10 sticks anime from pitagora switch (nhk)

-1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!
-10 sticks anime~

-what should we do today?
-why don’t we go to a hot spring?
-that’s a good idea. let’s get going!

——————
-oh, rain~
-i don’t wanna get wet…
-what should we do?
-let’s turn into an umbrella!
-let’s do that!
-…….
-if you look at it closely, you guys are soaked.
-uh”~~ that’s totally true!

-what should we do?
-why don’t we become something that likes rain?
-i see!
-……
-SNAILS!

-……
-it’ll take forever to get to the hot spring at this speed.
-true… then…
-FROG!
-it’s extremely fun!

-mmm?
-no wonder it’s getting colder. it’s snowing! i’m getting sleepy…
-zzzzzzzz….
-hey! stop hibernating!
-oh! that was close.

-look at this big pile of snow.
-let’s make a snow man!
-okay, shall we make him do it?

-poki, poki…STRONG MAN!

(it builds a snowman)

-it needs a little more…
-okay, FACE~
-oh, that’s nice. then we are…
-oh, that’s nice. what should we do?
-of course. one, two…

-why don’t we go to the hot spring like this?
-oh, it’s closer than i thought.

-mmm… perfect temperature.
-let’s get in!
-ahhhhhhhh :)

just another day with ninja.

algorithm march: “Lines of more than 2 people are formed, and they begin moving canon style one at a time. The movements of the first and last person become connected.” (from wiki)

this is a part of a japanese tv show called “pitagora switch” on nhk educational channel. the devise you see at the end of this video is called “pitagora device”. you can also watch how the amazing “pitagora switch” devices work here.

pythagoras switch
NHK educational tv

hello businessmen in the world. it’s 8 pm (SMT = Saskatoon Meridian Time) sunday night. i’m sure you had an exquisite time away from your companies over the weekend. but time is ticking by. tomorrow is Monday. that’s right, it’s almost time to go back to work!!! we have less than 12 hours to prepare. are you ready? are you really ready?

with these exercise lessons for businessmen, not only will you be fully prepared, you’ll be guaranteed to successfully climb up the career ladder. put on your best suit and tie. let’s go!

(my translation from japanese):

- i’ll introduce to you some exercises that are very useful in various situations encountered by businessmen. using the latest in businessman engineering, let’s enjoy exercising! here are my assistants:

“ i’m kohjiroh yamamoto.”
“ i’m yoshihiro fujita.”
“ i’m michihiko kamakura. let’s enjoy exercising together.”

- the pianist is mr. satoshi ishibuchi. (wave)

lesson one: greetings

- the first exercise is fundamental for all businessmen: greetings. let’s begin with a basic greeting.
relax your shoulders and straighten your back. bend forward 30 degrees.

“someone’s coming from the right. oh, someone else is coming from the left.”

- the next exercise is how to greet your important clients. cross your hands lightly at the front. show your heart as you bow. it’s fine as long as you look like you’re bowing sincerely.

“oh, a client’s coming from behind! don’t be flurried. stay calm. just act quickly.”

- the next exercise is greeting your boss. let’s change the angle of your bowing depending on the boss’s title. let’s go!

“assistant manager, section manager, general manager.”
“30 degrees, 45 degrees and 90 degrees.”
“again, assistant manager, section manager, general manager. now, their titles get even higher!”

“managing director, executive director and president! you might as well roll over!”
“again, managing director, executive director and president! you hardly ever meet the president. it’s important to give him a good impression.”

- this is the last exercise. this is a greeting when you see someone you know at a distance. don’t pretend not to notice. let’s greet them!

“oh! you’ve noticed two people you know at a distance, simultaneously. choose one of them and bow. once in a while, you won’t be able to make eye contact. don’t worry, just bow. greeting is all you need to worry about.”

“ now you’ve noticed them and they’re even farther away. wave wildly and give a big phony smile. it’s pointless unless they notice you. the key point is to have the courage to overdo it.”

“ well then, do your best at work tomorrow.”

pitagora switch (Pythagoras Switch) is a 15 minute tv show on the nhk educational channel, airing since 2002. this show targets children between 4 ~ 6 years old, but it also attracts adults who still have kids in their hearts (yay!).

“there’re various mysteries in structures and interesting ways of thinking hidden in our everyday life. for example, you’ve had waffles so many times - why are the waffles shaped in exactly that way? have you every wondered about that? it’s easy to live without wondering. but if you pay attention, you’ll soon realize there’s a hidden law, “having a shape” behind them. you can find this law in our everyday items such as stamps, prints and various industrial products. everything is composed of the law of “having a shape”. if you notice the “shape”, you can understand the law. in this program, we’ll introduce these “wow!” and “ah-ha!” moments for children. by watching this program, we’re hoping for them to discover and foster the way of thinking with a “switch” in their mind.”
— this is my loose translation from nhk educational channel.

the main focus of this show is a puppet show. but also there’re “algorithm exercises” (featuring comedians called, “itsumo kokokara”), “what are you doing, mister?” (featuring a comedian, “ramenzu” - you know this guy by now. the guy from “the sushi video“!) and more. you can view a short clip here. i LOVE their surrealistic approach!.

my favorite is this “pitagora switch” device. these clips appear at the opening and the ending. these devices were designed by professor Masahiko Satou and the students from his lab at keio university. they are just beautiful devices.

i started studying english when i was 12. on graduation day in elementary school, my homeroom teacher, mrs imayasu sensei said to us, “english is going to be very important. with good english skills, you’ll be able to broaden your world.” she was right. now i can talk to people pretty much anywhere in the world and i can read foreign books published in english.

i studied english in my spare time along with taking regular english classes at school. the classes were very strict. i had to memorize hundreds of new words, phrases and grammar for daily, weekly and monthly tests. i didn’t like those tests at the time, but now i look back and think it was one important step. since the classes were strict, i didn’t enjoy them very much. but on my spare time, i was having a ball (do you really use this phrase? it was in my text book).

i listened to NHK radio english lessons for 8 years. i also watched british and american movies and comedies in english on tv and videos. there weren’t any subtitles for those tv shows, so i had no clue what they were talking about. it was useful just to get used to the rhythm of spoken english. in high school, i started listening to foreign music. the beatles were my favorite. i wrote the english lyrics on the left side of a notebook, with the japanese translation on the other. i’d translate the japanese version back into english and compare with the original lyrics. i did this with other bands too - the byrds, the kinks, deelite, otis redding… and for some reason, hanoi rocks (no question allowed). i’m not sure if it was a good way of learning english, because i hardly ever hear people say ‘the groovy!!‘ or the gorgeous!!.

NHK is great. they show a lot of foreign dramas - “doogie howser, MD” (great), full house (terrible), alf (no comment), beverly hills, 90210 (skanky). the contents didn’t matter to me as long as they spoke english. i watched “knight rider” too. it was aired around 2 am. a perfect hour.

you might notice that i didn’t talk to any english speakers. i was just studying. i didn’t talk to foreigners until when i was 19. we had some american teachers from jet program in my high school. i never talked to them. we also had some exchange students from australia. i think i said hello once. i was (am) very shy.

to break this bad habit, i decided to go to an english-speaking country alone. i was 19. i chose singapore. high tech + english + asian + safe = manageable. my spoken english was not very good, but i wanted to see how i’d manage in english. it was difficult but i did pretty good. many people helped me. many people thought i was a thai. many beatiful places to remember. it was wonderful.

it’s ironic that i’m interested in language, because i’m not talkative. i studied a little bit of swedish, chinese and french too. i can’t speak any of the language. but i like finding the similarities and connections in languages. i also studied american sign language. when hands become emotional, they look as though they were individual creatures. language is beautiful.

i’ve come a long way. but i still have a lot to learn. so pardon me, if i don’t understand you. me no english.