What will you call this vehicle? Ladybug? You may be surprised to hear about it, I mean this vehicle has no driver. I saw this vehicle in front of the railway station in my city. So I tried to check it inside this vehicle, but I could not find the driver. Namely, this is a self-driving vehicle. And this is a bus in my city. It seems that the bus is running in the street as an experiment by the city hall. And this bus is running about 20 kilometers per hour. It’s very slow. If you want to go somewhere in a hurry, you have better to ride a bike rather than this bus. And, when I’m driving in the street, this bus is a bit disturbing. Although, it’s not avoidable because you should not clash with this bus on the street, isn't it? Anyway, self-driving is incredible. Do you want this bus in your town?
Updated: Mar 5, 2024
In Japan we visit shrines on New Year’s day. We pray that the new year will be fine and peaceful. In Gifu, where I live, there is a famous shrine called “Kogane-jinjya”. The word “Kogane” means gold. You can find the golden gate in this picture, right? This is a “Torii” in shintoism in Japan. It looks like a gate, but, rather, I want to say this is an entrance into an alternative world where God lives. Originally, Torii is red. But, in the case of this shrine, I don't know why they painted the color of gold. Why? Maybe they want to say this is a “Kogane” shrine. But it’s weird that the Torii is painted golden. Maybe they wanted to call a lot of believers from around this region. Although, what do you think about it? Gold means money in this world. Does God in this shrine want money? Do the believers want a lot of money? Is this faith for getting money? It’s weird….
It’s said that the Japanese language is difficult to learn. I’m not sure if it’s true or not. Originally Japanese scripts are written vertically and this type of vertical script is rare in the world, I heard. I attached the picture of my New Year’s card here. The sentence on the card is written vertically. Actually you can write Japanese scripts both vertically and horizontally. But I love writing it vertically. In my opinion, vertical Japanese scripts are more beautiful than horizontal ones. However, you cannot write Japanese scripts vertically on a PC. These words on the card are what I want to send you. It means “Have a great new year” Happy New Year.