1. The first bits.

(a) Christmas and New Year:

Jon Walden (Admissions Coordinator) is taking a well earned but all too brief break in what he calls "sunny" England for Christmas, but will be back in Japan just in time for New Year in Japan, so this newsletter is from Declan

I know - its a little early for celebrations but as this will be the last newsletter of this year (next issue will be January 18th) we would like to wish all three thousand two hundred and thirty six of you...

So on to Christmas and New Year. If you are in Japan there are a multitude of things to do and you should never to be too far away from a party. If you are not in Japan, we hope you have a great New Year's - and hope that you can join us next year!!!

Some of the events happening are:

(b) International Christmas party:

Mark the last Friday before Christmas with a night out. On Friday 21st of December there is an "International" Christmas Party at CHIKARA Dancing (which is situated above Chirokiya restaurant and also doubles as a Karaoke bar) next to Higashi Okazaki station (Meitetsu line). From 9.00 pm until 04.00 am you can dance the night away and drink as much as you want for only 2000 Yen! Yamasa students will get a 500 Yen discount by presenting their student cards. If you are unsure about finding Chikara by yourself or going on your own then come to Yamasa II at 8.30 pm as there will be a large group of students going together (it will take between 10 and 12 min by bicycle to get there). Please phone 0564 26-1880 for more details about the address. Chirokiya restaurant is also a good place to have dinner before, during or after the party.

(c) Live music at CAM Hall:

The "Culture and Music" Hall near is one of Okazaki's livelier and longer established venues for live music. It tends to attract a young crowd. On the 24th you can see "Peace!!", "Jumping Betty" (both groups from Tokyo), "Sunset Records", "Evergreen". The opening act is "Aibar". About 4 hours in total. CAM opens at 18:00, the gig starts at 18:30. Tickets are 2000 yen in advance, 2300 yen at the door. For details Telephone/0564-23-8220, Fax/0564-23-8221

(d) Some places to go on New Years Eve:

In Okazaki: For a traditional bonfire and alcohol based new year, head to your nearest temple. Hot sake, camaraderie, and the chance to get rid of one of your 108 evils. One of the best in Okazaki is the ancestral temple of Tokugawa Ieyasu - Daijuji temple.

In Nagoya: If you want to experience a genuine Japanese crowd, head to Atsuta Shrine. From midnight on the 31st of December, some 3.5 million Japanese will visit this shrine. Its a fun crowd, often young. Only catch is that you won't be able to come home until the next day if you miss the last train (which you will). Head to the Sakae night life district in Nagoya and dance till dawn.

At Nagashima spaland: For an authentic (though slightly bizarre) Japanese experience, head to this massive amusement park. It features "Steel Dragon" - the world's highest, fastest and longest roller coaster. It also has the longest drop. There are live bands (exclusively J-Pop) and the audience is younger than the Atsuta Shrine and Sakae crowd.

Video:   New Year at Yasaka Shrine

In Kyoto: Kyoto is very much a student's town. There are 35 or so universities, so it is a fairly young population. There is only one place to be in Kyoto on News Years Eve - Yasaka Jinja - the shrine of the Gion district. Buy a straw rope and light it from one of the fires - this tradition is one where people would carry a sacred flame from this immensely popular shrine back to their homes to light the hearth. There are often bands playing in Maruyama park (see video) behind the shrine and it is a short walk from Yasaka to Kiyomizudera or Chion-in temple. At Chion-in there is a giant bell weighing 74 tons - it takes 17 monks pulling in unison to get the bell to yield the appropriate "gong".

In Osaka: The most happening place is Shinbashi bridge. As the festive atmosphere and alcohol consumption steadily increases - so does that at which people strip off their clothing and jump into the river below. Even more interesting is watching them try to get out of the river. The river is lined with vertical concrete walls several meters high, its very dark, and very cold. Makes for a nice spectator sport.

In Tokyo: Odaiba, Odaiba, Odaiba. Hint - Go to Odaiba.

(e) Speech contest:

Kim Ei-ran

As reported in last weeks newsletter, the winner of the annual Okazaki City Japanese speech contest (sponsored by the Okazaki International Association) was won by Kim Ei-ran (AJSP). We have been able to digitally capture her speech from a VHS cassette, click here to view it in Windows Media Player.

The title of Ei-ran's speech was "The war on Sunday" and gained plenty of laughs. I'll try to add a Real Player version in the new year. For those who don't have sufficient Japanese proficiency yet we will also try to add a transcipt and a commentary. The downside of all this of course is that next year the pressure is on. To all those enrolling in April - Ganbatte!

(f) Karaoke:

While the quality of speechmaking at Yamasa has improved greatly over the years since I was a student here (maybe it was my fault?), unfortunately the same cannot yet be said for the quality of the singing. Of course, Karaoke is something that should be done for fun - and so congratulations to the 7 members of E class (AIJP) who won the first annual "Christmas Karaoke Taikai" which was held in the distance learning theater yesterday.

(g) Graduation:

Congratulations also to the students who graduated this afternoon. We hope that you have the opportunity to join us or visit us again in the future. A graduation ceremony is always a combination of emotions. There is the happiness of seeing the success people have had acquiring the language and pursuing their goals. The sadness of seeing good friends leave. We wish you the best and ask you to keep in touch.

(h) Radio Show:

Joseph Huang and teachers in FM Okazaki studio

On Monday 10th December Joseph Huang (AIJP) "B Class" interviewed three teachers live on his radio show. At first Ban Tomoe, Sayumi Kuroda, and Norikazu Yokozawa looked a little nervous, but they soon settled down (teasing each other as usual) and discussed a number of things including the meaning of life (from a Japanese language teacher's viewpoint), Yokozawa-sensei's penchant for cross-dressing (he didn't believe me when I said I'd include it in the newsletter...) and their plans for Christmas and New Year.

The show has been broadcast every Monday since October 1st and is scheduled to continue until the end of March. You can listen to our station live on the internet - The URL for the show is http://www.yamasa.org/fm/english/live.html (please note that the links will only work when the studio in Aoi Hall is broadcasting live - I have included a clock to assist you)

If you would like to request a song, make a dedication or send Joseph a message to be read out during his show please come to the International Office or fax Joseph directly on 0564 55-8764 (make sure you include his name and your own name on the fax). Joseph is currently looking for guests for his Christmas Eve show, so if you'd like to appear on the radio, let him know! The show will be on air on Christmas and New Years Eve from 9.30pm at 76.3 FM.

(i) Shodo (Japanese calligraphy) lessons:

Nowadays most Japanese people use pencils, pens and often computers to write letters and documents. But the art of shodo (calligraphy), where an ink-dipped brush is used to create Chinese kanji and Japanese kana characters, remains a traditional part of Japan's culture. If you would like to learn more about shodo then come to the Student Village every Monday night at 7.00pm - 8.00pm where Kato Erina sensei will be taking a shodo lesson. There is no fee (if you would like to buy a shodo writing set then this can be purchased for 1,500 Yen) and anybody is welcome to join. Please come to the International Office before Thursday if you wish to register to take part.

(j) Course cancellations:

The Acceleration 2 month modular program F (from February 1st 2002) has been cancelled due to a lack of available accommodation for new students enrolling on these dates. Applications for the Acceleration program (as well as AIJP and AJSP) from 2002/01/07 have now closed. We apologise for any inconvenience this might cause. The next start date for the Acceleration program is 2002/01/07, though there are spaces in the SILAC program from January 10th. Please contact admissions@yamasa.org for more information.

(k) Jobs:

Recruitment ongoing for the following positions:

• Director of Studies for the Online Center
• Japanese teachers for the Online Center (2 positions filled, 1 remaining)
• Video Editing, Streaming media and multimedia developer

see http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/careers.html for details and other vacancies, and contact careers@yamasa.org if you are interested in applying. Most are connected with web publishing and translation. Study Japanese for free in exchange for part-time work in the International Office. These are ongoing positions - we need people all year round, so please contact us if you are interested in positions later in the year as well.

(f) Other bits:

• Make money by writing articles for the newsletter. See the contributions page for details.
• Find a course: see the program catalog.
• Contact admissions@yamasa.org if you have any questions.
• See below for information regarding course deadlines.

Declan Murphy
Director, International Office
The Yamasa Institute Aichi Center for Japanese Studies
1-2-1 Hanehigashimachi Okazaki
Aichi Japan 444-0832

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

From December through January Villa Studio Apartments 3 and 4 are full, Residence U and K are also full during December and January and Residence L is full until March 2002. There are a limited number of rooms available in the Student Village. Students applying for courses from December/January and wishing to stay in accommodation which is currently unavailable will be placed on a waiting list. There are usually some last-minute changes, so check with admissions@yamasa.org for information or see the availability file for details. Please note that accommodation is not reserved until we have recieved the tuition fees for your chosen course in full.

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