Every year, a buzzword is chosen as the word of the year. There are actually two Japanese Words of the Year for 2025. One is from the new prime minister, Takaichi Sanae, who said she will “work, work, work, work and work” for the country. The other buzzword is “female prime minister.” Takaichi is Japan’s first female prime minister, and everyone is talking about it. In English, the Oxford Word of the Year for 2025 is “rage bait.” “Rage” means “anger,” and “bait” is food that fishermen use to catch fish. These days, some bloggers and youtubers upload content that makes other people angry. This content is called rage bait. It catches people’s attention and gets more reactions. I don’t like rage bait. I think people should be kinder to each other on SNS.   (134 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

I went to a university yesterday to see a lecturer. Actually, I didn’t go there to talk to him. I wanted to talk to his students and tell them about the Jaremaga university essay contest. When I left the university, the wind was blowing, and the skies were cloudy. The high temperature was 7 degrees lower than the day before yesterday. Yellow leaves were falling from the ginkgo trees, and the students who were leaving held their coats tightly so that they could keep out the cold. When I got back home, I wanted something hot to drink. Hot tea and coffee are okay, but yesterday I wanted something that would really keep me warm inside. My wife made a hot sweet rice drink called “amazake” for me. It was perfect. It really hit the spot!    (136 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Some people are born deaf. They can’t hear, but they learn how to communicate without speaking. They talk with their hands. This is called “sign language.” I started to wonder if deaf people who come from different countries could communicate. Are their signs the same? The answer is no. Japanese Sign Language (JSL) and American Sign Language (ASL) are completely different languages. People who only know one language cannot communicate with someone who only knows the other language. You can see a comparison of the two sign languages in the following video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3Hl8_T1WAHM  The 2025 Summer Deaflympics were held in Tokyo last month. Deaf athletes from different countries took part in the games, but how did they communicate? They used a special sign language called International Sign.   (127 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

This is the season for ginkgo nuts. My wife bought some the other day, and we had Japanese savory egg custard (“chawanmushi”) with ginkgo nuts on Monday night. Then she roasted some for me later. I ate more than 15 nuts that night. I started to wonder if I had eaten too many, so I used Google to check. It said that an adult should eat no more than 10 nuts. Oops! It was too late, but I was feeling okay. Then, in the middle of the night, my body started to shake, and my stomach hurt. Google was right. I shouldn’t have eaten so many ginkgo nuts! I’ll be more careful the next time.   (115 nuts) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

There is a fruit tree behind the environmental center where I work. It has pretty orange-red flowers in the spring and early summer. Then the fruit begins to grow. The outside of the fruit is hard, almost like a nut. It becomes red and can be picked in October and November. This fruit is called a pomegranate. I pick the fruit when it cracks open because I know that it is ready to eat. There are a lot of seeds inside. They have a sweet jelly-like covering. You can eat the seeds, but I prefer to eat the sweet covering and spit the seeds out. Pomegranates aren’t easy to eat, but they are very tasty!     (115 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com