Tsūjun bridge is an arch bridge made of stones, which is located in Yamato town, Kumamoto Prefecture. The bridge is 84-meter long with the arch spans 27.3 meter. The Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs has designated the bridge an Important Cultural Property. The bridge is so famous because it proves the high level of stone bridge technology at the time it was built.

Tsūjun bridge was built in 1854 by Yasunosuke Futa, an architect and also a chief of Yabe village, in Higo province. He wanted to open new rice fields. But the challenge was, he needed to find a way to convey water between two high places separated by a deep valley. By observing a rotten rainwater pipe which blew out water, he got an idea to build an aqueduct bridge. Inside the bridge, there are three aqueducts made from stones to transfer water from one high place to another, across the valley. They were made by stone because the water pressure was too high for wood. This makes Tsūjun bridge the largest stone aqueduct in Japan. Special mortar was developed to make the waterways tight and avoiding the leak. With the help of the group of 41 stone technicians and many farmers, the bridge was completed in about one year. It was said that, on the day of completion, Futa stood in a spot where, if the bridge failed, he would die.

The aqueduct system in Tsūjun bridge works according to the principle of inverted siphon.  In this system, water is flowed to form a "U" shaped path. Water flowing in one end simply forces water up and out at the other end. This mechanism can be explained using the illustration in Fig.2. As long as there is a height difference between A and B, water will continuously flow from A to B through the U-shape aqueduct. 

Because of it's shape, the sand or mud could accumulate in the lowest point of the aqueducts. That is why, two hole were constructed at the center of the bridge to clean out the aqueducts from such kind of sediments while discharging the water. When the holes are opened once in a while, the water pour out from both sides of the bridge and creating two giant arches of water (See Fig.3). It is a great show for tourists and became one of the appealing attractions of Tsūjun bridge.

References:

• Tsūjun Bridge. (2013, June 15). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:25, March 9, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ts%C5%ABjun_Bridge&oldid=560046772
  
• Yasunosuke Futa. (2013, November 23). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:26, March 9, 2014, fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yasunosuke_Futa&oldid=582999926
  
• Siphon. (2014, February 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:27, March 9, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siphon&oldid=597186452

This waterfall is called "Gorou waterfall" or ごろうがたき, it is one of Kumamoto Prefecture's appointed scenic spots and natural treasures. The fall is 50-meter tall, surrounded by a magnificent cliff and has a basin below with a very clear water. Next to the hill, there is a path led to a suspension bridge, just in front of the waterfall, from which you can enjoy the breathtaking scene (and take picture, like above) of this beautiful waterfall. 

I think our discussion in the LTE today is very special. We talked about how Japanese student who preparing to graduate are encouraged to take a private intensive course (jyuuku) after the school. According to Yasuo, who a part-time teacher in one of Jyuuku in Kumamoto, final grade students usually finish their school at 4pm, and then directly continue to the Jyuku class, sometimes until 23pm! Final test is a very serious thing for the Japanese student, that's why they will do anything to make sure they can pass the exam, including spending their time in Jyuuku's class. 


Photo credit: Angie Harms

If you can ride a bike, remember how you learned to ride it? Did you go to a bike school? Did you need to study the bicycle’s rules, or read textbooks about bicycles? No. Nobody learns how to ride a bike by studying, you learn by doing. Well, learning to speak English is pretty much the same. There is no success without directly using it in a real conversation. Of course, non-native English learners have most probably taken some English class or reading books at least once, but any of them will agree that fluency can only be achieved by using the language as much as possible. The problem is how to find a good place and partner to practice English conversation, isn’t it?

If you are at Kumamoto University, Lunchtime English (LTE) group is the place. LTE was started quite a few years ago. It was initiated by Prof. Mitsuyo Kishida and some students in GSST (Graduate School of Science and Technology) Kumamoto University. The regular meeting is held weekly, every Wednesday between 11:50 to 12:50 at GSST International Plaza, Room 205, Faculty of Engineering Building 1, Kumamoto University. The meeting is attended mainly by students, both from undergraduate and graduate course in Kumamoto University, but sometimes also faculty members and officers. There is no membership system, so anyone can freely attend the meeting as they like. Participants can bring their own lunchbox so they can enjoy their lunch and talk English to each other in a very informal environment.

In the LTE program, both Japanese and International students meet and have discussions on various topics. When first started, LTE was originated from the idea to have an informal meeting, at the lunch hour of the day, where people can enjoy their lunch and practice English conversation. But through the time, students from various nationalities often join the program, so the forum has also became a place to make international friends and share knowledge about various cultures and lifestyle. “I am from India where English is our official language. I join LTE meeting because I think it is a good place to know and interact with people from various nationalities,” tells Ranipet Hafeez BASHA, Doctoral student of GSST, who is one of the active members of LTE group.

In addition to this weekly meeting, LTE group sometimes organized another activities like student seminar, study tour, and so on. In November 2013, LTE group joined a tour to visit some waste processing facilities in Kumamoto city. In this tour, participants learned about how various kinds of garbage are collected and processed in such a way depending on its type. The tour ended with a visit to a beer factory in Kumamoto area where participants learned about how the beer is made. After the tour, all LTE members were so excited, not only because they could have some knowledge about waste processing, but also because it was a great chance to practice their English in a very fun way. Kotaro Okamoto, an undergraduate student in the Faculty of Science and also an active members of LTE group, joined the tour and helped to interpret explanations given in the tour from Japanese to English. He said in his Facebook’s comment: “I had a great time and got a very good experience”. 

Whether you’re in a mood to improve your English through conversation, or you just simply want to make new friends, joining the weekly Lunchtime English meeting is a good starting point. Just come, talk and have fun, and fill your one hour lunchtime with a more “rewarding”, yet interesting, way.

Knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge—broad, deep knowledge—is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low. To know the thoughts and deeds that have marked man's progress is to feel the great heart-throbs of humanity through the centuries; and if one does not feel in these pulsations a heavenward striving, one must indeed be deaf to the harmonies of life. [Hellen Keller]

Symmetry creates balance, and balance in design creates harmony, order, and aesthetically pleasing results. It is found everywhere in nature, and is probably why we find it to be so beautiful. Symmetry is one of the fundamental principles in gestaltism, a human behavior theory that proposes that our mind naturally creates order and completeness in the things we see and encounter.
Source: http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/symmetry-design/

Do you know Alzheimer's? Alzheimer's is a brain disease that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. But a recent research by Psychologist Ellen Bialystok and her colleagues at York University in Toronto has shown that bilingual people's brains function better and for longer after developing the disease. From 450 Alzheimer's patients involved in their research, all had similar levels of cognitive impairment, but those who were bilingual had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's about four years later, on average, than those who spoke just one language. This proves that those bilingual patients have been able to cope with the disease and can continue to function. Bialystok said. "Bilingualism is protecting older adults, even after Alzheimer's disease is beginning to affect cognitive function". So, want to protect our brain against the effects of Alzheimer's? Learn another language. 

Source:
http://www.livescience.com/12917-learning-language-bilingual-protects-alzheimers.html

When I have questions about science and technology, I often consulted a fantastic resource called How Stuff Works. Being in Japan, I can see vending machines almost everywhere. But I am interesting about something else: how does a vending machine read a banknote? After some hunting and pecking, I found an interesting information about dollar bill changers that discusses the mechanics of automated currency identification.

While vending machines use a variety of methods to read bills, they check four different characteristics used to verify paper money:

• Bills are printed with magnetic ink, and different denominations generate distinctive magnetic fields.
  
• Bills have different conductivities (the rate at which they can conduct low levels of electricity).
  
• Ultraviolet scanning technology can determine the different fluorescent properties of bills.
  
• Digital cameras can reference the optical patterns in bills with a database of authentic patterns.
  
  

A vending machine has to verify whether a bill is authentic before it determines its value. The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing hosts this cool fact sheet about the security features used on its currency: color-shifting inks, watermarks, and microprinting.

Those nifty currency counters that you see operated by shady types in gangster movies use a similar array of technology: magnetic sensors, ultraviolet readers, fluorescent bulbs, and optical magnifiers. After all, criminals need to watch out for counterfeit bills, too.

Pagi yg indah agak dikejutkan dengan account x10hosting.com yang tiba2 di-suspend. Alhasil, personal website saya yg masih under construction, blog dan moodle (yg harusnya aktif setiap saat karena sedang dalam penilaian Nagai-sensei) semuanya tidak bisa diakses.
Setelah login ke control panel x10hosting.com, ternyata penjelasannya sebagai berikut:

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Emm… ternyata harus login ke forum minimal sekali setiap bulan. Proses “unsuspend” cukup mudah, dan here we go… account saya up kembali. Kayaknya sudah perlu berpikir menggunakan payed-hosting nih…

Apa yang terlintas di benak anda ketika mendengar kata "ritual"? Emmm... tunggu sebentar... pasti tidak jauh dari berbagai rupa aktifitas keagamaan, praktek-praktek adat istiadat dan lain sebagainya. Ok... benar demikian. Tapi dalam artian yang lebih luas, "ritual" sebenarnya sering mewujud dalam kehidupan kita sehari-hari. Setiap malam, ayah saya selalu mengecek semua pintu dan jendela rumah kami sebelum ia tidur. Mungkin ini hanya kebiasaan biasa saja, tapi ia tak bisa tidur sebelum melakukan kebiasaan itu. Inilah "ritual": sesuatu yang dilakukan berulang-ulang, sehingga lama kelamaan memberi perasaan khusus; dalam hal ritual ayah saya: rasa aman.

Nah, bagaimana membuat sesuatu menjadi ritual? Tindakan iteratif tentunya tidak bisa dihindari. Dari perulangan itu muncul kebiasaan, dari kebiasaan muncul ketergantungan, dari ketergantungan muncul antisipasi: yakni dorongan kuat untuk tidak bisa tidak melakukan ritual tersebut. Bayangkan jika kita bisa merubah beberapa hal yang bermanfaat dalam keseharian kita menjadi "ritual": menulis blog, menghafal kata asing, membaca satu bab buku, mengucapkan "I love you" kepada istri dan lain sebagainya. Bayangkan jika "ritual-ritual" itu mulai bertransformasi menjadi "ketergantungan". Tidakkah sangat bermanfaat?

(Terinspirasi dari: "The Five Minute Writer", Margret Geraghty)