Long night

Two nights ago, after I enjoyed dinner with my friends, I took the last train to go home. It usually takes me about 45 minutes to my home but on that day, it took me 3 and a half hours...

I left the restaurant 11:50 at night. The train was late but I wasn't worried about it too much because the last train tends to be late. Anyway, I got on the train around 12:20, and it was 1:30am when I got to the transfer station. I found out that the last train from that station had left way before we got there. The train was late not because of an accident with casualties but a trouble of a signal or something.

JR staffs kept saying they are trying to run a special train but didn't know when. I was told that it would come in about 10 minutes but ended up waiting for more than 1 hour. It was already around 2:40am when a train came although that train didn't go all the way to my station. So after I got off at the closer station, I had to wait for a taxi...
It was at 3:40am when I finally got home.

Can you imagine how tired we were?? When the last train came, so many people were lying on the seats or the floor and sleeping...

While waiting for the train, some people were screaming at station attendants asking for taxi fare, some people were logically explaining how JR violated the law, and many others were just waiting for a train to come quietly.

I personally came to enjoyed the situation. Being an actress and a playwright, I like watching people and learning their behavior. The situation like that is a perfect drama setting!! ...Although I wouldn't want to be in the situation again...

Good luck!

Yesterday, I woke up with a small tremor. When I turned on TV, there was a big earthquake in northern region. 6 people died and 11 others are still missing... Hope they will be found alive very soon...


Hoshide san is back from the space today. I am glad he came back safely. Can't wait to hear about his experience!!

Anyway, I saw my friends the other day at Izakaya! Izakaya is like a Japanese style pub. Nowadays, there are many small semi-private rooms so that we can enjoy our conversation without a disturbance.

It was great seeing them-- Ben, Kenji, and Amy! Amy is leaving for the States soon. Since she has been a great supportive friend, I will miss her a lot... Good luck Amy! (^^)

How sad...

Did you hear about yesterday's murder case in Akihabara? It was an awful incident... The murderer drove into a crowd by a truck and hit 3 people, then stabbed randomly with a big knife. 7 people were killed and 10 others were injured.
I'd like to extend my deep condolences to those victims.

According to the news, the criminal said he just wanted to commit murder, it didn't matter who he killed.
The news also said he was a good student in junior high school but after becoming a student of a prestigious high school, he couldn't keep up with other students--that was when he started to see himself as a looser.

What does a "good student" mean in this society? It means a student who can get high scores on tests, get in a good college, and work at a big company...at least that's what he and his parents thought...
Maybe he couldn't follow the ideal pass of his own, but he is only 25 years old. He could have had many many other dreams.
Why did he had to kill so many innocent people??? Why did he give up so easily??

I don't know... but only if he had someone close who could've listen to his problem, things might have been different...

Veteran's interview

Hoshide san is doing a great job in space. I am happy to see his smiling face on TV! I can't wait to hear about his mission when he gets back.

A few days ago, I interviewed Mr. Masazumi Utada, an 88-year-old veteran of World War II. It was part of my volunteer work. I have been a member of NGO called "Senjyo taiken eizo hozon kai"--an organization which tries to preserve videos of ex-soldiers' interviews.

Mr. Utada was sent to New Guinea in 1944 and survived in the severe condition. Since the Japanese military had no way to send food, medicine, nor weapons to the soldiers, so many people died in the jungle due to the starvation and malaria. He said they ate anything that looked edible, such as weed, frogs, snakes, grasshoppers, maggot, even their own shoes...

He also told us how they had killed native people and how sorry he was.

After two hours of interview, Mr. Utada said, "We must not go into war again. Never!" I believe we the younger generations must learn from the history and carry on the messages.