MIA NEWS 188ed., Jan. (4)Miyakonojo International Association

Miyakonojo International Association
6-21 Himegi-cho, Miyakonojo-shi,
Miyazaki-ken, Japan 885-8555
TEL 0986-23-2295
FAX 0986-23-3223
http://miyakonojo-mia.com
E-mail mia@btvm.ne.jp

New Years Greetings from the Chairman
Happy New Year.
To all of our members, I wish to thankyou from the bottom of my heart foryour understanding and cooperation
with regards to the association’s activities.
Due to the effects of the Novel Coronavirus, our association has had to cancel
the majority of its events, but we havemanaged to hold our regular Japanese
MIA Chairman
Practice Sessions, the Vietnamese
Hironori Kodama
Cooking Class, the Community Safety
Workshop, the Chinese Conversation Class, as well as
participate in Bonchi Matsuri’s Dance Line. While wemust continue to assess the situation regarding infec-tions, we have a number of events that we plan to holdthis year as well. Miyakonojo is home to 1798 international residents hailing from 42 different countries as of December 2022, and we expect this number to continue toincrease. I believe there are a large number people whonow feel that they often interact with international residents on a day-to-day basis. We provide information on
foreign countries and exchange opportunities, as well as
useful information for international residents’ daily lives;
we hope that we have been able to assist in improving
international understanding, so that we may continue tolive together with people of other languages and cultures.
We are also continuing to work towards incorporation asof the coming financial year. We humbly ask for everyone’s continued support and cooperation into the future.

That time I hiked Mt Fuji - Robyn Halstead (ALT)
Hello, I’m Robyn. Proud South
Some top tips. Take those 100 Yen coins! Using theAfrican, ex evil corporate masbathroom will cost you a 200 Yen donation every time,
ter mind and global pandemicplus there is extreme vending machine inflation thesurvivor. I’ll try anything once tofurther you go up (that hot coffee you’ll want from thesee what sticks and so far that’s
vending machine at the top will be 500 Yen).
been aikido and hiking. Before
Do go for the sunrise at the top, even though it's crowdcoming to Japan, I lived in Capeed walking up with the hundreds of others trying toTown, and we have a big, flatmake it before dawn; it feels like you’re all on themountain that I used to spend
Robyn (left) with her same team.
most weekends on. I’ve had
Get some bells, adding to the jingling on the mountainfriend at the 5th
many adventures climbing up
Station Mt Fuji before is fun.
the different routes of Table
Go on a weekday, it's less crowded.
starting her hike
Mountain and its surrounding
Lastly, don't overthink it, you'll be fine.
peaks; with exciting names like Skeleton gorge, Devil’s I’m so grateful to have experienced a truly bucket list
peak and Lion’s head, who wouldn’t want to explore! I worthy hike. As my souvenir sticker says ‘You don't
miss it, so with my adventurous best friend, weconquer the mountain, you conquer yourself.'planned a trip to climb Japan's most famous mountain:
Fuji-san.
We started at the 5th station like most other hikers
and did the Yoshida trail. There’s a great sense of comradery as people walk slowly, enjoying being outside,and the tinkling of bells placed on walking sticks. It
was really refreshing to go slow. You can't race up themountain because of the fear of altitude sickness andthe queues of hikers. You take multiple stops to enjoy
the view and see what's happening at the various rest
stations, and maybe get a stamp burnt into your walking stick.
At one point we did have a small cloud burst, whichmeant that the rented rain gear was totally vindicated;
if you have to carry up to 3 kilograms of rain gear, youwant to use it at least once. This was followed by a
Photos from Robyn’s trip up Mount Fuji. Top Left:
beautiful rainbow. Most of the hike is a solid plod upSoaked after the rain! Top Right: 2 a.m. taking awards (about 8 hours), then the gravel road from hell
break at the 8th Station. Bottom Right: Interesting
down is about 3.5 hours. My big toe nail has since fallrock formations on the way up Mt Fuji. Bottom Left:en off in protest, I’m still awaiting its return.
+/- 3776m up, just in time to catch the sunrise!

MIA NEWS 188ed., Jan. (5)Miyakonojo International Association

Miyakonojo International Association
6-21 Himegi-cho, Miyakonojo-shi,
Miyazaki-ken, Japan 885-8555
TEL 0986-23-2295
FAX 0986-23-3223
http://miyakonojo-mia.com
E-mail mia@btvm.ne.jp

Aussie Bites! (The Indian Pacific, MIA Office Head Fujimoto Koichiro)
We took an Uber from Adelaide Station nearby staff told us that our gate had been changed. In
to our hotel in the city center, and took a a bit of a panic, we made our way to the new gate
walk around the city at night. After having walked a fair where passengers were already boarding. Flustered, wewhile, we found ourselves at Central Station, the en- boarded ourselves. Shortly after heading out to the runtrance of which is, in fact, a casino. From younger way, our plane came to a sudden stop, and a number
adults to older married couples, everyone was enjoying of other planes passed us by. After around 30 minutes,themselves. I immediately bought in for a few games. we finally took off, whereupon the battering of rain
While it was interesting, I didn’t make any money; my made for a bumpy ride all the way to Sydney. After arson who came with me, however, managed to make a riving, the pilot made an announcement, and I asked
few hundred dollars.
Dalin what they were saying. “When we were taking
As the night drew close, we got into a car that gave us off, we were left waiting due to a power failure in thea tour of the city. Adelaide is a relatively new city struc- plane that caused a full reset, but it didn’t make us
tured akin to a board of Go (grid-like in nature), with that late”, was apparently the gist of it. I’m glad I heard
straight and wide roads once used for F1 races. We that after landing, and not before. With that, my threedrove around the city for about 30 minutes, before day trip from Sydney to Adelaide on the Indian Pacificheading to a forest where Koalas could be found. We came to a close. I think next time, I’d like to try thewere told that ‘There’s a lot of Eucalyptus here, so ex- three day ride from Sydney all the way to Perth. I’d likepect a strong smell’; as we exited the car, that smell to learn a little more English so that I could enjoy theleft us speechless.
trip even more, I don’t think there’s much that can be
The following day, we went to a German-style town done at this stage.
called Hahndorf. With lots of people coming and going, ~FIN~
innumerous shops, and guitar being played on thestreet side, we enjoyed our trip through the town.
In order to make our return to Sydney, we went to Adelaide Airport; while we intended to make our way further inside, we were informed that only passengers
whose flights were departing soon were allowed in.
Even so, there wasn’t really anywhere to stop for a biteto eat outside. After negotiating with the staff, we wereallowed inside. Following our meal, we decided wewould wait by our departure gate. As our time to depart Photos taken from Adelaide’s street side, near the citycenter.
approached, we thought it strange that there had yet to
be any announcements, and that our flight wasn’tlisted near the gate. After inquiring about our flight, theInformation & Notices◇ Hatsu Haru - Connecting Our Dreams!

chance!

Date:
January 15th, 1PM - 4PM“Hatsu Haru - Connecting Our Dreams” (Hatsu Haru,Location:
MJ Hall 1st Floor Lobby
Yume wo Tsunago) is being held in MJ Hall! MIA will be*Pleasetakea
look at the Hatsu Haru flyer sent withholding an exhibition on the same day, focusing on inyourMIA
Newsformore information!
ternational relations and multiculturalism. Our CIRs will
also be in attendance, so please stop by if you have theMovies info

C-Plaza Cine-port (Tel: 0986-24-2571)

17-9 Nakamachi, Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Map-Code (GPS): 117 488 540*55●Bosei (Japanese)●One Piece Film - Red (Japanese)●Avatar: Way of Water (Japanese Sub and Dub)
●Suzume (Japanese)●The First Slam Dunk (Japanese)●Black Adam (Japanese Sub and Dub)
*The 1st of every month is ¥1,100 for everyone.
*Every Wednesday is ‘Ladies’ Day’, all ladies ¥1,100.
*The cinema is closed every Tuesday.
*For session times visit: http://movie.walkerplus.com/th286/schedule.html (Japanese)