Congratulations!

Congratulations to all the junior high school students of Makubetsu, Satsunai and Churui who graduated! You will now start a new period in your life. Make the best of it!

I had the privilege of being able to view Satsunai Higashi JHS's graduation ceremony. Many of the seniors and their juniors too were in tears as they gave their speeches of gratitude and talked about the three years spent at junior high. I have known all of them through class for the past three years and some of them I have known for longer. I didn't cry but I can tell you that I was filled with pride and sadness as they walked by in their processions in and out of the gym. I'm sad to part with them but happy to see them growing up and moving on.

From last week and continuing on into this week, graduated jhs students have been coming and going from the teacher's room to announce their acceptance into a private or public high school. They came to say thank you to all the teachers who taught them over the past three years and especially to their home room teachers and others who helped coach them for interviews and entrance examinations. Many of them were in tears of joy.

So once again, I say congratulations and good luck in your new endeavors.

My problem with Japan

I would like to introduce a short article written by one of my predecessors because I agree with him totally.

I like Japan. It’s a great country. The food, people and geography are all enjoyable. That doesn't mean that it is perfect though. Japan, like all countries, has its problems. But I feel that one major problem here are the clocks. I don’t understand them. Why does my clock tell me its 4:30am when it is already bright outside.? Doesn't the clock know that most people sleep are sleeping at that time? I heard that some farmers get up at sunrise but according to The Japan Times, only 5% of Japan’s population are farmers. And there is more to this problem. Sometimes when I’m driving home from work I see the sunset. Normally I like sunsets, but why does the summer sun go down at 6pm? In my view, we should all come home from work and have time to cut the grass, play outside with kids, hit golf balls, or wash our cars. Doesn't everyone prefer doing these activities in the daylight? I wish I could have the 2 hours of daylight from the morning for these activities. In my opinion, many people would be happier, and we could save on electricity, if Japan made this simple change.

By Dan Rupp

His article was meant to be funny as well as make an apeal. He wants Japan to adopt daylight savings time. So do I. Not only does the shift in time help people enjoy their lives more with more light in the evenings to do things, but it also saves energy! Japan is very energy concious so I think this type of move would be very fitting for Japan.