ChanomiTalk

今朝の湘南は少し冷え込みましたが、それが心地良く感じます。
澄んだ空気の中で、雪の富士がぐっと近くに迫って見えました。

今日はハワイからケオニさんがNACOS Shonanを訪問。
短い時間でしたが、日本語での小話の読みを特訓。
スカイプレッスンで、ゆっくり着実に身に付いているのを感じました。
とても楽しいひとときでした。ありがとう！

車の燃料費が１ガロン２ドルを割るとは. . . わずか６ヶ月前までは考えもしなかったことです。
特に、燃料費の値下がりは年末に長距離旅行する人にとって大助かりです。

手元の車燃料費受取証を調べてみると、７月１１日ガロン当たり３ドル７５セント、満タンすると４９ドル９６セント、以後、８月、３ドル１９セント、１０月　２ドル９４セント、１２月１０日２ドル４５セントと値下がりが続き、昨日はなんと満タンして２６ドル５７セントでした（ネブラスカの燃料費は国平均に近い）。

新聞記事によると、値下がりの理由は需要と供給の関係で説明出来るとのこと。
まず、２００８年以来、世界の至る所で石油の発掘がなされている。米国の産油量はそれ以前に比べ７０％増加している。中東や北アフリカの産油国は情勢が不安定であるにも拘らず産油量を保持している。

一方需要面では、中国、日本、西ヨーロッパ等のオイル需要国の経済状態は足部踏み状態である。米国では　車の能率化が進んだ結果、オイルの需要はのびていない。

以上のごとく、供給が需要を上回っている結果、値下がりとなるのですが、何故、供給側が供給量を減らさないのかの理由は不明です。推測になりますが、オイル産油国（イラン、イラク、ロシア、ベネズエラ等）や産油州（アラスカ、北ダコタ、オクラホマ、テキサス等）ではオイル収入に頼っているので、今、産油量を減らすわけにはいかないのではないでしょうか。　収入減となると何千もの失業が予測されていますので、オイルの値下がりも手放して喜んでもいられず、消費者にとってはまさに痛し痒しです。

時刻は、午後４時３０分。
場所は、いつもの善行駅前通りの坂の上。

ハワイから日本に持ち帰った小物たちです。
クリスマスに少しだけ出して飾ってみました。

The Latest News from Fujisawa　近況報告　藤沢より
In January 2014, half a year after our hectic transition from Hawaii to Japan, we received an email from the president of Hawaii Pacific Press, Kazuo Nakamine. In March, we sent in a submission detailing our transfer from Hawaii to Japan. It was published over the summer, about a year after our move, and so the excited feelings we have from that time are once again in our hearts. To all of our friends in Hawaii: please let us know how things are going when you get a chance. We are thankful for all that you have done for us, and we are certain that our bonds will remain strong long into the future.
(- Michiko Nakamura)


The following is an article that was originally published by the Hawaii Pacific Press on August 1, 2014, translated into English by Chay Schiller.

（２０１４年８月にハワイパシフィックプレスに掲載された記事をチェイ・シラーさんが英訳しました。）


(Below is the article as it appears in the paper.)

“NACOS Shonan” Opens in Fujisawa City
by Shuzo & Michiko Nakamura

August 1, 2014 — Hawaii Pacific Press
Mr. Nakamine recently made a most welcome request for us to write an article about our fond recollections of Hawaii. As husband and wife, we moved from Kyoto to Honolulu in 1987, where we established NACOS International Institute. Until we switched locations to Japan in 2013, we were blessed for the span of a quarter century with the chance to meet many wonderful people. Mr. Nakamine of the Hawaii Pacific Press is a distinguished member of that group. Our relationship with Mr. Nakamine has endured for over 20 years, and we have written regular articles for his paper, the Hawaii Pacific Press. We now humbly submit one more article with profound gratitude for the deep bonds that we have been able to maintain with our esteemed colleague.

On July 15, 2013, the day of the Gion festival, we departed from the familiar comfort of Hawaii and made our way to Japan. For the first time in 25 years, we found ourselves right in the middle of a hot and humid Japanese summer. As soon as we finished some business in Kansai, we headed through our home town of Kyoto and on to Kanto. It was there that we had decided to establish our new base of operations: NACOS Shonan, in Fujisawa. We had departed from Honolulu, our longtime home in the heart of the Pacific, and begun a new chapter in Zengyo, in the heart of Fujisawa city.

There were two major reasons that we had chosen Fujisawa city. The first was that our close friend and web developer, Cory Morrison, lived there. At NACOS, we have developed and implemented a proprietary method for language acquisition called the NACOS method. As the internet grew year by year, we began to realize that our method would be most effectively implemented online. Some of our members naturally came to be involved in the development of our website. Cory Morrison was one such person, and he ended up moving from Hawaii to Fujisawa to begin work as a web developer. Through our Skype and email correspondence with him, we came to learn that Fujisawa was close to Tokyo and had a relaxing atmosphere that would make life there easy. As we reviewed potential destinations for our return to Japan, the Shonan region gradually captured our interest. At first, we had wanted to push our boundaries just a bit by living somewhere moderately far removed from the house we own in Kyoto; in other words, somewhere in the Kansai region. However, it became clear in the end that Fujisawa was appropriate for us to develop the NACOS method via skype and to work on new internet-based projects. After living here for a while, we have confirmed that NACOS members from Hawaii or elsewhere in America have an easy time visiting us here. As part of their plans to visit Japan, or perhaps on the way back from a business trip in Taiwan, Hong Kong or Southeast Asia, our friends can hop over from Tōkyō without much trouble. They are able to experience a feeling of homecoming right here in Japan. As we continue to strengthen the NACOS network through Skype and through the internet, we are also seeing the steady growth of a tightly knit NACOS community.

The exuberant feeling of living in Honolulu close to Diamond Head has continued at NACOS Shonan under the watch of Mt. Fuji. We are not really separated; rather, strong bonds shall keep us connected into the future. Chay Schiller has taken over the NACOS Hawaii branch and continues to strive for the perfection of the NACOS method as we maintain a constant dialogue via email and Skype. The years we spent living under the beauty of Diamond Head have drifted by unhurriedly, and yet they now seem to have expired in no time at all. If there were only one thing about Hawaii for which we felt a fierce nostalgia, it would surely be the beautiful Diamond Head ocean vista. Although we seldom ventured into the ocean, we loved Honolulu with its popular destinations, its crowded streets, and the beautiful nature that surrounded it. Here in the Zengyo district, we are also blessed with friendly streets, and Mt. Fuji stands before us as though smiling with a neighborly face. The people of Fujisawa are laid back, just like in Hawaii. We have made a smooth transition to this area and we are already setting down our roots here. Towards the end of the year, we received an invitation for Michiko to give a violin performance at the Greenlife Shonan nursing home. We are bringing language and music into a new land, and so the NACOS community continues to widen. Like the fabled turtle, we shall slowly and steadily continue to cultivate the the richness that Hawaii has left in our hearts. Above all else, the most precious treasures we found in Hawaii have been the people, such as Mr. Nakamine. The beauty of Hawaii will also remain an important memory. After we have settled down a bit, we hope to continue visiting Hawaii whenever we can out of appreciation for all it has done for us.

(Click on the picture to make it bigger.)

Photo：
A recent photo of Mr. Shuzo Nakamura
A violin performance given at a nursing home near the end of last year

Mikiyo Nakajima, who is currently an instructor at Urasenke in Kamakura, has been an acquaintance of ours for 27 years. She was the first English student we had after establishing NACOS in Honolulu. We have remained friends, and we currently live within walking distance from each other. We get together whenever we can make time. She was the first person to whom we introduced the special project at Hawaii Pacific Press after receiving our own invitation from Mr. Nakamine.
(- Michiko Nakamura)


The following is an article that was originally published by the Hawaii Pacific Press on August 1, 2014, translated into English by Chay Schiller.

（２０１４年８月にハワイパシフィックプレスに掲載された記事をチェイ・シラーさんが英訳しました。）


(Below is the article as it appears in the paper.)

9 Years in Hawaii
by Sobi Nakajima – Instructor at Urasenke

It’s been 17 years since I returned to Japan, but it feels like only yesterday. My nine year Hawaiian sojourn is sadly a thing of the past, and yet fond memories of that crystal clear sky and those azure waters still float through my mind. My life in Hawaii’s perfect climate, surrounded by its lush environment, was easy and carefree. It was my rakuen – my paradise.

I have lived in Kamakura ever since coming back to Japan. Kamakura, the old base of power for the Samurai, is often referred to as Shonan. Often referred to as Shonan, Kamakura is the old base of power for the Samurai. The area’s popularity has surged recently, and it is now considered the third most desirable area to live in the Japan. This popularity is probably due to the area’s ideal location 1 hour away from Tokyo by train coupled with the natural beauty of a wide open ocean on one side and mountain ranges on the other. Every year, a wide variety of tourists flood the area – not just from Japan, but from many other countries too.

In Kamakura, I am still very close to the ocean – I live on the Zaimokuza coast. On days when the weather is good, one can clearly see Enoshima and the Izu peninsula. With a bit of luck, one can even spot Mt. Fuji in the distance. Watersports are very popular, and on holidays many surfers come to seek out good waves. There are also many hula dancers. Last year, a hula group from Hilo gave a traditional hula performance on the pavilion at the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. Looking at all of these things together, one gets the sense that Hawaii and Kamakura are really not so different.

As far as my job goes, I do the same thing here as I did in Hawaii: I teach the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. As you know, Kamakura is a land of many Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Since these locations are often used to hold chakai (traditional tea parties), this area is also a bastion of the tea ceremony. However, the overall state of this and other traditions is deplorable. These days, the number of young people who study the tea ceremony has dwindled, but this is merely one aspect of a growing neglect for traditional Japanese culture as a whole. Although modern life is more hectic than ever, it is for that very reason that we should learn to slow down, breathe a little, and gain an appreciation for the changing of the seasons. I would also like to see people using the tea ceremony to learn hospitality and consideration for others.

It was difficult to continue the unique Japanese appreciation of the seasons while in Hawaii, the land of eternal summer. However, we came up with ways to adapt it to our circumstances and our surroundings. If Japanese confectioneries were unavailable, we would come up with our own creations; for the ceremonies themselves, we would use what tools we had available. In this way, we were able to enjoy a uniquely Hawaiian tea ceremony. I ended up gaining a deeper appreciation of tea through that experience, and I am now dedicated to using my humble abilities every day to impart what I have learned. Even so, when I see a Hawaiian vista on TV, my fond memories of Hawaii surface once again and I am filled with the desire to go there and live a few more moments of life in that easy and carefree paradise.


(Click on the picture to make it bigger.)

Photo:
A moon-themed arrangement in a tokonoma (a decorative area in a traditional Japanese room). Practicing at the Tsurugaoka Hachimanguu.

In January 2014, half a year after our hectic transition from Hawaii to Japan, we received an email from the president of Hawaii Pacific Press, Kazuo Nakamine, regarding a project for a special edition of his paper. On August 1, the special edition was published with our article included. The following is the editor’s introduction to the contents of this section, appearing at the top of the front page.
(- Michiko Nakamura)


The following is an article that was originally published by the Hawaii Pacific Press on August 1, 2014, translated into English by Chay Schiller.

（２０１４年８月にハワイパシフィックプレスに掲載された記事をチェイ・シラーさんが英訳しました。）


(Below is the article as it appears in the paper.)

August 1, 2014
Hawaii Pacific Press
“Remembering Hawaii – The Stories of Those Who Returned to Japan.”
Special update on nine Japanese “bubble businessmen” who used to work in Hawaii!

The bubble economy was a golden time from the mid-eighties to the early nineties when Japanese-led ventures in Hawaii were at their peak. What has become of the Japanese businessmen that flourished in Hawaii during this time? Surely, there are many who would like to know.

Accordingly, we at Hawaii Pacific Press resolved to learn what had become of these bubble businessmen. We now present their stories in a special section of our 37th anniversary publication, entitled “Remembering Hawaii – The Stories of Those Who Returned to Japan.”

In January, soon after this project’s conception, Kazuo Nakamine, the president of this paper, contacted three longtime friends to inform them of the project and request their participation. They are Hiroshi Miyamura of Nomura Securities, currently living in Tokyo, and Shuzo and Michiko Nakamura, who just moved back to Japan last year after 25 years in Hawaii and currently live in Fujisawa.

All three of them agreed it was a good idea, and they graciously took the further step of encouraging more potential contributors to compose and submit articles about their memories of Hawaii and their lives after returning to Japan.

Results began to appear in short order. In early March, articles arrived from Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura and from Mrs. Nakajima Sobi, whom the couple had introduced to the project. In April, we were happy to receive emails from each of the contributors that Mr. Miyamura had recommended: Atsuki Fukuda from Tokyo Optical, Tadamichi Okubo from Japan Air Lines, Toru Asano from Ajinomoto, and Hironori Maruyama from All Nippon Airways. Each of these men supported us in the past by paying for advertising during the infancy the Hawaii Pacific Press, right after our launch, and we are deeply indebted to them.

Then, as we approached the submission deadline at the end of May, our contributors swelled to nine people with Tomoyuki Murayama from Tokai Bank, Hideaki Saeki from UCC Coffee, and finally Hiroshi Miyamura. The end result has far exceeded our expectations.

Looking over these submissions, we can tell that things have gone well for each of our bubble businessmen after returning to Japan. They have been entrusted with important positions and have moved on the enter the elite within their companies. There are also those who have retired, and have either taken up teaching at a university or improved their English and assumed important roles abroad.

For some of our contributors, such as Mr. Asano, living in Hawaii represented a life turning point. For all of them, Hawaii has become a second home. Some return every year on vacation.

The following are the submissions from all nine people, printed in one compilation.

One last thing – there is a group in Tokyo known as the Tokyo Hawaii Asunaro Club. Its membership was 69 in December 1993, and it had 38 registered members in July 2011. I understand that they often get together and play golf.

ここは小田急の善行駅前です。
暖炉のような富士山が微笑んでいます。

富士山が見えると、冬の夕暮れ時でも町が華やいで見えます。
「ありがとう！」と、私は富士山に声をかけました。

善行駅前、八百屋さんの前です。
街灯と無数の電線に、富士山。
生活美を感じます。