WEC Articles

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  Once known as Awa Province (Awa-no-kuni), Tokushima Prefecture is renowned as the venue for the Awa Odori (Awa Dance)*. It is also famous for its high-quality indigo dye called Awa Indigo** and the Awa Ningyo (Puppet) Joruri***, designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japan. These are collectively referred to as the Three Great Awa Cultures. We spoke with the person in charge of promoting cultural tourism at the Tokushima Prefectural Government Office about tourism experiences centered on these special cultural aspects of the region. In Tokushima Prefecture, the Yoshino River, often referred to as the "raging river," stretches from east to west. During the typhoon season, this river frequently floods, causing extensive damage. Due to that factor, it was difficult to utilize the water of the Yoshino River as a resource, and rice cultivation was difficult in parts of the river basin. So instead, indigo plant's cultivation, which is a primary source for ...

  The Ichibata Electric Railway, known familiarly as the Bataden, connects Izumo City and Matsue City in Shimane Prefecture, taking passengers to local charms including a lake, hot springs, a temple, shrine and castle. Ichibata Yakushi in Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture is a temple located at the center of Shimane Peninsula, which faces the Japan Sea. It has a history of more than 1,100 years and has attracted many devout worshippers since ancient times. In 1912, a railway operator was founded that transported worshippers to the temple. It is currently operated as Ichibata Electric Railway Co. and has its headquarters in Izumo City. Ichibata Electric Railway operates two lines: the Kita-Matsue Line, which connects Matsue City and Izumo City (33.9 km) between Matsue Shinjiko-onsen Station and Dentetsu Izumoshi Station, and the Taisha Line between Izumotaisha-mae Station and Kawato Station (8.3 km). The railway lines are both known as the “Bataden” by local people. According to Kato M...

  While consumers over the world are enjoying more gluten-free foods, a new product has been released in Japan: “non-gluten” rice flour, which contains virtually no gluten. It is said that rice cultivation was transmitted to Japan from mainland China about 3,000 years ago. Later, rice farming spread to most parts of Japan around 2,000 years ago, and rice has been the staple food of the Japanese ever since. Rice flour, or powdered rice, has been used mainly as an ingredient in confectionery products for more than 1,000 years. The number of products using rice flour used to be limited. In the last ten years, however, rice flour has begun to be widely used as an ingredient in daily food products such as bread, cake and noodles. This is due to the development of flour milling machines that are capable of making rice flour with much tinier grains than before. Further, rice varieties that are appropriate for bread and noodles have been developed, which has resulted in the better flavor a...

 Once the haunt of middle-aged and older men, saunas in Japan have surged in popularity in recent years, with the younger generation and women driving the boom. 1. In Japan as elsewhere in the world, many people enjoy using the sauna, or Finnish-style steam bath. According to the Japan Sauna Spa Association, Japan is home to more than 10 million sauna enthusiasts. 2. Japan’s first sauna was created in 1957 in a public bathing facility in Ginza, Tokyo, but the sauna did not take off in Japan until the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. 3. As Wakabayashi Mikio, General Manager of the Secretariat of the Japan Sauna Spa Association explains, “Reports that the Finnish athletes had created a prefabricated sauna in the athletes village boosted public awareness of saunas. After that, sauna facilities grew more widespread, especially in urban areas of Japan.” 4. Initially, sauna users were mostly businessmen, who dropped off on their way home from work to unwind. Some businessmen who were so busy...

 Lithuanian man arrested for faking heart attack 20 times to avoid paying bill at restaurants Aidas J., a Lithuanian man living in Spain was arrested for faking a heart attack in an attempt to get out of paying his restaurant tab. Aidas J., a Lithuanian man living in Spain was arrested for faking a heart attack in an attempt to get out of paying his restaurant tab. A con man living in Spain has been arrested for faking heart attacks on 20 different occasions to get out of paying for his meals at various restaurants. The 50-year-old man, a Lithuanian national identified as Aidas J., lives in the southeastern port city of Alicante and has acted like a “typical Russian tourist” while he ordered several items off the menu before refusing to pay the bill. Aidas was first arrested for his scams in Nov. 2022 and his most recent encounter with the law was on Sept. 19, according to Spain’s EFE news agency. In his latest target, the shameless scammer visited the El Buen Comer in the historic...

 I kept hearing clicking and rustling in my ear — doctors found a spider Along came a spider who sat down inside her. A 64-year-old woman in Taiwan experienced every arachnophobe’s worst nightmare in April when doctors found a spider scuttling about in her ear canal. A case study detailing her eight-legged auditory invader was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. According to the report, the woman recognized all was not hunky-dory when she noticed “incessant clicking and rustling sounds” in her left ear. After struggling to sleep for four nights, she visited the ear, nose and throat clinic, where X-rays revealed the spine-tingling source of her discomfort. A small spider was moving about in her ear, and a discarded exoskeleton was nearby, as seen in alarming footage from the inner-ear exam. A 64-year-old woman in Taiwan experienced every arachnophobe’s worst nightmare in April when doctors found a spider scuttling about in her ear canal. New England Journal o...

  Absconding tortoise caught 5 miles from home three and a half years later. "Unusual tortoise" found in Florida identified as "escape artist" pet that went missing in 2020. The Putnam County Sheriff's office posted about the animal on Facebook on Saturday, saying deputies spotted the "unusual tortoise" in Interlachen. African sulcata tortoises, which are native to the Sahara Desert, are "escape artists," as they can dig out of enclosures, the sheriff's department said. They said the tortoise definitely seemed like someone's pet, since the turtle "likes people and head pats." Florida's Wildest Animal Refuge took in the tortoise as they searched for a possible owner. An African sulcata tortoise that went missing in 2020 has been recovered, authortities said. Putnam County Sheriff's Office Little did he they know at the time, the tortoise was someone's pet – and was last seen three and a half years ago. Social medi...

 America’s ally is nervous about waging war to defend Taiwan 1 The roar of the Japanese f-35 fighter jets above Misawa, in northern Japan, is formidable. At the base, which houses Japanese and American forces, pilots from the two countries practise flying together.  The risk of war with China over Taiwan has made those preparations ever more urgent. Japan plans to raise its defence budget by two-thirds by 2027 and acquire long-range missiles to make its Self-Defence Forces (sdf) fiercer. But it has not fired a shot in battle since 1945. Will Japan fight? 2 Geography puts Japan on the front line: its westernmost island sits 111km from Taiwan. Conflict is probably less likely if China believes Japan would join the fray. If war does break out, keeping Taiwan from falling may hinge on Japanese support and firepower. At a minimum, America would need to use its bases in Japan. And if Japan’s forces engaged in combat, success would be far more likely. 3 If a crisis around Taiwan...

1) Many people say that the best time to learn a language is when you're a young child. While there are many benefits to learning a language at a time when a child learns to speak, there are actually several disadvantages of learning a second language in elementary school, particularly kindergarten.  2) Before enrolling your child in a foreign language course or pushing for your school district to include foreign language at the kindergarten level, there are several factors to consider. Two Languages Can Be Difficult in Kindergarten 3) When children start kindergarten, they are expected to learn many things in just one year. They will begin learning phonemic and phonological awareness, which involves listening to different sounds in a word and eventually how to identify those sounds when reading.  4) Students in kindergarten will learn the basics of writing and reading fluency, learn how to write their name, read consonant-vowel-consonant words, answer questions about a story ...

  Middle East Problem Politically, the Middle East problem refers to the conflict between the Arab States (Palestine included) and Israel, and is also called Arab-Israeli conflict. It is historically the product of power struggles and has lasted for over half a century, which makes it the most enduring hot spot in today's world. The core issue of the Middle East Problem is the Palestine Problem.  I. A brief review of history  Palestine was called Canaan in ancient times. It covered the present Israel, Gaza, West Bank and Jordan. The original inhabitants in Palestine were Canaanites. About 4000 years ago, Hebrews and Philistines migrated from the Euphrates-Tigris and the coastal area along the Aegean to Palestine. Amid continuous fighting with Canaanites and Philistines, the Hebrew people established the first Hebrew kingdom in 1020 BC. From the 8th century to the beginning of the 20th century, Palestine suffered under the invasion, occupation and struggles by big powers. ...

 Salutations ladies, I just thought it might be a good idea if you would like to comment below with you're suggestions for new topics to keep our conversations interesting, So comment and let's see if we can come up ideas. Regards, Barry

Tackling signs in Japan that you’re not welcome “MOTHER F——- KISS MY ANUS. F—- OFF Mother F——-… foreigner. Sneaking PHOTO.” A hand-written sign bearing these words is among several decorated with similar insults that greet shoppers outside a fashion store that sells rock-style clothing in Tokyo. The sign sits among shirts emblazoned with designs featuring overseas rock bands such as Iron Maiden, Children Of Bodom and Marilyn Manson in the fashion and kawaii culture mecca of Harajuku’s Takeshita Street in Shibuya Ward. The Japan Times visited the shop after being approached by a foreign resident who was disgusted to see the signs while he was with his young daughter. “The shop is absolutely covered in these messages,” wrote the reader. “I walk past this place from time to time. The thing that annoys me most is that Harajuku is such an anything-goes area full of all kinds of subcultures and minorities, not least of all foreigners, so this place is like a nasty litt...