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Today's Contents:
1. The first bits: Okazaki Guidebook, Typhoons, Earthquakes, Acts of Kami etc, Bulldozers, New Caretaker, Japanese Language Proficiency Test, Halloween Party photos and End of Year/Christmas Party, Red Leaves and "Kurisumasu"
2. Course and accommodation information: Winter, April 2005 Applications
3. Student Interview: David Chart (UK, AJSP)
4. Japan Guide: Hakodate (Hokkaido) and Zenkouji (Nagano)
5. About The Yamasa Institute
Greetings and salutations. At last! Its time for another newsletter. As many of you have commented, it is a more than a little late. mea culpa mea culpa & moushiwake gozaimasen. The past few months have been hectic here in Okazaki and a lot things have changed (apart from my hairline, all for the better). There will be more changes in the next 12 months than in the last 5 years, with new apartments to be completed by the end of April 2005, a completely new admissions system (currently being beta tested) that should allow you to get confirmations of course acceptance, accommodation bookings, etc within about 60 seconds of application, and a few other exciting innovations.
(1) The first bits:
First up - email problems appear to be fixed (we think) at least as far as the technical side is concerned. There are a few networks where we do not appear to be able to receive emails from (or vice versa), but an alternative system is in place. The contact page has been updated. Please note that while the technical side appears fixed, the human side isn't. We are still receiving around 400 emails a day, and a backlog can quickly occur if there are any unscheduled distractions (such as having to drive to the Toyota police station to politely request that a certain student be allowed to leave the station, traffic jams encountered during airport pickups, visits to hospitals, long and on-going discussions with architects etc etc etc - it never seems to end).
If you sent an email and didn't receive a reply - please note that we are not ignoring you. More likely it is that you are one of a few people we had trouble contacting - please drop us a line, particularly if you are a student at Linkoping University in Sweden - or you are still in a queue (a line). Also, please feel free to use the bulletin boards to ask questions - it is rare that a question is asked for the first time, you will get an answer faster, and if questions are asked via the bulletin board we will soon have an archived and searchable resource. Also, a big thanks to Brandon Niven (USA, AIJP, Residence U) for his on-going work on an updated student manual. We are hoping to have the draft version of the manual online later this month, initially in PDF format.
(a) Okazaki Guidebook: The online version of the new Okazaki Guidebook is up, and looking at the server log quite a few of you are already using it. If you are looking for a place to do karate, eat succulent delights, visit a Jodo, Zen or any other kind of Buddhist temple in Okazaki, find the perfect souvenir, find out much it costs to send a box full of dictionaries/texts/notes etc home by air economy post at the end of your course, discover which festivals are when, book a hotel for your parents or friends coming to visit you, find out where you can get the perfect pint of Guinness on a Monday night, read up on how to open a bank account or find a good camera shop, and so on and so forth, have a good look.
The guidebook is an online version of my deadtree book, kindly sponsored by the Minami Okazaki Rotary Club. Special thanks to Chris Resnik (Switzerland, AIJP, Student Village) who is doing all of the webworkstuff, freeing me up to reduce the email backlog, update the program catalog, and err, finally get around to doing the newsletter. If there is something you can't find, please send an email to Chris at info [at] mikawa [dot] cc and ask your question. All feedback also welcome. If you are interested in volunteering to help with the guidebook (writing articles, proofreading etc - please let him know)
Oh yeah - one problem with the online version is that it is *shtml, and for some reason our server in California is able to serve the files to the Explorer and Opera browser, but not to Mozilla, Firefox and a few others. If using (for example) Mozilla, you get a rather sad server side error message when the file fails to resolve. If you are in Aoi Hall and you overhear the voice of a tired and irritated bearded Irishman muttering about how certain Californian engineers should be the first lined up against the wall when the revolution comes - please ignore him, especially if you are an engineer from California. I don't mean you.
(b) Typhoons, Earthquakes, Acts of Kami etc: There were 28 typhoons this year, and 10 of them entered Japan. The center of one large typhoon (#10) passed through quite close to Okazaki City, forcing us to cancel classes for the day. With that typhoon there was a fair bit of wind, but for the most part it was just rain. There was no damage and no injuries in Okazaki (nothing ever happens here!) It was just a very wet October. And now that we are talking about mundane aspects of weather, please let me share with you the fact that the wettest month of the year is September, which usually brings more rain than the official "rainy season" (see chart) because it is when the typhoons come along. For some reason this year the typhoons were nearly as late as this newsletter. But I digress. Apart from making the earth a little soggy, the other major news was that the earth also moved. In September and again in November there were major earth tremors. On September 5th there was 2 large tremors with the epicenter south of the Kii Peninsula a few hundred kilometers off the coast of Wakayama prefecture in the evening, the aftershock rumbling through around midnight. I didn't feel the first shake, as I was still driving home from a Discovery tour, the final destination for the tour that day ironically being the Neo Fault Observation Center near Usuzumi in the backblocks of Gifu. That center was built on the (supposed) epicenter of the massive magnitude 8 tremblor that occurred in 1891. I'd only just finished writing about the place in my diary (I'll publish something about the center in the Japan Guide soon) when the second tremor shook.
As with the typhoons, the tremor (about a 4 on the scale by the time it reached here) caused no damage and no injuries in Okazaki (nothing ever happens here!). All of Yamasa's buildings are relatively new, well built and low rise. Following the standard procedure for earthquakes and tremors, I picked up my whiskey glass to ensure that there would be no spillage, and waited for the table to stop shaking. 30 seconds later, I put my glass back down and sent an email to parents and friends explaining that I was OK and that a nice bottle of Irish whiskey would be much appreciated (to steady the nerves etc). Like everywhere else in Japan, Okazaki is a place where people go crazy over cherry blossoms but earth tremors are ignored. The basic preparations/rules for Yamasa students are:
(c) Bulldozers Part 1: The bulldozers from the infamous last newsletter are gone. In their place, is a completed coin laundry that has super-dooper washing machines that cost from 300 yen to 700 yen (depending on the size of the machine you need) and powerful clothes dryers from heaven. Well err, from Sweden at any rate. The dryers cost 100 yen with the duration being from 5 to 10 minutes depending on the machine, some of which are huge and can even handle drying futons. As mentioned in the last newsletter - in conversations and interviews with many students over the past few years there have often been comments regarding the dryers. The dryers in the student village and at Yamasa Villa were essentially designed for household use, and during periods of extensive heavy use gradually take longer to dry clothing than designed. The feedback we received from students is that it took a lot of time to dry important things such as blankets, futon covers, heavy clothing and the like. The new coin laundry has large front loading industrial strength machines. These machines cost a ridiculous amount of money, but by allowing the general public (who also need dryers) to use the facility - the revenues will hopefully cover the majority of the costs involved.
The construction took less than a month. Students in Residence K and Residence L now have a pretty convenient coin laundry to augment the small washing machines in their apartments (and dryers - useful now that it is winter). Students living in the student village still have a coin laundry inside the village (200 yen), but now have the option for larger machines a 30 second walk from the village entrances. While washing your clothes you can listen to FM Okazaki (Yamasa's radio station), study and chat etc, but please note that the laundry currently closes at midnight and doesn't have a coin changing machine. Please bring enough 100 yen coins to do your washing, or head 10 meters next door to the Mini Stop convenience store and buy a cheap drink or something.
For those of you who miss the bulldozers and are pining for their return, take heart. They will be back. See below.
(d) Bulldozers Part 2: Apart from the technical glitches we have had since April (did I already mention how certain Californian engineers should be the first lined up against the wall when the revolution comes? I think I did yeah...) another reason for the increasing number of grey hairs on my head is the increasing number of students applying for our programs. About 1/3 of applicants are accepted, and there is a lot of work involved. An additional problem is that of housing availability - the Institute's accommodation has been full since May. We have needed to rent some apartments off-campus, and given that part of the problem is the increasing preference for single room apartments, we simply need more rooms as 171 isn't enough. 20 new student apartments will be built between now and the end of April next to the student village. The bulldozers will be back in action quicker than you can say "Arthur Dent", but the floor plans and other information won't be on the website for another 2-3 weeks.
(e) New Caretaker: While we are on the subject of accommodation, as part of our objective of ensuring the safety and functionality of the student village, we have a new caretaker. Goodbye and thank you to the former caretaker Yamazaki-san and youkoso! to Niwa-san. Mr Niwa's cellphone number is on the noticeboard next to the door of his apartment in the village (next to the common study room with the computers). If you live in the Student Village please write it down and keep the number handy.
(f) Japanese Language Proficiency Test: The JLPT is this Sunday, and good luck to all of you. Unfortunately the results of the real test won't be received until February (as usual). Good News First: I noticed that the results of the "mogishiken" held on November 18th were pretty good, so big things are expected of you this weekend. Bad News Second: Since Zig Zag is a student bar and the exam this week is the most important for the year, the bar will be closed this Friday night. As compensation though, the bar will be open on Sunday (the first time the bar has ever opened on a Sunday), with ridiculously low prices, for the official post-exam "Meltdown" party. Only 500 yen for a "Pretty Damn Decent". 700 yen for a pint of Guinness. 100 Yen off the prices of all other drinks.
(g) Halloween Party photos and End of Year/Christmas Party: The photos from the Halloween Party are now on the website. Congratulations to Trine Mork (hope you enjoyed the bottle of junmaidaiginjou), thanks to Miki & Chris, and last but not least a special message to Heikki from Finland - we luv ya, but could you show a little more social decorum next year. Last year was difficult to explain, but this years performance was more than a tad off the scale. The End of Year/Christmas Party will be held Wednesday 22nd December from 7pm in Zig Zag (the next day is a public holiday). As with the "Meltdown Party" - lots of discounts. 500 yen for a "Pretty Damn Decent". 700 yen for a pint of Guinness. 100 Yen off the prices of all other drinks.
(h) Red Leaves and "Kurisumasu": Its getting cold. Temperatures have fallen, Autumn (thats fall for those of you living north of Mexico) is nearly over. There are a few places where you can still see the beautiful red leaves, but not for much longer. If the lower temperatures were not enough already, these days the sun sets around 4:50pm or thereabouts, so make sure you get some sun during lunchtime - it might be dark before you finish your homework. On the bright side, its Christmas decoration time, so increasingly there are hundreds of lights everywhere as Japan dusts off the luminere. Commercial "light ups" are old school, but household Christmas lights are a comparatively new fad, but one that is taking off in a big way. At the bookshops, there are racks of magazines competing with each other to teach you the "right" way to luminere with appropriate "Xmas Atmos". If the-way-of-tea is any guide, in 200 years or so there will no doubt be different schools of thought as to how to luminere, and a grading system to sorts the masters from the apprentices from the riffraff.
In some parts of town such as the village just down the hill from the Okutono Jinya, it has practically become the law to decorate your house in gawdy "so-much-for-the-kyoto-protocol" lighting extravaganzas. The idea is that people can express their individuality through illumination. For a month or so it takes on almost Monty Pythonesque proportions, moer or less along the lines of Yes! We are all individuals! We must all decorate our houses in nearly the same way, as it is almost essential for householders in the area to decorate their houses in a suitable gaudiness. Individuals from northern Okazaki and southern Toyota City drive their cars (Toyotas of course) to the area to have an individual look, so within a few hours the narrow roads of the area lead to gridlock. Okutono Jinya itself is always worth a visit (during daylight hours), so perhaps it would be a good Friday afternoon/evening excursion, but if you are interested in having a look please take the bus (its too far for a bicycle in case you are wondering), especially if you don't have a Toyota.
Far easier than Okutono Jinya, are the Christmas decorations at Nagoya station (on the Sakura-dori side of the station). It isn't (yet) as overdone as Hong Kong, but year-by-year the Xmas lighting covering the twin towers draws an increasing 'ooh' and 'aah' from the locals as the festive mood permeates the land. This year's towers includes a digital snow storm and five tall Christmas trees (only 3 of them are authentically fake). Don't forget your camera. Another good place for luminere is the pseudo-Danish theme park in Anjo called "Denpark". A wonderfully bizarre place complete with microbrewery, little mermaids and beautiful gardens - and from an educational point of view not a bad place to get a feel for the way the locals view (at least one part of) the outside world.
(i) Other bits:
The Editor
Yamasa News
The
Yamasa Institute - Aichi Center for Japanese Studies
1-2-1 Hanehigashimachi
Okazaki
Aichi Japan 444-0832
(2) Course Information
Accommodation
If you are coming to Okazaki during the next few months, please visit the housing availability site, which has been upgraded.
Message from Yukiko Iijima (Housing Officer): Please also note that it is extremely important that you rank your accommodation preferences clearly. Upgrades are possible in the event of cancellations - so if your first preference is a single room in the village, select "Village single" as first choice, "Residence U" as your second choice and so on.
Long-term Courses:
Applications for April Student Visa intake: Its not too late to apply. The website lists December 5th as the first deadline, and January 5th as the second. If you are under the age of 30, or have been studying fulltime sometime in the last 3-5 years, and are from an OECD country, then early January is fine. If you are waiting for an application kit to arrive, or have made an error on a form and want to obtain a new one, all of the paperwork can be downloaded here. (pdf format). Please note that if you haven't completed the form called - Student Visa Application Kit Request Form - then we need you to do so. It will speed up the processing of your application when the documentation reaches Yamasa. Please also note that we will take into account a number of factors when considering a student visa application including age, academic background, nationality and so on - automatic acceptance of a student visa application is not guaranteed. If you need more information about dates, please check the deadlines for the student visa listed in each course in the program catalogue. If you wish to apply for the April 2005 start and have not yet applied, please contact Admissions.
Short-term courses:
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Tour destinations: There are still a few vacancies for the
Hokkaido tour in February.
We will be visiting a variety of destinations including Hakodate -
Fort Goryokaku, Mount Hakodate, the Kanemori historic area and the Hakodate Beer Hall. In Sapporo we visit
Odori Koen & Makomanai sites for the Sapporo Snow Festival, Susukino for the ice carvings and Ramen Yokocho.
Jozankei Onsen, Skiing/Snowboarding, Aka Renga, the Hoheikan in Nakajima-koen,
and the Winter Sports Musuem - enjoy riding a bobsleigh, try your reflexes as a hockey goalkeeper, or simulate flying
off the 90 meter jump! There are also many other destinations.
See http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/english/programs/discovery_20050204a.html for more information. |
Skiing/Snowboarding Also, please keep January 25-27 and February 8-10 free if you want to go skiing at Hakuba (site of the 1998 Winter Olympics) and schuss down the Super G course, snowboard, or try throwing snowballs at Declan. Retaliation is guaranteed.
Discovery Tours all have vacancies - contact Admissions for further information. Tour dates for this year are available at http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/english/programs/discovery_dates.html
All Extension programs have space from December 22nd. For Academic programs, the next available start date for AIJP, AJSP and Acceleration Format 1 is January 5th 2005.
3. STUDENT INTERVIEW: David Chart (UK, AJSP, Residence U)
 |
| David Chart |
David: (Silence)
Declan: Umm.. Which part of England are you from?
DC: I was born in Manchester, and I was living in Cambridge before I came here.
DM: And you were at the University?
DC: Yes.
DM: Teaching?
DC: Teaching.
DM: Teaching what? I had a quick browse through your homepage on my way here and read about the theory of understanding, the bit about feminist bank tellers and the ineffability of a certain deity, but what were you actually teaching?
DC: I was teaching the history and philosophy of science.
DM: Which I guess is called the Faculty of History and Philosophy of Science or something like that?
DC: Department yeah.
DM: Which I would hope has absolutely nothing to do with Sailor Moon?
DC: Absolutely not (laughing).
DM: I must confess that when I came across the err, Sailor Moon bit of your homepage, well er I was a bit worried about it to be honest.
DC: (laughing) Although perhaps not as worried as I was.
DM: Now were you teaching at any particular college?
DC: Across all colleges.
DM: From memory I think you did your doctorate there as well?
DC: Yes. Actually I did my Bachelors right through to PhD there.
DM: Thats a long time in one place...
DC: 13 years all up including work. Cambridge is an easy place to....
Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/newsletter/student_int_61.html
4. Japan Guide: Hakodate (Hokkaido) and Zenkouji (Nagano)
Hakodate: During February as part of Yamasa's Japanese winter programs, Japan Discovery will be visiting Hakodate. The city of Hakodate is located near the southern tip of the island of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait from the main island of Honshu. With over 290,000 people, it is Hokkaido's third largest city. The name of the city originated during the Muromachi era (1392-1573), from the mansion of the Kono clan. Since the mansion was shaped uniquely like a box (hako), it became the city name "Hakodate (the box mansion)."
As one of Japan's first cities to be opened to trade with the West in 1854 after the era of isolation, Hakodate's development also experienced a degree of foreign influence. With a port with easy access to both the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan and a region blessed with very fertile ground, Hakodate's popular morning market continually offers a rich variety of seafood and agricultural products.
Many of the city's attractions can be reached by...
Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/hokkaido/hakodate.html
Zenkouji: While the city of Nagano is more widely known as the host city of the 1998 Winter Olympics, its origin and development is centered on the grand 1,400 year-old Buddhist temple, Zenkouji. The clouds of incense smoke and prayers of countless pilgrims at the main hall attest to the importance of Zenkouji as an authentic place of worship.
Legend indicates the temple was founded in 644 AD. The Hondo, or Main Hall, had burned down several times prior to construction of the current structure. The original location is actually about 80 meters south of the Hondo. An Enmei Jizo statue marks the location of the former main hall.
According to legend, the Amida Golden Triad enshrined in the main hall was the first...
Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/nagano/zenkouji.html
5. ABOUT THE YAMASA INSTITUTE
The Yamasa Institute is compromised of two teaching centers - the Aichi Center in Okazaki and the Online Center providing Japanese education worldwide. It is committed to providing high-quality education in the Japanese language. We are a non-profit organization, a part of the Hattori Group. We are accredited by Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education - APJLE, accreditation number B302 - and "the only Institute in the Mikawa region with the appropriate programs, systems, curriculum and facilities required for quality Japanese language education" according to the Ministry of Justice. Further, in recognition of the excellent quality of our programs, we are in the top tier of 'Appropriately Authorized Japanese Language Education Institutes' - in fact, the only school in the Mikawa area with this prestigious recommendation. For full details see the accreditation section on the homepage at http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/english/accreditation.html
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