Your English’s Getting Very Good: Munenori Kawasaki and His English

A few years ago, I heard that Munenori Kawasaki, who was a member of the Japanese national baseball team in 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classics, would try out for MLB.

Honestly, I thought that it would be really hard for him to become successful. Although there are many Japanese pitchers showed good performances in MLB, most Japanese infielders failed because of lack of power. Kawasaki, as a shortstop player, is agile enough, but it was obvious that he didn’t have enough power to be in the starting lineup in MLB.

Since I hadn’t heard anything about him for a while, I'd almost forgotten about him.

I'd heard that he'd become popular on the Internet, and so I watched a video about him on YouTube.



In a post game interview, his teammate, Mark DeRosa, called him over, and he just shouted, "Thank you very much. My name is Kawasaki. I'm from Japan. I'm Japanese!"

He was pretty funny. When I saw it the first time, I laughed out loud.

The following video is an interview with him from a program on the MLB network.



In this one, both Kawasaki and DeRosa reappear. Kawasaki read out some phrases from his small notebook.

I laughed out loud again, but at the same time I was really impressed that he had really made an effort to survive in MLB.

English may not be great, but his character shines through. I can’t help loving him.

Recently, I've heard that his English has gotten much better.



The interviewer said, "Your English's getting very good." I agree with him. He has made great progress. What he was talking about might not have been all that important, but he was able to have a conversation with the interviewer, whereas in the earlier videos it was like he was just making pronouncements.

It’s wonderful that he doesn't seem to be the least bit timid or shy.

In the interview he said, "I have teacher. Everyday talking."  I guess that he talks a lot with his teammates. That might be quite important for his MLB life.

I was wrong.

He has an enough ability to play in MLB.

The Cultural Trade Deficit: Japanese Intellectuals, Let’s Speak Out in English

It’s often said that the Japanese cultural trade deficit is very large.

Japanese intellectuals who can speak foreign languages have been earning money by bringing foreign knowledge and information into Japan. Most of them haven’t been interested in expressing their thoughts to the world, because it is much easier for them to import foreign knowledge and sell it in Japan.

It’s might not be bad that there are rich collections of Japanese translations of foreign books, but there are much fewer translations of Japanese books. Haruki Murakami is a complete exception.

Through the experience of keeping a blog in English I have realized that Japanese intellectuals should speak out in English to the world much more.

Firstly, remarks by Japanese intellectuals in English have value because of their scarcity at this time. When I write in English on my blog, I found that my opinion was unique because of my Japanese origin, even if I don’t try intentionally insisting on a Japanese point of views. We, as Japanese intellectuals, have a duty to provide our unique point of views to the world.

Now, many non-Western countries fail to build democratic governments. Japan, as a non-Western country, has the experiences of importing the concept of democracy from the West and developing our own democratic government; Japanese intellectuals could point out factors which make non-Western countries fail in building democratic governments that Western intellectuals can't see.

Secondly, we could make our opinions more sophisticated by expressing them in English. When we speak in English to the world, we have to explain things that are obvious for Japanese people. This forces us to think about our fundamental assumptions.

In my blog, I wrote the entry "Is Japan Really a Democratic Country?" Certainly I could think much more deeply about Japanese government by that than writing it in Japanese.

Japanese intellectuals, let’s speak out in English!

A Freezing Winter in Temporary Housing

This is the third of March 11th since the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Although many programs about the earthquake are broadcasted on TV, I can’t stand watching them well, because I am too upset. I could watch them before, but recently I can’t.

The disasters which hit victims of the earthquake were so overwhelming and tragic that I couldn't understand what really happened well. I used to watch TV programs about them, as if they were somebody else’s problems and a kind of myth.

I have seen the scene how the great tsunami went over a seaside town again and again, but I can’t still understand my feelings toward this scene.

In my entry “The J. G. Ballard's World” in March 12th, 2011, I wrote, “I can understand what happens in my head, but I can't accept that it is real in my heart. I'm living in the surreal world now.”

It is very cold this winter.

There are many victims who are still living in temporary housing. I really imagine how hard a freezing cold winter in such temporary housing is. It is not a huge tragedy, but a real hardship.

I deeply wish that they would move to their own houses before the next winter.

The End of the Good Old New York Yankees: An Impression of Derek Jeter’s Announcement of His Retirement at the End of This Season

Early this morning, I found Derek Jeter’s announcement of his retirement at the end of this season on his Facebook page. I knew that this day would come soon, but it is completely different between what I expected to be and what it actually comes to be.

I wrote about my love for the New York Yankees in the 1990’s in the entry “Goodbye My Good Old Yankees.”

The Yankees in the 1990’s was the most brilliant team that I have ever seen, so I was really happy to watch their games. Now I can clearly remember how Paul O'Neill, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, and Derek Jeter played in the Yankees Stadium at that time.

Of course, Captain Jeter is great, but young Jeter was more impressive for me.

In the twenty-first century, it was a bit sour to be a Yankees fan, because I had to watch the old good Yankees collapsing. Paul, Bernie, Andy and Jorge retired one by one. Although the Yankees bought expensive players instead of them, they were not the old good Yankees at all.

In the last season, Mariano was gone from the field, and in this season, Derek, the last old good Yankee, finally will step out. At the end of this season, I will also stop being a Yankees fan.

A farewell to Captain and the old good Yankees.

PS

Masahiro Tanaka MUST take Captain to the world series!

Reality Is Cruel: An Impression of Super Bowl XLVII

The football season is over.

I had believed that this season must have been Peyton Manning’s one, but in the end that didn’t happened.

Seattle Seahawks completely beat Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. Seattle Seahawks didn’t allow Peyton Manning and the other members of Denver Broncos do what they planned at all. Everybody, including Seattle Seahawks themselves, didn’t expect this big win over Broncos.

Peyton Manning is one of the legendary quarterbacks. He used to play as a member of Indianapolis Colts and he won Super Bowl in 2007. But in 2011, he got neck surgeries, and Colts believed that he couldn’t play as well as before, so they kicked him out.

In 2012, he got signed on with Denver Broncos and he brought his team to the playoffs. This season, the 37-year-old Peyton Manning achieved the best performance in his life and got the regular season MVP.

I dreamed that Peyton Manning would win the Super Bowl title at the end of this season and it make his big comeback perfect.

But reality is cruel.

Seattle Seahawks literary destroyed Denver Broncos and my dream.

It is really painful for me to imagine how this defeat hurt Peyton Manning’s heart.