It's very strange to us that Seki City is attracting so much attention from people overseas. The reason is that Seki City is a very common area in Japan.
There are areas like this all over Japan. There are remnants of old roads that have continued since the Edo period, but these places are now completely deserted and few people pay any attention to them. That's unfortunate, though.
Japan carried out administrative reform by merging local governments, but this was several decades ago. As a result, a fairly wide area has become one. Seki City is one such area. So, even though it's called Seki City, it's actually quite large.
So, Seki City has one core city, and there are many mountains and valleys surrounding it. That's the kind of place Seki City is.
I think one of the reasons why such an ordinary city, Seki City, is attracting so much attention is because there is a mysterious pond called “Monet's Pond''. This is really strange, but so many people are visiting here now.
This pond was an anonymous pond built by a local volunteer. That's why it was originally called "Nameless Pond." However, this person has taken great care in caring for the pond (which is truly amazing), and the pond is very beautiful. Yes, in other words, it's a colorful pond that looks like something out of a Monet painting.
At first, people who visited this place took photos of the pond and posted them on social media. Then, people who saw it came here one after another, took pictures of it, and posted it on SNS. That's why it became famous so quickly.
This “Monet's Pond'' is unusual for a tourist destination, and does not require an admission fee. In other words, anyone can watch it for free. However, to get to this pond, you have to drive a considerable distance. That's a big deal, but now even foreign tourists come here. That's a surprise.
If you're interested in this story, try searching the internet for the words "Monet's Pond." Because there's a lot of information out there.
I am a Kansai native living in Osaka, Japan. I always speak Kansai dialect. A friend came to visit me from Tokyo. So, my friend and I decided to go to Dotonbori. Dotonbori is a famous restaurant district. We are eating okonomiyaki in a restaurant. This is the conversation between the two of us at that time. ( ) Which is the most appropriate word to go inside?
友だち : じつは ぼくは ことし かの女とけっこんをするんだ。
わたし : （ ）
1 : さようですか？
2 : ほんま？
3 : Really?
Please comment below, easily!
When it comes to Japanese anime, Hayao Miyazaki and Akira Toriyama's “Dragon Ball” are famous, but in the past there have been works by a wide variety of creators.
What I would like to introduce today is "Hakushon Daimaou". This work was created by a person named Tatsuo Yoshida. There is a first series that aired in 1969 and a second series that aired in 2020, but my favorite is the first series.
Hakushon Daimaou lives in a small pot and comes out when the pot's owner sneezes. He can use magic. The person who sneezed is the “master,'' so whatever the person says, use magic as instructed.
This is an anime based on the story of “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp''. “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp'' is a serious story, but “Hakushon Daimaou'' is a gag manga. So this is hilariously funny.
Anime works often reflect the social background of the time, and when “Hakushon Daimaou'' was created, Japan was in an era of high economic growth. And even though this is a children's anime, it somehow feels melancholy. That was what made it so unique.
When Daimaou(Demon king) appears from inside the jar, he always says this line.
“呼ばれて飛び出てじゃじゃじゃじゃーん Yobarete tobidete jyajyajyajyaaan”
That line means “I jumped out when I was called.” This line was very popular among children at the time.
What's interesting about this story is that the Demon King's “master'' changes depending on who sneezes. Usually, a weak-willed boy is the "master" of the demon king, and the boy uses the demon king's magic to get revenge for being bullied by the town's bad boys. However, every once in a while, something happens where the bad boy sneezes and becomes the "master" of the demon king.
And the demon king loves hamburgs. And he is really bad at bulldogs and numbers. It was a trend among anime characters created in the 1970s that the protagonist of an anime always had a “favorite thing'' and a “dislike thing.''
When this anime was aired around 1970, hamburgs were still very rare in Japan. So, after watching this anime, we decided that we really wanted to try the hamburg steak. At that time, it was generally not possible for anyone in Japan to eat a lot of meat.
If this first series were to be aired on TV again, I would definitely watch it.