Taiko at iias on January 1, 2, and 3, 2009
A local taiko group called Chuo Hayashikai will be performing at iias (the new giant mall on Kita Odori near Kenkyu Gakuen Station) on January 1, 2, and 3, 2009 at the following times.
12:00
13:30
15:00
The group has an elementary school children team, a junior high and high school team, and an adult team. I imagine they will each perform at least once during each of the shows.
Chuo Hayashikai performed at the Autumn Festival at Raijinsama last weekend and I was able to record a couple performances, so have a look at the post I wrote last week if you want to watch them in action.
The group members are really lovely people, so if you are interested in joining a taiko group while you are in Tsukuba, don't hesitate to talk to them before or after their performances.
(They will also be performing at midnight on December 31 at Raijinsama. See my previous post for directions to Raijinsama if you are interested in going.)
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Tsukuba Marathon 2008
I went with some friends to watch the Tsukuba Marathon today. Even though I have lived in Tsukuba since 2002, this was my first time to watch the marathon! It was a perfect day for running and it seems to have been a pretty fast race with a couple of new records being set for the 10km race at least. (I am not sure about the full marathon.)
Around 10,000 people participate in the full marathon. It was really cool to stand on the side of the road while 10,000 people ran past me. I was even able to spot two of my friends who were participating.
Here is a photo that I took in order to show TsukuBlog readers what it looks like to have that many people running past you.
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Alien Times Fundraising Week 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
to
Saturday, December 6, 2008
November 30 commemorates the day in 1987 that the City of Tsukuba was born from the Village of Sakura and the Towns of Yatabe, Toyosato, and Oho. (The Town of Tsukuba merged with the rest on January 31 of the following year). Since Alien Times was also born in 1987, the Alien Times staff have chosen November 30 and the week that follows it to be ALIEN TIMES FUNDRAISING WEEK.
If you would like to donate to support the publication of Tsukuba's Original English Newsletter which has been published for and by the foreign community of Tsukuba since 1987, please choose one of the following options. You can choose the amount that you would like to donate. (As a guideline, if 20 people donate 2500 yen, we will be able to meet our target. But any amount is welcome!)
PayPal or Credit Card
Click to Donate via PayPal or Credit Card.
Furikomi
Bank: Joyo Bank (常陽銀行)
Branch: Kenkyu Gakuen Toshi Shiten (研究学園都市支店)
Account Name: THE ALIEN TIMES
Account No: 7259017 (regular account, 普通)
Cash Envelope by Mail (Genkin Kakitome)
Address: 305-0051 Ibaraki-ken, Tsukuba-shi, Ninomiya 1-6-2
Ninomiya House
Alien Times Post Box
Cash to AT Staff
If you meet up with one of the AT Editors (Mieko Ono, Shaney Crawford, Anna Hamakoji), you can hand your donation to us and we will be sure to put it directly into the bank account. (If you are not comfortable with this option, please choose one of the other options above.)
About Alien Times and the Fundraising Week
Alien Times is a free publication that has been providing information in English to Tsukuba's residents since 1987. The magazine is published once per month (except for the July/August issue) and there is a companion blog site where the articles are archived (TsukuBlog: http://blog.alientimes.org).
The printing of Alien Times is generously subsidized by the Tsukuba Expo '85 Memorial Foundation and supported by a number of local sponsors including Blomster Anna (flower shop), Fleur de Lis (jewelry shop), IACE (travel agent), Isebu (printer), Isshinryu Karate, and J-Cool (hair salon). We also get some income from our website (basically enough to cover the cost of the website).
All of the people who work on Alien Times are volunteers and none of the money that comes into the Alien Times accounts gets paid to any editor, contributor, or volunteer. All of the income goes towards the printing costs, the website costs (only the hosting and domain fees -- all of the design work and maintenance is done by volunteers), and the costs incurred while managing the publication (e.g. binders for the archives, stamps to send copies of magazines to contributors).
The editors of Alien Times are dedicated to keeping the magazine free so that it can be distributed to various locations around the city and be spotted and picked up easily by the people who need the information (foreign residents and tourists). However, in order to keep the magazine free, we need to do some fundraising!
We are hoping to raise approximately 50,000 yen this week, which is the approximate cost of printing a single monthly issue. We have never asked for the Tsukuba community to contribute financially to the making of the magazine, but we thought that maybe it was time to bow our heads and ask humbly for your support.
If you have benefitted from Alien Times or TsukuBlog in the past, please consider making a small donation to show your appreciation and to help ensure the continuation of our community's English magazine and website.
We sincerely appreciate your support,
The Alien Times Staff
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ACCS Improves Payment Options
The following advice is from Xiaoyin.
One of the TV and internet services available in many areas in Tsukuba is provided by ACCS.
Despite its quick internet connection and good customer service, this company’s “credit card only” payment policy has turned away a lot of potential customers. The good news is that ACCS has recently started to offer a couple of other payment options. Now you can also choose to pay your bills at a convenience store or through your bank account. In both cases, a deposit of 10,000 yen (when using either the TV or the internet service) or 20,000 yen (when using both services) will be necessary, but
you can get the money back when terminating the contract. No charge for paying through the banks designated by ACCS (such as Joyo and Kanto banks), but a 105 yen/month transfer fee will be necessary when using non-designated banks. Paying at a convenience store will incur a service fee of 210 yen/month.
Call 029-852-6111 to check out the details.
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Guest Room in Tsukuba
The following is a post from Mohammad. If you are looking for an inexpensive place to stay while you are in Tsukuba, please contact him at tsukubastay[AT]yahoo.com.
I am living in Tsukuba city with my Japanese wife and children for 8 years. Our house is Japanese traditional style and we have enough space to accept some tourist from any kind of country. From before, I was thinking, why there is not any cheap hotel for foreigner in Tsukuba city? I am working as a researcher at one of the national institutes in Tsukuba city and I saw and heard about this problem from many foreigners. For this reason, I decided to provide our room as a guest room. We (I and my wife) working in the day (Mon to Fri), so we can provide our room from 5:00PM to 9:00AM.
Price for one person 3500 Japanese yen
Price for one person who is primary to high school is 2000 Japanese yen
Less than 7 years old is free
Payment in Dollar and Euro are also acceptable.
Facilities:
- Dinner and breakfast is free. We will provide vegetarian meal (almost vegetables produced from our garden). In addition, if you want to cook by self, we will provide our kitchen for you.
- Transportation is free (Shuttle) from station to our house and vice versa.
- Internet free.
- DVD projector home theater free until 00:00
- Telephone to abroad be based on actual expense until 00:00
- We will use the same bathroom.
We are considering you as a member of our family so please take it easy and relax. We are living in a simple house, and will try to keep clean and comfortable space for you. However, we are not professional managers of a hotel so please don't expect the same conditions as at a hotel.
For reservations, please send me an email (tsukubastay[AT]yahoo.com) with your complete address and telephone number. Then we will inform you of our address and telephone number. Our house is in the suburbs of Tsukuba City, and it takes 7 minutes by car from Tsukuba center.
We are looking forward to seeing you at our house.
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