aWa life
New Year's Greetingfrom TOPIA

Industrial Human Resource
Development Exchange with Lower
Saxony, Germany

January 2023

Wings for a Dream

# 386

1

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

Happy New Year or Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu! We hope that you all had a great holiday season!
We want to thank you for reading Awa Life and we hope you stay with us for another year. As we enter
into the new year, we hope that you are able to start with a big smile and are able to take a few steps toachieve your resolutions. According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, 2023 is the year of the rabbit. Let’s
have a fun and successful year. Wishing you the best!
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:
Seiji Miyoshi, Jia Hua Lin, Takako Koizumi, Junko Kimura, and Naoko Yoshida

Contents

Pg. 2-3: New Year's Greeting from TOPIA2

Pg. 3:

Wings for a DreamPg. 4:

Wings for a DreamPg. 5:

Industrial Human Resource Development Exchange with Lower Saxony, Germany

Pg. 6:

Industrial Human Resource Development Exchange with Lower Saxony, Germany

Pg. 6:

Japanese Culture and Reading Corner: こたつ

Pg. 7:

Japanese Lesson

Pg. 8-9: Events and Memoranda
New Year's Greeting from TOPIA
By: Seiji Miyoshi, Chief Director

H

appy New Year.
I hope that everyone has been in good
health as we welcome the new year. In regards to
COVID-19, the virus spread at an unprecedented
rate last summer due to the new, highly infectious
Omicron strain. Although the number of infections
began to settle down at the start of autumn,
the number of cases continued to increase in
November, and we were standing at the 8th wave
towards the end of the year. However, for the
first time in 3 years we had a summer with no“movement restrictions” and we saw an increasein the flow of people across the country in August.
Additionally, in October the cap on the numberof foreign visitors who could enter the country
was removed, and the ban on individual tourists
entering the country was lifted for the first time innearly 2 and half years. The country also began
its “national tourism support” project.
At the Tokushima Prefectural International
Exchange Association, face-to-face projects
that were previously restricted are now being
implemented with thorough infection prevention
measures. In particular was our Awa Odoriexchange project “Arasowaren”. Although it wasa difficult decision to make in the midst of a sharp
increase in cases, we were able to perform forthe first time in 4 years. In addition to 5 practicesessions, we were able to dance at 2 paid stages

during the actual
festival. With thepassion for wanting
to dance and practicefrom the foreigners
and study abroad
students, we were able
to teach them about
Tokushima’s culture
and deepen our ties of
exchange. Thanks to
the understanding andsupport of the foreign dancers and the volunteers,
we were able to participate without a single
infection case appearing. I would like to take thischance to express my gratitude to everyone fromthe bottom of my heart.
As of the end of June 2022, 6,641 foreign
residents are living in Tokushima, meaningthat 1 in 106 residents of Tokushima areforeigners (approximately 0.9%). This is thelargest number ever. By nationality, 91.5% arefrom Asian countries such as Vietnam, China,
the Philippines, and Indonesia. As a country,
Japan is promoting domestic employment
support for study abroad students in order tostrengthen international competitiveness, aswell as promoting employment to foreignersin specialized or technical fields. As such, it’s

3

New Year's Greeting from TOPIA

expected that the number of foreign residents
will continue to increase. It will be increasingly
important to build local communities where
people from various countries can live together,
accept their differences, and understand one
another. In this new year, Tokushima will take theopportunities of their friendship ties with Lower
Saxony in Germany and their participation in the
US’s largest travel exhibition “LATAS”, to leap
onto the world stage and connect and interact
with people from across the globe in preparation
for the Osaka Kansai Expo in 2025.

attract many visitors as we work towards thepromotion of a creation of a multicultural society.
In closing, I would like to wish everyone a happy
and prosperous New Year, and I ask for yourcontinued understanding and cooperation inregards to our organization. Thank you.

While of course working to make Tokushima
a comfortable place for foreign residents tolive, we plan to cooperate with the prefecture,municipalities, and private organizations inorder to showcase Tokushima to the world andWings for a DreamBy: Jia Hua LinEver since I
was young,I have beeninterested incars like Tomica.
Nearly every
week I would
buy toys relating
to cars and do things such as make mini 4WD
teams or modify radio-controlled cars.
I had always admired Japanese cars, and bysome string of fate I was able to come to Japanafter graduating from middle school. I could barely
speak any Japanese, but I decided that “as I’dalready taken that first step, I’d work to improve
my Japanese, even by a little bit.” After Japanese
language school, I adopted a unique study
method where I would watch Initial D videos over
and over again at home.
After entering high school, I was able to put
into use the Japanese I had diligently been
studying and ended up having many wonderfulexperiences during my school life. While in highschool, I was a member of the physics club andworked as the leader for a disaster prevention
shelter. Since my idea was chosen by the teacher
who worked as our advisor and I was entrustedwith building a model shelter, I knew I had towork hard. We ended up winning silver at theprefectural competition, however, I felt incredibly
frustrated as we missed the gold by just a sliver
due to not being able to communicate as a team.
In order to try something new, I entered the Judoclub in my 2nd year of high school. I practiced
daily, keeping the thoughts “practice diligently”,“take a step forward”, and “put your efforts into
practice” in mind. I entered the local tournamentand obtained my black belt, and even now I can’t
forget the amazing growth that I was able toachieve both mentally and physically.
However, when I was a 2nd year in university,
I was very worried about what kind of path I
should take. I had thought that there would bemany students in the mechanical engineering
department who liked cars, but that wasn’t thecase with those around me. Of course there weresome interesting classes, but the majority of themwere theory-based. Even if I was told “if you likecars then mechanical engineering is definitely for4Wings for a Dream
you!” I felt it was incredibly boring. At one point
I seriously considered quitting and starting a
restaurant, but when I consulted with one of myprofessors, they told me “It would be such a waste
to quit!” so I took that chance to reflect on myself.
Afterwards, I wrote a report about cooking, andby doing so I realized how fun cooking is, and thepossibilities and wonders that it holds. As a result,
I came up with the idea for a “cooking support
robot”, and my goal for the future is to be involved
with the development of robots and cars.

through trial and error, we were able to achieve
the results that I mentioned earlier. This made me
realize the importance of smooth communication
when dealing with an individual’s knowledge andabilities and an organization. I also took a classcalled “Idea Design” where we would even beable to obtain a patent for our ideas. I managed
to get a 100 in that class, which filled me with asense of accomplishment and confidence fromhaving my idea recognized, and also made me
realize just how fun it can be to invent things.

As I gain more knowledge about machines andslowly become able to do things like my own car’s
maintenance and inspection, I grow more excited
to learn about the mechanical field. Currently I
am using the knowledge I have gained to work on
cars via maintenance, inspections, etc. and I end
up losing track of time. When there’s something
I don’t understand, then I have to investigate thecause and fix it, which has helped me improve myability to look things up and work with my hands.
My communication skills have also improved as,
in order to secure a place for work and tools, I
have made friends with tire shops and mechanics.
Also, in my 3rd year of university I had a class
where we had a creative assignment to get into
teams and compete to see who could have an
eraser powered airplane go the farthest distance.
Thinking back to my frustrating memories fromhigh school, I made smooth communication a toppriority, and we were able to set a flight distancethat was 1.5 times that of the previous record.
At first, in order to obtain the ideal airframe, we
calculated the weight, air resistance, etc. of the
airplane, tried making it, and then tried flying it,
but the results were disastrous. We continued tomake the same mistakes, and we were stumped.
With these continuous failures, the team’s morale
was down, but I wanted to find some way for
us to make it work. I then proposed that wefirst build an airplane that could fly a sensible
distance, analyze it, and then improve it throughthe method of inverse calculations. With thatas a starting point, the flight distance increased
and the situation began to improve. Afterwards,
the other members came up with ideas and,

Just like this, I always think about how I can apply
the new knowledge and skills I have obtained
from past experiences. I also like to learn aboutother people’s values and have stimulating
conversations and experiences. I’m also always
thinking about how I can contribute to society inthe future through my experiences.

Mr. Lin's Cooking

5Industrial Human Resource Development Exchange withLower Saxony, Germany
By: Takako Koizumi (Industrial Human Resources Development Center)O

n S e p t e m b e r 1 3 t h , 2 0 0 7 , To k u s h i m a
Prefecture and the State of Lower Saxony
in Germany signed a “joint declaration for
exchange”, and have since deepened theirbonds of exchange in a wide-array of fields,
including economics, education, and sports.
In regards to the realm of industrial humanresource development, exchange began between
trainees and instructors from the Prefectural
Central Technological School and the Lüneburg
Vocational Training Center in the fiscal year of
2015. In the fiscal year of 2017, the Tokushima
Industrial Human Resource Development andExchange Consortium and the BraunschweigLüneburg-Stade Handicraft Chamber, therespective industry-academic-government
cooperative organizations, signed an agreementfor “industrial human resource development
exchange” with the goal of further promoting
the industrial economy of the two states andcontributing to the development of engineers
and skilled workers' insight and expertise inregards to vocational training, thus beginning in
earnest industrial human resource development
exchange between the two states. From the fiscal

year 2018, trainees, students, instructors, etc.
from Tokushima have visited Germany for thefields of beautification, woodworking, automotive
maintenance, etc., and young artisans, trainees,
instructors, etc. from Germany have visited
Tokushima for the fields of metalworking,woodworking, etc., for about 1 week to inspect
and practice at vocational training facilities,
companies, etc. in each country. In the fiscal
year 2019, after Tokushima visited Germany, theGerman side was unable to visit Tokushima due tothe world-wide outbreak of COVID-19. Exchange
was suspended until fiscal year 2021, but thisfiscal year exchange was able to begin again
thanks to the relaxation of the entry requirements.
From November 6th to 26th, 2 woodworking
trainees, 2 automotive repair trainees, and 2
instructors visited Tokushima from Germany fora total of 6 people. They spent 1 week at thePrefectural Technological School, and 2 weeks at
woodworking companies and automotive repair
shops for education and practical experiences.
On the other side, 6 automotive repair andbeautician trainees, students, and instructors
visited Germany from Tokushima from November
26th to December 3rd. They received training
at vocational training centers and companies inthe state, as well as worked to promote mutual
exchange. As a part of our initiatives for thisfiscal year, we increased the stay of the Germandelegation from the usual 1 week to 3 weeks.

6Industrial Human Resource Development Exchange

In order to flexibly deal with industrial structurechanges and technological innovation, as well
as for the prefecture’s economy to achievesustainable, continuous growth, it is essential
to nurture “people” who are the driving force,
especially these young engineers. Throughthis project, we hope to foster industrial humanresources who have an understanding ofinternationalism and broad perspectives, which
will help be the basis for growth of our prefecture.

While planning how to perfect and strengthen
our program by increasing practical lessons atcompanies, we also conducted joint classes at thePrefectural Technological School with instructors
from Tokushima and Germany in order to provide
a chance to learn about Germany’s excellent
technological skills from the meisters themselves.

Japanese Culture and Reading Corner: こたつ
By: Junko Kimura

まいにち

さむ

ひ

つづ

ふゆ

さむ

ひ

みな

いえ

からだ

あたた

毎日、寒い日が 続いていますね。冬の 寒い日、皆さんは、家で どのようにして 体を 温めていますか。
にほん

ふゆ

ふうぶつし

だんぼう

うら

あたた

日本には 冬の 風物詩である「こたつ」という 暖房テーブルが あります。テーブルの 裏に 暖かく
そうち

つ

か

あし

かはんしん

あたた

でんとうてきにほんなる 装置が 付いています。こたつに ふとんを 掛けて、足や 下半身を 温めます。伝統的な 日本の
いえ

かぜ

とお

なつ

すず

ふゆ

さむ

むかし

ひと

へ や

家は、よく 風が 通り、夏は 涼しいですが、冬は とても 寒いです。ですので、昔の 人は 部屋を
あたた

からだ

あたた

おも

はい

暖めるのではなく、体を 温める こたつを 思いつきました。こたつに 入りながら みかんや アイス
た

さいこう

しあわ

あたた

クリームを 食べるのは 最高の 幸せです。こたつは とても暖
ここち

うご

ね

かくて 心地いいのですが、そこから 動けなくなったり、寝て
ばしょ

へ

や

しまったり します。あと、こたつは 場所を とるので、部屋
せま

わたし

なか

が 狭くなります。私は こたつの 中にすうねんまえいうご

居ると動けなくなる

つか

まいとし

「こ
ので、数年前から 使うのを やめました。しかし、毎年、
だ

かんが

みな

ぜ

ひ

たつを 出 そうかな」と 考 えてしまいます。皆 さんも 是 非、
けいけん

こたつを 経験してください。
Vocabulary List
あたた

温 め る Warm (to raise the temperature of a body or object)
だんぼう

people of a particular season 暖房 Heating
そうち

装置 Device
ここち

かはんしん

下半身 Lower body
ばしょとふ う ぶ つ し

風 物 詩 Things which remind

あたた

暖める Warm (to raise the temperature of the air)

でんとうてき

伝統的 Traditional

心地いい Comfortable 場所を取る Take up space

おも思いつく Come up with

7

Japanese Lesson
By: Naoko Yoshida「～てしまいました」「～てしまいました」has 2 different meanings.
① 「Express the completion of something」 ②「Express disappointment or regret」
どう し

けい

Grammatical Construction: 〈動動詞て形＋しまいました〉※There is a shortened form for when you are talking with someone close to you.
ねねね「てしま」→「ちゃ」 寝てしまいました→寝てしまった→寝ちゃったののの「でしま」→「じゃ」 飲んでしまいました→飲んでしまった→飲んじゃった〈Conversation between a parent and child ① Completion of something〉
はは

きら

た

母：嫌いなものも食べなさいよ。・・・・
こ

み

た

た

（食べてしまいました）
子：おかあさん、見て。ぜんぶ、食べちゃったよ。
はは

母：よくがんばったね。
This expression indicates that an action has been completed, and is often used with
かんぜん

「もう、ぜんぶ、すっかり、完全に」 It expresses the feeling of “feeling relieved after completingsomething one had to do” or “completing something that took a lot of time and effort.”
すっかり：Entirely

完全に：Completely〈Talking with a coworker ② Disappointment/regret〉のＡ：バスに乗れましたか。
はしい

Ｂ：走りましたが、バスは行ってしまいました。
Ａ：たいへんでしたね。
わす

お

わ

This expression is used with verbs such as 「忘れる」「落とす」「なくす」「こわす」「割る」
おく「遅れる」that have a negative meaning. It expresses “regret for doing something one shouldn’t havedone” or “feeling troubled due to an unfavorable situation”.
Practice Problems
Change the underlined verb to the「て形＋しまいました」form . Then write the number for whichsituation it expresses. (① Completion of an action ② Disappointment or regret )例：Ａ：どうしたんですか。
でんしゃ

わす

わす

Ｂ：電車にかさを忘れました。→忘れてしまいました。②か

１．Ａ：レポートは書けましたか。
か

Ｂ：はい、もう、書きました。→
おぼ

２．Ａ：スピーチは覚えましたか。
おぼ

Ｂ：はい、すっかり覚えました。→
やくそく

じ かん

ま

あ

３．Ａ：約束の時間に間に合いましたか。
みちおく

Ｂ：いいえ、道をまちがえて遅れました。→
ひる

い

わたし

かね

４．Ａ：いっしょに昼ごはん行かない。 私 がお金をはらうよ。
ざんねん

た

Ｂ：わあ、残念。さっき、食べた。→
Answerか1）書いてしまいました。①

2）覚えてしまいました。①
おぼ3）遅れてしまいました。②
おく4）食べちゃった。②た8Events & Memoranda

Taisan-ji Temple Mochi Carrying Competition
大山寺の力餅This gathering happens every year on the third
Sunday of January inside of Taisan-ji temple.
The event is a competition of who can walk thefurthest carrying a heavy pot filled with mochi ricecake. For men it is 142 kg, for women it is 69 kg.
Even observing will invigorate you and before
you know it you will shout and cheer for thecontestants.
When: January 15th (Sun.)
12:30
Where: Inside Taisan-ji, Itano-gun, Kamiita-cho,
Kanyake taisan 4
Fee: Free*Registration is open untill noon
Women's division: 69 kg
Men's division: 142 kg(These weights are from the previous year)
Inquiries: Taisan-ji
TEL: 088-694-5525
URL: https://taisanji.jp/
Access: 1 hour by car from Tokushima Station*Vehicle traffic will be restricted on the 15thin order to get to or leave the temple.
*There is another event going on on the same
day at the temple. Please check out the web site
for more information.

正月の初会式の行事として毎年 1 月第 3 日曜日に大山寺境内で行われます。男 142 kg・女 69 kgの餅をかつぎ、歩いた距離を競います。見物する方も思わず力が入り思わず歓声を上げてしまう程の名物行事です。
日時：1 月 15 日（日）12:30 ごろ場所：大山寺（板野郡上板町神宅字大山 14-2）
料金：無料※参加申し込みは正午まで
女性の部

69 kg

男性の部 142 kg( 重量は前回開催時のものです）
問い合わせ：大山寺
TEL: 088-694-5525
URL: https://taisanji.jp/
アクセス：徳島駅から車で 1 時間程度
※ 15 日は車両の通行規制があります※同日に大山寺で別のイベントも開催されます。
詳しくはお寺のホームページをご覧ください。

Ikawa Ski Resort Kainayama
井川スキー場腕山"Ikawa Ski Resort Kainayama" is a ski resort 「井川スキー場腕山」は、徳島県三好市に位置す
located in Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture, at る標高約 1,100 メートルのスキー場です。
an elevation of approximately 1,100 meters.
When: Open till March 5th (Sun.)*Schedules are subject to change due tosnow and weather conditions.
Where: Ikawa Ski Resort Kainayama(Hirayama Iuchi-nishi Ikawa-cho, Miyoshi City)
Inquiries: Ikawa Ski Resort Kainayama
TEL: 0883-78-3003
URL: https://www.ikawaski.jp/

日時：3 月 5 日（日）まで営業※積雪・気象条件により日程は変更になる場合がございます。
場所：井川スキー場腕山（三好市井川町井内西平山）
問い合わせ：井川スキー場腕山
TEL: 0883-78-3003
URL: https://www.ikawaski.jp/

9Events & Memoranda

15th Shogo Kariyazaki Flower Arrangement Exhibitionin Udatsu ~Flight Profusion~
第 15 回 華道家 假屋崎省吾 うだつをいける～飛翔繚乱～The Flower Arrangement Exhibition in Udatsu 「うだつをいける」は、今回で 15 回目の開催。
will be held for the 15th time this year. This 今年は華道歴 40 周年記念となります。
year marks the 40th anniversary of the flower
日時：1 月 8 日（日）～ 2 月 26 日（日）arrangement.
9:00 ～ 17:00（最終入館 16:30）
When: Jan. 8th (Sun.) - Feb. 26th (Sun.)
9:00 - 17:00 (Last entry is at 16:30)
料金：1000 円
Fee: 1,000 Yen
場所：藍商佐直 吉田家住宅・あんみつ館
Where: Aisho Sanao Yoshida House Anmitsukan
問い合わせ：
Inquiries: Mima Tourism Bureau
TEL: 0883-53-8599
美馬観光ビューロー TEL：0883-53-8599
Mima City Tourism and Exchange Division
美馬市観光交流課 TEL：0883-52-5610
TEL: 0883-52-5610
URL:https://www.awanavi.jp/spot/31105.html
URL: https://www.awanavi.jp/spot/31105.html

Performing Arts Festival (The 51st Tokushima City Arts Festival)
芸能祭 ( 第 51 回徳島市芸術祭 )Ningyo Joruri Puppet Theater, Nagauta(long 人形浄瑠璃・長唄・バレエ・民踊などの発表が行
songs with shamisen accompaniment), ballet, and われます。
folk dances will be performed.
日時：2 月5 日（日）When: February 5th (Sun.)
開場：11:00
開演：11:30
Open: 11:00
Performance: 11:30[Part 1] Nagauta, Ginei (poem recitation),[ １部] 長唄、
吟詠、
三曲、
琵琶、
謡曲、
民謡
Sankyoku (instrumental trio), Biwa (Japanese[ ２部] 合唱、バレエ、
民踊、人形浄瑠璃、
lute), Yokyoku (Noh song), Minyo (folk song)
阿波フラ[Part 2] Chorus, Ballet, Folk Dance, Ningyo Joruri
Puppet Theater, Awa Hula Dance
場所：あわぎんホール（徳島市藍場町2 丁目14）
Where: Awagin Hall
料金：800 円(Aibacho 2 Chome 14, Tokushima City)（チケットは1 月から一般販売の予定です）
Fee: 800 Yen (Ticket sales are planned to
問い合わせ：徳島市文化協会事務局
begin starting from January)
Inquiries: Tokushima City Cultural Association（文化スポーツ振興課内）
Secretariat (Within the Culture andTEL: 088-621-5178
Sports Promotion Division)
TEL: 088-621-5178

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)
Tel: 088-656-3312 or 088-656-3313 (allows for three-way conversations with an interpreter)