隠れん語WINNERさんです！　Congratulations！！

今回のテーマは（Difficult)Autumn Colours (難しい)秋の色 です。ちなみに色は米国英語ではcolor,英国英語ではcolourになります。ご存知でしたか？なかなか使わない秋色ですがまさに秋をイメージする色ですね！

くり色のMaroon。アメリカの歌手Maroon5はくり色5?!

別にメンバーみんながくり色の髪の毛でも目の色でもなさそうですが…?

Vermillion : 朱色

Rust : さび色

Raw Umber : 暗褐色

Maroon : くり色

Mahogany : マホガニー/赤褐色

Goldenrod : ゴールデンロッド/深黄色

Crimson : 深紅色

Burnt Sienna : 赤土色

Auburn : 赤褐色

Amber : 琥珀色

Thank you so much for sharing the beautiful night with us at Umekoji Park!

We had a great time!!! The garden was so beautiful but there weren't so many people. We also enjoyed the reflection of the trees on the water.

Please enjoy the pictures below! 

 - Discussion Week 31 -

- Friday the 25th of November

 - Polyamory/Polygamy, is it bad? - 

Polyamory is the act of having multiple sexual/romantic partners. Though, not married partners. In polyamorous relationship (a.k.a. an open relationship) the participants all agree and consent to their partner having more partners.

Polygamy is almost the same as polyamory, however it means the participants are married to each other, still having multiple wives/husbands.

Is this really a bad thing? What kinds of issues can polyamory or polygamy have?

Do you think you would be able to handle a polyamorous/polygamous relationship?

Let's talk about that. 

 - Discussion Week 30 -

- Friday the 18th of November

 - Trump presidency - 

Donald Trump won the presidency in the USA. What does this mean for America, and the world?

Look at both sides of the argument, look at how Hillary supporters have reacted to the presidency, look at how Trump has changed his stances since the presidency, look at how Trump supporters have acted since the election, and compare the current feeling to how all of the supporters on both sides acted before the election.

An easy example is how most Hillary supporters believed that Hillary would win by a landslide, and that Trump supporters would riot in the streets, demand recounts, and not accept Hillary as president, that there would be widespread hate and problems caused by Trump supporters.

The truth is that Hillary didn't win, and all of the things that Hillary supporters complained Trump supporters would do, are now the things that they themselves are doing!

Shouldn't the world give Trump a chance to try to be a good president, before treating him like he's the next Hitler?

Let's talk about that.

- Sunday the 20th of November

 - Trump presidency - 

 (This is a copy of the above story)

Donald Trump won the presidency in the USA. What does this mean for America, and the world?

Look at both sides of the argument, look at how Hillary supporters have reacted to the presidency, look at how Trump has changed his stances since the presidency, look at how Trump supporters have acted since the election, and compare the current feeling to how all of the supporters on both sides acted before the election.

An easy example is how most Hillary supporters believed that Hillary would win by a landslide, and that Trump supporters would riot in the streets, demand recounts, and not accept Hillary as president, that there would be widespread hate and problems caused by Trump supporters.

The truth is that Hillary didn't win, and all of the things that Hillary supporters complained Trump supporters would do, are now the things that they themselves are doing!

Shouldn't the world give Trump a chance to try to be a good president, before treating him like he's the next Hitler?

Let's talk about that.

皆様ハロウィンはいかがお過ごしでしたか？

Spookyな夜を楽しまれたでしょうか？

そうです！10月最後のテーマは Describing Halloween ハロウィン表現 です🎃

Scary : 怖い

Supernatural : 超自然の

Frightening : ぞっとさせる

Horrific : 恐ろしい

Ominous : 不吉な

Eerie : ぞっとするような

Spooky : 気味の悪い

Spine-Chilling : 背筋がぞっとするような

Creepy : 身の毛のよだつような

Chilling : 寒気

秋本番！11月１週目のテーマは Harvest / Collecting crops 収穫 です。収穫するという一言でも作物や状況によっていろんな言い方があるんですね！(      )の中は代表的な目的語です。ご参考までに。

To accumulate : 蓄積する(many items)

To forage: 飼料を集める(for berries)
To gather : 収穫する(mushrooms)

To harvest : 刈り取る(corn)
To hoard : 貯蔵する(rice)

To pick : 摘み取る(apples)
To pluck : 摘み取る(grapes from the vine) ※pickと同じ意味ですが、通常fromと組み合わせて使うそうです。

To reap : 収穫する、刈る(wheat fields)
To take in : 取り入れる(the crops)

To unearth : 掘り出す(potatoes)

 - Discussion Week 29 -

- Friday the 11th of November

 - Why do Japanese people love smoking so much? - 

So in most western countries, advertising for smoking/cigarettes/tabacco products is illegal. Many western countries have made smoking in certain public places (restaurants, bars etc.) illegal. Many of places can't even have a designated smoking room.

But in Japan I see cigarette advertising even at a child's height in convenience stores. I have(last year) visited a club in Kyoto, in which there was a cigarette advertising woman who was offering club-goers free samples of her cigarettes. Not to mention there are also cigarette vending machines that pretty much anyone can make use of.

These kinds of practices are completely bizarre to me, and I have never seen such 'love' for smoking anywhere else.

Why is it like this in Japan?

Let's talk about that.

- Sunday the 13th of November

 - Is protesting even worth the trouble? - 

In Kyoto, almost once a month, usually around Shijo, I see a group of protesters walking down the street, it's usually a "no nukes" or "don't change article 9/no war" protest.

These protests happen often, like I said, almost once every month, and sometimes I even see them here on Nayamachi!

These protests have great messages, but by the fact that they happen again and again, and so often, it feels like the protest is only giving the protesters a release/feeling of "I did something I feel strongly about", but that's all.

Are the protests even having any effect?

If you were a politician, would these protests have any sway with you?

Do the current politicians even care about these protests or the protesters?

Let's talk about that.

 - Discussion Week 28 -

- Friday the 4th of November

 - The population has dropped for the first time since 1920! - 

The population of Japan is -0.8% as of 2015, which is apparently the first time that the population of Japan has fallen since 1920!

What's happening in Japan that has caused this drop, and is the population drop actually a bad thing?

Could there be any benefits from this drop?

Is there some way that the population loss could be combated without bringing in boatloads of immigrants?

Let's talk about that.

- Sunday the 6th of November

 - The drinking age in Japan - 

In Japan, the alcohol drinking age is 20 years old. Why is the age set so high?

In other countries, New Zealand for example, the drinking age is 18, and in Germany the drinking age is 16 for low-% alcohol (e.g. beer/wine) and 18 for stronger alcohol (and even at 14, you can buy alcohol if accompanied by an adult).

Do you think having a higher drinking age could cause young people to want to try to break the law to get alcohol even at an age when they shouldn't be allowed?

Or do you think having a lower drinking age can have a negative impact on young people's lives?

Let's talk about that.