We had a Joint Meeting with Kamakura Toastmasters Club on May 19, one year from the previous one, at Kamakura Geijutsukan, Ofuna. Sixteen of us and 20 from Kamakura TMC gathered.

    TM M. S., President of Kamakura TMC, opened the meeting with her warm and impressive welcome introduction for Shonan TMC.
    We sang together the Toastmaster’s song to the melody of Carpenters’ “Top of the world” to create the sense of unity.

Toastmaster of the day was TM N. H. (Kamakura).

Word of the day: TM S. M. introduced the word “Manage” explaining its two meanings: 1. to control something, 2. to succeed in doing something. 

Today’s Special
    TM M. S. (K) gave a few simple but witty riddles and presented token prizes to those who returned the right answers.

Table Topics
    TM M. H. (S) called on 5 speakers for the following items.
    1. Any specific memory about your mother.
    2. Any flower except carnation for Mother’s day. 
    3. Anything you want to stop from happening at home, at work or in the society.
    4. Any words to your father.
    5. The most favorite celebration day.

Prepared speeches
    TM H. S. (S) Title: “I found a good hobby” Ice Breaker for Pathways
       Recounting her footprint, she talked about recovery from serious illness,
       and  being into dancing and volunteer activities.
    TM S. Y. (K) Title: “Honotan” Ice Breaker for Pathways
       He introduced his top priority to build a good relationship with his granddaughter,
       Honotan, through helping her learning English.
    TM K. T. (S) Title “Some secrets of storytelling” CC#6 Vocal Variety
       Citing Shakespeare’s play lines was successful to capture audience’s attention.
       He emphasized that the change of voice tone in the course of a speech and
       pauses are crucial to keep the audience’s attention and to change the scenes.
   TM T. Y. (K)  Title “Rambam? Who is that? CC7 Research your Topic
     He introduced one of the great philosophers in 12th century and an important
     spiritual leader in jewish society, Rambam, based on various materials.

Evaluation Session
    General evaluation  TM A. M. (S)
    Four evaluators, TM M. Y. (K), TM Y. W. (S), TM I. K. (K) and TM Y. T. (S), gave
    insightful and heartwarming evaluation to the speakers from the other club,
    respectively.

Award Winners
   The best table topic speaker: TM *. K. (K)
   The best evaluator:                TM Y. T. (S)           
    The best prepared speaker:  TM K. T. (S)
                                    

    TM N. N.,  President of Shonan TMC, made the thanks and closing speech.                                       

                                                 
Party
    From 17:00 we enjoyed a light meal party at a nearby restaurant exchanging
    goodwill between the two clubs. There were 9 of us from Shonan.

                                                                              By A. M.

    On the occasion of the Spring Conference, Toastmasters from all over Japan gathered at Hitotsubashi Hall, Chiyoda-ku, to enjoy the speeches (in Japanese and English) by 16 distinguished speakers representing each division, with the motto “SPARK” in mind. “SPARK” widens the horizon in front of us and brightens our thoughts.
                                    
Date/   Sunday May 13, 2018
enue/   Hitotsubashi Hall
Host/   Japanese contest       Meguro TMC
            English contest          Fantasista TMC

9:30     Japanese speech contest called to order    
                                                                Contest Chair TM S. M. (MeguroTMC)
The 1st   contestant      TM J. K.          広島の灯火              (Hiroshima Momiji TMC)
The 2nd   contestant     TM H. K.         はい、はい、はい (Yokohama Frontire TMC)The 3rd   contestant     TM M. Y.         ざまあみやがれ                         ( Tokai TMC)
The 4th   contestant     TM K. O.          傾聴スキル         ( Nihonbashi Century TMC)The 5th   contestant     TM S. H.          ただ会うだけ                    ( Edo Utage TMC)
The 6th   contestant     TM N. N.          年賀状って何の為             (Kumamoto TMC)
The 7th   contestant     TM H. T.          ねじ外す、部品を替える、ねじ締める        
                                                                                              (Musashi -Urawa TMC)
The 8th   contestant     TM T. K.          一歩でも前に   (Omotesando Bilingual TMC)

    The eight contestants gave us wonderful speeches. The titles themselves were quite unique, which aroused our curiosity.

The winners were:
The first place             TM H. T.           (Musashi Urawa TMC)
The second place       TM H. K.           (Yokohama frontier TMC)
The third place            TM T. K.           (Omotesando Bilingual TMC)
　　　　　　　　　　
     Congratulations.   It was impressive that the contestants all thanked their fellow toastmasters for today’s their feats.

13:00     Keynote Speech titled “Lead With Your Heart” by Pat Johnson.  She is
              the past International President for Toastmasters International, 2010-2011.
                                      
     The world needs heartfelt leaders. Heart, Vision, Teamwork, Passion, Authenticity, Courage, these are keys for heartfelt leaders. To live as a Leader, we need physical and mental strength and resilience. She sang the Song, Lead with your heart, it’s the right way like the polar star leads us.

14:00           International (English) Speech Contest called to order  
                                                           Contest Chair   TM N.T.    ( Fantasista TMC) 
The 1st contestant      TM T. O.       “What if”                             ( Bashamichi TMC)
The 2nd contestant     TM M. J.       “My secret to success”          (Nishitokyo TMC)
The 3rd contestant      TM R. K.       “Line”                                  ( Tokyo ESS TMC)
The 4th contestant      TM R. L. H.   “Life is Hard”                                (Tokyo TMC)
The 5th contestant      TM M. C. K.  “What’s that supposed to be?” (Tokushima TMC)
The 6th contestant      TM N. S.       “You’re gonna be OK”           (Fantasista TMC)
The 7th contestant      TM J. B.        “Magic Words”                        (Nagasaki TMC)
The 8th contestant.     TM C. J. M.   “The day that changed My Life”  (Osaka TMC)

    “What if”   TM T. O.   He suggested that we should say yes anyway, without being afraid of what if we’d fail, and panic later.
    “My secret to success”   TM M. J. She had survived a terrible car accident, which lead her to be convinced that what’s important is not about money thing but           actually life itself, friends, family, and love.
    “Line”   TM R. K.   She has impaired sight and thus she noticed the white canes for   them draw a line between the disabled and not disabled not only when people take care of them but also when people praise them. She wants people to cross the Line , not treating them differently.  
    “Life is Hard”   TM R. L. H.   He admitted we’ve got a lot of problems on different stages of our lives without exception. But when we accept that as “That’s a life”, we can see life differently and we all still have a good time.
    “What’s that supposed to be?” TM M. C. K.    She started the speech with ”Have you ever had your dream destroyed by negative  comments?” She once got a comment on her drawing: ”What’s that supposed to be?” , which formed mental block in her about drawing. Luckily she was saved by her little daughter’s saying “Just try. “Just try and fight against negative circumstances is the answer.
    “You’re gonna be OK.”   TM N. S.   When she exhausted herself by raising her baby only on mother’s milk, she met an elderly doctor, who had been an army surgeon.     His words “Take it easy, you’re gonna be OK” were very effective. She imitated his way of speaking so skillfully.
    “Magic Words”     TM J. B.   He encouraged us to use magic words. For example, instead of saying “ Have a nice day”,   “Have a dynamic day.” or “Have a  colorful day.” might fascinate people more. “Avoid using boring ordinary words and use your own magic words. “
    “The day that changed My Life”   TM C. M.   Since the day of his horrible car accident, what is important for him has totally changed as a survivor. Thinking what if he would die , he encouraged us to say “I love you” more to our family, appreciate them and spend more time together.

The winners were:
The first place           TM M. C. K.              (Tokushima TMC)
The second place     TM R. L. H.               (Tokyo TMC)
The third place          TM C. J. M.               (Osaka TMC)
                                  
Congratulations!  

The audience thanked all the amazing contestants and the TMCs that hosted this contest and other staff　( See the picture. They were so many of them.)
　　　　　　　         
2018 International Speech Contest adjourned, giving everyone the “SPARK” with the thunder of applause.

                                                                                 By M. I.

    On April 28, a fresh green day in the golden week, we held the regular meeting #484 with 17 members and one guest at Tsujido Library.

The Meeting Program on April 28
    President N. N. called the meeting to order.

Word of the Day
    TM M.H. introduced “fabulous (adj)”. A lot of speakers used it.

Business Session
    VPE M.K. explained “Pathways”

Introduction of Partners
    TMOD introduced Grammarian TM Y.W., Ah-Uh Counter TM M.H. Vote Counter TM T.I. and Timer TM N.N. They explained their roles briefly.

Joke Session
    Joke Master TM T.O. asked 11 riddles. He adopted questions and answers method. They were short and witty. Everybody enjoyed those.

Prepared Speech Session 
    We had four prepared speakers
    The 1st speaker was TM J.Y. The title was “Seasons Tips to Cook Chinese Dumplings”. After coming to Japan, she learned to make dumplings and found out it was enjoyable. She introduced how to boil dumplings successfully.
    The 2nd speaker was TM.M. I. The title was “This is the Moment” She had trouble with communication itself and English, but like a thunder, the moment came during the trip to the U. S. and she was able to talk back to recover her self-esteem. She has got the moment to save herself.
    The 3rd speaker was TM A.M. The title was “Have You Ever Experienced (Near Death Experience) 臨死体験？He thinks this phenomenon is basedon brain malfunction. The death triggers the last program to be opened in the brain.
    The 4th speaker was TM E.M. The title was “Our Chorus, Oba Sanzoku Gasshhotai” He is a member of the Chorus. The tenth commemorative performance was held on March 17 in Fujisawa Public Hall. They introduced 17 songs and handed a small gift to all the audience. One thousand audience gathered. 
              
Table Topics Session
    Table Topics Master was TM K.K. Today’s questions were Selection Questions to select the answer from A or B. Seven members answered his questions in a relaxed mood. The questions and speakers were as follows.
                                                    
    1. Elaborate French cuisine or hot, spicy South-east Asian food, which do you prefer?  (TM T. A.)
    2. To take a bath or shower, in the morning or evening?  (TM A.M.)
    3. Skirts or pants?  (TM M.I.)
    4. Hotels or Ryokans?  (TM.T. O.)
    5. To spend holidays, seaside or mountain area?  (TM T.I.)
    6. Women’s college or co-ed one?  (TM J.Y.)
    7. To work part-time at a restaurant, backyard job such as preparing and washing dishes or front job such as waiting services?  (TM M.H.) 

Evaluation Session
    After 15-minute break, we had Evaluation Session. TM N.S. took the role of General Evaluator and introduced each evaluator.
    The 1st evaluator was TM M.K. He evaluated TM J.Y.’s speech. The 2nd evaluator was TM H.S. for TM M.I.’s speech. The 3rd evaluator was T.K. to evaluate TM A.M.’s speech. The 4th evaluator TM K.T. evaluated TM E.M.’s speech.
    TM N.S. carried out rich general evaluation referring to every point.

Award presentation
    TMOD Award:                      TM T. I. (Accepted pinch hitting for Vote Counter)
    Best Table Topic Speaker : TM M. H.
    Best Evaluator  :                  TM K. T.
    Best Prepared Speaker :     TM M. I.

                  By Y. H.