TV program about Japan

Recently some documentary programs focusing on Japan have been broadcast on BBC4. One of them is named “Fish! A Japanese Obsession” in which Charles Rangeley-Wilson, a British author known for his books on travel and fishing, travelled in Japan and reported about the Japanese obsession for fish from his point of view. The TV program was 90 minutes-long and started with him finding his guide in Japan. He wanted to recruit a Japanese resident who would be able to introduce him to Japanese fishing. Some candidates gathered and he interviewed them; one of the candidates just wanted to be famous, his dream was becoming a rock star, another one spoke English very well but didn’t know about fishing at all. It seemed difficult to find a satisfactory guide for him and when I heard one of candidates say “I like eat fishing” in English with English subtitles on TV, I changed the channel and stopped watching it.

The next day, my English teacher told me, “I watched an interesting TV program about Japan.” and asked some questions about fish and birds, however, I couldn’t answer them because I didn’t watch it. The other day I joined choir practice and my friend also said, “I watched a TV program about Japan reported by Charles Rangeley Wilson.” I felt ashamed because they watched the program with interest because of me and they prepared topics to talk with me.

Thanks to the wonderful internet I can watch some TV programs on the BBC iPlayer up to one week after broadcasting. I watched the program from the beginning to the end and found it was interesting. Somehow, Charles Wilson chose a good guide from the candidates and they visited some interesting places. The first place they went was a restaurant which serves fresh fish; actually the fish is still alive. I could never imagine eating beef or chicken from an animal whose head was still alive and moving however in the case of fish, I say it’s definitely fresh and looks tasty. Charles asked, “Isn’t it cruel?”, but the Japanese guide, Aki said, “Just eat it. It’s tasty”, he didn’t hesitate to tell his honest opinion. Sometimes we Japanese try to hide our feelings from others, especially when a person has a strong opinion. When Charles pointed out about eating whale, Aki answered “We eat it because it tastes good” Charles said “Aki would never get my point” his purpose is to observe and learn not to change Aki’s opinions on whale protection, Japan's opinions on whale preservation may be changed by a documentary but not by one comment. The British and the Japanese probably have many areas where we don’t understand each other, that’s why it’s interesting to know both points of view through this TV program.

North Wales

It only takes two hours from Manchester to North Wales by bus.
Llangollen

Plas Newydd

Powis Castle

My favorite magnolia

Mangas

Some people say mangas spoil children, however, my parents never believed this and let me read any books I like. I enjoyed reading a monthly girl’s comic book; it costs around two pounds and I could read about 10 different stories. Some of them were short stories, but many of them are continued in to the next month. So I bought it on the day it came on sale and wanted to read it earlier than my friends. There are several girl’s comic books and I enjoyed talking about some of the stories with friends who read the same one. This formed groups and we sometimes fought with other groups who read another comic book. Everybody believed “my comic book is the best one.”

After passing from childhood I stopped buying mangas, instead I enjoy reading them at a manga cafe. One manga costs around 2 pounds, staying at a manga cafe for an hour also costs around 2 pounds so if I can read more than two mangas an hour, it works out cheaper.

After coming to Manchester, I was surprised to find mangas at the Manchester public library. I borrowed “動物のお医者さん” which means “animal doctor” but the main story is about the life of students whose major is veterinary science. The author didn’t have any knowledge of animal doctors, but she researched it and interviewed some students so the story is interesting and at the same time has some reality to it. I also enjoyed reading “Death Note” which I bought second hand from a Japanese business man in Manchester.

Recently my friend told me there are translated Japanese mangas in the public library so I went to see. She told me there’s not any particular series or famous ones; she was right I found few familiar titles there. I picked up “RAVE MASTER” because there are volumes 1, 2 and 3 so I could start reading the story from the beginning. I was also into the characters they are beautifully drawing and the best thing is the English vocabulary used is just at my level; I understood the story without using a dictionary. I searched for the manga online and found the Japanese title is “RAVE”; it’s a popular series and finishes at volume 35! It’s a long adventure story but I could only find 7 or 8 books in the library. I can read the first 13 to 18 pages on a web site free of charge but every volume of the story stops at a dramatic scene and directs me to the shopping site. If I pay around 2 pounds, I can read a whole book, however, it’s 35 volumes in total and even though each one of them costs only 2 pounds, it would cost a lot in total. I hope extra “Rave Master” comics appear in the library soon!

The Japanese Garden

I went to the Japanese Garden in Manchester.


It looks nice.


Is this a British way to enjoy the Japanese Garden?

Sale

Sale Hotel in Sale for sale?