aWa life
Aizome with Kaiyo's
CIRS

March 2023

Awa Koi

Gairaigo Galore:
ギプス
Hanami Map 2023

# 388

1

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

It’s already March! Wasn’t it the end of year holidays just a few weeks ago? Time goes by so fast!
This month we have articles about Tokushima’s culture from both the west and the south, so make sure
to check them out! We also have our annual Hanami Map which will hopefully be useful in planningwhere to check out the beautiful sakura ﬂowers this year. Tokushima has plenty of great spots!
For all of those who like writing, please feel free to submit an article to us at any point in time aboutbasically anything. There are a few limitations though, such as you can’t write about religion, politics,
commercial activities or businesses or anything that we deem inappropriate. But, other than that, we
would be more than happy to receive articles about anything and everything including but not limited
to concerts, lectures, other events, culture, sports, community group information or anything cool that’s
happening in your local community.
We highly appreciate all of your articles and we love reading them. So if that writing bug of yours isbuzzing about, grab a pen or a computer and write and send away! Please send all submissions to ouremail:Your editors,
Sydney and Nicoawalife@gmail.com
Tokushima Prefectural International Exchange Association (TOPIA)
1-61 Terashima Honcho Nishi, Tokushima City 770-0831 JAPAN, Clement Plaza 6F
Tel: 088-656-3303 Fax: 088-652-0616
http://www.topia.ne.jp/
Download a PDF ﬁle of awa life or view the online version by going to TOPIA's website!

Editors:
Sydney Bartig and Nico Bohnsack
Contributors This Month:Bethany Johnson, Tony Lu, Yukari Nagata, M. Tamura and Yukiko Watanabe

2Contents

Pg. 2-3: Awa Koi
Pg. 3-4: Aizome with Kaiyo's CIRS
Pg. 5:

Japanese Culture and Reading Corner: お彼岸

Pg. 5:

Gairaigo Galore: ギプス

Pg. 6:

Tokushima Toastmasters ClubPg. 7:

Japanese Lesson

Pg. 8-9: Events and Memoranda
Awa Koi
By: Bethany JohnsonO

ut in Western Tokushima (NishiAwa), we hold a bunch of crafty
and culture-y events in the dry winterseason called Awa Koi! Have you
ever heard of it? It’s mainly marketed
towards a Japanese audience, so
English information is quite lacking,but it can be a worthwhile adventure
to step out and try to interact with thelocals despite language barriers (which
is not only possible, but the locals loveit when you do! Sometimes English
makes them nervous, but in myexperience, even the shy ones reallywant to talk with you)!
Awa Koi is held between January andFebruary every year, so if you’re stillin Tokushima next winter and want tofind a more fulfilling way to pass thetime in the chilly season, definitely
check it out! The events havesomething for everyone, from crafty
workshops like Japanese umbrella
lamp-making, indigo-dyeing andcrafting cakes and sweets, to droneflying, adventure courses, or kimono
and matcha workshops!
I also run Facebook and Instagram
pages providing English information
for sightseeing spots and events in3
the west, so if you’re looking for things to do andsee, or just want to learn more about Tokushima’s
culture in English, please do check it out! You canlearn more about Awa Koi on these accounts, too,and some of the events can be experienced allyear round by reservation, so feel free to reachout if anything sparks your interest.

Awa Koi

Facebook: Hidden Tokushima
Instagram: @hidden_tokushima

Aizome with Kaiyo's CIRS
By: Tony Lu

H

ey there! It’s Tony here, one of the CIR’s
based in Kaiyo! Some of you may have readabout us in last month’s Awa Life article.
This time around, I’d like to introduce my firstexperience with aizome, or indigo dyeing at the
Awa Kainan Cultural Center in Kaiyo!
You can choose to dye shirts, handkerchiefs etc
or even bring your own! I chose to dye an ecobag with a pattern made from chopsticks andrubber bands after a short explanation from our
instructor, Shoko!

A vat of indigo dye kind of looks like ink! As forthe odor, it’s closer to a bitter, earthy smell of wet
leaves after heavy rainfall rather than the sour
fermented smell of nattob e a n s . To p r o d u c e a
deep rich color and last
as long as possible, thedye needs to be regularly
stirred and be kept at
a steady temperature.
Shoko looks after
each vat of dye every day, as if it were her own
children.
After making the pattern, the bag will undergo aprocess of dyeing, washing and drying 6 times,
getting darker and darker
each time.
I removed the chopsticks
between the 5th and 6th time,
revealing a face:

4

Aizome with Kaiyo's CIRS
After the 6th time, I ended up with this; how coolis that?

We’re also hoping to post articles more frequently,
so please keep an eye out!
Shoko also shared some other interesting
facts about aizome during the activity:● Did you know that the ai (Japanese indigo)plants used to create the dye are grown in Kaiyo?
The warm climate makes it easier to create indigo
dye with a deeper color.
● Apparently, there have been people who havedyed kimonos or even futon covers.
● To care for dyed materials, you should avoid
using detergent and hand wash with water.

You can also enjoy other crafts here, such as
making chopsticks or resin straps. There’s a great
instructor here who can teach you a lot about
indigo dyeing, so come and try indigo dyeing at
the Awa Kainan Cultural Center in Kaiyo!

Tokushima Hanami Map 2023
徳島県花見案内図 2023

5

あつ

ひ がん

Japanese Culture and Reading Corner: お彼岸
By: Yukari Nagata

さむ

ひ がん

「暑さ寒さもき彼岸まで」、と聞いたことはひ がんねん「お彼岸」はありますか？

かい年にきび

2 回あり、これをきっかけに、 厳しい

なつ

あつ

わか

つ

め やす

夏の

暑 さに

別 れを

告 げる、という

目安に

ひ がん

がつ

にち

にち

お彼岸は、3 月 18 日から
ひ がん

さむ

冬の

寒さや

こ とし

はる

なります。今 年 の

春のなの か かん24 日までのぶっきょうてき七日間です。
かんしゃ

く よう

こ

お彼岸は、日本独自の

仏 教 的な

行事です。ご先祖様への

感謝と

供養を

込めて、お墓参りや

ぶつ だん

そう じ

そな

そな

な

仏壇の

掃除をして、お供え物をのに ほんどく じ

ふゆ

ぎょう じ

もの

せん ぞ さま

そな

き も

こ

しなもの

気持ちが

込められた

品物です。春の

ひ がん

お彼岸に

はる

じ ぶん じ しん

あわせて、自分自身のせん ぞ さま

かんしゃ

ご先祖様への

感謝と

もの

ひと

せん ぞ

供えます。お供え物とは、亡くなった人・先祖の

ひ

ひ がん

もち

お彼岸には、ぼた餅を

おお

多いです。

おこな

ふ

行いを

振り返り、見直すのも

ともに、日々のみ

生活を見つめ直して

かん しゃ

そな

ひ ごろ

せいかつ

く よう

供養や、感謝供えることが

日頃の
び

かえ

はかまい

み なお

ふる

しゅうかん

古くからの

習慣です。

なお

みませんか。

Vocabulary List
ひ がん

彼岸
め やす

目安
どく じ

独自
せん ぞ

先祖
く よう

供養

Equinoctial Week
Estimate
UniqueAncestor
Memorial Service

はかまい

そな

もの

お供え物
かんしゃ

Appreciation

感謝
しなもの

もち

じ ぶん じ しん

自分自身
ひ ごろ

日頃
おこな

ギプス (cast)
By: Sydney Bartig

Customs

習慣
み

なお

見つめ直す

Reexamine

Azuki Bean Mochi

ぼた餅

ぶつだん

Buddhist Alter

しゅうかん

Goods

品物

お墓参り Grave Visit
仏壇

Oﬀering

行い

Oneself
Daily
Actions

Gairaigo Galore

Right before New Year, I had the unfortunate experience of being in a bike
accident. I had some bruises and scratches, but what's worse is I broke
my arm - my ﬁrst broken bone in my life! At the very least, I got to learnsome new Japanese words that I probably wouldn't have had the chance
to think about otherwise - the ﬁrst being the word “ ギプス ”.
When telling one of my coworkers I tried using the word キャスト (cast)
to explain the situation, thinking that should be the right word, so I was
surprised when she replied with ギプス instead. I immediately looked it up
to ﬁnd that this was, in fact, the correct word for cast.
ギ プ ス comes from the German word for cast "Gips". If you've been
keeping up with Nico's German gairaigo articles, this may not be
surprising as many medical words actually came from the German
language (check out his article about カ ル テ for more medical
information!). However, one interesting thing is that many people often
mispronounce this as ギブス . (Accidently using ブ instead of プ .) In
fact, I did this for about a week before I realized my mistake!

6

Tokushima Toastmasters Club
By: Founding President M. Tamura

WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE
Have you heard about the Toastmasters
Club headquartered in the USA since 1924? It
is a non-profit educational organization where
Leaders are Made and has spread to 144
countries with a membership of 280,000 in 14,700
clubs worldwide. In Japan, there are about 3,800
members in 215 clubs. It has helped people fromdiverse backgrounds become more confident
speakers, communicators, and leaders. We learn,
practice, and improve our communication andleadership skills by doing various assignments
and helping each other. There is no teacher
though.
Tokushima TMC was born in 2000 as the 1st clubin Shikoku and is now in its 23rd year. It has been
fostering many seasoned Toastmasters who arevery active both publicly and privately. We meet
every 3rd Sunday at TOPIA’s meeting room andhold regular meetings from 13:30 to 16:00 in
English.
There are 3 speech sessions at the regularmeetings:
1. Prepared speech – Several speakers maketheir speeches based on the project speciﬁed on
Pathways and speak for 7 minutes.
2. Evaluation speech – Each evaluator makes anevaluation speech about the given speech for 3

minutes to improve the speech.
3. Table Topics speech – Several speakers makean impromptu speech for 2 minutes on the title
given on site.
To make our regular meetings constructive andenjoyable, various roles are assigned such as
timers, vote counters, Ah counters, etc. Contests
such as International Speech contests, Evaluation
contests, Table Topics contests, etc. are held, andevery summer the International Speech Contest
is held for all Toastmasters in the world to choose
the best speaker in the world. Our member
Marama Carmichael Kishimoto has become
Japan’s champion 3 times in 2018, 2019 and2020, and represented Japan at the world stage.
On September
20, 2020 we
had our 20th
anniversary
event which
included ac e r e m o n yand the 20th
anniversary
publication to record our milestone. Due to the
Covid-19 pandemic, the ceremony was held
hybrid and about 90 old and new members
attended.

Attended by 35
members onsite and56 online across thecountry

7 charter members
including 2 online

Anniversary
Publication

For further updates, please visit https://tokushima.toastmastersclubs.org/ or https://www.toastmasters.
org/. Please come and join our friendly and enjoyable meetings as a guest to see what’s going on,
have fun together, and to expand your world further.

7Japanese Lesson

By: Yukiko Watanabe

めいれいけい・ き ん し け い

命令形/禁止形
Look at the picture.「にげろ」means ‘run away’, and「とまるな」means ‘don’t stop there’.

あぶない！

These are imperative and prohibitive forms.
They are both used to quickly warn someone aboutsomething dangerous.
If you don’t understand, then you could die, so let’s learn how the forms work.
めいれいけい

【命令形】
まえ

だん

だん

Ⅰグループ：「ます」の前のひらがな い段→え段
れい

うご

うご

例：動きます→動けけい

Ⅱグループ：ます形 ます＋「ろ」
れいに

とまるな～！

に

例：逃げます→逃げろきこⅢグループ：します→しろ・来ます→来い
きんしけい

【禁止形】
じしょけい

れい

と

と

Ⅰ・Ⅱ・Ⅲグループ：辞書形＋「な」 例：止まります→止まるな
れんしゅうもんだい【練 習 問題】What’s the meaning of the underlined word?

①いいぞ、はしれ～！

１）
てん②いけ～！ ③点をとれ～！
２）

き けん

④さわるな！危険！
３）

こうじちゅう⑤工事中 はいるな！

Answers：① Run! ② Go! ③ Take it! ④ Don’t Touch!

⑤ Don’t Enter!

8

Events & Memoranda
2023 Term 1 TOPIA Japanese Classes Schedule
Time: 10:30-12:00

Location: Meeting rooms at TOPIA (or online via Zoom)

Fee: Free

Textbook: We will be using the “Minna no Nihongo I” or the “Minna no Nihongo II” (2 nd edition) textbooks (2,750 yen for the bookand audio CD). Please prepare the textbooks on your own. Additionally, there will be themed lessons on various topics suchas seasons and life in Tokushima.

DAY

TEACHERLEVELCLASS DESCRIPTION
We will study a variety of verb conjugations such as te form, nai form,

TUE

Ms.Tamaki

Elementary 1

and dictionary form.
Text: Minna no Nihongo I from Chapter 14~25
This is a flexible group study class split up into 3 different groups.

WED

Volunteers

Group Lesson*For parents of young children, a childcare worker will be on hand to lookafter your child during the lesson. (Please inquire in advance.)

THU

Ms.
YamadaElementary
2・3

START
DATE
April 4(20 times)

April 5(20 times)

We will study various forms and expressions such as potential, volitional,
imperative, prohibitive, conditional, reasoning, passive, causative, andhonorific expressions.

April 6(25 times)

Text: Minna no Nihongo II from Chapter 26~50
FRI

Ms. Aoki

Beginners

We will take the first step towards learning basic expressions.
Text: Minna no Nihongo I from Chapter 1~13

April 7(20 times)

We will study various forms and expressions such as potential, volitional,
SUN

JTM

Elementary 2

imperative, prohibitive and conditional expressions.
Text: Minna no Nihongo II from Chapter 26~38

Volunteers

Group Lesson

April 9(20 times)

This is a flexible group study class split up into 3 different groups.

* Please register for Group Lessons at least a day before the class. (If you do not sign up in advance and show up on the day of theclass, we may not be able to find a group for you to study with.) Additionally, as the number of groups are limited, we may not beable to find a group that suits your level.
* If you are unable to attend class, please call and let us know. (TEL: 088-656-3303, Email: topia@topia.ne.jp)* The Volunteer Classes on Wednesday and Sunday will be cancelled if no students show up within the first 30 minutes.

TUE

Ms. Kimura
OthersSpecialA class for those who cannot read or write hiragana or katakana. We

You may

Beginners

will study the basics, such as the Japanese alphabet, greetings,

join at any

Classnumbers, and items. We will also be learning about Tokushima.

time.

*Classes may be cancelled if there is a typhoon, heavy rain, heavy snow, etc. Please call and confirm if classes will still be held.
Japanese classes are also available at the Anan International Association, Aizumi Town International Exchange Association,
Yoshinogawa International Exchange Association, Mima no Sato, Minami Multicultural Coexistence Network "Harmony", the Clubfor Thinking about Multicultural Coexistence "Tomoni" in Tsurugi Town, Awa International Exchange Association, andthe NPO "Attakaiyou" in Kaiyo Town.

Website: https://www.topia.ne.jp/english/

9

Events & Memoranda
AJET Musical: The Little Mermaid
AJET ミュージカル：リトルマーメイド

For over twenty-five years, AJET has hosted a
local English musical in Tokushima. Each spring,
the show is run by volunteer ALTs for the beneﬁtof the Tokushima community and re-tells someof our favorite musical stories in a unique way,
adapted to be an enjoyable event in simple
English. It began as a way for JETs to connect
and make friends during the long winter months
and helped bridge the gap between our student’s
lessons and more difficult native material. The
musical aims to promote the enjoyment oflearning English in Tokushima.
This year’s story is “The Little Mermaid.” Whena young mermaid falls in love with a human, she
is willing to do anything to live with him on landin the human world. But can they be together?
And how will she avoid the danger of the evil sea
witch? Come and see AJET’s take on this classic
tale for a fun-ﬁlled English evening!
There are four showings: Ishii, Saturday March
4th, Kitajima, Sunday, March 5th, Katsura,
Sunday, March 12th, and Wakimachi, Saturday,
March 18th. By tradition, the last show is usually
in Wakimachi at the Odeonza, a traditional kabuki
theater that is a very unique place to visit!
Come enjoy the re-opening of the AJET Musicalfor the ﬁrst time since covid!

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