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Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. a charm
    • ex. The small village has many charms, like its beautiful river and friendly people.
  2. a residence
    • ex. Tom moved to a new residence in the city because he found a new job there.
  3. designate
    • ex. Our school was designated the best in the city because of its great teachers.
  4. a wing
    • ex. The large hospital has several wings, including one for children and one for emergency care.
  5. retain
    • ex. The architects made sure to retain the classic look of the old building when they fixed it.

Article

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Kuwana City, located in Mie Prefecture, has released two PR videos with English subtitles. One video is called “Rokkaen,” which features a popular tourist spot in the city. In the other video, “Deep Dive into the Charms of KUWANA,” experts share thoughts about the charms of the city.

Rokkaen was built 110 years ago as a residence for Seiroku Moroto II, a rich businessman. It has been designated as an important cultural property. The site includes a Japanese-style garden, storage houses, and two wings—one Western-style and one Japanese-style. The Western-style wing was designed by Josiah Conder, a British architect known as the “father of Japanese modern architecture.” The building still retains much of its original design and remains an important part of Japan’s architectural history.

In “Deep Dive into the Charms of KUWANA,” three experts discuss Kuwana’s rich history, culture, and food. Kuwana is a historic city between Tokyo and Osaka and just 20 minutes away by train from Nagoya. Today, more than 6,000 foreign residents live in Kuwana. To support them, the city started a service at city hall that offers help in different languages.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

PR Videos

  • Why do you think cities create PR videos? Discuss.
  • What kind of information do you expect from a city’s PR video (ex. places to visit, culture of local residents)? Discuss.
  • Imagine that you are making a PR video about your city. What information would you include in it (ex. tourist spots, history of the city)? Discuss.

Charms of a City

  • In your opinion, what gives a city its charms? Discuss.
  • What are the charms of your city (ex. good food, kind residents)? Discuss.
  • What city that you visited do you think has the most charm? Discuss.