TsukuBlog

Traditionally, the Japanese, being within the sphere of Chinese cultural influence, have respected old age and celebrated long life. Back in the Nara Period (710-794), when the Japanese aristocracy was keen on almost anything Chinese, numerous continental beliefs and customs were enthusiastically adopted JUST AS THEY WERE. Among these, were concepts and rituals which have a major impact TO THIS DAY on Japan’s annual cycle of events as well as its life-cycle celebrations and ceremonies. It was at this time that Japan’s elite began to mark the attainment of OLD AGE beginning at age 40! In those days (and until quite recently in fact) it was said that “a man’s life is 50 years” (人生は５０年、 Jinsei wa goju-nen), and there were special celebrations held upon entering each new decade of life (these were called yonju-no-ga, 四十の賀, for the 40th year, goju-no-ga, 五十の賀, for the 50th year, etc.). This involved a banquet at which relatives of the person being celebrated gathered for a festive meal and the pounding and distribution of fresh mochi (rice cakes).

As Chinese cultural influence in Japan waned and the Japanese gained more self-confidence over the ensuing centuries, the customs regarding the celebration of longevity, along with almost everything else adopted from China, were eventually given a uniquely Japanese twist. Records show that the still standard series of eight special birthdays celebrated between (and including) the 60th and 100th years had been firmly established among the Japanese ruling warrior class and the aristocracy by the Muromachi Period (1338-1573). Instead of merely following the original Chinese lead of celebrating the start of each new age-decade, the Japanese also selected certain ages from which auspicious (or amusing) meanings could be derived from how the ages were written in Kanji characters. Thus, today we have the following.

The 60th year (kanreki, 還暦), meaning a return to the beginning of the cycle, as it heralds completing the path through the full five cycles of the Sino-Japanese zodiac (jikkan-junishi), and coming back once again to the original combination of signs that you were born with. This event is commonly celebrated throughout East-Asia.

The 70th year (koki, 古希), the name of which derives from a popular verse by the great Chinese poet Tufu (Toho, 杜甫, in Japanese). The poem goes: Jinsei nanaju korai mare nari (人生七十古来稀なり),meaning that (in those days) reaching the age of 70 was a rare occurrence.

The 77th year (kiju, 喜寿）, which was celebrated because an archaic form of writing the character ki (good fortune, this form cannot be written out with this computer), can be broken down to the components 七　十　七、 which means 77. Because of this round-about connection, that age is seen as related to GOOD FORTUNE. 

The 80th year (sanju, 傘寿). The character 傘 (umbrella) can be broken down to components which can be rearranged as 八十(eighty).

The 81st year (hanju,半寿). The character 半 (half) can be broken down and rearranged as 八十一, or 81. However, celebrating hanju has become extremely rare these days.

The 88th year (beiju,米寿). The character for rice, 米, which symbolizes wealth, nutrition and other wholesome things can be broken down to its basic components and rearranged as 八十八、or 88.

The 90th year (sotsuju, 卒寿). The character 卒 (graduation) can be rearranged as 九十、or 90.

The 99th year (hakuju,白寿）. When the element meaning one (一) is removed from the top of the character 百 (100), you get the character haku (白,white). Thus haku is 100 minus one. In other words 99.

Then, at the 100th year, there is hyakuga (百賀), and after that a celebration every year (hyaku-ichi no ga, etc…).

During the Edo Period (1603-1868), the custom of celebrating these special ages filtered down to the common people, though even for the easy living elite it probably still remained quite rare at that time to celebrate anything beyond Kanreki (the 60th year).

Since Kanareki marked the completion of a full journey through the oriental zodiac and a rebirth, or return to childhood, 60 was traditionally the age at which men would retire. The main feature of the kanreki banquet was the presentation of a red coat (chanchanko) and cap (zukin). This style of garment symbolizes a return to childhood. The red color represented warmth and was also believed to have powers to ward off evil and bad luck. The cushion (zabuton) on which the guest of honor sits, should also be red. A red fan might also be provided. You can find everything you need online.

These days of course, most 60-year-olds in Japan are still working, and most likely feel that their whole life still lies in front of them. They might be embarrassed by the silly chanchanko and cap. Still, if you decide to give a sweater or blanket, shirt or tie, red would be an appropriate (traditionally speaking) color.

For Koki (70) and Kiju (77) celebrations, the color purple is considered appropriate, as it is the mostly highly regarded color in Sino-Japanese divination (omyodo). This color provides protective and curative benefits to those bodies which might just be starting to feel the aches and pains of age.

Though once extremely rare, sanju (80), hanju (81), and especially beiju (88) celebrations are now common events! The color for presents, clothing and cushions should be GOLDEN BROWN (kincha iro 金茶) or yellow. And since 88 years of age is associated with RICE (米,bei) with all its positive associations in Japanese culture, beiju celebrations are popular and feature several special gift items. Golden brown (or yellow) furoshiki or fukusa cloths and zabuton cushions with cranes or the character 米 on them are usual.

The most interesting traditional gift for beiju is a HATO NO TSUE (a walking stick with a pigeon carved on the handle). It seems that giving such a gift was practiced in the ancient Chinese and later Japanese courts. Among the reasons for such a gift being appropriate are that HATO (pigeon) can also be written using the characters 八 and 十, which can also mean 80. It is also said that pigeons do not choke (a serious problem for the elderly in Japan, especially with New Year’s O-Mochi). These pigeon-handled walking sticks can be given at any of the  longevity celebrations for someone in their 80s. Have a look at a hato no tsue here.

For sotsuju (90) and hakuju (99) celebrations, the appropriate traditional color is white. Have a look at each age group color.

In contemporary Japan there are dozens of reference books available for those wanting to hold, or for those who have been invited to, a special LONGEVITY birthday celebration. They not only recommend appropriate gifts such as travel or restaurant coupons, ceramics or electronic equipment, but also detail the correct way to address the special festive envelopes and recommend appropriate amounts for cash gifts.

One thing that all these books agree on is that the most important point, especially for the older-age celebrations, is to bring family together, create a warm and festive atmosphere, and maybe have an extended family photo portrait taken. Commemorative gifts should also be given to all those who attend. These parties can be held at home, though usually a restaurant is reserved and special celebratory dishes served, for example fish (TAI) or sea bream.

This might all sound quite simple. However, a more detailed explanation of these customs might set your head spinning. For example, individual birthdays were never actually celebrated in Japan (except for a divination ceremony, isho mochi, held on the first birthday). All Japanese grew a year older on New Year’s Day. Thus, these celebrations were not actually held on the celebrant’s birthday, but on New Year’s or another auspicious day. The situation now of course is quite different and the celebration of birthdays has become as popular (for younger people) as it is in the West.

Another complicated point is that until this century the Japanese considered themselves to be 1 year old at birth. If they were born a day before the New Year, they would be considered 2 years old after the New Year, when by contemporary standards they would be just 2 days old. The traditional way of counting ages is called KAZOE-DOSHI. Many older people still use this term when talking about age. In fact, while now the other longevity celebrations are usually based on Western-style age-counting (MAN NENREI), Kanreki (60) is still counted as 61 years in KAZOE DOSHI. If you are confused, you are not alone.

Anyway, with the average age in Japan skyrocketing, the events I’ve just told you a little about are being held more than ever before, by a huge margin. A celebration of the once extremely rare has  become commonplace.

Dragon boat race competition to take place this Sunday in Kasumigaura City.

11th Dragon boat race competition in Kasumigaura
When: July 1, Sunday, from 9:00 to 15:15
Where: Kasumigaura Lake in front of Ayumisaki Park in Kasumigaura City (Map)

It looks like this is a very serious competition unlike the kind of dragon boat race where participants decorate their boats for fun. Click here to see the picture from last year’s competition.

Ayumisaki Park is a tiny park with a VERY tiny aquarium, but it still is a nice to place to spend your day. I see many sons and fathers fish while moms and other kids play in the park every time I go there. A castle-shaped local historical museum and a really good nature park for kids and families are within walking distance of Ayumisaki Park. The competition site (Ayumisaki Park) is about 30 to 40-minute drive from Tsukuba.

I was on my way to a little adventure in the woods surrounding the ruins of Konda Castle, near Sakura Junior High School. As I turned off the road and headed onto a little dirt trail, I noticed a neighbor of mine busily doing something by a bush of some sort. I called out a greeting so as not to startle her (Have you noticed that when Japanese are doing work outside, they never seem to glance up or around? I always attribute this to a deep focus on what they are doing, which is probably true, though some have told me that it’s just a way of avoiding having to say hello!), and then I asked her what she was doing. “I’m picking NUKAGO,” she said, “why dont you join me?” I thought, ”Well, why not?!”

Nukago is the archaic name (still often used by native Ibarakians) for MUKAGO (零余子), which look like tiny potatoes (they are actually tiny yams) clinging delicately to vines which grow out of the stems of the yama imo ( Japanese yams). I say delicately, because to be picked, they merely have to be touched and they come right off. I helped my neighbor gather up a small bag-full. She said she was going to cook them up with the rice in her rice cooker (some people also add ginkgo nuts and some kombu stock). Some Ibarakians also fry, roast, or boil them with salt, sake, soy sauce, etc. I found some original recipes online as well.                     

Mukago can actually be found on sale at some supermarkets for about 500 yen a fistful (as you can see in the blog linked above), but buying them could never match the fun of finding and picking them yourself. Kids, especially, always enjoy cooking up what they have foraged.

Many of your Japanese friends might not have ever tasted or even heard of mukago (also remember that in Ibaraki it is often called nukago), and those who HAVE might not rave about their taste. Still, having mukago at least once in autumn is considered a MUST by many, since it is a rustic symbol of the season and a welcome change of pace from just plain ol’ rice.

Mukago can be found in this area throughout autumn. In English they are called wild yam propagules (or bulbils) as they are how the yam plants propagate (by dropping these little babies to the ground). You can find them in wild fields, by the side of the road, and even in some parks.

Happy hunting!

If your child is going to elementary school next year, and there is no one to take care of him or her after school because both parents are working, a “Children’s Club” could help you. Children can play and study with friends at a Jidoukan (児童館, children’s hall) or elementary school. There is at least one teacher with the kids.

Children: elementary grades 1-3
Fee: 4000 yen/month
Club Time: Monday to Friday after school until 18:00 (National holidays: 8:30 to 18:00)
How to apply:

In case of Public Children’s Club:
You can download the application form and fill it out, then you can submit it to the Jidoukan that which you wish to use. You have to submit the form from 17th December to 18th January next year.

If you would like Private Children’s Club, you can ask how to apply by phone from 15:00 to 18:00.

City Web Site ( in Japanese):
http://cms.city.tsukuba.ibaraki.jp/050400/modules/wordpress/index.php?p=130

http://tsukubainfo.jp/Category/ChildrensHalls
http://tsukubainfo.jp/Main/ElementarySchools

Also, there is some information about Children’s Clubs on this page.

http://tsukubainfo.jp/Main/Children
────────────────────────────────────────

Public Clubs (place, address, phone number, how many children) Map
────────────────────────────────────────
Kukizaki (茎崎)児童センター　　 Oguki(小茎)1793　　　 029(840)1321　　　30
Takezono Higashi (竹園東)児童館　　Takezono(竹園)3-18-1　　 029(851)5802　　　30
Takezono Nishi (竹園西)児童館　　　Takezono(竹園)2-19-2　　 029(852)5039　　　40
Azuma Higashi (吾妻東)児童館　　　Azuma(吾妻)4-12　　　 029(852)7858　　　30
Azuma Nishi (吾妻西)児童館　　　　Azuma(吾妻)2-5-4　　　029(851)8141　　　50
Kokonoe (九重)児童館　　　　　Uenomuro(上ノ室)2094　　 029(857)4631　　　30
Sakae (栄)児童館　　　　　　 Yokomachi(横町)127-4　　　029(857)4206　　　30
Namiki (並木)児童館　　　　　Namiki(並木)4-2-3　　　029(851)5331　　　45
Ounan (桜南)児童館　　　　　Namiki(並木)4-7-3　　　029(858)0791　　　40
Teshirogi Minami (手代木南)児童館　Matsusiro(松代)4-15-1　　 029(852)0670　　　50
Matsushiro (松代)児童館　　　　　Matsusiro(松代)2-21-2　　 029(855)6110　　　40
Yatabe (谷田部)児童館　　　　Yatabe(谷田部)4715　　 029(836)0611　　　40
Ninomiya (ニの宮)児童館　　　　Ninomiya(ニの宮)4-9-2　　029(855)6091　　　50
Yoshinuma (吉沼)児童館　　　　Yosinuma(吉沼)814-1　　　029(865)2070　　　30
Kamigou (上郷)児童館　　　Kamigou(上郷)2270-1　　 029(847)5546　　　30
Higashi (東)児童館　　　　　　Higasi(東)2-24-1　　　 029(851)4801　　　40
Ozone (大曽根)児童館　　　　Ozone(大曽根)447-3　　029(864)0181　　　50

───────────────────────────────────
Private Clubs (place, address, phone number) Map
───────────────────────────────────
Shimana elementary school club
(島名小学校児童クラブ)　　 Shimana(島名)537-1　　　080(6577)2163
Katsuragi elementary school club
(葛城小学校児童クラブ)　　　Karima(苅間)689　　　　090(1849)8067
Numasaki elementary school club
(沼崎小学校児童クラブ)　　　Numasaki(沼崎)1408-2　　 029(847)2887
Mase elementary school club
(真瀬小学校児童クラブ)　　　Mase(真瀬)2103　　　 090(4610)7523
Imakashima elementary school club
(今鹿島児童クラブ)　　 Imakasima(今鹿島)1761　　 029(847)4061
Onogawa elementary school club
(小野川小学校児童クラブ)　Tateno(館野)443-1　　　029(836)6659
Kukizaki Daiiti Children’s club
(茎崎第一児童クラブ)　 Takasaki(高崎)1873　　　 029(872)2866
Kukizaki Daini Children’s club
(茎崎第二児童クラブ)　 Simoiwasaki(下岩崎)2116　　 029(876)4100
Azora Children’s club
(あおぞら児童クラブ)　 Simohiratsuka(下平塚)886-1　　029(856)9696
Wakaba Day Care Children’s club
(わかば保育園児童クラブ)　Yatabe(谷田部)2061　　 029(838)0808
Minori Kindergarten Children’s club
(みのり幼稚園児童クラブ)　Takasaki(高崎)643-9　　　029(873)2540
Sakura Children’s club
(さくら学童クラブ)　　 Ueno(上野)1302　　　 029(863)0053
Kaname elementary school club
(要小学校児童クラブ)　 Kaname(要)449-1　　　　029(864)0571
Maeno elementary school club
(前野小学校児童クラブ)　　Maeno(前野)1367　　　 080(3399)0471
Yatabe Minami elementary school club
(谷田部南小学校児童クラブ)　Sakaida(境田)191-1　　　080(1363)3330
───────────────────────────────

Happy New Year!

Kumi

A group in Kyoto is trying to raise money to buy computers and support an internet connection for a local orphanage. If you have some spare change, please consider donating it to this worthy cause.

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On Sunday, December 9th, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. the students of FriendsWorld/Global College will be participating in a Clean Up Walk through Shimogamo Jinja and along the Kamogawa to help raise awareness about the environment as well as to raise money for the Karyo-en Orphanage in Kyoto.

Karyo-en is located in the Shimogamo area and houses 20 girls and 18 boys between the ages of 3 and 17 who have been abandoned by their parents, in most cases because they have remarried or somehow changed their lifestyles in a way that did not leave room for their children. Some children are of mixed blood and were abandoned when their mothers remarried into a Japanese family.

Karyo-en is subsidized by the Japanese government and its most basic needs, such as for food, clothing and adult supervision are minimally provided, but as you can imagine, the children’s lives are far from complete. In the past few years, some of the students at Friends World/Global College have brought food, clothing, books and toys to them as well as spent time playing with them and teaching them English.

This semester, one of our students who has been interning there, thought to raise money for computers and an internet connection for them. Although this will in no way come close to filling the gap left by the absence of family, on- line computers will give the children a way to connect to the rest of the world.

We are asking the children at Karyo-en to participate in this clean up walk with us to help empower them and demonstrate they can make a difference in their own lives as well as in the lives of others. We are hoping to raise money to purchase new and/or used computers that have a wireless internet connections, to buy equipment to set up the connection and to pay for it on a monthly basis. We are planning to continue this fundraising drive when necessary to buy additional computers or replace broken or out of date ones and to support the monthly internet connection charges.

We hope that you will help us by offering whatever donation you can. Any support, no matter how small, will be appreciated, so if your children would like to participate in their own name by contributing along with you- even just a few hundred yen- we will be grateful. This is not to say that we are not looking for larger donations- only that we hope that everyone can contribute an amount with which they are comfortable. We would also love to have you join with us in the cleanup, and ask your friends, family and colleagues to be sponsors too. The more money we can raise, the more computers we can buy and the longer we can support the internet connection.

Please contact me or anyone at Friends World/Global College and let us know if you can contribute to this drive in any way. We would like to buy the computers as soon as possible and start setting them up so please let us know how much you would like to pledge by Sunday, December 9. And please suggest to your family - especially your children and your friends - that they participate. Also, if you could help by forwarding this email to anyone who you think might be interested in helping, we would be much obliged.

Here are some of the different ways in which you can help:

Donate money (any amount would be appreciated) by sponsoring the students and children from the orphanage who will be picking up trash in Shimogamo Jinja and along the Kamogawa.

Participate in the cleanup walk and/or after-party with the children.

Donate any used computers you have that have wireless capability and are in good condition.

Forward this email to people on your mailing list who you think may contribute to this very worthy cause.

Start your own fundraising drive by telling your friends about this and asking for their help in any of the listed ways.

Donations can be sent either by mail to

Friends World/Global College
1-287 Akasaka Cho
Kinugasa, Kita-ku
Kyoto 603-8486

or can be deposited into our account at

Bank of Kyoto (Kyoto Ginko)
Kinkakuji Branch
Branch code: 165
Futsu Account number: 553079
Account name: Global College Japan Center
Barbara Stein

Overseas contributions can be sent to the above school address by an international postal order which can be obtained at any US post office.

For more information, contact Daniel Douglass (douglassdanielk[AT]yahoo.com).

There will be a bazaar at a Christian preschool called “Kodomo-no Ie (Children’s House)” in Ushiku City this Saturday from 11:30am to 2pm. There will be lots of stuff for kids, activities for kids, homemade meals and handmade items.

Ushiku Church Kodomo-no Ie is located not too far from the JR Ushiku Station, and is only a 5 to 7-minute walk from the station. There are some parking lots, but they are very limited. You can see the map and the parking information here or on Google Map.

So…, many kids love everything nice and sweet. How about something…oh, yucky and stinky?

There is a new special exhibit called ”Naruhodo! The Unchi - Unchi no Unchiku- なるほど！ザ・うんち ～うんちのうんちく～”at the Aquaworld Ooarai. Naruhodo! means “Aha!” and unchi is the word for, well, what my kid refers to as poopee! (The exhibition name probably was inspired by the wildly popular quiz show from the early 80’s to mid 90’s by the name of “Naruhodo! The World” which, by the way, still comes on TV every once in a while as a special program. )

The exhibition is all about “Unchiku(stock of knowledge)” of “Unchi.” Over 100 sea and land creature poo specimens are on display, including the dinosaur poo fossil. You can also look at various paper products made from animal dung, and learn a lot about unchi, such as how to tell the health condition of a creature by looking at its unchi. Your kid(s) may even want to take a sniff at red panda poo! This is a very kid-oriented exhibit, so many articles on display are at kid’s eye-level.

The “poo exhibit” is from February 10 to May 6, Sunday, which is the last day of the “Golden Week” holidays. Remember, children can get in at half price on Saturdays except during long school holidays like Spring break.

Your kid(s) may also enjoy a visit to “Doctor Fish” on the 5th floor of this aquarium. I’m sure Turkish people are very familiar with this fish, but it has very recently become well known and popular over here. For those who are not familiar with this fish, it’s known for its use in the treatment of skin problems like atopic dermatitis since it nibbles dead skin (and only the dead skin) off people. Please see this page for more information on Doctor Fish.
Why not experience what it feels like to be treated by Doctor Fish? The “doctors” are in the “touching pool” by the playground on the 5th floor ;-)

Aquaworld Ooarai(main page)
-Naruhodo! The Unchi
Feb.10(Sat) to May 6(sun)
-Doctor Fish
Feb.10(Sat) to Mar.31(Sat)

I think the foreign population has found a true kindred spirit in Kumi, a Japanese mom who is living in Tsukuba. According to Kumi’s blog, she lived in the US for two years and found it quite challenging to live in another culture. She started her Tsukuba Mom site so that she could help mothers and children in Tsukuba.

She only started her blog in early November, but she has already posted seven good blog articles on her site. Topics currently include food, medicine, school, and events. I think that she will be an excellent resource for moms (and others) in Tsukuba.

(I think I will also invite her to join the TsukuBlog team, if she is willing!)

A wallet, necktie or new set of golf clubs are fine Father’s Day gifts. But nothing could bring a bigger smile to a dad’s face than his portrait executed in crayon by his own toddler. And what better subject is there for all the budding young Hiroshiges and Sharakus out there than that big face, which all googly-eyed, has been cootchy-cooing at them since their eyes have started to focus?

Seibu Department Store has been displaying hundreds of such Father’s Day portraits as part of its Chichi-no-Hi (父の日, Father’s Day) campaign. They are sure to bring a smile to ANYONE who goes up to the 6th floor to check them out. Though these works lack polish and technique (they are by 3 year-olds!), they exude color, love and joy of life — and what could be better than that? And though we are grown up now, we STILL can’t escape those images of the big faces which peered down at US when WE were in OUR cribs. This exhibition will bring back a flood of memories and feelings.

Father’s Day was introduced to Japan after WWll and is held on the 3rd Sunday in June. Though at first completely overshadowed by Mother’s Day in terms of gift giving and spending, Dad’s Day has been slowly but surely catching up as family dynamics have been changing (more time spent with papa) and advertising campaigns have started to sink in.

The 6th floor of Seibu often has special events which are worth checking out. This month they will be having summer gifts (o-chugen) on display, and even if you don’t plan on sending these beautifully packaged and very over-priced boxes of juice, salad oil etc. to YOUR boss, in-laws, professor, or go-between (nakodo), many Japanese people do, and it is interesting to see all the different gifts and the lines of customers doing their duty.

The 6th floor events that I most look forward to are the Eki-Ben Fairs which bring together all the famous train station boxed lunches from around Japan, and the regional food fair which gives you a chance to taste and purchase delicacies for various prefectures, both far and near.

Tomorrow is the 春分の日(shunbun no hi), Spring Equinox Day, but did you know it’s also one of four science days at Ibaraki Nature Museum in Bando City? Children of all ages get in free on Saturdays except during long holidays, but on science days, everyone gets in free!!

There are many events planned for tomorrow, so pack your lunch and visit this museum if you don’t have any plans! This museum’s outdoor facilities include VERY nice parks, so this is a also a nice place to enjoy spring weather.

Make your very own pencil
There are 4 sessions, and each session is open to first 30 applicants. Sessions are from 11:30 to 12:00, 12:00 to 12:30, 12:30 to 13:00, and 13:00 to 13:30.

This event will be held in 自然発見工房(shizen hakken koubou), or Nature Center. This is the museum’s outdoor facility, and is about 10min walk from the main building.

Science Show by Mr. Kitazawa
From 12:30 to 13:30, held in the lecture room on the 1st floor.The museum will start handing out the 整理券(seiri-ken), or numbered tickets, from 11:50 to first 60 people.

Mr. Mitazawa is a former curator of Energy Museum in Omachi City, Nagano(been there many times!) and Tsukuba Expo Center. He was also the management director of the Global House, the pavilion where the frozen mammoth was during the world expo in Aichi.

Guided Tour of the “Ant” Exhibit
From 11:00 to 11:30, 12:15 to 12:45, and 15:30 to 16:00. Meet at the entrance of the special exhibition space.

The guided tour of special exhibit about ants and other tiny creatures called The Adventure in Search of Soil Creatures which started last Saturday.

Special talk: “Today’s starry sky”
From 11:00 to 11:30. Held in the lecture room on the 1st floor.First 60 applicants. Special talk about the stars you can see around this time of the year.

Special talk and tour: “Let’s look at the Sun”
From 11:30 to 12:00 Meet in the exit area (not the main entrance)

Water System Backyard Tour
A guided tour by Aquaworld Ooarai staff! Meet in the aquarium area.

A tour will start at 10am and a group of about 10 people will leave every 30min until 12:00. The tour starts again at 13:00pm and the last group will leave at 14:30. Seiri-ken, or numbered tickets will be handed out from 9:45am and 12:45pm.

Lecture by Director of NPO birth/Green Sustainable Center
From 13:30 to 15:00. Held in the screen hall on the 3rd floor. There’s no limit on participants but must pre-register before attending this event.

Here’s a list of Ibaraki Nature Museum’s Science (free admission) Days:
Science Day (Space):
March 21 (春分の日, Spring Equinox Day)
Science Day (Life):
May 4 (みどりの日, Green Day)
Science Day (Earth):
June 5 (環境の日, Environment Day)
Science Day (Ibaraki):
November 13 (茨城県民の日, Ibaraki Day)

I always go there by car, but you can also get there by bus/train. There are buses leaving from TX Morita Station West Exit. Get on the ones bound for 猿島(Sashima)　or 岩井(Iwai), and get off at 自然博物館(Shizen Hakubutsukan (Nature Museum)). It takes about 20min to get to the museum from the Moriya Station, and the museum is about 5min walk from the bus stop. Please look at this page for the bus schedule.

April 8, Sunday is one of Potiron-no-Mori(ポティロンの森) ’s customer appreciation days, and admissions will be free*!

There will be concerts by
Ikimonogakari(いきものがかり),
Zero(a Korean singer), and
Kaori Iida(飯田圭織),
all very popular singers. There will be a public recording of “Woody Live(a popular program on “bayFM”)” from 13:00 to 15:00pm.

According to the Potiron’s website, this is also a good time to enjoy 芝桜(siba-zakura, or moss phlox/moss pink) and 菜の花(na-no-hana, or field mustard/rape blossom), so don’t forget to bring your camera(and your kids)!
* You’ll still need to pay 500yen for parking, but you’ll get an annual parking pass in exchange.

April 6, Sunday
April 6 is one of their two customer appreciation days and admission to the park will be free throughout the day.

Some of the events happening on this day are:
Mask Rider shows from 11am and 2pm
Music lives from 12pm, 3pm and 3:30pm
Bingo game from 1pm (play to win Nintendo Wii)

April 13, Sunday
“Cosplay” –Day
Those who want to take part in this cosplay event will need to pay 700yen for participation fee in addition to the park admission.

This weekend will be the perfect weekend to enjoy cherry blossoms and other flowers at Potiron no Mori if you haven’t been to any hanami (cherry blossom viewing)!

Potiron no Mori website

Some of the articles on Potiron:
http://blog.alientimes.org/2007/09/special-deals-for-seniors/
http://blog.alientimes.org/2007/08/potiron-festival-and-fireworks-displays/
http://blog.alientimes.org/2007/04/free-admission-day-at-potiron-no-mori/

July 7 is the “Tanabata,” and people write their wishes on colorful pieces of rectangle paper and hang them on bamboo plants in Japan. If your kids attend daycares and schools in Japan, they might’ve already done so at their daycares and schools last week, but not all places do that.

Making Tanabata kazari or decoration is very easy if you and your kids are interested in trying out this Asian tradition. If you have origami (colored paper), string and scissors, then you are set! Oh, but where should you go for nice bamboo plants? The easiest way to get them is to ask someone if they have bamboo plants in their yard or neighborhood, but if that’s no an option for you, then you can go to 牛久自然観察の森(Ushiku Shizen Kanzatsu-no Mori) or Ushiku Nature Sanctuary in Ushiku City to get free bamboo grass for Tanabata. Ushiku Nature Sanctuary is closed on Mondays, but you can go there anytime between tomorrow and Sunday, July 8, to get free bamboo grass.

Click here to see what a typical Tanabata Kazari looks like (from Japanese Wiki)
Tanabata (wikipedia, English)
Tanabata (wikipedia, Japanese)

********************************
Ushiku Nature Sanctuary
Admission: free
Map: http://map.livedoor.com/map/?ZM=10&MAP=E140.10.40.4N35.57.39.7&SZ=740%2C450
********************************

1964 was a pivotal year in post-war Japanese history. With the inauguration of the first SHINKANSEN bullet train, the introduction of the first color TVs, and most importantly, the hosting of the Olympic Games, it was a year which now symbolizes Japan’s economic recovery and marks its return to the forefront of the international scene after a two decade period of frenzied rebuilding following the total devastation of WWII. 

In 1966, the Japanese government designated October 10th as Taiiku no Hi (Sports Day) to commemorate the Games. If you are wondering why October was selected as a day to remember the Summer Olympics, you are not alone. The fact is, however, that in 1966, the Opening Ceremonies were held on the 10th of October! The wise decision to hold the Tokyo Summer Games in Autumn was made in deference to Japans cruelly humid summer weather (why wasn’t the same change made for Beijing?).

Since the year 2000, as part of the HAPPY MONDAY MOVEMENT (having national holidays on Monday to make a 3-day weekend), Taiiku No Hi has been moved to the second Monday of October, giving us a nice break in what is probably Japan’s best season weather-wise. 

Over the Sports Day weekend you are likely to hear signal fireworks (aizu no hanabi) announcing that school and university sports festivals (UNDO KAI) are being held. For the Japanese, these events are MAJOR markers of the passage of years. It is common for grandparents to come from afar to be present, and in Tsukuba, parents often go out in the middle of the night to stake out a good place to put down their plastic sheet for the next morning’s festivities. You can get a glimpse of what goes on at an UNDOKAI on YouTube.

If you turned on the TV this morning, you might have seen some of Japan’s Olympic medalists giving workshops for schoolchildren and also scenes of little Aiko (the daughter of the Crown Prince and Princess) running (victoriously, of course) in her first Sports Festival.

Many Tsukubans set aside time every year during the second weekend in October to attend Tsukuba University’s three day Culture Festival. All of those who do have their own favorite attractions. For me, there is the music, especially the jazz cafe and the Andean Folk Music Troupe. This year, with the blessing of truly glorious weather, not a soul could have left disappointed. With a wide range of cheap and delicious foods, live music in all genres, arcade games, scientific displays, and technological exhibitions all served up with youthful enthusiasm, for me the GAKUEN-SAI is the true TSUKUBA FESTIVAL (Tsukuba Matsuri).

As I have written before, one noticeable thing for many graduates of foreign universities is the lack of any political or INTELLECTUAL presence in the Tsukuba University festival. In recent years, however, environmental awareness has started to be felt with several booths selling organic produce or showing data from research on GREENER LIVING. Still walking the length of the campus this weekend, I felt pessimistic about recent calls to lower the voting age in Japan to 18.

For LOTS OF INTERESTING DETAILS ON THE TOKYO OLYMPICS SEE THIS PAGE and THIS ONE. (You should read more about this event!)

I don’t know how many of you got a chance to visit the Japan With Kids(formerly Tokyo With Kids) booth during the Tsukuba International Exchange Fair last weekend, but on behalf of Japan With Kids, I’d like to make an announcement of their website renewal.

Japan With Kids(JWK), as it says on their website, is “the interactive online community for English speaking parents in Tokyo and all of Japan.”

This website is the place to go if you are in Japan with your children, but those who without kids and those who are not even married yet can also benefit from this site. JWK’s forums were down for nearly a year due to spam and other problems, but they are back!!

JWK has discussions like;
Foreign Kids in Japanese Schools

Cost of Living

Passport renewals for children of USA

and also has good resources such as;
International Schools in Japan

List of English speaking internet groups in Japan

Resources for parents of children with special needs

We know we have great source of information of our own in Tsukuba like The Alien Times, TAIRA and us, TsukuBlog, but we can still benefit from JWK a lot. If you are planning to move to another part of Japan or if you have friends who are planning a move to Japan, please tell them about JWK. I can’t tell you how helpful this website was when I was planning my move back to Japan!

Please take a look at their forums and join the discussions!
JWK forum main page

It is easy to give up your seat on the train when you see someone who is elderly or has a clear physical disability. However, it can be difficult to tell when someone is pregnant. In order to help pregnant women get the special consideration they deserve on trains and other public places, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has created a “maternity mark”, a kind of sticker or badge that pregnant women can put on their purses or key chains.

If you see a woman displaying this symbol, please refrain from smoking and treat her with special consideration, if the situation calls for it.

I think that women who are pregnant will receive some “maternity mark” goods when they receive their “Mother and Child Health Handbook”, but I am not sure. Can anyone else confirm this? I know that they were handing out badges with this symbol at some train stations when they first came out (in the summer of 2006), but I don’t think they are doing that anymore. Can anyone tell us where to get maternity mark goods in Tsukuba?

I think this is a good idea, in principle, but I am not sure how many women will actually display the sign when they are pregnant. It seems like an invasion of privacy, in an especially private country. It also seems kind of embarrassing to walk around with a badge that says “there is a baby in my belly”. Then again, I would never wear one of those surgical masks in public, but people do it here all the time. So, I guess if women start using the sign, it will become more acceptable, and they will feel more comfortable using it.

MAMA-GOTO Club’s Iishida-san and Yukimi Kono, illustrator of TIN TON TAM (sp?) are having special mother and child cafe days at AHIRU in Doho Park.  The Cafe will operate from 1 to 5pm and you can find TIN TON TAM character goods and a special children’s playcircle for young children (under two).  The cafe is open on 10/21, 23, 28, 30, 31.  11/1,7,8,10,11.  On 11/7 there will be a special event (reserved party) with a guest speaker there to talk about weaning and introducing solids to a baby.  For more information on how to join that please contact me, Vivian.  (leevivlee at yahoo dot com)

こんにちは。改めまして、同峰公園のあひるカフェが期間限定でままごとカフェになります。１０月２０日～１１日１３日まで。1pm~5pm。ティントンタンでおなじみのイラストレーター・コンノユキミさんとママ達のコラボレーションです。キッズやベビーの遊び場所があります。ユキミさんのグッズも販売しています。ドングリをつかったアートを作ったり、ままごとのプチイベントなどあります。ぜひぜひ遊びに来て下さいね。ちなみに石田は１０月２１、２３、２８、３０、３１ １１月１、７、８、１０、１１にいますよ。ままごとのイベントとして１１月７日（金）の午後はアヒルを貸し切り、食育＆食欲(持ち寄り)パーティーを開きます。食育の専門の杉田利美さんを迎え、実体験からお話や離乳食のサンプルなど紹介して貰います。食欲に関しては皆で持ち寄りましょう。こちらもどうぞよろしく。

OK, Tsukuba parents. Are you planning on taking your kid(s) to Shrek3? It came out in the movie theaters last Saturday, so I figured that it’d be wise to wait until mid or late July to go watch this so I can avoid the crowds. Well, I was wrong.

Cineplex Tsukuba on Route 354 shows the English (or Japanese subtitled) version only once during the day and once at night, and they will completely stop showing the English version next Friday!! If you have kids who attend the Japanese public schools, then this weekend is the only chance for your kids to watch Shrek3 in English!

Shrek3 schedule at Cineplex Tsukuba
July 6 (today)
14:30 to 16:15 and 21:50 to 23:35*
July 7 (Sat) to 13 (Fri)
12:55 to 14:40 and 21:50 to 23:35*
comeplete schedule in Japanese
——————————————————————————
*** IMPORTANT NOTICE ***
Due to the ordinance by Ibaraki Prefecture,
children under 18 are not allowed to enter movie theaters
and watch movies that end after 23:00
even if they are accompanied by their guardians.
——————————————————————————

Related articles
Movies in Tsukuba (TsukuBlog)
Toe Jam’s Top Tips: September 2001 (Alien Times)
Tsukuba You World (Alien Times)

Piqniq is a social network for English-speaking families living in Japan. Their goal is to create a Japan-specific online community and information resource to help families get things done in a country where simple tasks can easily become complicated.

The annual うしくかっぱ祭り (Ushiku Kappa Matsuri) will be held this Saturday and Sunday. The festival’s main streets are the Hanamizuki Street and the Chuo Street (MAP), and these streets will be closed to cars from 3pm to 9pm on both days.

For this year’s festival website, please visit:
http://www.ushikukankou.com/matsuri_kappa26th.htm
You can download the program here (pdf)

Event Schedules:
[Both Sat. and Sun.]
From 12:30pm
Events and activities for kids : (venue: a park by the Ushiku City Hall)
Hook and ladder truck display : (venue: the City Hall premises)
- If your kid(s) is brave enough, then she/he can look down at a festival from the top of the ladder! There are also some activities like “learn how to use the fire extinguisher.”
From 2:30pm:
Live Music Performance Schedule (venue: festival main stage)
From 4pm and 5:10pm :
Kid’s Parade and Kappa Bayashi Odori Parade (main parade)

Some events on Saturday:
Bingo from 1:30pm
Watermelon eating contest and　lemon soda drinking contest from 2pm
Festival Opening Ceremony from 3:30pm
Kappore performance from 4pm
Concerts by various artists from 5:30 to 8pm
Ushiku Kappa Daiko　(taiko drum performance) from 8pm
Cleanup time from 8:30pm

Sunday:
Ukelele concert from 1:30pm
Dance performances by various groups from 2 to 3:30 pm
Festival Opening Ceremony from 3:30pm
Traditional festival music performances from 4 to 5pm
Cleanup time from 5 to 5:30pm
Ushiku City Wind Orchestra performance from 5:30 to 6pm
Cleanup time from 8:30pm

Parking and Shuttle Bus information
Free shuttle bus services from the following parking lots will be available between 3pm and 9:30pm on both days(MAP).

Hitachino Ushiku
- Free shuttle bus to/from Ushiku City Hall leaves every 15minutes
Onabake
- Free shuttle bus to/from Ushiku Station Higashiguchi leaves every 20minutes. Stops at Midorino Chuo Bus Stop.
Mikazukibashi
- Free Shuttle bus to/from Ushiku Station Nishiguchi leaves every 15minutes. Stops at Kariya 4-Chome Bus Stop.
Okuno
- Free Shuttle bus to/from Ushiku City Hall leaves every 30minutes. Stops at Danchi Chuo Bus Stop.

A children’s superhero, Anpanman and his friends are coming to Yokohama! There’s already a museum in Kouchi Prefecture in Shikoku Island where the creator of Anpanman, Takashi Yanase is from, but that’s just too far for kids in Kanto region to visit. The new museum is still a bit far from Tsukuba, but you can get there in 2 hours from Tsukuba Station. A new museum is called Yokohama Anpanman Kodomo(children) Museum, and it will open tomorrow at Noon!

The museum’s website doesn’t have much information yet, but I’m guessing that they’ll put more info once the museum opens up. According to the Yokohama Keizai Shinbun, this museum has a movie theater, shopping mall, restaurants and amusement facilities, all built with Anpanman themes. Admission to the “museum part of the museum” is 1000yen, but it’s free to go inside the museum facility.

Anpanman (wiki)
Anpanman Museum (Kouchi Prefecture)
Yokohama Anpanman Kodomo Museum

After 5pm the sun’s cruel and deadening grip began to ease up, and Tsukuba’s old neighborhoods started to come to life. By day, most adults had sought out the comforts of some air-conditioned refuge, while those with no such luxury sufficed with a shady place and a fan to laze away the day watching High School Baseball or the Olympics. It was even hard to spot any kids outside enjoying summer vacation. It seems that, they too, much prefer to be indoors with their beloved video games which have overwhelmingly supplanted hunting for insects and playing in the fields as the number one summer fun.

The evening of August 13th is always filled with excitement in these traditional enclaves. It is the first day of Bon, the three day period in which the souls of departed ancestors return to their hometowns to be with their descendants. Children and grandchildren have arrived. Preparations have been made. The house cleaned, the Buddhist altar (butsudan) set up with the proper decorations and offerings (these can conveniently be purchased at the special O-Bon corners in the supermarkets) and special lanterns and votive strips of paper placed at the front gate or entranceway to the house.

On this evening, the spirits of ancestors will come home, and their living descendants go to the cemetery to greet them and guide them home. This evening I saw Tsukuba’s small graveyards teeming with color and activity as families brought flowers, water and incense, as well as a lantern with which to guide the spirits back to their homes. Many neighborhoods can be seen with streets fully lined with such lanterns so no spirits will lose their way. Homes in which someone has recently passed away usually put out a much larger lantern suspended high on a pole since this will be the first time that that particular soul makes the journey back. These families celebrating a first Bon, might even light a traditional Bon Greeting Fire (迎え火, mukaebi), which have have been almost completely replaced by lanterns, for guiding and welcoming returning ancestral spirits.

When the families arrive home, the spirits are symbolically purified with water and salt, and greeted with 長い道を御苦労さまでした (nagai michi o gokuro sama deshita), you must be tired after your long journey! Then tea is drunk and incense burned.

In Ibaraki, especially around Lake Kasumigaura, there are many villages which continue to keep alive a very interesting custom, which is especially fun for the kids. The spirits of ancestors don’t have to walk from the graveyard. They are transported IN STYLE, on the backs of large dragons or snakes of straw, carried by the village children from the cemetery to EACH HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE where the appropriate ancestors are dropped off with much merriment.

Fortunately, there are also a few neighborhoods in Tsukuba which still keep the same custom, called Bon Tsuna (盆綱), or Tsuna Bon (綱盆). I joined two separate such events (in different parts of Tsukuba) this evening, and I would like to tell you about them.

Before the war, Bon Tsuna had been practiced in numerous hamlets in what is now Tsukuba City. It is now found in only a handful. Today I went around with the the straw dragon of Kami-Sasagi, near Tsukuba Hospital and the Space Center, and also that of Kurihara, farther north, near Tsukuba’s heliport.

In both of these magnificent hamlets, the children make the straw dragons on the morning of the 13th, with the help of some adults. At the end of the day, this year’s dragons are burned. In Sasagi, the dragon was more elaborately made, and well… more dragon-like, while its Kurihara counterpart seemed to be a thick pole made of straw.

The kids of Kurihara, however, certainly, showed lots of enthusiasm and stamina. They carried the heavy pole to more than 30 houses. They ran up to each house with a cry: “The spirits have arrived!” Then they proceeded to toss the dragon into the air about ten times before going on to the next house. In Sasaki, the same went on without the tossing and chanting.

Besides these straw dragons, both in Tsukuba and in some other area of Japan it is customary to decorate the Buddhist altar with a horse and an ox, made from a cucumber and an eggplant, respectively. These are also meant to represent rides for the spirits, and they are often cast off onto rivers or into the sea at the end of the festival. These decorations are fun for kids and utilize IN SEASON vegetables. A friend of mine in his 80s, Yoshida-san, told me something that I had never heard or read anywhere before. He said that the cucumber horse was meant for the arriving spirits, because horses are fast, the ox is for the departure, because it is slower, allowing for some last lingering moments with mortal loved-ones.

Making horses and oxen

When you are living in Japan, but you cannot read Japanese very fluently, it may seem like it is impossible to find out about things that are going on. To be honest, even if you can read Japanese, it can be hard to find things out — like the schedule for the events at Tsukuba Capio and Nova Hall. These events used to be listed in the city hall newsletter, but for some reason, the city government decided to stop publishing the information when they went to once-per month distribution of the newsletter. (It used to be published twice per month.)

I don’t always have time to translate the information that I find around Tsukuba, but I think that it is important to at least let people know about it so they can find out more if they are interested. The latest Tsukuba City Hall Newsletter was published today, so I made a list of some of the topics you might be interested in finding more about. The links below all go to pages in the latest newsletter, so the information is all in Japanese. However, if you want to find out more about a particular topic, print out the relevant page or get a copy of the newsletter from somewhere around Tsukuba and find someone to translate the information for you. (Or, you could use it as a reading exercise if you are studying kanji!)

Tsukuba Industrial Fair
October 10-12, 2008
See: Page 1

Tsukuba Culture Festival
November 1-9, 2008
See: Page 2 and Page 3

Rabies Shots for Dogs
See: Page 6

Tsukuba Citizen’s Day
November 30, 2008
See: Page 7

Health Checkup for Students who will Enter Elementary School in 2009
(Children born between April 2, 2002 and April 1, 2003)
See: Page 8

How to Start Receiving Digital Broadcasting
See: Page 8

City-run Kindergartens Accepting Students for 2009
See: Page 9

Nursery Schools Accepting Students for 2009
See: Page 9

October is Ibaraki Tree Month
See: Page 9

Tsukuba City Hall has published a 144-page document with various statistics related to the city. The document is only available in Japanese, but it is a treasure trove of information about the city.

For example, there is a diagram on page 15 (of the pdf file, page 5 of the paper document) that outlines the history of merges that created the city. I knew that Tsukuba was created out of Toyosato Town, Oho Town, Sakura Village, Yatabe Town, Tsukuba Town, and Kukizaki Town, but I did not know that Toyosato was originally Kamigo Town, which itself was originally Kamigo Village.

Page 25 (page 15 of the paper document) lists statistics on the weather from 1998 to 2007, including annual average temperatures, annual high and low temperatures, annual average humidity, annual average wind speed, annual precipitation, and hours of sunlight. It also lists the monthly amounts of the above variables for 2007.

Page 26 (16), says that the area of Tsukuba is 284 km2 with a population of 206,661 (as of October 1, 2007). The population density is 727.5 people per square kilometer. The average household had 2.5 people. There were 5.7 births per day and 3.5 deaths per day. 37.2 people moved into the city per day, and 30.3 people moved out of the city per day. 3.6 couples got married per day and 1.0 couples got divorced per day. As of October 1, 2007, there were 7154 foreigners living in the city, representing 127 countries.

Page 27 (17):
4388 books borrowed from the library per day
1452 people used community centers per day
1.5 cars per household
19 ambulances sent out per day
0.3 fires per day
4.1 traffic accidents per day
207.5 tonnes of garbage produced per day
177,910 yen of municipal tax paid per person
108.3 city hall staff members per person in Tsukuba (1878 staff