Should Japan have its own military force?

Japan seeks to boost military spending-
“Should Japan have its own military force?”

   I am against Japan having its own military force for three main reasons.
   First of all, it is banned by law. After WW2, the 9^tharticle of the Japanese Constitution prohibited acts of war and banned settlement using force. This article also states that to accomplish this, armed forces with war potential will not be maintained, although armed forces for self-defense is considered alright in Japan. Thinking about all the people who had been hurt in WW2, I think it is not right to construct an army again and make the same mistakes of the past.
   Secondly, the American military has already caused many problems in Japan, and I don’t think the citizen’s image of the military is really great. We sometimes hear on the news about the soldiers in the United States Forces Japan (various divisions of the United States Armed Forces that are stationed in Japan), that they are caught drink-driving or committing violent acts toward Japanese citizens. In fact, in Okinawa where a large United States Force is stationed, the number of crimes committed by American soldiers since 1972 is over 5,747 in total. Another problem that is still unresolved about the American military is the noise and commotion jet planes make while making flights. If Japan also had an army of its own, the citizens would be even more annoyed, so I think Japanese will not be too enthusiastic about letting the number of soldiers increase.
   Finally, I am against Japan having its own military force because of the amount of money that military activities cost. In the 2011 GDP ranking of war expenditure , Japan marked 6^th place with about 54 billion dollars spent in one year. If another military force is established or the number of armies increase, too much money will be needed in the military field when it should be spent on other things.
   In conclusion, I am against Japan having a military force of its own because of the law, problems that the American military have already caused, and the military budget. Choosing if Japan needs one is a hard decision, but I think we should learn from past experiences and never forget about the sacrifices that were caused by war.

Best Christmas Ever Spent Abroad

     My best Christmas that I've ever spent abroad is when I was 9 years old. That year my family chose to spend the holidays on a Disney cruise (a cruise hosted by Disney) sailing for a total of seven days (December 22nd to December 28th), visiting the Bahamas Islands and a key reserved just for Disney called Castaway Cay. I will try and remember all I can about the events there while on the cruise.
     In the morning of Christmas Eve, my second morning on the cruise, our family first went to play jackpot bingo but won nothing since we don't have much luck. After that we went down to the lobby of the ship, where there was a big decorated Christmas tree in the center of the room. Underneath that tree there sat Santa, and other passengers were lining up to take pictures with him. I also lined up with my parents and brother and got my picture taken. He actually gave us presents like pillows, which I still have in my room. He also gave us cookies, which he recommended that we should put them on the tables in our room for the real Santa when he comes at night. After we left the cookies in our room and ate dinner, we went to a musical in the theatre. I think it was a musical about another side of the Cinderella story although I don't remember the details. When the musical was over we visited some souvenir shops and then went to our room to sleep. At that time, I wondered how Santa could come into our securely locked room and eat the cookies that we left for him. I imagined he was a very high leveled lock picker.
     In spite of my worries, the cookies were gone when I woke up in the morning which was a relief. On that day I think I went to the pool on the deck and swam for a long time while watching Disney movies on a big screen up front. Unfortunately there is nothing else I can remember about the 25th so I guess Christmas Eve on the ship left more impressions.
     The rest of the trip was very exciting and left by in a hurry. When we finally reached home, there was a Christmas present left on the bed for us from the real Santa. I was very glad he didn't forget to give us presents while we were on the trip.
     Spending Christmas in a cruise was a very nice experience. To say the truth, this was our second time on the Disney cruise. Last year we sailed on this cruise for the first time, and since we liked it so much we decided to visit again this year. I recommend this ship very much, especially to families with children (but there were many elders on the ship who says it’s their 40th time on this cruise). I really hope to go on the Disney cruise again in the future with my family. That year's Christmas and Christmas Eve was the best one I have ever spent abroad.

Should people spend money on space explorations?

       I think it's ok to spend money on space exploration (development). In a year, NASA spends about two trillion dollars , and even Japan, though having no money, spends about two hundred billion dollars on space exploration. I chose this topic because recently, I read a comic which mentioned this topic.
       Some people say that spending money on astrology and space technology would be a smarter and convenient way to learn more about space, since those groups would make major scientific leaps in a less amount of money than actually sending humans and machinery to space.
       So first of all, one advantage of actually sending an astronaut or machine to space is that they might find new minerals or precious material that an astronomer would not be able to collect by looking into his or her telescope. A famous example of this is that the asteroid probe Hayabusa succeeded in collecting samples of debris from the asteroid Itokawa. Not only did the achievement of Hayabusa create a path towards learning more about planets and how they formed, it also created an interest in space inside many minds. Because of this event, more people were encouraged to look up to the skies and ponder about what mysteries lay beyond it.
       Another advantage of spending money on space exploration, is that we can hope for a giant leap in the medicine field in space. Did you know that there is a module in the International Space Station where you can do experiments inside zero gravity? This is the only place where astronauts can actually study and experience medicine in space. There might be a big development in the medicine field in the future because of this module in ISS.
      Finally, the last reason of spending a lot of money on space development is because space exploration satisfies the human urge and need for exploration. Even though this might be a fuzzy reason to move such a large amount of money, I think this is the core to why so many people look up to and dream about space. Some people just love the thrill of adventure, making the impossible  possible. Only the people who have actually gone to space would know the excitement of going outside of the planet we humans live in.
      In conclusion, I think it is necessary to spend money on space exploration. By actually going to space, we might discover new things such as minerals and material, find new discoveries in the medicine field, and feel the thrill and excitement of going to outer space. I think we should continue to explore more about the planets and asteroids that surrounds our home planet earth.

A Beginners's Guide to the Bunkasai

      Today I will give you a  brief introduction of a Japanese school tradition, the Bunkasai.
A Bunkasai might be called a school festival in English, but I think there's more to it than just celebrating and having fun.
      First of all, a Bunkasai is a place where students display their work, using their classrooms and places inside the school. The classes do a class project together, such as plays and walk-through attractions. At SFC, it is kind of like a tradition and rule that the first graders do decorations inside the buildings, sixth graders do a play, and that all the other grades do walk-through attractions. This enables us to learn and acquire teamwork skills, which is one of the reasons why I like this event.
      Second of all, even though this doesn't go for SFC, most Bunkasai have places to eat food. By food, I mean dishes such as yakisoba, takoyaki, ice cream, and things that a person can eat without difficulty. Of course, there are a lot drinks served too. Above, I have already said that most classrooms do a class project, but some of these classrooms open up cafe's and serve food that the students actually cook themselves. Opening up a cafe is not allowed in SFC so I get very jealous when I visit other school's Bunkasai and see them.
      Finally, usually in Bunkasai, students in musical clubs such as the wind orchestra club, hold concerts for visitors. In SFC we hold these concerts every year, indoors inside the gym. I am in the wind orchestra club and our club performs there every year along with other clubs such as the string orchestra club, drama club, and bands that come from the rock band club. In other school's Bunkasais that I have gone to in the past performed outside the school, and some students even did manzai (Japanese comedy) on stage which I thought was a brave thing to do.
      I think Bunkasai is a great tradition for students and think it should  be passed don to the future. It is a very entertaining event for both students and visitors with class projects, plenty of food, and concerts that everyone can enjoy. I hope this tradition of Bunkasai would spread to other countries so that it can allow students to understand the true meaning of teamwork and feel a true sense of achievement. There is more to a Bunkasai than I can explain in words, but now I have described what a Bunkasai is like very briefly.

Book Review: The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson is a twelve year old boy who has had no ordinary life. He is supposedly diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and dyslexia, has been expelled from six different schools, has a step-father with foul smell, and so on. But nothing can be compared to the fact that he is the Son of the Sea God, Poseidon.

Percy first finds out that he is a half-blood (child between a mortal human and a god) when he gets chased by a Minotaur into a camp for children like him, called Camp Half-Blood. There he is told by the campers and camp directors that the Greek gods still exist and that they are very much alive. He also finds out that the kingdom of Olympus is currently in America.

At camp, Percy starts to have weird dreams about the god Zeus and his brother Poseidon fighting over something, and consults the assistant camp director Chiron (who is a centaur) about it. From Chiron, Percy discovers that Zeus’ Master Bolt which is a symbol of his power, was stolen at winter solstice and is accusing Poseidon for it. The others suspect that Zeus’ other brother Hades is behind it all, in order to cause war.

    Percy is assigned a quest to go find and return the Master Bolt to its rightful heir before summer solstice when the gods all meet together. He takes two of his friends Grover and Annabeth with him on his quest where he is confronted with various monsters and gods. While on a bus, the three are attacked by three Furies (monsters with bat-like wings) and make a near escape from them. After the close call, when Percy and his friends go inside a garden gnome emporium following the scent of food, they meet Medusa and narrowly escapes from being turned into a rock. When Percy was alone at The Gateway Arch, the mother of monsters Echidna and Chimera (a huge monster with a lion head) makes a surprise attack on him but Percy is saved using Poseidon's powers. After that, the three confront a giant called Procrustes called The Stretcher and they wittily trick him into binding himself to a chair.
    After many interferences, Percy finally reaches the Underworld and sets out to meet Hades. But he is very surprised to hear Hades say there, that he is not the one who stole the Master Bolt. In fact, Hades himself was also robbed. His own symbol of power called the Helm of Darkness was stolen from his property.
    Who is the person (or god) behind all these robberies and why? Percy soon realizes that something even more evil and powerful than Hades was the true culprit. It’s up to him to find the stolen articles on time before summer solstice, in order to prevent war between the gods. The future of Olympus is in twelve year old Percy’s hands...

Task for summer holiday "My Club's Summer Camp"

    I’m in the wind orchestra club at SFC, and play the clarinet. This year, our wind orchestra had summer camp from August 24^th to August 28^th at a place called Tateshina in Nagano.
    Since there were 5 days of summer camp, it is going to be a long story if I explain every single event in detail. That is why I’m only going to write about the fourth day (August 27^th) of camp.
    Every year on the fourth day of summer camp, the members of the wind orchestra club have to play an ensemble piece with someone from your instrument part in front of the rest of the orchestra. It is kind of like the most important day during summer camp. This year I played a piece called Scarborough Fair with three other clarinet players. We really don’t have much time to practice for these pieces every year because there are other pieces that we have to practice for the school festival. The first time we four played the ensemble piece together was the first day of summer camp, which was really a crisis. Although in the end we somehow managed to finish the piece on time and the day of the ensemble recital arrived.
    Since ensemble pieces are written for a small number of players, it is pretty much like a solo throughout the whole piece, which was why I was so nervous before the recital. If you make a mistake it would be heard clearly by the audience. I have always been troubled by a case of extreme stage fright, and my hands were drenched with sweat as our group walked inside the recital room. My mind went blank as I saw the other members of the club and teachers looking up at us, but then regained composure as I remembered that I was not the only one who was nervous. In my ensemble group there was a first grader, and she was going to play a solo at the beginning of the piece. I thought of how she felt and realized that I had to behave and act like an upper grader to give her comfort and reassurance. I looked at the other three to see if they were ready and nodded. The first grader started playing her solo and, hands quivering, I started playing after it ended. I made a few mistakes while playing but we received an applause anyways in the end. I almost cried as I left the room but I did my best to hold those emotions down. My friends and seniors told me afterwards that it was a very good performance and I was overjoyed, but I couldn’t play perfectly and felt regretful.
     Still, it was a very nice experience and I think my case of stage fright got slightly lighter which is one thing I have to thank the recital for. I hope by next year my skills would progress and that I will be able to preform better than this year. I’m already looking forward to next year’s summer camp as I write this essay.

How to Get a Seat on the School Bus

How to Get a Seat on the School Bus

   It will be easier to obtain a seat on the school bus if you follow my advice.
   First of all, wait for an empty bus to come. If the bus that you were trying to board was already full, wait for a few minutes and the next bus will come.
   Another method is to come to school early (or late). I guess the peak of the number of passengers starts form about eight o' clock, and ends at eight fifteen. So, if you really want a seat try to come before that time (or after, but you will be late for class so I wouldn't recommend that).
   A third way is to move quickly and without hesitation when boarding the bus. Practically start running towards the seats the moment the door opens.
   Lastly, as a final option, be rude and cunning. Cut the waiting line for the bus, pretend that you're not feeling well, make a friend save a seat for you, push through the other boarding passengers while getting on the bus... there are plenty of alternatives. But do not try to put these ideas into action unless you really REALLY want a seat. It's very risky, and rude.
   So now that you know these methods, you will be able to get a seat on the school bus easier than before. Good luck!