discussionB3

<statement of the topic> 
How to pay attention to homeless people? This city has more homeless people than other cities and there are few opportunities in this city. The city hasn't grasp the number of homeless people yet. This city decided to give them 12000 a month. However, people who depend on the money and don't work increased.

<introduction of panel members and their initial position>
Reiko: She is 40 and a officer of the local government. She agree that the government give homeless poeple 12000 a month.
Asuka: She is 19 years old. She cares about neighbor's homeless people daily.
Hikari: She is 52 years old. She divorced with her husband and doesn't have a child. She worked at a factory, but went homeless six month ago.
Kyoka: She is 50 years old. Her workplace went bankrupt when she was 40 years old, but she started new life. 

<important points of the discussion as I see it>
Homeless people can't work without an adress and it is very hard for them to live with only 12000 yen a month. They want more money, but the loval government can't give more 12000 because there are some people who depend on the money and don't work. In the result, the local government needs to think about giving homelass people an adress at first. So, panel members should have discussed this point more and more.

<what the outcome was>
The panel members decided to ask budget committee to increase budget for homeless people and give some companies money to build like a dormitory. And, homeless people learn skill for working.

<my personal opinion>
I thought it was a good way to make a NPO group for homeless people. The group provide homeless people with a vacant apartment and homeless people can start to work thanks to an adress. Then after getting enough money, homeless people return rent money which the NPO group payed for a few years to the group. And then, the NPO group pays attention to spending habits of homeless people so that they can handle money well.    

<how effective the discussion was>
This discussion required using our head very much, so I was very excited in a way. It was good to requre using our head to find some solutions. 

<how it could have been better>
If more panel members drive each idea, the discussion would be better. 

<why the panel members failed?>
I thought more panel member should have driven their ideas. And, some settings of this discussion confused that not only citizens but also panel members found several solutions.

discussion A3

<statement of the topic>
Should we rebuild Yousaku's temple?
Only Yousaku's temple was broken down by an earthquake in our town. But, Some parts of the temple were not damaged. It costs one million yen to repair the temple. Yousaku wants to rebuild his temple, but some people want to build a department strore in his property.  

<introduction of panel members and their initial position>
Sakiko: She is 17 and a high school student. She likes shopping and doesn't have good image to our
              town.
Chihiro: She is 35 and a head of a department store.
Yousaku: He is 63 and a temple master. He is a stubborn man.
Atsushi: He is 25 and a university student. He likes visiting many temples.

<important points of the discussion as I see it>
Yousaku and Atsushi don't want to lose the temple. Yousaku wants to reduild his temple because many tourists come to see it. Andm he don't want to lose his career. Atsushi wants to write his graduation theis about Yousaku's temple and his girlfriend also like the temple, so he doesn't lose it. Atsushi thnks that citizens have to preserve history of the temple. Sakiko and Chihiro wants to build a department store instead of Yousaku's temple. Chihiro thinks that if a department store is built, benefits will increase than before. Sakiko thinks that if a department store is built, many people are able to buy anything which they want.
They discussed each other for a long time, but they overlooked that the place where Yousaku's temple was built was Yousaku's property.       

<what the outcome was>
The panel members decided to rebuild Yousaku's temple. Sakiko and Chiaki gave up building a department store.

<my personal opinion>
I had some strange points in this discussion. First, I wondered that an earthquake damaged only Yousaku's temple. And, Yousaku said his temple had a marriage of god, but temples don't have the concept of god. Then, I thought it was near-impossible to build Yousaku's temple on a department store not to lose his parishioners and employ Youasku at the department store. If the panel members do that, the number of tourists who come to see the temple might decrease and Yousaku cannot chenge his job easily, I trhought. Sakiko said that she wanted to buy clothes and cosmetics at the department store and be attractive for her boyfriend. This opinion was just for her not citizens. In addition, Chihiro said that benefits for her company were more important than historic significance. This opinion was also just for her. I thought Sakiko and Chihiro needed to think about citizens a little more.   

<how effective the discussion was>
I thought it was good for the moderator to ask panel members to say each final position. I thought the moderator had a good way of settling this discussion. One of the members especially said her opinion in a possitive way. I thought the approach was very good.

<how it could have been better>
If not only one member but also other members say each opinion more possitively, the discussion would become heated. In addition,　I thought they needed to consider fundamental imformation more and more.

dicussion C2

<statement of the topic>
How should we use budget to construct a library in a city center? We have 100 million budget. There is an old library which is built for 50 years in a suberb area and it takes us about 35 minutes to go there by bus from a city center.

<introduction of panel members and their initial position>
Taiga: He is 45 and a social studies teacher of senior high school. He wants to give many younger pepole opportunity to read various books, so he agree with constcucting the new library.
Asao: She is a third-grade student of university and lives in a city center.
Chiaki: She is 31 and a programmer.
Iku: He is 40 and has been working for 22 years. He likes an old library and also wants to expand it more.

<important points of the discussion as I see it>
Taiga thought that he wanted to give many students an opportunity to access a library easily. Asao said that she wanted the new library to put more useful books for graduation thesis in it. Iku thought he wanted to expand the old library and make it much better. Chiaki wanted to hold an event in the old library and lend some universities useful books for graduation thesis.   

<what the outcome was>
The panel members decided to share budget with the new library and old one. In the result, the old library can't remake the building, but can increase the number of books and bus connections for pepole who come there. Besides, it can hold a event to attract visitors.

<my personal opinion>
I thought that it was another way for the old library to give some universities various kinds of books and continue buying new books. If the new library isn't built, the old one would be able to remake the building and wouldn't need to worry about decreasing of visitors. One of the panel members said people who want to read old books would go to the old library, and people who want to read new books would go to the new library, but I thought the old one also had new books. So, saying that definitively would not good. In addition, he said "youg people should not go the old library because it is far from a city center." Some young people might go to the old library even it is far, so this phrase also would not good.    

<how effective the discussion was>
I thought it was good for the moderator to consider both ideas of the new library and old one. In addition, it was nice for a panel member related to the old library considerd the case of decreasing of visitors. 

<how it could have been better>
I thought if all panel members except of athe moderator talked about their opinions evenly, the discussion would become heated more. This time, especially one panel member talked about his opinion for long. I wanted to hear opinions of the old library side more.   

discussion B2

<statement of the topic>
Our town got budget of 10 million from the government. We have to think about how to use the budget in our town. Also, our town is underpopulated and children are much fewer than old people.

<introduction of panel members and their initial position>
Reiko: She is 20 amd a local university student. She lives with her family.
Asuka: She is 80 years old. She lives with her husband and pension.
Hikari: She is 28 and a office worker. She is a single person.
Kyoka: She is 30 and a housewife. She has children and lives with them in an apartment.
Mizuho: He is 42 years old. He works at a town hall.

<important points of the discussion as I see it>
Mizuho thought he wanted to activate our town by making a shopping mall and selling local products. Besides, improving transportation system and making kindergartens more need to argue with citizens than making a shopping mall. Kyoka wanted to make kindergartens because there were just one kindergarten in our town. And, she planed to use the budget for child allowance. Reiko had a n opinion that we needed to improve transportation system by increasing bus service. Hikari wants to use 3 million of the budget for helding a live concert, fashion show, or marathon. Its aim is to activate our town. Asuka had an idea that we needed to make a nursing home and decrease the number of old people who dyed solitary death. Also, she wanted to held a tea party.

<what the outcome was>
We would use the budget to increase bus service and buy some wheel chairs and busses.

<my personal opinion>
I didn't think the panel members estimated cost of each plan deeply. When Mr.Jeff asked whether 10 million is enough to achieve each plan,  some of panelars changed their pinions. In addition, there was often silence, so I thought the panel members were also confused about broad plans. Moreover, I wanted to know each smaller plan, like how much does it cost to get famous musicians to perform live. 

<how effective the discussion was>
There were some good plans, so I could get into the discussion deeply. The focal point of this discussion wasn't out of alignment, so I thought the discussion was good.

<how it could have been better>
I think if an operator speaks background of the topic more slowly and loudly, the discussion would be better. And, they needed to consider what is the best way to get much benefit as possible.

discussion A2

<statement of the topic>
Which person should we elect as a mayor, Mariko or Atsushi?
Mariko thinks we have to improve peace and order for citizens.
Atsushi thinks we have to improve economy for citizens.

< introduction of panel members and their initial position>
Mariko: She is 42 years old and has been a housewife for 20 years. Her hobby is sewing. She is a candidate of a mayor.
Yosaku: He is 42 years old and has two children. He is a elementary school teater. His hobby is fishing. He supports Mariko.
Atsushi: He is 46 years old and a former mayor. His hobby is playing golf. He is a candidate of a mayor.
Chihiro: She is 44 years old and s secretary of Atsushi. Her hobby is going shopping. She supports Atsushi.

<important points of the discussion as I see it>
Mariko thinks recently a suspicious person is appearing in the city, so she wants to save citizens from him. She has four policies to solve this problem. First, volunteers patrol the comminity, especially the place where people seldom pass and second is to set up out door lamps to the place where people seldom pass and parks which children often use. Then third is to increase safe houses which put the person in  who is on dangerous. Finally, she will introduce "safe classes" to elementary schools. Students will make a city map in the class.
Atsushi thinks recentry economic situation is not good, so he wants to improve bad economic situation by three policies. First is raising tax of brand goods and second is to held a food event at community center to attract many customers. Third is cleaning the city to attract visitors.

<what the outcome was>
Mariko was elected as a our mayor. However, some of the citizens didn't agree with the dicision.

<my personal opinion>
I thought even not a mayor but also a general person could carry out their plans. And, their plans were tiny a little for citizens. Mariko said she had a daughter and wanted to protect her daughter from a suspicious person, so she decided to protect citizens from him. I thought it was lame point for citizens. In addition, some of Mariko's policies meant that police don't work well. Moreover, I thought there were few people who believe in Atsushi, because bad economic situation was caused by his ineffective schemes, or making golf field and parking area. He said that he would raise tax of bland goods and made profit by getting rich people to buy. I thought it was not for all citizens. And, cleaning town would not be so effective to improve bad economic situation. Even if poeple cleaned their town, very few visitors would come to the town.         
 
<how effective the discussion was>
They thought about policies for their slogans in detail. I think it was good.
They spoke slowly, so I could understand well.

<how it could have been better>
If they think about election of a mayor fundamentally, they could come up with better ideas. I think they need to consider some ideas, which they thought once, from a viewpoint of citizens.

discussion C

<statement of the topic>
There is a factory in an urban area and recently waste products of the factory can't be disposed. Therefore, it's  problem where to make a garbage dump in an urban area or a suberb area.

<introduction of panel members and their initial position>
Taiga: He is Russian. He lives in an urban area.
Mai: She is 25 and has two daughters. She lives in an urban area.
Chiaki: She is a Canadian and lives in an urban area. She wants to enter a university in an urban area.
Iku: He is Chinese and 42. He lives in a suberb area.
Riho: She is 60 and lives in a suberb area.

<important points of the discussion as you see it>
Three members agreed with making a garbage dump in an urban area because if the garbage dump is made in suberb, citizens in suberb have to leave their house and the factory have to pay for transportation. Two members agreed with making the garbage dump in a suberb area because if it is made in urban, many buildings have to be broke down.

<what the outcome was>
The members decided to make a garbage dump in a suberb area and a boss of the factory ensures stable living of citizens in a suberb area.

<my personal opinion>
I think there is a place in which no citizens lives in a suberb area and the garbage dump should be made in such a place. Then, the factory doesn't need to give citizens in a suberb area money for living. Also, it is a good way to offer a garbage dump in a suberb area to dispose waste products of the factory together if the garbage dump in a suberb area could.

<how effective the discussion was>
It was good that panel members had their own opinion with strong.

<how it could have been better>
I think a moderator not a panel member should have introduced panel members to citizens and said introductions of the members more slowly. It was a problem there were two moderators because citizens were very confused. Also, a moderator should not have suggested her opinion and should formed the member's opinion in the middle of discussion. In addition, some opinions changed to different ones in the middle. A panel member said there was no garbage dump, but the point changed to one that there was a garbage dump in an urban area in the end. So, they needed to decide the basic information in detail.   

discussion B

<statement of the topic>
how to solve the problem that the number of youg people who want to have a job of primary industry has been decreasing recently

<introduction of panel members and their initial position>
Mizuho: He is 55 and a farmer. His wife died and son has gone to Tokyo to work. His family has difficulty with agriculture.
Kyoka: She is 20 and a second-year student majored in design course at a local college. She wants to go to Tokyo to be a designer. Her father is a rice producer and yonger brother involves in agriculture.
Miyabi: She is 25 years old. She came to the city to marry with a man who is a farmer last year. She is loving country life recentry.
Hikari: She is 40 and a women diver. She catches fish every morning. Her husband is a fisher.
Asuka: She is 19 and a student majored in economy course at a local college. She wants to be a public service worker in the future. Her father is an employee, mother is a nurce, older brother is a office worker, and older sister is a student in Osaka.

<important points of the discussion>
There are some problems to the decrease of young people who are interested in agriculture. One of them is that farm family has little income. Also, young people don't think agriculture is worthwhile. In addition, aging of population is a bif problem.
There are some solutions to these problems. It's good to get students to go to a big city and to acquire higher education. And then, other solution is gathering many volunteers of students in the city or another big city to enjoy some agricultural activities. In adittion, holding a thanksgiving day is also good to gain attention to agriculture.

<what the outcome was>
Establishing an agricultural course in the college is the best way to attract young people to agriculture much more.

<my personal opinion>  
Kyoka said there was not an opportunity to have another job not agriculture, so I thought it was not necessary to think about only agriculture. If the college gives students a skill of management, they might be able to have their own company in the city. I think it's good for students to take a class management.  

<how effective the discussion was>
I think this discussion was coherent. The moderator summarized some opinions of panel members several times and asked various questions to the members, so I could understand well. Also, it was good for the moderator to persuade present situation in the city clearly in the first step. I think panel members expressed their opinion in detail and well.

<how it could have been better >
There were some of the members speaking a little faster, so if they speak more slowly, citizens can catch their opinion clearly.

discussion A

Members of group A discussed attracting customers to their arcade. Recently, a department store was built and sales of some stores in the arcade lowerd, so they have to think about attracting coutomers.

<About members>
Mariko: She is 37 and doesn't any children. Her hobby is listening to music. She works at a clothing store.
Sakiko: She divorced with a man and has children. She works at a liquor shop. She believes in Jobo Shinshu.
Chihiro: She is 28 and works at a candy shop. Her hoby is a flower arrangement.
Yousaku: He is 54, Korean, and has three children. He works at a vegetable shop. His hobby is fishing.
Atsushi: He is Taiwanese and works at a noodle shop.

<Important points of the duscussion>
Mariko: She recommended to make discount cards that customers can get one points a day and the deadline is one month. In this case, customers have to go to the arcade to buy something.

Yousaku: He recommended to give customers gift cards which is 500 yen off and for all shops in the arcade. If customers buy something which is higher than 2000 yen, they can get one gift card. In this case, even if a customer buys something which is 5000 yen, he can get only one gift card.

Sakiko: She suggested to hold a summer festival which has a shooting game, goldfish scooping and so on. The aim is to attract many people and get them to know various shops in the arcade.

Chihiro: She suggested to make a handmade original mascot of the arcade. It enables for customers to get the mascot by a gift card. In this case, it costs to make the handmade mascot.

<What the outcome was>
The members desided to hold a summer festival to attract many customers.

<My opinion>
I think the members should have used their identities. Yousaku is Korean and Yousaku is Taiwanese, so they can start a language class. In addition, Chihiro's hobby is a flower arrangement, so she can start a class of it. If many housewives go their classes at noon, vegitable shops can attract customers by a sale at noon. Also, it's good for restaurants to give a discount for students. Moreover, if there are few customers in a liquor shop at noon, it would be possible for the shop to change to a cafe to attract housewives who like chatting and customers who want to study drinking coffee.     

<How effective the discussion was>
I think it was good to express their own opinion not just agree with other's idea without thinking something deeply.

<Has it could have been better>
If the group members speak more aloud, citizens can catch words in detail. In addition, I think the members should very often ask citizens a question about some problems. Moreover, they didn't solve a problem that some neighbors got angry with noise of a summer festival once. I think they should have solved this problem.

Last Presentation

This time, I talked about the topic that women and men didn't have the same job opportunities. I think it's important to create the society that both of women and men can have a job which they eager to. I managed to give a presentation without looking at the paper, but I looked at it.

Atsushi
He talked about his milestone. Now, he lives alone and he is happy with his current life because he can enjoy freedom. However, there is a problem that he doesn't worry about balance of food. He thinks being healty is important, but support of his parents needs for that. In fact, he caused a sick feeling twice a year. Therefore, he thinks living alone is good, but our parents are important for life.

Ryota
He talked about adult children. He thinks there are some people who can't work because of economic depression and the small job numbers. However, the people have to do their best without depending on society. Teachers and parents should teach them the importance of getting through the hard world.  He thinks education is important.

Sakiko
She talked about fashion. She thinks we express ourselves through various fashions. If we change our hairstyle, it means that we clean up our act. It's free to express ourselves through our fashions. For example, wearing pierced earrings doesn't give so good impression to the society in Japan, but wearing them is not bad in America.

Takaaki
He talked about one-sided love. He thinks it is miserable for us. We seldom have the relationship with men or women because of falling in love at first sight because we can't understand one's inner faces. It's better to start have relationship with men or women after understanding one's inside.

Chihiro
She talked about work. She thinks we should work with purposes not for just money. In addition, we need to think about worth of money deeply. She also thinks money which has no purpose for using has little value.
       

Ideas about succsess

Yosaku
He understood the theme on ideas about success well. He thinks it's important not to give up the present problem to succeed. I think his voice was clear, but his eye-contact was focused on only one person. I think if he gives a presentation looking at all members, his presentation will be better.

Yukiko
She understood the theme on ideas about success well. She thinks it's important to spend time with regularity and not to sartisfy the present situation. I think if she gives a presentation with louder voice and looking at group members, her presentation will be better.

Riho
She understood the theme on ideas about success. She thinks it's important not to give up anything. I think if she gives a presentation without looking at the paper and with louder voice, her presentation will be bettr. In addition, if she talks about the theme more clearly, I can be interested in her presentation much further.

Ryota
He understood the theme on ideas about success. He thinks it's important to spend happy life, but we can't understand what is success forever. I think he gave a presentation with loud voice and eye-contact. In addition, he talked slowly, so I could understand his presentation well.

Asuka
She understood the theme on ideas about success. She doesn't know what is success, but spending happy time is important to succeed. I think if she gives a presentation with louder voice, her presentation will be better.

Me
This time, I talked about ideasto success concerning consistency. I think this presentation was better than last presentations, but I looked at the paper a few times. Next time, I will give a presentation without looking at the paper as far as possible.

Comments of my members

I will talk about Taiga's story's content first. His dream was becoming a Japanese teacher until he was a junior high school student. He was interested in Japanese literatures and he wanted to teach the fun of reading Japanese literatures to students. However, when he was a high school student, he felt pleasant with communicating with an ALT in English. And then his dream was changed to becoming an English teacher and going to another countries. I think he will be a good English teacher who is popular for students because he is interesting and kind.

Next is Mai's story. She dreamed of being a stage-actress from six years old to eighteen years old. In addition, she learned Japanese traditions of Classical Japanese dance and Tea Ceremony. When she was a high school student, she took a test to be a stage-actress two times, but she didn't pass the test. And she didn't give up being it even when she was seventeen years old, so she didn't study for the university entrance examination and she went to take a lesson every day. Then finally, she passed the first-stage test, but didn't pass the second-stage test. In the result, she gave up being a stage-actress. She seemed to learn it's important to do her best throught the fifteen years she tried to be a stage-actress. Now, her dream is being a Japanese instructor and going to foreign countries. I think she became strong emotionally through this experience and I want her to be a good Japanese instructor.

Last is Atsushi's story. When he was young, he helped his mother do household chores of washing dishes and so on with reluctance, because of her strict personality. However, he  lives alone now, so helping household chores in the past is useful for his living. He seems to like his parents now. I think he is very kind, so his parents are also kind.

And I talked about how was my childhood and how did my personality changed. This time the listeners listened to my presentation with nodding my story, so I could speak with relaxation. Next time , I have to present my story with consistency.

Presentation for self-improvement

When I present my opinions in front of members, I care about voice and eyecontact especially. I think the points were good, but I sometimes presented my opinions looking my draft, so flow of presentation was not so good.

Evaluation of members

Iku Noziri: He was absent from the class last week, so he didn't prepare for this presentation. But he was thinking the content on the spot and tried to present, so I want to praise the point.
The content was not so good. I could't understand what he wanted to say. The eyecontact was good,but the flow, interest and voice were also not so good. He sometimes presented in Japanese.

Taiga Yamamoto: The content was good and I had interests in his presentation. In addtion, the flow, voice and eyecontact were good. But he sometimes presented looking his draft and did in Japanese. So as a whole, his presentation was good.

Chiaki Nakahara: The voice was the loudest in our group. In addition, she used clear examples, so I could understant well. The content and flow were good., but the eyecontact was not so good. She also presented looking her draft. But as a whole, her presentation was good.

Abba

I was surprised that it began to snow. I like snow but I don't like cold days.

When I was listening to foreign music, I happened to find "Abba". "Abba" is a very famous group. For example, "Mamma Mia" is sang by "Abba". I like the group very much. Please listen to their musics.

Lady Antebellum

Yesterday, I ate a holothurian first time. It was harder than I had thiught. I don't like it very much.
Recently I have litsned to foreign music. I took a fancy to "Just A little Kiss". Lady Antebellum sing it. I like their beautiful singing voice.

What I like

I love "SISTER ACT" very much. Especially, I like "oh happy day" and "joyful joyful".


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