Oaktree in Yorkshire

Among many kinds of Japanese manga comics, there is a genre of romance
and we, I and my wife, admire some of the romance comics from the bottom
of our heart. Yesterday we went to Shinjuku in Tokyo, with eager anticipation,
to attend a party. It was held for the 30th anniversary of Ms Yoko Hanabusa's
debut as a comics writer. She is one of the leading prolific Japanese comics
writers, and her representative manga work entitled Lady!! has been known
in many countries, one of which is France where Gwendoline, a French
version of its animated series based on the work, was aired on TV and
popularised.

Ms Yoko Hanabusa has created many romance comics, mostly based on English
romance novels. Shown above is her original manuscript of The Wing of Ecstasy
written by Barbara Cartland.

We had a wonderful time at the party. We would like to thank Ms Hanabusa and
her publisher who kindly permitted us to use the photo above.

Although I have been a Middlesbrough fan
since I lived in Whitby, living now in a part of the
Kanto area in Japan makes me feel that I should support
a Japanese football club as many flags of Yokohama F. Marinos
are seen through shopping streets near my house.
Anyhow, I need some time for watching games on TV
or knowing anything about the club I choose.

Some years ago I came to know that SKY NEWS could be seen
on a satellite channel in Japan. Since then I had been watching
the channel for three years until, to my great disappointment,
it was axed probably because the number of subscribers decreased.
I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that I can once again
watch SKY NEWS in Japan...

Yesterday I and my wife went to see a cinema. We saw
Miss Potter which is a biographical film of Beatrix
Potter, the author famed in children's books of many animal
characters like Peter Rabbit. We simply loved the film!
Everything was so charming in there, and filming locations
were especially our favourite part about the film as we
visited the Lake District last summer.

I am partial to stories written by Victorian authors like
Charlotte Mary Yonge and Ouida. They wrote books about
children and their domestic life. Since the early 19th
century many of such books have been written, among
which Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
is one of my (and my wife's) most favourite stories. The story

has been often dramatised and turned into animated series. It
feels nice to see a child find a way to solve adults' problems.

Whitby in North Yorkshire is where I used to have
good memories in my school days. I first went
there a long, long time ago,to attend a language
school for half a year, and since then I have
visited the town nearly every two years.

At the school I and other Japanese students were
asked to hold a Japanese evening, to show them
what the Japanese tradition was like, and I was
to paint a picture (shown above) for the occasion.
All the students and the school staff seemed to
like the evening very much, and we were so grateful
for that.

Among all the books I have read in Britain, First Term at Malory Towers
by Enid Blyton is one of my most favourite books that make me really cry.
I first read the book in North Yorkshire while studying the local history
of Whitby. I found most of the characters in its story adorable, especially
a timid but kind girl called Mary Lou, who was very impressive to me.
What lovely characters the author created! The book made me read
many of her other books from then on.

I and my wife had a wedding at a church in the north
of London on this day, 17th of August, last year.
We travelled from London to North Yorkshire, and then
to the Lake District. What a lovely honeymoon that was!
We would like to thank the people we met in England
during that time.

I just began writing about things I like here in this blog.
I hope I can keep on making this diary.