What do you love about Japan???

What do you love about Japan.....???

                As most of us know, Japan is well-known with the high-tech inventions, anime and manga culture. Unfortunately, I am not an anime or manga geek at all and I only knew some of them. Besides that, the services in Japan are undeniably excellent and I like the ways Japanese treat their customers. However, what I love the most about Japan is its nature and four seasons. The breathtaking sceneries and landscapes to add up with gracefulness culture of Japan makes me love it more.

                I always love to see and hear the sound of mother nature. Watching a greenery meadow with the beautiful blue sky already make my day. It soothes my mind and makes me forget all the hustle and bustle in my life. Gratefully, there are a lot of places like that in Japan. I am not saying that my hometown does not offering such places at all but what makes Japan special is the presence of four seasons and how the culture and nature mix well together. What I mean culture here is just like tea ceremony and other traditional cultures. I don’t know why but I feel the graceful and fine culture of tea ceremony mixes so well with the beauty art of nature.

                Since I live in the north of Japan right now, I can feel the four seasons distinctively. I grown up in the tropic country and never experiencing the four seasons at all before I came to Japan and could feel the four seasons climate is one of my best memories. However, I think the spring and autumn are the best of all. Besides the scenic view, the temperature and climate on that time just nice. Speaking about seasons and spring, Japan and sakura are inseparably. Watching cherry blossom is the tradition that people must do in Japan and I love doing it too. However, rather than snap a lot of picture and messy around in the crowded I like to enjoy the view of nature more.

                The atmosphere of red yellowish fallen leaves during autumn in Japan is also charming. Maybe some people would relate the autumn with heartbroken but for me the autumn just feel like romantic mood. Besides that, autumn also can be said as harvesting season too. If watching cherry blossom is something that we must do during spring, “momijigari” which is watching fall foliage is something that we must do during fall season. I think winter scenery is beautiful too but in the end it feels like the loneliness and eerie feeling just like what was portrayed in The Chronicle of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe movie. Of course I was thrilled during my first winter experiences and I like on how the snow falling swiftly on my head but still the image of loneliness is strong in my head.

                Lost deep in the thought while watching the beauty of nature are always been my obsession. However, what makes Japan so unique is their gracefulness culture that coherent with the nature. The ways Japanese preserve and maintain the cleanliness impressively excellent and thus make the portrait of nature become more beautiful.

 

*All the pictures above are from my photo album

Do you think you are “The Ugly Duckling?”

Do you think you are “The Ugly Duckling?”

            “He felt quite glad that he had come through so much trouble and misfortune,

for now he had a fuller understanding of his own good fortune, and of beauty when he met with it…

…I never dreamed there could be so much happiness, when I was the ugly duckling.’’

                                                                                Hans Christian Anderson

                                                                                  The Ugly Duckling

                I bet everyone must know the story of “The Ugly Duckling” and at some point I assume everyone had felt like the Ugly Duckling at least once in our lifetime. We feel so inferior and think such a loser compared to others. Sometimes, we feel we do not comfit in any group and do not have anything to give to the others. However, it is just a matter of perception. If we think in negativity, we will react in a negative way.

                Just like the Ugly Duckling, he was rejected because he was too ugly or too different from others although he can swim. Actually the Ugly Duckling is not ugly at all but he is somewhat special. Unfortunately, the duck society perceives it differently and could not accept that rarity. That is how the duck society defines the term of beauty and how they react towards it. Humans also act in the same manner and hardly think that the differences are something special. However, we forget that if there were no unusual mind, then a new invention would not be found. Sometimes the absurdity or oddity will open up to the new discovery. But in the reality, our mind unconsciously tends to diminish that differences and try to compromise what we are.

                There would be no rainbow if the day was not raining and the caterpillars would not change into a beautiful butterfly if they were afraid of pupation. Sometimes people are afraid to be themselves and let the negative feelings, for instance inferiority and insecurity conquer their mind and behavior. Everyone dreams of the success but somehow fear of the hurdles and boundary. Actually it is our thinking that makes us afraid to grab the opportunity. We fear of the failures and mistakes, thus make us avoiding from learn and experiencing something new. For example, someone who wants to do a bungee jump but afraid of falling. They have the spirits but somehow their feeling and perception oppose them from doing it.

                I agree that everything is a matter of perspective and our actions actually come from how do we think about. As for me, I don’t think the Ugly Duckling story is about turning yourself into a blonde Barbie doll or doing some plastic surgery so that you can be beautiful, but it is about self-revelation and becoming who you are. That is how I perceive the Ugly Duckling story and it is no wrong to be different because our differences are our assets in our life. Of course there are many obstacles before we achieve the title of success, but if we look them in positivity, we would react in positive way too.

                “The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.’’

                                                                                By the Emperor (Mulan movie)

The influence of NAFTA

The influence of NAFTA

12H2013 Yukino Ebina

        

           In these days, many countries are trying to combine with others in economics because it is essential to create much benefit and poverty. Thus there are a lot of regional communities across the border. Especially, NAFTA has the powerful influence not only North America but also all over the world. NAFTA is the treaty that was concluded among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. These countries started to negotiate about the agreement in 1994 and it had spent 14 years to be implemented. The treaty eliminated the tariff to trade their products. The arrangement was admired most of areas. In 1993, the amount of the trade was $290 billion among three countries. Thanks to the treaty, it increased more than $1.1 trillion in 2012. It is said that The U.S. trades more in goods and services with Mexico and Canada than it does with Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Russia, India, and China combined.  This result shows the business within NAFTA occupies large part of the whole trade in three country. The treaty contributes to revitalize the trade among these countries.

              Though this agreement acts on promotion of the trade, it also causes harmful influence to the external economy for both countries between the U.S. and Mexico. For instance, many companies in the United States have moved to Mexico because they prefer cheaper labors. It is because the treaty allows them to be multinational companies and expand their business across the border. This moving causes about 700,000 jobs loss in the U.S. Furthermore, these corporations force their labor to agree being cut the wage. The companies threatened workers to relocate to other countries if they were not obey cutting their salary down. These corporations also frighten the local government to reduce their tax as the same reason. In these points, the treaty is profitable for the multinational companies. On the other hand, the agreement is disadvantage for the small sectors such as local farming. For instance, the United States have been protected the price of agricultural products for a long time and the government subsides approximately $16.5 billion of funding every year to suspect the price. Then the gap of the price appears between Mexico and the U.S because it is not rectified by the tariff. This caused the price down of the crops in Mexico and it became difficult to continue their farming. Furthermore, the number of Mexican migrant to the U.S has been increasing after the treaty to search their job. In these points, small sectors such as farmers or labor are caused the damage because of NAFTA. Moreover, increasing the number of people who are suffering from the poverty tends to caused organized crime like smuggling arms and illegal substances. This means the poverty caused by the treaty bring on the multinational crime.

In conclusion, the NAFTA have a great power and influence to both internal and international economy. The treaty is profitable for the multinational corporation and unfavorable for the local business. Today, many countries are negotiating to join the regional agreement such as Trans Pacific Partnership including Japan. These treaty have been increasing because many countries are interested in improving their economy. NAFTA is seen as a pioneer of these treaty and we have to think about both of positive and negative aspects. 

 

 

Reference lists

Mohammed Aly Sergie, NAFTA’s Economic Impact, 2014 http://www.cfr.org/trade/naftas-economic-impact/p15790 , Council onForeign Relations, February 14

Jeff Faux, NAFTA’s Impact on U.S. Workers, 2013 http://www.epi.org/blog/naftas-impact-workers/, Economic Policy Institute, December 9

Susana G. Baumann, Agricultural Subsidies Impact on Mexican farmers, 2014 http://voxxi.com/2013/01/11/agricultural-subsidies-mexican-farmers/, VOXXI, January 1

Laura Carlsen, Under Nafta, Mexico Suffered, and the United States Felt Its Pain 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/11/24/what-weve-learned-from-nafta/under-nafta-mexico-suffered-and-the-united-states-felt-its-pain, The New York Times, November 24

Animal rights

Animal rights

 

Contents

1. Introductio
2. Situation
3. Issues
4. Solution
5. Conclusion

 

1, Introduction

 Animal rights are an idea that people should treat animals well, and especially not use them in tests to develop medicines or other products: fur , wool, angora, etc.

  Lately these rights has become common, especially in Europe. The animal rights movement is developing. The animal rights movement is quite clearly one of the great movements for social change.

 

2, Situation

In Spain – bullfighting

Bullfighting was banned in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia by a vote of the Catalan Parliament in July 2010. The ban came into effect on 1 January 2012. The last bullfight in the region took place in Barcelona in September 2011.

In Switzerland

Farming and fishing are also regulated to ensure that the treatment of farm animals and fish is humane. Sadly there are however cases of animal abuse and illegal practices, and animal rights groups continue to campaign for these to be stopped. The new law of Switzerland, farmers will not be able to feed the pigs and cattle on hard floors, they argues that international competitiveness will be weak  because of the law.

Foie-gras

To produce fois-gras , workers ram pipes down male duck’s or geese’s throats two or three times daily. Many birds difficultly standing because of their engorged livers, and they may tear out their own feathers and cannibalize each other out of stress.

RED : Countries and regions where the production of Foie-Gras is banned

BLEUE :Main countries and regions producing Foie-Gras

 

The force feeding of animals for non-medical purposes, essential to current foie-gras production practices, is clearly prohibited by specific laws in six of nine Austrian provinces, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, or following interpretation of general animal protection laws in Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

 

Dolphin drive hunting

December 1980 , in Japan of Iki (Nagasaki ) , " Greenpeace " ( US Hawaii ) was arrested because they released dolphins that were captured for extermination.  However , they claimed  " We prefer the dolphin , than the fishermen of Iki , dophines have the right to feed on yellowtail ". This incident is attracted international attention , thereafter , it became the beginning of  criticism of dolphin drive hunting and Japan's whaling .

 
In india

The Indian government did not recently grant legal personhood status to dolphins. But it did abolish the use of dolphins in aquatic theme parks.The probable cause for the legal personhood confusion stems from a misreading of a government statement claiming that “Whereas cetaceans in general are highly intelligent and sensitive, and various scientists who have researched dolphin behavior have suggested that the unusually high intelligence; as compared to other animals means that dolphins should be seen as ‘non-human persons’ and as such should have their own specific rights and is morally unacceptable to keep them captive for entertainment purpose.”

Romania debates giving human rights to dolphins

 

The 39-year-old activist politician introduced a bill in parliament that would recognize the marine mammals as "non-human persons", on account of their highly developed intelligence, personalities and behavior patterns.The bill, which will be debated in the Romanian upper house in the coming weeks, would make humans and dolphins equal before the law. Dolphin killers would be given the same sentences as murderers of human beings. The bill would also ban the use of dolphins in live entertainment shows.

 

3. Issue

First, the Animal Protection Movement progress. There are many organizations that protect animal rights in the world.Furthermore, Ecoterrosism appeared. They are extremism in the Animal Rights and Environmentalist Movements. Some people suffered damage because of them.

Second, farmers are declining international competitiveness. If farmers stop Intensive animal farming, it will take a high cost.

Third,the food culture. If they can not produce fois-gras , the food culture will disappear.And dolphins unusually have high intelligence as compared to other animals?

How about other animals ?If they are not intelligent , does not they have right ?

4. Solution

 CONSUMER EDUCATION

We need to choose the right food is one of the most important , everyday activities that can reduce our individual environmental impact .We work hard behind the scenes to educate consumers about the impact of our food choices on our health and the environment.

SUPPORT

To allow management that are friendly to animal welfare , the government should create a policy to assist the improvement of the welfare level .

 

Animal Welfare Approved (AWA)

It is the food label for meat and dairy products that come from farm animals raised to the highest animal welfare and environmental standards. The program was founded in 2006 as a market-based solution to the growing consumer demand for meat, eggs and dairy products from animals treated with high welfare and managed with the environment in mind.

Freedom food

Freedom Food is the only UK assurance and food labelling scheme dedicated solely to improving farm animal welfare.they have more than 3,000 members across farming and food production and you can buy freedom food labelled meat, fish and eggs in many of the UK’s supermarkets.

 

5. Conclusion

We should be thinking about animal rights as a consumer.Relationship of humans and animals.The animal rights movement.It is strongly associated with our health.We should know how we can get our food.

                                                                                            

References

  http://www.lepoint.fr/

  https://www.pinterest.com/schmokerc/animal-rights-cartoons/

  http://www.peta.org/about-peta/why-peta/why-animal-rights/

  http://www.greenpeace.org/japan/ja/

  http://www.seashepherd.org/

http://www.freedomfoods.com.au/

  http://animalwelfareapproved.org/about/

  動物に権利はあるか　ローレンス・プリグル著

 

 
 
 
 

golden week

On golden week,I had an amazing journey with my friends who coming to Japan from China.We rent a car,setting out from hirosaki and arriving at senndai. In the trip,I was responsible for translation as a guide.There are six people in my group,but only I can speak japanese.Thus,I had so much work to do either before or on the passage of the journey.For example,before the golden week,I had finished the trip plan.To make a good schedule,I searched what is the great spot on internet and read many guide book.Before the final plan,I had made many courses about the trip.On the passage of the journey,I had to introduce some information about sports for my friends,and if there are any questions,I had to answer it to them.So that,I was so busy with my work in the journey.

Though,I seemed to be a busy guide,I also enjoyed almost natural and human landscapes in the northeast of Japan.For instance,the world heritage forest— Shirakami mountain.The Shirakami mountain range has the world's vastest beechwood forest. It still retains old-growth forests and was registered as a Natural World Heritage Site in 1993. We enjoyed the fantastic view from the popular local "Gono Line" that passes through the base of the Shirakami mountain range and explore the mystical Juniko.

On the journey,I enjoyed many beautiful landscapes and ate much delicious food,of course I practise my japanese.