Ito Shunsuke

Whenever I visit my jikka , my parents' house, my grand mother always wants me to take the cartons of milk.  They get the milk delivery, but they don't consume much milk there. I take those milk with me, but sometime, I have to throw them away when they get expired. I feel sorry to do it. So, I ordered this yogurt maker from Amazon Japan to consume more milk. You can also order it by clicking the picture below.     This machine is awesome. All I need to make yogurt are: - yogurt machine - 1 liter of milk - yogurt seed (2 - 3 grams) or 1 small cup of yogurt (100 - 120 grams) *Only for the first time. I could not find yogurt seed at any super market in Miyako, so I just used a cup of yogurt. Before placing the whole carton of milk in the machine, the milk need to be warm (not boiling hot,) so I poured the milk into 2 separate mag cups, then microwaved them. Now, I put those milk back to the carton, and put the yogurt in there too. After that, I ...

I went to buy the shirts for my work suits to one of the suits stores in Miyako since my shirts are getting old and torn and stained. Those suits stores always have some sort of deals which is good for the customers like me. The day I was there, they had "Buy 2 Get 1 free. (But free item must be less expensive than the least expensive one of the first 2." The store attendance asked me what I would like right after I entered the store.   Ito:  Yes, I would like to buy some shirts. SA (Store Attendance):  Let me measure the size of your neck and sleeves.   　 Then he had the tape measure around my neck and sleeves. SA: OK, let me find your size of shirts.  By the way, we have the "Buy 2 Get 1 free" deal today, so please take a look at some ties that goes with your shirts. Ito: OK.   He brought 3 shirts, 3,000 yen, 4,000 yen, and 5,000 yen ones. SA: The difference between 3,000 yen one and others is those 4,000 yen and 5,000 yen shirts are w...

When I went to my grocery shopping to the super market, I met one of my friends, K-ta kun, there.  He was also shopping his groceries.  He and I did chit chat to see what's up each other. He said his mother was being sick and she did not have appetite, so I suggested him to make her the vinegar pickled onions; actually, I was there to buy some onions to make that.   Because K-ta kun is the professional chef at Torimoto, one of the famous restaurant bar in Miyako, he knew about the vinegar pickled onions.       He told me to come to the restaurant Torimoro where he works for.  "They have the salt pickled onion," he said.  I replied him "Salt pickled onion?  That sounds unhealthy.  Don't they contain too much salt?" Then, he said "yes, but after the onion get pickled in salt couple days, those are pickled into the sweet vinegar next with sliced lemons.  So, most of salt gets removed from the onion by vinegar, and they get fl...

      Producer: Hisao Hashimoto Navigator: Saaya Tazawa Members: Adam Ramli, Hisako Yamaguchi Interpreter: Togo Sasaki, Ito Shunsuke Thank you very much for the great show as always, folks. Because Eri san was away with her samurai group to do some presentation for the 400th anniversary of Miyako port, Then, Yamaguchi san was there for the substitution of Eri san. But because Yamaguchi san was little nervous and was not comfortable to be the navigator, So, Saaya san from Miyako harbor radio was in charge for the navigator, and she did the excellent work. For the show, we were mainly talking about how Adam san spent his silver week holidays since he was the only one gaikokujin member there.  He said he ate SOWRDFISH for the first time at the sea food festival. Togo san, tried to interpret the word SOWRDFISH into Japanese, so I got in to help him. I knew how the swordfish look like: "Swordfish commonly reach 3 m (9.8 ft) in length, and the ...

" Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga told a United Nations human rights body on Monday that the central government has closed its ears to local voices in the battle over U.S. military bases in the prefecture. In a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Onaga said the world must pay attention to the situation at Henoko, where a U.S. base is being expanded against local will. He said it is part of a pattern of neglect dating back to World War II. “Our right to self-determination and human rights have been neglected,” Onaga said. “Can a country serve values such as freedom, equality, human rights and democracy with other nations when that country cannot guarantee those values for its own people?” Onaga opposes plans by the central government to enlarge Camp Schwab at Henoko, creating a new home in a semi-rural part of Okinawa for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. The air base is currently located in Ginowan, where residents resent its low-level flights. (c...

Have you ever heard the Earth is clockwork?  Well, it is. I don't know how many of this winding things for the Earth are there all over the world, but I knew there is one in Shii-O'hashi park in Tanohata. When I drove near there, I stopped by to wind it because I thought one of the reasons of the strange weathers these days is the slowing down of the Earth rotation.   However, I could not even get close to the winding thing because of the rope and the sign. The sign said         " きけん！！(Dangerous!!) クマに注意！！(Watch out for the bears!!) "  The picture of the bear looked kinda cute.    Maybe the bears there are dangerous because they ask you to dance with them like hours even after you get pooped out. I don't know.     If you know where the other winding things for the Earth are, please wind them before the Earth stop spinning.     

"     Gyūdon (牛丼) Gyūdon, literally beef bowl, is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with dashi (fish and seaweed stock), soy sauce and mirin (sweet rice wine). It also often includes shirataki noodles, and is sometimes topped with a raw egg or a soft poached egg (onsen tamago).    Tentamadon (天玉丼) Tempura which simmered with beaten egg and topped on rice. " Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donburi London (ロン丼) Lettuce, Onion, and Nectarine topped on rice, I guess.

" It is not uncommon to see statues of Ninomiya in or in front of Japanese schools, especially elementary schools. Typically these statues show him as a boy reading a book while walking and carrying firewood on his back. These statues are depicting popular stories that said Ninomiya was reading and studying during every moment he could. There is a reference to him in the novel Obasan by Joy Kogawa. Father tells the story of Ninomiya Sontoku to his children often, telling how "Up early to the mountains for wood before the rooster calls 'ko-ke-kok-ko!' He studies and works every and every day to feed his baby brother and his mother. That is how he becomes the great teacher, Ninomiya Sontaku of Odawara, Japan." (Kogawa 63) " Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninomiya_Sontoku I saw one of them when I visited one of the schools in Miyako, then I thought; Well, if the students copy what he is doing, reading while walking, then,

" Kabe-Don In Japanese, "kabe" is wall, and "don" is the sound of slapping against a wall. Literally, Kabe-Don describes the act of fiercely slapping a wall. One meaning is slapping a wall as a protest which occurs in collective housing like a condominium when the next room makes noise. Another meaning often appears in shōjo manga or anime when a man forces a woman against a wall with one hand or a man leans against a wall and makes a slapping sound, leaving the woman nowhere to go. This has become popular nowadays as a "clever move of confession". " Ref:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_anime_and_manga#K And this is what I found in town;    The sumo wrestler kabe-don gacha toy.  Since sumo wrestles are much more powerful than regular men,    

Navigator: Eri Ito Guest: Daniel Gilbert Members: Adam Ramli Interpreter: Togo Sasaki Thank you very much for the great show, folks. And welcome to Miyako, Daniel san who is the friend of Eri san. I could not meet him because I did not make it to the show, so all interpretation was done by Togo san.  He did a great job as always. But still I wanted to be the part of the show, I emailed them at the show; yet, they did not have enough time to read my message. What I sent them was asking Eri san to say "Hotta imo ijikuruna" to the members and/or the guest if they can understand.   "Hotta imo ijikuruna" means "Don't play with the potatoes you dug up"in Japanese, but it sounds like the English phrase "what time is it now?" It's like the English phrase "Don't touch my mustache" sounds like the Japanese phrase "Dou itashimashite"which means "you are welcome." Well, I will try "Hotta imo iji...

Since I keep finding additional information about those two days, I am writing some more posts about it.    First, I would like to write about the newspaper picture of today, September 19, 2015.  　 　  You can find the same picture on the internet news site too: .  What do you see in the picture?  The mustache guy, Masahisa Sato (LDP, Liberal Democratic Party) in the middle of the picture, is punching the guy, Hiroyuki Konishi (DPJ, Democratic Party of Japan,) right?   Well, that's not actually what had happened there.   This is what had happened.   (gif) (youtube)    Now, what did you see?   Because Konish jumped on the guy, Sato was "pushing" Konishi away with his right fist. Those old folks, who do not or cannot use the internet, only see that Sato punched Konishi from TV and newspapers.       I can say the same thing is happening for the peo...

        [Sit-in by the JCP (Japanese Communist Party) to block LDP (Liberal Democratic Party)] Most of those demo people were the supporters of  the JCP (Japanese Communist Party.) Ref:  http://lite-ra.com/2015/09/post-1496.html              ["Female Wall" by female members JCP (Japanese Communist Party,) DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan,) SDP (Social Democratic Party)]       When the male security guards tried to make them move away, they said they would sue the male security guards for the sexual harassment.  Then, female security guards made them move, and they said "DO NOT USE FEMALE!!"  They must be joking. Ref:  http://www.sankei.com/politics/news/150916/plt1509160083-n1.html   　　  　　  　　 [The members of LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) were under room arrested by other party members] 　 Ref:  https://twitter....

The heavy rain caused the river flooding that damaged Joso-city, Ibaraki prefecture. More than 1,000 houses got damaged or flooded.  Then, Japan Self-defense forces, fire fighters, police, and the rescue groups were looking for the missing people. This reminded me the tsunami that was caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 in my hometown, Miyako, especially when I saw those pictures of flooded city appeared on my SNS timelines from my friends there. Because my hometown, Miyako, Iwate had many help not only from other prefectures in Japan, but also from all over the world, I feel this time is my turn to give the people in Joso, Ibaraki some support. So, I believe this is one of what I could do: writing the English blog article for the English readers who are willing to give them some support. There are 4 thing you could possibly do. 1. Donation. You can make your donation to the bank account of city of Joso. The account information is as below.   Bank...

While I was washing my clothes at jikka , my parents' house by using their laundry machine and drier at the same time, my grandmother came to tell me that the laundry machine was leaking. The water was actually flooding from the machine, wetting whole floor and even the water ran into the other room too!! So, I ran to get some papers to let them suck the water.   My grandmother told me   "If you use the washing machine and the drier at the same time, it causes the water leak.  So, do not do that." I was like I have been to some countries and stayed with families in there, but nobody had ever told me not to use the washing machine and the drier at the same time sine it could cause the flooding. The flood did not seem to stop, so I turned the machine off and tried to find what was causing the leak. After while, I found there was a tiny hole on the water faucet. So, I went to the home improvement store in town to buy the tool to remove the little pipe, ...