_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ ]

June 2013

OCEANIA p. 2

EUROPE p. 7

ASIA p. 3

AFRICA p. 13

NORTH AMERICA p. 15

SOUTH AMERICA p. 6

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 2 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Australia

Inori Ishida

Have you ever been to Austra-

lia? If not, you would want to,

wouldn‟t you? Some of my

classmates are going to go

there.

First, let‟s learn about

the basic information of Aus-

tralia. You know, Australia is

the sixth biggest country in the

world and it has a population

of about 21,000,000. Its capital

is Canberra, which is in the

south-eastern part of the coun-

try. Sydney is the largest city

of Australia and a finance cen-

tre, so it is evaluated as the

first best city in the Southern

Hemisphere. About 78% of peo-

ple speak English as their first

language, but there are people

who speak Chinese and Ital-

ian. Do you understand what I

just said? All right, next, I will

introduce Australia to you

from various aspects.

The creatures living in

Australia include koala, kan-

garoo, emu and so on. The eco-

system is extremely unique

and 19% of the continent is

forests but most of the conti-

nent is occupied by deserts and

steppe, which is a semi-arid

region.

A famous Australian

sport is Australia Football,

which is like football, and it

has been played since 1858.

Cricket is the representative

sport of summer and is like

baseball. These sports‟ uni-

forms have gold and green on

them. The two colours are the

national colours of Australia.

There are 18 would heritage

sites in the country, 15 of

which are related to nature.

For example, the Great Barrier

Reef is the largest coral reef

zone in the world. It is so vast

New Zealand

Aoi Kawamoto

New Zealand is an island

country, which is surrounded

by the South Pacific like its

neighbouring country, Austra-

lia. Its capital city, called Wel-

lington, is located on the

North Island. How many peo-

ple do you suppose are living

there? It has 4,400,000 people,

which is 28 times smaller than

Japan. However, there are

about as many cattle as peo-

ple, moreover, there are about

eight sheep per person. In

other words, the ratio of peo-

ple to cattle to sheep living

New Zealand is 1 to 1 to 8!

Can you believe it?

Since New Zealand is

surrounded by the ocean, like

I said a short time ago, it was-

n‟t mixed with other cultures.

That‟s why New Zealand has a

peculiar culture and unique

animals. Have you heard

about its aborigines, Maori?

The number decreased when

the Europeans invaded, how-

ever, they make up 15% of its

population now. There are not

only unique people, but also

unique animals like the kiwi,

a kind of bird. Also you must

have eaten kiwi fruits. Its

shape resembles a crouching

kiwi, thus it is called a kiwi

fruit. Of course, it‟s also a spe-

cial product of this country.

Kiwi birds can‟t fly in spite of

being birds. This country

seems to have a lot of flight-

less birds like penguins.

Have you developed an

interest in New Zealand while

I was presenting about it? I

hope you want to visit there.

Eventually, I want to do that.

Tuvalu

Miwa Suzuki

Tuvalu is one of the states of

Oceania. Their currency is the

Australian dollar. Tuvalu has

the second smallest population

in the world. It means that

Tuvalu is the smallest country

after Vatican City. The high-

est point above the sea level of

Tuvalu is so low that if the sea

level rises, Tuvalu will be in

danger.

Tuvalu is said to be a

country that is the nearest

place to heaven, because the

country does not know when it

is depressed, so people want to

enjoy each day very much.

When I heard about that, I

thought this country is very

wonderful but the people will

be in danger. I want to think

about the sea level of Tuvalu

and what I can do about it. If I

were them, I would be terri-

fied. I want to live like them:

to enjoy each day very much.

OCEANIA

that you can see it from outer

space. It was registered as a

heritage site in 1981.

Finally, the substitute

kanji character of Australia is

濠太剌利. When you go to Aus-

tralia, how about teaching

Australians this?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 3 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Cambodia

Hiromu Nakata

I‟ll tell you about Cambodia.

The formal name is “Kingdom

of Cambodia”. It is located in

Asia. The capital city of Cam-

bodia is Phnom Penh. Phnom

Penh is the largest city in

Cambodia.

The land area is about

181,035km². The population is

about 14,138,255. Let‟s com-

pare it with Japan. The land

area in Japan is about

377,930km², and the popula-

tion is about 126,535,920. As

we know that the land area of

Japan is about twice as large,

but the population is about

nine times higher!! That was

really amazing.

Next, I‟ll tell you about

problems in Cambodia.

Cambodia has serious prob-

lems about poverty, and land

mines. Cambodia still has a

serious poverty problem. In the

suburbs there are a lot of chil-

dren working on the street.

However, a lot of countries give

money to Cambodia. Therefore,

this problem is going to be

solved, but it‟s still a serious

problem. Another problem is,

as I told you already, land

mines. This also is a serious

problem. A lot of landmines are

still buried in Cambodia, and

the victims of landmines never

ceases.

In conclusion, I again feel

that the war keeps hurting

people even though it is fin-

ished. Also it is hateful.

ASIA

Bhutan is the happiest country in the world

Bhutan

Airi Matsui

Everyone, do you know about Bhutan, the “happy country”?

Let me tell you about Bhutan.

Bhutan is in South Asia, between India and China. Its

capital city is Thimphu. The total area is about 38,000km².

That is as large an area as Kyusyu. The population is about

700,000. This country‟s leader, the fifth king is Jigme Khesar

Namgyel Wangchuck. He is famous because he got married in

2011. How beautiful and photogenic they both are! Bhutanese

food uses a lot of chili. Chili is treated like vegetables. There-

fore, Bhutanese food is known as the hottest food in the world.

Have you tried to eat it? You have nothing to worry about. It

isn‟t too hot for tourists. I want to drink Bhutanese drinks.

The butter tea is well known. In these day, they like milk tea

too. Bhutan has a rich environment. About 70% of Bhutan‟s

land is forest.

I feel that Bhutan is very much like Japan. I want to

visit Bhutan sometime.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 4 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Israel

Rico Sawada

Hello, everyone. I‟ll talk about the state of Israel. There are

798,000 people in Israel and its capital city is Yerushalayim.

Israel uses Hebrew and Arabic.

Well, most of your images for Israel are war, aren‟t they?

I have that image too. However, I learned another side of this

country through this chance, so I will talk about the festivals

in Israel. First, “Rosh Hashana” is one of the festivals in Is-

rael. This festival is held for two days in September or Octo-

ber. People wish for a good year, so they eat apples and breads

with honey. It is an interesting traditional, isn‟t it?

Second, my favorite festival‟s name is “Hanukah”. Jewish

religions celebrate Hanukah at Christmas.

Hanukah‟s other name is the Festival of Lights. This fes-

tival is eight days long. People light up a light or candle each

day. The candle‟s name is “Shamash”. Israelis have a warm

heart when it is a very cold day, so this festival is looks like

them.

There was a war in Israel recently but Israel has many

good points, so please learn a lot about this country and if you

are interested in my speech, let‟s research about Israel.

India

Kokoro Matsuno

I‟ll tell you about India.

I think that many people

know about India. India is in

South Asia. India is the sev-

enth biggest country in the

world. There are about 1.2 bil-

lion people in India. India‟s

capital city is New Delhi.

There are a lot of buildings

there. India is called the

“country of religions”. There-

fore, there are a lot of relig-

ions. Hinduism is the most

famous religion in India.

What is your image of

India? I think you are imaging

curry. Indians eat different

curry depended on the region.

For example, North Indians

eat naan with curry. There is a

lot of meat. East Indians eat

curry with rice. There is a lot

of fish. West Indians eat bread

with curry. Rice, too. There is

a lot of vegetables. South Indi-

ans eat curry with rice. There

are a lot of seafood and vegeta-

bles too. What do you want to

eat?

There are a lot of beauti-

ful places in India. Please look

at this picture! This is the Taj

Mahal. It looks so beautiful. I

want to go there. I think some-

day I want to go to India.

Hannukah is the festival of lights

Indians eat different curry depending on

the region

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 5 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Malaysia

Kaori Minami

First, Malaysia‟s population

is about thirty million and

the people living in Malaysia

speak Malaysian.

Next, the capital city of

Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur is called “KL”

and it is loved by the local

people. This beautiful city

where many people visit

every day is a very popular

tourist spot.

Next, in Malaysia, most

people are Islamic and they

are forbidden to eat pigs.

When I learned about it, I

was surprised because eating

pigs is common in Japan.

However, there are similari-

ties too. For example, the

main food of the Japanese is

rice. This is the same in Ma-

laysia, and there are many

various Malaysian foods.

When I researched it,

there are many dishes that I

have never seen before. They

looked very delicious. There-

fore, I‟ll try to eat them in the

future.

Philippines

Natsuki Takamatsu

The Republic of the Philippines

is in Southeast Asia. Japan is

located across the Philippine Sea

from Philippines. The population

of Philippine is about 90 million.

It will be more than 100 million

in 2020. Its capital city is Ma-

nila. Manila is called an oriental

pearl. The name means the

place where nilad grows. Nilad

is a plant. The leader of the Phil-

ippines is Benigno Aquino III.

He is called Noynoy.

Next, I would like to talk

about the tourist attractions.

Banaue Rice Terraces is my rec-

ommended place. It is called the

stairs to heaven and the biggest

rice terraces in the world. It was

created by manual labour about

2000 years ago. Fireflies fly

there at night. Tubbataha Reef

is the biggest coral reef in South-

east Asia. It is a habitat for sea

turtles and sea birds. It is so

beautiful that we can see the

corals in Tubbataha Reef.

Finally, I would like to tell

you about Philippine dishes.

Philippine dishes are very

cheap. In addition, there are

many dishes in the Philippines.

Philippine dishes taste ex-

tremely sweet or sour. It is the

eating style of the Philippines to

use a spoon with the right hand

and a fork with the left hand. I

want to eat Philippine dishes

once.

The Republic of the Phil-

lippines is one of the most inter-

esting countries in the world.

Why don‟t you travel to the Re-

public of the Philippines?

Thailand

Hiyori Kanatani

First, do you know where

Thailand is? Thailand is lo-

cated in the center of Asia

and it is in the tropical zone,

so the influence of the mon-

soon is big. The climate from

May to October is wet and

tepid. Due to this climate,

Thailand is struck by a rainy

season every year. The rain-

fall from August to December

is especially heavy, so floods

often occur. I had seen a pic-

ture of Thailand being hit by

a flood on TV before. Also,

Thailand‟s seasons are very

different from Japan‟s be-

cause Thailand doesn‟t have

four seasons and it is hot

through the year, so you can

wear a short sleeved shirt all

year long.

Second, I‟ll show you a

famous food of Thailand. It is

Tom Yum Goong. Thailand‟s

dishes are known to spicy

and sour. Of course Tom Yum

Goong is hot and sour. Many

spices cooked in it. This is

very delicious so it is one of

my favorite Thai dishes of

mine. Please eat it once! Also,

there are many kinds of

fruits in Thailand. Thailand

is in the tropical zone so

mangoes and durians are fa-

mous and delicious.

Finally, Thailand‟s

capital, Bangkok, has the

highest number of tourists in

Asia. Bangkok has a lot of old

buildings and temples. More-

over, prices are very low. This

is why many people visit

Thailand.

Do you want to go to

Thailand?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 6 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Argentina

Nana Noguchi

First, I will talk about the ba-

sic facts of the country. Argen-

tina is located in the southern

part of South America. The

population is about 40,276,000

people. The capital city is Bue-

nos Aires. The main religion is

Catholic and the language is

Spanish. The present presi-

dent is Cristina Fernandez de

Kirchner. The president is a

beautiful woman. There is not

a prime minister in Argentina.

Second, I will talk about

popular foods and drinks in

Argentina. “Asado” is a very

popular food. It is baked beef

or sausage. It‟s seasoned only

with common salt. This food

resembles yakiniku of Japa-

nese food. While eating Asado

you can feel the good quality

and freshness of the beef. A

popular drink is “Mate”. It is a

tea. Many vitamins and miner-

als are included in it. There-

fore, people in Argentina call

it a “Drink Salad”. Mate is

good for your diet and health.

Recently, it became famous in

Japan. Please try it if you are

interested in Mate. In addi-

tion, wine is a popular drink.

The amount of wine production

of Argentina is the fifth in the

world. People in Argentina

drink wine while having meat.

Argentina is a very won-

derful country. Today I told

you about the basic facts of the

country and popular foods and

drinks!

Brazil

Tomoaki Yoshioka

Now I am going to talk about Brazil. The capital city of Brazil is Brasília and the official lan-

guage is Portuguese. Brazil is the biggest country in South America, so it touches the borders of

many countries.

In the old days, the Portuguese came to Brazil, which was the beginning of a great tragedy.

The Portuguese made the Native Americans into slaves. They were

forced to work hard. For example, tilling the fields. Some of them ran

away to look for freedom and made slave villages. In addition, they

made a small country of slaves. However, they were attacked by white

people and many of them were

killed. About 200 years ago, Brazil

gained independence from Portugal

and discontinued slavery. However,

it still continues.

In 2016, the Olympic Games will be

held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bra-

zilians love sports, especially soc-

cer. Brazil has produced many soc-

cer players like Neymar and Pele. They are active around

the world. However, players 23 years and older cannot par-

ticipate in soccer in the Olympics, so I expect great young

player being born there. However, there is a problem. Brazil

is the farthest country from Japan, so if you want to watch

it on TV, you have to stay up late.

If you want to go to Brazil, let‟s feel and enjoy the at-

mosphere.

South America

In 2016 the Olympic Games will

be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 7 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Cuba

Takaaki Kukihara

First, the formal name of Cuba

is the Republic of Cuba. The

capital city is Havana, and

Cuba has been independent

since 1898. There are 1.3 mil-

lion people there. The official

language of Cuba is Spanish.

Second, there were a lot

of incidents in Cuba. For ex-

ample, the Cuban Revolution,

the Cuban Missile Crisis, and

so on. About the Cuban Revo-

lution. In 1959, Castro started

a revolution against the gov-

ernment. Then in 1961, he be-

came the prime minister of

Cuba. Next, about Cuban Mis-

sile Crisis. In 1962, the Soviet

Union deployed a missile at

the United States in Cuba. The

people on earth prepared for a

World War, but it was avoided.

In these ways, Cuba has been

a socialist country since 1964.

Third, Cuba is very

strong in baseball. For exam-

ple, in the World Baseball

Classic, Japan lost to Cuba in

2013, so baseball is called the

national sport in Cuba.

Also, Cuba has a lot of

resources. For instance, nickel,

irons, copper, and so on.

Therefore, I think Cuba

has a bright future. The num-

ber of happy people will in-

crease from now, and I hope

Cuba will become a major

country in the world.

Peru

Kana Saeki

Can you imagine about the

Republic of Peru? This is the

map of Peru. Peru is in the

western part of South Amer-

ica and its capital is Lima.

There are about 28,000,000

people, most of whom speak

Spanish. Most of them are

Catholic.

By the way, have you

ever had a Spanish meal?

The Spanish food culture is

different in three areas.

First, in a city on the

Pacific, cereal food develops.

There is a famous mari-

nated seafood called

„ceviche‟. It looks so deli-

cious, doesn‟t it?

Secondly, in the An-

des, the staple food is po-

tato. Also, a red pepper

called „ahi‟ is used for Peru-

vian food such as „yamarres‟.

Finally, in the tropical

rainforests, the main foods

are a freshwater fish called

„piche‟ and turtles. In addi-

tion, there are many local

foods such as bananas. An

alcoholic drink called „chica‟

made from fermented corns

has been drunk since an-

cient times. “INCAKOLA” is

also a popular soft drink.

Creole music is fa-

mous. Do you know “A Con-

dor Fly in the Sky”? It‟s one

of Peru‟s famous songs.

In conclusion, there

are many kinds of foods,

unique drinks and famous

music in Peru. I want to go

there someday. Why don‟t

you go to Peru?

EUROPE France

Shiori Nakata

I‟d like to

introduce

the

French

Republic.

The French Republic is commonly

known as France. France lies west

of Europe. France has a population

of about 65.6 million. The official

language is French. The Euro is the

unit of currency in France. The

French flag is called tricolor, which

is blue, white and red. Each color

has a meaning. Blue is freedom,

white is equality, red is philan-

thropy.

The capital city is Paris,

which is famous for its culture of

fashion and food. Many foreign

tourists visit Paris. The number of

tourists is the second highest in the

world. I think the reason is because

there are many famous buildings.

For example, the Eiffel Tower, the

Arch of Triumph and the Louvre

Museum. These buildings are very

popular for tourists.

Peru is in the western part of South America

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 8 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Speaking of popular things, Judo is a popular sport in France.

The number of players in France is much higher than the Japanese

one. I didn‟t know Judo is

popular amongst French.

As I researched

France, I was interested in

food, especially sweets.

France is famous for baked

sweets. For instance, crepe,

madeleine, cream puff and

éclair. A lot of sweets are

originated in France. I was

surprised by it.

Though France is famous

country, I had many things I

didn‟t know about it. It was

fun for me to learn about

France. I also want to re-

search another country.

Germany

Natsuki Kikyo

Do you know

about Ger-

many‟s history,

geography,

sightseeing

and foods well?

First, I

will talk about the basic of information of this

country that I researched. Do you know what

the design is on the German flag? The German

flag has three colors. In order from the top of

its flag, there is black, red and yellow. These

colors mean industry, passion and honor. Ger-

many belongs to the European Union.

Second, I will talk about the country‟s

history. Germany has been split into West Ger-

many and East Germany for about 40 years.

Then, Berlin‟s wall, which had divided Ger-

many, was torn down by the general, so Ger-

many got its freedom.

Third, I will talk about its geography.

Germany gas a territory as large as Japan.

Germany also has some famous rivers. For ex-

ample, the Rhine River, the Danube River and

so on.

Next, I will talk about sightseeing and

food. There are some famous sights in Ger-

many. I think that the most famous sight is the

Heidelberg Castle. It is a very beautiful build-

ing. There are many cultural foods too. These

foods and drinks are eaten in Japan. They are

sausages, baumkuchen and beer.

Finally, Germany has a lot of good cul-

tures and places. If you are interested in Ger-

many, you should travel to Germany in the fu-

ture!

Greece

Yuki Nakaguchi

I‟d like to talk about Greece.

There are 11 million people

living in Greece. Athens is the

capital there. I want to talk

about its festivals and build-

ings.

In B.C. 776, a festival

was held there. At first, there

were 4 festivals which were

called the Olympia Festival,

the Nemea Festival, the Isth-

mian Festival, and the Pythian

Festival. There were sports

events and art events then.

For example, race, poem, and

tragedy. They didn‟t allow

women to join, but women

joined the Heria Festival in-

stead. They only did short dis-

tance running. Each champion

was drawn on a wall painting.

A popular temple is

called the Parthenon. It‟s reg-

istered as a world heritage

site. It was built in A.D. 15,

but it collapsed in 1687.

I have never been to

Greece, but if I had the chance,

I would like to go there and see

the Parthenon.

France is famous for

baked sweets

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 9 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Iceland

Akane Komatsu

The official name of Iceland is the

Republic of Iceland. Iceland is an

island that is called the country of

fire and ice. Iceland is a volcanic

country and hot springs are every-

where in the country. Therefore, geo-

thermal heat has been used as en-

ergy for generations and the surplus

water has been used as a supply of

hot water, so we can experience hot

springs everywhere. In addition, Ice-

land has the largest glacier. Due to

these, Iceland might have come to be

known as the country of fire and ice.

I researched Iceland, and am

interested that the people of Iceland

don‟t have their own last names. You

will notice something when you read

the names of Icelandic people, that

men put a “sson” at the end of their

last names, and women put a “dottir”

at the end of their last names. Since

the people of Iceland don‟t have their

own last names, people use a name

that combines a “sson” or a “dottir”

to the name of their fathers.

I researched about Iceland this

time and I‟m very interested in Ice-

land. Therefore, I want to go to Ice-

land and see its nature.

Ireland

Mana Takeuchi

Of course, all of you know

where David came from. It

is Ireland. Today, I‟ll tell

you about the beautiful

country of nature, Ireland.

The population in

Ireland is about 4,600,000

now. Since the birthrate is

higher than Japan, the ra-

tio that youths occupy

seems to be high. Many

youths live in Dublin,

which is the capital of Ire-

land. However, its tradi-

tional culture changed be-

cause there are many

youths, which means it‟s

not being passed down to

future generations! For ex-

ample, there seems to be

many relatively simple

things about the home-

cooked meal. Ireland has

good lamb and beef, and

the staple food of the Irish

people is potato. There is

a stew with meat and po-

tato cooked with Guinness

or whisky. As such, many

Irishmen like liquor. The

beer consumption of Irish

people is the second high-

est in the world.

Irishmen are tolerant

of other people and are

friendly. It is said that

Irish pubs are very fun.

Most Irish people have a

character to love human

beings, and it may be the

reason why the substitute

Kanji character of Ireland

is “love” in Japanese.

Norway

Kana Mitsukawa

I‟ll talk about Norway in

Northern Europe. The Norwe-

gian capital is Oslo, and the

leader is Harald V. The popu-

lation is approximately

5,000,000, and most people are

Christians.

Now, I‟ll talk about Nor-

wegian cultures. First, a Nor-

wegian traditional dish is

Lutefisk. Lutefisk is boiled cod

and potatoes and beans with

lye. Also, famous drinks are

coffee and beer. Norwegians

drinks coffee after a meal. The

most famous traditional Nor-

wegian beers are Pilsner and

Red Beer. Second, the sports

that are the most famous in

Norway are Nordic skiing, be-

cause, Norway is the birth-

place of ski jumping. So many

people enjoy Nordic skiing.

Last, about smoking of Nor-

way. In Norway, people can

smoke from 18 years old. How-

ever, underage smoking is a

problem as smokers 18 years

or younger is increasing.

Next, I‟ll talk about Nor-

wegian nature. First, reindeer

is a famous animal in Norway.

Second, Norwegian fjords are

listed as World Heritage sites.

Two fjords called Geiranger-

fjord and Nærøyfjord are in

West Norway. There are very

beautiful.

Last, you can see aurora

in Norway. Auroras are very

beautiful in Norwegian

Tromsø. Therefore, there is a

lot of culture and nature in

Norway.

I want to go to Norway

and everyone, please go too!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 10 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Poland

Akari Harada

The capital city of Poland

is Warsaw. Poland is bor-

dered by Germany, and

Russia and so on. It is

the homeland of Coperni-

cus and Chopin also. It is

a beautiful country that

has great plains, forests

and lakes.

This country was di-

vided many times, it is

known as a nation that had no end of trou-

bles. Though, it was

proud to have the largest

territory in Europe in

the 16th and 17th centu-

ries. The country fought

the Ottoman Empire, in

addition, in the Age of

Discovery; it was the

term of producing grain

while western European

countries travelled around the world.

The country has an alcohol called

“Spirytus”. It is the strongest alcohol in the

world, it has 96% alcohol content. I‟m in-

terested in “Pierogi”. Pierogi looks like

Gyoza. I wonder what it tastes like.

Most people may have a negative im-

age of war in Poland like “Auschwitz”. 85%

of the land in Warsaw was turned into rub-

ble in WW2, but the Polish people revived

the town through photos and drawings af-

ter the war.

Now, the country has a lot of positive

and interesting things. I would be glad if

people are interested in the country.

Portugal

Ruka Fujinaga

What do you know about Por-

tugal? Maybe you only know of

guns being introduced to Ja-

pan by Portuguese people. Por-

tugal is in the southern part of Europe. Lisbon is

the capital of Portugal. Japan has four times as

much area as Portugal. The capital has a large

population for its size. Portugal has many great

things.

First, there many places with beautiful nature

left in the country. There are 14 of these places on

the World Heritage List. We can see the blue sky in

Portugal. I want to see it.

Second, about the Portuguese language. It is

spoken by many people all over the world. We know

words such as, “karuta”, “capa”, “tabako”,

“kasutera”, and “konpeitou”. The origin of them

came from Portugal.

Finally, about food and drink. This country is

famous for Slow Food. Portugal is a country that

loves food. Therefore, eating dinner at a restaurant

takes about three hours, lunch takes about one

hour. They eat very slowly. Also, they usually go to

a cafeteria every day.

They go there on their

way to work in the

morning, afternoon tea

or another time. They

often go there, so they

don‟t need to make

promise to meet

friends.

Portugal is a gentle

country. If I go there, I

can relax. I want to go

to Portugal in the fu-

ture.

Russia

Saki Asai

To begin with, Russia extends

over Europe and Asia and it is

the largest country in the

world. Its population is about

1.1 times the population of Ja-

pan, at about 143 million peo-

ple. Its capital is Moscow. In

addition, Russia consists of

Russian and more than 180

minority races. It is country of

art.

First, there is the Her-

mitage Museum, which is

counted as one of the three ma-

jor art worlds. Its collection has

nothing but famous art works

in the world and a piece of

work is about three millions.

Second, there is a world

heritage site called of Red

Square. “Red” of Red Square is

not its color, it means

“beautiful” in old Russian.

Finally, there is the

Kremlin, which is a palace of

the old Russian Empire.

“Kremli” means “a fort” and

they are found in many cities

in Russia. The Moscow Kremli

is the largest and most famous

kremli in Russia.

In this way, I studied

these three things about Rus-

sia. Please look at them be-

cause there are a lot of fasci-

nating things Russia.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 11 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Spain

Saki Arimura

Spain is a European country.

Its capital city is Madrid and

the official language is Span-

ish. Spain has Portugal,

France and Italy on the out-

skirts around the country.

First, I talk about the

culture of this country. Spain

has 34 world heritage sites and

out of those, I talk about a

work by Antoni Gaudi. It‟s

called “Sagrada Familia” in

Japanese. It was registered as

a culture heritage in 1984 and

it was designed by Antoni

Gaudi who was an architect in

Spain. It is an unfinished wok

of art and it is said that it will

be finish in 2026.

Second, I will talk about

sports. Spain is famous for its

football and bullfighting. Real

Madrid and FC Barcelona are

Spanish football clubs and

they are the biggest clubs in

the world. A game of these

clubs is called “El Clasico”. To

go watch an el clasico is one of

my dreams.

In addition, there are

many delicious foods and great

temples in Spain. How about

visiting a country like Spain,

that has various personalities

and charms once?

Spain

Kaori Matsui

Spain is located in

the western part of

Europe, and is bor-

dered on the west by

Portugal and on the

east by France. It‟s

bordering the Medi-

terranean Sea. The

total area is about

55,000km² and

Spain has a popula-

tion of about 46 mil-

lion people. It has a population density of 85

people per km². The capital city is Madrid. The

prime minister is Mariano Rajoy Brey and the

king is Charles I, who wrote the slogan, “Plus

Ultra” in Spanish, which means “Additional

Advancement” in English.

The Sagrada Família, an emblem of the

city of Barcelona, has been designated as a

World Heritage Site. In terms of art, Pablo Pi-

casso and Salvador Dali are famous artists.

Incidentally, Salvador Dali designed Chupa

Chups‟ logo. Spain‟s soccer team has gotten to

the FIFA World Cup three times and they are

called the “Invincible Armada.”

In terms of food culture, they have Span-

ish food such as paella and churros five times a

day. The order is Desayuno, Merienda media

Manana, Almuerzo, Merienda, and Cena.

Furthermore, festivals for example the

Festival of San Fermin and the Festival of To-

mato have gotten on Japanese TV programs.

Finally, I learned that Spanish people are

outgoing and comfortable

with people.

Sweden

Yuka Imamura

What kind of image do you have

when you hear the country, Swe-

den? Now, I talk about Sweden.

Sweden‟s capital is Stock-

holm. There are 9,249,000 people

in Sweden.

Sweden is often called the

“welfare state” or the “large wel-

fare state”. Public institutions can

be used cheaply or for free, and

facilities are ample. However,

taxes are very high. The general

tax imposed is about 20%.

Sweden is also famous for it sex-

ual equality, and women‟s advance is

developing. If a woman gives birth,

her husband can take a leave to take

care of the children.

Next, Sweden is famous for

sports, for example, skiing, ice hockey,

soccer and so on. Sweden‟s soccer asso-

ciation was established in 1904, it has

a very long history.

In conclusion, today I talked

about high taxes, sexual equality,

women‟s advance, and Sweden‟s popu-

lar sports.

¡Plus Ultra!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 12 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Switzerland

Ryoka Hada

We call this country „Suisu‟. Do

you know about Switzerland? I

think that everybody knows a

lot too and does not know it.

I‟ll talk mainly on the history

and what kind of country Swit-

zerland is.

Switzerland is located in

the inland between Germany,

France, Italy, Austria and

Lichtenstein. The population is

1,100,000. The capital city is

Bern. Bern is registered as a

world heritage.

Now, I‟ll talk about the

history. An oath alliance was

formed to keep freedom and

self-government on August 1,

1291. It is the day Switzerland

was founded. From 1618

through to 1648, Switzerland

was involved in an interna-

tional war with the Holy Ro-

man Empire that started in

Europe. In 1648, the war was

settled through the Westphalia

treaty. Through this treaty,

Switzerland became formally

independent from the Holy

Roman Empire. It was recog-

nized by the Congress of Vi-

enna as a permanently neutral

country in 1815. Also the head-

quarters of the League of Na-

tions was set up in Geneva in

1920. In this way, Switzerland

became the peaceful country in

the world.

I have only talked about

the history of Switzerland.

Switzerland is the home coun-

try of the author Johanna

Spyri, who wrote “Heidi, Girl

of the Alps”. As for Maienfeld,

which became the stage of the

story, attracted tourists from

all over the world.

Did you learn a little

about Switzerland? If you be-

came interested, I am glad. If

there is an opportunity, please

go.

Turkey

Risako Kushida

Have you ever heard the

name of a country called Tur-

key? Let me tell you about the

country- Turkey. Turkey is a

republic country, which ex-

tends over two big continents:

Asia and Europe. It‟s 775,000

km2 in area, and it is about

twice as large as Japan. The

population is about

72,800,000 and the capital is

Ankara. Although almost all

people are Islamic, the reli-

gious precepts are not strict,

so there are many youths who

wear whatever they like and

enjoy fashion.

I was most surprised

when I was researching about

Turkey and found that Turk-

ish food is said to be one of

three famous foods of the

world along with French food

and Chinese food. The dish of

the nomad using sheep meat,

cheese and yogurt and the

Greek dish using tomato is its

origin. There are a lot of rare

foods in Turkey like “shish

kebab” which is chunks of

meat that are skewered and

roasted, “doner kebab”, which

twists many thin slices of

meat around a skewer and

carries out rotation baking,

and ice cream lengthens like a

rice cake.

I like eating very much.

So, I want to eat them. How

about you? Do you want to go

to Turkey?

Ukraine

Chihiro Nagai

This country is an Eastern

European country, although,

when I heard this name, I

thought it is an African coun-

try.

First, there are many

traditional foods in Ukraine.

The most famous food is

borscht. This is a soup. Onion,

carrot, cabbage and so on are

cooked in this soup. The main

food of the Japanese is rice, on

the other hand it is bread in

this country. I was surprise

that there is a drink that is

made from bread. This is

called kvas. The color of this

drink looks like beer.

Second, in this country,

there are four world heritages.

“Saint-Sophia Cathedral” is a

Christian church which is in

the center of the capital Kiev.

Also, the city of western

Ukraine called Lviv has a very

beautiful view. These heri-

tages are wonderful, so I hope

to go there someday.

Third, the holidays of

Ukraine. Generally speaking,

Christmas is on December 25,

on the other hand, Christmas

is on January 7 in Ukraine.

This is because the Julian cal-

endar is used. Recently, many

people spend it with their

families. In addition, March 8

is called the “National Women

Day”. On the day, bouquets of

flowers are sold everywhere.

Then men gives women flow-

ers or women give

men the flower.

The day before,

many people cele-

brate it in college

or in their compa-

nies.

Ukraine is a beautiful

European country, I want

more people to know about this

country.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 13 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Egypt

Nao Terauchi

First, I would like to talk about

the basic facts of Egypt. The

capital of Egypt is Cairo and

the population of Egypt is

about 82.5 million. Arabic is

spoken by Egyptians. The

president of Egypt is Mohamed

Morsi. Egypt is

located on the

northeast of Af-

rica.

Second, I

would like to talk

about its famous

buildings. There

are many famous

buildings in

Egypt. When

talking about Egypt, What do

you think of? I think of the

pyramids. I will try to talk

about them.

There are three famous

pyramids in Egypt. Did you

know? These pyramids were

built as graves for Kings.

There were three famous

kings. They were Khufu, Kha-

fre and Menkaure. King

Khufu‟s pyramid is about

137m high. This pyramid is

the largest of all pyramids.

The three Kings‟ pyramids are

called the largest,

the second and

the third pyra-

mids. The Abu

Simbel temples

are also famous

buildings. These

buildings were

built by Ramses

II. Ramses II‟s

birthday was February 22.

Ramses II became a King on

October 20. A phenomenon of

which sunshine lights up the

statue in the inner part of the

temple only happens on these

days. The phenomenon is very

popular, but the phenomenon‟s

days changed a little because

this temple was moved to a

different location. Therefore,

there are many famous build-

ings.

Kenya

Minami Kawanaka

First, Kenya is located in East

Africa and its capital city is

Nairobi. The official language

of Kenya is Swahili, but hav-

ing been a British colony in old

days, English is spoken in

Kenya, too.

I didn‟t know much about

Kenya, but I knew its strength

in track-and-field. I was sur-

prised by their marathon in

the London Olympic last year.

Unfortunately, its athletes lost

the championship, but they

won silver medals. When I saw

this marathon on TV, I only

thought that they ware great.

However, I researched

about Kenya and learned

about its strengths from a dif-

ferent angle. Now, the differ-

ence of the rich and the poor is

growing in Kenya. In recent

years, smart phones are popu-

lar in Kenya, but only rich peo-

ple use these. Many people are

suffering from hunger. Due to

droughts, Kenya is faced with

serious problems.

I found an interview with

a Kenyan marathon runner. In

this interview, he said, “We

run for our life.” It wasn‟t writ-

ten in detail, but these words

shocked me and I was

ashamed by my ignorance.

Kenya has a lot of inter-

esting customs. It has its

modern culture and its tradi-

tional culture. Its modern

culture is affected by various

customs. It is sad that the peo-

ple of such a splendid country

are suffering. I wish for their

stable living and a day when

people run for fun.

Africa

Kenya has many interesting customs

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 14 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

South Africa

Anna Higuchi

South Africa

is in the

southernmost

part of the

Africa conti-

nent. Its area

is three times larger than Ja-

pan. The climate is very warm

and it is called the Sun‟s Coun-

try. South Africa has main re-

sources. It produces the most

gold in the world.

In the old days, the Brit-

ish came and they controlled

South Africa. Black people

worked harder than white

people. It was called

„apartheid‟, which is very

cruel and black people suf-

fered for a long time. After

black people were liberated

from apartheid, discrimina-

tion decreased but they lost

jobs. As a result, white people

became rich and black people

remained poor. It is a problem

in South Africa.

Do you know some fa-

mous places in South Africa?

In 2010, the Word Cup was

held in Cape Town. Soccer is

especially popular. Cape Town

was developed by trade with

the Netherlands. It was called

Cape of Good Hope. There is

Table Mountain, which has

many rare plants. Further-

more, speaking of Africa, it is

famous for wild animals. In

Kruger Park, you can see ani-

mals up close and you can feel

the nature. Animals walk on

the roads in front of your eyes.

Johannesburg is the biggest

city in Africa. As far as I see,

this city is peaceful but it is

very dangerous. Security is

very strict and there are many

incidents.

I learnt a lot about South

Africa. I want to go to Kruger

Park to see many animals.

Zimbabwe

Kaname Taniguchi

Zimbabwe has 12,523,000 peo-

ple and it is ranked 66 of the

largest population in the

world. People there use Zim-

babwe Dollar but they use U.S.

Dollar too because of govern-

ment reasons. It is in South

Africa and it has no seas.

You know, we eat rice as

our main diet but they eat

“ZaZa” as theirs. ZaZa is boiled

corn powder and they eat it

with their right hands. Zim-

babwe is famous for rugby.

They entered the World Cup

twice. Swimming is famous too

and Kirsty Coventry got many

medals in Olympic and World

swimming races and made

many world records.

Zimbabwe has a “Boxing

Day”. What‟s that? We don‟t

have this day. You know, box-

ing is a famous sports but this

“Boxing Day” isn‟t the same.

The truth is that Boxing Day is

for opening present boxes for

poor children the day after

Christmas. Not only Zimbabwe

but also many Christian coun-

tries celebrate it. Bargain sales

are also held on the day. It‟s a

little funny and strange.

Through writing this

speech, I learned many Zim-

babwean things, so I want to

go there once.

Morocco

Kaede Karashima

At night, a crescent moon is

shining brightly, a man with

camel… and you can hear

some Arabian sounds. Now you

guess where is this place? Here

is Morocco.

To go to Morocco, you

would take Emirates Airlines

from Kansai Airport to Dubai

and then transfer to Casa-

blanca. It will take about 19

hours to go there.

The land of Morocco is

1.9 times bigger than Japan

including Western Sahara, and

the population is about 31mil-

lion, which is a quarter of Ja-

pan‟s. It is located on the same

latitude as Japan. However, its

climate depends on areas.

The Atlas Mountains

stretches from Morocco to Tu-

nisia in North Africa. There-

fore, Morocco has two kinds of

climate because the mountain

range separates two regions.

The north side of the moun-

tains has a Mediterranean cli-

mate and the south side has a

desert climate. In Casablanca,

the biggest city of Morocco, you

can feel a high of up to 40 to 50

degrees in summer!

Berber and Arabic are

the national languages in Mo-

rocco. They also use French

because it was a protectorate

under the French.

Muslim is the state relig-

ion there. Freedom of religion

is embraced in Morocco, so ac-

tually there are also a lot of

Christians and Jews.

I think, most people in

Japan already know the dish

called “tajin nabe”. Surpris-

ingly, it came from Morocco.

Meats, vegetables and some

spices are boiled together in a

special shaped pan.

Morocco is an exotic and

fascinating place. You will be

enchanted by Morocco if you go

there.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ 15 ]

H I G A S H I T I M E S

Canada

Takumi Kageyama

Canada is located in the upper

part of North America and it is

one of the most popular coun-

tries in the world. The popula-

tion of Canada is about 32 mil-

lion. There are many cities in

Canada. For example, Vancou-

ver, Toronto and Montreal.

Ottawa is the capital city of

Canada. The main religion of

Canada is Christianity, and

about 40% of its population is

Roman Catholics. The prime

minister of Canada is Stephen

Harper.

Now, I‟ll talk about some

topics that are interesting.

First, I

will

talk

about

sports.

There

are

many

popular

sports in Canada. For example,

skiing, lacrosse, curling and so

on. Amongst all sports, ice

hockey is especially popular.

Ice hockey is the most famous

sport in Canada. If you ask a

Canadian, “what sports are

famous in you

country?” the

Canadian will

answer, “ice

hockey”.

I‟ll talk about the next

thing. Next are animals. The

nature of Canada is very inter-

esting. Many creatures live in

the nature. Beavers, moose

grizzly bears are especially

famous.

That‟s all for my speech.

Through writing this speech, I

learnt a lot about Canada.

Mexico

Makoto Hasegawa

Do you know the United Mexi-

can States? Probably, you can

understand it if you hear it by

its other name. It‟s “Mexico”.

Now, I‟ll tell you about Mexico.

First, I want to talk

about the main information of

Mexico. Mexico is the common

name, and the official name is

the United Mexican States.

Mexico lies south of North

America. The capital is Mexico

City. The population of Mexico

is about 100,000,000. The offi-

cial language is Spanish.

Incidentally, what do you

think of when you hear the

country, Mexico? Mexico is fa-

mous for tortillas. Tortilla is a

traditional Mexican food,

which is made from corn. It‟s

just thin pieces of bread. There

is a reason why they used

corns. This is because Mexico

is the original home of corn, so

tortillas are made with corn.

Finally, I want to tell you

about sightseeing in Mexico.

Mexico has many world heri-

tage sites. How many world

heritage sites do you think

there are? There are more

than 30, and it is the highest

number of world heritage sites

in Latin America. Especially,

the Pre-Hispanic City of Teoti-

huacán is very popular for visi-

tors visiting Mexico. It is an

old heritage city, and it lies

near Mexico City.

OK, everybody, by listen-

ing to my speech, you‟ve got to

want to visit Mexico, right?

Probably, the answer is “Yes!”

I hope so. That‟s all.

North America

From the Editors

We hope you enjoy reading about these interesting countries as

much as we did. We especially enjoyed learning about the food.

Your writing skills are getting better and better. Keep up the

good work!

Claire and Kwok