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TRANSCRIPT
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [ ]
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