One Saturday morning, I was at my favorite cafe thinking about fashion. I looked around to check what stylish people were wearing. Then, I found a handkerchief on the wooden floor near a cool-looking man. He was reading a book and didn’t notice it. I stood up, picked it up, and said to him, “Excuse me. Did you drop this?” He turned his face toward me, but he seemed puzzled. “It’s not mine,” he said. I was confused. I looked at it again. It seemed familiar to me…….It was mine! “Shall I look for the owner with you?” the man said. “No, you don’t have to. Thanks.” My face turned red, and I wanted to go back home.　  (118 words)By Ryugen S. You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Today I am happy to tell you about the 7th Jaremaga Essay Contest for junior high school and high school students. The deadline for your stories is January 10, 2026. We are looking for stories about daily life and heart-warming experiences in simple English. Don’t worry about mistakes. If your story is good, we will choose it! The winners will receive a certificate from Jaremaga, and I will post the stories in February and March next year. To find out more about the contest in Japanese, go to the Jaremaga website. You can submit your story to the following URL: https://forms.gle/aoTf8qz11QgLA3tq7. If you are a junior high school or high school teacher, please encourage your students to write an essay. It is great practice for them, and we can read a lot of interesting stories. It’s a win-win situation for everyone!   (141 words) You can send me a comment or your own story

If you have a smartphone, you probably use QR codes. You can add a friend to your LINE address book by scanning their QR code. Many stores ask you to scan a QR code to pay with electronic money, and restaurants have started using QR codes instead of menus. The QR code was invented by Hara Masahiro at Denso Wave in 1994. There were barcodes at the time, but they were mostly used in supermarkets. Besides, they were not always easy to scan. Hara wanted to make a better code that was easy to scan and could hold a lot more information. One day, while playing Go, a board game with black and white stones, Hara had an idea. If he used small squares, he could make made a “quick response” (QR) code. He did it, and his invention has changed our lives.       (143 words) You can send me a comment or your

I usually write about the winners in sports. Today, however, I want to talk about a team that is not a winner. I have lived in Nagoya for many years, and I’m a fan of the Chunichi Dragons. I remember the great years between 2004 and 2012 when Ochiai Hiromitsu was the manager. Under him, the team won four league championships and the Japan Series. Since then, the team hasn’t done very well. In fact, they came in last place from 2022 to 2024. This year, they have a new manager, and they are doing better. They won the last two games, and I’m happy that my team is going to be in fourth place. They won’t go to the Climax Series this year, but there is always next year. Go, Dragons!   (132 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

I am writing this on Sunday. I am at Cape Irago on the Atsumi Peninsula, and I am looking out at the Pacific Ocean. I brought my binoculars and my camera with me. There are a lot of people here with binoculars and cameras. We are birdwatchers, and we are looking for birds of prey like hawks and eagles. They fly over this place in autumn on their way south for the winter. I met a university student that I know from Nagoya. He came with his birdwatching club. We had a great day and saw five different birds of prey.    (101 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com