5月17日号 1面

Singing Japan's Praises
オーストラリアの歌姫、デルタ・グッドレムが来日　　大好きな日本を語る

  Delta Goodrem is a household name in Australia. The 23‐year‐old pop star is tall, talented and beautiful, and could not be more successful in her home country if she tried. So she has set her sights on winning new fans abroad, starting with Japan.

The "Mainichi Weekly" interviewed Goodrem when she was here at the end of April to help Tokyo radio station J‐Wave celebrate its 20th anniversary, and to promote the local release of her latest album, Delta.

Earlier this year, Goodrem had recorded the FM radio station's theme song, "Live! Together" (Tokyo Girls Anthem), a duet with J‐Pop singer Juju. The two vocalists took the opportunity to perform the song at Roppongi Hills Arena in a mini‐concert that was simulcast live.

"I hope it sounded good on radio," joked Goodrem shortly after the performance. "It sounded good in the room!"

The visit was not Delta's first encounter with Japan. In fact, she has been here some seven times since 2006, when she first came to Japan to promote her 2nd album, "Mistaken Identity." A track from this album, "Flawed," was used in Director Fujita Akiji's 2006 film "Adiantum Blue" starring Abe Hiroshi and Matsushita Nao. The tie‐up resulted in Goodrem performing the song on Tamori's "Music Station" television program, with actress Matsushita accompanying in a rare public performance of her piano skills.

"She was so beautiful!" says Goodrem about Matsushita. "I really liked her."

Another of Goodrem's tunes, "In this Life," has been used as the opening theme for the popular anime series "Deltora Quest" (which, incidentally, is based on the book series by author Emily Rodda ― another Australian!)

So what is Delta's attraction to Japan?

"I don't say this in every country: I genuinely love Japan. I fell in love with Japan the first time I came here ― absolutely fell in love with it. I would live here in a heartbeat," she says.  "I think I must have been Japanese in another lifetime."

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【WORDS　単語をチェック】
sing Japan's praises 日本の良さを歌う　household name 誰もが知っている名前　talented 才能ある　could not be more successful これ以上の成功はない　set one's sights on ～ ～を目指す　win 得る　celebrate ～ ‐th anniversary （ここでは、開局）～周年を祝う　promote 宣伝する　the local release （ここでは）日本発売　latest 最新の　anthem 賛歌　take the opportunity to ～ ～する機会を持つ　simulcast live 同時放送のライブ　encounter with ～ ～との出会い　track 曲（後出 tune も同意）　starring ～ ～を主演とする　tie‐up 共演　result in ～ ... ～に…をもたらす　accompany 伴奏する　rare めったにない　incidentally 偶然に　attraction to ～ ～への興味　genuinely 心から　absolutely 完全に　in a heartbeat すぐに　in another lifetime 前世で

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English Soup by Chikako Kobayashi

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Role Model Part 1   良きお手本　パート１

Samantha becomes inspired by a fellow American who grew up in Japan.

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Samantha: Mom, do you think I could get a private tutor to study Japanese?

Nicole: I thought you were planning to take Japanese class in school next year anyway.

S:  I was, but I'm thinking it won't be enough.

N: For what?

S: Promise not to laugh?

N: I promise.

S: I want to become either a translator of Japanese and English ...

N:  ... or ...

S:  ... at least be completely fluent enough in both so that I can use the two for some kind of non‐profit work.

N: That's admirable. Why the sudden decision?

S: Well, we were learning about the Japanese Constitution in history class, and I was totally surprised that it was basically written by Americans.

N: That's right.

S: But what I thought even more amazing was that the section on social welfare and women's rights was written by a woman who was only 22 years old!

N: I didn't know that.

(To be continued)

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グレン・S・フクシマのジャパン・ウォッチ

The 'Mottainai' summit? 「もったいない」サミット

ケニアのワンガリ・マータイさんの提唱で始まった「もったいない運動」。近年、成果の乏しいサミットを見るにつけ、まず、政府がこの精神を実践する必要がありそうだ。

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Glen S. Fukushima, a native of California, is President & CEO of Airbus Japan and former President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. From 1985 to 1990, he was based in Washington, D.C. as Director for Japanese Affairs and, later, Deputy Assistant USTR for Japan and China at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

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