Ghibli Movies

By Ayumi Sawada and Yuki Suzuki

Studio Ghibli is one of the most famous movie companies in Japan and I think most Japanese people have at least heard of it. They have made great movies so far and they’re very popular in Japan. What is Studio Ghibli?
The company was established since 1985. The meaning of “Ghibli” in Italian is the hot wind in the desert of Sahara. It was also the name of the Italian plane during World War II. They have published many movies and they made billions of yen for each movie. For the movie Sen! to Chihiro no kamikakushi, they made more than 30 billion yen and more than 23 million people went to see it. We picked up one movie, The Princess Mononoke. It’s one of the most famous movies of Ghibli. I think this movie was a great opportunity to show Ghibli movies to the world.
It was published by director, Hayao Miyazaki, in 1997. Princess Mononoke, who is the main charac-ter of the movie, was raised by wolves and detests human beings. Ashitaka is also the main character. The story is during the Muromachi era. The theme of this movie is life and death through the fights between people and the gods or beasts called Mononoke. The story is fiction but the background is very detailed and it draws you into the story. The drawings are very detailed, too. They paint all the small things very carefully and they sometimes even look like real pictures.
They made 19.3 billion yen and it was the best earning for a Japanese movie back then. They earned 2.37 million dollars in the U.S. They also won about 20 prizes of various kinds. They used about 140 thousand pieces of paper for this one movie, and also this movie was the last movie for Ghibli which used paper and hand painting. This movie was translated into eight languages. I like Ghibli movies because they have unique characters and they paint all the small things. The stories are well made as well. They have all the details and they bring you into the stories. When I finish watching them, I always feel that I want to watch them again. I think Ghibli is a big part of Japanese culture and I want people from all over the world to know more and more about Ghibli.

Romantic Celebrity Proposal

By Kazena Ito

My article is about a really romantic celebrity proposal. He is Brendan Fraser. He is a famous actor. He is in the mummy. And he wanted to propose to his steady. In 1977 Brendan and his steady went to Paris for the holidays and they were having a date looking over the Seine river and they took a picture with a polaroid camera. As the shutter was snapped he opened his jacket. It said “Will you marry me?” on the T-shirt. After the picture was developed and they saw it her eyes were wet, she, of course, said “Yes.” Now they have three sons and they are having a wonderful life.

Roller Coaster Story

By Risa Ichiko, Natsumi Mori, and Naoko Nishiwaki

Oh, my goodness! Have you ever thought you were going to die? I have. Anytime you ride on a roller coaster, don’t you think so? There are thousands of roller coasters in the world. They take you to hell. We’ll introduce some of them if you want. Don’t get lost! Follow us now… First, from Japan: Have you ever been to Fuji-Q High Land? There is a monster called Ee-janaika. Nobody can stop him! He spins 14 times! WOW! This fact was reported by the Guinness Book of Records. Next let’s jump to America, to New Jersey. They have “Kingda Ka.” It is famous for its speed. It can be as fast as the speed of a plane taking off in 3.5 seconds. Here is a review from someone who risked the Kingda Ka. “That was crazy! Really shocking! I couldn’t see anything through my tears.” Not only is it fast, but also the drop is No. 1 in the world. What a greedy machine Kingda Ka is!
By the way, in India there is a temperamental monster. Why temperamental? Because it’s sooo weak it’s not unusual for it to be broken. From the construction to the power it is all man made the name is Homo-machine. Finally, I’ll tell you a heartwarming story from London. Eighty two boys and girls tried to make a new Guinness World Record: to ride a roller coaster totally naked and endure the extraordinary g-forces. Now, are you still with me? Which do you want to try huh? Me? Well, of course I’m gonna be the 83rd.