月: 2019年6月

Tomorrow, on June 13, is Inventor’s Day. It is a day when a few countries around the world recognize inventors. The countries that recognize Inventors Day are Argentina, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Moldova, Russia, Thailand, the UK, and America.

It seems like only a few countries, but invention is very important for everyone in every country.

Invention gives us great progress and many new things that help our lives be better. We are in a world of so many inventions. Looking back in time we have inventions such as cloth making, pottery, bread, farming, fishing, sailing, writing, bronze making, star charts for stars, water wheels, mathematics, weapons, the newspaper, clocks, microscopes, motors, telephones, computers, and medicine.

Inventions give us our countries, our societies, and safe ways to live and grow. Inventions are all made by people who see a problem and then think of a way to solve that problem.

When you look around your home and your school you will see many amazing inventions. Televisions and telephones, ball point pens and sharp pencils, printed books and computers. All of these things come from someone’s imagination and someone’s dream.

When we look at history we learn a lot about unique and special Japanese inventions.

There are a huge number of great Japan-based inventions. In art, Japan has invented the comic books. In film, Japan invented anime and many modern art styles. Japan has invented special kinds of buildings, like castles and temples. Japan invented special kinds of pottery, like “kutani-yaki” and “arita-yaki”. Japan has invented unique styles of sports like, aikido, judo, jujutsu, karate, ninjutsu, and shorinji-kempo. Japan invented video games, like the Playstation and Nintendo. Japan has made many inventions in science and medicine. Japan has also created many kinds of medicines too. Japan is the mother of cupa-of-ramen, sushi, and takoyaki. Japan created great sound stereos, CD players, DVD players, batteries, cameras, and house hold items like rice cookers and air conditioners. Japan is the inventor of the shinkansen and the hybrid car. Japan invents and makes so many things. We are living in the country of great inventions.

Here we are together on Wednesday morning at Otemae. We are students and teachers, office staff and support workers. We are in this amazing school to learn and to grow. We are here to explore and understand. We are here to know the problems of our world and to find ways to make it better. There are things that we need for the future, and this need is the beginning of the next invention.

I think we will find more problems in the future. And for these problems we will need inventions to fix those problems. Otemae is a great school to grow the next generation of creative people, and from these creative people we will see new ideas, new stories, new inventions, and new discoveries. One of you can surely be the next great inventor for the future.

Happy Inventor’s Day!

This week is a very sad anniversary in China. Thirty years ago, in Peking, China many students were killed. The students were in university. They were in a place called Tiananmen Square. Thousands and thousands of students were not happy with China. They were not happy with the government and they wanted to make some change. The students loved their country. They loved China. They wanted to make China better for all Chinese people, and to have more freedom to talk, freedom to not agree, freedom to express their ideas, and freedom to choose the people in government.

But on June 4th, in 1989 the army attacked the students. So many were killed. It was a terrible time for those students. In 1990 I was an English teacher in China and I have some very good friends who were in Peking at that time. They talk about how scary it was. I could not believe their stories when I heard them.

There are many countries that control their people. North Korea, Syria, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Yemen, and Cuba are not places where you can speak freely. You cannot say what you think. You cannot say, “this government is no good”. If you do so, you will get in big trouble. In North Korea, for example, you may be killed if you speak against the leader.

You are Japanese and I am Canadian. We come from two of the most free countries in the world. We can live free. We can speak freely. We can make friends with anyone we like. We can go anywhere we like. We can go to a church, or not go to a church. We can have a job or a business and do things we like. We are not afraid of our police. The police help us and they support our community. Policemen and policewomen are our friends and members of our society.

The army is used to help people. If there is a typhoon or an earthquake the Japanese army goes to help those people who need help. The army does not hurt ordinary people. The army does not take things from your house. The army is not scary. They are men and women in a free society. They help society. The support the country.

In countries like Syria, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Vietnam, the army and the police are very dangerous to ordinary people. The country is not safe, and the people cannot speak freely. The police and the army are used to control the people and to stop free speaking. It is a terrible, terrible thing, and I am very glad to live in a free country like Japan, and to know my home country of Canada is also a place for freedom too.

But because we are free we have an important job to do. It is good that we enjoy freedom. It is good that we can speak freely. But we also must think how we can protect and guard our freedom. We must think about how to keep a society free. We must think about democracy. We must think about how we can help each other, and also to help other places too, so they can have a free community too.

The first thing we must do is to read and understand history. We must know about our countries and about other countries. The second thing is that we must support good government and not support bad government. We do not want to live like Yemen, Syria, North Korea, or Uzbekistan. We need to keep our homes and communities free. Please read more of your history, understand government, and do not be shy with your own voice of freedom.