SHUKAKUSAI (The Harvest Festival)
Beyond the celebration.
Every year in November, we as students of Tokyo University of Agriculture, celebrate the Harvest Festival (収穫祭); clubs, sport teams, student associations, and Nodai’s general student community, prepare their own roles; some of them in a sports competition, others selling different products such as food, drinks, traditional things from foreign countries. Everybody tries to get the best from themselves.
And finally the day arrives, it is the Harvesting Festival day opening. Everyone is on their marks ready to enjoy this celebration. I am near the new foot ball field and I can see some girls from a dancing club being ready for today’s competition. Then I go to the stores area and there are a lot of people making an enormous line to buy something from stores. Also some kids from elementary school enjoying candies that they just have bought. Near the stage, in a classroom we can see young boys and girls shaking their heads, and believe it or not there is a rock concert inside.
But this is just a small image of what is exactly the Harvesting Festival. Really is the Shukakusai, does not start from November in fact starts some weeks before November. A question comes to my head. What is beyond this celebration called Harvesting Festival? Is there something else beyond this yearly celebration? The answer is, yes of course, there lots of things and effort beyond this Shukakusai. Let’s move through the time and see what was happening in spring vacation? The first image could be that there were not anybody at school, but there were lots of people dancing in front the Green Cafeteria, preparing a dance number for Shukakusai. There were some foreigners receiving their new Kohai’s as the junior are called in Japanese and these guys were began introduced to these new students, through these activities we found the Harvesting Festival. There were some Nodai’s workers asking a company to bring the necessary for this festival, such as tables, chopsticks, speakers, chairs, camping armable houses, and so on. Also there were some teachers organizing their schedules for this semester for the Shukakusai. There were some workers from a construction company designing and remodeling Nodai’s foot ball stadium.
This Shukakusai was ready to be the best Shukakusai in Nodai’s history, but something happened; even when everyone had the experience from the last year, even when everyone gave the best from themselves, even when everybody had in mind to be the best on their activity something happened, not everything could be perfect; the weather was the best at all, the last day was windy, and Shukakusai stopped early, some people did do what they were planning to do, some of them did not enjoy this festival. Some people were disappointed with themselves because not everything was a complete success.
Nevertheless it seems that the effort they gave was not enough, this festival was not a successful as it was though, and never it is enough, even when almost everybody was trying to do their best effort, some people was starting late, and some others were not doing their work as they must to. Things never go good when some lacy people are just losing their time. That was what made the difference in this Shukakusai. So please people, do not feel that everything is going okay when it is not. In my opinion there are three words to get a success:
Organization: have everything ready, everybody on their roles and everything in a schedule.
Responsibility: start on time, do responsibly your role, take it seriously.
Effort: organization and responsibility are enough to have a good job, but that will be only good, if you want a really great job, then add to this two characteristics effort as a plus.
You have one more opportunity for the next year, so please do not waste it.
Gomez Luevano Oscar Salatiel
Sakura Times Editor
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Penguin DNA Evolving Faster Than Thought
sakura times
By Carla Valenzuela
Investigations have showed that the evolution of penguins happens in double time, according to new genetic calculations.
A team of researches collected mitochondrial DNA from Adelie penguins currently living in Antarctica and from bones of penguins that had lived in the same place as long as 44,000 years ago. The analysis revealed that penguins are evolving on a molecular scale two times faster than standard calculations.
Using an ancient DNA allowed the researchers to see all the changes in the mitochondrial genome, a process that is invisible when one compares DNA between two modern species. Each difference in the DNA between two species is calculated as a single change, when in fact multiple changes might have happened. The researchers were able to see all of these changes by comparing the modern birds to several generations of their ancestors.The whole mitochondrial genome has more changes per unit time than previous methods had predicted. The researchers found protein coding genes change more slowly than the hypervatiable region and genes that encode transfer RNAs and ribosomal RNAs change even more slowly than protein coding regions. This data indicate that scientist should calculate evolutionary rates on the basis of the entire mitochondrial genome and not just from a small part
Tokyo Giants Became Champion OF Nippon Series
The Nippon Series is a match to select the best baseball team in Japan.There is Central League, Pacific League in Japan. And the king of two leagues can scratch NO.1. The Giants (Tokyo) of Central League becomes number one in Japan by four wins two defeats this year; the Pacific League was Fighters (Hokkaido). It is seven years since then 02 and the 21St.In addition, to be the match that selected championship as was 2-0 (complete blockade victory). Abe (Giants) became the MVP. And Manager Hara of the second became number one in Japan. This is a record to equal that Manager Nagashima. The giants participated in the Japan Series last year and played a game with Seibu Lions (Saitama) But, Giants lost by a reversal by the seventh round to select championship. The revenge was possible, and the giants became strong again. I can expect it in the next season.
Sports News Department
Takaki Wakui
Sports News Department
Takaki Wakui
The political change in Japan
Aug 30, 2009, this is the biggest day of Japanese political history. Since 1955 the cabinet in Japan was formed by the liberal Democratic Party of Japan(LDP), but this day the Lower House election was done and the Democratic Party of Japan(DPJ) got 308 seats out of 480 seats. This means LDP lost their position as be in the political power, And DPJ get it and Hatoyama become the Prime Minister.
After Prime Minister junichiro Koizumi come to the end of his term as the president of LDP in 2006, many change happened in Japan. Three Prime Minister in Japan changed only three years. Each person served as Prime Minister only one year. This is eccentric thing in a developed nation. This is because they couldn’t get support of public opinion because they got their position without an election by citizen.
This graph shows the percentage of approval rating when assumption of the Prime Minister searched by NHK.
According to this graph, the number of people who support the LDP and cabinet was dropped. In 2001 the percentage of those supporting Koizumi and In 2009 Hatoyama is almost over 70%.This number is clearly higher than other three peoples.
Prime Minister Koizumi became popular among people by he was a decisive person, he took the lead,his character and he worked as Prime Minister 1980 days,this is third largest period after WW2.His policy was supported but it sometimes brought about some problems. Then the percentage of not a regular employee became one-third and people’s life couldn’t improvement. After Koizumi three Prime Minister were bone,but they lose trust and the percentage of approval rating was dropped day by day.
It is said that most Japanese people think “change is not good thing” because people in Japan afraid changes especially big change such as change of government. So why Japanese people thought DPJ is better than LDP?Every people support his and LDP’s policy? It’s not. Most of citizen suspected LDP’s policy have some unreasonable and contradiction things. For example, before the Lower House election, the main theme of the Hatoyama Cabinet is using highways free of charge and it will be active for economic activity. But Hatoyama said in the United Nations Summit on Climate Change in NY that Japan may cut 25% CO2 by 2020.This is impossible if we can use highway without money.
This table shows “why you support LDP?”searched by NTV.
expectation for policy 40,9%
There are no one others 15,3%
Hatoyama’s personality 12,4%
Others 31.4%
Now we are facing a lot of problems financial,environment,international relations, welfare etc.What people in Japan need is “Change”. Everyone expect Hatoyama to do something for Japan.
Sakura times
politics and economics
Tomofumi Miyanoshita
After Prime Minister junichiro Koizumi come to the end of his term as the president of LDP in 2006, many change happened in Japan. Three Prime Minister in Japan changed only three years. Each person served as Prime Minister only one year. This is eccentric thing in a developed nation. This is because they couldn’t get support of public opinion because they got their position without an election by citizen.
This graph shows the percentage of approval rating when assumption of the Prime Minister searched by NHK.
According to this graph, the number of people who support the LDP and cabinet was dropped. In 2001 the percentage of those supporting Koizumi and In 2009 Hatoyama is almost over 70%.This number is clearly higher than other three peoples.
Prime Minister Koizumi became popular among people by he was a decisive person, he took the lead,his character and he worked as Prime Minister 1980 days,this is third largest period after WW2.His policy was supported but it sometimes brought about some problems. Then the percentage of not a regular employee became one-third and people’s life couldn’t improvement. After Koizumi three Prime Minister were bone,but they lose trust and the percentage of approval rating was dropped day by day.
It is said that most Japanese people think “change is not good thing” because people in Japan afraid changes especially big change such as change of government. So why Japanese people thought DPJ is better than LDP?Every people support his and LDP’s policy? It’s not. Most of citizen suspected LDP’s policy have some unreasonable and contradiction things. For example, before the Lower House election, the main theme of the Hatoyama Cabinet is using highways free of charge and it will be active for economic activity. But Hatoyama said in the United Nations Summit on Climate Change in NY that Japan may cut 25% CO2 by 2020.This is impossible if we can use highway without money.
This table shows “why you support LDP?”searched by NTV.
expectation for policy 40,9%
There are no one others 15,3%
Hatoyama’s personality 12,4%
Others 31.4%
Now we are facing a lot of problems financial,environment,international relations, welfare etc.What people in Japan need is “Change”. Everyone expect Hatoyama to do something for Japan.
Sakura times
politics and economics
Tomofumi Miyanoshita
The World’s Most Powerful People, according to Forbes
The United States President, Barack Obama, added another title to his long list of awards after the Forbes Magazine publish an inaugural list, appointing the world’s most powerful people. The list contains another 66 people, including presidents, executives, big company’s chief executive and founders. The inaugural ranking has one person for each hundred million people at the world.
Forbes justified why Obama was in 1st position using the paragraph “How powerful is he? Let's count the ways: Presides over world's largest, most innovative, most dynamic economy; commander-in-chief of planet's richest, deadliest military; finger on button of nuclear arsenal containing more than 5,000 warheads; head-of-state of world's sole superpower; his Democrats have majorities in both U.S. House and Senate; recently awarded Nobel Peace Prize, apparently for general awesomeness.”
Also, the magazine said “The goal in compiling this list is to expose power and not glorify it, and over time reveal how influence is as easily lost as it is hard to gain.”
In the second position, figured the Republic of China’s President, Hu Jintao, whose is the leader of 1.3 billion people. Also is the leader of a country which grows around 8% per year, becoming the biggest exporter and importer of many products.
The list’s top ten is composed only for mans. Above Hu Jintao, in the 3rd position we have Vladimir Putin ( Russia’s Prime Minister), #4 Ben Bernanke (Federal Reserve’s Chairman), #5 Sergey Brin and Larry Page (Founder’s Google), #6 Carlos Slim (Chief Executive Telmex), #7 Rupert Murdoch (Chairman News Corp.) #8 Michael Duke (President, CEO Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ), #9 Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud ( Saudi Arabia’s King), #10 William Gates III (Co-chair Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).
A curious fact that we can see is, among 67 names on the list, only three are woman. So the world’s most powerful woman is Angela Merkel, the Germany’ Chancellor, who’s figured in the 15th position. Two positions below; Hillary Clinton, the United States’ Secretary of State, who’s appeared above her husband, the ex-President of United States, Bill Clinton. The other woman being the list is the media personality, Oprah Winfrey, who is in the 45th position.
Also on the list were financial heavyweight including Warren Buffet, the world’s second richest person, in the 14th position. The man who’s manages $3 trillion dollars assets, BlackRock’s CEO, Laurence Fink, was in the 16th position.
The list includes names as Pope Benedict XVI, in the 11th position and Osama bin Laden in the 37th. Presidents as Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (Brazil), #33 and Nicolas Sarkozy (France), #56.
All the people whose were in the list have more than 40 years-old, except the Google’s founders phenomenon, that have 36. The list can show us that, the power is often directly linked to the age, but that age has been decreasing in this decade, showing a multi-opportunity world.
Katata Felipe
Sakura Times, Department of International Politics and Economics
Forbes justified why Obama was in 1st position using the paragraph “How powerful is he? Let's count the ways: Presides over world's largest, most innovative, most dynamic economy; commander-in-chief of planet's richest, deadliest military; finger on button of nuclear arsenal containing more than 5,000 warheads; head-of-state of world's sole superpower; his Democrats have majorities in both U.S. House and Senate; recently awarded Nobel Peace Prize, apparently for general awesomeness.”
Also, the magazine said “The goal in compiling this list is to expose power and not glorify it, and over time reveal how influence is as easily lost as it is hard to gain.”
In the second position, figured the Republic of China’s President, Hu Jintao, whose is the leader of 1.3 billion people. Also is the leader of a country which grows around 8% per year, becoming the biggest exporter and importer of many products.
The list’s top ten is composed only for mans. Above Hu Jintao, in the 3rd position we have Vladimir Putin ( Russia’s Prime Minister), #4 Ben Bernanke (Federal Reserve’s Chairman), #5 Sergey Brin and Larry Page (Founder’s Google), #6 Carlos Slim (Chief Executive Telmex), #7 Rupert Murdoch (Chairman News Corp.) #8 Michael Duke (President, CEO Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ), #9 Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud ( Saudi Arabia’s King), #10 William Gates III (Co-chair Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).
A curious fact that we can see is, among 67 names on the list, only three are woman. So the world’s most powerful woman is Angela Merkel, the Germany’ Chancellor, who’s figured in the 15th position. Two positions below; Hillary Clinton, the United States’ Secretary of State, who’s appeared above her husband, the ex-President of United States, Bill Clinton. The other woman being the list is the media personality, Oprah Winfrey, who is in the 45th position.
Also on the list were financial heavyweight including Warren Buffet, the world’s second richest person, in the 14th position. The man who’s manages $3 trillion dollars assets, BlackRock’s CEO, Laurence Fink, was in the 16th position.
The list includes names as Pope Benedict XVI, in the 11th position and Osama bin Laden in the 37th. Presidents as Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (Brazil), #33 and Nicolas Sarkozy (France), #56.
All the people whose were in the list have more than 40 years-old, except the Google’s founders phenomenon, that have 36. The list can show us that, the power is often directly linked to the age, but that age has been decreasing in this decade, showing a multi-opportunity world.
Katata Felipe
Sakura Times, Department of International Politics and Economics
FESTIVAL IN NODAI
Between October 30Th and November 1St, like in every year, in Tokyo University of Agriculture (NODAI), many interesting activities were developed, celebrating the “time of harvest” here in Japan, and as is expected: NODAI opened its gates for 3 days to all the citizens to show them what students can do, and for that, this event is wanting for several students who are excited for showing their abilities and also get some profits from it.
During those 3 days, in NODAI’S campus, many stories were opened. In them, students were selling many interesting things, like: seeds, plants, etc., and also, they sold things that they made by themselves, for example: food and actually, this was the attraction in of the festival.
Among the sellers of food, a peculiar group of students won the attention of all the visitors: they were the foreign students with their exotic dishes, which were eaten for more than one time. For example, the famous “Mexican Tacos” or “Brazilian Cake” were the most sold items: to get one of them you had to make long lines and wait lots of time, Thai food also was expected for Japanese specially for its spicy taste.
But also, demonstrations from all the “BUKATSU” of NODAI were the attraction in this festival. With their models, exhibitions of their paints, works, dancing, concerts, etc. And don’t forget the funny activities that made laugh for a while to all the spectators, such as: Ms and Mr. NODAI.
So, if you couldn’t come, I have good news: COME THE NEXT YEAR AND JOIN US, because NODAI and its students will be happy for sharing their art to you.
Cuadros Rodriguez Lucia Fernanda
Local News Department
Sakura Times
During those 3 days, in NODAI’S campus, many stories were opened. In them, students were selling many interesting things, like: seeds, plants, etc., and also, they sold things that they made by themselves, for example: food and actually, this was the attraction in of the festival.
Among the sellers of food, a peculiar group of students won the attention of all the visitors: they were the foreign students with their exotic dishes, which were eaten for more than one time. For example, the famous “Mexican Tacos” or “Brazilian Cake” were the most sold items: to get one of them you had to make long lines and wait lots of time, Thai food also was expected for Japanese specially for its spicy taste.
But also, demonstrations from all the “BUKATSU” of NODAI were the attraction in this festival. With their models, exhibitions of their paints, works, dancing, concerts, etc. And don’t forget the funny activities that made laugh for a while to all the spectators, such as: Ms and Mr. NODAI.
So, if you couldn’t come, I have good news: COME THE NEXT YEAR AND JOIN US, because NODAI and its students will be happy for sharing their art to you.
Cuadros Rodriguez Lucia Fernanda
Local News Department
Sakura Times
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