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Yuriko Katsumata
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This is Yuriko Katsumata. She comes from Shizuoka. She
is a fourth year doctoral student in the faculty of
Medicine. She will graduate next March after completing her
thesis. Playing piano is what she likes to do recently.
Until grade four-year in elementary school, she learned
piano. After a long break, she began playing that instrument
again. She seems very calm. She said it is impossible for
her to finish her thesis and to graduate from the school,
but I believe she can do that!
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 Mayu Maekawa
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Masayo Fukuhara
Curiosity
about Antarctica
I
would absolutely love to live in Antarctica. I have three
reasons why I want to live there. First, I am interested in
the animals of Antarctica. Especially, I want to watch
penguins. When I was a very little child, I went to the
aquarium and saw penguins, which were walking, swimming and
eating fish. They were very cute. I heard there are many
kinds of penguins in Antarctica, so I want to see them and
to research about their lives. I want to know where they
live and raise their children, how they catch their food,
what preys on them, and how they finish their lives.
Second,
I want to study about the climate of Antarctica and the hole
in the ozone layer. I’m afraid of losing the ozone layer,
because it protects us from ultraviolet rays, which cause
skin cancer and result in death. I know the cause of the
ozone hole is Freon, which was made by human beings. We
brought this danger on ourselves. So if I have something to
do for the earth, I want to do it.
Third,
I want to actually experience life in Antarctica. After I
had read some websites I could see that living in Antarctica
is better than I thought. Certainly it is a hard place to
live. For example, there is frost, inconvenience and
loneliness. But I think there are also a lot of good
features like nature, good research and colleagues. Maybe I
would be able to get many good things from such experiences.
Thinking
about these reasons, in short, about the environment of the
earth in the future and from my curiosity, I want to spend
some time in Antarctica if possible.
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Sayaka Takei
Antarctica,
place to visit
I
would not like to live in Antarctica. Of course, I am
interested in the continent and want to visit there at least
once in my life. However, it seems hard for me to live in
Antarctica.
As
you know, Antarctica has a very important role to play
academically. Actually, there are many scientists from
various countries and many crucial research is done there in
fields such as Atmospheric Studies, Biology, the
Environment, Medical, Meteorites, and Space Physics. You may
hear the word `Antarctica` in the spring when a hole appears
in the ozone layer. British scientists in Antarctica
discovered this hole in 1985. The ozone layer protects
us from a certain form of ultraviolet radiation from
the sun, which is harmful and causes sunburn, inflammation
and skin cancer.
On and
around the continent, there are many kinds of animals, for
instance, penguins which are the best known, whales, birds,
seals, and fishes. A man who had lived there says that skuas
scavenge the garbage station near the Showa base so they
reminded him of crows in Japan.
As I
mentioned above, Antarctica is very precious for many
scientists and us. However, I think the continent is not the
place to live for a long time. Even though I like animals, a
cold climate, being let alone, and I am so interested in the
aurora, it seems attractive for me to go travel there but
not to live there. The temperature is so low and it is a
very dry area. Moreover, I could not do enough exercise
outside and see the leaves turn red and yellow which I think
is the most beautiful season. This is why I would not like
to live in Antarctica. For me, Antarctica is just a place to
visit.
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Kei Kawasaki
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Saori Inafuku
Living in
Antarctica
Even
though I noticed living in Antarctica isn’t terrible as I
used to think before I read the website “70South”, I
still don’t want to live there. There are two reasons why
I think so.
Firstly, I don’t think I could stand to live in a
place that is much colder than Sapporo, as I grew up in
Okinawa, where the minimum temperature each year is about 18℃. Even in Sapporo, I feel depressed and reluctant to go to school when it
is too cold outside. I can’t imagine how unbearable it
would be.
Secondly,
I think I would feel very lonely. Although the people on the
website say “We have a lot of parties and play a lot of
games together and we do have a lot of fun,” the members
you go around with would be always the same. The population
is too small in such a big continent. Also, it is too far
from Japan. You might say “ The U.S. is very far from
Japan, too” But even if the physical distance is long, we
can swiftly come and go to the U.S. by airplane. There are
many services a day. On the other hand, there is no such
convenient transport between Antarctica and Japan.
I
can’t bear coldness or loneliness. I don’t want to put
up with these two things even for some experiments. I think
I will entrust them to someone who will go to Antarctica in
place of me.
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Chung Sung Woo
(Tom)
You
want to live in the Antarctic area? Think twice!
Antarctica
is an attractive place for sightseeing but, I do not want to
live there more than one week. Several reasons can be said
for why I would dislike the life in the Antarctic.
Firstly,
you might get sick. We must pay attention not to catch a
cold. Coming down with the flu is a terrible thing for me.
Whenever I have a cold, more than ten days are required to
get over it completely. During that time, all I do is just
sleep all day long after taking a lot of medicine. I
detest medicine! What would do if you got really sick in
Antarctica? There are no hospitals and very few doctors.
Secondly, living together with my family is a very essential part of my
life. However, it is almost impossible for my parents to
live in Antarctica for many reasons. They only have a few
years left to enjoy their lives. The Antarctic area cannot
provide them with convenient facilities like hospitals to
use.
Thirdly,
I have already become accustomed to modern life. I get about
five e-mails and four
phone calls a day from my acquaintances. If I did not
receive any news from my friends, sooner or later I would
feel depressed. Also, sports games like the world series
(baseball) and Spanish league (soccer) are TV programs that
I can not give up watching. There is no TV in Antarctica.
In
conclusion, I wouldn’t recommend the Antarctic area as a
place for you to live．
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Kazushi Yuasa
Antarctica
I wouldn’t like to live in Antarctica. Of course, I’m
interested in the scientific research that is going on there
because I am in the faculty of science at Hokkaido University,
but I wouldn’t like to live in Antarctica for the following
reasons. First, Antarctica has only one season- winter. I like
to enjoy the change of several seasons like the Japanese
climate. But if I start my life in Antarctica, I could not
experience other seasons except the severest winter in the
world. Moreover, I don’t like winter, because I don’t like
the cold and much snow, even though I live in Hokkaido now.
Second, Antarctica is exposed to the most ultraviolet rays on
the planet. As you know, the sun’s ultraviolet rays are the
main cause of skin cancer. If I went to Antarctica, of course,
I’d wear clothing in order to protect myself from the
sun’s ultraviolet rays. But most scientists who are familiar
with ultraviolet rays say the sun's ultraviolet rays can
penetrate the window glass in your cars and at home. Even if
those who do live in Antarctica tell me Antarctica is safe, I
wouldn’t change my decision not to live there because of the
UV radiation. Third, Antarctica is the driest continent on the
earth. I really dislike dryness because I am a good
“conductor” of static electricity. 70 South, which is one
of the Web sites, says it is likely that a fire could break
out in Antarctica because of its severe dryness. I suffer from
static electricity whenever winter comes. For example, when I
open a car door outside, I often feel a powerful electric
current on my fingers. I think you can easily imagine this
pain. (Sometimes I’m troubled by with it even on a wet day
in summer!) For these three reasons, I wouldn’t like to live
in Antarctica.
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Fumitaka Katamura
Attraction
of Antarctica
I’d like to go to Antarctica for the following reasons. First, there
are beautiful views, which can be seen only there. For
example, they are vast expanses of ice and the
ever-changeable aurora. Furthermore we can see large whales
and lovely penguins in the coastal regions. I want to see
these scenes once in my lifetime. Second, Antarctica is a
field of scientific interest. Ice core from the center of
the ice sheet over 4500 m contains the history of climate
change over 400,000 years. By use of these records, we can
predict future global changes. Now I’m studying the
paleoenviroment in Siberia. Results of research in Antarctic
relate to my study. Third, I’ve heard many talk about
Antarctica in the past. Because I’m in the Institute of
Low Temperature Science, there are many researchers who
research on Antarctica. My present and former professor both
also went to Antarctica. When they talk about it, it sounds
very exciting. So, if there is a chance, I definitely want to go to Antarctica.
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Keita Tokunaga
Antarctica is a treasury of life!
I’d like to live in Antarctica for a
number of reasons. First of all, there are lots of animals
in Antarctica and around it. People seem to think that
Antarctica is a wasteland and it is difficult for living
things to survive for a long time there. “The inhabitants
in this cold place are penguins only! ”, I thought in my
childhood. But the more I study about animals in Antarctica,
the more surprised I am at the many different kinds there
are. There are not only penguins but also birds like pigeons
and sea gulls in Antarctica. In addition, there are some
kinds of seals. And in the sea around Antarctica, there are
many kinds of fishes, for example Cod, Ice fish and Dragon
fish. Of course, it’s also the popular home of whales. But
sad to say, the country that kills whales most actively is
Japan.
Furthermore, there is a chance that this
wonderful land will discover an extraterrestrial. There are
many meteorites in Antarctica and scientists have been
studying them. In 1996, NASA announced that they had found
signs that there were living things on Mars. They found a
substance that stemmed from living things. We don’t know
that there are other living things in space, but I believe
we have a chance to discover it. Antarctica gives us the
possibility that we may someday meet a visitor from outer
space.
Antarctica has many other questions
scientists haven’t solved yet. So I think this land seems
to be attractive. That’s why I want to live in Antarctica.
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Hitoshi Takami
An attractive continent
I
don’t think I could live in Antarctica, but I want to go
there someday for the following reasons. The Antarctic
environment is unique. It is not only the coldest, driest,
windiest, and most uninhabited continent on earth, but it is
also home to some of the most fascinating animals, the best
known of which are the penguins and whales. I want to see
those animals at least once in my life.
But
Antarctica seems too cold for me to live in for a long
period, because I catch a cold easily in winter, and
Antarctica’s weather is almost always like winter.
Actually those who live in Antarctica are mostly scientists
from almost every branch. This is why Antarctica is ideal in
many aspects for research in various fields and this also
probably shows us that Antarctica is not a comfortable place
to spend our whole life. Anyway Antarctica is a very
attractive continent, so I’d like to go there someday.
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Asuna Arai
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Miyuki Dempoya
Life in
Antarctica
I’d like to go to Antarctica some day, but I don’t think
I want to live there. There are several reasons why I think
so. First, there would be a food problem. I like vegetables
and I eat them every day. Especially, I like fresh
vegetables that my grandmother grows in her garden. Thanks
to fresh vegetables, my health is always good. But plants
can’t grow well in Antarctica. So, it would be difficult
for me to eat fresh vegetables, which would bother me. There
is another problem for me about not growing plants. I like
greenery and flowers very much. So I often go for a walk in
the park to see them. It really makes me relax. I look
forward to the changing color of the leaves every season. It
is very beautiful. Second, I’m sensitive to cold weather.
Because even winter in Hokkaido is hard for me, I couldn’t
bear the cold of Antarctica. I can ’t believe I could live
in any place that is colder than Hokkaido.
However, after seeing the 70 South site, I found living in
Antarctica would be more comfortable than I thought. They
have most of the equipment they need; for example, shops, a
hospital, a fire station, and so on. So it is no problem for
them if any troubles happen. In addition, Antarctica has
some attractive things like rare animals and mysterious
phenomena that I can never see in Japan. I want to see wild
penguins, the aurora and iceberg. Roald Amundsen, one of the
members who lived in Antarctica, said, "The land looks
like a fairytale.” It must be wonderful! Therefore I think
I want to visit Antarctica someday.
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