There is a bookshelf at my tap dance studio, and anyone can read the books on it. When a friend of mine put a series of comic books called “Blue Giant” on it, I decided to read them. They were so good that I couldn’t put them down! The story is about a young man from Sendai who loves to play the saxophone. He goes to Tokyo to become a jazz musician. He has many difficult times, but he never gives up and becomes a great saxophonist. They made an animated movie of it, and I saw it last week. If you like jazz, watch the movie and enjoy the music. If you don’t like jazz, just read the comic books. They’re great! (123  words)

I found an unusual vending machine at a subway station. The machine sells soft drinks, and it has a sign that helps foreign travelers pay for the drinks. If you have ever traveled in a foreign country, you know that it can be difficult to pay for something. You don’t know the money of the country, so you have to look at each coin and figure out how much it is worth. The sign on this machine is very helpful. It shows the coins that you need to pay for a drink. If the drink costs 130 yen, it shows one 100-yen coin and three 10-yen coins. If the drink costs 160 yen, it shows one 100-yen coin, one 50-yen coin, and one 10-yen coin. 　(125 words)

It is 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 28, and the weather has been bad all day. This morning and early afternoon, there was a lot of rain. I waited for the rain to let up, and then I went to the supermarket after lunch. As I was driving, the rain started to come down hard. I used my windshield wipers and chose the fastest speed so that I could see through the rain. Thanks to the supermarket’s covered parking lot, I didn’t get wet. When I came back home, it wasn’t raining so hard. Now the rain isn’t so bad, but the wind is very strong. This isn’t a typhoon, but it certainly sounds like one!  (116 words)

His real name is Nakamura Daiki, but he is known by his sumo name. His high school teacher called him the “Ohtani of sumo.” He was an amateur champion at university, and when he entered professional sumo, he rose quickly to the top. He won his first championship after only seven tournaments. That is the fastest pace for any sumo wrestler. It looks like his high school teacher was right. On Sunday, the father came from Ishikawa to watch his son on the last day of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo. He started crying when he saw his son win. Unlike the father, the son kept calm. This 23-year-old from Ishikawa is the new hero of sumo. Do you know who I am talking about?  (127 words)

We have a year-long program for children between the ages of 10 and 15 at Fujimae Tidal Flat in Nagoya, and in May, we have a two-day camp at the center. This helps us get to know the children, and they to get to know each other. Last Saturday, we put up tents together, and everyone made dinner. After dinner, children used supermarkets ads to find out where the food in Japan comes from. Only 37% of our food comes from Japan. Yesterday, the children got up at 5 a.m. and started playing. They were so excited that they couldn’t sleep. We took them out onto the tidal flat in the morning and in the afternoon, and everyone had a great time, but now the adult staff really need a day off!   (132 words)