My best day by Kana T.

 In my junior high school days, I took part in the West Kanto Wind Instrument Music Band Contest. That day was the happiest day of my life. When I was a junior high school student, I belonged to the brass band. I really wanted to enter a culture club because I don’t like to exercise. My school had no culture clubs except the brass band, so I entered the club. The brass band had few members, so each of us had to make an effort. We practiced everyday as hard as we could. We played musical instruments not only on weekdays but also on weekends. Our club adviser scolded us day after day, but we kept practicing hard. When I was a third-year student, we could win the regional tournament of the brass band competition at last. After that, we participated in the prefectural tournament of the wind instrument competition. Then, we got the gold prize at the tournament. This was the first time that we won the prefectural tournament. We felt very happy and kept practicing harder. On September 15, 2009, the musical instrument tournament in West Kanto was held. Of all participating bands, our performance order was first. We were really nervous. Before we started to perform, the adviser smiled at us. We saw that and were able to relax while performing. At that time, the hearts of the people of the brass band were one. After our performance, the teacher praised us for the performance for the first time. Then we took pictures. Everyone smiled happily. In the evening, I came home and my mother bought me a cake. That is my favorite food, so I was very happy. We couldn’t get the gold prize at the competition, but I didn’t care. I felt my effort for three years was repaid. I was even thinking of leaving the brass band club because I was scolded many times, but nevertheless I kept practicing hard. It was very hard, but I could gain happiness. I can’t forget the delight of the day.

My happy life in Tsukuba by Kana T.

              Last April, I came to Tsukuba. One year has passed since I came here to live. My life at the University of Tsukuba is very exciting. There are three reasons. First, getting new information is very interesting. We can study a lot of things and know something new. Since I was a junior high school student, I have liked to read Japanese classical literature. That’s why I came here to study it. Professors tell me what I didn’t know at all, so I am always surprised. For example, I attended classes about folklore, cultural anthropology and philosophy. At first, I wasn’t interested in those classes. However, I feel those studies are very interesting through the classes. Second, I live a full life by doing a club activity. I belong to a cheering party and cheer sports teams of the University of Tsukuba while playing the clarinet. We go to the games of many sports to cheer for players of our university. For example, we have been to the games of baseball, American football, lacrosse, basketball, soccer and so on. I enjoy playing the clarinet and watching games of many sports. Third, doing housework is delightful. I didn’t like doing housework until I lived by myself. I disliked cooking in particular. It was troublesome for me to do housework. One day, I baked a cake for my friend in celebration of her birthday. I had worried whether the cake had pleased her, but she was glad. I felt very happy at that time, and I got to like cooking. I also enjoy cooking with my friends and eating dishes at a home of one of our friends. Since I came to Tsukuba, I try to do something new. After this, I want to try many more things I have never experienced, because trying things I have never done is very exciting. 

The worst experience of my life by Chiemi A.

I had my worst experience a couple of years ago. When I was in high school, we had examinations every week instead of every semester. Our exam coverage was much less than other schools’ exam coverage. This means that if you study really hard, you are able to finish the test very quickly. Because of the short span between exams and the small exam coverage, the students began to get used to exams. Then, what happens when you get used to something? Yes, you will be less nervous, and feel relaxed. What will you do when you feel relaxed after you concentrate on your test, not having enough sleep studying hard the previous night? You doze off. That’s what we did. If that was all I did, it wouldn’t be the worst experience. The problem was that I was really sleepy, and in fact I fell into a sound sleep. I remember that I was exhausted after my English test, and started to doze off at my desk. I even dreamt a complex dream. Then I woke up by someone tapping on my shoulder. It was my close friend, and she was smirking at me. I was half asleep, and wondered why she seemed so happy. I asked her the reason, and to my surprise, she told me that I was talking in my sleep. She was sitting next to me, so I thought she was the only one to hear my strange talking. However, she shook her head and started asking people around me if they heard something strange during the exam. To my embarrassment, four people said that they heard strange sounds coming out of my mouth. Even worse, one of the people who heard me talking in my sleep was the examiner who watched over us. I was relieved that the examiner was not a teacher but a graduate who did it as a part time job, but I couldn’t help turning red. That was the day that I determined not to fall in a deep sleep in public places ever again.

A lot of new experiences by Akari T

              My life at the University of Tsukuba is full of things that I have experienced for the first time. For example, I started to live alone. When I lived with my family, I didn’t have my own room. So, not only did I start to live alone but also I had my own room for the first time. Living alone is busy. I must do clothes washing, cooking and cleaning my room. I must even submit official report when I’m moving. In addition, I enjoy to study about information culture which I couldn’t study when I was a high school student. I wrote reports for the first time. Classes are sometimes more difficult than high school, but professors talk about what is interesting to me. My university friends also talk about what is interesting to me. My university friends have a strong personality, so talking with them brings me a new way of thinking. Furthermore I experienced the difference of food culture for the first time. I very surprised that Tonkotsu noodles are minor and udon with tempura of burdock is not eaten because I lived in Fukuoka until graduation from high school. In addition, I started to work part-time job. Earning money is hard, but it is a very big experience. For the reasons stated above, my life at the University of Tsukuba is filled with a lot of new experiences.

My student life at the University of Tsukuba

        My student life at the University of Tsukuba is very exciting. I am a member of the Tsukuba Music Association. This is a student club of the university. This club has a lesson studio, practice music instruments for rock band mainly. I go to the studio and practice drums every day. I am a member of some bands and often practice some music but practice alone in the studio is the most exciting time in my school life now. Especially, when I feel bored or miserable in my school life and human relations, I go to the studio and play the drums to my heart’s content. I’m a member of the Folklore Lovers club too. This club performs South American music, for example, Andes or Bolivia. I play the zampoña, a pipe made of reeds or bamboo. This sounds husky and very warm. I’m a member of the small group in this Club. The members of it are best friends. Every day after practice, we eat out. I played at the spring periodical concert with those members on May 2014. That was very exciting. I’m a student of the department of comparative culture. I study western philosophy, the thoughts of Martin Heidegger. This is very hard to understand for me but debating about that in our class is very exciting. I’m a auditor of the architecture class in other departments. I study the history of houses in Japan and western countries and cultural assets of primitive houses around the world. I enjoy music and learning in this university very much.

My life at the University of Tsukuba by Chiemi A.

              I spend most of my time in the dorms. It’s not that I like being indoors, but I realized that I can cut down the amount of money I use if I stay in my room. First, there’s the free network service provided by the university. You switch on the computer, log in, and you can surf the Internet to your heart’s content. Second, water and gas use is free. Actually it isn’t free, but after you pay the money in April, you don’t get charged for the amount you use. With this tiny amount of money, all faucets in the dorm, gas in the kitchen, and the toilets are available at any time. This means that you can cook something in the kitchen and clean up without worrying about spending extra money. Third, a free automatic heater is available in the winter. Every room has a heater by the window, and in a fixed time slot in a day, it gives you warmth. Thanks to the small room, it’s really cozy even without a foot warmer or an air conditioner. These are the reasons why I prefer staying in a small untidy room for a whole day instead of going somewhere else to play.

My student life at University of Tsukuba by Takehiro N.

   My student life at the University of Tsukuba is exciting. There are two reasons that I’m excited. The first reason is the club activities. I belong to the Track and Field Lover’s Association and throw the javelin. There are very strong athletes of the javelin throw in the Track and Field Lover’s Association and the track and field club. This thing is very joyful for me. My high school life of the track and field is not satisfied for me. There were not the coach of the javelin throw and strong player in my high school’s track and field club. So I’m glad that there are good models of the javelin throw in the University of Tsukuba. The second reason is that the view of the University of Tsukuba is very beautiful. My hobby is jogging. When I went jogging to the University of Tsukuba for the first time, I’m very surprised at the beautiful view of the University of Tsukuba. The road lined with trees and the lawn are very fine. I enjoyed running after entering the University of Tsukuba. Jogging at the University of Tsukuba is very pleasant and exciting. I think that I’m glad to enter the University of Tsukuba. My life at Tsukuba is wonderful.                    

My worst experience in my life at Tsukuba by Rintaro Motomatsu

The worst experience in my life at Tsukuba happened last summer. It was in the middle of July and I practiced basketball at the Tsukuba Basketball Society. Because it was a cool day and was suitable for playing basketball, our five on five games got heated. First I marked Mr. Okinaka, who had been chosen as a player in the All-Kumamoto Prefecture team on the National Sports Festival and who played basketball much better than me. When he tried to penetrate to my goal, I could barely follow him. Next he jumped toward my goal to score so I also jumped to block his shot. Then we crashed hard in the air, of course it was my foul, but regardless of my foul, his shot passed through my goal, or he made basket count one throw! To make matters worse, when I landed, I seriously twisted my left ankle. I felt great pain, and I fell down. Due to the great pain, I couldn’t walk, not even stand up by myself. I was really ashamed that I was made basket count one throw by Mr.Okinaka,  despite my rough foul. Finally it took two month to recover from my sprain. Because of that, I couldn’t play basketball all summer vacation, and couldn’t participate in the training camp of the basketball society. Moreover I couldn’t swim in the sea, couldn’t climb mountains and couldn’t make a long trip in Japan. In brief I couldn’t carry out most of what I wanted to do during my summer vacation. My summer vacation became ruined owing to my stupid act. As I have said, last summer I had the worst experience in my life at Tsukuba.

My life of University of Tsukuba is excellent by Urara M

  My life of university Tsukuba is very exciting. I have three reasons. First, I can meet friends who come from every place in Japan or abroad. They have different backgrounds, and different views. For example, one of my friends belong to same grade comes from Sapporo, and he is 28 years old now. Because he was working for the company, after he graduated from Hokkaido University. He is a very wise person and good at talking. So, I can very enjoy talk with my friends in this university. Second, cafeterias of university of Tsukuba are very substantial. Their prices are cheap and the food tastes excellent. For example, “kobutadon” at area 3 cafeteria is one of my favorite lunch menu. And more, the menu`s variation is various like “higawari teisyoku”. Though, if I eat lunch at cafeteria every day, I will not get bored. Third, Tsukuba city is located in country. This university is visible to a forest instead of a school. Nature heals my tiredness by hard days. There are a lot of plans and animals alive. Surprisingly, I encountered wild Tanuki at area 2 last month. The nature of this university gives me many supplies and discovery every day. Therefore, my life of university of Tsukuba is very exciting and I enjoy my campus life.

Japanese TV dramas are as popular today as they have ever been by Yukie T

Sixty years has passed since television broadcasting started in Japan. Now, most people think television has lost the power due to decrease of an audience rating. However I don’t think so. Today, I choose dramas from various types of television programs. In my opinion, Japanese television dramas are as popular today as they have ever been. There are two main reasons for this. First, because the style of watching television has been changing, we can’t accurate survey popularity due to an audience rating. Second, some present popular dramas take over particularities same as past popular dramas.

              First, because the style of watching television has been changing, we can’t accurate survey popularity due to an audience rating. There are two changes. First, people came to record dramas. According to an article from the Asahi newspaper entitled “dorama ha rokuga kukkiri”[i], dramas was obviously recorded and watched later more than other types of programs. It says in some program, percentage of people recording and watching later was higher than percentage of people watching on time. From this result, we know that many people want to spend time to watch dramas. Second, people came to talk about drama on the Internet. The writer of an article from AERA entitled “seizyuku SNS de sinbiziness“[ii], wrote about a running commentary of drama on SNS. It says “In Tairano kiyomori which recorded the lowest audience rating of long-running historical drama series on NHK, a running commentary on Twitter livened up.” This example indicates people want to share impressions of dramas with others and love dramas more.

Second, some present popular dramas take over particularities same as past popular dramas. Some dramas get high audience rating as popular today as have ever been even if we can’t accurate survey popularity due to an audience rating. These dramas have same particularities which past popular dramas had. Lately, there was a drama which got one of the highest audience ratings in history. It was “Kaseihu no Mita” broadcasted in autumn 2011. Its first episode got 19.5%, then gradually raised, the final episode got 40.0% as same as third of the highest audience ratings in genre of ordinary drama[iii] [iv]. Mita has two particularities for popularity which is word of mouth and particular phrase same as past popular dramas. First particularity is word of mouth. Today, our interesting branch off various things, so chances to recommend other person something decrease. However, about Mita, most audience said “It is very interesting! You should watch it!” Second, it had particular phrase. A cleaning lady Mita: heroine said “Certainly” to all wish, in Japanese “syouchisimasita”. This phrase made a boom that day and has been remembered. These two particularities are same as past popular dramas, “101times propose”, “GOODLUCK”,”Kids war”.

To conclude, Japanese television dramas are as popular today as they have ever been. Now, the style of watching television has been changing, we can’t survey correct popularity due to an audience rating. Furthermore, some present popular dramas take over particularities same as past popular dramas. I believe however the style of watching television has been changing, drama’s contents which people want to watch and actually drama’s content hasn’t changed. I think an audience rating is important measure of popularity, but new measure which accord to present condition is need.

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[i] January 31, 2013, “朝日新聞”, morning edition page1

[ii] February 18, 2013, “AERA”, 27-29

[iii] Video Research Ltd. “週間高視聴率番組10 Vol.42 2011”. Retrieved February 15, 2013

Website: http://www.videor.co.jp/data/ratedata/backnum/2011/vol42.html

[iv] Video Research Ltd. “ドラマ高世帯視聴率番組30”, December 28^th 2011.Retrieved February 15, 2013 website :http://www.videor.co.jp/data/ratedata/junre/01drama.html