Homework

Free schools: for and against
私たちが働く、そして何百のグループは新しい地元の学校のために運動を起してきた。そして今それが現実になろうとしている。
だが私たちは学校を設立するのを許してない。
良い学校を作るため親は教育の専門家を探している一方で一部の親はそのことを許していない。
私たちは高い質を求めるグループと働くだろう。
そして彼らが責任感がある者だと期待している。
問題は貧富の差により教育に幅ができてしまうことだ。
恵まれない地域の子供たちは良い教育を受けられるのか?
ニューヨークやボストンによるとそれはできるらしい。
貧しい地域の教師によって作られる学校は従来の教育を変えるだろう
貧しい子どもたちも平等に機会を与えられるのだ。

words
local 地元の
particularly 　特に
refuse　断る
submit　服従させる
evidence 　証拠
set up　設立する
education 　教育
wealthy 　お金持ち
expert　専門家

Railway offers food for thought

Passengers can eat this Aoimori Railway Co. ticket. (Photo by Fumiaki Onishi/ The Asahi Shimbun)

Passengers in Aomori Prefecture have the chance to save train tickets from a memorable journey in a way far more intimate than sticking them in a scrapbook: Eat them.

Aoimori Railway Co. on Saturday began selling an edible ticket to celebrate the extension of its Metoki-Hachinohe Line further north to Aomori in December.

The ticket, priced at 1,500 yen ($18), is made of a Nanbu-senbei cracker, a Hachinohe specialty. Edible ink is used on the ticket, which is 10 centimeters in diameter.

The railway company, a joint public-private venture, "printed" 2,000 tickets, 47 of which were sold on the first day.

The crackers are good for about three months.

However, Itaru Seki, president of Aoimori Railway, said: "It's a commemorative ticket. I hope passengers will put it on display after riding our train."

The Aoimori Railway line will be extended when the Tohoku Shinkansen Line is lengthened to cover Hachinohe to Shin-Aomori in December. Services between Hachinohe and Aomori stations on East Japan Railway Co.s Tohoku Line will be taken over by Aoimori Railway.

青森新幹線では食べられるチケットを販売した。初日には1500円で二千枚売られた。

感想

食べられる切符食べてみたいです。

Homework

My summer vacation

I went to Ibaraki to get a driver license. The training school was very happy because there were a lot of friends there. The license was able to be gotten by the end of August.My summer vacation became very significant time.

Chinese firm sending 10,000 on trip to Japan

After much lobbying from Tokyo, a Chinese health food and cosmetics company picked Japan as the destination of its free group tours awarded to 10,000 people for their strong business performances.

Beijing-based Baojian.com will offer the group tours--the largest to Japan--in October.

"The economic effects from the group tours will be at least several hundred million yen," said an official of the government's Japan Tourism Agency, which had asked Baojian.com to choose Japan for the tours.

The trips will be awarded to the company's sales agents who have achieved positive business results and their family members. Baojian.com has about 500 sales outlets in China.

Some of Baojian.com's 3,000 employees will join the tours, the company said.

The group tours will take the winners to either Tokyo or Osaka for six-day visits, during which they will travel to onsen hot spring resorts and shop at large electric appliance stores.

Baojian.com had previously sent employees on group tours to Thailand and Taiwan.

When the Japan Tourism Agency invited Baojian.com executives to Japan, they met tourism minister Seiji Maehara, who promoted Japan as a destination for the group tours.

The company ended up picking Japan over South Korea for its next group tours.

The government plans to triple the 2009 number of foreign visitors to Japan to 20 million by 2016, with an eye on travelers from China.

Earlier this month, Japan eased visa requirements 　for individual Chinese tourists.

The Japan Tourism Agency will open a booth at a trade fair in Guangzhou, southern China, next month. Agency officials will also visit companies in Shanghai to urge them to choose Japan as the destination of their group tours.

和約

中国の会社は日本に10000人の中国人旅行者を送った。彼らは日本で温泉を楽しんだり、買い物を楽しんだりした。政府は2016ねんまでに中国人旅行客を3倍に増やそうと考えてる。そして中国人に対するビザを緩和した。

感想

今の中国の発展はすごいですね。日本の経済も中国人旅行者を増やすことによって良くなるといいですね。

単語

firm　会社

destination　目的地

traveler　旅行者

health　健康

promote　促進する

Asashoryu served with papers

Tokyo police have sent papers to prosecutors on former yokozuna Asashoryu for allegedly assaulting an acquaintance while drunk during the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in January, a source close to the investigation said Monday.

The source said the 29-year-old former sumo grand champion from Mongolia, whose real name is Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj, fractured the nose of a 39-year-old acquaintance with a punch while riding together in a car after drinking in Roppongi in the early hours of Jan. 16.

The former yokozuna told police in May that he had no intention of assaulting the man, saying, "My hand might have hit him in the car. I'm sorry for causing trouble."

After the incident, the victim submitted a copy of a medical certificate to the Azabu Police Station and the former yokozuna also submitted papers for an out-of-court settlement to the police on Feb. 2.

The victim later told police he was assaulted by Asashoryu but did not want him to be punished. The Metropolitan Police Department, however, determined Asashoryu intentionally hit the man and sent papers to prosecutors, according to the source.

Asashoryu announced his intention to retire on Feb. 4 as sumo's governing body was discussing his punishment.

和約

朝青竜は1月に知人男性を殴ったとされ書類送検されました。この事件が問題となり朝青竜は2月4日に引退することを発表しました。

感想　

野球賭博などで問題になっている相撲が今とても話題になっています。悪い事で話題になるのではなく、国技なのだから良いことで話題になってほしいです。

単語

source　源

victim　犠牲者

punish　罰する

retire 　引退する

incident　事件

50 people dead in China after heavy rain

BEIJING--Flooding, landslides and torrents of mud have killed 50 people in southern China and another 15 are missing after days of torrential rain, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said late on Saturday.

More than 17 million people spread across nine provinces have been affected by downpours since the start of July, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Some 42,000 homes collapsed, and another 121,000 were damaged and hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops were spoilt or destroyed, with an early estimation of the cost of the rains as high as 8.9 billion yuan ($1.3 billion).

Among the dead were four miners killed by a gas explosion after heavy rain cut off power at their pit in southwestern Guizhou province, stopping ventilation equipment.

A wet start to the summer shows little sign of letting up. Nearly 400 people died after heavy rains in June, and storms are forecast to hit some badly affected areas again as early as the start of this week.

That could also put extra strain on weak river banks.

Along many rivers that feed into the Yangtze, China's longest river, water has risen over flood warning lines -- in one part of southwestern Chongqing municipality, by some 3 meters (10 ft), the official Xinhua news agency said.

和約

中国での土砂災害で50人が亡くなりました。1700万人の人が災害の影響を受け、約42000帯は崩壊しました。豪雨の影響は深刻な事態となっています。

感想

自然災害の恐さは計り知れないものだと思います。現地の人々が少しでも早く元気になってくれればと思います。

単語

affect　影響する

kill　殺す

estimation 　見積もり　

forecast　予報

agency　代理店

ANIME NEWS: PiFan set to feature Japan anime July 15-25 in South Korea

The annual Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) takes place in the South Korean city from July 15-25 this year. Since its launch in 1997, the festival has grown in scale and increased its presence in the field of "fantastic films."

Now in its 14th year, the festival brings together about 200 feature-length and short films from around the world in the science fiction, suspense, fantasy, horror and action genres.

The festival has eight sections--including the official competition section with a lineup of 12 works--as well as special programs and retrospective screenings.

An Asian film festival, PiFan includes many Japanese films and animations every year, and this year is no exception.

Of special note is the Japanese anime "Gintama The Movie," an entry in the Puchon Choice competition section. The only other Japanese work in this section is "Confessions." As the sole animated film, "Gintama" will be up against feature films for the Best of Puchon, Best Director and Jury's Choice awards, among others.

The Ani Fanta section focuses on animations, and many Japanese anime are shown in this category. This year, "Detective Conan: The Lost Ship in the Sky," a recent theater release, will be screened, in addition to "Planzet" and "Negadon: The Monster From Mars," both directed by Jun Awazu.

One of two specials in the retrospective series is "Asian Major Studio--Sunrise Mobile Suit Gundam: Memories of Universal Century," which focuses on the robot animation. The "Mobile Suit Gundam" first movie trilogy, the "Mobile Suit Z Gundam" trilogy and the first episode of "Mobile Suit Gundam UC" will be screened. It is rare for such films to be featured in South Korea, and this event is sure to delight local Gundam fans.

和約

アジアの映画祭は毎年沢山の日本の映画が公開される。今年は韓国で映画祭が行われたが、日本のアニメは現地の人々を喜ばせた。

感想

世界に通用する日本のアニメはすごいですね。

単語

event　出来事

fantastic　魅力的な

annual　毎年の

festival 　お祭り

film　フィルム