awa life
A monthly newsletter for international residents of Tokushima, produced
by TOPIA, the Tokushima Prefectural International Exchange Association.

the hikyo iya ohashi bridge"TOPPY"
April 2006 No. 190
by claire tanaka
clairish@gmail.com

he Iya Valley became alittle less inaccessable thisspring due to the new
bypass and bridge that
opened there on February
19th. The Hikyo Iya Ohashi
bridge is 268 metres longand cost about 1.7 billion yen
to build. The total cost forthe bridge and bypass wasapproximately 4.8 billion yen.
The new road will make accessto the Iya Valley's kazura
bashi vine bridge easier, andreduce the crowded traffic
conditions that tend to happen
during touristy times of year.
There is also an event centre
called Kazura Bashi Yume
Butai and a 300 car parking
lot planned to open near thevine bridge. Critics of the newroute lament the loss of oneof Japan's last wilderness
frontiers and say it could havebeen designed with a little
more 'flair', while others say it
will help keep the region aliveby creating jobs in the local
tourist industry.

thikyo iya ohashi bridge - photo by josef addleman

inside awa life this month
the hikyo iya ohashi bridge - 1 ... cooking - tempura - 3
peter pan - 4 ... staff farewells - 5 ... travel tokushima - boardwalk - 6
martin's anime corner - 7 ... shin-mai mama nikki / letter from suketo - 8
japanese lesson - 9 ... memoranda - 10 - 12

awa life

Tokushima Prefectural International
Exchange Association (TOPIA)
Clement Plaza 6F
1-61 Terashima Honcho Nishi
Tokushima City 770-0831 JAPAN
tel: 088.656.3303
fax: 088.652.0616
topia@fm.nmt.ne.jp
http://www.topia.ne.jp/

is a monthly publication of the Tokushima
Prefectural International Exchange Association(TOPIA)
Andrew Dahms & Claire Tanaka
Contributors This Month:
Tom Collins, Andrew Dahms, Kazue Inoue,
Andrew Kim, Junko Kimura, Sumika Tamura, andClaire Tanaka

Download a PDF file of awa life or view theonline version by going to TOPIA's website!
http://www.topia.ne.jp/e_index/e_index.htm

from the editors
very morning, one of the first things I do
is turn on my kerosene heater. I'm happy
to know that in a few weeks I won't haveto that any more! Spring is nice because
I don't have to rely on machines to control thetemperature in my apartment.
Lately, chocolate with 70% or more cacao
content is experiencing a boom thanks toreports on TV that it has good health benefits.
Suddenly, high quality European chocolate
can be had in even my little neighbourhood
supermarket! I like this fad better than the
agar-agar one from last year. I wonder what's
next? How about beets? I've always had trouble
getting fresh beets in Japan... and they're very
healthful!
Love, Claire.

epril has come, and along with it the
famous cherry blossoms and the perfectopportunity for some hanami (flowerviewing). Not only that, but the fresh
spring air and the warmth make it easierand easier to go for a trip and enjoy outdoor
activities! Unfortunately, it is also the time forhay fever, but I hope you are all doing well.
In this month's Awa Life, Tom Collins shows us
how to prepare tempura, Andrew Kim writes tous about the annual AJET Musical, and Martin
takes a look at the classic anime title 'Ghost in
the Shell'. I hope you are enjoying the warmer
weather, and I hope you enjoy reading thisissue of Awa Life as well!
Cheers, Andrewathe cherry blossom - unofficial flower of japan, and appearing in countless songs, movies and poems.
Sakura bloom only once a year, and the short lifespan of their flowers (one to two weeks) lends them the common
connection with the passing of time and melancholy-2-

cooking - tempura
wet, warm springmorning in Chichaimura,Tosa-ken (modern day
Kochi), 1616: a middleaged fisherman innocently
admiring his catch on thedockside is killed when hit on
the head by a sack of flour
falling off the back of a passing
market-bound cart. He wasn’t
found for hours (everyone was
shopping), but when he was,it was slumped facedown on
top of a thousand writhing
decapod crustaceans. The
sack had split, coating bothhe and his shrimp companions
in a thick layer of flour that
had been transformed into amushy batter by a persistentrain.
The story goes that thefisherman was found by
his wife, who despite being
distraught, sought to make thebest of a bad situation and in
the quintessential Japanesespirit of efficiency dropped
the battered ebi briefly into a
vat of hot oil and served thestrange incarnation as a lightsnack at the poor husband’s
funeral. The new food wasa phenomenal success: thewidow opened a shop, accrueda small fortune overnight
and was remarried to a local
daimyo before the autumn
leaves had fallen. And, so theysay, tempura was born.
Spring in Japan is a time,
food-wise, most often
associated with vegetables,
usually wild varieties garneredfrom the mountain woods:
bamboo shoots (takenoko),rape blossoms (nanohana),
bog rhubarb (fuki), braken(warabi) and knotweed(itadori) are common
examples. My grandmotheraby tom collins
tom_collins@hotmail.co.uk

always used to say, "Ahh you can’t beat fresh produce
in the kitchen". Well to be fair,
if I was going to lean on thisfalse truism in this article itwould be a terrible fabricationof sentiment, simply because
a lot of these things taste,
well, UN-pleasant. But thatprobably won’ t stop a lotof well-intentioned people
making gifts of these “lovely
vegetables” to you in the
coming weeks (if your village
is anything like mine). If
you’re the sort of person who
can’ t bear the thought ofthrowing away perfectly good
food, then I can offer you
only one possibility of culinary
happiness in the near-future:
the deep-fried goodness
that is the (now) legendary
tempura.
There are few things simpler
to make than tempura. First
assemble and prepare youringredients: the vegetables,
fish, meat (pretty muchanything will work) you wish
to use - wash, cut to size, etc- then dip them in plain flour.
Prepare one batch of batter(see below), whilst heating asaucepan approximately onethird full of vegetable oil untila cube of bread dropped inbrowns in 15 seconds. Dip
each ingredient into the batterand carefully lower it into theoil. Cook batches of three orfour pieces for 2-3 minutes oruntil it looks like something
you want to eat. Drain excess
fat off with a paper towel andkeep warm in an oven. Add ice
cubes to the batter if it gets
too thick. Serve with individual
bowls of dipping sauce (seebelow), to which you can add
grated ginger and/or daikon(or ketchup, perhaps, if you’refrying the seasonal fare).
Personally, I think shiitake
mushrooms, aubergine andcapsicum peppers make thebest ingredients for tempura.
But as I always tell my priest:
you never know ‘til you’ve
tried it.

Tempura Batter

Tempura Dipping Sauce

Ingredients
1 cup of cold water
40g of potato starch
130g of plain flour
1/4 teaspoon of baking
powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Ingredients
1 cup of dashi stock
1/4 cup of mirin
1/3 cup of soy sauce

Directions
Pour the water into a bowl,
sift the other ingredients on
top and then lightly whisk(with hashi) into a lumpy
batter. Prepare at the lastpossible minute; keep cool.
Dip ingredients into the batter
immediately before cooking.
-3-

Directions
Put all the ingredients together& boil over a high heat, thenreduce heat and simmer until
serving.
The sauce should be servedin a small side-bowl along withthe tempura itself.

ajet musical - peter pan
tale of pirates, indians,
and lost kids lead bya flying boy in green
tights, only one story
fits that description, and thatof course is Peter Pan. Fromthe 1924’s Paramount Picturessilent movie version to the2004’s Finding Neverland, theTokushima 12th AJET Musicaladaptation of Peter Pan by far
surpassed its predecessors.
Directed by Josef Addleman,
To k u s h i m a ’ s P e t e r P a n
combined a taste of the west
and east to produce a magical
performance that broughtPeter Pan’s adventure to life!
Fusing together humor andreferences from both westernand Japanese culture, themusical tailored to a variety
of audiences ranging fromcute Japanese elementary
students to western English
teachers. The acting, dancing,and singing were pure works
of art and the energy put into
its preparation truly showed.
Tokushima’s Peter Pan wasan all out breathtaking act
that will forever go into theTokushima history books as
the best musical yet!

by andrew kim
ajk96@u.washington.edu

apeter pan and friends

As I first stepped into the
Fureai Plaza in the town ofMikamo, I was welcomed bya large cast of Pirates, Lost
Kids, and a certain girl dressedin green that I quite couldn’t
recognize, maybe a Sudachi
promoter? Soon after shooting
a couple of scenes during
the dress rehearsal, nostalgic
memories of watching Disney’s
cartoon version of Peter Pan
during my elementary days
came to mind and then it
clicked! That Sudachi Queen
was none other then the cutegreen-clothed fairy, Tinkerbell

director josef addleman recieves a bouquet at the final performance-4-(the ringing of the bell also
helped). Although it was only
a dress rehearsal, the energy
I felt put life and excitementback into the optical-lens ofmy Sony camcorder. Overall,watching the practice gave mea lot of laughs, and getting asample of it sparked a hunger
for more!
A couple weeks later andback in the Fureai Plaza, but
now in the town of HigashiMiyoshi, I was greeted once
again by the same cast of
Pirates, Lost Kids, and theSudac… Tinkerbell. Afterthe audience entered andsettled down, the opening
scene began. My Sony andI fe l t s o m e t h i n g , a l i ve l yatmosphere flowing from boththe audience and performers,
fusing into what would later
become an all out awesome
performance!
Ultimately, the 12th AJETMusical defines perfectionand even more, setting a new
standard for the next 13th
musical. If you didn’t catch
this year’s musical, be sure
to watch the next, you won’t
regret it!

staff farewells
pril staff changes at
TOPIA this year haveus bidding farewell toChinese Coordinatorfor International Relations(CIR) Li Zhiyang, and selfdeclared "soccer mom fortravellers" Junko Kimura. We
wish them the best with their
future endeavours. Here are
their farewell messages to
Awa Life readers:a

Li Zhiyang
For the past year, I havebeen working as a CIR for
Tokushima prefecture. I cameto Tokushima in April last year
when the sakura were inbloom. When I think about it
now, however, it seems like it
was almost yesterday. I havecome to love Tokushima, eversince I stepped into this city
enveloped in pink and whiteflowers. Tokushima is a place
not only gifted by naturalwonders such as the Naruto
Whirlpools and the Iya Valley,
but also with culture such as
the Awa Odori and the 88
Temple Pilgrimage. I feel very
keenly how much joy it hasgiven me to live here.
One year seems a very shorttime, but the time I havespent with the people fromthe Cultural and International
Division and at TOPIA, as well
as everybody, is a treasure tome. The casual conversations
I had with everyone ended
up giving me the biggest
hints for my life in Japan. Not
only has my understandingof international exchange
activities increased, but
it has also allowed me adifferent perspective on myl i fe t o come. During theyear, I will not only takejunko kimura on the left and li zhiyang on the rightwith me the treasures I haveseen and experienced here
in Tokushima, in Japan, but I
would like to show these things
to more and more people
in China. In his memoirs,
entertainer Piko wrote that“there is nothing I can do for
those that taught me so much,except to pass on the kindness
and thoughtfulness I learned
from them to the next person.
Is this not, too, a form ofgratitude?”Junko Kimura
I still cannot believe that
my work at TOPIA is going
to be finished in a few days.
This was my second year here
and I must say that I enjoyedworking here a lot with TOPIA
staff and other people whom
I met through my work. I met
a lot of people who were fromall over the world by just being
in this office. I often asked
how they ended up being inTokushima or Shikoku Island,t h e i r t ra ve l s t o r i e s , t h e i r
countries, etc… Each traveler
was unique and sometimes I-5-

was amazed how they weretraveling all over Japan. I was
happy that I could be a partof their trip. Even my friends
i n To k u s h i m a e m a i l m ymobile phone to ask about
the train schedule or otherinformation.
I’ve mainly been writing
articles for Awa Life about
Japanese culture in English.
Writing articles helps me tokeep up my English ability
plus I also learned a lot
a b o u t J a p a n e s e c u l t u ra lhistory that I didn’t know.
The happiest thing about thisis that you read my articles
and enjoy them. I get goodcompliments from friends;
some of them use my articles
in their English classes. I am
planning on writing somemore articles in the future- I hope I can introduce
something interesting about
Japanese culture to you!
You will probably still see
m e a t TO P I A s i n c e I a mplanning on going to be a
volunteer in Japanese classes
on weekends. !

travel tokushima - boardwalko k u s h i m a c i ty i s w e l l known for the waterways
that run through it
and connect with thesurrounding rivers. In fact,
it was chosen as having
one of the top 100 waterbased town-planning sites inall of Japan by the Ministryof Land, Infrastructure andTransport. And the symbol ofthis achievement, and of thecity itself, it is the Shinmachi
Boardwalk and Water Park
area.
Completed in August of 1989,
the entire boardwalk area
covers a total of some 7,200
square meters along the banksof the Shinmachi river as it
passes through the middle ofTokushima City. It has recieved
a number of awards in several
events, including the 6th City
Park Contest and the 1990
Environmental Art Grand Prix.
The boardwalk is host toa variety of things. First andforemost is a free boat ridethat takes you on a 30 minutecircuit around the center ofttown. It makes for a wonderfulride, and is a good way to seea new angle on the city. You
can catch it by the Ryogoku
bridge a short way along theboardwalk. Take care, though,as the boat passes under quite
a few bridges, and you will
have to duck in under to passby during high tide!
Second, there is a stage areaused as a place to take a restand for live music events. The
boardwalk area connecting
to it is also a very popularlocation for markets on theweekends, and the entire area
fills with stalls during times
such as the yearly Awa Odori.
The boardwalk is also home
to a flower garden and park
area with jungle gyms installed
for children to play with. Used
as a stage in Awa Odori eachyear, the park area is wide andspacious, and makes for a niceplace to stop by and eat lunchor go for a walk. Also, theHana Haru Festa in Tokushima
is held here in April eachyear, providing the chance tothe view along the shinmachi water park area

-6-

by andrew dahms
until_eternity@hotmail.com

see some Awa Odori without
having to wait until August.
Otherwise, you can find a
lot of interesting things along
the boardwalk. From a small
stage near the end of the
Shinmachi arcade commonlyused for dance practice, an
artwork of several fish held
suspended in the air, and thelights decorating the trees
along the side of the river thatgive it a beautiful glow in thenighttime.
The boardwalk is also home
to rows of sakura, as well
as a range of other flowers
as well. It is also a common
sight to see ducks and otherbirds by the side of the river,and a set of glass windows
underneath the Shinmachi
bridge provides a view
underwater. There are evensigns showing what kind offish can be found there!
So if you're ever on a trip
through town, take a walk by
the river - you're sure to findsomething that will take yourinterest.

martin's anime corner
Title:

Ghost in the Shell( ৌޮ࠿ຌെ )Director: Mamoru Oshii
Creators: Bandai Channel
Released: Japan(1995), US(1995)
Time: 82 minased on an original
manga by Masamune
Shirou and directed by
Mamoru Oshii, Ghost
is the Shell ranks along with
Aki ra as one of the mostinfluential and genre-defining
anime productions to haveever been created. Although
it has never managed to gain
mainstream popularity likemany of the Studio Ghibli
films, Ghost is the Shell was
hugely popular amoung fansof the genre and its DVD
release was one of the top ten
best selling releases ever.
The film is set in the near
future, in an era where megacorporations dominate nations
and where everything andeveryone is connected to avast interactive computer
network. The picture it paintsof the future is probably notthat fanciful when you think
about it. In this brave newworld we are soon introduced
to "Section 9", a covert
division of the Japanese police
whose role is to investigate
cybercrime on the network.
The story is based around
Major Motoko Kusanagi ofSection 9 and her partner
Bateau in their investigation ofa master hacker known as the"Puppet Master". Both Major
Ku s a n a g i a n d B a t e a u a recyborgs. Kusanagi especially isalmost completely mechanizeda p a r t f r o m h e r b ra i n a n dspinal cord. The specialisedbtechnology that defines her
physical body allows her superhuman abilities that ordinary
cops simply cannot match.
The Puppet Master is amaster hacker who hacks into
people's brains in order to usethem to carry out various actsof espionage or terrorism,
leaving his puppets no memoryof their infiltration. While
conducting her investigations,
Kusanagi, who is a cyborg,
questions the search for her
identity. Kusanagi is part of aworld where flesh and machine
have come together as one,
where cyber-brains are able
to tap into vast networks of
information. In such a world
she ponders how is possible
to understand the presenceof a soul and the relationshipbetween the individual and ahigher power.
The film juxaposes weighty
philosophical elements withskilfully rendered chase andfight scenes, a formula towhich the Wachowski brothersof The Matrix fame obviously
paid close attention. Eventhe signature green text thatappears at the beginning andthe end of The Matrix film wastaken from Ghost in the Shell.
Much like in The Matrix, thedominent theme of Ghost in
the Shell is in considering thepossiblilty of what happens
once the machines begin
to think? As Section 9's
investigation progresses, itsoon becomes apparent thatthe entity is not a human orcyborg but an autonomous
artificial intelligence project(Top Secret Project 2501)
created by the Ministry ofForeign Affairs (MFA), also
-7-

by martin o'brien
martinobrien2004@gmail.com

known as "Section 6". The
Puppeteer escapes the serversof Section 6 in order to evolve,
and this evolution, it seems,
involves Kusanagi herself.
Although Ghost in the Shell isa very innovative film, it hasn't
aged significantly, despite
being released more than 10
years ago. It fails in its efforts
to develop a truly satisifying,
thought-provoking conclusion.
In this sense, the philosophicalmusings are a little bit dry andpretentious at times. The film
fails to finish what it starts,
so to speak, and the ending
sequence is actually a little
bit dissapointing. Neverthless,it's obvious that Ghost in
the Shell excels in its aim totry and make sense of thepossible implications that ourever increasing dependency
on technology will have. In
this respect, it is more thana mere science-fiction film.
Nowadays a great deal of
human interaction is mediatedby technology such as by theinternet and mobile phonet e c h n o l o g y. T h e i n h e r e n tlimitations and inadequeciesof the human body are being
overcome as a result of newly
developed technology such as
genetics and nano-science.
In a simular vein to what was
acheived with The Matrix andSpace Odessey 2001 the great
acheivement of this film is thatalong with these two movies
it manages to articluate
how rapid technologicalprogress may break down theboundaries between time andspace and even body and soulin a manner that is somewhat
believable.

letter from suketo hoikuen

by kazue inoue
suketo hoikuen

nvited out by the warmth of spring, flowers are blooming everywhere. That's spring in Japan.
Japan's four seasons: warm spring, hot summer, refreshing autumn, and cold winter. The
children of Japan grow up big and strong by feeling the seasons with their bodies. This monthis the best time of year to get outside with your kids. Why not pack a lunch and head out tothe park as a family? I'm sure there will be a lot to discover there.
Let's play with dandelions!
Things you can learn
Dandelion Whistle
from nature:
1. cut the stem to about 5cm
and squish one end.
Have fun harvesting and eating
Learn the preciousness of life
2. put the squished end inyour mouth and blow!

i

Develop a sense of balance

Experience the changing

and an adventurous spiritof the seasons

Meet lots of different people

Stimulate the five senses

shin-mai mama nikkia r c h wa s S o f i e ' slast month at homewith her dad before
starting daycare
on April 4. We went to thesetsumei-kai (orientation)
for daycare on March 15. I
was interested to note thatthe gender representation inattending parents was about
3:7 fathers and mothers. The
main message I got from theorientation was that we aregoing to have to write Sofie'sn a m e o n e ve r y t h i n g s h ebrings to daycare, including
each individual diaper. I'm
getting high on magic marker
fumes just thinking about it.
For those wondering, daycare
will cost us 55,000 yen permonth.
With Sofie's foray into
solid foods looming on thehorizon, I have started
looking into getting organic
vegetables delivered. I usedt o g e t ve g g i e s d e l i ve r e dwhen I lived in Canada, andm

I had the impression that
this service wasn't available
in Japan, but once I started
l o o k i n g , I fo u n d a t o n o fcompanies, including RadishBoya, Chikyu-jin Club, Daichi,
and others. I wrote away to
a few of them and requested
pamphlets. One company sentme a free box of vegetables
to sample! Unfortunately, overhere on Shikoku, the delivery
fees are more expensive thanthey are on Honshu, but it still
seems worth it to get organic
vegetables (as well as freerange eggs, milk, meat, andorganic processed foods liketofu) delivered to the door. No
more impulse purchases! No
more taking the baby along
to the grocery store at 7pm!
And we'll all get more varietyof vegetables to eat. Maybe I'll
finally learn how to cook gobo,
too.
Speaking of getting things
for free, Sofie got a letterfrom the library the other day-8-

Dandelion Watch
1. split the stem down the
middle and tie it around yourwrist. with a shorter stem,
you can make a ring for yourfinger!
by claire tanaka
clairish@gmail.com

telling us to drop by and pickup her complimentary Book
Start kit! Book Start (www.
bookstart.co.uk - Japanesesite is www.bookstart.net)
is an initiative started in the
UK that gives away books tobabies to encourage parents
to read to their children.
It was my first step inside
the Tokushima City Library(next door to the Seishonen
Centre.) The second floor is
all kid's books, and they evenhave a section of foreign
books! Most are English,
but there are some Spanish,
German, Thai, French, andother language books as well.
The Book Start kit had two
books in it, a schedule for thebook bus that visits a newneighbourhood in the city
every day, a pamphlet about
reading to babies, and a form
for making a library card. So
now Sofie has her own librarycard!

japanese lessonw

by sumika tamura
awalife@gmail.com

hat is the most difficult thing about studying Japanese? Quite likely, a lot of people withanswer 'it's the use of particles!' In spoken language, particles are sometimes left outof the sentence. For example, the sentence in the example below often appears in thesecond form in spoken language:
xbubtijxb

z v c v fu f s f c j p

njnbtijub

ϧ/ ҃ѓыѣ̛Ѻкѭ̛ҸӞӅ̛҆ѳѲыѓ̝
xbubtijz v v c f
u f s f c j
njnbtijub
Ϩ/ ҃ѓы̛̛Ѻкѭ̛ҸӞӅ̛̛ѳѲыѓ̝I watched television last night.
The second sentence is not a gramatically correct sentence, but it is acceptable in spoken
language. In spoken language, the particles 'wa', 'ga', 'o', (as well as others, like 'ni' and 'to') areoften left out of the sentence. Because they are main particles in the text, they can be cut-out.
On the other hand, other particles such as 'kara', 'made', 'de' and 'yori' cannot be left out. This isbecause it makes it almost impossible to understand the meaning of the sentence when they are
removed. For example, if you take the example sentence 3 below and turned it into the form in 4,
it becomes difficult to tell what the person is trying to say.
uplvtijnb l b s b

tbqqpsp n b e f

i j l p l j e f

ojkjlbol b l b s j n b t v

ϩ/ ຝ๥пѽ̛੷ႌѲћ̛ྌ৪࠿ћ̛Ϩૐ̛ࠖппѾѲэ̝Ϫ/ ຝ๥̛̛̛੷ႌ̛̛̛ྌ৪࠿̛̛Ϩૐ̛ࠖппѾѲэ̝It takes two hours to get from Tokushima to Sapporo by plane.
In this manner, particles that detract from the sentence's meaning when removed cannot be leftout. These particles can also be combined with others to form phrases such as 'kara wa', 'madewa', or 'kara mo' and 'made mo'.
̛
uplvtijnb l b s b x b
ojkjlbol b l b s j n b t v z p
ϫ/ ຝ๥пѽѣ̛Ϩૐ̛ࠖппѾѲэѼ̝n p
Ϭ/ ຝ๥пѽѶ̛Ϩૐ̛ࠖппѾѲэѼ̝It takes two hours from Tokushima.
Example sentence 5 holds the nuance that from a certain place, eg. Osaka, it takes 1 hour to
get somewhere. Example number 6 has the nuance that it takes 2 hours from other places,
Takamatsu for example, as well.
Particles that can be left out are unable to be combined in a similar fashion as those that must
be made explicit, such as phrases like 'ga wa', 'o wa', or 'ga mo' and 'o mo'.!In this way, there is adifference even between different types of particles.

ojipohp

u f t v u p

obokj l b s b ibkjnbsjnbtvlb

xbubtij x b e f q b b u p o j j l j n b t v

2; ა໘̜ શ ѣҹӃ̶Һџ৪сѲэ̝

3; શ!!ң̶ҟ̛!௳ѭѿѢр঻сћэ̝u b c f s v o p h b t v l j e f t v

u b c f s v o p h b t v l j e f t v

3; શѣң̶ҟ҆௳ѭѿѢр঻сћэ̝

2; ა໘̜ શ !̛ҹӃ̶Һ!̛৪сѲэ̝
e f q b b u p

j l j n b t v-9-xbubtij

ojipohp o p u f t v u p x b obokj l b s b ibkjnbsjnbtvlb

4; ໘ႎতѢҸҫҺѣ݃ૐпѽડѲѾѲэп̝

btijubp

l f f l j

xbubtij x b l f f l j

xbubtij

btijubAnswers:

4; ໘ႎত̛!ҸҫҺ̛!݃ૐпѽડѲѾѲэп̝Let's Practice: Which of the particles in thefollowing sentences can be removed in spoken
speech?

memoranda
Rose Festival੉͈Ψρऱͤ

Come along to the rose garden to see over 1,000 roses ofᅣ୉෎Ѣӂӛ‫܆‬ћѣ̜381 ଟᆬ̠2-111 ߖѢӂӛр੝сѲэ̝

more than 270 different species come into bloom in thisӂӛѢྺცѢས༞Ѷຟઌ࿀๷Ѣས༞Ѷ৪иѲэ̝

wonderful spring display. There will also be seedlings and̞̾ȇ! 6 ࠮Ȃષ੐̥ͣಎ੐́͘

special products on sale.

!
when:

:;11 শ̥ͣ 28;11 শ̭́̓͘ȇ! โ࿤ߴ၉ਯ಴Ȃ၉ଙ‫׽‬

Early to Mid May, 9:00 - 17:00

where: Itano-gun, Aizumi-cho, Rose Garden߄‫ڣ‬ȇ! ྫၳcost:ைыу̡!ᅣ୉෎॔ಇઌࣄ‫ݡ‬Ѳћ

Free

for more info: Call the Aizumi-cho Construction and!

ใᇭ 199.748.4231

Industry Division at 088-637-3120

Bando Movie Set
Open to the Public

โ൐υΉఆ
΂Ȝίϋ

Visit the set used to film the movie "Baruto no Gakuen" -ۭ‫͐ݬ‬ӂӝҺѢᛋ‫͑܆‬Ѣӟңഠ҆ॣџ৪чк̝ൌ‫ވౌڴ‬travel back in time to World War I.

ോಗѢૐ൉џჱҁк̝

when: open every day 9:30 - 17:00

̞̾ȇ:;41 ̻ 28;11̛໩ඨჅࡷ

where: 5 minutes taxi ride from Bando Station, across̭̓ȇཛྷ๪‫۾‬пѽұҡҩћ 6 က̝ോ႕ཾॽఊଂѢಖѢশ

the river from Oasa Hiko Jinja
cost: ]500 for adults, ]200 for Elem. & Jr. High studentsчкџжѿ̝

for more info: Contact the Naruto Chamber of Commerceમ̱̩͉ȇეჷદஒিࠑয‫̡ݡ‬199.795.2268

߄‫ڣ‬ȇോగ 611 ‫̜܅‬சඨ޺ౠ 311 ‫܅‬and Tourism Division: 088-684-1157

Awa Connection
Hanami PotluckPartyՒ෨΋Υ·Ώοϋ
εΛΠρΛ·‫ࡉـ‬ٛwhen: April 9 from 12:00

̞̾ȇ5 ै : ໘̈́໘ͅ23;11 ̻

where: Tokushima Central Park - look for our signs!

̭̓ȇຝ๥ඨ‫ܡ‬র‫܆‬bring: - some food to share঵४໤ȇ௳ѭ࿾̈́ѳ҇ўћ҃хжмѿѶѢͅ- your picnic plates, cups, drinks, etc̛̛̛̛ި૛Ѣо઀̜о༼̜ҝҵӉ๷- your family and friends!

‫݌‬ഖ̜ᄕ൥ѶᇌҀњсњѡ̤- any portable musical instrument you can play!

ଚ૏ѕћсѿ޼࠯

Mr. Kume (a magician) will entertain 2:00 - 3:00

ӐҪҵҡҩӛ̶́3;11 ̻ 4;11ͅ

*if it rains, we'll move to the outdoor covered area on the‫ีۑ‬Ѣ௘৽ѣҩӅҵҡҭӥұ̶̈́ҔӑҥϩGܴͅ௑Ѭ

3rd floor of the Amico Building*for more info: awaconnect@yahoo.com

ιȜσȇbxbdpoofduAzbipp/dpn

homepage: www.geocities.com/awaconnectγȜθβȜΐȇxxx/hfpdjujft/dpn0bxbdpoofdu-10-memoranda
I's Aizumi Japanese J(t ၉ਯ಴࣭ष࢐ၠ
‫ފ‬ٛ඾ུࢊ‫ޗ‬৒ClassFirst term, 2006

3117 ໩๗ಶ࠼

when: Starting April 13, every Thursday 19:00 - 20:30

̞̾ȇ5 ࠮ 24 ඾ྀ̥ͣ਩࿐ဟ඾ 2:;11 Ƚ 31;41

where: Aizumi Welfare Centre 2F
cost: ]1-000̭̓ȇ၉ਯ໛ছΓϋΗȜˎG

text: "Minna no Nihongo I" from Chapter 1ҸҟҫҺ̡ѳ҇ўѢ໘ႎত୷ࢇ J̈́ϧ‫̻ͅݡ‬

instructors: Akiko Tsuji and Kaori Tamada৬ધ̡෴ࣃતќࣈโ৷௯for more info: Aizumi International Associationைыуѣ̡J(t ૈჃࣅ

Aizumi Welfare Center΁ 882.2314̛ཛྷჾऎᅣ୉෎‫ܢ‬ჾૌᄀ௑ಶ 43.2̛

32-1 Aza, Yagamimae, Okuno, Aizumi-cho, Itano-gunᅣ୉෎࿵વҭӥұ̶771-1203

ufm/!199.7:3.::62

tel. 088-692-9951

gby/!199.7:3.2737

fax. 088-692-1626

bj{vnj`lplvtbjAhbsofu/onu/of/kq४‫ح‬๯ȇ2111 ‫׫‬aizumi_kokusai@garnet.nmt.ne.jp

Hey International
Families!

̛͞Ȃ࣭ष‫ز‬௼̹̻Ȋ

Tokushima City's Suketo Hoikuen and TOPIA presentຝ๥દѢஃໞေ‫܆ڱ‬ќ UPQJB ћਇੑત‫ڱ‬њҧӟӥр‫ލ‬ਹщInternational Child-rearing Salons. Please come and meetҀњиѲэ̝жўѓѢѼкўਇੑ‫݌‬ഖџ௱̳୞‫ݵ‬мѿ࠿‫ݵ‬other international families like yours! There is no fee forћэ̝݇ྉჅᆍ̤

participation.
at TOPIAΠάͺ́

(Tokushima City, Clement Building 6F)) ຝ๥દҡӞӓӥҺӉӛҨ 7 ‫* ގ‬

when: every 3rd Sunday from 13:30 - 15:00

໘ૐ ;!ൌંѢ໘ᄹ໘̜24;41 пѽ 26;11

cost: freeࣞ޽ ; Ⴥᆍ

for more info: 088-656-3303

ைыу ;!199.767.4414

at Suketo Hoikuen

੩හ༗֗‫́׬‬(Tokushima City, Nakayoshino-cho 1-61)) ຝ๥દඨࡦჾ෎ 2.72*

when: every Thursday from 10:00 - 14:00

໘ૐ ;!ႚୃცᄹ໘ 21;11 пѽ 25;11

cost: freeࣞ޽ ;!Ⴥᆍ

for more info: 070-5681-1230

ைыу ;!181.6792.2341

also...

ёҀћ̠̠̠

Contact Ms. Murasawa at TOPIA for information regardingசщиત࢝ѢиѿၑশхѢ໘ႎতࢱ૬Ѹ̜ඨਇতќ۷তћ

Japanese lessons for parents with small children, andѢત‫ڱ‬њ೰ඎҧ̶ӅҫѢ‫ڎ‬຾ѣ̜ҺӆҔѢഠេщ҇Ѳћჴ

Chinese and English language child-rearing consultationи৽҃яуєщи̝

services.

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memoranda
Doitsu-kan EventsΡͼΜ‫ͼ܁‬αϋΠGerman Easter FestivalΡͼΜ͈ͼȜΑΗȜऱͤ

There is going to be a piano concert for children by Misaત࢝শхѢӆҔӀ̠ҥӥҧ̶ҺѶ‫ލ‬пҀѲӭ́໚୸Ⴥᆍ̝ͅ

Awata (entry free). And from 15:00-16:00 there will be

ϧϫ; ϦϦૐпѽϧϬ; ϦϦૐѲћ໘ႎতћѢҖҫұ̶ҡ

an Easter Quiz (in Japanese). First prize is a teddy bear,ҖҬр৪҃Ҁ̜ϧ‫ڔ‬џһҖҶઌѢҡӐѢѠифѿѳр๴made in Germany. (entry free)ѓѾѲэ̝When: April 16th඾শȇ! 5 ै 27 ໘

13:30-14:30 egg painting (500 yen)!

24;41 ૐпѽ 25;41 ૐ

14:30-15:00!

25;41 ૐпѽ 26;11 ૐfor more info: Call the Doitsu-kan at 088-689-0099

મ̡̱̩һҖҶࠛѲћใᇭ!199.79:.11::

Take a look at the Doitsu-kan homepage for more seasonalһҖҶࠛѢҘҚҵӈҧҖҺџѶࡆಉѢҖӋӥҺ௜၇ўѝ

event information and other details, here at: http://р ж Ѿ Ѳ э̡iuuq;00xxx/djuz/obsvup/uplvtijnb/kq0

www.city.naruto.tokushima.jp/germanhouse/

hfsnboipvtf0joefy/iunm

index.html

Hana Haru Festä͉́Ȇ͉ͥȆέͿΑΗ

Tokushima's annual spring festival featuring Awa Odoriຝ๥Ѣႚ໩ѢୣѲјѾ̝٬༂ᅇѾ̜ჾ‫ޒ‬ҥӥҧ̶Һ̞჎

dancing, outdoor musical performances, booths sellingઌ࿀༞Ѿ௘̜ܴൊ̜ଚ੢Ѿല५ўѝўѝ̜޼ыичќѓ

local products, and a chance to try your hand at local

ущ̤҇

traditional crafts.
඾শȇ!! 5 ै 39 ໘̻̈́ࣞͅ 5 ै 41 ໘̈́໘̛ͅ
when:

Friday, April 28 to Sunday, April 30!

10:00 - 17:00 (12:00 - 16:00 on Friday)̭̓ȇ! ᅣ௘࿃র‫̈́܆‬ຝ๥‫۾‬Ѣࣝуͅ

21;11 ̻ 28;11̛) ࣞᄹѣ 23;11 ̻ 27;11ͅ

where: At the Aibahama Park near Tokushima JR Station߄‫ڣ‬ȇ! Ⴥᆍ

cost:

Free

મ̱̩ȇ!ѣў̠ѣѿ̠Ӈҙҫұ૲৪‫ૈݵڿڙ‬ჃࣅѲћ

info:Call the Hana Haru Festa Executive Committee!

ใᇭ!199.766.8442

Office at 088-655-7331

Counselling Service at TOPIAҺӆҔѢ೰ඎೱ঵TOPIA offers a counselling and advisory service to all foreign residents to help with issues involving accidents, working
conditions, housing, visas, international marriage, and more. Counselling is available in English and Japanese. Please notethat although every effort will be made, we may not be able to deal with all cases.
Monday to Friday, 10:00 - 16:30
tel. 088-656-3303 or 088-656-3320 (allows three way conversations with an interpreter)గग़ଙїњࡏуა໘
-12-