Hamilton, Ohio (April--May 1997 exchange letters)
First response letters from Tekinan junior high students


To reflect more of their personality, the students wrote these messages in Japanese and then the AET (Assistant English Teacher) helped translate them into English.


Dear Robin,

Hello!

By the way, where is Ohio?
(Just Kidding!)

We live in the country where there is a lot of nature, but the pig farms smell bad in the summer. Especially in the summer after a rain, the smell is terrible!

These days, the rage is a little computer "virtual pet" called TAMAGOCHI. From a small egg on the screen, a baby chicken-like animal is born and then as it gets bigger you must give it water and feed it.

You must be a genius. In Japan, reading books is the most important part of our studies too. Don't give up your readings!

Everyone here is 13 years old.

Bye Bye,

Yuuji (boy), Mariko (girl), Tsukasa (girl), Hitomi (girl)

P.S. Tsukasa likes the Kinki Kids pop/dance group and other all-boy pop/dance groups.


Dear Jenny,

Hey! How are y'all!? We are GOOD here!

Our names are Takuya, Jun, and Dai. The rage here these days is skateboards adn video games. We all want girlfriends and motorcyles.

Finally, we'd like to say thank you for the letters. It really jump-started our English class.

Well, bye for now!

And if your ever in Japan, we'd like to meet you!

Bye Bye!


Dear Jill,

Hey Hey! Pleased to meet you! We are 7th/8th grade students in a place called Nakamichi-cho in Yamanashi-ken Japan. We also like the same things you do. And we can't loving cute cats and dogs. We like our clubs alot too. For example, we are wild about tennis, softball, and volleyball.

We have a question for you! Are there any famous people and/or music group that you idolize? We like two pop/dance groups called V-6 and the Kinky Kids. How about you? Also, if you have a boyfriend, please send us a picture of you and him. We are still looking for a boyfriend here!

Bye Bye!

Mie, Eri, and Miki


Dear Tyler,

Our names are Naoya and Kenta. We are 13 year old.

Naoya's birthday is November 24 and Kenta's is March 2. We are boys.

We speak Japanese. Naoya's hobby is fishing. Kenta's fishing is "soft-tennis".

Do you speak Japanese? What is your favorite music? Naoya likes pop music. Kenta likes pop music too.

Sayonara!


Dear Spencer,

Hello!

Thanks for the letter! We don't have Nintendo 64, but we love computer games too.

In Japan, Playstation is the most popular software now.

WE WANT PLAYSTATION!!!

Sayonara,

Ryo, Toshiyuki, and Katsuya


Dear Mandy,

Our names are Seiichiro, Shun, and Kodai.

We are boys.

You are right, Japan is a beautiful country, but these days the rivers are not so clean and the mountains are full of trash. With that said, we will move alon to our self introductions. Kodai's birthday is February 13th. He's trying to be good at all sports, studies, and everything else! Shun's birthday is September 19th. He is studying hard now. Seiichiro's birthday is August 16th. He is the tallest 13 year old.

Thank you for your letter!

Bye Bye!


Dear Chris,

Our names are Yuuya, Yousuke, and Tetsuya.

We live in the town of Nakamichi-cho, Yamanashi-ken, Japan and go to Tekinan Junior High School. These days, the most popular animation character in our class is "Evan Gellion."

Yuuya is collecting Evan Gellion cards. His favorite is "the first plane!"

What is your favorite animation character?

We are playing volleyball, tennis, and judo. We don't like baseball very much, but it is very popular in Japan.

Well, bye for now!


Dear Ralph,

Konnichiwa! (Hello!)

Our names are Youhei, Akira, and Shouichi.

We are all 13 years old. Akira has a little brother. Youhei has a big brother. Shouichi has a big sister. Akira and Youhei play soccer and practice every day. Shouichi does Judo, but he isn't very good! What sports do you play?

We don't climb mountains, but we like fishing and camping. We also play a lot of Super Nintendo.

Bye Bye!


Dear Matthew,

Our names are Koichiro and Masataka.

We are Tekinan Junior High School students in the 7th grade.

We live in Nakamichi-cho. The town of Nakamichi is a good place. It is safe, full of nature and farms, and it is near Kofu-shi, a mid-sized city.

The most popular thing in our class these days is Evan Gelion, a fun animation on T.V.

In your letter, you mentioned a cool picture on the cover of your book. We would love to see it! We are very interested in America, so we would like to learn many things if possible. Please tell us more in your next letter!

Sayonara!


Hey Justin!

Our names are Mariko, Ai, and Aki.

We go to our clubs after school. Mariko plays volleyball. Ai plays in the brass band. Aki plays "soft tennis".

Mariko's favorite subject is P.E. Ai likes Japanese. Aki likes Math. We are all 13 years old. Mariko's birthday is November 15th. Ai's birthday is December 30th. Aki's birthday is November 18th. When is your birthday? Do you have an idol group or hero? We like the pop/dance group, the KINKI KIDS and OBARA YUUKI.

We are waiting for your return message!

Bye Bye!


Dear Molly,

Yahoo!!!!!!! Our names are Keiko and Azumi. We are glad to all be 13 years old and in the same grade! Keiko's birthday is June 11th. Azumi's birthday is August 17th. Keiko's blood type is "B". Azumi's is "A". We live in Yamanashi-ken, Japan.

Keiko's family: father, mother, little brother, grandmother, and grandfather. Keiko has a a turtle and big goldfish (carp).

Azumi's family: father, mother, big brother, dog, chicken, duck, rabbits.

We like pop/dance music. Puffy, Amuro Namie, and GLOBE are our favorite bands. They are GOOD!

Well that is all for now!

Bye Bye!


Dear Lindsey,

Our names are Akiko and Youko.

Thanks for the letter!

We are students at Tekinan Junior High School. Our hair and our eyes are black. We have dogs. Our dogs names are Cherry, Rena, and Tetsu (steel).

Our favorite weather is "not too hot and not too cold". Akiko likes winter. Youko likes spring the best. In our free time we go somewhere or have club practice. We are on the basketball team.

We like loud music. We like quiet music a little but we feel better listening to loud music. We also like fashion magazines. We read comics alot, but magazines are the best.

Youko also has cats and birds. She loves animals very much. Akiko likes any kind of dog.

Bye Bye!



U.S.A. | U.S.A.(in Japanese)