Topic 1: Autumn is approaching!

1) It has long been said that autumn is the best season for reading, sports, eating, art, etc. What is it for you? What are you looking forward to doing in the coming autumn?

2) Autumn is also the season when lots of local festivals are held all over Japan. Will you tell us about local events in your neighborhood or hometown? (... some of them may have already been cancelled due to the pandemic, though)

3) Is there anything else you want to share about autumn?

Topic 2: How should we deal with the hoarding house/trash house problem?

I took up a post in the administrative board of my neighborhood association a few months ago. Since then, I’ve got to know various issues in my neighborhood that I’ve not ever noticed before. One of the issues is a mess in a house where a man lives alone. Another member of the board, who lives next to the man, has been feeling victimized by the mess. He claims that he has trouble with the roots and branches of a tree sticking out, mosquitoes are coming from the water that has accumulated in abandoned containers, stray cats are going in and out of the house, etc. As we don’t have effective measures to handle the situation with the help of law, all we can do is just to politely ask the man to eliminate the mess, which will go in vain. I hope I could get some ideas to cope with the issue through the discussion with you.

1) What kinds of hoarding house examples do you know? There might be one in your neighborhood, or they could be ones you have heard from someone or on TV.

2) What are the risks, dangers or threats due to a hoarding house?

3) What do you think makes people create hoarding houses? Can you figure out what is on their mind? Let’s imagine what's going through their thoughts.

4) How should we deal with the hoarding house/trash house problem?

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00699/no-spark-of-joy-for-people-living-in-trash-houses.html
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20161025/p2a/00m/0na/009000c