December 2006 Alien Times Online
The December 2006 edition of Alien Times is now online.
Alien Times is an English newsletter that has been published in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan since 1987. It has been online at http://www.alientimes.org since 2002. All of our writers and staff are volunteers.
Print This Post
Have you picked up The Alien Times lately?
I have learned that there are some people who don’t pick up the printed version of the Alien Times because they didn’t know that it was free. There are also many who don’t pick up the printed version because they can read articles online.
Guess what?
We include articles, photographs or images that are exclusive to the printed version every month, and there is a very good reason to pick up this month’s issue!
Find out where you can pick up a copy:
http://www.alientimes.org/Info/Distribution (English)
http://www.alientimes.org/J/Distribution (Japanese)
Print This Post
Portable Alien Site Launched
The Alien Times has launched a new website that can be accessed from your mobile phone. The site is called "The Portable Alien" and it is designed to let you find out information about Tsukuba while you are on-the-go. The address is http://k.alientimes.org. (The "k" stands for "keitai", which means "portable" in Japanese and is often used to refer to mobile phones.)
The site is divided into a number of directories. The top level directories are:
- Accommodations Directory
- City Hall Directory
- Education Directory
- Emergency Directory
- Food Directory
- Health Directory
- Media Directory
- Miscellaneous Directory
- Recreation Directory
- Research Directory
- Transportation Directory
- Travel Directory
Inside these directories, you will find links to information about various organizations and companies that may be difficult to find when you are not at your computer. For example, in the recreation directory, you can find information about sports facilities and tourist attractions in Tsukuba. In the health directory, you can find lists of clinics divided into their specializations (skin, pediatrics, eyes, etc.). The transportation section currently includes schedules for the Tsukuba-Narita and Tsukuba-Tokyo buses. We eventually hope to include other schedules such as Tsukuba Express, Joban Line, and TsukuBus.
The site is not yet complete, but we decided to make it public so people in the Tsukuba community can test it out and let us know what they think. If there is any information that you would like to see on the site, please let us know. Also, if there is any information that is outdated or needs to be improved, please contact us so we can keep the site up-to-date.
There are two ways to access the site with your cellphone.
1. Open your web browsing software in your mobile phone and enter the address "k.alientimes.org" directly.
2. Use your barcode reader in your cellphone (usually in with the camera settings) to read the following code.
After you have accessed the site once, put it in your list of favourites so you can get to it quickly when you need it in the future.
You can also access the site with your computer. The mobile site is directly accessible by computer, or you can use the interface that has been integrated into the Alien Times website. (The interface was integrated so that searches that are performed on the Alien Times site will now include results from the Portable Alien directories.)
We hope you find this new site useful and we are looking forward to getting your feedback on our efforts!
Print This Post
The Legend Returns to the Place of Origin
Following is the article submitted to the Alien Times by the TAIHEN "The legend of Maha-Laba Villege" Performance Executive Committee. You can also read this article in the current issue of the Alien Times. [Find a copy of the latest Alien Times]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Legend Returns to the Place of Origin
～Internationally Acclaimed Performance Group to Perform in Tsuchiura～
By TAIHEN "The legend of Maha-Laba Villege" Performance Executive Committee
Maha-Laba Mura (Maha-Laba Village) was a commune of people with cerebral palsy which existed in Ibaraki prefecture in Japan from the mid to late 1960s. The conditions and experiences in this isolated commune led to the development of the ideas and policies of the Blue-Lawn Party. This party led an intense liberation movement of disabled people in the 1970s. The party's beliefs and actions were a challenge directed toward the value system of non-disabled society and its eugenic ideology. The party's intensity was a shock to the non-disabled world, but the movement collapsed before long.
It is a story about the genesis and decay of an isolated microcosm. People with no place in society escaped into the microcosm and built their own life. Taihen tries to picture this story as a myth, to symbolize true nature of the
universal existence of human beings.
TAIHEN has been invited by a group of Ibaragi residents to perform "The Legend of Maha-Laba Village" in Tsuchiura. This is significant both for the performers and the audience in that Maha-Laba Village was once located in Ibaragi.
TAIHEN is a physical theatre troupe of physically disabled people which has been actively performing professionally since 1983 in Japan. They have been performing internationally since 1993. Manri Kim has found that the disabled body has an expression that none other can create. Their twisted, distorted bodies, normally considered to be ungainly are transformed into peculiar beauty. What she has started is a completely new genre, neither Butoh nor dance, that has given much inspiration and hope to all people, whether disabled or not. All performers have polio, cerebral palsy or other conditions and most require 24 hour care, so they need unique backstage crews and Kurokos (assistants dressed in black as in Japanese puppet theater), who help
the performers to enter and exit the stage.
"If you are wishing to express the universe and yourself,
the means of manifestation may be found in authentic
inner motion, which might be unrecognized motion in a
customary movement".
TAIHEN is a troupe of physical performers deeply expressing
their inner selves. The performers' motions are far from
standard but they crawl, wriggle, squirm, walk, run and jump
unaided. Though their individual expressive line may not look
straight nor look stable, their inevitable movement is finely
balanced. One's movement is directly connected to one's
inner life. In Taihen's creation, the audience can unite with
the performers to sense and to experience the unity of
microcosm (physical body) with the universe.
TAIHEN's stage works are without words. The works are "physical theatre" in which physically disabled performers try to turn their distorted bodies and ungainly movement into symbolic expression. TAIHEN will speak about "Maha-Laba village" confronting a civilization steeped in the ideology of erasing disabled people, but it is not a story about the disabled people only. Rather, we speak of universal human existence.
---------
"The legend of Maha-Laba Villege" performances
Sunday, May 10th, 2009
Morning performance starts at 11:30, doors open at 11:00
Afternoon performance starts at 17:30, doors open at 17:00
Place:
Ibaraki Ken-nan Syogai-gakushu center
(Urara building 5F, Front of JR Tsuchiura St. West gate)
Tickets:
Adults: 3,000 yen (2700 yen advance),
students or elderlies: 2,500 yen,
A pair of the disabled and the attendant:
3,000 yen, the disabled: 2,500 yen
* You can also reserve tickets online:
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~TJ2M-SNJY/upcoming/mahaibaragi_res.htm
Information:
TAIHEN "The legend of Maha-Laba Villege" performance Executive Committee
Tel: 080-5097-2288 (Orito), E-mail: oriton435[at]yahoo.co.jp
Wesite (English): http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~TJ2M-SNJY/
Blog: http://taihen.tsukuba.ch/
Print This Post
YMCA Ibaraki 2009 Summer Programs
Following article is from the June issue of the Alien Times.
Where to find the latest copies of the Alien Times:
http://www.alientimes.org/Info/Distribution (English)
http://www.alientimes.org/J/Distribution (Japanese)
----------
YMCA Ibaraki Summer School Programs
Programs:
I: July 27 (Mon) to July 31 (Fri)
II: Aug. 3 (Mon) to Aug. 7 (Fri)
III: Aug. 17 (Mon) to Aug. 21 (Fri)
IV: Aug. 24 (Mon) to Aug. 28 (Fri)
Maximum enrollment: 20 children in each program
Time: Drop off your kid(s) at Ibaraki YMCA building between 9am and 9:30am and pick up your kid(s) between 6pm and 6:30pm during 5-day program. This summer school is for elementary school-aged children.
Venue*: Ibaraki YMCA building in Tsukuba City
Activities: Kids visit nearby facilities such as library, swimming pool and park, and kids will make a trip to places outside of Tsukuba City such as the Ooarai Beach, the Aqua World Ooarai (aquarium), and the Ibaraki Botanical Garden in Naka City on Fridays.
Fee**: 25,000 yen
(22,000yen if YMCA’s after school program attendants or children of YMCA members)
* YMCA is planning to hold summer programs in Moriya, Tsukuba Mirai and Joso Cities. If you or anyone you know are interested, please check with Ibaraki YMCA.
** This fee covers the program fees, insurance fee, transportation expenses, admission fees to places kids visit and lunch and snacks for 5 days. Kids must bring packed lunch on Friday.
[About the YMCA Membership]
Membership starts 5000yen a year, and members and their children will be able to participate in the YMCA programs at the special discounted rates. They also receive discounts when they purchase items at the YMCA booth during Matsuri Tsukuba in August. Contact Ibaraki YMCA for more information.
How to Register:
Mail a postcard with the following information;
1. name of the Camp,
2. your name and address, phone/fax number, and
3. your child’s name, grade and name of the school,
to the contact address below.
------
YMCA Daycare Program Has Some Openings
YMCA Ibaraki’s childcare home (YMCA幼保園) has some openings. This daycare is intended for children who are 1 to 3 year old. They are open from 8am to 6pm, Monday thru Friday. Non-Japanese speaking children always welcome. This is a small daycare program, but they currently have children from countries such as UK, Spain, Australia, France and Japan. Feel free to contact them should you have any questions.
Contacts:
NPO Ibaraki YMCA Camp
24-7 Higashi Arai, Tsukuba City,
Ibaraki 305-0033
Mailing address in Japanese:
〒305-0033 茨城県つくば市東新井24-7
NPO法人 茨城YMCA キャンプ係
Website: http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~ibay/
Phone: 029-852-4128*, Fax: 029-855-1947
Phone number for the childcare home is 029-861-8616.
Print This Post