COMMUNICATIVE TIMES No.2
A Newsletter for Japanese University Student Writers


Autumn 1999

John Pereira (Editor)
Dr. Simon Potter (Associate Editor; Saitama University, College of Liberal Arts)
Toto Akeru (Art Director)

EDITORIAL

Living In Balance ...?

Business
correspondence

and
sharing your
being

though writing
creatively

are two
very different
animals

What
is
a strength

from one point
of view

could well
be viewed as
a weakness
from another

and so
they
naturally
do not make
for a happy
married life!

We
no doubt
need to teach
our university students
how to write

and speak

in conventional
and socially
appropriate
ways

in Rome

or

anywhere else

so as
to facilitate
communication

Business writing
therefore
has
an obvious
practical
value

as does
academic writing

which is
a training ground
in Aristotelian thinking

for students
who want
to understand
and
communicate
with
the West

Few readers
anywhere
however

would claim
to enjoy

reading

poetry
or
fiction

which
is
full of
endless
cliches
and
fixed expressions

Isn't it
therefore

as important

for all
our students

to be given
an opportunity
to share
their being
and
inner life

in more
creative
ways?

I can write
a good business
letter

but
I can't understand
the beauty
of a poem

is a
sad sad
commentary

on language instruction
at the
university level
in Japan

Can
a university
education
be complete

without
the Within?

Don't we
after all
also live
in our
imagination?

POESSAYS
West Meets East
and
Aristotle Meets Basho
These
little things
are
not poetry

but
a simple marriage
of
the poem
and
essay forms

Poessays
in fact

are
opinions
expressed
poetically
　　　　　　Editors

Money
I
don't like
Him

because
he uses
me

Ryosuke Saeki

Legs
I have
three
lovely legs

the first
is
my bicycle

the second
is
my motorcycle

the third
is
my car

and

they are
all mine

Kana Okuda

Far Out
What is
nearer
to me

than
myself?

But
because
of its
nearness

I can't
know
myself

Keiko Nishimura

Harmony
My hands
are
very big

But
I don't
hate them
because

I have
to live
with them

until
I die

so
I get along
with them

Yoshiko Honda


Lunch Time
It will be
lunch time
soon

Everybody
will go
to the
dining room

I
want
to go
there too

I want
to have
lunch
too

But
I have
no money

Takayuki Fukano

Double
Standard
My teacher
said that
trying
is more
important

than getting
the correct
answer

But
when I
tried hard
and made
a mistake

he
gave me
minus points

so
tell me

what does
trying
mean?

Kumiko Onishi

No Coffee Break
Who
is the hardest
worker
in the
world?

The
politician?

The
lawyer?

The
carpenter?

No
no no!

he
who works
non-stop
is

sometimes
he works
slowly

and
sometimes
he works
fast

yes
he who
lives
in my
left breast
is

O my sweet heart!

Masami Yamashita

My Father
& Me
My father
regards everything

except scholarship

as trash

so
when he
asked me
what
I learned
recently

and
I told him
it was
the price
of vegetables

my father
cried

Saeko Hada


POEMS

Rain
I don't like
the rain
but

my umbrella
does

because
it likes
to go
outside

Chise Okumura

Lightning
When
I met
you
a week
ago

fireworks

went off
in my
heart

and

it
hasn't
stopped
since!

Erina Tanabe

Ice Cream
I
love you
very much

I
want you
right now

I
really
need you

because
I am
starving

Mitsumasa Shibahara

Daily Life
I
get up
at six

I
go to
school

I
spend time
with
my friends

I
go back
home

and

at the end
of my day

I
hug
my dog

Tomomi Kintani

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