2008年6月13日
Tokyo stabbings (2)
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for your comments. I was reading some more English news stories about the Akihabara incident, and there was a lot of talk about the fact that the guy had sent messages to internet sites telling people what he was going to do. I think that more than anything, he probably just wanted people to notice him. There is a saying in English, "The easiest way to become famous is to kill somebody famous."
As for the video games and manga, I am not sure, but I know there are a lot of people in this world who have problems making a distinction between fantasy and reality, and I think that for people like that, violent games and stories can be quite dangerous. As I mentioned, I experienced that myself when I drove my car after playing a driving game at home. (I was so scared that I had to stop the car, and I never did it again.) When I was a child (a long, long time ago!), the graphics of computer games were very basic; shooting games were just stick men firing dots at each other. These days, however, the games are much more real. With some of the new PS3 games, it is difficult to tell the difference between games and movies, so the violence is becoming more and more realistic. I am not really in favour of censorship, but would it really be a terrible loss to anyone if we stopped making games that involve so much violence? Do we really need these games?
As for the manga, I have said before that I think the way women are shown in these comics is very dangerous because many of the men who read them never really have a chance to talk to real women, so they end up with some very strange ideas. I know that manga are very popular and a very important part of Japanese culture, but I have never understood why adults want to read comics, and I probably never will.
Of course, Japan is still a very safe country compared to the United Kingdom. I read in the news this morning that a man was killed in a supermarket because someone pushed into a line ahead of someone else. He was not even involved, but he was killed anyway. It makes me quite ashamed of my country when I read stories like that, and I am very thankful for the peace and lack of violence I enjoy here in Japan.
Have a great weekend, and see you next week for another topic.
David
PS I bought my ferry tickets for Hokkaido, so me and my BMW will be spending the first half of August cruising around all my favourite places.
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Hi David and everyone,
I followed the news this week, as you said, if he has a friend or someone who shares his feelings, this tragedy would not occurred. Every time I hear recent these kinds of incidents, I feel their loneliness and hopelessness, but there is no excuse for killing.
As for the manga, I understand there are a lot of the manga which seduce guys into having strange ideas toward women, but still I'd like to say that there are a lot of good manga which adults can enjoy. Among novels and magazines, there are various kinds of ones, good or bad. It's the same with the manga, isn't it? Again I understand there are thousands of adult comics which have dangerous effect on some people, though.
David, did you get your ferry tickets for Hokkaido? That's nice! Hokkaido in summer is good for travelling. I hope you enjoy the wind and waterfalls and the moments with you BMW bike, and looking forward to your stories and photos.
By the way, the way you used the word ' cruise(around)' is completely new to me! I didn't know we could use it as the meaning of' travel or move slowly around (without the specific destination)'. Thanks!
Hi olive,
Nice to have here on this blog!
Looking forward to your next posting.
Today a powerful earthquake struck Miyagi prefecture and Iwate prefecture. I hope people would not suffer so much and aftershocks would not occur anymore.
Bye for now,
Anne
- Anne
- 2008年6月14日 22:39
Hi David and Everyone,
I was shocked to hear the news about a BIG earthquake in Miyagi and in Iwate. I'm very sorry that some people died and also a lot of people are suffering from it. I hope they will go back to their normal life as soon as possbile.
As for the topic,
He said that he wanted to stop him by someone who read his commnets, so he had been posting.
As Anne said, if he has a friend or someone who shares his feelings....yes, there is no excuse.
I've heard a lot of talk about the news since it happend, and the media provides some new facts and informations about him and the incident everyday. We need to know why it happened and how we can stop this kind of incidents, but on the other side, I wonder how the victims and their family feel about them...Some of them might feel that they want no more informations about it.
About the manga,
I don't know about it well, as I haven't read it since I was in a junior high. But I understand there are both good ones and bad ones. I'm just wondering whether there are any rules to publish mangas? In Japan it seems that there isn't a strict rule to protect children, as well. I mean that they can get any kinds of mangas, except sexual ones. I remember when Japanese manges were getting popular in the US some years ago, some people were surprised at violent ones and requested not to sell them to children. Sorry to go off the subject...
David, you are coming to Hokkaido in August?! Sounds great! Hope to have a chance to see you!
Please let me know if you will cruise near my town.;-)
Hi olive,
Nice to have you with us!
By for now,
Maki
- Maki
- 2008年6月15日 19:39
Hi Everyone,
First of all, let me say 'Welcome' to Olive and 'Welcome back' to Ayane.
The big earthquake in Miyagi and in Iwate, I'm also very shocked to hear the news. We often have big earthquakes these days. We've made a great progress in science and technology, and now we can go to the moon, but we still can't tell when and where a earthquake occurs. 自然の脅威の前では人間って本当に無力ですよね・・。 人間がたくさん自然を壊してしまったからなのかな･･とか思ってしまいます。
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2008年6月15日 21:54
Hi David and Everyone,
Yesterday, the big earthquake struck Miyagi and Iwate, and some people died and many people are suffering from it. I want to offer my condolences to the people that lost their family, and I hope the victim will go back to normal life as soon as possible.
Actually, I have experienced a big earthquake. Do you remember last year's "能登半島地震"? My aunt lives in Noto, and at that time, I was visiting her house with my family. When we were relaxing in a living room after breakfast, I noticed the sound like "ゴーッ", and the next moment the big earthquake struck in my town. We screamed, and we could only hang on a nearby thing. As you know, we are taught that when we experienced a big earthquake, we should put out fire and huddle under the table. But in reality, we couldn't do anything. We only waited for the quake to subside. The earthquake we experienced registered 6 on the Japanese scale. Fortunately, we were safe. (My aunt house needed to repair a little, though.) We tried to call my friends to make sure that they were safe, but I was having a hard time getting through on the phone. I was worried about their safety. (All of my friends were safe.)
After the earthquake, my family talked in case we experienced natural disasters. We made sure of evacuation spot, and if we couldn't contact each other, we agreed to go there, also we prepared emergency kit.
行方不明になっている方々が一刻も早く救出されるよう、祈っています。
Amica
- Amica
- 2008年6月15日 23:27
Hi everyone,
Amica, did you experience last year's "能登半島地震"?
That must have been scary. Actually, my friend visited there this spring, and she said that she felt a lot of people still suffered from disasters. These days, as Tomo said, the number of natural disasters , earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunami, cyclones and so on, has been increasing these years. Something has occurred to strike a natural disaster. Actually, an area I live now is close to the spot where a big earthquake would be expected to occur because the spot is on an active fault belt. I prepare emergency packs as well.
I really hope a lot of people in Miyagi and Iwate will be back to normal life as soon as possible.
Bye for now,
Anne
- Anne
- 2008年6月16日 08:03
Hi Everyone,
Amica, I was surprised to hear that you experienced that earthquake. I've never experienced a big earthquake. As you say, we can't do anything when we are in that scary situation even though we know what we should do. A disaster can happen anywhere at any time, and we can't stop it. We should prepare for unexpected disasters. I keep some food and water in store for emergencies, but I don't have any other things. I should be ready for it. Thanks for reminding!
Anne, I hope there will NOT be an earthquake where you live.(of course anywhere!)
David, did you have a nice weekend? Look forward to your new entry!
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2008年6月16日 11:03
Hi David + Everyone,
Thank you for your warm comments above.
I read the news about the murder of a shopper following an alleged row in a supermarket over queue-jumping in London. But when I saw David's comment first, I thought that was an incident here in Japan! Japan also has many similar 'irrational' crimes...but I want to believe that we still has not completely lost our rationality, especially after wathcing TV drama"CHANGE" (brilliantly positive scripts on politics!).
- Olive
- 2008年6月16日 22:42
Hi, everyone!
It’s amazing!
It’s wonderful!!
I can’t believe this!!!
I’m afraid no one can understand what I mean.
Just clicking the “post” button gave me a lot of friends here and there in Japan and UK.
Besides, in one night!!
I’m not sure where you live now, though.
For reference、I live in Hyogo prefecture.
Some of you had mastered the lesson in the book,英語と仲直りできる本, some are moving forward step, and some of you are trying to start the lesson in” Practical English Usage’”.
I have an impression that you really love English, moreover, you have a positive mind.
To tell the truth, I hate to study English but I just want to enjoy English.
“Enjoy” is everything to me.
Every time I hear “Book for study”, I feel like running away on the spot.
Definitely I’m lazy. Therefore this blog is ideal for me to brush up my English,
“Enjoyment ”is everywhere.
Thanks to friends, I’m getting to have a feeling I can cope with English.
Bye for now, Masa
- Masa
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- 2008年8月 4日 14:56
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- bilete avion
- 2011年10月29日 18:19
Hi David,
Yes, I also heard that the guy had sent messages to internet sites telling people what he was going to do. He was feeling a deep loneliness. Like you said, I also think he wanted people to notice him, but there is a line you should not cross as a human. The saying is true, but it's not a good one..
As for the manga, I don't know much about boy's comics. I used to read comics when I was a teenager, but they were for girls, so all of them were love stories like a dream(笑). I have read boy's comics before(one of my friends lend me them a long time ago.), but almost all of them were stories of a hero, so they were boring to me.
Some of comics can be dangerous, but I think there are a lot of good manga that teach us something important like novels.(Maybe I should say 'there were'. ) I don't read manga now, but if there is a very good one, I'd like to try it.
By the way, I learned a lot of things about English from your entry today, like how to say in English ‘空想と現実の区別’,‘映像がリアル’or ‘昔と今のゲームの違い’. I wanted to say the same thing, but I was not sure how to express it in English.
I don't think we need those violent games. I think games are for fun. We get a kind of accomplishment(achievement? fulfillment? I want to say ‘達成感’) when we finish games or a difficult stage in a game, so I don't think we should have fun or feel fulfilled from killing people even if it's just a game. That's my thought.
Are you going to Hokkaido with your BMW this summer? That's great! Summer in Hokkaido sounds nice. Please show us some pictures. I'm looking forward to seeing beautiful scenery of Hokkaido!(and a picture of you;-))
Have a great weekend, and see you soon.
Tomo