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I love Domoto Tsuyoshi of Kinki Kids.

I like umeshiba (or umeboshi) , ohagi and hamburgers.

I hate pimentos, broccolis and carrots.

My future dream is to be an entertainer
who can sing and dance on TV programs.

The best memory of my life:
I went to see a Kinki Kids concert.
I bought a lot of goods at the concert.
I can never forget how happy I was!

(BE GENKI)  by Yukari Hori

Good afternoon (morning), everyone. How are you doing? Are you GENKI? GENKI is a Japanese word to express you are in good spirits. The word is often used for greeting in our daily conversation. Everyone knows what GENKI means. But, have you thought about the expression a little more deeply? What does GENKI mean to you?

  Recently an American friend asked me what GENKI means. After thinking about it for some time, I answered it means that you are "akarui" or cheerful and healthy. We Japanese use the expression like this. We say to our friends, "GENKI?", which means "How are you doing?"

  While I was explaining, I became more interested in the word GENKI myself. That's why I decided to find out more about the word in dictionaries. Here is what I've found out. It is used as a noun or an adjective and has many meanings. In English, it means, well-being, health, vigor, vitality, stamina, energy, soundness, liveliness, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, happiness, etc, etc.  

  For the summary GENKI means that someone is at the state of physical, mental and spiritual well being. First you must be in good health physically to enjoy life. Mentally you must be enthusiastic to be active in life. It is the source of power that produces and grows all good things. Someone also told me that GENKI would be added into an English dictionary within a few years because no English words can describe it. People all over the world may start using GENKI soon. Isn't it a wonderful thing?

 Then I started to think what makes me feel GENKI. First my family or friends. I love them and enjoy talking to them. Especially when I am down, sad, angry, they listen to me carefully and sometimes give me good advice. Then my GENKI comes back. 

  Secondly I must talk about music. People speak different languages in the world. You can't communicate unless you know the language. But music is different. It's a common language to all the peoples of the world. You don't need anything to understand how good some music is. You just listen to music with your heart. It's OK if you love classical music or pop music or any other music. If you love the music and if it gives you GENKI, it's your music. A good example may be a famous Japanese pop song, "Ringo no Uta" or "The Apple Song". The song was popular after the World War Two. Many Japanese were sad and unhappy at that time. They were having a hard and difficult time. "Ringo no Uta" gave many of them a lot of GENKI.   

Finally I like nature just like many of you. I love to look up at the stars in the night sky. Take a moon for example. The shape of the moon changes every night. It's so much fun. Besides it's the same moon as our ancestors all over the world enjoyed looking at. All those people in Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America who lived hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago, or even millions of years ago. They were enjoying the same moon. Isn't it exciting? What nature gives you GENKI? Some of you may like a sunrise or sunset. Some of you may prefer mountains, rivers or sea. Some of you may prefer animals or plants. Yes, nature gives us a lot of GENKI, doesn't it?

  Are you GENKI? What does GENKI mean to you? What gives you GENKI? Thank you.

  (The speech was written by Yukari Hori in August, 2000)