Category Archives: Earthquake

Trip to see my ex-student in Yamagata prefecture

An ex-student of mine, to whom I tutored French when I was a university student, is now running a small company in Shinjo, Yamagata prefecture. Today, I took a break and visited his firm. I woke up at 5:30 in the morning. I went to my office to check e-mails. Then, I rode my bike to Kofu Station. I took an express “Azusa” at 7:24 AM to Tachikawa. In the train, I took a Filet-O-Fish set. I changed trains and trains and finally took a bullet train from Omiya to Shinjo.    The train once stopped at Fukushima Station, when, I confess, I felt uneasy. I arrived at the Shinjo Station … Continue reading

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Cleaning air conditioners

I normally work on Saturdays. I came back for lunch. After lunch, I cleaned the air conditioners of our apartment. First, I took off filters. I washed them in the bathroom, and kept them being dried. Then I used the cleaning sprays Katya had bought the other day. I sprayed the mist inside the air conditioners to have the dirt dissorved out. I came back home for dinner. I put the filters in. Now the air conditioners are ready. They are not plugged in yet. We will go with the electric fans until it gets very hot.

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Rainy season arrived

After the typhoon the day before yesterday, the sky became very clear and it was hot yesterday. Today, from the morning, it rained on and off. The rainy season has arrived in Japan. In a way it is good because the cool summer is not only good for Katya, but also we can save the energy. In the Kansai area of Japan, the electricity company is planning to run up the nuclear power plants. It is very interesting to see how people will react in the middle of summer; will they stop their air conditioners or they will chose an extra energy?

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Hottest day in Kofu this summer

As I wrote yesterday, summer seems to be mild this year. Summer, however, has come anyway; the temperature raised up to 30 degree C today in Kofu. I used an electric fans in the office. We are trying to save energy again this summer. The governments is repromoting “Super Cool Biz“.  Japanese business outfits did change in a casual direction last year. It should be continuing this year, too. I like casualty, but am sort of against the government’s telling what to wear. In the evening, I went to a tennis lesson alone after half a year to Kose Sports Park. The temperature got lowered in the evening. The lesson was … Continue reading

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Texas Select returns

I have bought 72 cans of Texas Select, an imported non-alcoholic beer. The taste is comparable to ordinary beers, while the price is low because of no alcohol tax. Katya and I started to drink them. However, we do not know whether we drink them all this summer, as the summer this year seems not the hottest. It is good because all nuclear power plants have shut down now. If the temperature goes too high, blackouts could happen. The scheduled power shut-down was carried out in Kofu last year. It was not only inconvenient but was also depressing in this modern society. We hope that the summer keeps mild this … Continue reading

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Katya meets new friends by Lake Kawaguchi

Katya is joining a Russian site on dachshunds. Katya has been knowing a couple, dachshund lovers living in Saint Petersburg.  They are programmers visiting a lot of countries during their vacations. They came to Japan last year after the disaster and liked the country. So they visited Japan again this spring. This morning, they took trains from Tokyo to Lake Kawaguchi to stay one night. Katya went to meet them there in Smart. After coming back home, I asked Katya how it was. She said it was much fun.  They went around the lake, went to other two lakes, saw Mt. Fuji, ate Hoto, etc. Katya gave them strawberries cultivated in Kofu, … Continue reading

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3.11 in 2012: One year after the dissaster

After having blini for breakfast, Katya and I went to a “YAMADA” electric shop to buy an air purifier for Katya’s pollen allergy. They recommended a Sharp or a Panasonic, and we chose Sharp, which is now being advertised on TV. After coming home, I turned on the TV to watch the national memorial ceremony of the disaster.  Emperor presented himself after his heart surgery. He did a good talk (I am against the Japanese Emperor system, but I think he is a balanced person). At 2:46 PM, we paid one-minute silent prayer to the victims. Although I am an atheist, I quietly thought of them. I think the disaster has changed … Continue reading

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Earthquake, Dohshinboh by mini, Submission of a paper

At about 7:40 AM, there was an earthquake. Although it was a Saturday morning, Katya woke up. Maya-san kept sleeping. I soon understood that the earthquake itself might not be a big one because the frequency of the shake was high. Even though, the vibration was rather large, meaning that the location of the earthquake might be close to Kofu. The quake stopped, and restarted twice. Katya check the news by her iPad.; the epicenter was near Kofu, close to Mt. Fuji. The magnitude was 5.5, so it was not a big earthquake. Then I went to school to work. At 1 PM, Katya and I met at the parking … Continue reading

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Business Trip to Tokyo and a Fuel Cell Vehicle Ride

I woke up at 4:10 AM in the morning. Today, I have one meeting in the morning, and the other two in the afternoon, all in Tokyo. The first one would start at 9:00 AM in Funabori, close to Chiba. Unfortunately, there is no express train in the early morning from Kofu to Tokyo, so I decided to take a bus. I first went to my office and headed for Kofu station. The bus left at 5:30 AM. Gee, we were again caught in a traffic jam! I arrived at the conference site at 9:30 AM. I was at the conference hall to see everything went fine; if something happened, … Continue reading

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Business trip again to Tokyo

Again a meeting in Tokyo for my project. I had a beef bowl at Yoshinoya in front of Kofu station.   Then I took trains to Kanda, Tokyo. Researchers from four companies got together, and with me, discussed about a start-up  cell.  We came up to a tentative design. The meeting ended at 4 PM. After the meeting, I visited a company taking care of my studio in Nakaochiai to say hello. This company is not for the whole building but only dealing with the tenant and my compartment. In my studio, a girl student lives, who experienced the earthquake.  Her mother wrote to me that she is doing just … Continue reading

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