Mickey Mouse because it will be the Year of the Rat next year. Do you write New Year’s Card?

[95 words]

Book review2-11: Romeo and Juliet

I read Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous love stories in the world. But it is more than a great love story. It is also about life and death, happiness and sadness, and the terrible hate between two great families.

I like Juliet’s line, 'Oh Romeo, Romeo- why are you called Romeo? It is only your name that is my enemy. You are yourself, not a Montague. What is a Montague? It isn’t hand, or a foot, or an arm, or face'. I understand that Juliet likes Romeo from these lines.

They loved each other. But there was an invisible barrier between people. The Romeo family and Juliet family was enemy. But they had made a match of it. It was secret. He left from her. He heard she was killed. But it was not true. But he didn’t know that thing. So, he was very sad. She thought if a rumor was going about that she was dead, he must be come back. She had drunk the strong sleeping pill. He saw her. He thought she was dead. So, he killed himself. She woke up him side. She saw him body. She were determined she killed herself too. They died.

I think I can't do like them. If I have a lover, maybe I can't die for my lover.

[226 words]

To study Chinese

I take Chinese in class. There was a class of Chinese today. I like Chinese because I am interested in China I have a friend who lives in China. She was exchange student in my university.
I have a dream that I go to China to meet her, and I want to speak in Chinese with her. Next year, the Olympic is held in Beijing, China. I want to watch a lot of match. I am looking forward to holding The Olympic. I thought I should study more hard in Chinese.

[91 words]

Book review2-10: The Beatles

I read The Beatles. I like Beatles. My favorite their song is Let it be. Their song is very cool and makes all over the world people happy. I often sing their song in karaoke.

The year was 1963, and Beatlemania was only just beginning. Soon the Beatles had fans all around the world. For the rest of the 1960s their music led the way and they changed modern music forever. This book tells the story of the greatest band in the world from the early days in Liverpool to the Beatles’ music in the world today. I think they are great band all over the world.

[107 words]

learning with computers

I didn’t like using computer before Writing class. Recently, I like using computer because I realize that learning with computers are very convenient for me. My typing test was too late. I want to more type faster.

[37 words]

My new friend

I have a new friend who lives in Osaka. Her name is Ami. She is very, very funny girl. She speaks dialect of Kansai. I like dialect of Kansai because it is upbeat. Last Sunday, she came to Kumamoto. I was surprised, because she didn’t contact me. She came to Kyushu for the first time in her life. She seemed to warm in Kumamoto. She and I visited Kumamoto castle, Tsuruya, which is department store in Kumamoto. She looked very happy. I promised her. 'I'm going to Osaka next spring'.

[90 words]

Book review2-09: Audrey Hepburn

I read Audrey Hepburn. Audrey Hepburn was a beautiful and great actress. I have never watched her movies, but I know Roman Holiday. She was very cute and beautiful. I like her smile. I think she great actress. The world loved her, and people love her now….I think. She was born in Brussels on May 4, 1929. She liked dancing. Especially, she liked ballet dancing. I have been surprised about her. It is that she can speak 5 languages- English, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. I was surprised. I want to watch her movies. She died, but I think that she continue shining forever.

[103 words]

Book review2-08: Who wants to be a star?

I read Who wants to be a star? A main character of this book is Tina Daniels. She is a famous TV star. She is 13 years old. She can sing and dance. Everyone knows her.

Her mother is very strict her because I think her mother expects too much of her. Therefore, she is unhappy, so she wants to get away from it all, and she ‘disappears’ to the countryside to learn another way of life.

She spent in a house of the grandmother of the friend foe a week. The grandmother of the friend is Mrs. White. Mrs. White was very kind. She doesn’t know that Tina is famous star, but Mrs. White knew it with a newspaper. She called her mother.

I think Tina want to rid herself of her trouble. I understand little her feelings, but I thought it is important to have the courage that does not escape from there.

[155 words]

the late TV

Introduction

I like watching TV program very, very much. It is very important for us to watching TV program because we get a lot of information and call for entertainment though TV. In Japan have many broadcasting stations now, for example, TBS, TV Asahi, Fuji TV, NHK and so on, but When a broadcast began in 1953, the broadcasting station was only NHK. After that, many broadcasting stations appeared. I will talk about history of TV and late TV.

Body

When a broadcast began in 1953, the broadcasting station was only NHK. The broadcast of the color television began in 1960. However, the broadcast of the color TV was only one hour per day. I have heard how did you think about old TV. She said, ‘ It was hard to watch the old TV with black and white, but now, TV is big and a picture is clean by a color. TV is essential for us ’ I think it, too.

The TV is changing from analog broadcast to digital broadcast now. Japanese people call chideji. The TV of my house changed digital broadcasting, too. It was very convenient and because I understand the information that I want to know in a matter of seconds. For example, If you want to know about the weather outlook for tomorrow, when you push the d button, you can know the weather outlook for tomorrow immediately. This is called data broadcasting. The analog broadcast is abolished by 2011. I think that the digital broadcast spreads greatly. In addition, people buying TV will increase.

Recently, even a cell phone can watch TV. Japanese people call wansegu. The image is very beautiful. I don’t have a cell phone with TV. I want to cell phone with TV. I think it became very convenient.

Conclusion

Anyway, The TV has evolved into a powerful worldwide information and media. Then, I think the TV evolves more and more from now on. I want to expect a cleaner image and the TV of the sound quality.

[338 words]

Furisode

Today, I wore furisode, it means long-sleeved kimono. It took 3 hours to prepare makeup and wearing kimono. I finished preparations and watched a mirror. ‘eh, Who are you? ‘ I was unbelievable because I thought I became beautiful…. Everyone said ‘you are very beautiful and like a model.’ I was shy.
I will wear it January 14th, Coming of Age Day again. I look forward to meeting many friends.

[72 words]

Chiritotechin

I like watching TV. My favorite TV program is Chiritotechin on channel NHK recently. It is a series of hearty drama. This drama is very interesting to me. A heroin of this story is Kiyomi Wada. She brought up in Fukui Prefecture who moves to Osaka in search of her soul. In Osaka, Kiyomi becomes enchanted with the traditional Japanese comic storytelling and pursues a career in comic storytelling.

I’m addicted to this TV program because I think that I look like the heroine a little. Kiyomi is naturally all thumbs. She doesn’t have a dream. She has a lot of complex. She hates herself, but she finally found a dream. It is a comic storyteller. I cannot foresee the development of story yet, but I think She will be a great comic storyteller. If you have time, watch it please.

Chiritotechin's home page is here

[141 words]

bad cold

I have caught a cold since last week. I have a runny nose and cough. It is bad cold, so I absented from classes. I want to cure a bad cold early.

[32 words]