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Today's Contents:

1. The first bits: Strange food, JLPT Test application - more information, Yahagi River trip.
2. Course information.
3. Student Interview: Martin Hansson - (AIJP Sweden)
4. Japan Guide: Universal Studies Japan (Osaka)
5. About The Yamasa Institute for Japanese Studies
6. Subscription Information

Tel: +81 (0) 564 55 8111
Fax:  +81 (0) 564 55 8174 (admissions)
Fax: +81 (0) 564 55 8113 (student affairs)
Email: admissions@yamasa.org
Email: newsletter@yamasa.org
URL: http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/
URL: http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/

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2. Course Information

Accommodation:

During July all of Yamasa's accommodation is at capacity. Students applying for courses during July and at the start of August may have to stay in the Rec World Hotel for some or all of their stay. From the second week in August there are a very limited number of vacancies in the student village and studio apartments. There are usually some last-minute changes, so check with admissions@yamasa.org for information or see the availability file for details.

Accommodation in apartments in the annexe of the Rec World Hotel (near Daijuji temple) will be used whenever Yamasa accommodation becomes full. The prices for the "1K-Single" and "2K-Shared" room options have been discounted and are now the same price as per the Student Village. For more information on the apartments in the Rec World Hotel annexe, please see the following pages:

http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/english/hotel.html (for accommodation description)

http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/english/tankisei.html (for price list of accommodation)

Message from Housing Office: 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, the "Hotel single" as your second choice and so on.

Long-term Courses:

Student Visa: Applications for October 2001: The deadline for General Applications was June 20th. Applications for the October student visa have now closed and no more applications will be accepted (though existing student applications currently being processed will have until July 20th). If you are not sure about the deadlines, please check the deadlines for the student visa listed in each course in the program catalog. If you wish to apply for the next start-date of April 2002 please complete an application form online (see program catalog for details: http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/english/programs/apply.html) or contact admissions@yamasa.org for more information. The deadline for the April 2002 student visa start is December 20th 2001

Short-term courses:

Discovery tour starting on August 24th - itinerary at: http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/english/programs/discovery_tour20010824.html Contact admissions@yamasa.org for details. There are still a few places available - join a very small private tour of all the best parts of Japan. Includes Nara, Kyoto, Ago Bay, Goza Beach, Kunizakari Sake Brewery, Atsuta Jingu, Arimatsu, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Handa, Tokoname, Uji, Byoudou-in Temple, Futamigaura, and many other locations.

Other Discovery Tours all have vacancies - contact admissions@yamasa.org for further information. Tour dates for this year are July 27th, August 24th, September 7th, October 19th and December 14th.

All SILAC programs have space but accommodation is limited. Contact admissions@yamasa.org as soon as possible for information.

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Martin Hansson

3. STUDENT INTERVIEW: Martin Hansson (AIJP - Sweden)

Due to the unprecedented success of Brett Robson's last two interviews, Brett is taking a well earned 'break' from interviewing.......

Jon: Martin, would you like to become famous and be the first Scandanavian to be interviewed for the newsletter?
Martin: I'm not sure about the famous bit but I'll do it.
J: Great! And I'll need to take a photograph as well.
M: Do I have to wear anything special for the photo?
J: 6 inch flares, a kipper tie with matching shirt, medallions, unnecessarily large sideburns and a tight perm would go down a real treat - but otherwise no.

J: Now then, you started studying in the AIJP program from April, how's it going?
M: Good, I just moved up a class to F class. It's harder than before but I feel I'm really learning a lot - most people seem to be really motivated so it creates a good atmosphere in the classes.

J: So how did you manage to move up a class, all I ever managed to do was move down!
M: I asked the teacher!!
J: Really?
M: Well, my grades were amongst the highest in the class and I mentioned to my academic advisor that I would like to move up and they moved me up at the beginning of this quarter..

J: So what's the secret of getting promoted?

Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/newsletter/student_int_15.html

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4. Japan Guide: Universal Studios Japan

When Disneyland Paris opened ten years ago in Paris, France, the French called it a "cultural invasion" and welcomed the American theme park with protest and boycott. Well, ten years have passed, and on the other side of the Earth, the Japanese people greeted the arrival of another American theme park with exploding numbers of visitors when Universal Studios Japan (USJ for short) opened on March 31st, 2001.

Located on the Sakurajima island in western Osaka city, the project cost 170 billion yen to build and occupies 54 acres of land, USJ is claimed to be approximately 14 times the size of the Koushien Baseball Stadium. While it is not as large as its American cousins, USJ does have a better "Theme Park" feeling, with the park divided into 9 areas. From the 60's Hollywood Area to the jungle-like Jurassic Park area, each has its own decoration and architectural design to convince its visitors that they are not really in Osaka, or Japan for that matter.

Therefore, with all the hype and TV commercials, my friend and I decided to pay USJ a visit on a hot sunny Monday in June (don't tell anyone that I ditched classes for it!). Growing up amongst theme parks, I came to know that the weekend is a definite no-no unless you enjoy waiting 4 hours for a 5 minute ride. In short, Monday seemed like a better choice. After all, this is Japan, where the majority of people work from 8am to 8pm, and it seems unlikely that people would ditch the first day of a week to go to a theme park. Of course, I was wrong......

Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/newsletter/japan_guide_17.html

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5. ABOUT THE YAMASA INSTITUTE'S AICHI CENTER FOR JAPANESE STUDIES

The Yamasa Institute 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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6. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

You are being sent this newsletter because at some time you contacted the Yamasa Institute's Aichi Center for Japanese Studies through email, or you contacted an internet-based Japanese language information service which forwarded your email to us. If you do not want to receive further issues of this newsletter, please send a message to unsubscribe@yamasa.org with the word "unsubscribe" in the title. We apologize for any inconvenience.

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