The Competition brought its curtain down finally. I am back in my original place, Tokyo.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to a lot of readers who enjoyed ‘Hamakon Spin Off’ during the competition. The story behind now tells you that I had the foggiest idea this column would last such long when I first wrote ‘The legs of Dame Fanny Waterman’. It was really a ‘Spin off’ out of my daily core report on the competition, which means it was not a planned but a side-lined column. By change the staff member of the Secretariat took to the column and prompted me for further writing.

As the competition was drawing to an end, I was preparing thank-you letters in different languages for the contestants who were willing to cater to my interviews. However, I was aware there still remained a lot to tell you even after the competition. I was aware because the competition is over, now is the time I can write for you more, such as the interview with Dame Funny Waterman on the day of Prizewinners’ Concert, about the contestants who passed up prizes unfortunately etc. etc.

On that occasion, I received a kind offer to continue ‘Hamakon Spin Off’  from the Secretariat expecting me to keep on the column until running out of competition-related topics.

My answer is, ‘ Yes, I’ll go for it!

There you have it. I would like to announce this to especially the readers who emailed me saying ‘I’ll miss ‘Hamakon Spin Off’ so much’.

Will you stay with me for some more time?

The other day I was informed of Access Ranking as of 11/27, which totally surprised and impressed an internet-shy person like me. ‘Heavens! There’s nothing you never know!’

Tamami Tsunoda