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

art in kamiyama
nce again this year,
the Kamiyama Artist
in Residence (KAIR)
Program has come to aclose after over a month, andonce again this year Awa Life
went out into to the mountains
to see the works and interview
the artists.
This year, the three artists
were Charlotte Brisland fromEngland, Cornelia Konradsfrom Germany, and Mutsuki
Uchiyama from Kanagawa
Prefecture. You can find a full
introduction of the artists in
the September issue of Awa
Life this year
On Sunday, November 13,
I went out to see the artist's
exhibitions and talk to them
about their work. Arrivingin Kamiyama in the early
afternoon, I headed straightout to the exhibitions with pen
in hand to see the finishedworks.

December 2005 No. 186
by andrew dahms
until_eternity@hotmail.comoMutsuki Uchiyama: The
first exhibition I visited was"TOPPY"a work by Cornelia Konrads using
suspended halves of sudachi

that of Mutsuki Uchiyama.
The exhibition was in a smallbuilding just off the mainroad running past the town
office, and almost every open
space in the display area had
been covered by works madethroughout the program.
M s . U c h i ya m a h e l d t w o
projects across the durationof the program. The firstconsisted of her own designs,
using paper to form a varietyof objects, from lamps to wallhangings and abstract objects.
The works were highly texturalin nature, some combining theuse of light fixtures in orderto project added vitality andcolour to the works .
The second project Ms.
U c h i ya m a u n d e r t o o k w a s
titled Flag Project , in which
visitors to the display area
were invited to create a flagfrom various natural materials
to add to the display. The aim
was to involve those that camealong and to emphasise theidea that art is something of
which we are all capable.
Talking with Ms. Uchiyama
about her work, I discoveredthat before taking part in
KAIR, she usually worked
alone in her art. Therefore,
Flag Project was a completely
new undertaking for her, but
she was very happy with thepositive way in which visitors
came to participate.

art in kamiyama... con't on page 5

inside awa life this monthart in kamiyama - 1,5 ... signs of the zodiac - 3compliments in japan- 4 ... travel tokushima - dochu - 6
martin's anime corner - 7 ... letter from suketo hoikuen, shin mai mama nikki - 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:
Andrew Dahms, Tamaki Fusa, Andrew Kim, Junko
Kimura, Martin O'Brien, Kaoru Sakamoto, 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've had a busy November - not only was
my daughter born, but my mom also camefrom Canada to help with the new baby. We
also tried to do as much local sightseeing
as possible while she was here. It is a greattime of year for getting outside and seeing thesights. We went to Otani in Naruto to see theclimbing kilns, we picked mikan in Anan and
one day my mom managed to walk all the way
to Tokushima Zoo from my apartment near the
prefectural office. In fact, she went for longwalks every day - sometimes she was gone forthree or four hours! Her verdict - Tokushima is
great for walking, with riverside paths and trails
all over Mt. Bizan. Sometimes it takes a visitor
to help you see your own city with new eyes!
Love, Claire.

he weather keeps growing colder acrossJapan as Christmas decorations appear on
department stores and in the streets. Onceagain, the year is drawing to a close and I
hope you are all staying warm and staving off
catching the flu.
In this month's Awa Life, we have someinteresting points about Japanese culture foryou to read. Junko Kimura writes about thesigns of the zodiac, and Andrew Kim writes
to us about the use of compliments in Japan.
In addition, we have the next installment ofMartin's Anime Corner about children's anime,
and Travel Tokushima heads to the earth pillarsof Dochu to see what's about. I hope you enjoy
reading this month's issue, and as always take care!
Cheers, Andrew.

itkaki (persimmons) are a sweet fruit available throughout autumn, and are a rich source of Vitamin C. Thesekaki are called 'shibu-gaki', and are longer and thinner than regular kaki. They need to be dried before sweet enough to eat.

-2-

signs of the zodiac
s you may know, asking
someone’s blood typeis a part of Japaneseculture, but there isanother topic people frequently
ask about - the Chinese zodiac
signs. The Chinese zodiac
signs are frequently used inJapan - I don’t know why,
but it pops up in conversationmuch like talk of blood types.
The zodiac signs are divided
into twelve, based on the oldchinese measurements oftime, and each is given thename of an animal. In Japan,
the twelve-year cycle with adifferent animal for each year
is fairly common.
I don’t know how theanimals for the signs werechosen, but there is a mythabout them. God told all theanimals that he was going
assign them positions in thezodiac depending on how
early they came to give him
new year's greetings, and ifthey were in the top 12, they
could be the boss of a year.
The Ox was slow, so he left
his place earlier than anyone
for the greeting, but the rat
arrived before him as he had
been riding on the Ox's back.
The Rooster is between themonkey and the dog because
it interceded them. The rat
lied to a cat about the day
they were to see God forthe greeting, so the cat was
unable to come; since then,cats have always chased rats
over the deception. There
are many interesting historiesof the signs, but there are
too many sources. If you
are interested, checking theinternet may provide a handy
resource.
Similar to blood type,aby junko kimura
snowbird@fastmail.fm

character is also said to be
determined by one's signin the zodiac. If you check
Japanese magazines aroundnow, they may have some
information on the meaning of
the signs. Here is a short listof characteristics that are said
to be held by each Rat: Ambitious, clever anddevoted to their family. Hardworking and imaginative. Not
always sure of themselvesand do not always plan for the
future. Will always stand by
their friends.
Ox: Born leaders who work
hard to achieve their aims.
Dependable, good organisers
and not easily influenced byothers. Patient, loyal to theirfriends and expect loyalty inreturn. Tend to have lasting
relationships.
Tiger: Sensitive, emotional
and adventurous. Confident,
risk takers and dislike taking
orders. Good at seeing
problems, but less able tosee the solutions. Often seeka shoulder to cry on whenfeeling down.
Rabbit: Affectionate, gentle
with strong family ties. Caring
and hates conflict. Peacemakers with lots of friends.
Dislike being the centre ofattention and enjoy the goodthings of life.
Dragon: Confident,
hardworking and always
strives to be at the top. Full ofenergy, determined and will
inspire other people. Don’t
like routine and are excited by
new projects. The Dragon is
the only mythical creature in
the Chinese zodiac and is seenas the luckiest sign.
Snake: Charming and good
thinkers. Love the finer things-3-in life, so only the best isgood enough. Good at making
and saving money. Patient,charming and wise. Prefer not
to rely on other people.
Horse: Very hardworking
and independent. Will work on
and on until a job is finished.
Very intelligent, ambitious andexpect to succeed. Can copewith several projects at once.
Easily fall in love.
Goat: Elegant, artistic
and good-natured. Inclined
to worry too much. Peacelovers who prefer to avoid
disagreements. Others may
put upon them, but they arestronger than they seem.
Family is very important.
Monkey: Very clever, butmischievous. Love a challenge
and can wriggle out of difficult
situations by thinking throughdifficult problems. Highly
successful and well-liked.
Rooster: Hardworking,strong-willed and confident.
Well organised and good time
ke e p e r s . E n j oy b e i n g t h ecentre of attention and love
flattery. Often outspoken anddislike criticism.
Dog: Faithful, honest andready to serve others. They
believe in truth and justicea n d a r e l o ya l t o f r i e n d s .
Always willing to listen to
people’s problems and is able
to gain the respect of others.
Trustworthy.
Boar: Honest, peace-loving
and make good friends. Will
try not to argue and rarely
lose temper. Love the goodthings in life and are very
willing to share with others.
Enjoy gossip and fall in love
easily. Can be untidy people athome.

compliments in japan
hat is culture?
Webster's Dictionary
defines it as thepattern of humank n o w l e d g e , b e l i e f, a n d
behavior that depends upona person's capacity to learn
and transmit knowledge tofuture generations. In otherwords, culture didn't simply
exist - it was created by agroup of people with similar
mind-sets and ideas. Whencross-cultural interactions
occur, people may interpret
expressions like compliments
in a different manner thantheir culture has influenced
them to react. A compliment isa sign of respect, affection, or
admiration, but due to culturaldifferences, people may
recognize it in different ways.
Here, I would like to explore
some of the differences
between the West andJapan in giving and receiving
compliments.
A c c o r d i n g t o a s t u d y,compliments to Westerners
are something that helps
preserve relationships with
one another. The functionof compliments in Japan issimilar to the West, but with
an emphasis on maintainingbalance or creating solidarity
in relationships. Regarding theacceptance of compliments,
though, there is a muchgreater gap. The Japanesestandard in accepting
compliments is generally either
to avoid or deny it as they feel
it would be accepting a formof self-praise. In contrast,some response strategies
We s t e r n e r s w o u l d u s e i n
accepting compliments would
be to use appreciation tokens
l i ke t h a n k y o u , c o m m e n t

w

on the acceptance, or also
upgrade the praise. The
Western standard is clearly
different, because you can
accept the compliment as
doing so may not have any
negative consequences .
Through a study oncompliments, a series ofinterviews with Americans andJapanese took place in order
to see how the two different
cultures would perceive
compliments. According to thestudy, the biggest difference
between the two cultures
was the rate in which theyexchanged compliments. The
study found that Americans
receive or give compliments
every 36 hours, while theJapanese only every 312 hours
on average.
This may result fromthe Japanese feeling thatcompliments may not be vitalor rather unnecessary during
conversations compared totheir Western counterparts. It
may be due to the fact of how
Japanese feel when interactingwith close-friends or family, as
complimenting one anotheri s n ' t n e e d e d t o fa c i l i t a t etheir closeness. Overall, to
the Japanese, compliments
are seen as an expressionof courteous respect for an
acquaintance or someone notvery close to them. Becauseof this cultural feeling thatcompliments are made tocreate distance between you
and the speaker, it may havecaused the lower frequency asinteractions with close friends
occur more often than withstrangers.
In contrast, the study
found that the closer the
relationship an American had-4-by andrew kim
awalife@gmail.com

with someone, the more likely
they would be to compliment
the other person. Rather thanutilizing compliments as aform of politeness or respect,
Americans use compliments
as something to help maintaincloseness with their friends
or family. It was also foundthat Americans may feel more
insecure or uncomfortable ifcompliments were not present
in their relationships withthose close to them.
U l t i m a t e l y, t h e r e w e r e
only two commonalities
regarding compliments
between Americans and theJapanese. The first was thatboth cultures agreed they'felt good about giving andreceiving compliments'. The
second was generally females
would receive and give more
compliments than males.
Overall, from this study one
can see that due to culture,
Americans and Japanesemaintain different standards
when it comes to receiving
and giving compliments.
What does this mean to
the foreigner in Japan? It
is a different country, andcompliments may affect yourrelationship with your fellow
teachers and students. Tryand see how your colleagues
and students react to yourcompliments, and try to seea pattern. Also watch how
your colleagues and students
interact with one anotherrelating to compliments. Try
and remember when you firstarrived in your town, howoften were you complimented
and compare that frequency
to now. Is there a difference?
Welcome to the wonderfulworld of pragmatics!

art in kamiyama con't from page 1...

a paper wall hanging by Mutsuki Uchiyama

a painting of a house in kamiyama by Charlotte Brisland

At first, she commented,
people approaching the exhibit
were somewhat shy about
adding their own pieces to it,
but eventually the numbers
began to grow. The projectproved interesting in a variety
of ways, from the way in which
different people approach art,
to the pieces made. In somecases, people began workwithout even being asked!
Charlotte Brisland: The
second display I visited wasthat of Charlotte Brisland,
whose works comprised of aset of paintings on canvas.
The artworks were held in two
galleries in a local school, andcomprised of several works
based on landscape views
from various areas around the
Kamiyama countryside.
The style of the paintings
is fairly simple, but the useof bold lines and colouringprovides the viewer with avivid image of the scenes
depicted. None of the paintings
display any unneccessary
clutter in the subject, and eachvary widely in the tone used,from darker, somber paintings
to bright works with vivid reds
and yellows.

Commenting on the themeof her works, Ms. Brisland said
she chose such landscapes asreflections of people and theircreations. The world aroundus, including buildings, roads
and many other things are
all reflections of people andthe world we have created.
It is through looking atthese things that we can see
ourselves in their design. Eachcreation is a reflection of theneeds of human beings, and
Ms. Brisland's paintings werebased on this concept.
Cornelia Konrads: Lastof all, I headed out to thehillsides to see Cornelia
Konrads' land installation.
All of the artworks by Ms.
Konrads were based aroundthe theme of suspended
objects and their placement intheir surroundings.
The first one to greet viewers
is a work called Floating
Surface . It was formed from astack of logs and using cut-off
sections that were made toappear as though they were
floating on the surface of
the work. The red colour ofthe cut-off sections and theposition of the artwork make it-5-

a striking work to view. All of
the logs were carried by handto their current place.
Moving on, the second workt o b e fo u n d wa s a n o t h e rsuspended artwork, this timeusing the trees in the nearby
forest as props. The artwork
comprised of long pieces of oldbamboo (turned white) held
between the trees to create aflowing, arch-like design. The
supports for the bamboo arebarely visible, and the work isvery eye-catching due to theillusion of the bamboo floating
above the ground.
Ms. Konrads had also taken
the time to make a smaller
work in Mutsuki Uchiyama's
display, once again using
the theme of suspension. It
comprised of dried sudachi,
h a v i n g b e e n c u t i n h a l f,suspended in the middle ofa small wooden frame. Witha paper backlight behind it,
the work holds a very highcontrast, and the warmth ofthe light gives great appeal to
the texture of the sudachi.
This year's work make afine addition to the art in
Kamiyama, and if you havethe time, by all means check itout.

travel tokushima - dochu
h i s m o n t h i n Tr a v e l
Tokushima, we head awayfrom the sea and inland
to take a look at one of
the most easily recognisablel a n d m a r k s i n To k u s h i m aprefecture - the natural earth
pillars of Dochu.
Like the whirlpools of
Naruto, the Dochu earth
pillars are rated as a top
world-wide natural feature.
They rank alongside the sandpillars found in the Rockies
i n Wyo m i n g , U SA , a n d i n
the Tyrol region of Italy as
one of the top sand pillars,
and formed over 200 million
years! While they make fora wonderful sight during thedaytime, the evening light
can shed beautiful lighting
onto them, and during night
they are illuminated from thebottom, making for a truly
spectacular sight.

tWhat to do there: The earth
pillars of Dochu are a goodarea for sightseeing, but there
are a number of ways you
can do so, and a variety ofother things you can do in thevicinity.
First of all - viewing. There
are a number of ways to see
the pillars, including from aviewing platform at the bottom
to being able to go all theway to the top. Perhaps theeasiest way is to go around to
the front of them as seen in
the picture below and follow
the trails there. All trails areclearly marked, and you need
only walk a short distance toreaching a platform with a fineview of the formation. From
here you not only have a goodview of the pillars at day or atnight, but you can also see out
into the surrounding area.
Secondly, you can climb
to the top of the pillars byseveral marked trails fromthe main parking. While thetrack is fairly short, the climb
is fairly steep, so if you aregoing out in hot weather it
may be handy to have a bottleof water with you.
At the top, however, theview of the surrounding area
is excellent and well worth

the earth pillars of dochu-6-by andrew dahms
until_eternity@hotmail.com

the climb. It also makes
f o r a g r e a t p h o t o g ra p h i copportunity, but remember tobe careful, however, as there
are no supports or rails along
the top.
What else: In addition toviewing the pillars there isalso a large outdoors playarea for children with jungle
gyms and slides. You can also
sample tarai udon, special
to the region, in one of themany stores nearby, as wellas making a trip to the nearby
onsen and much more. All
in all, it makes for a fun,inexpensive trip for the family.
How to Get There: By train,
the Dochu are one hour's trip
from Tokushima City station
to the Awa Yamakawa Station.
Go out from the station, crossthe river there and follow theroad straight for around 30
minutes. If going by car, headoff the Wakimachi IC, turn left
and follow the road aroundacross the river until theycome into sight.

martin's anime corner
Title: Crayon Shin-chan:
Broadcast on Friday evening on
ABC-TV (ch 6), 7:30pm
Title: Kerokero Gunso
Broadcast on Friday evening TV
Osaka (ch 19), 6:00pm

ast week's anime cornerfeatured those well-known
staples of primary-school
kids anime programming Doraemon and Anpanman.
The characters in this month's
edition are Shin-chan and
Kerokero Gunso. The showsthese guys star in are also
aimed at a younger audience,but they are for more older
kids so the humor involved
is more sophisticated thanDoraemon and Anpanman.
Shin-chan is the hero of the"Crayon Shin-chan" series. It
is an old series, but it is that it
is easy to get into due to thelack of continious story lines.
The main character, Shinchan is basically the Japanesekindergarten student from hell.
Wherever Shin-chan goes,trouble swiftly follows. In atypical day, Shin-chan insults
his parents, makes lewd
remarks to women he sees on
the street, steals booze fromhis parents, pigs out on snack
foods and falls asleep, as well
as regurarly mooning theaudience. Unsurprisingly, Shinchan has provoked more thana couple of letters of complaint
in his time. Despite this, theseries has gone from strength
to strength and is one of the
few weekly anime programmeson the air that truly manages
to attract an audience of
all ages. Its appeal is not,culturally speaking, uniqueto Japan. Slightly demented,lsomewhat perverted, always
mischeivious kids are always agood laugh no matter where
you're from. Shin-chan isbasically the Japanese Bart
Simpson, but Bart was neveras etchi as Shin-chan.
My first encounter with
Shin-chan was a version
dubbed over by American
voice artists that I saw
before coming to Japan. It
was hilarious because of theuniquely Japanese culturalelements that Americanizedcharacters had to deal with.
It was well-done considering
the obvious obstacles, but it
was still odd seeing American
characters wearing yukata,drinking sake and falling
asleep under the kotatsu.
Shin-chan`s world revolves
around harassing his longsuffering mother and father(Misae and Hiroshi). He hangs
around with Masaou-kun (whocrys all the time), and Boochan (the slow one with thesnotty nose). Shin-chan's
schoolboy nemises include
Kazama-kun (Mr. Perfect) and
Kawamura-kun (the school
bully). In addition to the
popular television series on
Friday night, there are several
feature length films available.
The one out at the moment is"San-bun Pokiri Daishingeki".
The second character is
Kerokero Gunso. Kerokero
Gunso or Sergeant Frog is
the Captain of the Space
Invasion Forces Special
Advance Team of the 58th
Planet of the Gamma Storm
Cloud System. He was sent
to the Earth (or Pokopento
as its known in frog speak)on an intelligence mission fora future invasion of Earth by-7-

by martin o'brien
martinobrien2004@gmail.com

his home planet. Unfortuately
for Kerokero, things don't goexactly to plan, and istead ofcompleting his mission, heends up in the household of
the Hinata family. The two
kids in the house (Fuyoki and
Natsumi) take away his secretweapons, and so Kerokero
has to content himself withhis new life. He soon gains
their trust by doing householdchores, but it isn't long until
he meets up with some of
his frog alien colleagues who
were also abandoned on Earthby their batallion. Some try
to help Kerokero escape,but fail misrabely against
the resourceful Fuyoki and
Natsumi, and they too end up
living in the house. Some of
his alien mates are Corporal
Giroro, who lives in an
invisible tent in the backyardof the Hinata household. Then
there is Private Tamama,
who can fire a blast ofenergy from his mouth whan
his violent tendencies get
the better of him. Despite
repeated attempts to takeo v e r t h e e a r t h , Ke r o k e r o
a n d h i s c o m ra d e s l i v e i nrelative harmony with the
Hinata family. TV Osaka is
not available to many people
i n S h i ko k u , b u t Ke r o k e r o
Gunso can be rented atmost video/DVD stores. And
so that concludes the twopart kids anime feature.
T h e p ro g ra m m e s c ove r e dwere Anpanman, Doraemon,
Crayon Shin-chan and
Kerokero Gunso. These aresome of the most interesting
and well known kids anime
progmammes on TV anddefintely serve as an excellent
introduction to the genre.

letter from suketo hoikuen

by kaoru sakamoto
awalife@gmail.com

Sign Three – The child tries
to be good. The child forces
itself to do things or show
certain emotions purely for thesake of being praised.
Sign Four – The childdisplays a variety of nervous
habits. When the child feels
uneasy or nervous, they suck
their thumbs, chew their finger
nails, pull at their hair or blink
more often than normal.
Sign Five – The child feels
anxious. Even in the face ofslight things, the child cries,
throws a t ant rum , po ut s,or yells in a loud voice, andthe display of emotions is
especially strong.
Sign Six – The child feigns
illness. Even when taken to
the doctor and there seems
to be nothing wrong, the childclaims to have a head- or
stomachache.
It is also common for suchchildren to lose balance intheir daily activities. ! There

are times when you wonder‘what exactly is it that you
want from me?’ Children who
can’t explain their feelings withwords send many signs almost
desperately. If you noticethese signs of stress, accept
their actions and listen to what
they have to say. When you
are unable to talk, hug them,or holds hands and show them
they have been recognized.
Also, give them lots of praisefor good actions.
So, try looking at how you
view communication withyour child - these points areimportant in understanding
the way children feel. In thefamily, it is most importantthat children are able toexpress their feelings, they
are able to rest, and are able
to let out their concerns. This
will lead to a child who grows
up able to deal with stress,
and are able to be themselves
when they are at home.

hildren display avariety of signs whenexperiencing stress,
but it is important torecognise these signs at an
early stage and give them theability to overcome it. The
upbringing we want for themis one that lets them say ‘hereis a chance to grow!’ when
met with pressure.
Sign One – The appearanceof another child. Things suchas the birth of a younger
sibling, entrance intokindergarten or pre-school
may cause children to beunable to leave their mother,or want to be held or carried
piggy-back more than often.
Sign Two – The child only
perform acts that lead it tobeing scolded. The childdoesn’t respond, throws
objects around or always
does things that are either
forbidden or told often not todo.

cshin mai mama nikki
ofie was born only
two days after her
estimated due date.
She was born on thesame day as me (we now
share a birthday!), but she
was a whole kilogram lighter
than I was at birth - I was
not expecting such a small
baby! I think the doctor wasa little surprised too.
I had made several special
requests at the clinic before
Sophie was born. One request
was that she be allowed tostay in my room 24 hours perday, instead of being held in
the nursery for most of theday. I also requested thatshe drink only breastmilksinstead of being supplimented
with formula or water. I had torequest these things - I was
not given a choice. I'm reallyglad I worked up the nerve to
make these special requests once I did, the clinic staff were
extremely supportive of my
choices. They were concernedthat it would be hard for me
to recover if I was busy taking
care of my baby all night,
but I had my mom and myhusband there to help me out.
They both stayed in my roomwith me for the first couple ofnights, and my mom stayedwith me for the last couple ofdays, when my husband had
to go back to work. I stayed in-8-

by claire tanaka
clairish@gmail.com

the clinic for five days after
she was born. I had thought
this would be excessively
long, but now I feel that it
was just the right amount oftime to recover from the birthand get used to my new baby
before going home. Now that
we are home, her papa and I
have been busy - we've had
to learn how to take careof our new baby and we've
also had a ton of paperwork.
Three weeks later, we've
finally gotten most of her
Japanese paperwork done,
and I'm starting to look atwhat is necessary to register
her in Canada as well.

japanese lesson - dekimasu
e f l j s v

by tamaki fusa
jtmtoku-lesson@mbk.nifty.com

e f l j n b t v

e f l j s v

э̝ ћ с Ѳ э is the masu-form of ћ с ѿ!
n this month’s lesson we willt learn
about ћ сɿ Ѳv s v
ʀ ʆ ʄ ʈ ɼ ʎ ʐwhich is a potential verb of э ѿ . The verb ћ с Ѳ э has a number of different meanings
depending on the context, such as “can do“ “come into being,” “come up,” “be completed,” “
be finished,” “ be made,“ etc. Today I choose one of them, can do, which expresses ability or
possibility.

iEX.n 1b b l v t b o i b o j i p o h p h bӐ ̶ ҡ щ ҇ ѣ̜ ໘ ႎ ত рA:e f l j n b t v
ћсѲэ̝EX.u b2o b l b t b o i b q j b o p p i j l v
โ ඨщ ҇ѣ̜ӆ ҔӀ҆ Ѧ уA:l p u p h b e f l j n b t v
чќрћсѲэ̝

Mike can speak Japanese.
e f l j n b t v(In̛this case, ћ с Ѳ э

Mr. Tanaka can play
the piano.
e f l j n b t v(In this case,! ћ с Ѳ э
expresses the ability to dosomething.)

expresses the ability to dosomething.)l p o p t f n b j cvubj e f

e b o t v

C; ч Ѣя Ѳи࿧ ൊћ̜Ҳ ӥҫ
h b e f l j n b t v l bрћсѲэп̝

Important grammar points!
In
EX.1, nouns placed beforeh bр express actions such as
dancing, skiing, shoppingetc.
o j i p o h p
Also, nouns such at џ ѯ ҇ шthat are associatedwith ani b o b t v̛ѣўэ ,̛asaction such ass z p v s j̛other example, ѾѻкѾ theutvlvsvl b o k jl b l vјуѿ̜п҇ь!. пу .
EX.2, when a verb is used todescribe
ability and possibility,
l p u pч ќ should be made into thedictionary form of the verb.

Can we dance at this small
stage?
e f l j n b t v(In this case,! ћ с Ѳ э
expresses possibility.)h b e f l j n b t v

l p l p e f

u b c b l p

p

t v v

ч ч ћ̜ ұ ӂ ҥ ̛҆ ࡹ кB:l p u p h b e f l j n b t v l bчќрћсѲэп̝Can I smoke here?
e f l j n b t v(In this case, ћ с Ѳ э
expresses possibility.)ћсѲэNoun lрp u p h b e f l j n b t v
Verb чќрћсѲэ
̈́dictionary formͅYou cani jsay
potentialverbs
l f s vt v f s v
хѿ , эмѿ insteadsuch asl Ѧp u p h b e f l j s vof Ќ͖чќрћсѿ .

Let’s practice ! e f l j n b t v
Let’s make sentences with ћсѲэ .
t v { v l j t b oEX.
!

t v q f j o h pэюсщ̛̛̠҇ҫӌҖӥতt v { v l j t b o i b
t v q f j o h p h b
e f l j n b t v
эюсщ҇ѣ̜ҫӌҖӥতр̛ћсѲэ̝
̈́Mr. Suzuki can speak Spanishͅ
!
n f b s j j

l b o k jϧ̟ӓҔӜ̶̛¦̛п҇ьl p o p i f z b e f
u f s f c j
n j s vϨ̟чѢѬѸћ̛̛̠ҸӞӅ̛¦̛ѳѿ
u p t i p l b o{ b t t i jl b s j s vϩ̟ќыѻп̛҇¦̛ъїы̛¦̛пѾѿ
Answersa library)
1. ӓҔӜ̶ѣ̜п҇ьр̛ћсѲэ̝(Mary can write kanji)l p o p i f z b e f
u f s f c j p
n j s v l p u p h b
e f l j n b t vѢѬѸћ̛ҸӞӅ̛҆ѳѿчќр̛ћсѲэ̝(We can watch TV in this room)
2. ч
u p t i p l b o e f{ b t t i j p
l b s j s v l p u p h b
e f l j n b t v
3. ќыѻп҇ћ̛ъїы̛҆пѾѿчќр̛ћсѲэ (We can borrow magazines inn f b s j j i b

l b o k j h b

e f l j n b t v-9-memoranda
Santa on the River

Doitsu-kan EventsಖпѽҧӥұрѸїњуѿ

һҖҶࠛҖӋӥҺ௜၇when:

A Christmas fair at the German House. There will be a

Friday, December 23 to Sunday, December 25

variety of German goods, many of them Christmas-related

where: Shinmachi river, starting from the Ryogoku
cost:

bridge and making a full trip around Hyotan-jimaand of course a big decorated Christmas tree waiting forFree

you in the first floor of the "Deutsches Haus".
When: Currently running, until December 25

for more info: Call the Shinmachi River Preservation

Cost: Entry is free.

Committee at 088.655.1201
Santa will be travelling down the river through the centerof Tokushima City by boat, delivering over 3,000 presents

for more info:

to children from 18:00 to 21:00 each day of the event!

phone: 088.689.0099
e-mail: doitukan@city.naruto.lg.jp

Outdoor JapanFor more information regarding the Doitsu-kan's openҔҘҺһҔ̠ҪӕӃӥ

hours and access, as well as future event information andmuch more, take a look at the website and keep updated

OutdoorJapan.com is a site (in English) dedicated to thosewith everything that's going on: http://www.city.

seeking fun outdoors in Japan. Whatever you want to do,naruto.tokushima.jp/germanhouse/

if it's outdoor you'll find it at OJ.
contact: Matt Lindsay @ surfmatt@outdoorjapan.com

Hey International
Japanese Lessons - Families!
Ѹе̜ਇੑ‫݌‬ഖѓѕ̤
Ongoing໘ႎতࢱ૬Tokushima City's Suketo Hoikuen and TOPIA present

JTM Tokushima's "Nihongo Salon"

International Child-rearing Salons. Please come and meet

Practice speaking Japanese conversation.

other international families like yours! There is no fee for

Mondays 10:30 - 12:00 at TOPIA

participation.

Saturdays 19:00 - 20:30 at the Seishonen Youth Centre
at TOPIA
Watari-sensei's free class at TOPIA:(Tokushima City, Clement Building 6F)

Wednesdays - beginner

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

Every first and third Thursday - people with one year of

cost: freeJapanese study experience

for more info: 088.656.3303

Every second and fourth Thursday - people with two years
of Japanese study experienceat Suketo Hoikuen

Classes run from 16:30 - 17:50(Tokushima City, Nakayoshino-cho 1-61)
when: every Thursday from 10:00 - 14:00

The following international associations holdcost: freeJapanese lessons. Call for more information:

for more info: 070.5681.1230

Tokushima City: 088.622.6066
Yoshinogawa City: 0883.24.5112

also...

Komatsushima: 08853.2.0454

Contact Ms. Murasawa at TOPIA for information regarding

Aizumi: 088.692.9951

Japanese lessons for parents with small children, andAnan: 0884.23.6323

Chinese and English language child-rearing consultation

Mima: 0883.63.4527

services.

-10-

memoranda
Ikawa Ski Grounds
Countdown‫ڮ‬ಖҫҟ̶௘ҝҘӥҺҲҘӥ
Ikawa Ski Grounds Countdown
When: Saturday, December 31
From 19:00 til late
Where: The Ikawa ski grounds in Ikawa-cho, Miyoshi
gun.
Cost:

Free

Info:

Call the Ikawa Town Industry Section at
088.378.5005

There will be a fireworks display, countdown to the newyears and much more. Ikawa is 55 minutes drive from theCounselling
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 andJapanese. Please note that 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)

Ikawa Ikeda IC (23km).

Shikoku Snowball
Tournamentટਇಋ৽ಗോ‫ݵ‬

Christmas Lights
CompetitionҖӝӑҿ̶ҩәӥോொ

When: Tuesday, December 20 to Monday, December 26
17:00 - 21:00 every evening

A snowball fighting competition is going to be held in

The displays will be judged from December 17 to

the Iya Valley once agan this winter! It will be held on

December 21, and results are announced on

January 29, 2006, but applications for teams are open

Thursday, December 22

now. Teams are of 7 to 10 people, with both Adult andWhere: Myozai-gun, Kamiyama

Junior Catagories. Everyone is welcome, and the winning

Cost:

team gets a free trip to Hokkaido to participate in the

For more Information: Call the Kamiyama Town

national competiton!

Commerce and Industry Committee at 088.676.1232

The cost is 25,000 yen to register a team (2,500 yen per

Come along to Kamiyama town to check out some first-

person for a 10 person team).

class Christmas lighting displays in the streets!

Free

For more information: Call the Higashi Iya Commerce
and Tourism Section at 088.388.2893

TV and Cinema
Your Message Here Listings?
чѢҫӌ̶ҫ҆ચиуєщи

UW ќۭ‫ݬ‬௜၇ѣѝкыѓѢ̣

If you have a non-profit activity that you'd like to promote,let us know and we can print it here. Awa Life is one of the

You can now find up-to-date TV, cinema, and local

best ways to spread information to the English-speaking

sports listings in English at the new Living in Tokushima

international population of Tokushima.

website produced by the Tokushima Prefecture Culturaland International Affairs Division, as well as informatione-mail: awalife@gmail.com

on various aspects of daily life. Check it out at: http://

tel: 088.656.3303

ourtokushima.net/e_living/index-11-memoranda
Christmas Lights
Display Information

New Year Concertҽӗ̶ҖӖ̶ҥӥҧ̶ҺҡӜҫӐҫ̠Җӝӑҿ̶ҩәӥ

When: Sunday, January 8
Doors open

13:30

Begins

14:00

As the end of the year approaches, why not go out andWhere: The Tokushima Prefecture 21 Century Event Hall,see some of the lights displays in Toksuhima. Here is a
short list of some of the places you can find them.

Bunka no Mori.
Cost:

Free

Info:

Call the 21st Century Hall, Bunka no Mori at

Kenchopia

088.668.1111

When: Monday, December 12 to Sunday, December 25,

Come along for a free classical concert, including works

From 17:00 to 23:00 every evening.

from Mozart and Vivaldi to welcome the new year. Places

Where: Tokushima City, in the harbor in front of thePrefectural Office.

are limited to 250 people, however, so be sure to contact
Bunka no Mori with your details to reserve your place.

Cost:

Free

Info:

Call the Tokushima Yacht Club at
088.644.0087

Cooking Columnist
WantedᆍᅫҥӛӒҽҫҺျ୆ඨThe yachts in the harbor in front of the Prefectural Officein Tokushima City will be sporting brilliant lights for the
25th time this year, thanks to the Tokushima Yacht Club.
Winter Lights in Ikeda

After many informative articles and tasty recipes, Don
Weiss has put down the pen for Tastes of Awa. We are
now looking for new columnists to write for Awa Lifeon the topic of cooking with local ingredients. Send an
email in to Awa Life at awalife@gmail.com if you would
be interested in writing an article or two on this theme.

When: Now to Tuesday, January 10, 2006
From 17:00 to 22:00 every evening.
Where: Ikeda Town
Cost:

Free

Info:

Call the Ikeda Town Commerce and Tourism
Cection at 088.372.7620

Once again this year, the streets and houses of Ikeda will
be lit with many beautiful lights, making for a wonderfulYour Awa Lifesight to enjoy through winter.

жўѓѢҔӡӛҖӇ

Benten-zan
When: Wednesday, December 26 to Tuesday, January 3,

Awa Life is mailed free to members of Tokushima's
international community. If you currently live in Tokushima

2006. From 17:00 to 21:00 every evening.
Where: Tokushima City, Banjo-cho, in the area surroundand you'd like a copy sent to you every month, contact us

ing Benten-zan.

with your mailing address. Also, if you change your name

Cost:

Free

or address, please let us know

Info:Call the director of the Benten-zan Preservation

If you are interested in writing for Awa Life, get in touch!

Committee at 088.669.1163

Submissions can be made in Japanese or English. Contact

Come for a brilliant lights display throughout the area. The

us for detailed submission guidelines.

hours of the display will be extended on New Year's Eve toe-mail: awalife@gmail.com

last until 7:00 on New Year's Day.

write to: Awa Life
c/o TOPIA

And be sure to check the view from the top of Mount

1-61 Terashimahoncho-nishi

Bizan during the Christmas period to see a spectacular

Tokushima City, 770-0831

sight of the city lights!

ౝыиඐૡћਭဠ‫ݶ‬ய
-12-