COMMUNICATIVE TIMES No.3
A Newsletter for Japanese University Student Writers


Spring 2000

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

EDITORIAL

What's next ...?

Uncle
says

idioms
and
idiots
are
related

but
then

why do
Americans
Australians
Indians

and other
speakers
of English

make use
of a hundred

and one
idioms ...?

Don't
idioms
and
metaphors

also help
to mirror

a culture
and
standardize
a language ...?

I
don't know
if uncle

is right
or wrong

but

isn't now
a
good time
as any
for

also Japanese
speakers of English

to claim
their rightful
place

in the
Idioms Hall
of Fame ...?


Some of you
no doubt

will agree
with uncle's
point of view
and say

"It's not
my cup
of tea"

Indians
for example
like to say

"It's not
my glass
of chai"

My friend
Taro
insists
on saying

"It's not
my bowl
of udon"!

Whatever
your opinion
on the subject

we'd still
like to receive
idioms
metaphors
and so on

which point to
a
Japanese sensibility

Send one and all
to our
editorial address

Thank you

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

Thanks
Thank you

for cooking
for me
every day

Thank you
for cleaning
my room
for me
every day

Thank you

for working
for me
every day

And
thank you

for being
concerned
about me
every day

I
appreciate
what you do
for me

but

I'm too
embarrassed
to say it

and so
I write it
here

Hiroe Kido

Loyalty
Honda
is
my partner

my friend

He is
very old
but
he's doing
fine

He has run
75000 kilometers

He
tries
hard

but
tires
easily

Hiroyuki Matsuyama

Oh, my God!
When
people
are
sad

they
believe
in
God

when
people
are
happy

they
forget
Him

Tomoya Fukura


War and Peace
Making
war
is

the worst
act
in the world

How
will war
disappear?

When
will war
disappear?

The
only way
I think

is
for all
of us

to kill
ourselves

Kazuhiko Nishiguchi

Hide 'n' Seek
I played
a trick

on my
mother

and so
she got
angry

and was
terrible

but then
the telephone
rang

and she
answered it
in a
calm
and
beautiful
voice

I
wonder
where
she hid
her anger?

Kumiko Onishi

Soul Brothers
I have
no money
no car
and no girlfriend

But
I have
a good friend

He has
no money
no car
and no girlfriend

Kantaro Iwasaki


My Pet
I
have
a
cat

he is
a selfish
cat

and
he is
a proud cat

My
neighbor
says

pets
resemble
their owners

Keiko Yuno

Kindness
On a crowded
train

I told
an old woman
to sit
in my seat

But
she said

I'm not
that old!

Miho Kawamura


POEMS

Tel Me
I've
been watching
the phone

since
I
got home
from school

I can't
stop looking
at it

I
can't
leave it
alone

even for
a second

I'm
guarding it
like
a watch dog

because
he said

I'll
call you

Miki Soejima

Rain
Though
the rain
is cold

I want
to keep on
getting wet

because
the rain
washes away

my
memories
and
my tears

Yuka Funama

Fashion Show
It is
spring

and so
people
dress up

to look
beautiful

Do
the trees
on the
hillsides

do
the same?

Noriko Katayama


MINI-ESSAY

Summertime

I've been working part time since March this year. Every summer Ms Mori, who employs us, takes the student-workers swimming somewhere. Although she is sixty years or more she's crazy about swimming.

She treats everyone to the trip so the students need no money, only a swimming suit. You might think we are lucky but, in fact, no one wants to go ... although, we have to!

Here are two reasons we don't want to go. First, she is very short-tempered and is always complaining about us. When she cannot do what she wants, she relieves her bad feelings by passing it on to others. We always have to put up with her behavior, and if someone cannot put up with her, he or she has to give up working. We all don't like her very much; to be honest, the more we are with her, the more tired we are mentally.

The second reason is because she loves beer and sake. If beer were to disappear from this world, she wouldn't be able to live another day. I hear she makes students drink beer from morning, and when they are chilled to the bone, they all have to swim in the cold sea. My fellow workers say, "We might die on this trip. The anniversary of our death could be August 15."

So we've named it the "Death Trip".

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Naoki Enomoto


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