What is Japanese money made of? The Bank of Japan prints yen notes on a special paper that is made from “mitsumata.” This plant grows in the mountains. Farmers take the bark off the plant, beat it, and dry it. Making “mitsumata” is hard work, and these days there are fewer and fewer Japanese farmers who produce it. The company that makes the special paper needed a new source, and they found a plant like “mitsumata”  in Nepal. The company taught the Nepali farmers how to make the fiber, and now Nepal is selling the fiber to Japan. Japan’s new yen notes are coming out in July, and they will be made from this Nepali fiber.　　(116 words)

I stream a lot of movies at home, but I really like to go to a movie theater. I love the smell of popcorn. I always buy some and a nice, cold soft drink. I enjoy sitting in the movie theater and waiting in suspense for the movie to begin. Last Thursday, I decided to go see “Dune, Part 2” with my son-in-law. We had already seen Part 1 when it came out, and we were impressed with the special effects. Dune is a planet of sand, but people fight over it because it has a very valuable product called spice. Giant worms live in the sand and make Dune a very dangerous place to live and work. The special effects are great, especially the giant sand worms. (128 words)

Akebono was the first person born outside Japan to become a Yokozuna. He was one of the tallest wrestlers at 203 cm and one of the heaviest at 233 kg. His coach and mentor was Takamiyama, the first great wrestler from Hawaii. Akebono was a powerful wrestler and became Yokozuna in 1993, the year he won four of the six grand sumo tournaments. He won 11 grand tournaments altogether in his career, In the early 1990s, his rivals were the brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana, and together the three of them made sumo more popular than ever. After he left the sumo world, Akebono went on to do kickboxing and pro wrestling. He passed away this month at the early age of 54. His mentor, his rivals and other sumo wrestlers came to say goodbye at his funeral in Tokyo on Sunday. (141 words)

After work last Friday, I went to the barbershop in my neighborhood. There are usually two barbers there, but one of them had already gone home. The barber who was still there showed me a chair. He shaved me, cut my hair, and gave me a shampoo. Actually, I prefer the other barber, not because he is a better barber but because he is a better talker. This barber didn’t talk much, and I fell asleep while he was cutting my hair. Then I started to wonder what the women in my family thought. My wife said that she preferred talkative hairdressers. My daughter felt the same way. Only my granddaughter said that she preferred quiet hairdressers. Why? Because she likes to fall asleep when she’s there.

The newest Oxford English Dictionary has about 20 words that come from Japanese. They include katsu, tonkotsu, karaage, onigiri, donburi, and takoyaki. This shows that Japanese food is popular in the English-speaking world. Actually, katsu comes from an English word, “cutlet” but it is cooked in different ways in different countries. I’m sure that people know tonkotsu because ramen is very popular. Takoyaki is a little surprising to me because people seldom eat octopus, and I’ve never had anything like this little hot snack outside Japan. I’m also surprised by onigiri. I still remember going on a picnic when I first came to Japan. I loved the karaage in the picnic basket, but I didn’t like the cold rice balls. (120 words)