Fujii Sota and Watanabe Akira came to Nagoya to begin the Oi Tournament last week. Shogi players didn’t use to be big celebrities, but Fujii Sota has changed that. He was the youngest person to become a professional shogi player, and he won all eight major titles by the age of 21. Besides, he is a local boy. He comes from Seto, which is just outside Nagoya. Fujii and Watanabe have been in the news every day. The sweets that they ate during the game have been in the news too, and those sweet shops are now filled with their fans. When somebody becomes this famous, we say that he or she is a rock star. I don’t know about Watanabe, but Fujii is definitely a rock star here in Aichi Prefecture!   (132 words)

Rice paddy art began in Japan in 1993. A small village in Aomori Prefecture called Inakadate wanted to celebrate their long history of rice growing, so they used four different types of rice to make a picture of Mt. Iwaki. Now they use computers to design more complex pictures. Their paddy art has been so successful that more than 300,000 tourists come to visit Inakadate every year. These days, many other places around Japan are making rice paddy art, too. The different-colored rices are at their best now. Yesterday, the Nanyo rice paddy in western Nagoya had a special viewing event. I went up the viewing tower and looked down on a picture of anime characters riding Doctor Yellow, the yellow train that checks the Shinkansen tracks.      (127 words)

I’m American, and the Fourth of July is an important day in the history of my country. It is the day in 1776 when the 13 British colonies of America decided that they wanted independence from Britain. They went to war with Britain, and they finally won the war in 1783. Those 13 colonies became the first 13 states of the United States of America. Now the Fourth of July is a public holiday. There are celebrations all over the U.S. with fireworks displays and parades. Many families and friends get together for barbecues, and the favorite food is the hot dog. According to some hot dog companies, Americans eat 150 million hot dogs every year on July 4!   (119 words)

Today, the Bank of Japan is coming out with new bills. Do you know who’s on your money now? Well, that’s all changing. You will have to learn the faces of three new people. Shibusawa Eiichi, a great businessman from the Meiji period, will be on the 10,000 yen bill. Tsuda Umeko, a great educator who started a college for women, will be on the 5,000 yen bill. Finally, Kitasato Shibasaburo, a great medical researcher, will be on the 1,000 yen bill. The new 10,000 yen bill is unique because it uses 3D holograms. If you look at the small picture of Shibusawa on the left side of the bill, his face always seems to look at you no matter where you are.   (120 words)

There is a bakery near my house that always has a long line of people in front of it. Last week, for example, it was a sunny day, and there was a line of about 20 people. The next day, it rained, but there was still a long line in front of the shop. The line wasn’t moving, so I guess it took people about 30 minutes to get inside. I started to wonder why this place was so popular. My daughter said it was because the bread was chewy (or “mochimochi” in Japanese). They also have some unique kinds of rolls. You can dine in or order takeout. The bakery is like a café. It has good coffee to go with the bread. It sounds good, but I don’t like to wait in line for more than a few minutes. How about you? How long are you willing to wait for good