（ENGLISH/英語） No. 40
KAWASAKIINTERNATIONALASSOCIATION
NEWSThe Kurokawa Seishonen Yagaikatsudo Center in Asao-ku is currently looking for participants fortheir Mukashi-asobi, Mukashi-oyatsu event (“Games and Snacks from Days of Old”), which will beheld early next year. The activities are geared toward children from the fourth grade through juniorhigh school, and will give kids the opportunity to learn traditional Japanese games like beigoma andtaketombo, as well as try their hands at making traditional snacks such as fluffy steamed cakes andfoam candy.
This fun activity will be held four separate times, on January 18th, February 15th, March 14th andfinally an overnight on March 28-29th. Participation is 3,000 yen per child. If you would like to join thisactivity, please send a return-postcard (“ofuku hagaki”) to the address below with your child’s name,boy or girl, school, school year and name of legal guardian. Please be sure and send your postcard sothat it is received by January 10th.
Kurokawa Seishonen Yagaikatsudo Center
3131-9 Kurokawa, Asao-ku Kawasaki, Kanagawa 215-0003
Also, the center would like to express its appreciation to everyone for your understanding that should alarge number of postcards received, participants will be decided by random drawing. For more details
on this activity, please don’t hesitate to phone the center at 986-2511.

Be sure and take advantage of two exhibits currently on display at the Kawasaki City Museum, whichshould be particularly interesting for Kawasaki residents. The Story of Kawasaki: Old Kawasaki Seen

Through Photos will be on display in the museum’s photo gallery until March 31st, and Old Lifestyles,
Modern Lifestyles will be on display in the museum’s special artifacts room until April 11th. Admission
is 500 yen for the general public, 300 yen for high school or older students, and free for all younger
students and senior citizens 65 and over. To get to the museum, take the JR Nambu line toMusashi-kosugi station and then a city bus to the “Shimin Museum” bus stop (市民ミュージアム).
Please note that as mentioned previously, the museum will be closed for the end of the year holiday
season from Dec 28th – Jan 5th.
Finally, we would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

Here are a couple of tips on getting your plumbing ready for the winter as well as a heads-up on
persons posing as Kawasaki city employees.
First, please remember to get the pipes in your home ready for the winter. During the winter, pipes canfreeze, the water flow from the pipes can stop, or the pipes themselves can be damaged from the cold.
This can easily be prevented by wrapping the pipes with something that acts as an insulator, such as acloth or sponge-based insulating sheet. However if your pipes should freeze, stopping the water flow
despite this, either wait for the ice to melt on its own, or remove the insulating layer and pour warm
water over the entire surface of the pipe. If your pipes have cracked, first close the water supply main
inside the plumbing control box, and then very carefully wrap the damaged area with a cloth. After you
have done this, please have the pipe repaired. For any inquiries related to this, please call theKawasaki-shi Suidoh Service Kohsha at: 544-0043.
Next, please note that there have recently been cases reported of people posing as Kawasaki city
employees, who then tell residents that they will need to perform tests on their sewage system(“gesuikan” in Japanese), or that it is required by law to clean out the sewage system. These
individuals then perform the inspection or cleaning and charge residents large sums of money. In
actuality, the City of Kawasaki does not perform cleaning of residential sewage systems. So if you
should be visited by someone who says this, or suspect something strange, please contact your local
sewage management office or the Kensetsukyoku Fukyuka at: 200-2847. Thank you very much foryour cooperation.

In the winter, people around the city are of course using devices such as space heaters and portablecooking stoves more often, which can tend to make the air very dry. So we would first like to ask
everyone to be extra careful in the winter in terms of fire safety. Last year, 60% of fires in Kawasaki
occurred in residential locations.
If you are suddenly faced with an emergency situation, the first thing to remember is to remain calmand call 119. No matter where you are in the city, 119 will automatically connect you to the city’s Fire
Department command center. It is also possible to report the emergency by FAX as well.
When calling 119, be sure and remain calm and state information clearly. If you are not confident you
can relay the information in Japanese, whenever possible, just ask a Japanese native speaker nearby
to help you make the call.

For a fire, say “Kajji des” and for other emergencies say “Kyuu-kyuu desu.” When the operator asks“Kajino bashoha doko deska?” (where is the fire?), be sure and clearly state the location. For example,“Kawasaki-ku, Midori-cho, Blue Hills mansion, room 101.” If you don’t know your address, use thename of a nearby building that could serve as a landmark. For example, “Tanaka-biru no kitagawa
des” (near/at the north side of the Tanaka building). Next, tell the operator more details about theactual emergency, such as “biruga hageshiku moeteimas” (the building is in flames), “Yakedo-o shita
hitoga sannnin imas” (three people have suffered burns), or “Hitoga kizetsu shiteimas” (the person isunconscious). Lastly, remain calm and tell the operator you name and telephone number. If yourtelephone is a portable phone or PHS, please let the operator know this as well. Also, after you hang up,
be sure to leave the power of your portable phone on, as the center may need to call you back for more
information.
Lastly, if you should have any questions, please contact the fire prevention division of the Fire
Department by telephone at: 223-2704, or by FAX at: 223-2720. Once again, we would like to thankeveryone in advance for your attention and cooperation.

Issued by The Kawasaki International Association
237-1 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/