Mr.Nishimura in Okinawa sent me some scraps of Okinawan newspaper.

  There are only two days left for this year. I had been thinking I had to write a letter to Mr.Nishimura. He sent me a letter a month ago, but I hadn't answered it since then. Today, a parcel was sent to me from him. It was  

The Emperor's Cup Succer final is going to be played between J-2 teams.

  The weather forecast said it would begin to snow with strong wind at around 9:00 a.m. and would continue till 6:00 p.m., so I left home at about 8:20 a.m., a little earlier than usual. I returned home at about 10:00, and it didn't snow at all. In the afternoon, the wind blew strongly for a few hours, but it snowed only a little.
  In the afternoon, I watched semi-final games of the Emperor's Cup soccer. Surprising enough, the two winning teams were the teams from J-2, not J-1, the top league of Japanese professional teams. FC Tokyo (J-2 Champions ) defeated Ceresso Osaka (J-1), and Kyoto Sanga ( 7th place in J-2) defeated Yokohama Marinos.

Ayako went to Sapporo to see her sister and her husband, brother-in-law.

  As the weather got better, Ayako went to Sapporo by bus to see her sister in the care house and her husband alone in the condominium. She left home at 9:30 a.m. and returned home at around 3:00p.m., when I was walking along the Tomakomai river. Ayako said her sister was sleeping and didn't speak even a single word, and her husband was well tough living confined to a wheel chair.
  Before I left for the Tomakomai river, I watched on TV the final game of high school basketball championships tournament. Sapporo Yamanote high school beat out Yamagata comercial high school and won the championship for the second consecutive year.

I stayed at home all day, though the weather was not bad.

  In the morning, when I looked out, I found my garden blanketed with snow. After breakfast I removed the snow around my house and took out the garbage. Then, the broadcast of the basketball game of the semi-final in the national high school championships began. A semi-final game of the invitational tournament between Sapporo Yamanote high school and Ohka high school from Nagoya was an very exciting one, but finally, Sapporo Yamanote won by the score of 74-71.  Yamanote
proceeded to the final with Yamagata Comercial high school tomorrow.

It didn't snow here today either, though, in the other parts of Hokkaido, it snowed much.

  In many places, not only in Hokkaido, but in some north-western parts of Honshu, it snowed very much. Even in Nagoya, where it seldom snows, the roads and streets were covered with 8 cm snow. But, here in Tomakomai, we only saw some flakes of snow falling down.
  Around 11:00 a.m., I watched a basketball game of Sapporo Yamanote high school, I went with Ayako to the post office to send some documents to Takashi in California. The frozen roads were so slippery that it was dangerous to walk on.

Do I have some trouble with my stomach?

   It was snowing heavily on the western side of Hokkaido and Honshu. I spent all day because I felt a little sick with my stomach. I must have eaten and drunk a little too much last night. I didn't eat nothing for lunch today. I have got quite well now. I am relieved.
   In the afternoon and evening, as I had nothing to do, I first watched on TV a high school basket game between Sapporo Yamanote high school and Tkokai Dai San high school from Nagano.  Sapporo Yamanote is the efending champions, an defeated the team from Nagano by the score of 91-71. Then, I watched with Ayako women's figure skating  "the 2011 Japan Championships Competition". Mao Asada won the victory and became the champion. She was great because she had just lost her beloved mother.   

It didn't snow at all despite what the weather foreast said.

  According to the weather forecast, it would be stormy today, but it didn't snow at all. We cleaned the house. I wiped the window panes and room lights in the morning. After that, I sent Christmas e-cards to my friends overseas. Then, I watched succer games of the Emperor's Cup. Four teams incluing FC Tokyo (J2),Yokohama Marinos, Kyoto Sanga(J2), and Ceresso Osaka won and ecied to proceed to the semi finals to be played on Thursday ( 29th of December )  next week. In the evening, Ayako and I had a small Christmas party for us two.

I had to shovel out snow for the first time this season.

  It was not so cold, but snowed and I had to shovel out the snow around my house.

It snowed a little, and the forecast says snow storm will come tomorrow.

  It was cloudy in the morning. After posting the New Year cards at the Sakuragi post office, I walked south to Kawazoe. It was not snowing, but in the afternoon, it began to snow and there is about 5 cm snow on the ground. I sent an email to Tomoko in Sendai, and she answered in the evening saying she is in hospital again. She is suffering from serious lung disease, so when it is severely cold, she must be cared in the hospital. She says she is suffering from drug side effect.

I wrote New Year cards all afternoon.

  There are only ten days left for this year. Time really flies !  As we grow older, we feel as if the same kind of hings happened repeatedly. Nature changes in the same way every year. In spring, snow melts, and fresh leaves come out, and the same flowers come out in the same places. Summer comes, and it gets warmer, of course, and the mountains and fields are covered with green all over. In autumn and winter, the landscapes look the same as in the previous year. Now, it is December, and people are busy preparing for Christmas and for the coming new year. Every kind of stores are struggling to sell as many things as possible as Christmas and year end sales. It was the last day to buy the year-end lottery, but we had forgotten to buy them. We had bought them every year, but had never won.   

It was hard to stand at the crossing when the temperature was -10 degrees.

  Every Tuesday morning, from 7:30-8:10, I have to stand at a crossing as a crossing guard. This morning, the temperature was -10 degrees Celsius, so it was hard to stand there for as long as 40 minutes.
  TV reports repeatedly stories about Kim Jong Il. It had been decided before Kim Jong Il's death that his third son, Kim Jong Un, would take over power from his father. But Kim Jong Il's death came so suddenly that it created more uncertainty about the stability of its new regime.  

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died.

  It was a very cold,but sunny day today, too. I left home at 9:30 for my usual walking exercise, and on the way, I dropped in at the post office to buy 30 New Year cards. I had printed about 40 cards at home, which I am going to send to my friends and old students, but found I needed some more.
  At the news hour of NHK at noon, big news of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's death was reported. Kim Jong Il was 69 years old. He was traveling somewhere, and, on the way, he seems to have died all of a sudden. He was suffering from diabetes and had been attacked by stroke twice before.

Heavy snowfalls in central Hokkaido,today,too.

  It was fine here in Tomakomai, but in Iwamizawa and many other places in central Hokkaido, it has been continuing to snow heavily for couple of days and nights. My sister, Kazuko, lives in Iwamizawa, and she sent me an email yesterday saying she was quite tired of heavy snow. She works as an acountant for a little company there, and commutes to her office on foot, but she had to come home by taxi because of heavy snow. She says the snow on the ground is as deep as 1.5 m.
 I watched succer matches of Toyota Cup. In the 3rd -place match, Kashiwa Reysol was defeated by penalty shoot out. In the Cup final match, Balcerona from Spain won the victory over Santos from Brazil by the score of 4-0, and became the champion.

The coldest morning for this season－10.5 degree below freezing point !

  In the morning, it was very cold. The temperature was minus 10.5 degrees Celsius, the coldest for this season !  But it was sunny, so I went for my routine walking toward the Tomakomai river. The number of water birds seemed to have increased.
  In the afternoon, I enjoyed watching succer games of the Emperor's cup. Kyoto Sanga defeated the defending champion team Kashima Antlers by 1-0 and proceeded to the quarter final. Kyoto belongs to the Division II of J-League.     

Michiko Mokudai, an old student of mine who is suffering from cancer is in a critical condition.

   It took me almost all afternoon and evening to design and print our New Year cards. But in the morning, I, as usual, went out for walking as far as Kawazoe. Ayako went to the hospital to check her diabetes in the morning.
   Miki Takano, one of my old students, emailed me saying Michiko Mokudai, one of her old classmates, is suffering from the side-effect of her cancer treatment. Michiko was diagnosed with cancer, and was expected to live less than three months. First, her cancer was found in her breast, then it metastasized to her lung. In September, she and her husband held their wedding, which they hadn't done when they had got married a few years before, and I attended it. I remember her smiles then. I pray for her and wish the miraculous recovery would happen. 

Dec.15 - half of December of this year is already passing.

  In the morning, I went by bus with Ayako to the funeral hall to attend late Mr.Kwamura's funeral service. I am glad Ayako was getting better. Last night, as the temperature was high for this season, but  this morning, it lowered below zero. So, the water on the surface of the roads were frozen and became very slipperly.
  In the afternoon, I went out for mu usual walk, and dropped in a supermarket to buy bread and sausage for breakfast, and returned home at about 3:00.
  In the evening, I attended the monthly meeting of  our neighborhood association.  

Ayako has had a cold for these days.

  Ayako has had a cold for some days. So today, the wake service for late Mr.Kawamura took place in the funeral hall close to the Tomakomai railway station, but she didn't attend it. I went alone there by the chartered bus with many other neighbors. It took about an hour to finish the wake service, and when I came back home at around 7:30, it was raining.
  After coming home, I watched the semi-final succer game of Toyota Cup between Kashiwa Reysol and Santos, Brazil. The result was the Brazilian team's victory by 3-1. The Brazilian succer was strong, as was to be expected.

Mr.Yoshio Kawamura (95) passed away this morning.

   When I stood at the usual crossing as a crossing guard, I heard from Mrs.Saito that Mr.Yoshio Kawamura, Mrs.Mizutani's father, passed away. The Mizutanis are nextdoor neighbors living just across the road in front of our house.  Late Mr.Kawamura was was 95 years old. About ten years ago, I often saw him carrying the garbage to the garbage station. But he had been in a care home for some years. His wake service will be held tomorrow evening from 6:00, and his memorial service will be from 10:00 a.m. the day after tomorrow.

Takashi & Sachiyo called us on Skype.

   In Sapporo and other places, it seemed to have snowed much, but here in Tomakomai, the weather was fine, though it was a little windy and cold in the morning. I walked eastward to the Tomakomai river, because the wind was not blowing against me. I saw three or four salmon in the river today.
  In the afternoon, Takashi and Sachiyo called us on Skype. Sachiyo was given an award titled "Mt.Fuji Award", for her big contribution to the company this year. We were glad to hear that.   

Kashiwa Reysol won the game against C.F.Monterrey,Mexico.

  It is Sunday today, but it doesn't matter what day it is these days, since I am a retired man, and a pensioner. In the morning, I walked as usual, eastward to the Tomakomai river. The number of swans swimming in the river is increasing. I saw a salmon swimming in the river. There was a dead salmon, too, in the bottom. This year it is often reported that the quantity of catches of salmon has decreased all across the country. It was for the first time that I saw salmon in Tomakomai river.
  In the evening, I enjoyed watching soccer matches of Toyota Cup. Kashiwa Reysol, the champions of the Japan Professional Succer League defeated C.F.Monterrey from Mexico in a penalty shootout after a tie match of 1-1. Kashiwa won against an New Zealand team, and they are going to play against a Brazilian team on Wednesday.

Mao Asada's mother passed away at her age of 48.

  It was a fine day, and I took a little longer walk in the morning than usual. I walked as far as Kawazoe, and walked along the river and around the Kawazoe Gymnasium. It took an hour and a half to get back home.
  In the evening, Ayako and I went out to eat sushi in a kaitenzushi nearby. We came back home around seven o'clock.
  Mao Asada's mother died of HC or hepatic cirrhosis. Mao Asada was in Canada to take part in the World Figure Skating Grand Championships Competition, when she heard her mother was in critical condition. On hearing the news, she gave up the competition, and returned in a hurry back to Japan. She was not in time for her mother's last hours.

Darvish will go to the US major league, he announced.

   The ace pitcher of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters announced that he wanted to play in the US Major League by making use of the posting system next season. He will receive a big welcome by many major league baseball teams, as well as American baseball fans, of course, because they know he is one of the best pitchers in the world. But, here in Hokkaido,we feel it a great pity to lose one of the best pitchers. Anyway, I hope he will show his beautiful performance there and  demonstrate his ability as the best pitcher in the world.  

The funeral ended this afternoon.

   I went to the funeral hall before 9:00 a.m. In the funeral, two Buddhist priests chanted a sutra while incense was offered by the mourner one by one, and finally my name was called, and I concluded the offering of the incense. The funeral ended and after the priests left it was my turn to make a speech in place of the chief mouner and the bereaved family. In my speech, I laid stress on my sympathy for the parents who lost their son so young, and encouraging the younger brother and sister of the deceased. The funeral ended at 11:00 a.m., and the body of the deceased was carried to the cremetorium with the bereaved family. I returned home, and after having lunch, at around 2:00 p.m., I again went to the funeral hall to attend a Buddhist service in front of the ashes of the deceased laid on the decorated altar. I returned home a little before 4:00.

Mr.Keita Nakano's funeral.

  In the morning, I prepared the draft of the speech as the chief of the caretakers in the funeral. In the evening, at 4:45, Mr.Honda, an official of the neighborhood association, came by car to pick me up and went to Mihara Funeral Hall. Mr.Kikuta, another official of our association and several poeple from Nihon Tsuun Co., which the late Keita Nakano's father works for, had come to serve for care-takers and been waiting for us. We decided each one's task and got ready to receive the mourners.
  There were about 150 attendances, many of whom were young people, because the deceased who died of leukemia was so young as 21 years old, and so, many of his friends came.  

I was requested to serve as the chief of the care-takers of a neighbor's funeral.

   I am a vice-chairman of the neighborhood association, and so, I am often asked to servie as the chief care-taker of neighbor'd funerals. This morning, I received a call from Mr.Honda, an official of the association, being asked to work as the chief of a funeral.
   A young man named Mr.Keita Nakano died of biphenotypic acute leukemia (BAL) after having fought against for five years. He was a 21-year-old university student majoring in pharmacy.  The wake service will be held from 6:00 p.m. tomorrow evening, and the funeral will be held from 10:00 a.m. the day after tomorrow. I will have to thank all the attendants in both the wake and the funeral in place of the chief mourner of the bereaved family.

Ayako returned home just before noon.

   Just before noon, on returning home from Sapporo, Ayako went to Mrs.Azumi's for having her hair cut by a barber who comes once a month. I had to be at home before noon, because I had to receve some things Ayako had ordered from COOP were to be delivered before noon. After the deliverer came, I went to a supermarket to buy lunch for Ayako and me by car. The weather was not bad here, but in Sapporo, and in some regions along the coast of Japan Sea, TV reported that it was snowing heavily, causing traffic disturbances including the train and air services. Ayako was lucky she had left Sapporo before the storm came.  

It snowed. Shoveled snow for the first time this winter. Ayako went with our grandsons to Sapporo and would stay with them overnight today.

   When I walked in the morning, I found the ground covered with snow. The temperature was relatively warm,so the snow bearing water was very heavy to shovel out.
   In the afternoon, Ayako went to Sapporo by bus to send Tokio and Arashi back home. Chiaki called from Takikawa on the way back from Asahikawa, where she was on a business tour, saying she would get back to Sapporo by 4:00. Ayako would stay overnight at Chiaki's house, and return here to Tomakomai tomorrow noon.     

Succer - Consadole Sapporo won the final match, and decided to procced to J-1 the next season.

  The final matches of Japan succer league (J-league ) for 2011 season were played today, and in the 1st Division, Kashiwa Reysol defeated Urawa Red Diamonds by the score of 2-1, and became the champions. In the 2nd Division, FC Tokyo was in the 1st place, FC Tosu in the 2nd, and Consadole Sapporo was in the 3rd, and those three teams were decided to proceed to the 1st Division next season. I am glad that Sapporo defeated FC Tokyo in the final match and was qualified to play in the 1st Division next year for the first time in the past four seasons.

Chiaki drove her sons here and let them stay with us for two nights.

   It was the coldest day for this winter season all through the country. In many parts of Hokkaido, the lowest temperature was about 20 degrees below zero and it snowed much. But, here in Tomakomai, it was a fine day all day, and I took my usual walk as far as Kawazoe.
  In the evening, Chiaki drove her two sons here to let them stay with us for nights because she would have to Asahikawa on business tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, she she would have to go somewhere else. She returned to her house in Sapporo after having dinner. Then, I took a bath with my two grandsons.