月: 2020年9月

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