English Blog

A Movie – The Girl Played With Fire 7/16/10 July 16, 2010

After seeing “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, this movie was MUST to see for me.  This is the second filmed installment of Stieg Larsson’s best-selling Millennium trilogy, about an investigative journalist (Michael Nyqvist) with a feisty computer hacker (Noomi Rapace) to go on her mission. The directer is Daniel Alfredson. “The Girl Played With Fire” carries […]

Mojave Desert, Solitude 7/10/10 July 14, 2010

On the way home from Yosemite National Park, we took US 395 to 14, going through Mojave Desert. After the last light from the sunset, it became a total darkness. I had to fight against a big nature force. Of course, we couldn’t see anything, we couldn’t touch anything, we were just in a big space […]

Yosemite National Park 7/1/10 July 1, 2010

I spent a few days at the beautiful Yosemite National Park this summer. It was just gorgeous, an endless forest, amazing falls and rivers from the thaw water,  peaceful meadows and lakes, and an unique geography. There are so many things to do and see in Yosemite. I have visited many national parks in the […]

2010 Sound Encounters Music Camp 6/15/10 June 15, 2010

I have been to this fantastic camp for the last 11 years, and it is so wonderful to go back each year. It is located in Ottawa, KS, a very charming town, and our classes and lessons are held on the Ottawa University campus. The music camp lasts for 10 days, and we have a full activities, […]

Indivisible by Four: A String Quartet in Pursuit of Harmony by Arnold Steinhardt 5/28/10 May 28, 2010

Dear Mr. Steinhardt, I just finished your book, and I am still very moved and touched. Your book gave me tear, giggle, and smile. You wrote a wonderful book. Toward the end of the book, you talk about Schubert “Death and the Maiden” quartet.  So I pulled the music out of the bookshelf, and played the […]

A Life of a Collaborative Pianist 5/25/10 May 26, 2010

I have been performing with so many different musicians since my performing arts high-school years in Tokyo. Pianists who play with other musicians used to be called “accompanists”, but in recent years, we are called “collaborative pianists”. It is an excellent renaming. We play music together. Many music schools and conservatories have a separate study […]

What is Sumo? 5/20/10 May 20, 2010

I have been a big Sumo fan since when I was very little, growing up in Japan. I have followed it as much as possible. There are 6 Sumo tournaments annually, January(Tokyo), March(Osaka), May(Tokyo), July(Nagoya), September(Tokyo), and November(Fukuoka), and each tournament lasts for 15 days from Sunday to Sunday. I have studied deeply for Sumo techniques […]

Schumann/Chopin Bicentennial Concerts 5/20/10 May 20, 2010

my husband and I have performed 3 concerts with a bicentennial celebration program of Chopin and Schumann this spring.  Chopin wrote “An Introduction and Polonaise” and “Sonata” for cello and piano. Polonaise was written when he was about 20 years old, before he arrived in Paris. Sonata was written in 1846. They show different aspects […]

A Movie – The Secret in Their Eyes 5/3/10 May 3, 2010

It is just amazing. I had a free day for the first time in few weeks. “Free Day” is sometimes wasted because of no schedule attitude, but I spent my free day fun and efficient. One of activities I did was to see this Argentinian movie which received an academy award for the foreign film category. […]

A Movie – The Girl with The Dragon Tatoo 4/20/10 April 20, 2010

It is a fantastic movie, one of the best movies I have seen recently. The story, the drama, the characters, the beautiful sceneries, psychology, romance, suspense, it has everything. It is a 2&1/2 hour movie, but I did not feel that long at all. The theme of this movie is pretty heavy. The original title […]