Do you agree with capital punishment?

What do you think about capital punishment?

Is it effective to decrease crime?

Do you agree with the capital punishment?

In some countries, there are no capital punishments.

Also, each country has different way to kill criminals.

 
 

    In Japan, some criminals get the punishment every year. In Japan, condemned convicts are put to death by hanging. Crime of rebellion against the government, conspiracy against Japan, arson of inhabited structure, murder, robbery resulting in death, robbery and murder, fatal rape occurring during robbery or other crimes are considered to receive a death sentence. Condemned criminals live in prisons and they can choose their hair and clothes. Also, sometimes they enjoy watching movies. They are given some pleasures to keep being in good health because they have to pay with their lives.

 
 

    They know to be executed their sentences in the morning and their families know about it at a later date. When they are executed the sentences, prison officers take them to a front room. Then, they enjoy the last luxury items such as tobacco and snacks, write a will if they have not written it yet, hear a sermon, and the head of prison announce formally the execution of capital punishment. After that, they are put bandage over their eyes, are put handcuffs and let them take to a room to execute the sentence. Then, they are restricted their legs and stand on the appropriate position. Three or five prison officers push the button as soon as the head of prison give a signal and then the floorboard under the criminals opens and the sentence is executed. Prison officers don’t know who killed the person because there are some button. It has role to decrease the psychological burden for prison officers. It is the fact of capital punishment in Japan.      

 
 

What do you think read all of them?

Is capital punishment necessary?

Is it effective?

Is it good for people?

 
 

     In my opinion, capital punishment is necessary in Japan. It is because people who be executed their sentences committed such cruel crimes and must atone for offense. No matter how hard they try, they can never make up for their crimes. Also, it takes more money if they live in prison until their dies and it will give a big damage to Japanese government. Moreover, if they live in prisons for a long time, it is possibility to plan a breakout. It is also dangerous for ordinary people. Besides, if there is a capital punishment, it will be related with reducing crimes. Therefore, capital punishment is necessary.  

*reference*

Death Penalty ProCon.org

http://deathpenalty.procon.org/

 

 

 

Is a College Education Worth It?

Do you think a college education is worth it?

In my opinion, it has high value.

I have three reasons.

I focus on knowledge, job hunting, and salary.

 First, if people enter a college, they can get more knowledge not only their major but also general knowledge, normal social behavior and other types of knowledge. People learn more 4 years in college or university and then they can gain wide and deep knowledge. Also, they study in college and in addition, they can do various kinds of experience such as joining club activities or circle activities, working part-time, studying abroad and living by themselves. These will be good experience to get new knowledge and give them effects. 

Second, if people go to a college, it is easier to get job and they have more choices when they choose companies which they take employment exams. Also, if people have dreams for the future, they can learn the special field and it will help them get the jobs. These days, a lot of companies want college graduates and more people enter a college. If people don’t go to a college, they have few choices when they get jobs. Many high-school graduates will work at manufacturing industry, construction industry, and restaurant business.  

 Finally, people who graduated a college will secure their livelihood. If people go to a college, they have more choices when they choose companies which they take employment exams and it will become easier to get job. Furthermore, college graduates, especially people who graduated highly-selective colleges will have high position at their companies because of their school careers which means they get large salary. Therefore, college graduates will have stable lives. Moreover, it cause to have enough food, live longer, have healthier children and give their children good education. 

Nowadays, it is not easy to get a job and many people get dismissed, have low wages and cannot get some job because of the effect of depression. However, if you study in a college, the risk will become lower. There are a lot of profit if people graduate a collage. College education has high value.

*reference*
ProCon.org.College Education. http://college-education.procon.org/

CARS in JAPAN

    

 Today, I’m going to write about cars in Japan. What do you think the most important thing is when you buy a car? Price, safety, size, design, brand, fuel consumption, considerate of environment, popularity… Nowadays, many people want to buy cars which have low fuel consumption and low price in Japan.

     Then, it is said that the most popular car in Japan is AQUA. It is a full hybrid gasoline-electric subcompact hatchback. It is priced lower than the former Prius and has a higher fuel economy in city driving. It is on sale as Toyota Prius C in other countries.

     It was produced by Toyota Motor Corporation which is one of the biggest and most famous Japanese car corporations in Japan. The PRIUS C concept was introduced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 2010. The production version of the Aqua was revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2011 and it was began selling in Japan in December 2011. The price was about 1.69 million yen (21,700 dollars). After that, the Prius C was released in the Asian markets, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in 2012.

     Because this car has low price and low fuel consumption, it is very popular in Japan now. The number of the order received in a month after the start of sales was about 120,000 and it was ten times as much as they expected.

     Cars are useful and convenient for our lives but they sometimes have harmful effects on nature. People should choose their cars which take the needs of the environment into consideration such as hybrid cars, electric cars and eco-friendly cars.

*References*

新型車アクア 受注状況について ( The state of the orders of AQUA )

http://www2.toyota.co.jp/jp/news/12/02/nt12_0201.html ※Japanese

Hybrid Hatchback Car Toyota Prius

http://www.toyota.com/priusc/

Environmental Problems

Today, I’m going to talk about the environment problems. Environmental problems are one of the biggest problems in the world. Do you know what kind of environmental pollutions there are in the world? Water pollution, atmospheric pollution, noise pollution, olfactory pollution, garbage problem, global warming, desertification and destruction of forests will be famous problems in the world. This time, I mention garbage problem, global warming and atmospheric pollution.

First, garbage problem is a big problem. People dump a lot of garbage every day. Also, no matter how much people burn up them, finally they have the rest of them and they need many final disposal sites. Japanese government enacted The Basic Law for Establishing the Recycling-based Society in 2000. Then, it mentioned that people should work on 3R which means ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’. In addition, each local government issued regulations about garbage and most of them decide that people have to pay money for garbage disposal.

Second, global warming is famous all over the world. It is the global increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere and seawater due to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide. Because of the global warming, we will have abnormal weather, the rise in sea level because of melting of glaciers and ice sheets, destroying the ecosystem, expanding of infectious diseases and food problem. In Japan, people work on the conservation of energy. In 2005, The Japanese Ministry of the Environment began advocating the Cool Biz campaign to help reduce electric consumption by limiting use of air conditioning. It recommended that companies set air conditioner temperatures at 28 °C until September and workers wear trousers made from airy materials and short-sleeved shirts without jackets or ties.

Third, atmospheric pollution is also the problem which people should work on. It is the pollution that the increasing of particulates, biological molecules, or other harmful materials in the Earth's atmosphere cause diseases and deaths for people and animals and damage for plants. The cause is smokes from cars, factories, garbage treatment plants and thermal power generation. In Japan, people work on ‘idling stop’ which is the word made in Japan and which means no idling or idle reduction. It is campaign that people should shuts down and restarts car’s engines to reduce the amount of time the engine spends idling and reducing exhaust gasses.

 

There are many kinds of environmental problems in the world. People likely to demand convenience and hope to live as much as they like. However, these thinking cause the environmental problems. Now, people have to live more in touch with reality and work on to solve the issues. According to the article ‘Sea Level Rise’ by National Geographic,  a recent study says we can expect the oceansto rise between 2.5 and 6.5 feet (0.8 and 2 meters) by 2100, enough to swampmany of the cities along the U.S. East Coast. More dire estimates, including acomplete meltdown of the Greenland ice sheet, push sea level rise to 23 feet (7meters), enough to submerge London. It is only one examle of environmental problem's effects. If people don’t work on environmental problems now, their future will be cheerless and gloomy.

 

*reference*

Sea Level Rise -- National Geographic

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-sea-level-rise/

Halloween

The night of October 31st is Halloween. These days, many people celebrate the event, especially in the United States and Canada every year. In the past, people believed the souls of dead people appeared on Halloween. It is also said that the origin was the spiritual event to celebrate the harvest in the fall and to turn out evil spirits. It took hold not as a spiritual event but civil event. This time, I introduce three events in Halloween.

 

First, I’m going to write about Trick or Treat. Children visit houses while saying ‘Trick or Treat’ and get snacks. Then, they are dressed in costumes such as witches, ghosts, insects, princesses, characters and other things. The origin of Trick or Treat is from the custom which was called ‘souling’ and developed in Europe. It is similar to the custom of the drinking party in the Christmas which was called ‘wassailing’. Cristian walked from one village to other village while wanting to get soul cakes on November 2nd. Then, people promised to pray to guide the souls of the dead relatives the way to the heaven.

 

Second, I’m going to write about Jack-o'-Lantern. Jack-o'-Lantern is made by cutting eyes, a nose, and a mouse in a pumpkin by knife. Sometimes, people cut bats, witches, old castles or other scary things in pumpkins. After that, people put a candle inside pumpkins to shine through the holes. It is the most famous symbol of the Halloween. People make the pumpkins which have scary faces and silly faces and put them on the doorstep to scare evil spirits to get it out. It is the symbol of ‘will-o'-the-wisp’.

 

Finally, I’m going to write about dressing up. They dress up costumes as traditional things such as ghosts, witches, bats, black cats, goblins, zombies and devil and supernatural monsters which appear on the novels such as Dracula, werewolf and Frankenstein. These days, many children like to dress up as characters which appear on the movies and animations such as Spider-Man and Batman, princesses and pirates.  Women also wear costumes like maids, nurses and police. People hold a Halloween costume party.

 

These events will be popular in Western and this year people will also celebrate Halloween on a large scale. On the otherhands, in Japan, Halloween wasn't celebrated before. However, these days, it's becoming popular year in and year out. This is my first Halloween in America and I have not joined Halloween party until now. I’m looking forward to coming Halloween.

 

 

*reference*

Halloween in Japan

http://gojapan.about.com/cs/japanesefestivals/a/halloween.htm

 

 

Why Japanese are NOT good at speaking English?

Some people say that the age of globalization has come and English skills are the most important in the international communication. We need to speak English to play an active part in the world. However, most Japanese are not good at English, especially, speaking English. I found an article about this problem and consider my opinion, why Japanese not good at speaking English. I mention three reasons.

First, we don’t need to use English in usual in our daily lives. There are little people in Japan who need to use English and they are people who work for multinational corporations. Most people have no problem in their daily lives even if they don’t speak English. It is probably one reason which Japanese are not good at speaking English.

Second, Japanese government focuses on reading, writing, and grammar on the English education. We don’t have enough opportunities to speak English and hardly do discussion and group work in the classroom, especially, when we were high school students. Also, Japanese dislike to do different behavior from others and it makes us feel embarrassed to pronounce correctly. It’s also one reason that Japanese can’t improve speaking skill.  

Third, Japanese language is completely different from English in pronunciation letters, and structure. We don’t use our tongues and breathes when we pronounce. Also, we use hiragana, katakana, and kanji as Japanese alphabet. In addition, verb is placed on the end of sentence in Japanese. On the other hand, European languages and Chinese are rather similar to English in word order. It means learning English for Japanese people is more difficult than it is for European and Chinese people.

I think Japanese should have more opportunities to speak English to improve their skills. In addition, Japanese people need to speak English more fluently and logically because English is widely used all over the world and the necessity for English is increasing these days. This makes easier for us to communicate with foreign people and many companies more smoothly, which would strengthen our economic power. We have to learn English more for us.     

*Referenceｓ*

Why Can’t Japanese People Speak English

http://blog.gaijinpot.com/cant-japanese-people-speak-english/

How to Protect Us from Natural Disasters

I’m going to write about natural disasters in Japan, today.

In the world, there are many kinds of natural disasters such as earthquake, volcanic eruption, tsunami, landslide, flood, tornado, drought, tidal wave, snow damage or others. Sometimes these kill or injure a lot of people. Every year, many people die unexpectedly because of natural disasters suddenly. 

Especially, earthquake and tsunami which arises in the wake of earthquake, and volcanic eruption are natural disasters which Japanese pay attention. 

Therefore, this time, I mention how to protect us by ourselves from these three natural disasters.

First, earthquakes often happen in Japan every year and they have different sizes.

They cause the damage for human because of injury, the danger of life, mental damage like stress, depression and neurosis because of the death of their family or friends and the life at refuge. Also, it causes the damage for structures, agriculture, traditional buildings, factories, stores, lifeline, and ground, fire, tsunami, the decline in medical service, public service and public service.

By the way, what should we do to protect us from earthquake?

We can put up resistances to earthquakes on houses, hold furniture strongly, check shelters, prepare preserved food and listen to information of earthquakes and second disasters.

When earthquake happens, we should leave from large furniture, protect our heads and bodies, put out the fire on gas stove, shut the gas tap, open doors and windows, and wear clothes, shoes and helmet to protect. After the shaking subsides, you should go outside.

Second, Japanese also consider that volcanic eruption is one of the natural disasters which people are afraid of.

Some people die and injure, volcanic eruption give damages to mountains and forests, wastelands, rest stations on the mountains, private houses, airplanes and other transportation because of volcanic gasses, cinders, volcanic mudslide, volcanic ash slide, lava, and eruption. Some ship are sometimes wrecked and people are killed because of eruptions of undersea volcanoes.

We can listen to the information about volcanic activities in ordinary life, especially before we go to mountains. We can submit climbing notification, confirm where there are the shelters or mountain huts, and take protective mask and goggles before we go to mountains. Also, it is necessary to prepare preserved food and water, flashlight, blanket, and medicines if you live near active volcano.

When we meet volcanic eruption in mountain, we should go upwind and the shelters or mountain huts, cover your mouse with handkerchief or mask, and take contact lenses off. If we meet volcanic eruption in the house, we should gather information and seal up windows.

A volcanic eruption of Mount Ontake took place on September 27th, 2014. Mount Ontake is a volcano located in Japan and located around 200 km western Tokyo. It killed over 50 people. Also, on March 11^th, 2011, the large earthquake stuck Japan. It is significant for Japanese to pay attention to natural disasters and prepare countermeasures against them.

*reference*

The Japan Times

Mount Ontake's ashes yield four more bodies as search teams race to beat typhoon 

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/05/national/bodies-found-volcano-search-resumes-ahead-typhoon/#.VDG_P3lxnIU