awa life

#272

March 2013

Under the Sea
By Mari Reuter

We start this tale back in
August, when the membersof the AJET committee had
to sit in a room for hours
discussing possibilities forthe 19th production of themusical. After hours ofdeliberation, we decided togo with The Little Mermaid.
There were many concernswith the selection, “How will
we make the audience
believe we’re underwater?”“Can we make ourselves
look like we are swimm­
ing?” “What will the fish
look like? What about themermaids?” All we knew is
we had to do it withconfidence.
The two writers went to work
to create a script worthy of
being performed on stage.
There was much analyzing of
the past year’s script andobservation of the movie.

Human Ariel (Photo by Luke Billins)

Inclusion of Japanese culture
and jokes was a key
ingredient too. What makesthese productions unique andfun?

under the sea ...continued on page 3

inside awa life this monthpage 3: under the sea; page 4: the japanese red cross; page
page 5: letter from suketo hoikuien; 6: irene's recipe corner;
page 7­8: japanese lesson; page 8­12: events & memoranda
1awa life is a monthly publication of theTokushima Prefectural International
Exchange Association (TOPIA)

Tokushima Prefectural International
Exchange Association (TOPIA)

Emma Boardman & Martin Rathmann

Clement Plaza 6F
1­61 Terashima Honcho Nishi
Tokushima City 770­0831 JAPAN
tel: 088.656.3303
fax: 088.652.0616
topia@topia.ne.jp
http://www.topia.ne.jp/

Mari Reuter, Yukari Sakabe, Irene
Wachuga, Kazue Inoue, Yoshie Motoki

Download a PDF file of awa life or view theonline version by going to TOPIA's website!

We tried a new layout so let me know,what you think!
Editors:

Contributors This Month:show tokushima some love: awaglot
The literary corner of Awa
Life, Awaglot,
isacombination of the words"awa" and "polyglot", whichmeans multilingual. Be it
fiction, non­fiction, prose or
poetry; funny, sad, long or
short, we want yoursubmissions! If you like towrite, then express yourself!
There is also a classifieds
section for you, ourreaders, to post ads in, but
a few rules do apply!

The following will not be
posted: Religious, political,

or commercial activities,businesses searching forclients or employees, things
the Awa Life editors deem
inappropriate.

If you have something you
would like to share with
the Tokushima community,
email the editors at
awalife@gmail.com !

BUT, you can totallysubmitthis
stuff:

concerts, lectures, andother event information,
cultural, sporting, andother community group
information, etcetera.

Scenery at the Naka River (Photo by Martin Rathmann)2...continued from page 1
The next step was to find adirector. After working on thisproduction for the past three
years, I decided to toss myname in the hat. A new
Tokushima JET also wanted
to take a shot at it. Aftermuch discussion with thecommittee, it was decided tomake us both co­directors.
This hadn’t been done since2009, so I was eager to see
what the experience would
be like. And I must say that
I’m quite happy to beworking on this project with
Brittany. There are times
where we both wondered if
we could have handled all
this work on our own.
Having a co­director lets you
share the work and havesomeone to bounce ideas
off of when you are unsure.
So far in this experience, theauditions were my favorite
part. We got to see
everyone who was excited
for this and really show us
what they had to bring to thestage. Afterward, Brittany
and I got to discuss who we
wanted to play each role.
Matching
peopletocharacters was like playing aguessing game we hoped
we would win. We werequite satisfied with our end
result.

and singing. Then you
have all the sets and props
to worry about, to give theaudience a visual to beable to sink themselves
into the story. Good
costumes and make up
don’t hurt either! Lights,
music,
rememberinglines… all pieces to a big
puzzle that will be complete
once we perform in March.
For those of you not
familiar with the story,here’s a synopsis of ourversion: The tale follows adefiant young mermaid
Ariel who is fascinated withhumans. Her father, who
also happens to be theking of the Seto­Naikai, is
not all too pleased with thisfact and discourages her
regularly. Along with her
fellow fish friend and a
loud, squawking bird, Ariel
ventures into the humanworld only to discover thelove of her life, a prince
named Eric. Sebastian, acautious crab who watches
the young mermaid’s every
move, tries to enforce theking’s rule and constantly
warns her. After an intense
argument with the king,Ariel runs away only to beoffered a deal from thenotorious sea witch Ursula.
She can become a humanin exchange for her
voice… To find out what
happens, come watch themusical!

Sebastian the crab gets ready foraction (Photo by Luke Billins)

Working in a musical has
many parts. First, you must
organize the actors with
their movements, dancing
Blowfish (Photo by Lance Kita)

3the japanese red cross:tokushima division
language service & emergency food preparation drills
by yukari sakabe
The 15th of December 2012
saw the Tokushima branchof the Japanese Red Cross
hosting an emergency foodpreparation drill, bringing 4
members of the Tokushima
Red Cross together with 5ofTokushima’s
foreignresidents.
The
foreignresidents
hailedfrom
Malaysia, Mongolia andChina. The day had 2 aims:
Firstly, to allow members of
the Japanese red cross to
sharpen their translationand interpretation skills.
These skills are needed in
times
of
large
scale
disasters when assistingnon­Japanese speakers atsites such as evacuation
centers and beyond. The
second goal of the exercise
was to heighten awarenessof disaster preparations andprocedures.

The Red Cross participant’sinterpretations
included
explanations of Red Cross
activities,
cookingwithemergency foods, and a tourof an emergency provisions
storehouse. Starting with the
explanation of cooking withemergency
foods,
theparticipants sampled canned
bread (a potential pre­servation period of 5 years),and instant Pilaf rice dishes(prepared with the mere
addition of boiling water).
4

Next, the participants set up
portable emergency ricecookers, and prepared curryand rice using emergency
cookingbags.
With a diameter of 80cm,
the emergency rice cooker
allows 200 rice meals to beprepared in one sitting.
Cook soup, and thisnumber rises to around300. Easy to assemble andeasy to store, the cooker
runs off propane gas or
kindling.
The
sealedemergency
cooking bags ensure foodcan be cooked hygienically.
Sealed bags will preserve
food at room temperature for3 days, and dried plums canbe preserved for 1 week.
The bags are sized to store
individual portions, whichmakes equal distribution
possible, and because thefood is not in direct contact
with the cooking pot, it is notnecessary to wash thecooker after every use. Thismeans that even within ashort period of time, large
amounts of food can beprepared over and overagain. They can be used fora variety of food types,
including: rice, meat andvegetables. What’s more,
the water used to boil thebags needn’t be drinking

water, a precious commodity
in times of disaster. Also, no
dioxin is produced uponincineration of the bags.
DVDs documenting Red
Cross activities following theGreat
EasternJapan
Disaster and the response
efforts carried out as a resultof donations received fromoverseas were shown toparticipants, and there wasa visit to the warehousewhere
emergency
pro­visionsarestored.
At the end of the day, theparticipants
sat
down
together to enjoy their curryand rice, and reflect on theirexperience. It was remarked
that the food tasted good,
and that the session had
been
informative.
The
Japanese Red Cross plans
to continue holding events
tailored
towardsnon­Japaneseparticipants,
including
drillsandeducational
activities.

letter from suketo hoikuen
by kazue inoue
suketo hoikuen staff

The sakura flowers at
our Kindergarten are
slowly blossoming in thewarmth of the sun’s rays,
and we’re beginning our
preparationsfortheSpring.
Areyou
preparing for the start ofa new school or work
year?
Changesinenvironment can affectyour health, so please be
sure to sleep and eat
well.

levels, potentially disrupting
a child’s sleeping pattern.
3. Be calm – A stressedparent, desperate for theirchild to sleep, can lead to a
stressed child.

This month I would liketo introduce some ways
to help your child tosleep:
1. Dim the lights in aquiet room
2. Sing a lullaby
3. Cradle your child andgently pat their back­ 2 sheets of drawing paper­ Scissors­ Pens/Pencils/Crayons­ A straw­ Sellotape

back of one of yourcircles – place theremaining circle on top
and tape around theedge to secure it in place

Instructions:

How to use:

Important points toremember:

1. Do not excite the childbefore bedtime – reading
picture books create arelaxing
environment.
2. Turn off the TV – TV
suppresses
melatonin

Good quality sleep isalso linked to keeping
regular hours and being
active outdoors.

Spinning Picture Card
Materials:

1. Cut your 2 sheets ofdrawing
paper
intocircles of equal size, anddraw pictures on eachone. Try to draw pictures
which
have
an
interesting link – i.e. achick and an egg (asshown in the picture), ora tadpole and a frog.
2. Fix the straw to the

Sakura(Photo: by Martin Rathmann)Place the straw between
both your palms, andmove your hands so the
picture spins around.

5irene's recipe cornerby irene wachuga

Hina­matsuri (doll festival)
is
among
the
major
festivals of the year inJapan. For the well being
and happiness of girls,
many events are held
throughout the country.
Offerings are made andspecial food is prepared.
Falling in March and withspring blossoms in the air,
this is the perfect time tomake this easy and colourful
sushi and show off yourskills.
container that you have.
You can even use a milk
Oshizushi is a type of sushi carton. Just don’t forget to
popular in the Kansai cover the sides with cling
region. It’s made by wrap as it’s easier to repressing blocks of rice and mold and the rice won’t
various toppings into a stick.
rectangular mold called an“Oshibako”. Usually all the Use any ingredients you
ingredients are cooked like and make different(smoked or pickled) and versions.
cooled before assemblingand compressing them in What you need
the wooden box. (Feel free 3 cups of sushi rice
to use any rectangular (will feed 3­4 people)

oshizushi / pressed sushi

Toppings

Kamiyama(Photo by Martin Rathmann)

6­ Smoked salmon 5­10 slices(depends on your mold size)­ 2 eggs (cooked and finely
sliced/ minced)­ Nori about 1 big size sheetor black sesame seeds,­ Beni shouga (red pickled
ginger)­ Ikura (salmon roe)/ tobiko(flying fish roe)
­ Avocado
1. Start layering the bottombase with what will be your
top layer as the mold will be
inverted. Usually the fish.
2. Add a layer of sushi rice
wetting your hands with rice
vinegar so it won’t stick.
3. Add the eggs and therest of the ingredients,
alternating between the riceand the toppings. Combine
different
coloursandtextures for more variation.
4. Press lightly but firmly
after
each
addition.
5. Finish the top layer withsushi rice as this will be thebase when you are serving.
6. Place a light weight andlet stand in the fridge or acool place for up to a day if
not serving right away.
7. Cut into bite size pieces
and enjoy.

japaneselessonby yoshie motoki

have many uses. This month, we will look at expressions
which indicate the direction of movement following an action at a certain location.
An action or event occurs at a location that is not the speakers current
location. When that action or event is over, the subject then moves to anotherlocation – neither (a) returning, nor (b) visiting the location where the originalcomment was made.
An action or event occurs at a location that is not the speakers current
location. When that action or event is over, the subject then (a) returns to, or (b) visits
the location where the original comment was made.
Let’s look at how we would use the grammar to express actions for (a), (b) and (c).

(a) and (b) are both at home when they are speaking.
(a)will buy bread at the bakery, and then continue on to school. (Not returning to thelocation where the original comment was made).
7japanese lesson(b)will buy bread at the bakery, and then return home. (Returning to the location
where the original comment was made)

Their expressions would be as follows:

I will buy bread at the bakery (and continue on).
I will buy bread at the bakery (and return).

(c)(b) talks about (c)’s actions. (c) will buy bread at the bakery, and then visit the (b)’shome (The location where the original comment was made).

(c) will buy bread at the bakery, (and come here).

memoranda

8Tebajima Art Exhibition 2013
Tokushima’s Tebajima Island, located off the coast of Mugi Town is hosting an art
exhibition!
The entirety of the island acts as the canvas for this stand out art event. Utilizing theisland’s beautiful scenery and unused buildings, numerous works of art will be on
display across the island. Contributing artists include renowned professionals fromboth within and outside Tokushima Prefecture, as well as contributions from thechildren of the island.
You can also enjoy island tastes alongside the island pace; Dishes made with local
ingredients will be on offer at eateries, coffee shops and more during the exhibitionseason.
When:
Where:

Sunday, February 3rd, 2013 – Sunday, March 31st, 2013
Kaifu­Gun, Mugi Town, Tebajima Island(Approx. 15minutes by ferry from Mugi Port)
Information: Mugi Town Chamber of CommerceTel:0884­72­0194
Website:www.tebajima­art.jp

Travelogues on UK LiteratureThis event will feature lecturer Shoichi Nasu,
former chief editor of the English Daily Yomiuri,
who traveled around the U.K. for six months
last year visiting locales related to 20 great
artists of English literature such as William
Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Emily Bronte,
Graham Greene, etc. He will be sharing his
insights (in English!) gained from his trip and his
experience.
.
When: March 20 (Wed. national holiday)(doors open at 13:30­, lecture 14:00­,
Q&A 15:30 ­ 16:30)
Where: TOPIA, Tokushima station 6F
Info: Takako Yamada at 090­2787­3597,
Mikiko Bando at 080­6399­1679

6F

Cost: Free!

9

14th Tokushima International Charity Fun Run
Matsushige International Exchange Association is hosting its annual marathon forcharity! Application forms are available at TOPIA, and you will receive an entry fee
form and your race entry number by mail after submitting your application. There will
be prizes for each participant, plus prizes for the first three men and the first three
women who finish.
When:
Where:
Info:
Tel:
Cost:

10

May 12 (Sat) 9:30 Registration
Tsukimigaoka Kaihin Park
Matsushige International Exchange Assc.
088­699­8711
Students 1000 yen, Adults 2000 yen

japanese lessons 2013

japanese language class schedule at TOPIA*To students and teachers: each class has 20 sessions, and requires either the "Minna no
Nihongo I" or the "Minna no Nihongo II" textbook, but they are not required for the General
Group Lessons unless students wish to use them.
*Even if students drop out during the class, class fees cannot be refunded.

1. Eligibility:
2. Place:

3. Fee:4. Notes:

All non­Japanese residents of Tokushima.
Tokushima Prefectural International Exchange Association (TOPIA)
6F Clement Plaza, 1­61 Terashima Honcho Nishi,
Tokushima City 770­0831
TEL 088­656­3303 FAX 088­652­0616
1,500 yen for all 20 sessions, however if there are fewer than 10 sessions left in theterm, the is 750 yen. There are no refunds for leaving a class early, but it is possible toswitch to a class suits your level better without paying extra.
The textbook "Minna no Nihongo I" or "II" is required (2,500 yen).
Please register at TOPIA.
More than one class can be registered for if required fees are paid.
If you wish to change classes after registration, please contact one of the TOPIA staff.

*Depending on the situation, the instructors may differ from those listed here.
*Classes may be cancelled due to inclement weather such as typhoons, heavy rain, or snow.
Please confirm by calling TOPIA at 088­656­3303.

11

memoranda

Counselling Service at TOPIA
TOPIA offers a counselling and advisory service to all foreign residents to help withissues 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. 088­656­3303 or 088­656­3320(allows three­way conversations with an interpreter)12