"Wedding Ceremonies in front of stations" If I were a worker of a railway company

When I was reading a newspaper or something like that, I thought that there are so many styles of wedding ceremonies nowadays.

For example, Japanese Shinto(in front of Japanese god) style, Buddhist(in front of Buddha) style, and Church style.

There's a bit strange style, "Wedding Ceremonies in front of people."

So, I came up with an idea. I think that the reason I came up with the idea is thanks to managing an English conversation school in front of Izumisano station.

That idea is "Wedding Ceremonies in front of stations."

if this idea is applied to Izumisano, Kishiwada and some other stations,

The ceremony will be taken place at the open space in front of the station when the weather is fine.
The ceremony will be taken place in the station yard when the weather isn't fine.

I mean, it will be possible to have all-weather wedding ceremonies.

Of course, the stationmaster will act as if he or she is a priest.

The merits of this idea are as follows.

- Activation in front of the stations will be expected.
- Since the invited guests can come only by train, they can have alcohol.
- If the wedding receptions and the second parties will be had at the restaurants and bars in front of the stations, the events will contribute to their sales.

What it comes down to is that the stations and the shopping areas in front of stations will become more active.

However, I guess there will be some walls to achieve this idea.

Since I have the nature to write articles whenever I come up with new idea, I wrote down this blog article.

There might be such a railway company like doing this idea, though.


I appreciate your reading until the end of this article.


尚、この記事の日本語版は、こちらにあります。(Japanese Edition) ⇒ http://plow7010.seesaa.net/article/wedding-in-front-of-stations.html

Visit Temple for New Year

My family and I went to Negoro Temple in Wakayama prefecture today as this year's first visit to shrines or temples. The custom is one of famous Japanese traditional events during new year seasons, and so, most Japanese people visit a shrine or temple during the time to make a wish for happy things that they hope will happen this year.
I prayed for good business results and a little more hair on my head. As a matter of fact, I lose my hair year after year. I can no longer allow myself to lose my hair, otherwise I'll go bald completely someday....(ToT)

To change the subject, I have to go to a bar in Izumisano city tonight, in order to attend the party that is held for an American guy, who came back to Japan at the end of last year and goes back to the United States this weekend. The party must be crazy because of many funny guys including me. :-P

今日は、家族を連れて、和歌山にある根来寺に初詣に行って来ました。この習慣は、新年における日本の有名な伝統行事の一つで、ほとんどの日本人がこの時期に神社やお寺を訪れ、今年に期待する願い事をします。
私は、商売繁盛と、もう少し髪の毛が生えてくれるように祈りました。実際のところ、年々私の髪の毛は薄くなっていってます。もはや、これ以上髪の毛が薄くなるわけにはいかない。さもなくば、いつか完璧にハゲてしまう・・・(ToT)

話題は変わって、今夜は泉佐野のバーに行かなくちゃいけません。某アメリカ人(去年の暮れに日本にやってきて、今週末アメリカに帰ってしまうのです)のために開かれるパーティに参加するために。面白い奴ら(俺を含めて)が来るから、クレイジーなパーティになるやろうなぁ・・・

米の由来(The Origin of RICE)

2007年11月7日(木曜日)
Wednesday, November seventh, two thousand and seven

どんな言語でもそうですけど、沢山の言葉の由来がありますよね。実際、それらの起源を知ることは、私にとって、とても面白いです。今日は、日本の面白い雑学を紹介します。(^^♪
『米(こめ)』という漢字を知ってますよね？この漢字は、『八』『十』『八』の三つの漢字が組み合わさって出来ているそうです。その昔、農業が発達していない頃、米を育てるには非常に手間がかかりました。その手間の数が88だったそうです。詳しくは知りませんが・・・(^_^;
『米』という漢字が、88を意味するところから、日本では88歳になったとき、『米寿』という長寿のお祝いをします。『寿』は、『お祝い事』とか『おめでたい事』といったような意味です。
実は、私は現在44歳。ちょうど、88歳の半分ですね。(笑)


In any language, there are lots of interesting derivations of words. It attracts me to find out the original of any word actually. Let me introduce an interesting Japanese general knowledge today. :D
You probably know this Chinese character(=Kanji), "米(kome)". It is said that the character consists of three kanjis, "八(hachi)", "十(juu)" and "八(hachi)". "八十八(hachi juu hachi)" means eighty eight in Japanese language. A long time ago, when Chinese or Japanese agriculture was less well-developed than it is now, people used to take a lot of trouble over growing rice. I hear the number of procedure to grow rice was eighty eight. I don't know the details though...
Anyway, since "米" signifies 88, Japanese people celebrate their friends' or families' long life when they reach the age of 88, that's called "米寿(beiju)". "寿" means "celebration", "happy event" or the like in Japanese.
Actually, I'm 44 years old now. So... just the half of 88.

derivation: 由来
general knowledge: 雑学
be less well-developed than ～: ～より発達していない
take a lot of trouble over something: ～に手間がかかる
signify: 表す、意味する
or the like: または同種のもの

Autumn appetite(食欲の秋)

2007年10月28日(日曜日)
Sunday, October twenty eighth, two thousand and seven

日本では、『食欲の秋』『読書の秋』そして『スポーツの秋』と言われます。だから、最近、私の体重が増えているのは、仕方のないことなのです。だって、秋には日本全国に美味しい食べ物が沢山ありますから。さらに、次の日曜、日本人の友人達、外国人の友人達と一緒に、海岸かどこかでバーベキューパーティを計画中です。大量の肉のせいで、全員が太ってしまうに違いない。(^^♪

In Japan, it's said that autumn is a good season for eating, reading and sports. In Japanese, they say "Syokuyoku no aki", "Dokusyo no aki" and "Supo-tsu no aki". "Syokuyoku" and "dokusyo" means appetite and reading respectively. So it can't be helped to gain my weight these days because there are so many kinds of delicious foods in autumn all over Japan. Besides, I'm planning a barbecue party on the next Sunday with my Japanese and foreign friends at the beach or somewhere. Everyone must put on weight then because of tons of meat. :)

Half-body Bathing

Monday, October fifteenth, two thousand and seven

These days Osaka's climate is cool and comfortable for me, that's easy to work hard, but on the other hand, I sometimes feel a little cold at night actually. So, I take a bath for relatively longer time nowadays compared to summer. Some experts in human health say that half-body bathing for at least 20 minutes would help us get healthy and maintain the skin's youthful appearance, that's to say, the way could help me look younger. I recommend that you guys, especially women, take a half-body bath as a good habit. Let me go on the custom for a while.

half-body bathing: 半身浴

Sports Day

Monday, October eighth, two thousand and seven

It's a national holiday today in Japan, which is called "Sports Day". It was established to commemorate "Tokyo Olympic Game" held in 1964. The holiday used to be October tenth but was changed into the second Monday of October after "Happy Monday Law" had been enacted, that's instituted to make consecutive holidays.
The harvest festival , which is called "Yagura Festival, is held on the previous day of Sports Day and the day every year. There's an interesting video on my home page in MySpace. Take a look at it if you have interests with the festival.
Although today is Sports Day and the festival's day, I don't want to use my body that much because of a terrible backache. I'd better just watch the festival with my children or else I won't be able to work as hard as usual from tomorrow. :<

"quotes from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
commemorate [transitive]: to do something to show that you remember and respect someone important or an important event in the past
enact [transitive]: to make a proposal into a law
institute [transitive]: to introduce or start a system, rule, legal process etc
consecutive [adjective]: consecutive numbers or periods of time follow one after the other without any interruptions

The Dog Days

Saturday, July twenty first, two thousand and seven

In Japan, this year's dog days(土用 doyou) has just started. It's very common in the country to eat eel during the period, especially on July thirtieth, which it's considered that is the hottest day. Actually, I'm sometimes asked from non-Japanese why Japanese people like to have eel during the dog days(midsummer). Whenever being asked that question, I reply to them as below.

Because it's been so muggy during the dog days, they need to have nutritious foods to get through the awful climate, I mean, in order not to suffer from the summer heat. In Japan, it's believed that eating eel makes people energetic. In fact, eel has many kinds of vitamins and other nutrients.
And also, it's common to eat 土用餅(doyou mochi) in Kansai region of Japan during the muggy period, which is a kind of rice cake covered with bean jam and which tastes sweet.

What food is common to eat during summer in your country?

The Star Festival

Saturday, July seventh, two thousand and seven

It's The Star Festival, which is called "七夕(Tanabata)" in Japan, today. Tanabata bases on a Chinese legend as far as I checked it out on the Internet. According to the legend, a god in space separated a couple of stars that were lovers. Vega(織女星 Weaver) loved Altair(牽牛星 Cowherd) so much that she goofed off her weaving job. The god got angry at her attitude so much that the god couldn't help but put the Milky Way between them so that she can concentrate on her work. However, the god allowed them to see each other only on the night of July seventh because of their strong wish.

It's a sort of romantic story, isn't it?

Anyway, the festival has been held since the Edo period in Japan. Japanese people, especially children, write their wishes on strips of colorful paper, tie or hang them on the branches of bamboos, decorate them outside at night, and pray for their wishes to come true like Vega and Altair.


"quotes from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
goof off[phrasal verb]: to waste time or avoid doing any work

Dad's 76th Birthday

Friday, June twenty ninth, two thousand and seven

I decided to write my English diary everyday at the beginning of this year as a new year's resolution, but my recent health condition doesn't allow me to do that. My job really has worn me out lately. That's why I was absent from this blog space for a few days. Besides, I've been suffering from a terrible backache as I mentioned it the other day. It's been one of those days! Frankly speaking, I can't help but feel that I'm no spring chicken. (^^;

Taking of "one of those days", one of my American friends taught me the phrase while he was in Japan. It is used to say that everything seems to be going wrong, according to my English-English dictionary. Whenever I use the phrase in English conversation, it reminds me of his face and nice memories. Nostalgic... (^^;

Anyway, today is my father's 76th birthday. My family already had a party with my brother's family last Saturday, which combined with my third son's birthday party. Next year we'll have to hold a big party for him. He's going to be 77 years old on the same day next year, which means that he's going to reach "喜寿(kiju)", one of special birthdays for Japanese people. Those who reaches 77 years old are mostly celebrated by their families for having the long life. The Chinese character "喜" used to be written with three "七"s in Japan, "七" means "seven" in Japanese, and also "寿" is a formal word to describe happy things... maybe. That's the reason 77 years old is also called "喜寿" in Japan. Even though "喜" used to be written with three "七"s, "喜寿" doesn't mean 777 years old. (^^; It's impossible for anyone to have such a long life as you know!

Worry About Personal Information

Monday, May seventh, two thousand and seven

A friend of mine asked me yesterday whether western people tend not to be worried that their personal information is leaked. Actually, most Japanese people don't open their real names and photographs of their faces(facial portrait) on social networking sites or something like that, but lots of western people do that. I guess the reason Japanese people don't open their real name on the web sites is that it's easy to find out their other information by googling with their real names written in Kanji characters. In fact, when you google with my real name written in Kanji, my factory information comes up. As a matter of fact, it's kind of rare that someone has the same Kanji name as a Japanese person has. On the other hand, it's relatively difficult to get western people's detail information by googling with their real names even though Google is the most powerful search engine in the world, because their names are written in English or other alphabets. I hope you understand what I mean, although my guess might not be right.
Anyway, there are quite a few bad networkers who often try to find fault with other people in Japan, that's why Japanese people tend not to open their real names on the Net.


"quotes from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
find fault with: to criticize someone or something, often unfairly and frequently(～のあら捜しをする、けちをつける)

Golden Week Holidays

Tuesday, April twenty fourth, two thousand and seven

Golden Week Holidays, the holiday-studded week, is coming soon, so I have some plans to spend my free time. My family, friends and me going to have a BBQ party somewhere on the thirtieth of April and I have to take my children to Wakayama prefecture on the third or fourth of May for fishing. Of course I'm going have some English lessons as well during the week.

Speaking of Golden Week, two national holidays' names have changed, actually. April twenty nineth used to be "Greenery Day(緑の日 midori no hi)" but now the day has renamed "Day of Showa(昭和の日 showa no hi)". In Showa Era, the day used to be the national holiday, "The Birthday of the Emperor." After the Emperor - Hirohito(Showa) passed away, the Japanese government had decided to rename the holiday and keep the day as a national holiday, which was called "Greenery Day". The reason they had decided to name the day "Greenery Day" was that Hirohito was known for his interest in plants. I would say they changed the day's name again to let people understand the day's meaning easily.

May fourth used to be called just "National Holiday(国民の休日 kokumin no kyuujitsu)". The government of Japan enacted the law that the day between 2 national holidays is also a national holiday, in order to make holidays in a row. May fouthth is between "Constitution Memorial Day(憲法記念日 kenpou kinenbi)" and "Children's Day(子供の日 kodomo no hi)". That's the reason May fourth is a national holiday. However, I guess that the day is called "Greenery Day" now for giving the day a specific name.

Local Community's Meeting

Sunday, April fifteenth, two thousand and seven

Since I'm the leader(組長 kumicyo) of the neighborhood community(隣組 tonarigumi) I belong to, I have to organize a social gathering today. Most of my neighbors are much elder than me, the meeting will bore me.
The term of the leader is one year, so I have to serve something sometimes for them, such as holding a small party and presiding over a funeral service of families who have had a death in the family. I hope no one who belongs to our association pass away this year... It must be extremely tough for me to be in charge of such an important role.


social gathering: 懇親会

"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
preside [intransitive]: to be in charge of a formal event, organization, ceremony etc. (phrasal verb: preside over something)

Cherry Blossoms in Izumisano City

Sunday, April eighth, two thousand and seven

Since today was the last chance for me to go see cherry blossoms this spring, I went out with my family, friends and their families to Eiraku dam in Kumatori town of Osaka prefecture, bringing our lunch boxes and a few cans of beer. Because I had a huge amount of alcohol last night, my wife who is what is called my master didn't allow me to go out with lots of juice today. :(
Anyhow, I caught up with the fellow after a long time who I used to work with for the same computer system company. We talked a lot about our recent events and job status under the cherry tree. Thank you for all of the guys! Let me upload some pictures I took there on the following, including the picture of lunch boxes prepared by my wife. Does it look delicious? I had 5 cans of beer, the capacity of a can is 350cc, with the lunch. :)

Unlucky Omikuji, But How Lucky!

Monday, April second, two thousand and seven

As I posted an article that I went see cherry blossoms, I visited a famous temple yesterday. At that time I bought a おみくじ(omikuji - fortune slip) there, in order to consult an oracle. :) Unfortunately, the one told me that I have a bad fortune as the following picture. 凶(kyou) means the worst fortune in Japanese, actually. However, I bet I'm sooooo lucky! How come? Let me tell you the reason I think so. Basically, there tend to be very few bad-fortune slips in omikuji-boxes at almost all temples or shrines all over Japan. It means a very rare case to get the worst one. In fact, it was the first time for me to be given it. Yeah! I've just had a unique experience for the first time! How lucky I am! I'm thinking too positively???? :) Anyway, it's a good way for having a good life to think you are lucky in spite of being in trouble.

Let me introduce a Japanese custom to you. If you get a bad-fortune omikuji, you had better tie the one around a branch of a tree in the temple or shrine. Some of temples and shrines have a special space that you can tie the one as the following picture. People pray in order not to bring bad fortunes to them by leaving the unlucky slips there.

After Steak, Go To Bed After Breaking Wind

Thursday, March twenty ninth, two thousand and seven

I had a gorgeous dinner tonight. My mom brought a huge amount of steak for us today, so we could have a really excellent supper tonight thanks to her! Since my wife is very stingy, she rarely prepares meals with beef, usually with pork, chicken, or fish. We've got a lot of energy enough to live for one thousand years! :) On the other hand, I drank too much red wine with the steak, so I can't write English any more today. Let me go to bed after breaking gas. :) In Osaka, many people often say this phrase, "さあ、屁ぇこいて寝よか！(Now, let me go to sleep after breaking wind!)" as a mind joke. They don't always fart before going to bed though. (^_^;


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
break gas(wind): to allow gas to escape from your bottom, making a noise and an unpleasant smell
fart [intransitive]: (not polite) to make air come out of your bowels

Equinox - Higan

Thursday, March twenty second, two thousand and seven

In Japan, there's a famous saying related to this week(equinoctial week) - "暑さ寒さも彼岸まで(Atsusa Samusa mo Higan made)". That probably means "Hot weathers and cold weathers will continue until equinoxes" in English. In fact, it was relatively warm today, so I couldn't help but break a lot of sweat when I was working in my factory. However, I was able to work so hard thanks to the huge amount of meat I had yesterday. :) Anyway, I think this year's cold season has just ended and cherry trees will be in bloom soon.

Talking of "Higan", many Japanese people visit their ancestors' graves in equinoctial weeks. In the weeks, the daytime and nighttime lengths are almost the same as you know. In Buddhism, it's thought that daytime is kinda this world and nighttime is another world for dead people and that dead people can get across the river between the two world in Higans. Therefore, we might be able to have reunions with our ancestors during the week. That's why we visit our ancestors' graves in the periods.


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
equinox [countable noun]: one of the two times in a year when night and day are of equal length

Meeting of Neighborhood

Sunday, March fourth, two thousand and seven

I have to attend a meeting tonight, that's going to be held for discussing local topics with my neighbors. A long time ago, maybe before World War 2, the Japanese government recommended citizens to make small local communities to help each other. The communities are called "Tonari-gumi(隣組)" in Japanese. If I translate the Japanese word into English, I would say "neighborhood communities or associations" At the time, many Japanese people tend to be very poor to prepare the World War. That's why they needed to help each other and the government recommended them to make the communities, I guess.
Anyway, the tradition is still existing, even though most Japanese people aren't as poor as they used to be, though. Basically, a neighborhood community consists of about 20 family units(households), so I have to be the leader of the group every 20 years. Next month I'm going to be the new leader, so I have to take over some chores from the current leader in the meeting held tonight. The leaders are called "Kumicyo(組長)" in Japanese, actually. Sounds kind of dangerous! Because the leaders of "Yakuza(やくざ) - Japanese Mafia" are also called "Kumicyo(組長)" as most Japanese people know. I'll be called "Kumicyo" from my neighbors for a while, even though I'm definitely a serious person, not a Yakuza as you know! Because it's my first time to be the leader, let me try and do it somehow or other, anyhow.


family unit(household): 世帯
take over: 引き継ぐ
somehow or other: 何とか

Hina Matsuri(Doll's Festival) and Teacher's Complaint

Saturday, February third, two thousand and seven

Today, March 3rd, is the day of "Doll's Festival - Hina Matsuri(雛祭り)" in Japan. The day is also called "The Season Festival of Peaches - Momo no Sekku(桃の節句)" Let me introduce this Japanese custom below.

Japanese Families with girls celebrate March third to wish for their daughters' good fortune, growth and happiness. According to tradition, this event began in the Edo period. Families with girls display a set of cute dolls in their houses. The set consists of the Emperor, Empress, their servants, miniature furniture and so forth(and so on), on a three, five or seven-tiered stand.


Today we were planning to have a nice dinner made by my wife, but she has a high fever now, therefore I had to go run errands for her. I've got some sushi, appetizers at a supermarket. Besides, I usually take 4 free conversation lessons on Saturdays, however, I cut out 2 ones to get home earlier than usual. A teacher, whose name is Patrick, complained about my leaving because many students tend to leave by accident before his classes. :)


servant[countable noun]: 家来、召使
something and so on(and so forth): ～など(similar to "etc")
three, five or seven-tiered something: 3段または5段または7段の～
go run errands for someone: (人の)使い走りをする
by accident: 偶然

St. Valentine's Day

Wednesday, February fourteenth, two thousand and seven

In Japan, it's very common that young girls present some chocolates to their boyfriends and male acquaintances on February 14th, Saint Valentine's Day. When I was a office worker, I got a huge amount of chocolates.... No.... a few ones, actually. (ToT) Now that I'm a factory worker and there are no female co-workers in my factory, I didn't get any chocolates today. Only my wife gave me a small one. Those kinds of gifts are called "義理チョコ Giri-Choco", which means "chocolate out of courtesy" in English and which is given from kind of a sense of duty. Of course, if girls want to tell someone how much they love him, they present the guys "本命チョコ Honmei-Choko", which means "chocolate for someone special" in English.

This custom is started as a sales strategy of confectionery makers in Japan a long time ago. So, "Fujiya", a big confectionery maker in Japan, must be so sad now because they aren't able to sell any sweets due to the recent incident caused by their dishonesty. Japanese customers won't buy their products for a while even if they could restart selling the stuff soon. Speaking of "sell", our products, recycled chemical fibers, have been selling like hot cakes!


courtesy: 礼儀、作法

Pass Test and Setsubun

Saturday, February third, two thousand and seven

I took the level-up test this morning at the English school's branch I belong to. I could pass the test somehow, so I just became a level-3 student at the school. But the teacher who tested my skills told me I have to do my best on increasing my vocabulary and improving the fluency. Since I know my weak points, I'm so lucky to hear the comment that describes exactly what I should do from now on.
Anyway, it looked so far for me to become such a high level student when I entered the school. Because I started as a level-7B student, a primary student, I couldn't imagine that I'm able to be a level-3 student at that time. Anyway, I bet I'll feel like a fish out of water when I take a high-level English lesson next week or the week after next.

To change the subject, it's Setsubun today in Japan. If you want to know what day Setsubun is, I recommend you to take a look at the web page I posted last year.(http://plow7010.blogspot.com/2006/02/setsubun-idiom.html) Of course, there are some(a large number of ?) mistakes in English, though... :) When I was a part time sushi chef, I had to make at least a hundred sushi rolls an hour! That's one of my bad memories...


feel like a fish out of water: 場違いに感じる