今日が初仕事

今日から仕事を開始しました。本当はトレーニングに行きたかったのですが、咳が止まらず、喉も痛かったのでジムはお預け。ま〜咳をしながらトレーニングをしたら回りにも顰蹙なので。

Today was the first day back at work since the new year. I wanted to go to the gym but I haven't fully recovered from my illness so I decided to wait a little more until I am back normal. I'm sure people at the gym wouldn't appreciate if I cough and trained at the same time trying to spread the virus...

ジムに行けない分、家ではチームと連絡を取り合ったり、原稿を書いたりで忙しい一日でした。そうそう、今書店で販売しているXaCarに出ていますよ〜！！機会があれば買って読んで下さいね。

Instead of going to the gym, I spent better part of the day at home getting a lot of work done as well as contacting the teams for this year's deal. I also had to finish up an article that I write weekly so the day went by so fast. Oh yeah, by the way, the new XaCar is out at the Japanese Book Store. Check it out if you have time!!

体調不良で寝正月

年越しに崩した体調が元旦の日は回復した物の、２日からまた振り返して、２００９年の穝所の３日間はダラダラ過ごす寝正月となってしまいました・・・。が、そろそろ気合いを入れて明日からはジムに行ってトレーニングして、体調も復帰しないと！！

How's your 2009 so far? Mine has been uneventful so far....I was able to recover from illness for a day and turned sick again for last two days so I stayed home and pretty much stayed in bed. I couldn't ask for a better timing to be sick because there isn't much going on this couple of days anyways...but I better hit the gym tomorrow and recover from my cold since I will have a lot to settle during next week.

明けましておめでとうございます！

新年あけましておめでとうございます！今年も宜しくお願い致します。

Happy New Years!

気がついたらもう０９年ですね〜。なんだか、０８年は色々とあった年で、娘が産まれた事以外は本当に大変な年でした。たぶん、一生忘れないだろうな〜・・・。でも、そんな年の最後に日に、いきなり体調を崩して９時から布団の入って寝てしまいました。

I can't believe, it's already 2009. Last year was a tough year for me especially as a racing stand point. I think I will remember the 08 year for rest of my life....but gotta move on and better things are to come. To put an end to one of my worst season....apart from having a baby girl, I was sick yesterday and decided to go to bed before 9PM and missed all the countdown stuff.

年を越して朝起きたらスッキリ！なんだか色んな意味での厄を振り払ってから年越しをできたような気がしましたので、ある意味良かったかな？！？今年は気合いを入れ直して頑張らないと！そして、皆さんにとっても良い年でありますように！！では、
改めて今年も宜しくお願い致します。

However, I woke up and felt real good! I must have got rid of all the evils in my body and let's hope for a much better 09 season on and off the track! Thanks again for all your support during the 08 season and let's all hope for an exciting and prosperous 09 season!! Enjoy rest of your holidays!!

いよいよ０９年

もう日本は大晦日ですね。ロスはまだ３０日ですが、今日は６時に起きてダウンタウンにある魚市場に母親とでかけ、お正月に食べる食材をゲット。家に戻り朝ご飯を食べてからジムに出かけ１０kmのランニング。家に戻ってランチを食べてから、家で仕事納め。

I had a early start this morning going to the Fish Market in Downtown with my Mom. We wanted to get some fish for the new year and you couldn't get any fresher fish than going to the Fish Market. After getting all our ingredients, my Mom started to prep the food while I went to the gym for 10km run. I came home and got some final work done for the year.

日本との交渉事は前向きに進んでいるのに対し、US再度は残念ながら話がうまくいかず、また毎年恒例の１歩進んで２歩下がる状態ですが、着実に前進しているので我が身値を進むべく頑張らないと！今年は色々と苦労した年だったから、来年は良い年にしないとな！では、皆さん良いお年を迎えて下さい！！

The negotiations for the Japan side went well over night, but things that was being negotiated here took a dive so that was a bad news... However, things are moving forward steadily and hope to have things locked up soon. It really was a tough year this year for me but I hope next season would be a great year for me and all my sponsors, family, and friends!!

今日も忙しかった〜！

今日もメチャメチャ忙しかった〜！朝はジムでガッツリトレーニング。今日は久しぶりのサーキットトレーニングで（走行をしたわけではないですよ！？！）、心拍数を上げまくりでヘトヘト・・・。年を越す前に気合いの入ったトレーニングができました。

It was a real busy day today. I went to the gym in the morning and did a real intensive circuit training. My heart rate was real high for almost one hour and was a good cardio work out as well! I am sooOOOO ready for 09 season and most importantly, I can't wait to get back in to the car!!

ジムから戻ってシャワーのついでにシャワー室の掃除。お昼は家で食べて、午後は母親と息子を連れて公園＆スーパーでお買い物。家に戻ってこれから来季の交渉で日本との連絡の取り合いです・・・。これこそまさに貧乏暇無し！でもこのご時世、暇でない事は良い事ですね！

After I was done with training, I came home and since I had to jump in the shower, I decided to clean the shower at the same time to use all the minutes and water efficiently!! Than took my son to the park and my Mom to the grocery store. I am finally home and will have to make several phone calls to Japan to finalize couple of deals for next season.

ランニング＆大掃除

今日も朝から大掃除。家の窓を拭いたりブラインドの掃除をしたり大変でした。手も荒れまくっています・・・。しかし、ブラインドの掃除は面倒くさいですね。何かブラインドの掃除がしやすいシステムはないんですかね・・・？！？

Woke up early this morning to start wiping the windows and blinds. It took ages to clean all the windows as well as going through all the dust on the blinds....There must be a tool or a system to clean the window blinds because I am on the verge of changing all the blinds to curtain next year just so I don't have to clean them again!?!

掃除が一段落した時点でジムに行き１０kmのランニング。家に戻ってランチを食べてからは母親とスーパーやターゲットに行き日用品等をゲッツ。なんだかノンストップな一日でしたが、年をユックリ迎えれる様に明日で何とか部屋中の掃除を終わらすぞ！！

Once I got all the windows finished, I went to the gym for 10km run. Came home for a quick lunch and was off to the store to get some grocery shopping as well as to Target. It just felt like an endless without any rest but I think I am just about ready to start a fresh new year!!

大掃除＆散髪

今日は午前中にジムに行き、トレーニング。お昼前に家の大掃除を開始。一日ですますのには、時間がかかるので今日はキッチン回りの掃除。明日はリビングのキャビネットのホコリをとらないと・・・。ヘルメットのディスプレイも汚れて来ているので奇麗に磨いたろう！！

Went to the gym in the morning and had a great work out. Than I started to clean the house as it is a Japanese tradition to clean and dust off the house before the new year. Since it was going to take me the whole day to do all the rooms...I decided to focus on the kitchen and part of the living room today. I will have to clean all my helmet cabinets tomorrow since it is getting pretty dusty in there. Last year...we were pretty lazy and decided to hire a molly maids...but this year I decided to take time to clean all my precious collections.

お昼を食べた後は年を越す前にすっきりしようと、息子と二人でヘアーサロンに行き散髪。息子の髪も自分の髪も伸びてボサボサだったので、がっつり切ってきました！息子はサーファー風なロンゲからキムタクカットにアレンジしてもらいました！！（笑）これで、スッキリ。家に帰る途中に公園によって、息子とバスケットボールをしてきました。って言っても息子はシュートを抱っこしてさせるかんじですが・・・。明日は残りの部分の掃除を終わらせれば無事に年を越せるぞ〜〜！！

After lunch, I went to cut my hair with my son since both of our hair was growing beyond our control. I trimmed my hair to the usual cut and my son got a surfer style hair cut. We had some time after the hair cut so decided to go to the park and play basket ball...although my son can't should the ball quite like Kobe yet.... Well...overall it was a good day and I just have to finish cleaning up the other part of the rooms tomorrow in order to be fully ready to begin an exciting 2009 season!!

今年もあとわずか。

クリスマスも終わり、今年もあとわずかですね。ロスのクリスマスはLAらしからぬ温度で冷え込み、クリスマスな雰囲気を満喫できました。昨日から母親が家に来てくれているので妻にとってもようやく産後の休みが取れる様です。

We had a pretty nice Christmas staying at home and having a great dinner.It was unusually chilly for LA standard which made it feel like a real Christmas. My mom have arrived yesterday in town to spend the new year with us and my wife can finally get some rest after delivering the baby.

年末年始は家でユックリするかなって感じですが、１０日からはデトロイトショーに行ったりまた忙しくなりそうなので、その時の為に体力を温存しておかないと。しかし、年末年始となると今までは“正月には酒が呑める、酒が呑めるぞ〜”なんてやっていましたが、さすがに子供ができると夜中に起きたりしなくてはいけないので、それどころではありませんね！？！（笑）でも、家族４人＋母親で過ごす年末をユックリ満期させて頂きます！！

I think I will stay quite for rest of the new year, but sounds like Jan would be another busy month for me having to go to Detroit as well as Indy and to Japan by end of the month. Usually, New year celebration in Japanese Style is all about drinking lots of Sake....but this year I think couple of beers would do it since I will most likely have to get up every couple of hours for our baby!?! Well, I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and best wishes for rest of the year and to 2009!!

メリークリスマス！

皆さんメリークリスマス！今日はクリスマスイブですね！！なんだか、ロスは珍しく寒くてクリスマスの雰囲気が出ています。僕は今日は黄疸のチェックをしに年の為に娘をまた病院に連れて行き、とりあえず問題はなさそうなので一安心。

Merry Christmas! It really feels like Christmas out here in LA with chilly weather which makes this night a little more moody. My day started with another trip to the hospital and making sure that our daughter was OK from Jaundice. Everything seems to be OK for now and we stopped by the Supermarket and came home to have some lunch.

家に戻ってランチをして、息子を連れてデパート＆オモチャ屋さんに行ってプレゼントを購入。娘の出産等で買い物に行くタイミングを逃してしまい、なんだかちょっと可哀想な形のプレゼントになってしまいました・・・。息子は満足げな顔でウキウキで歩いて帰って来ている途中にグッスリ寝てしまいましたが、こっそり買いに行って渡せなかった所は父親失格だな・・・と思ってしまいました。でも、素直に喜んでくれる子供は本当に純粋ですね！！

After lunch, I tool my son to the Toy Store to get him a Christmas present. Unfortunately, I didn't have time this past week end to pick something up for him since we were going back and forth to the hospital.... I still wanted to get something to him to see his smile. I really felt bad since I should have gotten something for him a lot earlier....but nevertheless, he was able to spend some good time at the store trying to pick his favorite toy!!

さてさて、それでは皆さんもクリスマスをエンジョイして下さい！！

Well, I hope you all enjoy your Christmas!! Happy Holidays!!

来季に向けて前向きな一日

今日はアメリカがクリスマス休暇に入る前日だったのでメチャメチャ忙しかったです。午前中は病院に行き、娘の検診。ちょっと黄疸の心配があるから、日光浴をさせなくてはいけないくらい、他は至って健康でした。

Since today was the last day before the Christmas Holiday...it was a real busy day for me. I had to take my daughter for a check up and she is doing real well so far. Everything seems so much smoother for the second child sine you seem know what to do already.

自分は家に戻り、お昼は色んなチームと連絡をとって、交渉を進めました。同時進行で日本から来季の活動の件で問い合わせが入ったり、色んな面で物事が前向きに進んでいます。この不況の中で協力してくれている方やスポンサーには本当に感謝です！気合いが入りまくって夕方はジムに行ってきました！！明日も午前中は日本と連絡を取り合わなくてはいけないので、今夜は早めに寝ようっと！！

For lunch I was at home making several phone calls. I was just updating things with several teams and things are going real well. It seems as if the world has turned around since my daughter was born and hopefully she is bringing a lot of luck to me!! Well...in reality, I have to thank my supporter as well as sponsor who has been part of my program and are willing to help in this economic state. Hopefully things will come through soon where I can make more exciting announcement as for racing program!! To make things happen, I have to get up early tomorrow morning to make some calls to Japan so I better get some good sleep tonight!!

ネーミング

赤ちゃんが産まれて、昨日のお昼に退院して、昨晩は家でユックリできました。今日は朝からジムに行って、ここ数日間の間は病院通いで動かしていなかった身体をがっつり鍛えてきました。

After spending couple of days going back and forth to the hospital, I finally got some time to hit the gym this morning and had a great work out! My wife was also able to relax being home with our daughter and son. Hospital is not exactly the best place to get some rest....

所で産まれて来て女の子の名前はCapri（香風里）ちゃんになりました。ミドルネームはKaede(楓）で決定。産まれる前からどうしようかと悩んでいましたが、息子の時は僕が名前を決める権限があったので、今回は妻が決めました。イタリアのカプリ島をイメージした名前で、漢字も友達のカメラマンの斉藤ヒロ君に相談して決定！実は息子の漢字も考えてくれたんです。命名は本当に悩みますよね。でも、子供は一生その名前の背負って生きていくので、しっかりと考えなくてはいけませんね。親として一番最初にすることですもんね。そうそう、日本は産後２週間以内に出生届を出せば宵みたいですが、アメリカは退院前に決めないと、出生届を作成してくれないんですよね！なので、アメリカで生む場合は事前に考えておく様に！？！（笑）

Well...after a lot of debate with my wife, we ended up naming our girl Capri and her middle name is Kaede. Since I got to chose the name for my son, my wife wanted to have the say this time and she liked the sounds of Capri as from the island in Italy. It was hard to come up with a Kanji Character to fit her name in Japanese but my friend gave us some thoughts and I was happy with her name after all! I actually chose Kaede for her middle name because I wanted something that was more Japanese with in her name to be proud of our heritage. Obviously naming a child is not exactly ease especially if you have to come up with something that suits in English as well as Japanese. Capri may be a bit uncommon as a name, but the meaning in Kanji would be "Bringing the odor of your country through the wind" which I thought it was pretty cool!!