Disaster & Emergency Drill in Tsukuba
There will be an emergency drill in Tsukuba on Sept. 28th. Recently there have been a few large earthquakes, landslides, etc, so if you have free time the drill should be interesting to see and you might learn something that can save your life someday!
Here is some information from the Tsukuba International Association:
The scenario is a big earthquake in Tsukuba. We will be training to escape from the scene.There are 18 kinds of training drills, and we will observe them.There are exhibitions of disaster information and disaster prevention measures.For example:;evacuation guide, emergency rescue, rescue from a collapsed building, restoration of water supply and electricity, etc.
DATE： September 28 (Sun.) 2008
TIME： 8：00am to 12：00pm
Meeting Place: Tsukuba Capio Parking
*If you are coming to Tsukuba Capio by car, please park inthe toll parking lot near Tsukuba Capio.
Location of the drill: KASUMI Corp. 599-1, Nishiohashi, Tsukuba
Interpreter available (Please ask us if your language is available.)
Number of people: About 20
The event will be held even if it rains, but in the case of stormy weather, please call the Tsukuba International Association or Telephone Service from 7:00 a.m. on that day 0180-99-2984 (Japanese only)
Registration: Call or send an e-mail to the Tsukuba International AssociationTEL 029-869-7675 or inter@tsukubacity.or.jp
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Where did all the butter go?
If you have tried to buy butter recently, you might be puzzled why some stores’ butter section has suddenly disappeared! At other stores there is a chink of space remaining but you would be very lucky to actually find any butter for sale. What happened?
It is a long and complicated story but basically a few years ago consumers in Japan weren’t buying enough milk. Dairy farmers were forced to throw away thousands of liters of milk every day. You might think they could have just cut back on production, but a dairy cow MUST be milked every day or she will get sick – hence the oversupply of milk. To solve the problem farmers cut back on the amount of cows they kept.
Fast forward a few years and now dairy products are in higher demand – especially butter and cheese. Farmers who once reduced their herds are now being asked to produce more. However, there are two big problems: firstly, it takes over two years for a dairy cow to mature and begin producing milk. That means it is going to be at least another 18 months before mature herds are ready. Secondly, farmers cannot afford to increase the number of cows they keep because of rising grain prices. The sale of milk from each cow simply
doesn’t cover the cost of feed and other production expenses.
If that weren’t enough, there is the world market to be considered.
Australia has always been a big exporter of butter, cheese and
other dairy products but the ongoing drought has hit that market hard.
And the Chinese market is demanding more and more dairy products.
So if you like baking, my best advice is to check the stores away from
the center of Tsukuba. Depending on the timing you can find butter in
some Kasumi Stores, Kadoya Supermarket, etc. I’ve also been told that
various stores in Tsuchiura and Ushiku are more likely to have stock.
Finally, try substituting oil for butter in baking – you might find that the
taste is just about the same and healthier as well!
[This article was originally written for the June issue of the Alien Times.]
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