Japanese Empress is 75

Today is the birthday of the Empress Of Japan.
She’s 75 now.

Last year, I wrote a post about her 74th birthday (and a few other things). Click here to read it.

For her birthday statement this year, she mentioned her sympathy to all who have had hardship due to the poor economy and she also expressed her happiness about U.S. President Obama’s Nobel Prize and his wish for a nuclear-free world.

She always expressed her gratitude to everyone who offered the Royal couple congratulations on their Golden Anniversary (50 years) this year, and the Emperor’s 20th year on the throne.

The Empress Of Japan

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Also, beginning today, doctors, nurses and other hospital staff in Japan were able to receive the 新型インフルエンザ (Swine Flu) inoculation.

Next week, young children and pregnant women will be able to receive theirs.

After that, people with chronic disease (such as asthma) will be in line to get the shot.

And finally other people.

The medicine that people in Japan will be receiving to protect themselves against this new flu is “made in Japan“…so it’s supposed to be safer.

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By the way, speaking of 新型インフルエンザ (Swine Flu), did you know that a company in Japan is selling a business suit that looks just like a normal suit businessmen wear to the office…but it’s being promoted as the first suit that “protects the wearer from the Swine Flu”?

豚インフルエンザ

The 豚インフルエンザ (Swine ‘Flu) virus seems to be out of control! (Actually, the name of this flu has been changed recently in Japan. It’s now called 「新型インフルエンザ」 (New Type Flu)).

Some people are saying that the media is blowing it out of proportion and the reality isn’t as bad as their making it seem.
But I don’t know about that…it seems pretty bad. And, unlike the conventional インフルエンザ (flu), it seems that a high number of teenagers are catching this disease.

As parents of three teenagers, news like that naturally concerns my wife and I! Even more disturbing for us is the recent news that four Japanese teenagers from 大阪 (Osaka, Japan) returned from a trip to Canada and had the first confirmed cases of 新型インフルエンザ (New Type Flu) in Japan….and then the number of teenagers in 大阪 (Osaka, Japan) with the flu has been rising this past weekend!

Currently, there are about 80 confirmed cases of 新型インフルエンザ (New Type Flu), consisting of high school and college students and some of their family members and teachers in the Osaka area of Japan.
Thankfully, no one has died from this disease in Japan yet.

This is nowhere as high as the over 4000 cases in America (with four deaths) or the nearly 3000 cases in Mexico (with 66 deaths)…but it’s still disturbing, especially since all of the cases in Japan have been reported just this past weekend! Hopefully, it won’t continue to spread!

(update (21 May 2009): There are now two teenage girls in the Tokyo area who went to America recently and now have the 新型インフルエンザ (New Type Flu). So it has spread to Tokyo. 😦 ).

学芸会

Today is 勤労感謝の日 (Labor Gratitude Day). It’s a Sunday, so it will be observed tomorrow (Monday)…so this is a 三連休 (three-day weekend).
(Click here to read my short FAQ about 勤労感謝の日 (Labor Gratitude Day)).

Yesterday, my youngest daughter’s school had their 学芸会 (School Play). My youngest daughter’s in the sixth grade, so this is her last year of 小学校 (Elementary School)…next year, all three of my kids will be in 中学校 (Junior High) and 高等学校 (High School)!
So, yesterday was the final Elementary School Play for our kids 😦 ! Time flies!

My daughter played a 96-year-old elderly woman in her play. She did excellent!

After her play, we all went to the doctor’s office to get our インフルエンザ予防接種 (Influenza vaccination (The ‘Flu Shot)). Last year, my wife and daughters got the shot…but I thought that I didn’t need it. And I caught インフルエンザ (Influenza). It wasn’t fun!
So, I got the ‘flu shot today, too.

From there, my daughters went out with their friends. So, my wife and I went to a park and had a picnic.

(This thing was at the park. There was another just like it. We discovered that if one person put their ear to the mouthpiece on one, he can hear another person speak into the mouthpiece on the other…おもしろかった! 🙂 )