I.I.A. NewsNo. 77

Mar 30, ２０２1

Excerpted version in English
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IIA New Office Opening
IIA ‘s new office will officially open on April 1. Our new office is located at the 3rdfloor of the building which was formerly called “Shimin Danwashitsu (Citizens’
Communication Center). On the same floor, Ichikawa City will also launch theInternational Exchange Lounge which will be operated by IIA, hence the decision
to move to the same space.
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New address: 3rd Floor, 2-4-8 Yawata, Ichikawa City, Chiba, Japan 272-0021
Office hours:

Monday to Friday 9:00 am-5:00 pm
Closed - Sat, Sun & public holidays

Phone/Fax numbers and email address are unchanged
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Ichikawa City International Exchange Lounge
The International Exchange Lounge is set to promote understanding of different
cultures and internationalization by providing information on living and exchange
events to non-Japanese residents in Ichikawa. It will also provide information toforeign tourists in cooperation with the Tourist Information Center.
The lounge will be the place where Japanese and non-Japanese citizens caninteract with each other.
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Official opening: April 1, 2021
Location: 2-4-8 Yawata, Ichikawa city (3rd Fl. of formerly Shimin Danwashitsu)
Hours: Mon - Fri, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (except public holidays & year end/new year）
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・※ IIA is now recruiting assistants for the International Exchange Lounge.
Members who are interested may contact IIA office.
Supporters for non-Japanese residents at Evacuation Shelters
IIA and Ichikawa City have signed a disaster prevention agreement to support
non-Japanese residents. When a disaster occurs and evacuation centers areopened, IIA is expected to send the supporters to evacuation shelters in the city.
We are very grateful that many people have applied for participation assupporters.
Training was immediately conducted through this organization on March 11th, the10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. It was assumed that a huge
earthquake occurred at 10 am, and the city requested for support at the1evacuation shelters. 25 supporters walked their way to the designated shelters(elementary schools) and returned home. Since no shelter has actually been
opened this time, this training was mainly for the verification of thecommunication system.
We will continue to improve this system and make it a highly reliable one thateveryone can easily participate in. We look forward to your participation.
P3Activities under the COVID-19～Looking back on activities in 2020～
In 2020, most of the planned activities were canceled or postponed due to theimpact of the new coronavirus infection throughout the year.
Under such circumstances, some activities were carried out while taking theprecautionary measures to ensure people’s safety and peace of mind.
All exchange projects with partner cities have been canceled or postponed.
However, three contracted projects from the city were carried out - the final yearof the Chef Teachers at 4 elementary schools; World Friends (Video letterexchange) between St. Nicholas School in Issy-les-Moulineaux and Fukijima
Elementary School; and ICHIMAIL translation as an information tool for nonJapanese residents.
The activities of each committee were also greatly affected by COVID-19. Regularprojects such as Japanese language classes as well as German, French, andChinese language classes were held for a limited time. The plenary session had tobe held through written notice. On the other hand, some committees tried a new
initiative by holding online events such as yoga and tai chi using ZOOM, which
seems to be a hint for future activities.
Japanese class under COVID-19 situation (Japanese Language Committee)
Last year, the second year of Reiwa era, the city facilities were available for Japanese
language classes only from August to November. While the number of participantsin the normal year exceeded 10,000, it is expected to be around 3,000 this year.
In conducting the classes, volunteers are struggling with hardships and ingenuity.
For instance, wearing of masks and keeping a distance made it difficult for them tohear their students’ voices.
What is surprising is that 20 volunteers from the Japanese language class havestarted online classes using ZOOM. Online study sessions such as ZOOM are also
held in various forms - for the entire committee, for each classroom and forindividual lessons.

2P4Online Japanese Language Lesson Experience(Contribution)This class covers 35 lessons using the textbook, "Minna no Nihongo", and attendedby 2 Indians and 1 Chinese learners who were usually tolerant of time, but because
it is an online class, the learners were waiting properly before it starts. The learners
are people who use ZOOM at work and are accustomed to operating it, so nosupport was needed other than sending their ID and password.
During the lessons, we provide the students with screen-sharing materials (Excel,PowerPoint) instead of blackboard writing.
Explaining while operating the PC can become complicated, and I could not afford
to take a closer look at their situation.
In addition, learners often speak at the same time, so I think it is necessary todevise ways to use some cues.
With the above-mentioned situation, it seems that it is better to start with a smallclass until we get used to online classes.
French Language Class(Issy-Les-Moulineaux Committee)

We restarted the class in June and immediately formed the LINE group to confirm
the number of attendants, report the contents of the class with photos, and toannounce the future schedule (5 times in total). The class was held with about 15
people while avoiding the 3Cs, disinfecting hands and wearing masks. The instructor
was Samuel Le Youdec. Along with the language course - to speak in French about"How I spent my time recently", he showed us a video introducing the French culture.
He mentioned that Japanese animation is very popular in France, wherein “Captain
Tsubasa" was renamed "OLIVE et TOM" and "Belle and Sebastian" became "BELLEet Sebastian". He shared with us that his family moved to Chamonix because of hismother’s strong love of “Alpine Heidi”. He showed videos of Japan and France during
the Meiji and Taisho eras and talked about the Christmas (Noel) tradition in France.
Although the committee meeting in February was canceled due to the re-declarationof the state of emergency, we look forward to having it using ZOOM and othermeans in the future.
New Mayor in Medan City(Medan City Committee)

Mayor and deputy mayor elections were held in Medan in December last year.
Muhammad Bobby Afif Nasution (30 years old), the son-in-law of the current
Indonesian president Joko Widodo, was elected as the new mayor and so was Aulia
Rachman as the deputy mayor. They took their office on February 26th.
Although 2021 is the year for acceptance of youth delegation from Medan, it ispostponed to next year because Medan City is not well prepared for dispatching3

young students after the elections. Youth exchange program is very beneficial forthe future exchanges between Ichikawa and Medan, and I hope that it will besteadily implemented in 2022.
En Juku will complete its performances (Medan City Committee)
Japanese musicals of the theater company "En Juku", which is composed ofIndonesian university students, have been held every year in various parts of Japan.
“En Juku” was formed in 2011 by the instructor, Ms. Sugako Kaikiri, as a training
ground for Indonesian university students to help them become members of society.
Now that many of the enrolled students have become active members of the society
in the last 10 years, the activities will come to its completion on April 21, 2021,
because the original purpose has been achieved.
The Medan City Committee was able to watch the theater company performance inTokyo. I believe that the Indonesian young members who left the En Juku, whichgave the audience a lot of energy, will become a bridge between Indonesia andJapan in the future. Thank you for the wonderful stage performances.
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The new information tool “News Letter”
The News Letter has begun sending information to IIA members about theactivities of IIA through email, since IIA News was difficult to publish due tocoronavirus pandemic. The articles and composition of NL were decided at amonthly ZOOM meeting, so there was no need to gather at the IIA office.
There were important announcements such as recruitment as well as IIAactivities. The biggest disadvantage of NL is that it cannot be sent to members
who do not have registered e-mail addresses. I would like to ask members who
did not receive the NL to register your e-mail address.
German Study Group (Interpre. & Transl. Committee: iTC)
Due to the frequent state of emergency declarations, community centers had tobe closed, and classes to be cancelled. Our German class was not an exception.
Ms. W. a newcomer to Ichikawa, who moved from Berlin, Germany with her family
last August, suggested an online-meeting. I agreed instantly and informed ourmembers. Eventually, 7 members joined, and our very first German onlinemeeting took place. Introducing briefly ourselves, we talked where and when we
lived in Germany, tips where we could buy good German bread or delicious
German sausages, and how we keep studying German etc. The time went by sofast, and we really enjoyed “chatting in German”.

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I truly hope that the community centers will reopen soon, and that we can holdour classes again, the German class with Ms. Saito as well as the Rosenheim
German gathering. I appreciate all of them very much.
World Friends(IIA)

This project started in 2019, aiming at fostering international awareness foryouth. Selected schools overseas and elementary schools in Ichikawa exchanged
several video letters and cards so far. The schools are Myouden Elementary Schooland 186th Street Elementary School in Gardena, USA , in 2019. Also, Fukijima
Elementary School and St. Nicolas School in Issy, France, had an exchange in2020. The students showed their curiosity about the cultural differences while
respecting each other’s culture. The project has surely helped students getinterested in English, broaden their horizons, and acquire global thinking.
Yoga Lesson(Buddies)

Buddies had stretching and Yoga Lesson in October with our instructor, Ms.
Shinozaki. As it was the first meeting after a long time due to the impact ofcoronavirus, members were happy to see each other again. We had a sharing of
our experiences on how we spent the time during the self-restraint period. We
came to know that someone enjoyed walking outside, another one discovered anew hobby, and that all members who gathered were well and active. The
stretching was easy to learn and I decided to repeat it at home.
At the next meeting, we will be sharing tips on how to enjoy daily life in eachcountry’s manner, which must be fun.
Editor’s NoteSince the beginning of this year, the state of emergency has not been lifted. All
public facilities in the city where we used to hold our activities are closed and weworried that IIA activities would be suspended by almost all committees. However,many committees worked smartly with various ideas as described here such as,
Chef Teacher, World Friends Project, communicating with the elementary school inFrance and teaching Japanese using ZOOM.
It is March 11th today, the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
We don't want to experience it again, but according to experts, it is expected tooccur again. One of the important things is the evacuation drill.
It is difficult to live in Japan which is prone to earthquakes, and some epidemics.
Disasters can be visible or invisible. It is very important for Japanese and nonJapanese residents to work together to confront these difficult situations.

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