The X-Pat Files
January 2009
(Brought to you
by H&R Consultants)
The X-Pat
Files Community E-Newsletter provides a forum for the spread of
information useful for English speakers living in Aichi. You can use the
newsletter as an informational resource, and of course you can send in
information you would like to share.
This newsletter is a community service from
The Japan Real Estate and Relocation company, H&R
Consultants (www.japanhomesearch.com), and is edited by Sue Conolly (http://web.mac.com/conolly).
Contents for This Edition
1. New Year in Japan
2. Need a Doctor?
3. Rakugo
in English
4. Ear,
Nose and Throat Doctor – Tazaki Clinic
5. Kamakura
6. Garbage
7. ACCJ New Year Party
8. Professional Translator
9. Meet
and Greet
10. Family Matters
**************************************************
1. New
Year in Japan
The Japanese celebrate the New Year with the
same enthusiasm and family spirit as those in the west celebrate Christmas. If
this is your first New Year in Japan you might not know what to do or where
you’ll “fit in” to the whole scheme of things. If you can manage it, however,
it’s a wonderful experience to spend at least part of the New Year with a
Japanese family.
Preparation for the New Year begins during
the middle of December, with people hand-writing or
printing New Year's postcards known as nengajo. These
cards are sent to anyone with whom come into contact over the past year,
relatives, friends, business contacts, and teachers. It’s like a Christmas card
list – some very special people will continue to get New Years cards from
people they’ve helped, for years to come.
My husband sends one to his elementary school teacher, and I send one to
the midwife who delivered my baby. The cards must be posted by about Christmas
Day to make it in time for delivery on the 1st of January, but many,
many people are still posting theirs, and posting “extras” right up until the 2nd
or 3rd. For instance, if someone to whom you didn’t write sends you
a New Year card it is highly appropriate to send a card back, even if it
arrives late. All cards, however, should be sent within the New Year period
before people go back to work.
Nengajo are often illustrated with the Chinese
animal of the coming year (in the case of this year, a cow) or a photo of the
family it’s coming from. The sender will usually add a brief, handwritten
message to the illustrated side. Cards are not sent to people who have had a
relative pass away during the old year, so those who have suffered a loss send
out a black and white postcard ahead of time to stop their friends from writing
to them at New Year.
Another significant part of New Year is o-soji, or “the big clean”, when everyone prepares their
homes and offices for a fresh new start. You’ll notice that all the heavy-duty
cleaning supplies sell out fast at the home centers, and that in the last
couple of days of the year the middle of town might be quieter as people stay
home to help clean. Of course many tourist attractions like the giant Buddha at
Nara are also cleaned at this time, so if you are planning to travel you might
like to check in advance when the statue you want to see will be cleaned.
New Year's Eve is a big occasion and one of
the highlights of the season. Buckwheat noodles are eaten during the day or the
evening to ensure prosperity and longevity. The noodles are called toshikoshi soba (buckwheat noodles for passing the year)
and are eaten usually at home.
Many people gather in their family homes on
New Year's Eve to eat “o-sechi ryori”
(a special type of food that is prepared a few days in advance to last through
the New Year season) and to watch the Red and White Song Contest (Kohaku Uta Gassen)
broadcast by the national television station, NHK. Kohaku
features popular singers (it is every singers goal to make it onto this show)
and has been a New Year's institution from more than 50 years.
A visit to a shrine or temple is on the
agenda for many families on this night, especially those who need to pray for
business prosperity or health. There is not always a big “count down” depending
on where you are at 12 midnight (so if you want the countdown then TV and the
abovementioned is your very best bet), but it is also considered auspicious to
spend the moment of midnight in a temple or shrine. Temples and shrines have
different ways of celebrating which I won’t go into here, but there is often a
bonfire and hot sake to warm the midnight visitors.
Certain famous temples around the country
will toll the bell 108 times, summoning in the New Year. Both temples and
shrines (if they are the famous ones) will be crowded at this time, but all TV
stations do live commentary on all the most famous ones.
Awakening before sunrise is also considered
important to some, as viewing the first sunrise of the year is thought to be a
good and proper start for the New Year. The tops of most small mountains are
usually a good vantage point, but again, the TV will give you the view you
can’t get live if you are just too lazy.
New Year's day is a quiet day, with most
adults staying at home, watching T.V. or writing New Year's cards. This said,
the shops are opening earlier and earlier every year (they used to be closed
for three days) and many stores are now open 365 days a year, which gives the
children a chance to spend their “New Year money” (o-toshidama)
which they receive from their various relatives. It also gives adults a chance
to buy a “chance bag” (called “fukubukuro”) which contain bargain items that will never be cheaper at
any other time of the year. In other words, it’s also a chance for the
department stores to clean out last year’s stock that didn’t sell.
Wherever you are this Japanese New Year, I
wish you all the very best of 2009!
**************************************************
2. Need a Doctor?
Yoko Takeuchi, H&R Consultants
This season is filled with happiness, and
hopefully you are keeping warm, but it is also a season of winter chills and
sudden illnesses. Please make sure that before all your regular doctors go on
holiday, you have a Japanese speaking friend to help
you in those sudden trips to the emergency clinic.
There is a wonderful and free service to
those who live in Nagoya – a 24 hour telephone
service attached to a database of all after-hours clinics. Call them and they
will match your symptoms and location to a doctor near you.
Tel: 052-263-1133 (in
Japanese)
In addition to the above information, we
have found that some of hospitals/clinics, which we provided as English
speaking doctor’s information to our clients, changed their hospital name,
address, opening hours/days and telephone number etc during 2007/2008.
This is flu season, so we expect to some people need to visit a hospital/clinic.
It is better for you to have a Japanese friend re-check opening hours/days
before making your way to any hospitals. These are the hospitals/clinics which changed their opening hours, we have found so
far.
Meitetsu Hospital
(Telephone counseling about vaccination in
English is available.)
Add: 2-26-11 Sakou,
Nishi-ku, Nagoya
Tel: 052-551-6126
Toyota Kosei Hospital
Previously its name was Kamo
Hospital, and they moved to:
Add: 500-1 Ibobra,
Jusui-cho, Toyota-shi
Tel: 0565-43-5000
< Internal medicine
>
Tomei Fujimori Clinic
Add: 2-237 Fujimori Meito-ku, Nagoya
Tel: 052-773-1010
< Pediatric /
Obstetrics and Gynecology >
Aasako Clinic
Add: 1-1, Gokuraku,
Meito-ku, Nagoya
Tel: 052-705-0550
Kato Clinic
Add: 5-8 Tanabe do-ri, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya
Tel: 052-836-7953
Iwase Clinic
Add: 3F Maruta
bldg. 1-112 Nishimachi, Toyota-shi
Tel: 0565-36-5008
Mori Clinic
Add: 1-22-19 Takami,
Chikusa-ku, Nagoya
Tel: 052-751-4996
Mabuchi Clinic
Add: 4-2-7 Shiratori,
Togo-cho, Aichi-gun, Aichi
Tel: 0561-38-0800
Sakie Ladies Clinic
Add: 3F Hakubi
Bldg. 2-15 Ikeshita-cho, Chikusa-ku,
Nagoya
Tel: 052-757-0222
< Ear, Nose and
Throat>
Otsuka Jibi-inkoka iin
Add: 1-10-8 Sakae, Naka-ku,
Nagoya
Tel: 052-231-3333
< Eye Clinic >
Nagoya Eye Clinic
Add: 3F Meitetsu Kanayama Dai 1 Bldg. 25-1 Namiyose-cho,
Atsuta-ku, Nagoya
Tel: 052-872-0490 or Free Dial 0120-758-049
< Dentist >
Sophia Implant Clinic
Add: 1-19-9,
Higashi-Sakura, Higashi-ku, Nagoya
Tel: 0120-976-814
(number has changed)
Ohguchi Dental Clinic
Add: 3-1 Hoshigaoka,
Motomachi, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya
Tel: 052-782-0772
**************************************************
3. Rakugo
in English
Thank you to Hanae
Saeki for this submission
English Rakugo - Traditional comic storytelling in English
Rakugo: known as Japanese “sit-down” comedy has a
history of 400 years, but the timeless stories can still give us a good, hearty
laugh. Recently, “rakugo” has been performed in
English and has made people laugh outside Japan which
is an indication of its universal apppeal. We have
invited two English speaking performers, KOITO and
RINGO from Okazaki to perform. But we warn you, many
people become hooked on rakugo, so you might even
want to try performing it yourself!
About “Rakugo”
The stories consist of conversations and a
performer plays several characters in one story. The performer uses only
two props, a fan and a towel. The fan can be used for such things as
chopsticks, a fishing rod, or a sword, while the towel can be used for a notebook,
a wallet or other objects as well. So your imagination has a key role in the
art of “rakugo”.
Date: Jan 31, 2009 1:30pm
- 3:30pm
Place: Toyota Global Square（Toyota Sangyo Bunka Center 3F）
Performers: KOITO (Ms. Naoko Itoi),
RINGO (Mr. Hideo Adachi)
Fee: 500 yen includes tea and snack
Sign-up and inquiry: Toyota International
Association 0565-33-5931(Sign-up from Jan.20)
TIA volunteer group
e-mail: enjoytoyota05@yahoo.co.jp
Maximum number of
seats available: 50
**************************************************
4. Ear,
Nose and Throat Doctor – Tazaki Clinic
A trip to the ear, nose and throat doctor in
Japan can sometimes be a bit brutal. The doctors
clinic is usually only divisioned by curtains and you
can hear every scream as the well meaning doctor pokes and probes into
children’s infected ears.
Tazaki Clinic is the exception to this rule. Dr Tazaki’s English is perfect, which is just icing on the
cake to the fact that he is an excellent doctor with unsurpassed skills in
dealing with children. When I took my daughter there she was just three years
old, with a red hot ear infection. Of course she
didn’t enjoy her ears being touched, but she did not scream at all. She was
mostly fascinated with the TV screen which showed the
camera as it entered her ear, but she was also soothed by the doctor’s quiet
and calm tone.
Tazaki Clinic is very far from my house and
difficult to get to, but for a serious ear problem I would go nowhere else.
Phone Number: 052-365-4133
Address: 1-141 Miyawaki-cho
Nakagawa-ku Nagoya-shi
Parking: for 8 cars
Hours: Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 9am-12pm and 3:30pm to
6:30pm, Sat 9am-12pm and 2pm-5pm
Closed: Wed, Sun, Public Holidays
Languages Spoken: English, Korean
**************************************************
5. Kamakura
Kamakura
(near Tokyo) is a lovely place to visit if you like the sea, and want to visit
the “old” Japan. The great Buddha there is just one example and by no means the
only example of the tourist attractions of this great city.
Exploring Kamakura by
Bicycle or on Foot
By: Vicki L. Beyer
“10 Temples on Two Wheels” is a guidebook
for the intrepid traveller who wants to have a bit of
an adventure while seeing more of historical Kamakura than just the “main
attraction” of the Great Buddha.
The guidebook contains a number of recommended
courses for day trips around Kamakura—by rented bicycle, on foot, and
even by rickshaw. Each course offers an introduction to some the best of
the city’s historical temples and shrines.
Chock full of “tourist tips” about Japanese
culture, as well as information and stories about the shrines, temples and
other sights on each course and about the people who made them, this book suits
the novice day tripper, experienced tourists and residents of Japan and even
the armchair traveller.
Paperback; 115 pages, including color
photos, maps and index.
Publication Date: October,
2008.
ISBN: 9780646489834
Recommended retail price: JPY1,500-
**************************************************
6. Garbage Rules
Yoko Takeuchi, H&R Consultants
New rules now apply to the disposal of
burnable garbage.
In order to increase the longevity of
landfill sites, the City of Nagoya is aiming to increase the amount of waste
that goes through a heat recovery incineration process. As a result, from December
1 waste made from synthetic fibers, artificial leather, and rubber will be
collected with other burnable refuse.
-
Further Information (PDF)
For information in a previous issue of the
X-Pat Files on how to put out the trash, please take a look at the February
2008 edition.
**************************************************
7. ACCJ New Year Party
The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan
Chubu Chapter presents:
"ACCJ Chubu
Annual New Years Party 2009"
DATE: Friday, January 23rd
TIME: 6:30 - 8:30pm
VENUE: The Tower Restaurant Nagoya
COST: members & members' spouse 7,500yen, nonmembers 8,500yen
Please mark the date down on your calendar!
Ring in the New Year with this special
event. Meet old friends and develop new relationships while enjoying the luxury
of The Tower Restaurant Nagoya at Nagoya TV Tower. Great food and drink
and a warm atmosphere will help make this the only way to start 2009.
As the Chubu area is one of the fastest
growing economies don’t miss out on the chance to meet the key decision makers
for business in this area. This is a must attend if you are planning on
expanding or maintaining your business in this region.
For more information, please contact Noriko
at the ACCJ office.
Registration deadline is January 19th
ACCJ Member Online Registration: http://member.accj.or.jp ACCJ Office Fax: 052-222-8272
Name:
____________________________________________ID#: _______________
Company: ____________________Phone:
_________________ Fax: _______________
Guests:
_______________________________________________________________
Noriko Kato
Operations Manager - Chubu
The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan
(ACCJ) Marunouchi Fukao
Bldg. 5F
2-11-24 Marunouchi,
Naka-ku
Nagoya, 460-0002
Tel: +81 52 229-1525
Fax: +81 52 222-8272
Email: <nkato@accj.or.jp>
Public website: <http://www.accj.or.jp>
Employment Central: http://www.ecentral.jp
**************************************************
8. Professional Translator
I was looking for a translator to help a
friend translate her family register (koseki tohon) for an Australian visa. Family registers are
extremely specialized field and I actually was turned away from a number of
firms in Nagoya before I found Stephen
Carter, who works out of High-Tech Information Center Nagoya in Osu.
Although we were working to an incredibly
tight deadline, our translation was accepted and came back to us in time to
lodge it with the Australian government. I have since recommended him again to
friends who for one reason or another were in need of a professional
translator.
High-Tech
Information Center Nagoya
Address: Room #1001, 1-35-31 Osu,
Naka-ku, Nagoya
Phone 052-231-1978
Fax: 052-231-1979
e-mail: scarter@hticn.com
**************************************************
9.
New Year Meet and Greet
Thank you to Joey Tan for this submission
Are you new to town? Do you want to
get out and meet new people? Or do you just want a nice lunch in a quiet,
relaxing atmosphere where you can chat with new friends and old friends?
The Meet & Greet lunch is held on the second Tuesday of the month at Shooters Sports Bar and Grill in
Fushimi.
Date: Tuesday, 13th of January
Time: 11:30 am - 2:00pm
Place: http://www.shooters-nagoya.com/
Please RSVP by Friday the 9th of January.
RSVP to Joey Tan by e-mail to joeywltan@gmail.com.
Shooters has a relaxed atmosphere and is closed during
the day except for our event, so we have the run of the place. This means
that it is a VERY easy event for mothers with babies or small children.
It also means, however, that I must ask for an RSVP so that Shooters can cater
for the correct number of people.
**************************************************
10. Family
Matters
Sue Conolly
New Year is a time for family, and if you’ve
got your family here in Japan then you’ll already know what it is to be a
family between cultures. Whether you’re a cross cultural family with parents
from different linguistic or cultural backgrounds, or a mono-cultural family
now living in a foreign land, now is the time for you and your family to learn
how to navigate the earth with an open and flexible mind.
Several generations ago it was not necessary
for many people to learn and know about the different cultures and languages of
the world. Only a select few worked internationally – mostly diplomats
with corresponding degrees in international relations. Education served the
purpose of churning out a capable and controllable workforce with the big
three: Reading, writing and arithmetic. Foreign culture was reserved for
exciting family holidays.
Think about what’s necessary in the world
today, however. Working in a more international workforce than ever before,
engineers with minimal cross-cultural training (performed in the most time-efficient
way) are asked to take their families and live, eat breakfast, converse with neighbours and go to the doctor in an entirely different
country. The target country may or may not have a population with a working
knowledge of English, and the perfunctory language classes carried out
pre-departure are simply not enough. As a society, the west still does not give
enough attention to cross-cultural issues where it really counts – in
childhood.
Children are the world’s natural
ambassadors. On the beach after my cross-cultural wedding my Australian nieces
and nephews played with my new Japanese in-laws as if there were no language
barrier at all. In fact, they spoke as if they would be understood, they just
got on with the serious business of playing without seeming to notice if their
playmates were confused or befuddled. And here’s the thing. My Japanese
in-laws, despite the handicap of being grown-up, carried on exactly as if they
understood the whole situation perfectly. There was no problem, simply because
my nieces and nephews saw no problem. Cultural standoffishness is a learned behaviour, and it can be unlearned as well.
It’s so important for kids who live between
cultures to be allowed to interact freely in each cross-cultural situation. What can never be learned in a thousand hours of pre-departure
orientation training, can be internalized by a child in a split second.
Just walking around the neighbourhood – joining
in the New Year’s mochi pounding ceremony, meeting
with friends, catching the train, attending school and playing in the park. Children
who live here are naturally picking up what needs to be learned in the world
for a more educated, free-thinking and critical,
society-conscious workforce.
Happy New Year for 2009 – and may the travels of your mind take you far and wide this year.
**************************************************
That’s it for this edition of the
newsletter. We hope you found it informative - please let us know what you
would like to see in future editions, and we will attempt to address your
issues.
If you need to find some information
from a previous edition, please try the search function on http://www.xpat-files.com. Carrying out a text search with key
words will take you directly to previous editions of the newsletter in which
information appeared.
A disclaimer - While we do try to check
submissions when they come to me, we do not take responsibility for the
accuracy of any donated information. Nor do we take responsibility if
your experience of places and services you find through this newsletter are not
as rewarding as they were for the person who originally sent in the
information. Obviously everyone`s experience is
different.
If you would like to subscribe or
unsubscribe to this newsletter, please do so online at http://www.xpat-files.com.
If
you have some information you feel might be
of benefit to the Expat community, please send as much information as you can
to info@xpat-files.com.
The newsletter will be as good as the
contributions made to it, so please send in ideas and materials!