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 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:

Student Visa: We are now accepting applications for the April 2003 student visa start. Please 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 2003 start please contact admissions@yamasa.org for more information.

Short-term courses:

Discovery Tour starting on December 13th - itinerary at: http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/english/programs/discovery_20021213.html Contact admissions@yamasa.org for details. There are still a number of places available - join a very small private tour: Includes Kamakura Daibutsu, Tokyo: Ueno Koen, Shitamachi Museum, Akihabara Electric town, Shinjuku, Tokyo Disneyland, Okutono Jinya, Enoshima, Sekigahara battlefield site, Hikone Castle, Genkyo-en Garden, Lake Biwa cruise - Chichibu island, Kunizakari Sake, Tokoname, Denpark, Toba, Futamigaura, Ise Grand Shrines, Kyoto - Kinkakuji, Nijo Castle and many other locations.

Other Discovery Tours all have vacancies - contact admissions@yamasa.org for further information. Tour dates for next year are available at http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/english/programs/discovery_dates.html

All SILAC start dates have space from November 14th but accommodation is very limited. Contact admissions@yamasa.org as soon as possible for information.

The AIJP, AJSP, and Acceleration Format 1 programs are full until January 2003.

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3. Staff Interview: Tomas Cermak (Programmer - OCJS)

Tomas Cermak

I caught up with Tomas whilst he was working on the Online Center for Japanese Studies (OCJS)..

Jon: Do you have time for a quick interview for this week's newsletter?
Tomas Yeh, sure.

J: I can see that you're doing some work on the OCJS at the moment but can you tell me what exactly your job here is?
T: I'm a programmer. I do a number of different jobs related to computers, not only programming but I also build new PC's and maintain Yamasa's WEB servers. My work at the moment is concentrated on programming the OCJS.

J: Tell me a bit more about the OCJS and its development.
T: I`ve been working on this project for 2 years now. I do most of the programming and the contents are developed by our Instruction Coordinators, Erina Kato and Tadashi Sugita. It's programmed in IBM Lotus Domino which means that it can support a multilanguage environment. The first 50 lessons are already finished and these are currently being translated into 5 languages other than the original English version - Chinese (traditional), Czech, German, Korean and Spanish. There are still many things to do though!

J: How did you come to work in the International Office ?
T: I first came to study at Yamasa, which I did for about 18 months on AIJP. I was looking for work during and after my studies were finished and I mentioned this to Declan Murphy. So when Declan started the OCJS project, he asked me to work on it. I think I was very lucky to get the job at the time.

J: What was studying at Yamasa like?
T: I think that the classes were good. I preferred some..............................

Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/newsletter/staff_int_24.html

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4. In the News: Two new articles

In this edition we have two new articles.

The first is a Chunichi Shimbun article regarding the Nobel Prizes for Obata and Tanaka, and the second from AERA magazine concerning a documentary film called "Home".

About "In the News": This section aims to help you improve your understanding of articles in contemporary Japanese print and web media. Articles are from a wide range of sources including business, fashion, music, lifestyle, entertainment, crime, politics, international relations and so on. All articles are printable, and are accompanied by streaming audio files of the article being read at normal speed by male and female native speakers. Furthermore there are questions from the OCJS faculty that will help you confirm your reading or listening comprehension skills. (If you are an advanced learner, you may wish to attempt the questions after first listening to the audio link only, and then read the article to test your listening comprehension skills).

In addition, by using the link generator of the OCJS online dictionary with its definitions and kanji animations, you can easily check the meaning of new words, and also the stroke order of any Kanji that are new for you. The titles of the links ARE NOT translations of the headline accompanying the article (we don't want to give beginner level students too many hints to the answers), but are indicative of the subject field.

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5. Japan Guide: Yunomine Onsen

Yunomine Onsen is famous as being the oldest of the many hot springs in Japan. It is said to have been discovered in the second century, and by the Heian period (794-1192) it had become well-known amongst pilgrims travelling the Kumano road, who would purify their bodies here before going to the three sacred shrines of the Kumano Sanzen.

The village basically consist of one narrow street beside a fastflowing stream. The hot springs are located in the center of the valley, mostly in the ryokans and minshuku lining the street. The steep hillsides are heavily forested, and the valley often filled with mist. Especially in the cooler months and winter, white clouds of steam and the rows of old wooden houses recreate a timeless........................

Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/wakayama/yunomine_onsen.html

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6. 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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7. 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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(c) 2002 The Yamasa Institute Aichi Center for Japanese Studies
1-2-1 Hanehigashi-machi Okazaki Aichi Japan 444-0832
Tel: +81 (0) 564 55 8111 Fax: +81 (0) 564 55 8113
URL: http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/
Email: admissions@yamasa.org