Prehistoric People Were Much More Progressive Than The Image That We Have Today by Satomi S

              We tend to have a stereotyped image that prehistoric people were primitive. More particularly, their activity area was narrower than that of ours today because the seas prevented prehistoric people to move freely between every continent and we tend to think they did not have so high skills for sailing. However, many of the new findings disproving our typical images of prehistoric age these days. In my opinion, prehistoric people could navigate easier and trade more actively than the image that we have had for a long time. There are two main reasons for this. First, prehistoric people had high quality skills to sail to the places which they wanted to go to. Second, they traded a lot of wider variety of goods than we have estimated for a long time.

              First, prehistoric people had high quality skills to sail to the exact place where they wanted to go to. According to ancient wisdom (n.d.), in Polynesia, prehistoric people navigated their canoes by many signs of the sky and the ocean. In addition, in Mexico, the magnetic square fragment was found. It was polished, and the age that was used is 1,000 BC, the Olmec age. It seems to be used to serve as a directional finder. So there seems to be no problem for navigation in prehistoric age.

              Second, prehistoric people traded much wider variety of goods than we have expected for a long time. According to Manufacturing, (Kosugi Y., Taniguchi Y., Nishida Y., Mizunoe K. and Yano K., 2007, pp. C1, C4) in Japan, archaeologists had estimated prehistoric people traded stone tools including obsidian, but didn’t have considered other goods. However, these days, it is revealed that they traded not only stone tools but also lacquer wares, shellfish products, vermilions, natural asphalts, wooden goods and so on. This is a typical case that we have regarded prehistoric people as not so active to trade, but this time, it also gives us the new image that they traded many goods actively.

              In conclusion, prehistoric people moved wider and traded more actively than we have estimated for a long time. We tend to see the prehistoric age’s culture was inferior to what it was in reality because we live in mass production and mass consumption society, so we are paralyzed and now we can no longer think about society which is no benefit of the technology. However, a lot of the latest prehistoric studies show that they lived in a higher cultural level than prejudices that we have had. We had better change our point of view of the prehistoric world. In addition, I want these similar cases to increase so that more people of today will become interested in prehistoric people and feel close to them because they are our ancestors to the core. I think it is good to give more than a passive thought to our distant ancestors.

(481 words)

References

Ancient Wisdom (n.d.). Navigation. Retrieved 21:50, June 8, 2014, from http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/navigation.htm

小杉康，谷口康浩，西田泰民，水ノ江和同，矢野健一　編, (Kosugi Y., Taniguchi Y., Nishida Y., Mizunoe K. and Yano K. Ed.) ,(2007), 『ものづくり(Manufacturing)』

Using animals in laboratory experiment are necessary by Shun T

 I agree with using animals in laboratory experiment. Many people would oppose my opinion because of animal rights, love for animals, and others. But I think these opinions are contradict. First of all, our society needs medicines and biotechnology. If we cannot use animals for medical experiment, we must use human in laboratory experiments if we want to develop our medical and biotechnology. But we must not do these experiments. Conversely we use animals in laboratory experiment in order not to use human for this. So if we wish to benefit from medical and biotechnology, there is no other way than using animals in laboratory experiment.  Second reason is, if we should not use animals in laboratory experiment, we should not eat animals. Certainly, killing animals is cruel, but we have to do so because we cannot help but live without eating any food. Finally, if we should not use animals in laboratory experiment, I think we cannot use leather bags. We must use many consume products and these are essential for our life. For example, I use leather gloves and leather balls for baseball. I cannot think I must not use gloves balls. And in the shopping mall I see many leather bags in bag shops. These are seemed selfishness, but we use many these products and these benefit us. So we cannot live without these substances. Of course I hope using animals in laboratory experiment should be as little as possible. But medicine, food, biotechnology are essential for our society. So we have to use animals in laboratory experiment. 

Nomads are not only destroyers but also protectors of cultures by Shun T

The nomads were regarded as evil and stupid tribes for a long time. There were many nomads who have conquered the world. The Hun, the Mongol, the Hsiung‐Nu(匈奴), and the Turks are the principal examples of them. Of course they have attacked many areas in Eurasia, conquered pastoral people, and some groups destroyed their cities. So Russians especially have called them “Tartaros”, which means god of hell because of their conquered memory. It is a fact that nomads have controlled most part of the world for a long time. But many cultures have been assimilated and developed under nomads’ regimes. They are not only civilization destroyers but also protectors and creators of culture. Prejudice against nomads is wrong. We should know nomads more.

              First of all, nomadic regime have maintained and protected trade routes. And they encouraged tradespeople to trade freely in conquered area. For this, official and private trades have been developed among the many cities under their government. For example, Mongol government maintained the Silk Road in 13^th. They protected caravans under their cavalry and set up Jamuka(駅伝制：ジャムカJamuka), which is the relay system that has many stations having relay horses.

              Second, nomadic hegemony lasted for a long time. For instance, the Ottoman Empire, which consisted of Turkish people, ruled the main part of West Asia and east Europe from the 14^th century until the 19^th century. The reasons why their regime lasted for a long time were, that they had powerful forces and adopted intelligentsia in conquered lands. They create hybrid nations by nomadic power and pastoral knowledge.

             Finally, nomadic governments didn’t convert conquered people to any religion unlike Christianity. Nomadic governments only ruled people who were conquered and collected taxes from them. Moreover, their Khans (medieval ruler of the Turks and the Mongol) converted themselves to religions in the conquered lands, for example, Islam and Buddhism. Religions like Islam and Buddhism were protected by the Mongol or the Ottoman government and many religious cultures were developed under the nomadic regimes.

             I think Prejudice against Nomads should be revalued. We tend to think nomads are terrible, evil, and stupid tribes. But looking back the history, we may reconsider the evaluation of nomads. They have governed extensive area and adopted local intelligentsias to rule. Moreover they didn’t prohibit local people to believe in their own religions, so many religious cultures developed in under their government. Nomads are not inferior and brutal people.

(415words)  

My life at the Tsukuba by Shun T

My life at the University of Tsukuba is very satisfied and very busy. I belong to many groups, so I have many tasks and I have relationships with many people.

First, I have much assignments and I must prepare for foreign language lessons. I take lessons in Latin and Garman. In these classes, I read historical literatures. I spend much time to read Latin and German sentences, so I need much time to prepare for these lessons. Second, I do a part-time work on weekends because I don’t have enough money to live. My part time is over 15 hours in all. But my colleagues are so kind, so I don’t want to quit work.   

Other reason is that I belong to baseball team. When we go to games, we spend much time. For example, we usually go to Hachioji stadium, it takes 6~8 hours by round-trip. And we have league games on weekdays, so we are absent from our class on game’s day. But I like baseball very much, and I get rid of stress by playing baseball. In addition, we go to eat evening meal with my teammates after training. That is very fun.  

For these reasons, I’m very satisfied with my life. Though my life is very busy, I enjoy everything in my life. 

The best experiment of my life by Shun T

 When I was last grade in high school, I pitched a practice game. The game was most excited in my life. In the game, I pitched 6 innings. Surprisingly, I did not lose point, and struck many batters out. At this game, I could pitch for the first time in my last grade in high school.

              We went to expedition for this practice game. We have two games in the day. The first game, the team humiliated us. So they maybe looked down on us, and substitute came out. When I started in the second game as pitcher, I was very excited because I wanted to put out the team.   

I feel my pitching was so good. So I was very glad to pitch the game despite losing the game because the opponent team was so powerful enemy. The team often participates in the national tournament, so my result was completely satisfactory for me. I pitched to the best of my power in this game.

              I could pitch for the first time in my last grade in high school. Until this game, I was not confident to pitch. So I thought my pitching skill was enough to play any other teams.        

              That I could pitch the game was so pleasant because I couldn’t pitch for prolonged period because I injured my elbow. My doctor said “you can’t pitch for long time, maybe one or two years”. But I could pitch and I gave good result.      

For these reasons, the game was most good experience for me. Since the day, I started in many games as pitcher, and I became “Ace”. So this game made me Ace and my pitching good. This is my best memory in my life.  

Why I decided to come to the University of Tsukuba by Shun T

There are several reasons that I came to University of Tsukuba. First of all, I wanted to study history in Middle age of Europe, though my interest changed in this University. So, anyway, I wanted to go to Faculty of Literature. University of Tsukuba has it. Therefore I wanted to come here. Second, the subjects of the admission examination matched me. I am not good at mathematics bad good at Japanese and history. Of course, other Universities’ and colleges’ subjects matched me, but my study skill didn’t go with them. Thirdly, University of Tsukuba is highly-selective university for me. Highly selective universities are, for example, University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University, etc… The next reason, I was interested in anthropology, which is comparative culture college’s course. So I went to comparative culture college. I wanted to study history, but I also wanted to know what is human. So the course looked to be very attractive for me. The most importantly, my teacher advised me to go to University of Tsukuba. Until my teacher did so, I didn’t decide school of choice and I didn’t know this university. The teacher said me, “If you study history and what is human, comparative culture college in University of Tsukuba maybe fit you. The college treats many researching methodology, so you can widely study your interest.” The words made me go to University of Tsukuba. For these reasons, I study in University of Tsukuba now.

My opinion about using the death penalty by Chiaki K.

              I am against using the death penalty as a form of criminal punishment. There are three reasons. First of all, the death penalty is not enough as a deterrent to crime. It is said that the death penalty is a good deterrent, but there is no reliable data that proves that the death penalty decreases the number of dreadful crimes. Also, I think that the deterrent to crime is not only the death penalty but also, for example, life imprisonment. In other words, the death penalty is not a special means to deter crimes, so the death penalty is no excuse for killing a person. In addition, there is a economic problem to continue the death penalty. When the defendant is sentenced to death, it costs enormous amounts of money for retrial and other things, so we can’t save money. Also, in Japan, while prisoners make money by their work at prison, condemned criminals don’t work at detention rooms and they don’t make them. The money that prisoners make become the profit for nation and helps to support victims. So, by abolishing the death penalty, the economic burden for trial becomes lighter and we can support victims and their families by the money that is saved and that prisoners make. I think that it is more important to support victims and their families than execution, so we should save money by abolishing the death penalty. Finally, there is a risk that the judgment is false. For example, in 25 states of America, 124 condemned criminals were released by 2007 because the truth that they are falsely accused became clear before their execution. Like this, there is a possibility that the decision of the death penalty will be reversed. Even if the condemned criminal is actually innocence, the death penalty cannot be redone and it becomes only murder. So, I think that the death penalty should not be executed because of the possibility that the judgment is uncertain. For these reasons, I believe that the death penalty should be abolished.

The reasons why I chose the University of Tsukuba by Chiaki K.

              There are four reasons why I decided to come to the University of Tsukuba. First, Tsukuba City is near my home town, Iwaki City. I like my home and my home town, so I thought that my university should be near, so I could go back easily. Secondly, the University of Tsukuba is a national university. School expenses of a national university are cheaper than that of private universities, so the burden to my parents is lighter. I think that lightening the burden to my parents is a filial duty. Thirdly, the University of Tsukuba is a big university. This university is a good place for studying because it has good facilities for study. Especially the very big university library is the best facility for me because I will major in literature. Finally, I thought that I can study widely at the College of Comparative Culture of the University of Tsukuba. I want to study about myth and literature with myth for their motif, especially Western classics because I like a mythical motif. In addition, I am interested in Western arts with mythical motifs and European Folklore. When I looked at the web site of the College of Comparative Culture, I thought that I could study all that I wanted to at this college, so I was attracted to it. For these four reasons, I chose the University of Tsukuba to study.

 

The Meaning of Studying Western Classics by Chiaki K.

              The study of Western classics includes mainly Greco-Roman literature about various fields such as myth, philosophy or history, the Old Testament or other Christian documents. Because they are written in Ancient Greek or Latin which have a wide influence, there are very many documents which are studied. Many people, for example, professors or teachers say that the Western classics are the basis of Western culture. I think that classics are very meaningful and attractive. There are two main reasons for this. First, studying classics is beginning to understand the culture of the West which built the modern world system. Second, the view of the world of the Western classics has fertile images.

              Studying classics is a beginning to understand the culture of the West which built the system of the modern society. The basis of the modern world lies in the modern philosophy which supports the modern Western system, and there are two sources of the modern philosophy. One is the Greek idea and the other is the faith of the Hebrews. As Iwata (2003, p.ⅲ) says, modern philosophy in Europe is the development of these two sources, the rebellion against them, or the transformation of them. So, to understand radically the idea ruling the modern society, we need to understand its source, the Greek idea and the faith of the Hebrew, by studying classics. So, classics is very meaningful to study for us living in the modern society.

              Another reason why classics is the study worth studying is that the view of the world of the Western classics has fertile images. Images of Greek gods expressed in works of Ancient Greek or Roman epic poets supplied the inspiration for many writers and artists and they are used as a theme or motif of many drama or pictures. For example, the story of Pyramus and Thisbe from “Metamorphoses” by the roman poet Ovid was the motif of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. Of course, stories in the Bible are used as a theme of many works, too. So, it may be said that we can develop our sensitivity when we study classics.

              Classics is a meaningful study for us and it attracts people for a long time. It is a beginning to understand the modern world based on the modern Western philosophy. Furthermore, it has fertile imagines and supplied inspiration for people from way back. Classics should be studied more positively in Japan now.

405 Words

References

Iwata, Y. (2003), Yoroppa Shiso Nyumon, Tokyo, Iwanami Shoten, Publishers.

Can animals be taught language by Kensuke H

              In the past fifty years or so, the attempt to teach animals language have been

conducted actively. Especially the great apes such as gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos

and orangutans have been expected to learn language because they share close to 99%

of their genetic materials with human beings and have higher intelligence than other

animals. Some people say that animals can learn language based on the fact that the dog

ordered to sit by his owner really sits. In my opinion, animals cannot learn language.

First, they have no linguistic productivity. Second, they don’t see the world like human

beings do.

              Animals have no linguistic productively. In other words, they don’t have

grammar, which connects several meaningful words. The example of dog that I

mentioned above proves this. The dog ordered to sit by his owner just sits, but doesn’t

do what’s not ordered. This is just a repetition of order-action, and doesn’t connect

several meaningful words. The animals would be accepted to learn language if they use

grammar.

              Another reason that animals cannot learn language is that animals don’t see the

world like human beings do. Animals have its own world and human beings have their

own world. Even between human cultures, there are some differences. For example,

Japanese, Korean and French think that a rainbow consists of 7 colors, but Americans

think that it consists of 6 colors. Although this is the example of how human

beings conceptualize the world, the same thing can be applied to animals. Animals have

their own way to conceptualize the world, its way differs from human beings one. We

wouldn’t teach animals language without clarifying the way animals conceptualize the

world.

              In conclusion, we cannot teach animals language. Animals don’t have grammar

and have a different way to conceptualize the world. There are some problems to teach

animals language, the time we can talk with animals will come if the problems are

solved.

320words

References

A.    Bergmannd,et al. (eds.)(2011) Language Files: Materials for an Introduction to

Language and Linguistics, 11th ed., Columbus: Ohio State University Press

Using nuclear power to solve a energy crisis by Kensuke H

 I am against using nuclear power to solve the energy crisis. First of

all, using nuclear power is very dangerous. Nuclear power generation may leak

radiation from a nuclear power plant and have a bad effect on people’s bodies and

lives by accidents. In fact, due to “The Great East Japan Disaster” on March 11,

2011, radiation leaked from the nuclear power plant in Fukushima and had a bad 

effect on people’s bodies. There were some people who were dead because they

were exposed to radiation. As for life, those who lived near the nuclear power

  

plant in Fukushima were forced to take refuge all over Japan. As for the

agricultural product produced in the contaminated area, sale became impossible

  

for a while. Second, there are some alternative ways of energy generation instead

of using nuclear power such as wind power generation, solar power generation and

  

so on. These methods don’t exhaust toxic substances and they are a eco-friendly

way. Nowadays, they are used positively all over the world and some countries in

  

Europe, especially, declared that they would stop using nuclear power and

promotes using recyclable energy. Japan also promote using recyclable energies,

but the percentage of its is still low. I think that Japan should use geothermal

power because Japan has a lot of volcanos. New Zealand and Iceland, which is

famous as volcanic country, use geothermal power positively. Third, uranium,

which is the raw materials of nuclear power generation, is the limited material. It

means that the time we cannot use nuclear power will come. Therefore, as

mentioned above, we should use recyclable energy which can be used

semipermanently. For these reasons, I am against using nuclear power to solve the

energy crisis.

Liberalism should not be unquestioningly accepted. by Ryo.I

In the 21th century, you can enjoy freedom. For example, you can go wherever you want to go if you have enough money. Furthermore, you do not have to participate in politics and other people do not have the right to force their ideas on you: This is the idea of liberalism. Liberalism is the thought that the most important thing is liberty and everyone can use it except to violate others’ liberty and the thought is now dominant in the world. However, I think that if liberalism is too extreme, this is very dangerous for your life for two reasons: First, liberalism that is too extreme could destroy democracy. Second, liberalism could prevent people from deepening their ideas about social problems.

First, liberalism that is too extreme could corrupt democracy. This is because people have the freedom not to participate in politics. For example, according to a survey (2012) by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, only 37% of all Japanese aged 20 to 29 who especially said they prefer liberalism voted in the Lower House elections in 2012. That is, more than half of the people did not think about politics seriously and enjoy their freedom not to vote. However, the more people who do not vote, the more dangerous Japan is. This is because politicians can easily change the law and the system to convenience things for them if people do not watch what politicians do. Thus, if the tendency continues for a long time, the extreme freedom could destroy itself.

Second, liberalism could prevent people from deepening their ideas. This is because it tends to lead to relativism; people have the freedom to have any idea and have the right not to be forced to any idea. However, under this idea, people could cling to their own idea and not discuss thoroughly by saying, “It is your idea. My idea is not the same. That’s OK. It is no use discussing any more.” I think this is not a favorable situation to realize a better world. As Michael Sandel (2009, p305) says, “arguments are impossible to avoid for realizing justice”, you should not stay liberalism that is too extreme and especially relativism and should discuss serious problems with each other thoroughly.

In conclusion, liberalism should not be unquestioningly accepted for two reasons. First, people do not have to participate in politics, which may destroy democracy. Second, liberalism tends to lead to relativism so people could have less opportunity to discuss, which prevent them to deepen their ideas. Thus, you should not enjoy the freedom too much, and face the duty of citizens and discuss the problem frankly because it is essential to protect the freedom.

450words

References

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. (2012). The transition of the vote rate

by age in the Lower House elections. Retrieved June 24, 2014, from

                http://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/senkyo_s/news/sonota/nendaibetu/

Michael J. Sandel.(2009) Justice – What’s the Right Thing to Do?. New York,   

                Farrar, Straus and Giroux     

My major by Mami K.

              According to popular opinion, it is no use to study literature. In fact, my parents tell me that studying literature is insignificant. In my opinion, however, studying literature is very important for human lives. I have two reasons. First, we can experience other’s lives by studying literature. Second, we can touch various views by studying literature.

              First, we can experience different lives in literary works in many stories. There are different heroes and they live in a variety of lives in literary works. We can live own life once in real world, but we can live various persons' lives and we can become a human ripe with experience. It is the same as studying various persons' lives to study literature.

              Second, we can touch a variety of views in literary works. The way of thinking changes with the period, country, and culture, and so on. We can know the world which other persons consider from the difference in an interpretation and we can develop our thinking. It is very important for us to broaden our knowledge and deepen our thinking.

              To conclude, it is important for us to study literature. Studying literature makes our lives rich. As the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Scientific System Research Center remarked in 2007, ”Literary researches aim at handing down literary works with future in richer forms, and going by analyzing the language work of art which is record of expression of feeling or thought in business of human beings, and interpreting the semantic content. Moreover, literary criticism research aims at the structural elucidation of literature nature and the establishment of the methodology of literary researches which literature (work) has. ”

References

Zinnbunngakubunnya no kennkyuudoukou Wagakuni ni okeru gakuzyutsukennkyuu no doukou ni tsuiteⅢ

The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Scientific System Research Center　Sep.2007

https://www.jsps.go.jp/j-center/data/08_seika/gep_200709.pdf

Using nuclear power to solve the energy crisis by Mami K.

               I am opposed to using nuclear power to solve the energy crisis. First of all, it is difficult to get some places for discarding spent nuclear fuel. We think that we do not want for spent nuclear fuel to be discarded by the area in which we live because spent nuclear power is a great danger to human beings. Since spent nuclear fuel cannot dump if there is no place which discards it, we must not use nuclear power. Second, the situation that we have to depend on nuclear power is not good for the environment. We consume energy, such as electric power, too much from our home. For example, air conditioning in summer, heating in winter, and television, and a personal computer, and so on. We must not use energy so that we have to depend on nuclear power. The time before nuclear power generally comes to be used, we did not consume the energy of so many. So, we will have the amount of the energy used reduced. Most importantly, the influence on the human body and environment which are given when radioactivity leaks is too serious. For example, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami occurred on March 11, 2011. Then, in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the accident occurred and radioactivity leaked out. Therefore, people who lived near Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant had to take refuge in other areas. And those people are continuing to refuge still now. Since they have to leave the hometown to which they got used, they are feeling very sad much. Furthermore, people live in Fukushima are troubled also by the damage caused by rumors. We should not use atomic power, in order not to cause a hard occurrence like this accident.

Death penalty by Rintaro M

I support the idea of using the death penalty as a form of criminal punishment. First of all, the death penalty can function as a deterrent. If we all know that using the death penalty is allowed as a criminal punishment, the number of crimes will decrease. All people think their own lives are quite precious and avoid committing crimes because they have the possibility that they will punished by the death penalty. Secondly, criminals must atone for their serious crime. A dead person never revives. To commit murder absolutely can’t be forgiven. In fact, some criminals have the serious reasons and I think there is sometimes room for compassion. For example, a man was terribly bullied for a long time and he murdered the bully as he couldn’t stand the bullying anymore. However others commit murder with no reason or with only malice. For example, a man committed murder only because he wanted to kill anyone or only because he felt impatience with someone impulsively. I think the latter should be punished by the death penalty, and otherwise they can’t atone for their serious crime. Most importantly, considering the feelings of the family of the victim, the law should punish the criminal by the death penalty. If I were the family of the victim, I would want to kill the criminal with my hands. However it is also murder. The family of the victim can’t do anything to the criminal. All they can do is to lament the death of one of their family and to have a grudge against the criminal. So instead of the family of the victim, the law should punish the criminal by the death penalty. As I have said, I think that the law should use the death penalty as a form of criminal punishment.

My worst expeerience in Tsukuba by Rintaro M

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.

The reasons why I chose to study at the University of Tsukuba by Rintaro M

              There are three important reasons why I chose to study at the University of Tsukuba. First, I considered the cost of attending the school. I am the youngest child in my family, which has four children. Our school expenses, living expenses and our house rent cost much money. Considering our household expenses, we don’t have enough money to let me go to a private university so I had to go to a national university. Secondly, I considered the location of the university. I can commute one hour and a half from my home to this university by the Tsukuba Express. So I can see my family every day. Finally, I considered the surroundings of the university. I live in Tokyo and my high school is located in Nagata-chou. Nagata-chou is Japan's political center and there are many high buildings and not only the buildings themselves but also their night view are really beautiful. Nevertheless, when I was a high school student, I usually couldn’t help feeling that the sky in Nagata-chou is very small and often became in a gloomy mood. When I visited Tsukuba for the first time, I was greatly moved. There were no high buildings. There were lots of trees. What was more, there was the big sky! Then I felt a sense of freedom and immediately I came to love Tsukuba very much. For these reasons, I chose to study at the University of Tsukuba.

The meaning of learning history by Rintaro M

     I heard someone say, “There is no benefit from learning history.” Another one said, “Learning history is useless and valueless.” I’m majoring in Japanese history, so I was unhappy and felt a little angry when I heard these opinions. However, it is certain that a lot of people think in such a way, though not all people. Then, why should we learn history? In my opinion, learning history can give us much benefit and all people should learn history. There are two reasons for this. First, we can create our own identity by learning history. Second, learning history will help us develop essential thinking skills.

     First, as we learn our own history, we learn how the community, nation and world we live in came to be. According to Dr. Peter Sterns, “Each person’s world view is shaped by individual experiences, as well as the experiences of the group to which he or she belongs”(1998). In other words, if we don’t learn our own history and don’t know about it, our world views, sense of values and identity will not be created. Dr. Peter Sterns also says, “If we are ignorant of the contemporary and historical experiences of a variety of cultures, then we cannot hope to understand why people, communities or nations behave the way they do or make the decisions they make.”(1998) With the knowledge about our own history, we can understand our own society precisely. Through learning history, we can learn our own world views, sense of values and society, and it leads us to create our own identity.

     Second, as we learn history, our essential thinking skills will develop. Jacques Barzun, a historian, said, “The student who learns history will unconsciously develop what is the highest value of history: judgment in worldly affairs. We gather historical knowledge, not to make us cleverer the next time, but wiser for all time.”  In other words, through learning history, we can learn how to assess the validity of evidence, evaluate conflicting points of view and apply facts to making decisions, which are the skills of the real world. According to Karen Tankersley, We must develop these skills because:

“The reading process does not end with comprehension. In the adult world, people do not ask friends or colleagues to recall specific information from a book or article they have read. Instead, they ask for an opinion on a lead story, or for analysis of the latest Wall Street trend, or for an interpretation of a controversial article” (2005).

Therefore we must learn history and should develop the skills of the world because these skills, essential skills, are greatly needed in the adult world.

     To conclude, learning history has much benefit and we all should learn history. By learning history, we can get the chance of creating our own identity, developing the skills of the real world and developing the critical thinking skills, which ways of thinking are what only human beings have. Thus, learning history means learning the way of life as human beings. 

512 Words

References

1. Stearns, Peter. Why Study History, American Historical Association <www.historians.org/pubs/Free/WhyStudyHistory.htm> 1998

2. Tankersley, Karen. The Threads of Reading: Strategies for Literacy Development, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, VA, 2005

 

Wonderful Japanese Classic Literature by Kana T.

I study Japanese classic literature in the department of Comparative Culture. Japanese classic literature has Waka. Waka is a 31-syllable Japanese poem. It consists of five units usually with the following pattern of: 5-7-5-7-7. In the Heian era, Waka reached the peak of its popularity. To compose a 31-syllable Japanese poem called Waka was one of the things that the aristocracy had to learn. A man and a woman exchanged it and told their own feelings to each other because men couldn’t see women directly. In this era, women were not allowed to see men except her father, her brothers who didn’t come of age and her husband and talk to them directly. I think Waka is a most wonderful work of Japanese classic literature. There are two reasons. First, Waka has characteristics unlike other poems in the world. Second, we can sympathize with the feeling of the person who wrote Waka even now.

First, Waka is poem with a fixed form of 5-7-5-7-7. It consists of 31 characters, so it is called “misohitomoji” too. In many cases, people compose the poems that nature and love are described in, but the number of the characters of Waka is limited. For this, rhetorics are frequently used. Kake-kotoba is one of the rhetorics. Its technique is that it is one same sound and expresses more than two meanings. Jo-kotoba is also one of the rhetorics and it leads a word. It reminds readers of a background of the poem or something. Furthermore, unlike Western literature, Waka is made at public places. This is the story that I heard from a professor in a certain class. The place is called Utage and Utaawase. Utage was a party opened when an emperor held events or went out to do something with the aristocracy. It seems that the emperor lets the people who attended him write poems and they enjoy Waka together. Utaawase is a poem contest. The people are divided into left and right and select one 31-syllable Japanese poem each other. A judge decides which poem is superior or inferior. The game is repeated a few times. A group with many poems that won the games is a winner. In this way, Waka is made in places where many people compose poems together. In this respect, it is different from the Western modern literature that an individual describes the inside of the self in imagination.

Second, we can sympathize with the feeling of the author when we read Waka even now. I think a sense of beauty in Japan is described in the poems. Many poems describe flowers and the moon. Both of them change. In a class about Japanese classic literature, I learned that Japanese people tend to like the things that change over time rather than the unchangeable things in all ages. In addition, many poems describe love. After we read the poems about the love, we will understand that the old people were in love like we modern people.

For the reasons stated above, Waka is a rare and beautiful poem. It has the specific forms and characteristics. Moreover we can feel sympathy because it describes the familiar things for current us. I think we should learn and know about it more.

542words

Reference

Utaawase. (n.d). Retrieved June 8, 2014, from

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%8C%E5%90%88

Kakekotoba. (n.d). Retrieved June 8, 2014, from

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%8E%9B%E8%A9%9E

Jokotoba. (n.d). Retrieved Jun 8, 2014, from

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%8E%9B%E8%A9%9E

Waka. (n.d). Retrieved Jun 8, 2014, from

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%92%8C%E6%AD%8C