Regular meeting No. 496 was held on November 24, 2018 at Tujido Library, Fujisawa. Besides fifteen members, we had two guests: TM H. M. who was a visiting president of a toastmaster club at Silicon Valley, California, and Ms. S. H. who joined the club on the day after the meeting with a ceremony to receive her. Their presence added the festivity of the meeting with the theme of “Thanksgiving”, and we had a great time as usual.
Word of the Day:
A new word is announced at the start of every meeting by the grammarian of the day with the aim to build the vocabulary. TM T. O. introduced today’s Word of the Day, Tolerant (adjective) and we tried to use it in our speeches as often as possible along with its derivatives and the origin Tolerance (noun).
Joke Session 
Joke Master TM T. O. spoke about a class reunion of his high school held more than half a century after graduation. He met an old friend of his who greeted him cheerfully, “Long time no see” three times at intervals on the same day. He also gave us funny quizzes such as – Why the person shaves more than once a day? Answer: Because he is a barber.
Prepared Speech Session
1st Speaker TM M. H.: It was her first speech after 17 months of child care leave. Welcome back Mom!! Her project was CC10 ‘Inspire Your Audience.’ Time: 8-10 minutes, Title: Grandma.
It was a moving speech on her super grandma, who was intelligent, charming and sweet. Her grandma was able to send mails from the smart phone at the age of 95, taught her on the family history during World War II when she was young. The level of concern to other people was such that the impressed doctor said his patient was a truly considerate person. She passed away at the hospital, missed by all
2nd Speaker was TM E. M.: It was his first challenge on the Pathways – the new education system employed by the Toastmasters from this April. Therefore his project was L-1-1 ‘Icebreaker’. Time: 4-6 minutes, Title: How to learn English”.
He started to study English after retirement with NHK radio broadcast. He kept his efforts with the thought; Roma was not built in a day, Persistence pays off, and Practice – Practice – Practice. He has recently shifted his focus from spoken English to written one with a renewed determination that Roma was not built in a day!
3rd Speaker TM K. T.: His project was CC 7 ‘Research Your Topic’ A PowerPoint presentation, Time: 5-7 minutes, Title: An Invitation to Bunraku.
Accordingly, Bunraku is the name of the owner of an exclusive theater for the Japanese puppet show. Beside the history, he explained various aspects of Bunraku, such as on how each puppet is moved by a team of three operators; how there are so many performers involved such as singers, players, and puppeteers; and how to enjoy the stage most. He used the projector to show us various interesting photos of Bunraku.
4th speaker TM N. N.: It was another ‘Icebreaker’ of the Pathways – L-1-1 ‘Icebreaker’. A PowerPoint presentation, Time: 4-6 minutes, Title: How much do you know me?
”He tackled the difficult task of introducing himself when everybody knew him quite well – one of the oldest members of the club. An impressive number of pictures were used to introduce various aspects of his – a fisherman, HAM operator, dog lover, tennis player, retired professor, father of twin brothers, grandpa, and husband besides being a toastmaster.
Timer TM T. O. reported that all speakers finished their speeches within the allotted time frame.
Table Topics Session 
The Table Topics Session by TM K. K. had a theme of giving advice to various people such as:
Foreigners who started living in Japan ；TM H. S.’s advice was, “try Sushi.”
Foreigners who started working in Japan ；TM A. T. advised to be punctual.
Japanese who started living in the U.S. ； Guest TM H. M. stressed the need to
clearly state one’s opinion.
Japanese who started working in a foreign company ； TM T. O.’s tip was to respect
diversities.
Mother who works while raising children ； Ms. S. H. said, “relax – for children will
understand the tough job of mothering when they grow up.”
Timer reported all speakers spoke within the allotted time frame of 2 minutes and thirty seconds. This session aims to train the ability to give a short speech unprepared.
Evaluation Session 
This session was moderated by General Evaluator TM Y. H., who introduced Evaluators one by one, namely TMs M. I., Y. W., T. K. and A. M. Each evaluator is assigned to evaluate a given speech from the viewpoint of the speaker’s project purposes or objectives within the time frame of 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Each of them did this smoothly as commended by General Evaluator TM Y. H. whose role is to observe the entire meeting from the viewpoint of quality.
Award Presentation
The voting results for best speakers were announced as follows:
TMOD Award: TM T. O. TMOD chose him because he played great roles for the
meeting as President, Grammarian/Word of the Day Giver and Joke Master.
Best Table Topics Speaker: TM A. T.
Best Evaluator: TM A. M.
Best Speaker: TM N. N.
After adjournment, there was the Declaration and Induction Ceremony for Ms. S. H. Everybody welcomed the new member with hearty applause.
By M. H. & M. I. Photos by M. I.