Finally at Mirikaroden

 I continued down the little side road. Looking back I could see the Buddhist memorial from the side.

I arrived at Mirikaroden, where I was going to have an exercise class. In the large entrance hall there was an exhibit of calligraphy by grade school children. Having a 'good hand' is very important in Japan. Even in this day of computers and automation, resumes, for example, are still supposed to be handwritten. All the supporting data is typewritten, but the resume itself is to be done by hand. Also there is a standard form for the resume that is available in all bookstores.

When I retired, I was on the committee that searched for my replacement and a teacher for another department. This is rather unusual but there was no one else with my qualifications and experience as selecting English teachers. The position was advertised in various places and we received many applications for the two positions. After the office had screened out the ones that did not meet the stated requirements they made copies of the remaining documents and sent them to the committee members. There were 110 applications, all with supporting documents including at least three papers. Everyone of the applications by Japanese had the standard resume form and they were all handwritten. Everything else was typed. The few foreigners who applied mostly submitted Western style typed resumes, although there were one or two in handwritten Japanese by the applicant. That was, by the way, a terrible job. I had to read all 110 applications, about 90% of the total amount was in Japanese, make notes on each and then contribute to committee meetings in the 110 was reduced to six. It was the hardest work I had done in years.