Chihilog

Oktoberfest: the second best place to beer?

2007-07-12T22:14:00.000+09:00

Article title: Oktoberfest: the second best place to beer?
Journal: BBC - Nottingham - Features
Article by: Adam E. Smith
Published: September 29th, 2005
Downloaded from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2005/09/29/oktoberfest_the_place_to_beer_feature.shtml
on Thursday, July 12nd at 5:43pm

Nottingham student, Adam E. Smith, is in training for the Nottingham Beer Festival 2005. His preparations have taken to him to Munich.

The lavish wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Theresa was held in Munich in 1810.
The guests enjoyed with horse-racing, shooting matches and a funfair but at that time no beer was served.
Yet somehow this celebration evolved into Oktoberfest, Munich's huge beer festival in September. Oktoberfest is known as the world largest festival and seven million guests visit the 31- hectare site. Revellers at Oktoberfest must reach the site early morning to get one of the 100,000 seats in a so-called 'beer tent.' Each of 14 tents are decorated with their distinctive decoration and music.
People enjoy drinking beer, listening and singing the music and chatting away to other drinkers. They repeat "Prost! Prost!" ("Cheers!") The party atmosphere continue through the afternoon and into the night.

Hot dog legend couldn't cut the mustard

2007-07-07T23:15:00.000+09:00

Article title: Hot dog legend couldn't cut the mustard
Sorce: AP
Journal: The Japan Times ONLINE
Published: July 6th, 2007
Downloaded from: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070706a7.html onFriday, July 7th at 10:34pm

In a showdown daring indigestion, Joey Chestnut emerged Wednesday as the world's hot dog eating champion knocking off six-time titlist Takeru KOBAYASHI. He broke his own world record by swallowing 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes. He ate each hot dogs in 10.9 seconds.
"If I need to eat another one right now, I could," the 23-year-old Californian said after receiving the mustard yellow belt which represents hot dog-eating.
The loser KOBAYASHI, the 29-year-old Japanese is called eating machine but he was not in the good condition due to a sore jaw.

Hong Kong, Ten Years After

2007-07-02T21:38:00.000+09:00

Article title: Hong Kong, Ten Years After
Written by Fiona NG
Journal: The Nation.
Published: June 21, 2007 (July 9, 2007 issue)
Downloaded from: http://www.thenation.com./docprem.mhtml?i=20070709&s=ng
on Sunday, July 1 at 9.20am

By official count, more than 450 celebratory events have been scheduled from April to December this year, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from British to Chinese rule.
Hong Kong has experienced big changes in the first ten years of the "One Country, Two Systems." Before launching into an economic renaissance, it was in the inextricably tied to that mainland China. Bilateral trade between the two economies reached $166 billion in 2006, up from $113 billion in 2004.

Okinawa marks 62nd anniversary of WWⅡbattle

2007-06-25T22:36:00.000+09:00

Article title: Okinawa marks 62nd anniversary of WWⅡ battle
Journal: The Japan Times ONLINE
Published: Sunday June 24 2007
Downloaded from: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070624a1.html on Sunday at June 24th, 10:07am

Itoman, Okinawa prefecture marked on Saturday the 62nd anniversary of the end of WWⅡ battle in which more than 200,000 people died, including civilians in mass suicides. The anniversary came a day after the Okinawa Prefectual Assembly urged the central government to cut its instruction to publishers to play down in historical textbooks Japanese military's responsibility to the mass suicides. As Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima said in a message, people in Okinawa, which was the only inhabited part of Japan to see ground fighting during the war, feel the strong responsibility to foster peace-wishing mind and to try to create lasting peace in the world. More than a quater of the 450,000 inhabitants of Okinawa died in the battle: Some civilians killed themselves. The survivors say that they were forced to do so, and at that time, being a prisoner of war was considered shameful in Japan. In March, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister told publishers of high school history textbooks to reword the expressions which indicate the responsibility of the military to the mass suicides of civilians.

Japan jumps on the bioethanol bandwagon

2007-06-18T10:43:00.000+09:00

Article title: Japan jumps on the ethanol bandwagon
Journal: The Japan Times ONLINE
Published: Friday June 15 2007
Downloaded from: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20070615a1.html on Saturday at June 16th 8:23am

Japan is looking to bioethanol as a way not to depend on imported energy, at the same time, cut emissions as required under the Kyoto Protocol. Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermenting organic matter, typically corn, sugar cane, wheat rice, in a process similar to brewing beer. This attractive new source for energy-hungry Japan cut greenhouse gas emissions to 6 percent below 1990 levels under the Kyoto protocol. The rapidly growing demand causes driving up the market price of the sugar cane and corn for food in Brazil and America, the two biggest bioethanol producers, because of the shortage of those products. And more, there are still many problems on bioethanol. Japan try to improve them and is needed to find a new technology for a new energy to reduce gas emissions and solve the problem of substitute for fuel.

Hakuho reaches sumo's summit

2007-06-10T21:36:00.000+09:00

Article title: Hakuho reaches sumo's summit
Sub title: Mongolian-born wrestler becomes 69th grand champion
Journal: The Japantimes ONLINE
Published: Thursday, 31st May, 2007
Downloaded from: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ss20070531a1.html at 21:40 pm on 10th June

Hakuho, a native Ulan Bator, officially became the 69th grand champion in sumo history on Wednesday after Japan Somo Association gave the nod unanimously to his promotion at its executive committee meeting. At the ceremony, he speeched that he will continue to devote himself and pursue the spirit of sumo　by quoting part of a passage from Japanese ideom. Hakuho, 22 years old, is the third-youngest wrestler to reach sumo's summit. At the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in July, two Mongolians, Hakuho and Asashouryu, will occupy both the east and the west at the same time.

Bird flu spreads to 13th Vietnam province

2007-06-01T20:50:00.000+09:00

Article title: Bird flu spreads to 13th Vietnam province
Source: Hanoi, Vietnam (AP)
Journal: Online The China Post
Published: Friday, 1st June 2007
Downloaded from: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/front/111212.html at 20:58 pm on 1st June

Bird flu has spread to 13 Vietnam provinces, a government official said Friday. It killed about 300 unvaccinated ducks on a farm in Quang Nam province, and tests confirmed they were infected with the deadly H5N1 virus stain. Quang Nam Department of Animal Health have destroyed remaining 400 ducks and disinfected there. Poultry outbreaks were not reported in 2006, but the virus flared again early this year. People are difficult to catch the H5N1 virus but it can mutate into a form to spread easily among people.

Suu Kyi supporters rally in Burma

2007-05-28T10:14:00.000+09:00

Article title: Suu Kyi supporters rally in Burma
Journal: BBC NEWS
Published: Sunday. May 27th, 2007
Downloaded from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6695981.stm on Monday. May 28th at 9:30 am

On the day Aung San Suu Kyi's latest detention period was due to expire, some 200 members of her National League for Democracy gathered in the Burmese capital, Rangoon, to shout slogans and call for her release from house arrest. But on Friday Burma's military junta extended it by another year, drawing swift international condemnation. In 1990 the army annulled national elections in spite of her NLD's victory in national polls.

Bomb hits historic India mosque

2007-05-19T22:49:00.000+09:00

Article title: Bomb hits historic India mosque
Source: BBC NEWS
Published: Friday. May 18,2007
Downloaded from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6668695.stm
on Monday, May 19 at 10:56pm

At least nine people were killed and dozens more hurt by the bomb attack in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad while thousands of Muslim were ending Friday prayers at the Mecca Masjid, one of India's biggest mosques. It is not clear who carried out this attack. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed for the attack and urged citizens "to maintain peace and communal harmony." Furthermore, chief minister of Andhra Paradesh state said the bombing was an act of "sabotage on the peace and tranquillity in the country." The similar bomb attacks killed 35 people last year in the western state of Maharashtra. It is also still not clear who carried out them.

Oita taxis to be tobacco-free starting June 1

2007-05-12T07:32:00.000+09:00

Article titles: Oita taxis to be tabacco-free starting June 1
Source: The Japan Times ONLINE
Published: Friday, May 11, 2007
Downloaded from: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070511b2.html on May 12, 2007 at 7:56 am

Oita Taxi passengers won't be able to light up anywhere in Oita prefecture on June 1 - a first for the country. Taxi operators in the city of Oita introduced it in April 2006 and it spreaded out quickly to other parts of prefecture. At the end of April, there were only 200 taxis in which passengers can smoke. It is received with generally favorable reactions but there are also complaints from passengers who smoke and taxi drivers.
The number of nonsmoking taxis are increasing and this movement become nationwide.

[My opinion]
Generally, this movement proper to nonsmoking passengers in a mood of encouraging nonsmoking. While, it is said that nonsmoking taxis will drop their profits because taxis were convenient for smokers. The point is taxi companies can give up the fall of their profits by introducing nonsmoking policy, or not.

Calls flood Kumamoto hospital as it opens first baby hatch

2007-05-11T20:48:00.000+09:00

Article title: Calls flood Kumamoto hospital as it opens first baby hatch
Source: The Japan Times
Published: Friday, May 11, 2007
Down loaded from: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070511a2.html on May 11, 2007 at 9:41 pm

On Thursday Kumamoto Jikei Hospital opened Japan's first baby hatch , named "konotorino yurikago" (stork cradle), allowing the parents to anonymously leave babies there. Though this hospital places it to save the lives of infants who cannot be cared for, this hatch having incubator has been criticized as a way to encourage the abandonment of babies.
　 There are pros and cons. Taiji Hasuda, president of the hospital insisted what most important is to save the lives of babies. On the other hand, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki claimed that it is impermissible for parents to abandon their babies.
Kumamoto Mayor Seishi Koyama who approved this plan even said, "Japanese society should become one where such a facility is not needed."

[My opinion]
I really think Japan goverment needs to establish places to save babies who are suffered from neglect or something like that. Until now Japanese policy to the abandonment babies are not enough. Government should make a facility which covers the function of hatch "kounotorino yurikago." What is the best way to pretend the increase of the abandonment? It must be related to the welfare for the children deeply.

After 43 years, students again take national tests

2007-04-25T14:06:00.000+09:00

article title:After 43 years, students again take national tests
source: The Japan Times ONLINE
Published:Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Downloaded from:http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070425a5.html at 2:29 pm on April 25,2007.

Standardized achievement tests was taken by elementary and junior high school students on Tuesday. This comprehensive exam rerived after 43 year-interval as the countermeasure of declining academic standards. Similar tests were given before but they were abolished because it faned unnecessary competition. Every elementary and junior high school students were supposed to take it by the order of the education ministry but there are pros and cons.