柿の種だのぽたぽた焼きだの日本人には親しみのあるお菓子が多い亀田製菓だけれど、ま、僕も割りと好きでよく食べていた。

でも、もう食べなくなるかもしれない。

数日前に発表されたけれど、なんと韓国の食品会社と提携するらしい。それも、その会社、日本の国民的スナックのカッパえびせんなどをコピーして世界で販売してる会社。これって、海外でみると日本人として本当に寂しくなる。とくに僕は子供のころ、貧しくてえびせんなどは笑顔満点になって喜んで食べる贅沢なお菓子だったりした。もちろん、今じゃひとつの人気のお菓子にすぎないんだけれど、でも、おそらく世代によってはえびせんやポッキーなどはどうしても思い入れがあるお菓子になるはず。それが理由なんだろうけれど、海外でコピー商品が売られているのをみると寂しささえこみ上げてくる。そのほぼ全部が韓国でコピーされてる商品なわけだ。

それで、今後もしかしたら日本で長く親しんだ亀田のお菓子が同じように国籍不明になっていくとなるととても悲しくなる。
コピー規制が日本よりはるかに緩い韓国と提携して日本の伝統や独自性を守れるのだろうか。

また、どうも一番困ったことに、この提携先の会社が衛生的に問題があるらしい。海外では輸入禁止になってる国もあるらしいのだ。そんな生産管理をしている会社と提携して大丈夫なのだろうか。僕はもう食べられない。

ブルグみたら大炎上してた・・・みんな同じこと考えてるのかもしれない。

http://kamedaseika.cocolog-nifty.com/kametu/2012/04/post-3ac3.html

This blog has been JAPAN PRESS, today it’s changed as titled above.

Topics about politics or any social things of Japan can be obtained from many websites now. From now on, I will focus my main concern, entertainment of Japan.

Today, we have lived for one year since the tragedy of earthquake and tsunami on March 11th, 2011.  All the TV news in Japan reported how poeple lived after that day, and how they could stand the sadness.

Again the memory of the tragedy attacked us today, but we need to carry on.

One thing I again confirmed is that we are really tight in relationship in this worst situation.  Maybe few people expect government to recover from the mental dispair or financial problems caused by the disaster, however, people in the communities help each other to get along.  I feel OK when I see them.  I feel somehow we can rebuild our life again.

Many still cry with sad memory over that time.  When Sakura has blossomes, I think we can once again try to reset our deserted life.

Next music is what I wrote for the victims.

Today a Sumo wrestler, Baruto ( Balt) got the victory in the 1st season of Sumo series in Japan. It’s the first championship for Baruto, also for Sumo wrestler from Estonia.

It’s still in the middle of the champion battle race, as today is the 13th day of 15 day competition,   he won championship with no loss without waiting for the final day match.

Congratulations !

It’s easy to suppose how his life was hard in this far east land without knowing language or custom of Japan.  Now he speaks fluent Japanese and behaves like a champion in a gentle and traditional way that Sumo champions should be.

I hope fans in his country, Estonia, also is glad to hear this news.

News says that a Japanese baseball pitcher, Yu Darvish, finally had an agreement on the contract with Texas Rangers with 60 million dollars for 6 years.

Japanese fans seem very glad to know this news,  although some of his fans would miss him as they can’t see his pitching live in Japanese stadiums.

Many Japanese players went across the Pacific Ocean to Major League Baseball of the USA.  Among them, I personally think Darvish is the most expected player with such ability on both sense in physically and mentally.

He controls himself to construct ideal body structure for best pitching form, and it’s carried out under perfect planning targeting on the playing term in a year.  He is a given talent player indeed, but we know he is at the same time smart in achieving his ideal results.

It’s fact that we are deeply impressed to see his play.  He has various types of pitching.  Fast ball is amazing, also carve, slider, sinker, and more wondrous breaking balls leave us stunned.

HIdeo Nomo was also a fabulous pitcher,  however,  Darvish could top the record of Hideo Nomo in the Major League baseball.  Daisuke Matsuzaka went to Boston Redsox with high expectation some years ago but no good result since then.  I didn’t expect him at all, at the time, I wondered why many said Daisuke Matsuzaka would be great in the USA.  Apparently Darvish is far greater than Daisuke Matsuzaka.

We all expect Darvish with much loving support.

If you come to Japan, or wherever you may travel to,  this is a valuable information about hotel booking.

Now internet hotel reservation is already a standard method for personal travelers in spite that we hesitated using internet reservation some years ago for fear of risks on booking through on line.

At present,  there are many online hotel reservation web sites which offer very low rate compared to the standard rates when using travel agencies.

However, it’s also hard to find the BEST RESERVATION SITE among a number of reservation sites.

Below,  you can find a real beneficial hotel reservation web site.  The best rate is shown after searching hotels on a certain date by comparison of all the available hotels on your tour schedule.

This is really convenient, and after you use it, you will understand how it’s amazing and beneficial for your travel.

Click or search doesn’t cost you at all, just after the reservation is made, cost is charged on your credit card.  Please just try to know how it works !.  Before deciding the reservation, you don’t have to pay at all.

In the recent several years, a young magician called Cyril Takayama suddenly appeared in Japan.  What he shows us through TV programs is beyond our comprehension.  Once we see his magic,  the impression we get often binds us to be like a speechless doll.

We can’t judge if what he does is just magic we know or human super power.

For example, he puts milk and sugar into coffer cup through the AIR ! without using hands.  Also he takes hamburgers out from menu a board picture into real thing.  He changes what we eat in front of us into different food before our eyes….

It’s sure that he uses professional magician’s techniques too, but audience are always faced with incomprehensible happening just before their eyes.

Cyril Takayama recently has special TV programs a few monthly in Japan, also he is famous in Taiwan or some other Asian countries.

Cyril Takayama got the top prize of magicians in the USA in 2006 ( or 2007, not sure) as the Magician of the Year.  His magic quality is proved now in the world, including the sacred place for magic, Las Vegas.

He speaks English and Japanese, as his father is Japanese, he was raised in Japan some time in his whole life in OKinawa or in Tokyo.

Can you believe your eyes ?

Much more Cyril Takayama magics are found on Youtube.

Yu Darvish is really an expected pitcher in Japan.  He debuted in the national  high school  games in Japan, and after joining the pro-league he never failed to show his guts in pitching and the results were always amazing each year.

Personally, among the Japanese players in American major league teams,  I think Hideo Nomo and Darvish are the real heroes  for me.

Hideo Nomo is still in my memory as the van of the Japanese baseball players who went across the Pacific Ocean to the USA.  He already was million dollar income player in Japan, but he decided to go to the USA as a test player with only 100,000 dollar contract a year.   The result of his brave action was now known to all of us in Japan.

And Darvish is truly exciting pitcher now in Japan.  He is the god-sent talent in baseball but he never stop his efforts for enhancement of his pitching.  He is a little like Ichiro Suzuki in the sense that both players are, in a way, stoic and never compromise whatever the results are.

I thought Darvish would soon get contracted with Texas Rangers after the first negotiation right on Darvish was transferred to Rangers.

Some say the reason for delay in making contract is the gap of money between Darvish and Rangers.   As Boston Red Sox Apparently failed in getting a famous pitcher, Daisuke Matsuzaka,  it might be natural that American teams don’t want to bet such a big money to Japanese players.   Matsuzaka was really expected to win constantly every year, but he was not as good as the Japanese career.

I suppose that Darvish is a far greater pitcher than Daisuke Matsuzaka.   So I hope he would join in Rangers after all.

One different thing between my heroes, Darvish and Nomo, might be a hungry heart.  Nomo was really such a guy with hungry spirit to search for his dream and success in the USA with much less money, but as we know, Darvish is regarded a great player already before the contract, so he requests much much instead of being a dream weaver.

Homare Sawa got MVP prize by FIFA for 2011. It’s a nice news for her and football fans in Japan, too.

It’s a little strange that she is now a very famous football player in spite that there hardly were Japanese people who knew her before the world cup of 2011.

But it’s a beautiful story to know how she got today’s fame.

In Japan, women football were always under fiscally hard status.  Even the national team players work for temporary jobs or part time workers.

A player in the team needed to work as a bath washer every day to keep her football life.  Her income was under 20,000 USD then but she wanted to play football even if she was so poor.  I read something like that in a magazine in Japan.

Homare Sawa was a top player of Japan but with no exception, she was also living hard with small income before the world cup of  2011.  They say their life was not miserable because they were happy as along as they could play football.

In that sense, Japanese national women football team were like part time workers’ team.

Now I think the financial condition of women players  got a little better, but still it’s bad compared to male teams, or compared to just a normal women workers of Japan.

Because we knew this fact through media information when we watched the games of world cup 2011, all the Japanese were really teary about their honor.  They, players, wanted mental satisfaction of achievement, not the money, status, or fame.

Now Homare Sawa deserves receiving MVP prize.

As she worked hard and she gave us joy through the games,  she also should earn more.  It’s truly natural for the result of pursuit.

A Happy New Year from Japan.

We Japanese had a hard time last year, 2011 with huge earth quake and tsunami.

We also are worried about Nuclear Power Plant problem, but fortunately it’s settled now and Prime Minister of Japan announced the settlement of it although the way to the final completion of the recovery work is still ahead of us.

Now no one is reported to be sick or have died because of the accident.

However, we lost more than 20,000 people by the tsunami.  And the devastated places are not yet recovered perfectly.  I think many who live there are trying to rebuild the cities, also I suppose those places would be back in nearly normal situation in this year.

Last year I was also busy and was affected by this earthquake accident, so that I could not write here constantly. If you read some of articles here last year, that’s my pleasure.  Thank you for your support and care about Japan in the hard time.

I hope you would have fun this year.  あけましておめでとうございます(  means A Happy New Year in Japanese )