Ogasawara Islands and Hiraizumi were decided to register as World Heritage sites.

Ogasawara Islands

The 35th session of World Heritage Committee held in Paris decided to add Ogasawara Islands, 100 km south of Tokyo, and Hiraizumi, Iwate prefecture, to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites last week. Ogasawara Islands are dubbed the "Galapagos of the Orient" for their unique wildlife,including such endangered species known as the Bonin flying fox (Ogasawara o ko-mori) and black-footed albatross (kuroashi aho-dori). The chain of Ogasawara Islands consists of about 30 islands, and they are home to 57 species listed as rare species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a UNESCO advisory body.



Konjiki-do, the golden hall



 Hiraizumi is now a small town in Iwate prefecture, but in the 12th century, it was called the capital of Tohoku District, and a rival city of Kyoto. It was established by the Fujiwara, and the famous Buddhist temples such as Chusonji and others still remind us its past glory and prosperity. Chusonji temple is well-known for its Konjiki-do or the golden hall.

My personal history after the war   14
I was admitted to enter Iwamizawa Nishi Senior High School at last, but it was almost the end of April. On the day when I first went to school, "challenging exam" was being held. I hadn't gone to school for almost a month, so it was quite natural that I couldn't give a right answer to any of the questions. There was such a question in the English grammar exam as  "Point out  'complement' and 'object' in the following sentences". I didn't understand what it meant. English was my weakest subject, because there was no teacher in my junior high school in Miyagi who could teach English. It was the beginning of my struggle to learn English.