Dear Sirs and Madams,
I had an opportunity to visit Hakodate the first time after a long time this year in May. It was only a one night stay and I had to go back to Osaka the next day. The returning airplane was leaving in the afternoon. I took this opportunity to sightsee the city in a taxi. Even though in the past I crossed the Tsugaru strait with a connecting steamer about 25 times, sightseeing the Hakodate city was the first experience for me.
After climbing up the Goryokaku fortress, visiting the old Soma mansion and the Trappist monastery, I climbed up the hill that overlooks the strait. The driver came along. I was looking at a fishing boat, whispering that there are no steamers anymore after the completion of the Seikan tunnel. I said to him that I crossed this strait sidewise once 50 years ago. He did not say anything, but I thought his look turned to a kind of respect. It may be my misapprehension. What did he think?
In the beginning of December a year before the Sapporo Olympics, I sailed across the Tsugaru Strait, boarding from Yokohama, sent off by a half sister much older than myself. The waves of the Japan Sea were turbulent, and there was no person at the breakfast seat other than me. I managed to arrive at Nakhodka, then took a railway to Khabarovsk eating a not very nice brown bread for 16 hours, then took an airplane for 8 hours to Moscow. It was the cheapest route to Europe at that time (110,000 yen). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this route seemed closed.
Now being the end of the year, I wonder how it all went. When I look back, I am struck with a feeling that a year passed with a gust of wind to disappear far and forever away. How bleary and undependable a year it was.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone for the past year. I apologize for my rare correspondence, and I wish everyone and their families will welcome in a new year (yin water and rabbit in Chinese calendar) filled with hopes and dreams. I would like to finish my greeting with the ten biggest news items of the year.
All the best,
I had an opportunity to visit Hakodate the first time after a long time this year in May. It was only a one night stay and I had to go back to Osaka the next day. The returning airplane was leaving in the afternoon. I took this opportunity to sightsee the city in a taxi. Even though in the past I crossed the Tsugaru strait with a connecting steamer about 25 times, sightseeing the Hakodate city was the first experience for me.
After climbing up the Goryokaku fortress, visiting the old Soma mansion and the Trappist monastery, I climbed up the hill that overlooks the strait. The driver came along. I was looking at a fishing boat, whispering that there are no steamers anymore after the completion of the Seikan tunnel. I said to him that I crossed this strait sidewise once 50 years ago. He did not say anything, but I thought his look turned to a kind of respect. It may be my misapprehension. What did he think?
In the beginning of December a year before the Sapporo Olympics, I sailed across the Tsugaru Strait, boarding from Yokohama, sent off by a half sister much older than myself. The waves of the Japan Sea were turbulent, and there was no person at the breakfast seat other than me. I managed to arrive at Nakhodka, then took a railway to Khabarovsk eating a not very nice brown bread for 16 hours, then took an airplane for 8 hours to Moscow. It was the cheapest route to Europe at that time (110,000 yen). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this route seemed closed.
Now being the end of the year, I wonder how it all went. When I look back, I am struck with a feeling that a year passed with a gust of wind to disappear far and forever away. How bleary and undependable a year it was.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone for the past year. I apologize for my rare correspondence, and I wish everyone and their families will welcome in a new year (yin water and rabbit in Chinese calendar) filled with hopes and dreams. I would like to finish my greeting with the ten biggest news items of the year.
The Ten Biggest News (Marinfood's choice)
- Year 2022
- 1.
- The War in Ukraine broke out by the Russian invasion.
- 2.
- A weak yen for the first time in 32 years brought the soaring prices of commodities.
- 3.
- The former prime minister Abe was assassinated, and a state funeral was held.
- 4.
- The COVID crisis continued as the number of infected patients did not lessen as the regulations were released.
- 5.
- Shohei Otani (Angeles) and Munetaka Murakami （Yakult）were successful, and the popularity of pro baseball continued as the ORIX won the victory.
- 6.
- The Japanese athletes won 18 medals which is the highest number ever at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
- 7.
- Queen Elisabeth passed away at the age of 96. Her tenure was 70 years and 7 months.
- 8.
- The Kishida government support rate diminished because of various scandals related to the Unification Church and misconduct by Ministers.
- 9.
- The North Korea missiles continued, and J-ALERTs were exercised.
- 10.
- Japan won over Germany and Spain to clear the preliminaries in the FIFA World Cup.
- (next)
- The Shiretoko sightseeing ship sunk and the number of missing and dead is 26.
All the best,
Naoki Yoshimura
President, Marinfood Company
President, Marinfood Company