When my younger daughter came to visit us from the U.S. last month, I took her to Ghibli Park. I’m glad I went with her because she is a big fan of Ghibli and knows all the movies. I saw some Ghibli movies a long time ago, but I didn’t remember the stories very well. She explained everything to me. I decided to watch some Miyazaki Hayao movies, so I went to an online video rental store and got four. They included his latest movie, called “The Boy and the Heron” in English. I watched it first, and then I watched “Porco Rosso.” There are 30 years between these two movies. I think that Miyazaki uses more fantasy now, but both movies have the Miyazaki touch. The animation is beautiful!   (130 words)

I have lived in Japan for a long time, but I am still amazed at the public transportation here. Subways and trains are almost always on time. I was waiting for a subway yesterday, and I noticed that the letters on the scrolling LED sign were red. That means that there is a problem. I smiled when I read the message. It said that the subway trains were running about three minutes late. I used to live in New York City when I was a university student, and the subways didn’t even have a schedule posted. You just waited for the next train. You didn’t know if the train was late or on time. Being three minutes late is a problem in Japan, but people don’t think it’s a problem in most other countries.   (134 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

I was watching a TV report about Sakaguchi Shimon and Kitagawa Susumu the other night. They are in Sweden now, and they will get their Nobel Prizes on December 10. They visited the Nobel Prize Museum on December 6. Each of them gave the museum something related to their work, but Sakaguchi’s gift really surprised me. He gave them a manga! It is called “Hataraku Saibo” or “Cells at Work” in English. I am not a scientist, so I don’t really understand regulatory T-cells. However, many children in Japan already knew about these T-cells thanks to “Cells at Work.” Children are learning science from manga. They say that this manga is easier to understand than their school textbooks. I think I need to read “Cells at Work!”    (127 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

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