aWa life

February 2015
# 295

AJET MusicalAnna and theSnow Queen

Stories About
Water along the
Shikoku Pilgrimage

The
Shinmachi
Nanairo Band

1

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

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If you have something you would like to share with the Tokushima community, email the editors at:awalife@gmail.com!
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Exchange Association (TOPIA)			http://www.topia.ne.jp/
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Tokushima City 770-0831 JAPAN			
fax: 088.652.0616
Download a PDF file of awa life or view the online version by going to TOPIA's website!

Editors:
Jenifer Tanikawa & Till Dumke
Contributors This Month:David C. Moreton, Yoko Aoki, Kazue Inoue, Aparna Matale, Jenifer
Tanikawa, Jaymie Udan, Junko Kimura, Jennifer Longshore (cover)2

Contents

Pg. 2-4: Stories About Water Along the Shikoku Pilgrimage
Pg. 4-5: Japanese Lesson
Pg. 5: Letter from Suketo Hoikuen
Pg. 6: Recipe CornerPg. 6-8: Rising Stars of Tokushima
Pg. 9-10: 2015 AJET Musical: Anna and the Snow Queen
Pg. 10-11: Events and Memoranda

Stories About Water Along the Shikoku Pilgrimage
By David C. MoretonWater, an essential element for living, plays asignificant role in the religious
culture of people around theworld. For example, waterin certain rivers and wells
is believed to have curative
properties. Water is used for
purification, and/or water has
mysteriously gushed up from
where a spiritual person has
thrust a staff on the ground.
The close relationship between
water and the people on theisland of Shikoku is no different
and so, I would like to describe
some well-known and some less
known stories related to wateralong the Shikoku pilgrimage
route.
First of all, upon entering the
grounds of any sacred site,whether it be a temple or shrine,
you will notice that there is abasin to use to wash one’s
hands and cleanse one’s mouth
as a symbol of purification
before worshipping. Then, a

The well at Temple 3, Konsenjipilgrim with a wish in mind mightuse a ladle to splash water ona statue on the temple grounds
as an offering and as a hopethat the wish might come true.
Or in the case of a Mizumuke
Jizō (water covered Jizō: 水向地
蔵 ), people make offerings andthrow water at the Jizō statue topray for someone who has died.
A t Te m p l e 3 2 , Ta n e m a j i( 種 間 寺 ) there are manybottomless wooden ladles
hanging in the Kannon hall
( 観 音 堂 ). A pregnant woman
brings a ladle to the temple andthe priest knocks the bottom
out of it so that it cannot holdwater. This is to signify her
hope that the baby will comeout as smoothly as water
passes through the bottomlessladle. The priest prays for twonights and three days for a safe
childbirth and returns the ladle.
Then when the child is born, the3Stories About Water Along the Shikoku Pilgrimage

mother gives the ladle back to called Kumakichi who lived in
the temple.
the village of Nishibun in the
Other people who wish that an district of Itano in Tokushima
illness would go away, will go in prefecture. He always had faithsearch of water that might cure in Kōbō Daishi. The fields that
them. One place is get such he owned received too muchwater is Temple 17, Idoji (The sunshine so they could not be
temple of the well: 井 戸 寺 ) in used as a rice field and were too
Tokushima where it is believed damp to be used as a vegetablethat Kōbō Daishi solved the plot, so with each year the lot
water shortage in the area worsened. One evening a priest
by digging a well in only one appeared in his dreams andnight with his staff. Not only isdrinking the water said tohave medical powers(you can takesome home in asmall bottle for
100 yen), but
if you can see
your reflectionin the well thenmisfortune will notcome upon you. If you
cannot see your reflection
then something bad will happen
to you within three years. The Two pilgrims looking down the well at
Temple 17, Idoji (1934)
same thing is said for the wellat Temple 3, Konsenji (Temple said, “Place a rope around theof the Golden Well: 金 泉 寺 ) four sides of your land and dig aalso said to have been dug by well in the middle. If you do so,
Kōbō Daishi. Further along the water will come up and makepilgrimage route you can also your land fertile.” He quickly
buy sacred water at Temple 22, awoke, expressed thanks in
Byōdōji ( 平 等 寺 ), at another his mind that Kōbō Daishi had
yet well dug by Kōbō Daishi, but given him such instruction, andthis time the container will cost hired people to dig a well inyou 200 yen.
the middle. However he had
There are also stories of people to suddenly leave on official
who prayed to Kōbō Daishi and business to the castle town.
asked that their fields become People gathered and did not
fertile. For example, in the know the reason for digging
spring of 1808, there was a man the well in the middle of therice field. Not wanting to disrupt
the flow of harvesting, they
dug the well a little to the side.
However, no water came up.
While they were deciding what
to do, Kumakichi returned andsaid, “No! No! You’ve made a
mistake! I asked you to dig rightin the middle of the field, but you
have done it to the side. Quickly,
dig in the middle!” The hired
people did so and strangely well
water emerged. As a result,not only the owner ofthis land, but also hisneighbors people
benefited by thiswater.
Farmers in
To k u s h i m a
are fortunate
because they
have the large
Yoshinogawa River
to use for irrigation, yetthose in Kagawa prefecture
have had to build reservoirs
to store rainfall because of
the lack of rivers. In fact, Kōbō
Daishi was asked to come backto Kagawa from Kyoto in orderto supervise the constructionof a dam for the reservoir in
Mannō-town, an endeavor
which had not been successfullycompleted. It was a huge
project, but completed in only a
few months due to the charisma
and leadership of Kōbō Daishi
and the overwhelming strong
support of the people in thearea. In fact, according to a
recent TV program where a4

Stories About Water Along the Shikoku Pilgrimagegroup of engineers calculated
how much e ar th had to be
moved into place to form thedam, they declared that the
number of people needed to
do the work in such a shortperiod of time far exceeded the
population in the immediatearea. For a detailed description
about the building and historyof this dam, read this four page
article:http://davidmoreton.com/
documents/Mannoike_English_
brochure.pdf

Life would not be possible
without water, yet in our modernday, we seem to take it for
granted. Next time you embark
on the Shikoku pilgrimage
look for and learn more about
the stories about water, giving
thanks for its existence.

Japanese Lesson
By Yoko Aoki
こんげつ

ぎ もん し今月のことばは 「疑問詞 interrogative

どう し

動詞 verb

けい

た形 form ＋ら

いいですか

」です。

What/When/Where/Which/How/Who shall/should I ~ ?
い い で す か 」is used when the speaker asks the listener for some advice or instructions「～ た らabout what to do.

For example,「どこでけいたい でんわか

携帯電話を買ったらいいですか」“Where should I buy amobile phone?” In this sentence, the speaker wants to buy a mobile phone but does not know where toこまかねbuy one, so the speaker asks the listener to recommend a good shop.「細かい お金がありません。どう したら いいですか」means, “I don’t have any small change . What should I do?”
では

かいわ

み

会話を

見てみましょう。

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
かいわ

【会話】
なん ようびだ

マリア：すみません。①このゴミは、何曜日に出したら いいですか。

（What day should I take this type of garbage out?）

かんりにん

管理人 ( janitor )：どんなゴミですか。
かんびん

マリア：②缶や③瓶

かんりにん

やペットボトルです。

だい

だい

すいようび

だ

管理人：じゃあ、第２と第４水曜日に出してください。
だ

まえ

かんたん

みずあら

出す前に、 簡 単に水洗いをしておいてくださいね。
（Please rinse them out before you put them in the bag.）
マリア：はい。
かんりにん

も管理人：それからかみ

まいしゅう げつようび④燃えるゴミはもくようびだ

毎週月曜日と木曜日に出してくださいね。

なま

マリア：紙や⑤生ゴミですね。わかりました。ありがとうございました。

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
だ①ゴミを出しますもput out the trash

かん② 缶 can④ 燃えるゴミ burnable (combustible) wasteびん

なま③ 瓶 bottle⑤ 生ゴミ food scraps

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
れんしゅう

つか

練習をして

使ってみましょう。

れんしゅう

れい

やす

か

か

【練習】（例）（安いテレビを買いたいです）どこ・買います → どこでき①

だれ・聞きます③

いつ・行きますの②

どのバス・乗ります④

どうやって・使います

い

つか

か

買ったら いいですか。

5Japanese Lesson③いつ

行ったらいいですか。

④どうやってい

答え：①だれにこた

使ったらいいですか。
つか聞いたらいいですか。
き②どのバスに乗ったらいいですか。
の・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Letter From Suketo Hoikuen

W

ith the temperature
dropping even more,
I hope you are staying warm
and well. Even during this cold
winter season, unfazed by thecold, the children are romping
around outside energetically.
Watching these children, one
Japanese proverb comes tomind “kodomo wa kaze no ko
genki na ko” ( 子どもは風の子元
気 な 子 ), this basically means,even if it is cold outside, children
should get some fresh air andplay outside to dispense theirenergy instead of doing nothinginside all day.
However, you still need to takeprecautions to stay healthy.
Please make sure that yourchild is eating right and isgetting enough sleep to combat
any illness like the cold. Vitamin
deficiency will make your bodymore susceptible to illnesses,
so making sure to eat food thatis high in vitamin is essential.
For example, spinach, carrots,
and Japanese mustard spinach
are high in vitamin A whichhelps keep your throat, skin andthe mucous membrane of yournose healthy. Food that are highin vitamin C, such as apples
and mandarin oranges, help

By Kazue Inouemake your body more resistantto viruses and will also help
speed up the recovery process.
As well, protein, such as fish,
meat, egg, and soy products,
will help you regain strength lostfighting off this cold weather.
As important as it is to lookafter your child’s health, it isalso important to look after yourentire family.
So I hope you stay healthy andenjoy the rest of the winter.
This Month’s Craft
Rabbit Yo-yo
Materials
5 Plastic shopping bags
1 White plastic shopping bag
3 Rubber bands
Pen
Directions
1) Roll up 5 plastic shoppingbags and put inside a white
plastic shopping bag. Tie thehandle two times. (The handles
will be the rabbit ears) Cut two
rubber bands and tie them
together to make a long string.
Tie one end of the string towhere you tied the handles.
(The other end will function as ahandle for your yo-yo)2 ) Wr a p t h e m i d d l e o f t h eplastic bag with a rubber bandto separate into two parts (thehead and body). Draw the
rabbit’s face on with a pen.
How to Play
Hold the end of the elastic bandand bounce it up and down likea yo-yo. You can also hang the
rabbit off somewhere in theroom and once you pull downon the rabbit and release, you
can see it bounce about.

Recipe Corner: Banana Puff or Poori
By Aparna MataleBanana Puries are delicious
fried Indian puffed bread.
Puries have the richness ofbanana flavor enhanced withcardamom. Banana Puries aregood for festive occasions .
Puries are especially good for
picnic or good for kids bento .
This recipe will make about 40.
Ingredients
1/2 cup ripe mashed banana(about 8" long banana)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon melted ghee orbutter
1/8 teaspoon crushed cardamom powder
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons coarsely groundalmonds about 18 almonds

Approx ¾ cup whole-wheat flour
Approx ¾ cup all purpose flour
Oil to fry
Directions
1. Peel and mash the banana,
add the sugar, almond, butter,salt and cardamom mix it well.
2. Add whole-wheat flour andall-purpose flour to the banana
mix and make a firm andsmooth dough. Keep it aside forabout 2 hours.
3. Grease the fingers and knead
the dough for a minute anddivide in four equal parts.
4. Roll them into small roundpieces or roll a big round pieceand cut using a cookie cutter.
5. Heat the oil in a frying pan
on medium heat. To check the6heat to see if the oil is ready,put one piece of dough in oil,dough should sizzle and comeup slowly.
6. Fry the puries 2-3 at a time.
Puries will puff and fry them tillthey are dark brown all around.
It will take about 2 minutes to fry
each batch.
7. Take them out of the oil andput on top of a paper towel so it
can absorb the extra oil.
8. Puries are ready.
Notes:
Here I use Japanese whole
wheat flour and all purpose
flour. Check the label of the bag
to see which one it is. There isno need to use Indian whole
wheat flour.

Rising Stars of Tokushima

Interview with Shinmachi Nanairo BandH

aving undergone severaltransformations, since theband was first formed in 2010,
the Shinmachi Nanairo Band
has taken on a new identity
as a three piece rock band,
and what sets them apart, allthree of the girls are born in
2002. On September 24 oflast year, the young group of
talents made their major recordlabel debut with their single“Chineeshoes.” We sat downwith lead singer and guitarist,
Natsumi Tokozakura, bassist,
Hana Inoue, (drummer, Kyoko
Sugiyama, could not make it to
the interview as she lives in Mie
Prefecture) and their manager

to hear more about the band.
Was Shinmachi Nanairo Band
always a rock band?
When the bassist left the band,as a rock band, it was reallyhard for us and it affected
whether we could continue
on as a band. That’s when
we decided to perform withukuleles. So we had 2 ukuleles
and a cajon instead of drums.
Why did you name the band
Shinmachi Nanairo Band?
Shinmachi used to have a big
department store, this was
before SOGO was made, andthe Shinmachi area was where

all the life of the city was. It was
bustling with so many people
that it was almost as busy as the
shopping streets of Osaka. The
young people of Tokushima at
the time all yearned to visit thisarea and when they said they
were going into the city, it meant
they would all conglomerate
here. So that’s why we decided

7

to add Shinmachi to the band
name. we hoped that throughthe band’s activities, it would
help bring more attention to
Tokushima and will one day beable to revive the city to what it
was in the past. As for nanairo,
the initial members of theband all had “na” or “nana” intheir names, so we decided toinclude nanairo.
How did the band come to be?
Shinmachi Nanairo Band wasformed in December (2010)
and in February 2011,
they entered a bandcompetition put on
b y F M To k u s h i m a
as part of the “Tokushima Musicians’Fes”. The theme of thecompetition was bands
that can liven up theatmosphere and it justso happened, we had amusician friend who justfinished writing a song called“Sudachi-kun,” so we asked him
if the band could use the songand so we entered the contest
with that song. I guess that’s
where it all really started.
How were the members chosen?
Natsumi started singing when
she was 4 years old. And she
started playing instruments in
her third year of elementary
school. At first she would singand play the guitar by herself
on stage and it wasn’t until laterthat we recruited the other two

Rising Stars of Tokushimamembers. All the members weredaughters of our friends. For
example, one of them received
a guitar as a present so we
asked her to join.
How is the style of the musicchosen?
Well, going back to that story
about the band competition,
the winner is chosen by theaudience and the band won
second place and that motivatedthem to keep performing.
During that time, K-ON (ananime about a 5-member highschool all-female band) was
gaining popularity and the girls
really liked the show, so they
began covering songs featured
on the show. So that continued
for some time and the Shikoku
Broadcasting Company dida feature on the band andthe band was even invited toperform in Shiga Prefecture,
which is where the anime takes
place. Thereafter, the band
started listening to Chatmonchy,
currently a two member band
but back then they were athree piece girls band formedin Tokushima, and they started
covering Chatmonchy’s songs.
Chatmonchy became a bandthey aspired to be and they still
look up to them now.
How would you describe yourmusic?
We want our performance to be
fun to watch. We try to movearound a lot on stage and try
to get the crowd going. We
think that if we’re truly enjoying
ourselves then the crowd will
too.
Since you're bothfrom Tokushima,
what’s your favorite
place or thing about
Tokushima?
We do love the Awa
Odori since the whole
town comes alive withexcitement. The ruralp a r t s o f To k u s h i m a
are really nice too since it’s fullof nature. Since we started inTokushima, it would be nice
if we could help shine more
light on Tokushima through ouractivities.
Is it hard balancing work andpractice?
We try and practice at least
once or twice a week andpractice usually takes place
after school. And since it’s hard
for all three members to get
together, we often film ourselves
and send it to each other to8Rising Stars of Tokushma
check. So a lot of the times,
when we have big events, therehearsal would be the firsttime that all three of us practice
together.
What are your future aspirations?
It would be nice if we could
perform overseas one day. We

would also love to continue
performing in the future, evenwhen we are all grown up. And
we would love to write our own
songs in the future. This way,
we can relay our own messages
directly and connect with theaudience more. With our major
record label debut, I hope that

more people will find out about
us and that’s something welook forward to, seeing a new
type of crowd. Whatever the
future holds, we will continue
smiling and giving it our best at
the performances. We want tobecome a band that can give
joy to others.

Timeline of Major Events

December 2010
Band is established with 3 members (Natsumi Tokozakura is the only original member left)
March 2012		
Kyoko Sugiyama (drum/percussion) joins the band
July 2012		
Hana Inoue (bass) joins the band
August 2012
Appeared on AKBINGO (a variety show starring idol group AKB48)
in their band championship segment and out of the 231 bands
who entered the contest, was one of the 12 chosen to appear on
TV for the finals and came in 2nd place overall.
Summer 2014
Was scheduled to be the opening act for the music festival “Exciting
Summer in Wajiki ‘14” but the event was cancelled due to thetyphoonSeptember 2014
Major record label debut with single Chineeshoes

Member Profile
Name: Natsumi Tokozakura

Name: Hana Inoue

Name: Kyoko Sugiyama

Birthdate: February 22, 2002

Birthdate: July 2, 2002

Birthdate: October 12, 2002

H o m e t o w n : To k u s h i m a C i t y,

Hometown: Anan City, Tokushima

Hometown: Gifu Prefecture (Currently

Tokushima Prefecture

Prefecture

residing in Mie Prefecture)

Favorite color: Orange, purple

Favorite color: Red

Favorite color: Pink

Musicians I look up to: Chatmonchy

Musicians I look up to: Chatmonchy

Musicians I look up to: Chatmonchy

Memorable songs: “Hana no Yume”

Memorable songs: “Koi no Kemuri”

Memorable songs: “Hana no Yume”

by Chatmonchy

by Chatmonchy

by Chatmonchy

Favorite movie: Eight Ranger

Favorite movie: Ghibli movies

Favorite movie: Harry Potter

Hobbies: Computer/video games,

Hobbies: Base guitar

Hobbies: Cooking, reading

guitarPlaces I want to visit: England

Places I want to visit: Australia

Places I want to visit: London, England

9T

okushima’s
newly-crowned
queen flees the castle
into an endless winterin the upcoming
To k u s h i m a A J E TMusical, Anna and theSnow Queen, opening
March 1. Adults andchildren alike aresure to recognize thestory—this year ’sshow is an adaptationof the hit movie from2013, complete withEnglish-language
songs, original dancechoreography, andthe occasional popculture reference.

2015 AJET Musical: Anna and the Snow Queen

By Jaymie Udan

cast and crew ofover 30 volunteers
from Tokushima andsurrounding areas.
The volunteers takecare of every aspectof the performance,from voting on
入場は無料です!
a show to adapt
英語を身に付ける経験と(unsurprisingly, the
して楽しんでください！
group voted almost
unanimously for Anna
and the Snow Queen
during the planningmeeting last fall),and writing a script,
to running auditions
and rehearsals, coordinating costumes,
16:00 - 18:00
3月 1日 石井町中央公民館
3月 7日 コスモホール（阿南市情報文化センター） 14:00 - 16:00
and creating props
3月 8日 四電プラザ徳島
14:00 - 16:00
and backgrounds.
3月14日 北島創世ホール
14:00 - 16:00
3月15日
吉野川市アメニティセンターThe AJET Musical
As in years past, the16:00 - 18:00
3月21日 脇町劇場・オデオン座
18:00 - 20:00
中学生レベルの英語で行われます。（日本語の解説あり）詳細：www.ajetmusical.com
event itself celeadaptation features
お問い合わせ：TOPIA（徳島県国際交流協会）まで (088)656-3303
フェースブックで「いいね」したら、ミュージカルについての最新情報と写真がアクセスできます！
brates its twentyan original script that
Facebook.com/AJETMusicalfirst year this spring,
blends simplified
following up from last year’s
English dialogue with a minimal
20th anniversary presentation of Preparations for this year ’s amount of Japanese; audience
Finding Nemo. The annual event production began last October— members at any level can enjoy
connects foreign participants much earlier than ever before. the musical, while students ofof the Japan Exchange and It’s definitely a labor ofEnglish can practice listening
Te a c h i n g P r o g r a m a l o n g love for thisskills with easily-understandable
year’swith other foreign andcontent from native speakers.
Japanese volunteers
Local cultural touches
f r o m t h e To k u s h i m a
are also added to thec o m m u n i t y, p o o l i n gstory to make fortogether talents in acting,a fun, fresh takedancing, singing, crafting,on the well-loved
stage tech, and more. The
story.
group takes no profit from theThis year ’s show
performances and aims to bringfeatures Elsa anda free and fun English-language
Anna as princesses
educational ex-perience toof Tokushima. Elsa’s
towns across the prefecture.
frustrations over
第21回徳島AJET英語ミュージカル

Anna

and
the

Snow Queen2015 AJET Musical: Anna and the Snow Queen
keeping her ice magic a secretcome to a head when she
accidentally freezes Tokushima
Bay during her coronation as
Queen. Her sudden departurecauses Anna, with kakigori
salesman Kristoff and magicalsnowman Olaf, to go on anadventure in search of the
runaway queen. Getting somehelp along the w ay fr om acheerful band of forest tanuki,
Anna and company race to bringback summer with an ambitious
prince and a greedy Daimyo
stirring up trouble back home.

Anna and the Snow Queen
opens March 1 at venues
throughout the prefecture andcloses on Saturday, March
21. For a more detailed list of
all performances, or for more
information on the musical or

10

Tokushima AJET, please go to
http://www.ajetmusical.com/
about.
Or look us up on Facebook: The
Tokushima AJET Musical. Entry
to all performances is free ofcharge.

Events & Memoranda
2015 International Understanding Support Forum
平成 26 年度 国際理解支援フォーラム
Come join in on discussions surrounding multiculturalism.
徳島県在住外国人のみなさんと一緒に「多文化共生」について考えみませんか？
日時：平成 27 年 2 月 8 日（日）13:30 ～ 16:00
場所：（公財）徳島県国際交流協会 会議室（徳島駅ビル６Ｆ）
内容： 第一部 蓮井孝夫氏による講話（NPO 法人 香川国際ボランティアセンター代表理事、
元 RNC 日本放送アナウンサー）
第二部 協会登録在住外国人講師による国際理解プレゼンテーション
第三部 意見交換 交流会
		＊第三部では在住外国人の方のパフォーマンスや心ばかりのお茶やお菓子もあります。
		 すてきなひとときを過ごしませんか？ふるってご参加下さい。
		 ＊ 入場料は無料
		 ＊ Entry into this event is for free. Part 1 through 2 will be conducted all in Japanese.
申し込み・問い合わせ : 当協会 Tel.088-656-3303
E-mail: coordinator3@topia.ne.jp

FAX 088-652-0616

詳細については、当協会のホームページをご覧ください。
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11 Events & Memoranda
Awa Dekobako Mawashi Performances
阿波木偶箱まわし“Dekobako Mawashi” means popular puppet
theatre performed as street shows. Puppeteers
travelled with their dolls inside wooden boxes,
either alone or as a couple in the case ofhusband-and-wife shows: the artists toured thecountry and performed on street corners.

木偶箱廻しは、芝居小屋や農村舞台で演じられた
人気外題を路傍で簡易に演じた大道芸です。箱廻し芸人は、２人か３人が一組になり、ふたつの木
箱に数体の木偶を入れ、天秤棒で担いで全国を移動し稼ぎました。数体の木偶を一人で操りながら浄瑠璃を語ります。

Part 1: Hako Mawashi Preservation Promotion
Committee Announcement and LecturePart 2: Single-Puppeteer and Junior High School
Hako Mawashi Performances

午前の部：箱まわし伝承推進事業報告会
午後の部：一人遣い人形の公演と、中学生による箱まわしの公演

When: February 7 (Sat)Part 1: 10:30-12:00
Part 2: 14:30-16:30
Where: Awagin Hall
Admission Fee: Part 1-Free; Part 2-1000 yen
Info: Awa Dekobako Mawashi Preservation
Committee
TEL: 088-642-0749

日時：2 月 7 日 ( 土 )午前の部：10:30-12:00
午後の部：14:30-16:30
場所：あわぎんホール
入場料：午前の部 無料、 午後の部
問合せ：阿波木偶箱まわし保存会
TEL: 088-642-0749

1000 円Akadani Plumtree Festival
明谷梅林まつりWith 4000 plum trees planted in the area, theAkadani Bairin area is famous within southern
Tokushima for its plum trees. Around earlyFebruary, many will flock to see the blossoming
flowers and to welcome spring in. On February 15,
there will be an opening event.

県南で最も大規模な梅の名所で 4000 本の梅の花で覆いつくされます。見頃は毎年 2 月の上旬からで、阿南市に春の訪れを告げる歳時記として、花見に訪れる人々で賑わいます。2 月 15 日（日）にはオープニングイベントが開催されます。

When: February 15 (Sun) - March 20 (Fri)
Where: Akadani Bairin
Anan City, Nagaike-cho, Suminotani
Info: Anan City Commerce, Tourism, and Labour
Relations Department
TEL: 0884-22-3290

日時：2 月 15 日（日）- 3 月 20 日（金）場所：明谷梅林
阿南市長生町角ノ谷
問合せ：阿南市商工観光労政課
TEL: 0884-22-3290

Counselling Service at TOPIA
トピアの相談窓口
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 isavailable in English and Japanese. Please note that although every effort will be made, we may not beable to deal with all cases.
Everyday, 10:00 - 18:00 (closed during the New Year's holidays)
Tel: 088-656-3303 or 088-656-3320 (allows three-way conversations with an interpreter)