投稿者: CaptainNomura

イーマネーのサービスで失態を演じたNTTドコモ。Arvinくんと軽く話をしてみました。

Toshi
Oh no. It finally happened.

Arvin
What are you talking about , Toshi-san?

Toshi
E-money related scandal. Many people throughout Japan complained that someone stole money from their bank accounts.

Arvin
How did that happen?

Toshi
E-money service was taken advantage of by a third party.

Arvin
Who is the service provider?

Toshi
It’s a big firm named NTT docomo.

Arvin
I’ve heard of the name. It’s one of the major mobile carriers.
How much is the total damage that goes through?

Toshi
So far eleven cases have been found, totaling up to 18 million yen.

Arvin
How can such a heist happen in Japan with advanced technology?
In the Philippines, two-way authorization method is widely used for a secure money transaction. Have you heard of that, Toshi-san?

Toshi
I’ve only heard of it by the name.

Arvin
Most of the banks are using OTP or one time password.

Toshi
How does it work? If I shop online for something, and I want to pay by e-money, what happens?

Arvin
The bank will send OTP to your cell phone and you need to input it on the e-money webpage for another authorization.

Toshi
That sounds very safe and secure. I wonder why Japanese banks don’t adopt it.
Anyway, NTT docomo will incur a heavy reputation damage as their name is repeatedly broadcasted on TV news.

Arvin
Trust once lost never returns easily. The first thing they’ve got to do is to compensate for the losses suffered by the victims.

私は旭川西高出身、卒業して40年になりますがまだ校歌を覚えているほど母校愛つよいです。

塾を始めて10年、市内各校から生徒が来てくださいました。高専、東、北、南、永嶺、藤星、竜谷、旭大、実業、明成、商業や工業もいました。一時期でしたが農業高の生徒も。

なのに、なのに、西高だけは一人も来ない。

一体なんでや～。

でもこの悩みに終止符を打つ時がついに来ました。3年生男子が入ったのです！
やったあ！

記念すべき最初の授業の日、「校歌でも歌わないか」と誘ったのですが、「校歌、知らないです」との返事。今ではほとんど歌うこともないようだ。

まあ、そんなことはどうでもいい。これで市内の高校すべてから入塾実績を残せたことになる。開塾10年でようやく成し遂げた快挙、素直に喜びたいです。

日本が大好きというフィリピン人学生のChichiさんとzoomでおしゃべり。
我が国の大きな問題をわかってもらおうと思い、原発問題をとりあげました。（子供相手にそこまでやるかフツー？）

Toshi
Hi Chichi, how are you?

Chichi
I’m great, Toshi-san.

Toshi
By the way, do you use electricity every day?

Chichi
Yes, I do.

Toshi
For what purpose?

Chichi
To watch TV, to play video games, to keep our food fresh, and things like that.

Toshi
Yes, electricity makes our lives easier.
Do you know how it is made?

Chichi
I learned it at school. My country has a lot of mountains. So hydropower plants are built all around. They produce electricity by taking advantage of water running down the steep slopes.

Toshi
Wow, you are knowledgeable about that.

Chichi
What about Japan?

Toshi
We do have hydropower plants but we also have so-called “thermal plants” where they burn coals and the heated steam rotates generator.

Chichi
Thermal plants. I’ve never heard of such a name.

Toshi
You haven’t?
Nowadays Japan is criticized for still using thermal plants.

Chichi
Why ?

Toshi
Because burning coals create carbon dioxide, greenhouse gas, which is the source of global warming.

Chichi
Why don’t you build more hydropower plants instead?

Toshi
Easier said than done. Anyway Japan has been considering what to do to secure stable electricity. One of the alternatives is …. Nuclear power.

Chichi
Oh no. I learned at school that Japan suffered from nuclear tragedies for three times, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Fukushima.

Toshi
I’m not sure if it’s all right to get them mixed altogether because the first two are the bombs dropped by US Army.

Chichi
But damage is damage.

Toshi
OK you guy win.
The story continues.
The Japanese government has pushed forward with the nuclear program despite strong opposition from the public. Now we have 59 nuclear power plants around the country.

Chichi
Are they all in operation?

Toshi
No, only a few of them are.

Chichi
Having so many plants, you can’t get them all to work fully.
Isn’t it strange?

Toshi
Yes, but as long as you have people opposing you, you can’t go ahead.

Chichi
Then why didn’t you talk with the opposite side before all these power plants were built?

Toshi
I know why you feel that way, Chichi.
Let me put it this way. Most of the Japanese people believed that nuclear plants were perfectly　safe　before the Fukushima disaster.

話はまだまだ続き、寿都町の放射性廃棄物処理場をめぐるひと騒動まで行ったのですが、それはまた次の機会にいたします。

なんと91.3%ものコロナウィルスを撃退したというシャープの技術。実用化はまだまだ先との事ですがぜひ成功させてほしいですね。

NHK番組のプロジェクトX、若い頃よく見てました。中島みゆきのテーマソングが聞こえてきそう・・・

臨床検査技師を務めるクレイさんとこの件で話をしてみました。科学知識ゼロなのに。

Toshi
Hi, Clay.

Clay
Toshi-san, it’s been a while.
Was it, ah, March that we met last?

Toshi
That long? Time really flies.

Clay
So what do we have here today? Any interesting topics to talk about?

Toshi
There’s a famous manufacturer named “SHARP”.

Clay
SHARP. I’ve heard of the name. Do they make TVs?

Toshi
I think so. They produce many kinds of household electric appliances, among which is “AIR PURIFIER”.

Clay
Air purifier? It doesn’t sound familiar to me.
Oh, wait a minute. I just remembered reading somewhere that more people are buying those things to help reduce the hay fever symptoms.

Toshi
Anyway, Sharp was conducting a secret experiment, which was COVID-19 related.

Clay
Sounds interesting. Share it with me.

Toshi
Sharp has an original technology called “Plasma Cluster” which is to expel bad odor and viruses by sending hydrogen ions and oxygen ions into the air.

Clay
What does that mean? Could you be more specific on that?

Toshi
You’re asking a wrong person, Clay. I got a C in high school chemistry and physics.

Clay
Hahaha

Toshi
Anyway, Sharp wondered if this scientific method can attack coronaviruses and began testing on it.

Clay
And what was the result?

Toshi
They announced today that COVID-19 viruses was confirmed to be reduced by 91.3 percent.

Clay
Hey, that’s a big news!

Toshi
It sure is. But Sharp says they’re on the initial stage and far from being applied to practical cases. They still need more time and further research to verify their hypothesis.

Clay

Let’s hope they’ll make it!

幼い子供がまた犠牲になりました。無責任な母親による車中置き去り事件、本当にやるせないです。生徒のカズくんと授業中フリートークしました。

Toshi
Oh no. This is the worst news I’ve ever heard.

Kazu
What is it, Toshi-san?

Toshi
A 26-year-old woman was arrested.
She left her two daughters in her car.
They both died of dehydration.

Kazu
Another case of parental neglect.

Toshi
Her case is worse than that.

Kazu
What do you mean?

Toshi
She kept her two angels in her car for 15 hours, during which the door was locked, windows were up and the car engine was off.

Kazu
Where did it happen?

Toshi
Wait a sec, ah it says right here in Takamatsu, Kagawa.

Kazu
It must have been steaming hot then.

Toshi
37degrees Celsius outside. So it would have been much higher inside the car.

Kazu
Poor little ladies. I can imagine they were crying for their mom inside the dark , narrow , and sultry space with no air conditioner on.
Oh wait a minute! Why did their mother drive them away from home at such a late hour?

Toshi
That’s the point. Many people wonder why, too.
I infer that the woman wanted to hide her real intention to go out.

Kazu
Which is?

Toshi
To meet her boyfriend. I think she had someone to make love with the whole night through. If she went out with her own kids, her husband wouldn’t be suspicious.

Kazu
There you go again, Toshi-san.
You always say as if adultery was involved.

Toshi
Anyway, let’s see how the case unfolds.

若者に大人気のTikTok、安全保障に脅威があるとしてトランプ大統領が禁止令。

しかしユーザの数は米国内で既に1億人。本当に止める事はできるのでしょうか。Arvinとダベりました。

Toshi
I often hear the word “TIKTOK”. Do you know what it is, Arvin?

Arvin
As far as I know, it’s a video-sharing social networking service. It was initiated by a Chinese tech-savvy company named ByteDance.

Toshi
How is it different from Youtube, I wonder?

Arvin
They are almost the same. Young people all over the world seem to use TikTok mainly, though.

Toshi
I heard that the US president Donald Trump is asking the big smartphone companies in the USA to stop using Tiktok.

Arvin
What for?

Toshi
Trump is fearing that there might be a possibility of members’ personal information being leaked to Chinese government agencies.

Arvin
I’m not sure if Trump will still be able to stop everyone in the US given that there are already 100 million TikTok users as we speak and telling each and every one of them to cease the usage would be challenging.

Toshi
You’re joking! Are there already 100 million users in the US alone?

Arvin
It’s not surprising at all, Toshi-san.

Toshi
According to the NHK news, Trump is thinking of acquiring TikTok through a US-owned company instead of asking people to quit it since it’s already unavoidable to control the mass usage at this point.

Arvin
Let me see some news online here.
It says Microsoft is aiming to do this stunt but I haven’t gotten about the details of this negotiation yet. But of course, the Chinese-side of the company will not easily give in to the US knowing how tricky the Chinese people are, right?

Toshi
Oh No. I’m fed up with these US-China hegemony talks. After all, they get us nowhere!
Why don’t we stop and watch TikTok instead?

Arvin
Good idea.

私と同年代の男性Kennethさんと世間話をしました。
塾を始めて10年、一番記憶に残っている生徒は誰かと聞かれ、72歳で英検準2級を勝ち取ったNさんのことを話しました。

Kenneth
So you founded an English school about 10 years ago, Toshi-san

Toshi
I think you’re putting it a bit exaggerated. It’s not a school in real terms.
It’s just a JUKU, as we call it.

Kenneth
Anyway, whatever it is, you are sharing your knowledge with your students, which is enough to call you a school founder.

Toshi
Oh, thank you for putting it that way.

Kenneth
You have taught many people, young and old, male and female for the past ten years.
Some of them are very unique and unforgettable, aren’t they?

Toshi
Yes, I can still remember those students.

Kenneth
I want to hear some anecdotes or interesting stories from your 10-year career.

Toshi
The first one that crosses my mind is a woman. She enrolled in my school at the age of 70.

Kenneth
Seventy?

Toshi
Yes. She was always telling me that she couldn’t get the higher education due to the postwar confusion and her family’s financial reasons.

Kenneth
Uh huh.

Toshi
She grew up, got married, had some kids and now she found some time for herself.

Kenneth
She wanted to do something that she had given up long time ago, correct?

Toshi
Exactly. She started to chase her dream of studying English.

Kenneth
How was her learning attitude? Did she work hard?

Toshi
Oh yes, she did. She was really self-disciplined enough to work her way up higher.
She even passed EIKEN (STEP) pre-second grade at 72. It’s very rare for a person her age to get to that level.

Kenneth
Well, age is just a number. It’s never too late to learn.
Thank you so much for the heart-warming story, Toshi-san.

Toshi
You’re welcome.

昔昔物流企業で働いていたときには食品業界の人と話すことがよくありました。しかし英語塾の先生になってからはとんとご無沙汰。

今回縁あって、食品業界に勤めるジーナさんと言う人とオンライントーク。

さてどんな内容になるやら。

Toshi
I understand that you work at the food processing company.

Gina
Yes, I do.

Toshi

In fact, this is the first time for me to meet someone with that business background.
My head is filled with questions.

Gina
Please go ahead.

Toshi
What kind of food does your company deal in?

Gina
We have two lines – producing flavor seasonings and meat processing.

Toshi
Really? That’s amazing.
Which department are you a member of?

Gina
Food seasonings. I really like the job.

Toshi
Who are your main customers?

Gina
We supply to various food manufacturers such as instant noodles, snacks, and the like.

Toshi
So your products are mainly spices and sauces?

Gina
That’s right.

Toshi
What got you interested in that field of business?

Gina
I majored in chemistry way back in my college days. So I wanted to use my knowledge as a chemical engineer.

Toshi
Were you able to do utilize your knowledge when you entered the current company?

Gina
Yes, in some ways. We do have a lot of laboratory works. During testing of the products, we used some equipments. Um, testing the products before releasing to our clients. I did apply what I’ve learned back from the University.

Toshi
We have five basic flavors like sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy.

Gina
Spice is not counted because it is not a basic flavor.

Toshi
Oh really? I didn’t know that.
Do you think there is anything else that exists other than these basic flavors?

Gina
We do have the term Umami.

Toshi
Umami? Sounds like a Japanese word.

Gina
It is. Actually it is often described as the 5th taste in addition to the 4 tastes you mentioned earlier Toshi-san.

Toshi
So you’re working hard every day and night in the laboratory to make a very tasty seasoning. My next question is where you get raw materials from. Domestic or overseas?

Gina
China, India and Japan. We import raw materials from there and blend them into finished products.

Toshi
Thank you for that. And finally, is there anything that you are putting your energy into?

Gina
We are thinking of widening our target market to Muslim customers.
We know that when they are buying something at a supermarket, they always check halal certificate on the package. So we would like to get one on our products.

Toshi
I heard about it. Halal certificate is given only to those products made in accordance with Islamic rules. And more restaurants in Japan are trying to get it to attract tourists from Muslim countries.

Anyway that was a very interesting discussion. Thank you for being with me, Gina

安倍晋三首相の突然の引退会見、海外でも報道されたようで、アービン君がスカイプしてきました。

Arvin
Hi, Toshi-san. I was browsing the web and came up with an article about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s determination to resign from his post.
What exactly happened?

Toshi
Well, it was so sudden that we have no idea what was going on behind the scene. But I get the feeling that the main reason is his health.

Arvin
Is there any other reason than that? Such as declining support rates or a possible rebellion by his fellow party members?

Toshi
I don’t think that’s the case this time. There are many tweets thanking his dedication to his duties. Also now is not the time to reshuffle leadership amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Arvin
He had good programs especially during the onset of the coronavirus, right? Yeah, I think. He was able to give aid to many people. That’s good he was able to do those. He was able to express his strong will and initiative, right?

Toshi
Exactly that is correct. However, it is also pointed out that he had this strong ambition to change our constitution. It would allow SDF (Self-Defense Forces) to fight overseas.

Arvin
Do you mean that any military activities are prohibited under the current Constitution?

Toshi
That’s right.

Arvin
Even if it’s just for help or assistance?

Toshi
Basically, yes.

Arvin
What do the Japanese citizen feel about Prime Minister Abe’s intention?

Toshi
They are split into two sides – pros and opposition, almost fifty-fifty.

Arvin
If it was a law that was made a long time ago and now it no longer benefits the people of the current time, I think it’s only good to make some modifications to it.

Toshi
You have a point there. But there are still many people who insist that the law should be kept as it is. They believe any change would bring Japan back to what it used to be before the end of WW2.

Arvin
Toshi-san, there is a proverb, so to speak, the only permanent thing in this world is change. So I guess Japan cannot stay like this forever.

Toshi
Well, let’s see what happens in the future.