NHK (Japan's national public broadcasting corporation) recently announced the list of the 50 artists for the 60th Kouhaku Uta Gassen. Kouhaku Uta Gassen (literally means, "Red and White Song Battle") is a popular annual Japanese music show broadcasted on New Year's Eve. It draws a large audience every year. Although TV viewership of Kouhaku has been going down in recent years, performing on Kouhaku is said to be a huge honor and big highlight in a singer's career. When I was a child, I used to enjoy watching it with my family. It is a long standing New Year's Eve tradition for many Japanese families. When I watched it, I always felt deep emotion that the year is almost over.
Japanese translation

The US president Obama had a short visit in Japan last week. I read that Japanese publishers and English schools consider Obama's speeches as great material for English studies. I thought you might be able to learn something from Japanese translations of his speeches. Here is the beginning of the speech he made in Tokyo:

"It is wonderful to be back in Japan. Some of you may be aware that when I was a young boy, my mother brought me to Kamakura, where I looked up at that centuries-old symbol of peace and tranquility -- the great bronze Amida Buddha. And as a child, I was more focused on the matcha ice cream. And I want to thank Prime Minister Hatoyama for sharing some of those memories with more ice cream last night at dinner. Thank you very much. But I have never forgotten the warmth and the hospitality that the Japanese people showed a young American far from home."

By the way, I love matcha (green tea) ice cream, too! "Obama's matcha ice cream" might be selling soon in Kamakura.
Japanese translation

I haven't been able to find time for reading these days, unless I am on vacation, but I did recently read "1Q84", the latest novel by Haruki Murakami. He is my favorite Japanese author. I was waiting to read this novel for a long time. It is said the title is inspired by George Orwell's "1984", as the pronunciation of Japanese number 9 is same as the English letter Q. Despite the other temptations that usually keep me away from reading, I just couldn't put the book down. As I enjoyed it very much, I almost didn't want to finish it. Even though there are so many other forms of entertainment available today, it reminded me how one can still be very entertained by a book.
Japanese translation

The Japanese autumn is celebrated with many delicious foods. Autumn is referred to as the season for appetite (shokuyou no aki). There is also a word for popular fall foods, which is "Aki no mikaku". They include chestnuts, pine mushroom, pike mackerel, persimmons, Japanese sweet potatoes, Japanese pears and so on. I miss all of them when I am away from Japan, but I especially crave chestnuts during this season. I like chestnut rice and various sweets made with chestnuts. In North America, there are not many dishes with chestnuts. Do you eat chestnuts in your country, if so, how do you eat them?
Japanese translation