Children in Japanese schools have to learn about 2,000 kanji characters. That is a lot, but people need to know that many to read and write modern Japanese. However, there are many characters that people don’t know. There was a TV quiz show yesterday, and the people on the show had to read characters for 10 different birds. I guessed the name of one bird correctly, and my wife got another two, but we didn’t know the other seven. Characters are great because you can guess that they are birds, but there are too many characters to learn the names of all the birds! I’m glad that most bird names are written in katakana now.   (115 words) Watch the video at https://youtu.be/vUVUzVlTGfg You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Yesterday was Easter. It is an important holiday in Christian countries. Christians believe that Jesus Christ died on Friday and went to Heaven on Sunday, so Easter is always on Sunday. Even before Christianity, however, there were spring celebrations at this time of year. The cold winter ends and life begins again. Eggs and rabbits are symbols of new life in the spring, and they became symbols of Easter, too. We tell children that the Easter Bunny brings them eggs. Parents do fun things with their children like painting eggs and having Easter egg hunts. Children love looking for eggs, especially if they are made of chocolate!   (107 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

When I think of animal cafes, I think of cats and owls, but there are other kinds of animal cafes. Some have dogs, some have sheep, and some have hedgehogs. Now, there is a new kind of animal cafe in Florida. It has capybaras! You sit on the floor with a blanket over your legs, and the capybaras come into the room. They are very used to people, so they will come to you and sit on your lap. The cafe has other exotic animals, too. I saw a skunk and an armadillo in the video, and the cafe has a wombat, too. I would like to go to the cafe, but Florida is a long way to go to pet a capybara! Luckily, I was able to see one at the Takeshima Aquarium in Gamagori last month.  (138 words) You can also watch a video about the cafe at the URL below.

I usually walk my daughter’s dog a few mornings every week. He takes me along the same streets each time, but it isn’t boring, especially not now. Spring is here, and there are flowers everywhere. Some people work hard to make their gardens look good. Other people don’t have gardens, so they plant flowers in flowerpots and put them in front of their houses. I was surprised when we passed a small park the other day. Most of the grass was light green, but a creative gardener had made a heart with the dark green grass at the entrance. That made me smile. (103 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Have you ever taken a life-saving course? They teach you how to help a person if they stop breathing or their heart stops. These days, they teach you how to use AEDs. These special devices help to start the heart again. There is an AED at the environmental center where I work, and every year at the beginning of April, we have a life-saving training course. We practice with people-sized dolls. We try to talk to them, and we ask one person to call 119 and another person to bring the AED. While we are waiting for help, we pump their chest to keep them alive. The AED checks the person’s heart rhythm and gives the heart a shock. That shock can help the heart start working again. If you have a chance, take a life-saving course. You could save someone’s life!  (142 words) You can send me a comment or your own