Message from the Editor

In my native France, we have the following saying: "En avril, ne te découvre pas d'un fil. En mai, fais ce qu'il te plaît." In a direct translation this would be: "In April, do not remove even a thread of clothes. In May, do whatever you please." The rays of sun filtering through the window today influenced me to write these lines. April is ending in a couple of days. Temperatures are going to rise in an almost-exponential way in rainy June, and hot/humid July/August will mean cerebral near-death on a personal level. Too hot to do anything. So yes I will do what I please in May. If this month does not give you complete satisfaction, just do like me and call the weather customer service and shout with a real loud shout of "Mayday! Mayday!"

Enjoy a green spring 2008

New articles for May 2008

• May 2008 events at a glance
• Working Conditions: Chapter Two - Working hours, days off, holidays
• Hay fever (花粉症) - Different allergenic pollens in different countries, and prevention methods

Voices from the archives (recently resurrected articles from the paper Ibaraki Report)

• International Izakaya - An article from the early days of the Katsuta Drunken Duck