April 14, 2008
by Hiroki Koizumi; Mika Onishi; Aya Kataoka
Most Japanese teenagers collect “Print Club” photographs, which are seals with pictures of themselves and their friends, their favorite pictures frames, backgrounds and own original message. They are similar to photos taken at photo-booth machines, but are much more fun and full of variety. Therefore they are very popular among young people. Print Club seals can be a good souvenir of Japan for foreign visitors too, especially those that show tourist attractions like temples or shrines in their backgrounds.
“Print Club” is called “purikura” in Japanese. It is an abbreviation of PRInt CLUb. This phenomenon has become a feature of modern popular Japanese culture. Young females especially like to have purikura taken. Many young people exchange prikura seals to widen their circle of friends. The purikura machines also allow them to write their our own messages on the pictures, perhaps something like their name, the date, or what they did that day. A lot of Japanese girls have a notebook of purikura pictures and use it as a picture journal. Recently, many kinds of very up-to-date purikura machines have come out. These new machines photograph faces much sharper than the older machines used to.
There is procedure for how to take purikura.
Although there are many kinds of machines, most of them are used in a similar way. Take this machine for instance:
Once you put the coins in, the machine will be activated.
3. On this machine, you can choose the picture frame by yourself by touching the circle on the right.
Most machines have this circle mark on the right side.
4. Choose the brightness. All machines use the center circle for brightness. The left circle is chosen when you want to make tan skin look more milky. Choosing the center circle is safe!
5. Choose the frame or background color. On this machine you can choose from three kinds. There is a time limit, so don’t take too long.
6. At last, you can take the snapshot: Look at the camera and pose!
7. Choose which photos you want to print out by touching the screen. Most machines allow you to choose up to six photos.
Please just follow the guidance on the screen.
by Aya Kataoka
Most Japanese people are working hard and have stresses.
Most Japanese people want to get away from the stress of city life.
Most Japanese people sometimes have negative feelings.
But movies make people happy.
Movies can move our hearts and minds.
If you have stress, you should go to see a movie.
MOVIX big is a nationwide chain of cinema complexes. The MOVIX complex in Kyoto has 2563 seats in 12 theaters. These theaters also have the latest technology and are barrier-free so that anyone can see movies comfortably. If you follow these steps, you can enjoy watching movies at MOVIX.First, please go to ticket counter and get your seats.
Once you buy your ticket, you can’t get a refund or change your seat, so take care when you buy your tickets.
Prices:
Adults:
￥1800
College/High school：
￥1500
Junior high/Elementary school/3 years old~：
￥1000
60 years old~：
￥1000
Disabled person including only two attendants are：
￥1000 each
Late show after 8pm~：
￥1200
First day of the month：
￥1000
Ladies day (every Wednesday):
￥1000
To get a discount, please show your ID card if…
① you are a married couple and one of you is 50 or older
② in a group of three or more high school students
These tickets are ￥1000 each.
Second, please tell the ticket clerk what movie you want to see and also what time you want to see it.Next you can decide your seat.After that, you can buy refreshments. There are many kinds of food on the
menu:
French fries, hot dogs, popcorn,juice.
Caramel popcorn is very tasty.
You can bring food into theater if you buy it at the food counter in MOVIX.
After the movie you can dispose of your litter. There are some trash boxes just outside the entrance.
Finally, there is no parking so you should come by bus or subway.
The Chronicles of Narnia, Symphony of Miracle, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and many other movies are now showing.
by Hiroki KoizumiKyoto city has many sightseeing spots, and the Kamogawa River is one of the most famous. Kyoto Vegetable Restaurant Fuu is located beside the Kamogawa River, and near the Sanjou Bridge in central Kyoto, so people can enjoy eating dinner while overlooking the beautiful night view of this river from their tables. The number of seats in the restaurant is 88, so many people can relax and enjoy eating here.Most of the food on the menu at Fuu is Japanese. There are more than one hundred different dishes including sashimi, bonito, bream, fries, duck, pork, beef, gratin, steak, and salad that is made with kyouyasai, and so on.Kyouyasai are vegetables that are especially grown in the Kyoto area. Kyoto is far from the sea, so getting fish and shellfish was difficult for people who lived in Kyoto in the old days. So they started to cultivate some vegetables like Japanese radish (daikon), eggplant (nasu), and green pepper (piman). These vegetables have been improved through careful cultivation over the years so that their food value is higher than that of ordinary vegetables. Of course, their taste is excellent, and these vegetables are used in other restaurant dishes as well.In addition, there are wine sommeliers (wine stewards) on call, and they will introduce the most appropriate wines for the season and the dishes to guests. Of course, other drinks, such as beer, cocktails, ume (plum) wine, and Japanese sake’ are available. Clearly, the menu has great variety, but if people who don’t drink alcohol come, it is not a problem because they can enjoy the mood and the dishes in this restaurant.The average of cost of a meal at Fuu is about 3,300 yen, which is very reasonable for people who come to Kyoto for sightseeing. Another appeal of this restaurant is its hours: it is open from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am, so guests don’t need to worry about time or going to the next restaurant. In this restaurant, families, couples, or single sightseers can enjoy dining before the panorama of Kamogawa River in every season.
～MAP～
____________○___________________________________ Hanamikouji Street
X ↑ Keihan Sanjyou Station
X
X ← Sanjou Bridge (Kamogawa River)
X
|
|
| ◎ ← LAWSON ２nd Floor（京菜酒膳 ふう）
_________|______________________________________
| Kiyamachi Street
|
| Sanjyou Street
_________| ______________________________________
| Kawaramachi Street