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KAWASAKIINTERNATIONALASSOCIATIONNEWSNo.１６７（市政の小窓）This message is from the "Window on City Administration" in the "Shisei Dayori", Kawasaki City’s
Newsletter of the 1st of April.
“ I would like to congratulate and welcome all of you who have newly joined schools or companies thisApril.
We have also started the "New General Plan" and the “Ordinances of the Local Autonomous Body" ofKawasaki City. These plans are new steps towards town-life improvement that will make citizens think"It’s nice to live in Kawasaki " or "I want to keep on living in this city". Even though the times arechanging and the financial situation is getting severe, it is important to keep building on initiatives thatmake citizens want to continue to live with happiness and safety here in Kawasaki and to have pride andaffection for the city.
To make Kawasaki this kind of city we have to maintain the importance of services necessary for ourdaily life such as; not only welfare services but also prevention from disaster and crime to protect our lifeand property.
The people who know best about the attractions and problems of Kawasaki are you, the people ofKawasaki. "The Community for the Community" is the basic idea of the Kawasaki City. Certain eyes ofthe people in the region become mainsprings, "Community Power" which is the prime source of power for
town-life improvement. To make it easier to allow the people of Kawasaki to exercise this "CommunityPower", access to ward offices, the main channel to communicating to Kawasaki City Administration is
being improved.
We encourage people of the citizens’ groups to work lively and actively for raising children, supporting
the elderly, dealing with the environment and so on. We support the citizens activity groups and willcontinue to promote the establishment of citizens’ assembly in each ward and to make ward offices thecenter for community improvement.
In this autumn a Contact Center, which will act as a kind of customer care center for citizens, will beopened. Besides offering consultation and responding to basic questions, the Contact Center will also beable to contact specialists on behalf of citizens to deal with complex issues.
We are also trying to shape new plans for other things such as a Resident’s Voting System. We havemade an important step of the “Ordinances of the Local Autonomous Body". We make every effort to makeit easier for citizens exercise "Community Power". Together citizens and Kawasaki City Administration
will make a hand and hand effort to make it possible that citizens can easily exercise their communitypower.
188（川崎市立日本民家園）
The Japan Open Air Folk House Museum is an outdoor museum with a collection of old Japanese houses
in Ikuta Ryokuchi Park in Tama Ward.
It was opened in 1967 in order to preserve traditional housing that has been decreasing in numbers for
future posterity.
At the Japan Open Air Folk House Museum you can see 25 buildings including typical private houses
from Eastern Japan, a watermill hut, a boatman's hut, a store-house on stilts, a kabuki stage and so on.
Of these 25 buildings 18 have actually been designated as important national or provincial cultural assets.
These buildings that you can see at the museum were moved and then re-assembled here according totraditional methods to restore them to their original condition. The buildings are mostly from the Easternarea of Japan but there are also examples from a wider area including from the prefecturesof Iwate, Yamagata, Gifu, Toyama, Mie and even from as far as Kagoshima. The origins of the buildings
range in age from the 17th century to the 20th century.
A fire is always lit in the fireplace of one of the houses everyday. You can come and sit down by thefireplace if you so wish.
Also within the Japan Open Air Folk House Museum there is an exhibition room where you can learn
about things related to the folk houses.
The Japan Open Air Folk House Museum is a 12-minute walk from Mukogaoka-yuen Station on theOdakyu line.
The entrance fee is 500 yen for adults,300 yen for students and it’s free for those aged 65 and over as well
as for those of junior high school age and younger.
It is open from 9:30am to 4:30pm.
The Japan Open Air Folk House Museum is closed on Mondays and days following national holidays.
When Monday is a national holiday it will be open on the Monday but then closed the following Tuesday.
It is also closed during the New Year holiday period.
189（川崎マリエン）
Kawasaki Marien and the facilities nearby that are located in Higashi-Ougishima in Kawasaki Ward.
At Kawasaki Marien there is an observation terrace, 51 meters above ground level from which, on a fineday, you can see across Tokyo Bay to as far as Chiba.
It costs 300 yen to enter the observation terrace for people aged 15 and over while it costs 150 yen forelementary and junior high school students.
Connected to Kawasaki Marien is a barbecue facility. This barbecue area is open for use to anyone aslong as the person applying to use it is aged over 20 years old. To apply to use the barbecue area please
send your application along with a returnable postcard stating the day you wish to use it, your name,address, phone number and the number of people who will use the barbecue facility. The address to send
your request to is “Kawasaki Marien”
38-1, Higashi-Ougishima, Kawasaki ward, and the zip code is 210-0869.
Please send applications between the 1st and 7th of the month one month earlier in which you wish to
use the barbecue facility. One barbecue site will be allotted to each application but if there are a lot ofapplications then the sites will be allotted by a lottery system. When there are sites available after theapplication due date, you can apply for it by telephone from the 15th in the month before the month you
wish to use the BBQ facility.
It is free to use the barbecue area. There are metal plates, grill racks and charcoal pokers that you canborrow for free. However you have to bring your own food, charcoal, picnic mats and so on.
From March to June and from September to November the time you can use the BBQ facility are from10:00am to 4:00pm.
Also nearby to the BBQ area is Higashi-Ougishima’s Nishi-Koen Park, where you can enjoy fishing andchildren can also enjoy playing in the wide area of greenery.
To get to Kawasaki Marien take the bus with the destination "Higashi-Ougishima Junkan" at the bus
terminal near the east exit of the JR Kawasaki Station and get off the bus at "Kawasaki Marien Mae".
If you have any questions about Kawasaki Marien please call 044-287-6000.
Kawasaki Marien is closed on Mondays. (Except when a national holiday falls on Monday. In this case,the museum is open on the holiday and is closed the next day, Tuesday)

The Kawasaki International Association offers free consultation for foreign residents concerning dailyliving and problems. The service is free and confidential.
Hours: 10:00a.m.to 4:00p.m.:
Language: English Tuesday-Friday
Chinese: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
Korean: Tuesday, Thursday
Tagalog: Tuesday, Wednesday
Spanish: Tuesday, Thursday Portuguese: Tuesday, Friday
Issued by The Kawasaki International Association
2-2 Kizuki Gion Cho,Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki 211-0033 Kawasaki International Center
Tel044-435-7000 Fax044-435-7010 Ｅ-mail:kian@bremen.or.jp HP URL:http://www.bremen.or.jp/kian/