aWa life
Global Kaiyo Adventure
in Tokushima City

Tokushima Hydrangea Map
2023

June 2023

Japanese & Chinese
ChimakiGairaigo Galore:
カンニング

# 391

1

Awa Life is a Monthly Publication of the Tokushima
Prefectural International Exchange Association

The time from June to July is famously known as the rainy season for most of Japan. For those of you
who have been here a few years you’re probably already used to it, but for newcomers it’s a good idea
to prepare a nice umbrella, raincoat, etc.! Make sure not to leave bread and other items out for too long
either, as they will begin to gather mold much quicker during this season. Also make sure to check theweather if you have any plans to go on vacation during this time! Have a great June!
For all of those who like writing, please feel free to submit an article to us at any point in time aboutbasically anything. There are a few limitations though, such as you can’t write about religion, politics,
commercial activities or businesses or anything that we deem inappropriate. But, other than that, we
would be more than happy to receive articles about anything and everything including but not limited
to concerts, lectures, other events, culture, sports, community group information or anything cool that’s
happening in your local community.
We highly appreciate all of your articles and we love reading them. So if that writing bug of yours isbuzzing about, grab a pen or a computer and write and send away! Please send all submissions to ouremail:Your editors,
Sydney and Nicoawalife@gmail.com
Tokushima Prefectural International Exchange Association (TOPIA)
1-61 Terashima Honcho Nishi, Tokushima City 770-0831 JAPAN, Clement Plaza 6F
Tel: 088-656-3303 Fax: 088-652-0616
http://www.topia.ne.jp/
Download a PDF file of awa life or view the online version by going to TOPIA's website!

Editors:
Sydney Bartig and Nico Bohnsack
Contributors This Month:
Tony Lu, Chen Fangyu, Mako Kobayashi, Yuko Lafontaine, Takako Yamada, and Masayuki Ozawa

Contents

Pg. 2-3: Global Kaiyo Adventure in Tokushima City

2

Pg. 3-4: Japanese & Chinese Chimaki
Pg. 5:

Tokushima Culture and Reading Corner: 徳島中央公園

Pg. 5:

Gairaigo Galore: カンニングPg. 6:

Introduction to NPO Attakaiyo

Pg. 7:

Japanese Lesson

Pg. 8-9: Events and Memoranda
Global Kaiyo Adventure in Tokushima City
By: Tony Lu

H

ey there, its Tony, one of the Kaiyo CIR's
here! On Saturday, the 21st of March, we
held an event for graduating junior high school
students! For this event, we took the students
to Tokushima City, where they participated in aninternational workshop, and enjoyed some foreign
food!

Student guests giving a talk at workshop

Teachers and students giving self-introduction

Getting to Tokushima City from Kaiyo can take up
to 2 hours, although I think the folks around here
are quite used to that! After arriving at Tokushima
Station, we made our way to the TOPIA office,which is located on the 6th floor of the Tokushima
station building.
Here, TOPIA gave our students a very informative
presentation about the foreigners living inTokushima Prefecture, their nationalities and theindustries they work in. We also talked aboutsome ways we can coexist and communicate withpeople from other countries, like by using simple
Japanese!

TOPIA workshop discussion

TOPIA also had two student guests hailing from
China and Vietnam come in and chat with us!
We got to learn some interesting things about
them, like their background, aspirations, and theirreasons for coming to Tokushima.
We also prepared our own short workshop about
foreigners living in Kaiyo! Did you know that
we have a high proportion of foreign residents,
compared to Tokushima prefecture as a whole?
1.7% of Kaiyo’s population consists of foreigners,

3

Kaiyo - New Experiences in Tokushima City

whereas its 0.9% for the prefecture entirely!

Global Kaiyo Team giving a presentation

Kaiyo students enjoying Vietnamese food for the firsttime

For the final part of the event, we headed to
AEON mall, where the students were able toenjoy some free time at the mall. We eventually
got back to Kaiyo at around 5:30PM, bringing our
event to a close.

Graduating JHS students of Kaiyo at the TOPIA
workshopIt was lunch time when we finished the workshop,
so we made our way to a nearby restaurant toenjoy some delicious Vietnamese food. We don’t
have any Vietnamese restaurants in Kaiyo, so it
was a first for the students and definitely different
from what they’re used to.

The students got to experience new things
throughout the day, and I think they were very
surprised at some of the demographics andinformation they were presented with! Overall, theevent went smoothly, so hopefully we can do an
event like this again!
We’d also like to thank the staff at TOPIA for
preparing the workshop and spending their
Saturday morning with our students! TOPIA puts a
lot of effort into supporting the foreign community
in the prefecture through informative workshops. I
think they’re also great outside-of-school learningfor junior high or high school students!

Delicious Vietnamese food set

Japanese & Chinese Chimaki
By: Chen Fangyu

Although both Japan and China have a food
known as “chimaki”, they are different inshape, how they are made, and the ingredientsthat are used.
In China, when we think of chimaki, the thing that

Japanese & Chinese Chimaki
comes to mind is the Dragon Boat Festival thatis held on the 5th day of the 5th month of the old
lunar calendar (June 22nd this year). The reason
that chimaki is eaten during the Dragon Boat
Festival is to remember Qu Yuan, a politician,poet, and patriot of the State of Chu during theWarring States period. Qu Yuan was honest andloyal to his country, deeply beloved by the people.
In 278 B.C., after the State of Chu was occupiedby the State of Wei, it’s said that out of grief anddespair he committed suicide by jumping into
the Miluo River. After hearing the news, the local
people rushed to the river in boats to search for
his body, and it’s said that they threw chimaki into
the river so that fish, shrimp, and other creatures
wouldn’t eat his body. Since then, every year
during the Dragon Boat Festival, people row
boats and eat chimaki in order to remember andexpress their condolences towards the patriotic
poet Qu Yuan.
It is generally thought that chimaki came to Japan
via China during the Nara period (CE 710 - 794).
During that time in China, there was a tradition ofeating chimaki on Boy’s Day (May 5th), which issaid to have then come to Japan. However, it’salso said that a steamed food made of glutinous
rice similar to chimaki has existed in Japan sincelong ago. For example, in the Manyoshu, a poem
entitled “Glutinous Rice Porridge” can be found,and it is said to be the prototype for chimaki.
It is said that Japanese chimaki took on the
shape they have today sometime after the Meiji
period (1868 - 1912). During the Meiji period,
westernization advanced in Japan, and there wasactive exchange with foreign countries. During
this time, western-style food and sweets werealso introduced into Japan’s food culture.
This influence is said to have changed the shapeof chimaki. Also during the Meiji period, the nameof the Boy’s Day changed, and the custom ofeating chimaki on Children’s Day spread.

4
How to make Japanese Chimaki
J a p a n e s echimaki isvery simple to
make and only
requires topgrade rice flour
made from nonglutinous rice,sugar, luke-warm
water, bamboo
leaves, and soft
rush. In a heat-proof container, slowly pour in therice flour, sugar, and luke-warm water. Mix evenly
and then heat in either a microwave or steamer.
Heat until the dough is clear. Let the dough cooland then divide into small pieces and form each
into cone shapes. Wrap the dough between two
bamboo leaves, tie tightly with a string, and thenheat.
How to make Chinese Chimaki
There are many
types of Chinesechimaki, but today
I will show you
how to make meatchimaki. You willneed glutinous
rice, pork, sugar,salt, pepper, soysauce, bamboo
leaves, and soft rush (string). First, soak theglutinous rice overnight. Afterwards, discard
the water and add soy sauce. Cut the lean pork
into bite-sized pieces and season. The bamboo
leaves must also be soaked overnight. Line up
two bamboo leaves that have the tips slightly cut
off so that they form a funnel shape. Place theglutinous rice and pork inside, wrap the rice withanother bamboo leaf, and tie tightly with a string.
Steam of simmer in a pot for a good portion of
time.

5

Tokushima Culture and Reading Corner: 徳島中央公園
By: Mako Kobayashi

とく しま えき

ちか

徳島駅の

ひろ

とく しま ちゅう おう こう えん

すぐ近 くには、広 い

こう えん

徳島 中 央公園がむかしあります。この公 園 は、昔

ば しょ

この場 所 にあったとくしまじょう

徳島城のあとに
こう えん

なかつくられました。
し ぜん

はる

さくら

公園の中には、自然がたくさんあります。たとえば、春には

えん

たの

園の

きれいなバラべん てん いけを楽しむことができ、 弁天池とよばれる

とく しま じょう はく ぶつ かん

には

むかし

とく しま

とく しま はん

はち す

か

がつ

おこな

れき し

たいかん

展示が

行われています。また歴史を体感するためのはく ぶつ かん

その

博物館の

こう えん

池もあります。さらに

公園の中

け

れき し

び じゅつ こう げい ひん

歴史や

美 術 工芸品のかいさい

イベントなどもとなりには、 旧 徳 島 城 表 御 殿 庭 園 が
あ

わ

あお いし

しま も よう開催されます。

縞模様で

とくちょう

おお

はくりょく

特徴の

大きな

いし

つか

石が

使われており、とても

なか

迫力が

こう えん

そのほか、公園の中をなか

ありま
みどり いろす。この庭 園 には、「阿 波 の青 石 」といわれる

緑色が

あります。
ひく

やま

しろ

マラソンをしたり、公園の中の低い山「城

やま

のぼ

いろ いろ

たの

山」を

登ったりと

色々な

楽しみ方が

い

なか

きゅう とく しま じょう おもて ご てん てい えん

てい えん

こう えん

バラ

いけ

徳島 城 博物館があり、昔、徳島にいた徳島藩と蜂須賀家についての

てん じ

がつ

桜を、そして 5 月～ 6 月には

かた

いち ど

あります。ぜひ一度くだ行ってみて下さい。
Vocabulary List
し ぜん

自然
いけ

池
れき し

歴史
ぶん か

文化
はくぶつかんNatureLakeHistory
Culture

博物館 Museum

び じゅつ

美術
こうげいひん

工 芸品
てん じ

展示
たいかん

体感

庭
あおいし

Handicraft青石
しま も ようExhibition

縞模 様Experience

イベント Event

カンニング (cheating)
By: Sydney Bartig

にわ

Art

はくりょく

迫力
とくちょう

特徴

GardenGreen Stone

かいさい

Hold (Event, etc.)

開催
たの

かた

楽しみ方

Way of Having Fun

Stripe Pattern
ImpactCharacteristic

Gairaigo Galore

One of the things you have to be especially careful about whenlearning Japanese is katakana words. For English speakers, there
are many words that thankfully translate directly, although theyusually have a slightly different pronunciation, such as “ ホ テ ル ”(hotel), “ バス ” (bus), “ タクシー ” (taxi), and countless other words.
But as you may know from this column, there are also countlesswords where the Japanese takes a very different meaning fromthe original English. For this month’s example, we have the word “ カンニング ”, which you may
immediately expect to translate as “cunning”. However, this is of course not the case.
While in English, cunning is an adjective typically used to describe someone in a not-so-favorable
fashion. (Ie: Someone who achieves their goals through less than reputable means.) In Japanese,
however, カンニング is a verb that means cheating, and you will hear it used in regards to exams.
(Ie: Looking at someone else’s paper during an exam, using your phone during an exam, etc.). It’s
important to note that this type of ‘cheating’ only applies to things such as exams, not relationships.
(That’s a whole different word.)
It seems that this word made its way into the Japanese language sometime during the Meiji period.
Another interesting word that goes along with this is “ カンペ ”, which would be “cunning paper”, oras it’s actually known in English, a cheat sheet.

Introduction to NPO Attakaiyo - Attakaiyo Japanese Class
By: Yuko Lafontaine, Chairman

In July of fiscal year 2020, the Attakaiyo
Japanese Class held a training seminar for
local, Japanese language volunteers, and in
October of the same year the actual Japaneseclasses began to take place. Since we began
our activities in the midst of the COVID-19
pandemic, we faced many restrictions relating to
infection prevention. However, with the supportof our volunteers who participated in the training
seminars, we have been able to continue ouractivities into the present day.
Although it is notwidely known,
Kaiyo Town actually
has the highest
ratio of foreign
residents in regards
to population
i n To k u s h i m a
Prefecture. When
we began ourJapanese language
classes, they were
lively and fun thanks
to the employers
who brought their trainees to the classes
each week. However, due to COVID-19 andother natural disasters, the number of trainees
attending the classes drastically decreased, alongwith the number of volunteers. Due to this, we
continued our classes on a one-on-one basis.
Starting from the fiscal year 2022, the number oftechnical intern trainees slowly began to increase,and although the number of students was small,students from a variety of countries began

6

attending the Japanese language classes. I think
it is very meaningful that, because we continued
with our Japanese classes, the fact that Kaiyo
Town has Japanese classes available is slowly
becoming known to the businesses and people ofthe town.

At the beginning, it was difficult for us to holdclasses during the daytime as many of thetechnical intern trainees were engaged inagricultural related work. Therefore, we held
the classes on Sunday evenings. We also holdcultural activities on a monthly basis, and sothat as many of our students can participate as
possible, we try to hold these activities on Sunday
evenings as well. For our cultural activities, we
invite not only the students of our Japaneseclasses, but also the NPO members and ALTs
that are living in the town. We try to create a place
where a variety of people can interact with eachother and deepen their bonds.
While we still have various issues that need to beaddressed, we will strive to improve our methodof operations, train new volunteers, improve ourdisaster prevention/mitigation activities, and more.

7Japanese Lesson

By: Takako YamadaThis month, let’s study A) how to get the attention of others and B) how to respond when someone
calls out to us.
しょくば

職場で At the work place
To your boss:
じかん１）A：あの、すみません、いま、お時間よろしいでしょうか。
B：はい、なんでしょう。
２）A：おいそがしいときにすみません。

B：いえ、だいじょうぶですよ。

いま、いい
ですか？

To your coworker
１）To a person older than you (to your senior)
Ex. 1: A: いま、いいですか？
B: ええ、どうぞ。(polite) ／うん、いいよ、なに？ (casual)Ex. 2: A: あの、すみません。ちょっと きいてもいいですか。
B: ええ、どうぞ。なんですか。(polite) ／うん、いいよ、なに？ (casual)２）To a person the same age or younger than you
A: いま、ちょっといい？／いま、だいじょうぶ？

いま、ちょっといい？

(casual)

B: ええ、どうぞ。なんですか。(polite) ／うん、いいよ、なに？
(casual)Let’s try!
1. When you talk to your boss while he/she is at work, what will you say?
（）

2. When you talk to your coworker while he/she is at work, what will you say?
)Answers
いまじ かん
1.（あの、）すみません、今、お時間よろしいでしょうか。
いま
いま
2. 今、ちょっといい？／今、だいじょうぶ？

(

Events & Memoranda

A Walk Under the Starry Summer Night Sky

8

By: Masayuki Ozawa, Group Advisor of the Asutamu Land Science MuseumO

nce the rainy season ends, you can see thesummer constellations in the sky around 9
PM. Let us guide you to that view a little sooner.
Low in thesouthernsky, there
is a large“S” shapedline of stars
that sleeps
on its side.
This isknown asthe “Scorpius Constellation”. Due to its beautifulalignment of stars, there are many stories fromaround the world about it. It’s said that fishermenof the Setouchi region of Japan used to refer tothe rounded tail area of Scorpius as “the fishingstar” due to it looking similar to a fishing hook.
Nowadays, we know that this portion is the central
part of the Milky Way, but that was unknown
in those days. As it looked like a fishing hookfloating in the Milky Way, perhaps the fishermenthought of the Milky Way as the Setouchi Sea anddreamed of catching a large sea bream.
Moving north up the Milky Way, there are threebright stars that appear. Farthest up is a purewhite star that is apart of the Lyra Constellation– Vega. This is the Orihime star that appears in
the Tanabata story. Moving to the south is the

Altair star of
the Aquila
Constellation
w h i c hrepresents
Hikoboshi.
Just like int h e s t o r y,these stars
live apart and are separated by the Milky Way. A
star known as Deneb shines as if watching overthese two. In the Tanabata story, once a year amagpie creates a bridge over the Milky Way for
Hikoboshi to go visit Orihime. However, Deneb
is not a magpie, it is actually part of the Cygnus(swan) Constellation.
Summer brings about many opportunities to goout and view the stars, and these stars have thepower to soothe our souls. At the planetarium in
Asutamu Land Tokushima, we will introduce you
to the starry sky of summer, which here is always
clear and without a single cloud. How about
attending astar-hunting
rehearsalb e f o r esummert r u l yarrives?

Planetarium Fun ☆ [A Walk Under the Starry Summer Sky]
たっぷりプラネ☆「夏の星空散歩」
During this time where the nights are short, stayup late and enjoy the starry sky!
When: June 1st (Thur.) - July 31st (Mon)
15:40 - 16:30
Where: Asutamu Land Tokushima,
Children’s Science Museum Planetarium
Fee: It is necessary to purchase a planetarium
viewing ticket

夜の短い時期は、夜更かしして星空を楽しもう！
日時：6 月 1 日 ( 木 ) ～ 7 月 31 日 ( 月 )15:40 ～ 16:30
場所：あすたむランド徳島
子ども科学館プラネタリウム
料金：プラネタリウム観覧券が必要

9Events & Memoranda
Tokushima Hydrangea Map 2023
徳島県あじさい案内図 2023

Counselling Service at TOPIA・トピアの相談窓口
TOPIA provides consultation on everyday life, education, labor, medical institutions, and disasterprevention; and information on sightseeing spots to overseas residents and visitors. When necessary,
we will refer you to the appropriate organization that can assist with your needs.Counselling is available
in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese. Please note that although every effort will be made,we may not be able to deal with all cases.
Japanese, English, Chinese: Everyday, 10:00 - 18:00 (closed during the New Year's holidays)
Vietnamese: Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, 10:00 - 14:00
Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, 10:00 - 18:00 (closed during the New Year's holidays)