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

signs of spring1

6,000 trees seems a little
excessive, I thought.
Surely there can't be thatmany, and who has thetime to count them all, anyway.
Well, it's a good thing I didn't
say these words out loud, as awarm morning in spring was toprove me very, very wrong.
Agawa in Kamiyama is hometo the largest ume forest in theprefecture and one of the mosthighly-regarded locations forume ﬂower viewing nationwide.
It is a center for production of
ume-boshi and related products,
and an amazing sight to behold.
The nearby hillsides are literally
blanketed in trees floweringpink and white, and the clear
air and quiet of the mountainvalleys in which they growoffers a serenity you will be
hard pressed to ﬁnd elsewhere.
But of course, Agawa isn't
exactly easy to get to. It is afair hike from the nearest bus
stop and even further from thetrains, but if you have access to"TOPPY"
February 2010 No. 235
by andrew dahms

a forest of white and pink ume ﬂowers line theroad through agawa, kamiyama

a car then it is just 40 minutes
from JR Tokushima Station.
It can be reached easily on
Route 31 by going south from
Kamojima or taking a northturnoff between the Kamiyama
Town Hall and Michi no Eki.
Needless to say, the route on
the way is very scenic, and you
can even enjoy the blossoms

from the inside of your car. The
roads here make the perfect
spot for a spring drive or avery long walk if you've theinclination. But for those who
do have the time, this small,unknown part of Tokushima canoffer a glimpse of the beautiful
spring to come before it arrives
in full. Enjoy.

inside awa life this monthsigns of spring - 1 ... wander-ful tabi - 3 ... no 'lion' about at ajet's lion king- 5
german loanwords, tv schedule for february - 6 ... martin's manga corner - 7
letter from a judoka - part 3, letter from suketo hoikuen - 8
japanese lesson - 9 ... memoranda - 10, 11, 12

awalife

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@topia.ne.jp
www.topia.ne.jp

is a monthly publication of the Tokushima Prefectural International Exchange Association (TOPIA).
Editors:
Andrew Dahms & Mario Dammann
Contributors This Month:
Andrew Dahms, Mario Dammann, Michael
Gemmell, Vivian Herrmann, Kazue Inoue, Lance
Kita, Mr. Kusunoki, Martin O'Brien, Mari Rueter,
Ms. Shinohara, and Toshiko Yamamizo.

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

from the editorfebruary is one of my favourite monthsof the year. Why, I hear you ask? Many
traditionell events are going to happen.
First of all, we have Setsubun, the demon
banishing festival, next is Yuki Matsuri, theSnow festival, the plum flower festival andof course, Valentine's Day. Last year Awalife
had an article about the latter, and this year
Andrew writes about the Ume Matsuri. I also
like February because of the hard work we doon the annual AJET musical. This years theme
is The Lion King. Please head to page five formore information by Mari Rueter.
It is still very cold, but the knowing of
coming spring keeps my heart warm. I went
back to Germany for my winter holidays to ﬁnd
my home-town Berlin covered in snow. It looked

so nice and innocent. I could spent Christmas
with my family and Silvester with my friends.
Both I couldn't participate in for two years.
Even going two times to Germany on a businesstrip, meeting family and friends was not reallypossible at these times.
Now I am back since beginning of January
in fresh and windy Tokushima. Immediately
I caught a cold, recovered from it and thenmaybe get another one soon (I hope not).
For the first time ever, I also saw Tokushima
covered in snow, if only for a few minutes, it
looked beautiful and unknown. Bizan is always
green and genki, but suddenly it was quiet andsnow white.
I hope you had a good start into 2010!
Danke, Mario

berlin with snow (photo by mario dammann)-2-noodling around - the other udonson a cold winter evening,nothing hits the spot
like a steaming bowl ofudon; thick, white flour
noodles served in soup or witha dipping sauce. Neighboring
Kagawa Prefecture reigns with
its al dente Sanuki udon 讃岐
う ど ん , one of the top threeudon noodles in Japan. Two
towns in Tokushima also havetheir own brand of udon, lesser
in stature but no less worthy ofyour attention.
Wooden Tub + Mountain
River = Tarai Udon
It's said that woodcutters inDonari 土 成 (present-day Awa
City 阿 波 市 ) shared noodles
after work, poured straight outof the pot into a large wooden
tub made for serving rice.
Being in the mountains, thedipping sauce was made froma river ﬁsh called jinzoku. One
prefectural governor partookof the udon, and mistakenly

described it as noodles servedin some sort of washtub (taraiたらい ). That name stuck andit is now the folk dish (kyodo
ryori 郷 土 料 理 ) of the area,
served on special occasions.
Most of the noodle shops
are along Route 318, and one
memorable one sits along theriverbank and even serves
deep-fried river crabs as a sidedish. You garnish the saucewith ginger, green onions,
and/or sliced fried tofu. The
noodles are 30-45 cm long,so sliding them over the lip of
the tub into your sauce is theeasiest way to grab them.
The "Anti-noodle" – Naruto
Udon
Best known for its whirlpools
and the Pilgrimage Temple #1,
Naruto City is slowly gaining
attention for its udon. Mostof the udon shops scatteredaround the neighborhoods arefamily-run and open only forby lance kita

the afternoon. The reasonable
prices catch the blue-collar
lunch crowd and kids on their
way home.
In contrast to the typical ﬁrm,
chewy texture, Naruto udon
鳴門うどん borders on soggy.
Swirling in a fragrant fishstock are unevenly cut noodles
with almost no bite to them.
Garnished with shredded fried
tofu, green onions and sliced
chikuwa 竹輪 ﬁshcake, this isnostalgic comfort food, sort oflike the canned spaghetti thewriter grew up with as a kid in
America. This is B-class cuisine(B-kyuu gurume B 級 グル メ ) for Tokushima, and it
satisﬁes the stomach and soul.
You don't have to leave theprefecture to get some tasty
udon. Take a scenic drivewest or north and hit these
local noodle spots along theway. More noodling around
Tokushima in future columns.
Don't forget to slurp!

chock-full of chikuwa - sliced ﬁshcake adorns the soft,
yet satisfying naruto udon (photo by mr. kusunoki)tarai udon - sliding the noodles over the edge of the tub
into the dipping sauce (photo by ms. shinohara)-3-money can't buy lovet

h i s p a s t W e d n e s d a y,
January 20 saw the holdingof the Senior High School
International Education
Student Research Report - aspeech contest for students
engaged in international
cooperation activities in theirlocal schools and communities
to talk about their work. In
this, the Shikoku tournment,
the Tokushima representative
was Ms. Rina Iwahashi from
Jonouchi Senior High School.
This is her speech.
What image do you have ofvolunteer work? I thoughtthat volunteer work meant
the material support whichdeveloped countries like
Japan give to less fortunatec o u n t r i e s . H o w e ve r, w h a t
is necessary for volunteer
activities is not only material
or monetary support but also
a greater understanding ofpeople in developing countries
and a desire to build andstrengthen the ties that bind
us to them. I'd like to tell you
how I came to realize that.
I am interested in foreigncountries and languages andhave long hoped that I'll beable to work as a volunteer
overseas in the future. That's
why I decided to take partin an international support
program held in Hiroshima

during this summer vacation.
To g e t h e r w i t h o t h e r h i g hschool students, we talked
about the present situationof developing countries andi n t e r n a t i o n a l c o o p e ra t i o nwith some people who havevolunteer experiences in theworld. I was able to learn a
lot of things I had not known
before. What impressed memost was a workshop about
volunteer activities.
In the workshop, we
discussed this questions:"There is a nursery on an
island in Asia. It is gloomy
inside: the nursery has nowindows. It looks very filthy:
the nursery has no bathrooms.
The children as just waiting fortheir mothers to come backafter work. What would you
do to save this nursery?" I felt
very sorry for their poverty. I
said to myself, "What we cando is to give them financial
support by sending them relief
goods and money." I felt,
however, that I might havemissed something important,but at first I couldn't realize
what it was. For a while I
thought things over while
listening to other participants'
opinions and advice. Then I
noticed that there were hardly
any people to take care of
the children in the nursery. I
realized that what are neededby rina iwahashi

for volunteer activities to be
successful are people who cangive advice and teach usefulskills so that the local people
c a n l i ve i n d e p e n d e n t a n d
comfortable lives. What wehave to keep in mind is not to
impose our activities on thembut to establish a trusting
relationship. At the same time
I felt very shocked to realizethat I had never tried to truly
get to know the feeling of
the people. What is essential
for volunteer activities is acommitment to reach a better
understanding of each other,of us all.
Since I came back from theprogram, I have been thinking
what I can do now if I want
to work as a volunteer in the
future. I have two things totry. One is to take part in as
many volunteer activities as
possible, however small theactivities are. The other is no
special thing. Through thisprogram I learned I had neverproperly cherished my life andthat I must make every effort
to spend time wisely in myown life as well as with others'
lives.
That program has becomea memorable experience forme. I think I was given a little
conﬁdence to step out into theworld.

JICA Shikoku
The Senior High School International Education Research Report is organized by the Japan
International Cooperation Agency. JICA's main goal is to promote economic development andwelfare in developing countries, and it does so through work with local governments, recruiting
and sending volunteers overseas to provide aid to developing countries, and a variety of otherprograms. While it's main ofﬁce is located in Tokyo, there is a branch ofﬁce for all of Shikoku
that can be found in Takamatsu City in Kagawa Prefecture. For more information on JICA andtheir activities, check out their extensive English homepage at the following address: www.jica.

go.jp/english/index.html-4-

no 'lion' around at ajet's lion kinghello everyone. My nameis Mari Rueter and I'm
a ﬁrst year JET in Anan
City. I've gone throughmany experiences since myarrival in late July last year,
most of which have involved
making friends from the JET
group here. It has been a lotof fun spending time with allthese people and getting toknow them better, and one
experience that has reallyenhanced that opportunity is
the AJET musical.
It was at Tokyo Orientationin last year in July that I
learned for the first time that
Tokushima's AJET has been
putting on musicals for the
past 15 years. It is an amazing
tradition that I knew I wanted
to be a part of. I had been
involved in musicals duringhigh school, but only as amember of the orchestra pit I never got the opportunity toperform on stage due to myvery busy schedule. And so I
made it a goal to be on stage,
to experience the spotlightfor once in my life. The wholeaspect of dancing, singing, andacting all combined into one
moment gives me a sense of
sheer excitement.
For the 16th productionof the AJET musical, we will
be performing The Lion King,
with some modifications fromour script writers of course! A
lot of people showed interestat the first read-through andauditions held in November.
I had no idea what part I
wanted to try out for, but
I knew it would be fun nomatter what I ended up being!
I will play the part of one of
the narrators, who are monkey

by mari rueter

scar and the hyenas rejoice at the death of the lion king mufasa(photo by andrew dahms)

pilgrims journeying the 88
temple pilgrimage of Shikoku.
The long awaited firstrehearsal occurred the second
weekend of the New Year,after most of us returned fromour winter break. A three-day
weekend - true commitment!
There was concern thatmaybe we would not get
much achieved, but it wasvery productive! All costumes
had final decisions, an entire
dance was learned, and mostof Act I had been run throughenough times to get blocking(movement accompanying
dialogue or occurring in
scenes) completed.
My favorite aspect so far islearning the group dances. It isamazing to see how everyone
works together to create such
beautiful movement. I can't
give away what dances we'll be
performing, but let's just saythat you'll be blown away by
the awesome energy exuded!
I was also impressed by the
number of talented people!
I had no idea there were somany great dancers, singers
and actors. It gave us morechances to talk to one another,-5-

to share a common interestand become closer as a group.
One thing I noticed fromour rehearsals is that it takes
a lot of work. That may be a"duh" comment for anyone
who has had experience intheatre, but to see it fromthe inside really gives me
perspective. It sometimes
becomes difﬁcult to focus when
asked to practice a scene over
and over again as people startgetting agitated, want to moveon to something else or to talkwith their friends. But we allknow it is working toward theﬁnal product that we will sharewith the community in one
more month!
Please come and watch our
production of the Lion King inMarch - it will be a lot of fun!
All ﬁve performances are totally
free to watch! The musicalwill be held almost entirely inEnglish, but the story is easy
to follow, even for beginners,
so feel free to bring your nonEnglish speaking friends aswell. Come see it at one (ormore) of the five following
locations! See memoranda for

details.

letter from a judoka - part 3

by vivian herrmann
member of the judoka group
visit in october 2009october 11
Dear diary! Our day
started like everyday
with the breakfast. After
that, the first training of the
day was held, but this time
without Japanese partners.
It was a very beautiful andimpressive hall. After training
w e w e nt t o a s e l f- s e r vic e
restaurant where we found thatthe food was very 'uncommon'.
At the same time we realizedthat all restaurants were very
noble. After eating we visited
the Tokushima Kitako highschool. Everyone welcomed
us warmly. We participated in
two classes (calligraphy andEnglish) and had a lot of fun.
Later that day we had a second
training session, this time withJapanese partners. We pushed
ourselves and competedvery well. Once again, theJapanese were friendly. The
session ended with just 100
pushups and 100 squats. The
day finished directly with ourdinner which was partly very
delicious. Finally we could go
to bed. This day will remain in
our bones, but it was a goodday.

vivian, mario, katinka, claire, coach scheele, denise, rabea

October 12
Dear diary! Today's breakfast
was delicate! We met in thelobby of the hotel and walked
to the Chuo Budokan where
we had the physical strain
training session. We Germans
were used as standing partners
in the so called Japan round.
We finished the exhausting
training with many Ippon andthanked our Japanese coaches,
because the advanced
seminar wi th Tokushima's
Judo Association was over.
Gifts were presented and ourpresident of Niedersachsen's
Judo Association, ChristianBebek, hold his closing speechin Japanese. With pumped
bodies we walked chilling torestaurant and waited a little
to get Pizza for lunch. Underpressure of time we ran to
the next training session.
The technical training was
impressing for our Japanese
partners, because it went alongwith coordination practice andgames. Before going to dinner,
we took a shower. The meal
was mostly made out of raw
food, which we had to cook
ourselves. Even that we had
free time after dinner, we went
early to bed to be ready forthe hike next day.

letter from a judoka - part 4 ... cont'd in next awalife

tv schedule for february
DateFri. 12

Time Channel
02:05 8 - Kansai

NationItaly - USA - 1997

Title
Divine Lovers

Sun. 14

21:00 6 - ABC

USA - 1997

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Sat. 2001:44 6 - ABC

USA - 2003

The CoreSun. 2121:00 6 - ABC

USA - 2000

Deadlocked

Fri. 26

19:55 1 - Shikoku

USA - 2007

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer-6-martin's manga corner
Title:
Manga-ka:
Publisher:First published:
No of volumes:d

Domu: A Child's Dream ( 童夢 )Katsuhiro Otomo
Futabasha
1983
1

omu is a manga
written by Katsuhiro
Otomo, the celebrated
director of Akira, themanga was written before heachieved fame and repute as
the director and creator of
the aforementioned seminal
anime classic. The story isa supernatural thriller set ina normal large scale public
housing complex in thes u b u r b s o f To k y o. O t o m ogained an understandingof the lives of the different
types of people that live inthese large, communities
while he himself living in a
newly developed area outside
central Tokyo as a university.
T h e p a r t i c u l a r i n s p i ra t i o n
for the unsettling story thathe sets in such seemingly
innocuous surrounding was
inspired by an article heread in a daily newspaper
about how many people weretravelling outside of Tokyo
to a particularly huge large
scale housing development
to commit suicide by jumping
off the top of the multi storiedbuildings. Intrigued by how
the impersonal nature ofsuch developments can effecthuman behaviour, he decided
to explore such a theme in
Domu.
In the Tsutsumi housing
complex that is Domu's setting,the story begins with the deathof a Mr. Ueno, a manager ofa local supermarket who has
killed himself in an apparent

suicide. Ueno's death is one ofthirty two that have occurredin under three years. All
these suicides committed byresidents that have taken placein such short space of time are
puzzling the police and civic
authorities in the area, there
is from their point of view nonormal, rational explanation.
The story in Domu however
provides up with several pointsof views and we soon learn
that there is the intimation ofmalice in these tragic deaths.
The deceased all have nothingin common apart from thefact that most of them lead
happy content lives, what isapparent is that they havebecome victims of a bizarre old
man who possesses telekinetic
powers. These powers
combined with that senility andthat childish mischievousness
that comes with advanced age
means that he can at will takecontrol of people and play withthe lives of the residents likea kid with a magnifying glass
hunkering over an anthill.
The old man known only to
us as Chojiro, doesn't exactly
have things his own way, as
he is unfor t unat e e noughto be living in the same
complex with a young girl who
possesses similar shamanistic
powers. The young girl,Etsuko knows exactly what
Chojiro is up to and keeps aclose eye on him in order tothwart his demented plans. A
murderous shaman rivalry, so-7-

by martin o'briento speak ensues with Chojiro
going to such lengths as totake control of a hobby knife
wielding student and get him
to attack Etsuko, unawares.
Other attempts include gettinga police ofﬁcer to drop his gun,and then possessing a young
boy to pick it up later andtry to shoot his nemesis. He
fails in all attempts but as theviolence escalates other people
get caught up in a deadly
game that ultimately threatens
all in their vicinity.
The conﬂict between Chojiro
and Etsuko provides for aninteresting meditation on how
childish behaviour, might beregarded separately from theconstraints of age. In Domuis the aged Chojiro who isbehaving in childish manner,as he plays with the lives of
his neighbours for amusement,
while it is Etsuko, the young
child who demonstrates
maturity and sound moral
conduct. One can appreciate
the notion that malice isbizarrely not always associatedwith strong emotions andfeelings.
Domu is undoubtedly
a powerful and engaging
narrative, which rung a bellwith many young readers ofmanga when it was released
in 1983. The manga won thenational Science Fiction Grand
Prize Award in the same year.
It was the first time such aliterary award was given out
to a manga, the result wasthat Otomo became one of thebest known manga authors in
the country, and allowed him
to crossover to people who
were not normally interested inmanga.

loanwords in japaneseHappy New Year☆

明けましておめでとうございますby anja hankel☆

Frohes Neues Jahr

2010 – a new year has come, another year to „crest” is there. How did you start to “climb” the
New Year? Fast in the beginning with way too many resolutions? Or slowly, pacing yourself andwaiting for the things the new year will bring? However you started it, I wish you all the bestfor 2010! To help you a little „climbing” the new year I have looked up some interesting words
which have to do with rock climbing. They have been borrowed from German in the late 19thand early 20th century, when alpine sports became popular in Japan, and established in theJapanese rock climbing jargon:
ヤッケ
カラビナ
ワンゲル
リュック
ヨーデル
ピックル
シュラーフ
ザイル

yakke (Jacke) means parka or anorak
karabina (Karabinerhaken) is a carabiner
wan geru (from 'Wandervogel') is a popular name of hiking clubs in Japanryukku (Rucksack) is a rucksack
yooderu (Jodel) is a yodel or a yodeler
pikkuru (Pickel) means ice axe
shuraafu (Schlafsack) is a sleeping bag
zairu (Seil) means ropeAlso, it snows – let's have a look at some words which have to do with skiing:
ゲレンデ
gerende (Gelände) means ski run
シャンツェ
shantse (Schanze) is a ski jump
シー・ハイル shii hairu (Ski Heil) – (Fresh Powder) Ahoy!
リーゼン
riizen (Riesenslalom) is used for giant slalom
ヒュッテ
hyutte (Hütte) means (mountain) hut
ストック
sutokku (Stock) is a ski pole (stick)letter from suketo hoikuenonce February 3 is here
we pass into spring on
the old calender. Forme, this is always a time
to reflect on the growth of thechildren and reflect on theirexperiences over the past year.
You can also see how they
have changed through their
pictures...
1: One year olds put whatever
they find in their mouths.
Their pictures consist mostlyof dots.

2: At around one and a halfyears, their movements
become more controlled
and we begin to see lines.
3: At around two years of age,
we see more motor control
in the hands and squiggles
appear.
4: From three years on we see
an improvement in handeye coordination, and they
can draw closed circles.
5: At around three and a halfyears we see more interest-8-

by kazue inoue
suketo hoikuen staff

in hands and feet.
6: At the age of four children
start to draw as they
imagine, so it is interesting
to ask what they see.
7: At around five years andon we see the groundand finer details based on
experience.
Keep your children's pictureswith you to see how they havegrown. But remember that all
children grow differently; ages
may differ from above.

japanese lessontby toshiko yamamizo

his month, we learn to use the expression for a reason or cause with「～ の で ～」and an
unexpected surprise with「～のに～」.
べんきょう

し けん

ごうかく

① いっしょうけんめい勉強したので、試験に合格することができました。

②

Because I studied so hard, I could pass the test.
べんきょう
し けん
ごうかく
いっしょうけんめい勉強したのに、試験に合格することができませんでした。

Even though I studied so hard, I couldn't pass the test.
The「のに」in ② shows the adversative sentence combination, reason and cause are shown with「ので」. Furthermore,「のに」shows the expression adversative to the expectation. Covered are theemotions for an unexpected conclusion, surprise, dissatisfaction, decline, etc.
Both「ので」and「のに」are connected in the standard form. With nouns however, one uses「な」
instead of「だ」.
Nr. 1: Which is the right usage?（ 「ので」― ①、「のに」－② ）
くすり
の
の
ねつ
さ
飲んだので／飲んだのに 熱が下がりません。（
Example: 薬を②）

Because/Even though I took medicine, the fever is not going down.
いた
いた
し ごと
やす
１、今日は頭が痛いので／痛いのに 仕事を休みました。（
）
きょう

あたま

Because/Even though I have a headache, I take a rest from work.
はし
い
い
の
おく
２、走って 行ったので／行ったのに バスに乗り遅れました。（）
Because/Even though I ran, I missed the bus.
さむ
さむ
し３、すみません。 寒いので／寒いのに ドアを閉めてもいいですか。（）

Excuse me, could you, because/even though it is cold, please close the door?
えき
ちか
べん り
べんり
や ちん
たか
４、わたしのアパートは駅に近くて 便利なので／便利なのに 家賃が高いです。（）

Because/Even though my apartment is close to the station and convenient, the rent is high.
にちよう びでんしゃ
こ５、
今日は日曜日なので電車がすいている はずなので／はずなのに 混んでいました。
（）
Because/Even though it is Sunday, the trains should be not crowded at all.
Nr. 2: Look at the following pictures and explain them with「のに」.
① Merlion② Sphinx③ mermaid④ ﬂying carpet
Example: snake

へび

うた

うた

Bsp: （蛇なのに）歌を歌っています。(Even though it is a snake,) it sings songs.
あたま
からだ さかな
１、頭は（）体は魚です。Head is ( ), the body is a ﬁsh.
かおからだ

３、上半身は（）体はライオンです。Face is ( ), body is a lion.
か はんしんさかな）下半身は魚です。The upper half body is ( ), lower half is a ﬁsh.

４、じゅうたん（）空を飛んでいます。Carpet ( ) ﬂying in the air.

２、顔は（じょうはんしんそらと

Nr.2: １（ライオンなのに） ２（人なのに） ３（女の人なのに） ４（なのに）ひと

おんな

Nr.1: １（①）２（②）３（①）４（①）５（②）
Answer:-9-

ひとmemoranda
The 16th AJETMusical

第 16 回徳島 AJET
ミュージカルThis year, the Assistant Language Teachers of Tokushima

徳島県で活動している外国語指導助手（ALT）たちが毎年will be performing the story of the Lion King. The play is

行うミュージカルです。今年は日本でもよく知られていbased on the award winning movie. However, as usual theる映画「ライオン・キング」を現代風にアレンジした劇

Tokushima AJET musical takes this famous story and givesを演じます。分かりやすい英語を使って、踊りや歌いっit a bit of a twist! Come along and see what happens to
Simba the Lion King on his adventures!

ぱいで演じますので、どなたでもお気軽に楽しめる劇で

Performances last for around two hours, with a ten to

入場無料

ﬁfteen minute break in between.

上演は 2 時間ぐらいで、途中で 15 分程度の休憩が入りまPerformance times:す。

March 6す。徳島県の ALT から県民の皆さんへの贈り物。

Ishii Chuo Kominkan

3 月 6 日（土）18:00
March 718:00 ～ 20:15

Minami cho (Hiwasa) Community Hall3 月 7 日（日）14:00
March 133 月 13 日（土）13:30
The General Education Center

北島町立図書館・創世ホール
13:30 ～ 15:45

13:00
March 20

美波町（日和佐）コミュニティホール
14:00 ～ 16:15

Kitajima Sousei Hall

March 14石井町中央公民館

3 月 14 日（日）Wakimachi Odeon-za

徳島県立総合教育センター
13:00 ～ 15:15

18:00

3 月 20 日（土）脇町劇場・オデオン座
18:00 ～ 20:15

Admission to all performances is free!

問合せ：徳島県国際交流協会（TOPIA）のマリオまで

For more information, contact Mario at TOPIA –電話 088-656-3303

088-656-3303

Tatsue Temple
First Service

立江寺初会式・植木市
四国霊場第 19 番札所・立江寺の本堂にて法要が行われます。立江寺周辺の参道には約 50 点もの植木屋の露店が立

Nr. 19 on the 88 temple pilgrimage holds its ofﬁcial ﬁrst
temple service in 2010 and sells potted plants at over

ち並びます。多種多様な植木を販売するため、市内外か50 shops around the temple grounds. Every year many

ら多数の人が訪れ、立江寺周辺は活気にあふれてます。

people visit the temple for this event.
When: Tuesday, Feb. 23 to Thursdaz, Feb. 25
from 10:00-17:00

日時：、10:00 ～ 17:00
2 月 23 日（火）～ 25 日（木）場所：

小松島市立江町字若松 13 立江寺
・JR 牟岐線「立江駅」下車→徒歩 5 分

Where: Komatsushima, Tatsue Temple, just a 5 minutes

・小松島市営バス立江・萱原行き「立江西」

walk from Tatsue station on the JR Mugi Line下車→徒歩 2 分

or a two minutes walk from bus stop
Tatsue Nishi on the Komatsushima City Bus Line

入場料： 無料

Cost:

Free!

問合せ： 立江寺まで

Info:

Call the Tatsue-ji at 0885-37-1019

電話 0885-37-1019-10-

memoranda

The Big Hina
Matsuri

ビッグひな祭り
ビッグひな祭りは、勝浦に春を呼ぶイベントとして始まったもので、今回で第 22 回を迎えます。会場の中央にピラ

Once again this year Katsuura's Ningyo Bunka Koryu-kan

ミッド状の百段のひな壇がそびえ、周囲に大小三百段のopens up for the very large Big Hina Matsuri! Come andひな壇に、全国から寄せられた約 30000 体のひな人形がsee displays of thousands of hina dolls ahead of the girl's
festival on March 3, and have a sip of green tea while

飾られ、日本に春を告げるイベントに発展し、期間中 4

enjoying the local festivities! You can't miss it!

～ 5 万人が見物に訪れています。その他イベントも同時開催！詳しくはお問合せ下さい。

When: Sunday, February 21 to Sunday, March 21
9:00-16:00

日時：

Where: The Katsuura Ningyo Bunka Koryu-kan, on the

9:00-16:00

main road through Katsuura.
Cost:

2 月 21 日（日）～３月 21 日（日）場所：

The cost is 300 yen for adults, and 100 yen for勝浦町の人形文化交流館

入場料： 大人 300 円

children to enter.

小人 100 円

Contact: Call the Ningyo Bunka Koryukan for more
information at 0885-42-4334

問合せ： 人形文化交流館まで
電話 0885-42-4334

The Misato Ume
Flower Walk

美郷
「梅の花見ウォーク」

With the end of February comes the blooming of the

梅の花を見ながらウォーキングしてみませんか？

beautiful ume, or plum, flowers, and you can see a

受付beautiful display in the village of Misato. There will be a

先着 700 名様に参加賞（特産品）プレゼントがあります。

walk and more during the event.

9:00 ～ 10:00

小梅の種飛ばし大会など予定。

When: Sunday, February 28, registration from 9-10am
Where: The Misato Village Fureiai Park in the mountains

日時：2 月 28 日（日）場所：

吉野川市美郷村、美郷ふれあい公園

備考： ・重野尾・愛後コース（10km）、of the Yoshinogawa City district.
Remarks: Three hiking courses available, from 3-10km.

・重楽寺コース（10km）、

Cost:

・宗田コース（3km）Free! (please bring your own lunch box)

Contact: Call the Misato Product Hall at

入場料： 無料（お弁当持参のこと）

0883-43-2505

問合せ： 美郷物産館まで
電話 0883-26-7888

Japanese Lessons
at Suketo Hoikuen

助任保育園の日本語教室

When: Every Thursday, 11:00 - 12:00

日時：

毎週木曜日、11:00 ～ 12:00

Cost:

Free for nursery students!

Info:

Call TOPIA at

金額：

託児付き（無料）

088-656-3303

問合せ： トピア
電話 088-656-3303-11-

memoranda

The Shirahito Shrine

Oteki

白人神社
御的祭り

A display of traditional Japanese archery will be held at the

災厄を払い、五穀豊穣を祈願する伝統行事です。弓矢が奉Shirahito Shrine to ward off bad luck for the new year. Come

納されたことを記念して、毎年氏子により開催されている

and see!

ものです。

When: Saturday, February 27

日時：14:00 - 16:00

14:00 - 16:00

Where: The Shirahito Shrine in Anabuki, Mima City
Cost:

2 月 27 日（土）

場所：

Free!

Contact: Call the Mima City Industry and Tourism

美馬市穴吹町口山字宮内、白人神社

入場料： 無料

Division at 0883-63-3114

問合せ： 美馬市商工観光課
電話 0883-63-3114

German HouseFriedensfest
Charity Event

フリーデンスフェスト
チャリティーイベント「フリーデンス」は「平和」、「フェスト」は「お祭り」という意味のドイツ語です。
『フリーデンスフェスト』は、2008

Frieden means Peace and Fest means Festival in German.

年より開催していた『ドイツ国際村支援チャリティーイベ

The Friedensfest is a Charity event for giving donations to
the Peace Village (Friedensdorf International) which wasント』をリニューアルし、こどもから大人まで楽しめる企

reformed in 2008. A event with lots to enjoy for all ages!

画を盛りだくさんにしたチャリティーイベントです。

When: Sunday, March 21

日時：from 10:30am

10：30 ～

Where: Naruto German House Big Hall
Cost:

場所：

1000 Yen for adults (on the day 1200 Yen)

鳴門市ドイツ館

大ホール

入場料： 大人 1000 円（当日 1200 円 )500 Yen for students (on the day 600 Yen)Info:

3 月 21 日（日）小中高生 500 円（当日 600 円 )Call the German House at 088-689-0099

問合せ： ドイツ館、電話 088-689-0099
Fax: 088-689-0909

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 is available in English and Japanese.
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)

受け止めていますか人権の重み-12-