I was in a park the other day, and I saw a man walking his pet. It was on a leash, but it wasn’t a dog. I could tell that it wasn’t a cat either because of the way it moved. I got closer and asked the man what it was. He said that his pet was an Alpine marmot. Marmots are also called ground squirrels. That’s because they don’t climb trees. They make holes in the ground and live in them. There are marmots in Europe, Asia, and North America, but not in Japan. His marmot came from Europe. He used to have a prairie dog. Prairie dogs are very similar to marmots, but they only live in North America. I think this man likes unusual pets because it’s a great way to meet people, and he likes to talk!    (141 words) You can send me a comment or your own story

If you like to watch skiing, skating, snowboarding, or curling, write down the dates of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics: February 6 to February 22. Japan’s women speed skaters are sure to get medals. Takagi Miho holds the world record in the women’s 1500 meters, and she holds the Japan record in the 1000 meters and the 3000 meters. She was competing over the weekend in Hamar, Norway, and won two gold medals. Her rival in the 1000 meters was Femke Kok from the Netherlands. It was a very close race! There was less than one second difference in their finishing times. We should keep our eyes on another Japanese skater, too. Her name is Yoshida Yukino, and she won the gold medal in the 500 meters. Both of these skaters are going to the Winter Olympics next February!   (140 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Tequila is the name of a drink from Mexico. It is as strong as whiskey, so if you drink too much, you will get drunk. Tequila is also the name of a song. The most popular version is not a good song for karaoke because it only has one word, “Tequila!” At the tap dance studio where I go, we used a different version of the song for a performance. It is by a group called the Manhattan Transfer, and they sing about dancing and drinking tequila. I played a drunken dancer, and I danced around with a bottle and a glass in my hands. I bothered the other dancers, so they took the bottle and the glass away from me. We had a lot of fun, and we got a lot of laughs from the people watching us!  (140 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Reflecting on 2025, I think of the natural disasters that have occurred around the world with a mixture of fear and sadness. The typhoon that hit Cebu in the Philippines, the hurricane that hit Jamaica and the Caribbean area, and the heavy rains that fell on Sumatra in Indonesia were all terrible. There are people who have lost family and friends, people who have lost their homes, jobs, and cars, people who don’t have electricity, people who can’t get food or drinking water, people living in temporary housing or tents, and children who cannot go to school. I can only pray that the people in those disaster areas will be able to return to their normal lives as soon as possible. I would like to help them by donating money to charities like Peace Winds Japan.  (136 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

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