Mokuzougan: Intricate Artwork Made of Wood
Inlay is a kind of artwork that involves inserting pieces of coloured materials into depressions in a base object to form patterns or pictures.
An artist named Sadao Takahashi has a wooden inlay exhibit and shop at Seibu this weekend. Mr. Takahashi takes pieces of wood and fits them together into marvelous works of art. He even uses the natural grain of the wood to artist effect, as you can see in the sky in the image below, which shows a toad in front of Mt. Tsukuba. The artwork starts out as a piece of wood about 1cm thick and then it is sliced until it is almost as thin as a piece of paper.
If you have some free time this weekend, please go to the 5th floor of Seibu (where Muji and the bookstore are located) and seek out Mr. Takahashi.
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An evening with Indonesian Dance and Music
September 1, Saturday from 5PM
(Rain date: September 2)
Venue: Tsukuba Center Plaza
インドネシア友好の夕べ/Malam Cinta Indonesia, or something like “Indonesian Friendship Night” is an event hosted by Japan-Indonesia Friendship Association and Indonesian Student Association in Japan every year. Come and enjoy the Bali and Javanese dances and music. There will also be 津軽三味線(Tsugaru-jamisen) and Japanese drum performances!
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Finding a Place to Park Around Tsukuba Station
With the installment of a new system recently (please see "Watch where you park!"), it has become even harder to find a place to park around Tsukuba Station. Those who didn’t want to get ticketed but still didn’t want to pay for the parking have flocked to the area businesses with parking lots during Matsuri Tsukuba last week. It wasn't hard to see this coming, but Dayz Town, a shopping mall near the station has started charging for its parking spaces. You can still park free in their multistory parking garage, but you’ll be charged 100yen per hour or 2000yen per day if you park directly in front of the store. You’ll get a couple of hours of free parking if you make a purchase there.
Most of the parking facilities around Tsukuba Station are run by Tsukuba Urban Transportation Center or TUTC, and they are all open 24 hours. You can look at the map of their parking facilities here. The orange spot on the map is the TX Tsukuba Station, if you can’t read Japanese. Parking fee is 220 yen for the first hour and 110yen for additional 30 minutes. Fees for people who park for over 10 hours and up to 24 hours is 2200yen, so it’s quite expensive. There are a couple of parking facilities run by private companies that charge only 1000yen a day, but they are still very expensive compared to other parking lots near other Tsukuba area TX stations.
Parking facilities around Kenkyu Gakuen and Banpaku Kinen Koen Stations, for example, charge anywhere from 300yen to 600yen a day. So parking near those stations may be able to save you lots of money if you are heading to Tokyo from Tsukuba, for example.
One of the solutions to all these parking hassles would be the improvement of the other public transportation system, yes, the buses. Kanto Tetsudo doesn’t seem to be very enthusiastic about providing more local bus services, but Tsukuba City will start a new “Tsuku Bus” route from September 1. I will post the information regarding this new route as soon as I get the new route map. Please see: Gakuen Minami Junkan - a new Tsuku Bus Course.
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Medical Facilities at Namiki Shopping Center
A lot of people still don’t know that there are new businesses and medical clinics at the renewed Namiki Shopping Center in Namiki, so here’s the list of medical facilities located inside the Namiki S.C. Access to these medical facilities from TX Tsukuba Station or JR Arakawaoki/Tsuchiura/Ushiku Stations is very easy since Kanto Tetsudo Bus and Tsukuba's "Tsuku Bus" #5 stop at Gakuen Namiki(学園並木), a bus stop in front of this shopping center. It only takes about 10 minutes from the Tsukuba Center Bus Terminal or about 15 minutes from JR Arakawaoki Station to get to Gakuen Namiki.
筑波学園病院 並木診療所
(Tsukuba Gakuen Hospital Namiki Clinic)
Located next to the Namiki Post Office
Consultation Hours: 13:00 to 16:30 on M-F, 9:00 to 11:30 on Sat.
Closed on Sundays and holidays
Phone: 029-851-5362
西歯科医院
(Nishi Dental Clinic)
*Moved to the second floor of the shopping center.*
Consultation Hours: 9:30 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:30
Closed on Thursdays, Sundays and holidays.
Phone: 029-851-3110
いけがみ皮膚科
(Ikegami Dermatology - website)
** A new addition to the shopping center.**
Located on the second floor of the shopping center.
Consultation Hours: 9:00 to 12:00 and 15:00 to 18:00 on M/Tu/Th/F, 9:00 to 13:00 on Sat
Closed on Wednesdays, Sundays and holidays.
Phone: 029-869-8222
並木内科クリニック
(Namiki Internal Medicine Department Clinic - website)
** A new addition to the shopping center.**
Located on the second floor of the shopping center.
Consultation Hours: 9:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 18:00
Closed on Wednesdays, Sundays and holidays.
Phone: 029-869-6969
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KEK Open House 2007
KEK (High Energy Accelerator Research Organization)'s annual open house is this Sunday. Free shuttle buses from Tsukuba Center Bus Terminal!
KEK Open House
September 2, 9AM to 4:30PMSpecial Events:
Lecture (in Japanese)
Have Fun with Physics*
Make a radio by Yourself*
Scientific Toys
Voice Challenge
Paper Craft Air-Plane*** Must get a lottery ticket first and needs to win a spot. Lottery tickets for "Have Fun with Physics" will be handed out from 9:00 to 9:15, 10:30 to 10:40, 12:30 to 12:40, and 14:00 to 14:15. The lottery tickets for "Make a radio by Yourself" will be handed out from 9:00 to 9:15, 12:00 to 12:15, and 14:00 to 14:15.
** A numbered ticket will be handed out to first 30 kids from 9:00 to 9:30, 12:00 to 12:30, and 14:00 to 14:30.
Open Facilities:
75KeV Pre-Accelerator and Negative Hydrogen Ion Beam
Electron Positron Injector Linac
Photon Factory
KEKB B Factory Accelerator
B Factory Tsukuba Experimental Hall
KEKB Exhibition Hall
Or visit the open house information page for more information
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