Have you ever seen a nutria? I’ve seen two. One was by the side of a lake, and the other was swimming in a river. Nutrias are not native to Japan. They were brought to Japan from South America for their fur, but now there are many nutrias in the wild. They are a problem because they eat the vegetables that farmers grow. Someone caught a nutria and gave the meat to a volunteer at the Fujimae Tidal Flat center. She cut it up and cooked it in olive oil with salt. Everyone liked it. I thought that it tasted a little like beef. Someone else said that it tasted like deer, and another person thought that it tasted like ostrich. The meat doesn’t have much fat and is high in protein. In other words, nutria meat is nutritious.   (139 words)

If you want to climb Mt. Fuji this year, you have to make a reservation. At least you need a reservation if you want to climb the most popular trail, the Yoshida trail in Yamanashi Prefecture. The Yoshida trail reservation site opened yesterday, and they take 3,000 people per day starting on July 1. You have to pay 2,000 yen per person to use the trail. If you want to stay overnight, you have to make another reservation at a mountain hut. Remember that Mt. Fuji is 3,776 meters high. You can get sick if you climb that high, so you need to take breaks every hour. Also, it can get very cold on top of the mountain.  If you decide to climb Mt. Fuji, make a reservation, and make sure that you are healthy and that you have the right clothes.  (142 words)

I went to the rose garden at Tsurumai Park with my wife last week, and we saw many different varieties of roses in different colors and sizes. It is a great time to go see the roses here in Nagoya because they are in full bloom. The white, pink, yellow, purple, and deep red flowers give off a beautiful smell. There were people taking pictures everywhere in the garden. Some were just taking pictures of the flowers, but many were taking pictures of each other. In the middle of the garden was an arch covered with roses. People were waiting in line, and when their turn came, they walked up to the arch and had a friend take their picture.  (120 words)

Most people retire when they finish their working life at the age of 60 or 65, but athletes retire earlier. Uno Shoma is a good example. He has just retired at the age of 26. He started competing in 2009, so his career lasted about 15 years. For most of his career, he had to compete with the great Hanyu Yuzuru. Uno seldom beat him, but he won the silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the bronze medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics. He is a great jumper, and his name is in the Guinness Book because he was the first skater to land a quadruple flip jump. What is he going to do from now on? He wants to concentrate on figure skating. The next time we see him will probably be at a show on ice.  (140 words)

In Japan, people usually clean their house thoroughly at the end of the year. They clean the parts of the house that usually don’t get cleaned regularly such as door screens, window sashes, and the space behind the refrigerator. This doesn’t happen in winter in North America and European countries. Instead, people wait until the weather gets warmer. That’s why it is called spring cleaning. People also change the clothes at this time of year. My sister is doing that right now. She is putting away the boots and sweaters and taking out the warm-weather clothes. The same thing happens in Japan. It’s called “koromogae.” My wife took out our summer clothes last month, and we are still trying to get rid of the things we no longer need. That is the most difficult part!     (135 words)