I think it’s very important for you to read “Earthquake Early Warning Starting 1 October 2007(pdf)“ if you haven’t heard about this new warning system. The new system may only give you only three seconds for example, but those three seconds may save your life!

From JMA website:

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) is providing residents in Japan with Earthquake Early Warnings, new prompt earthquake alerts to be issued immediately after the occurrence of earthquakes, in order to secure time to protect yourself before strong tremors arrive.
Earthquake Early Warning will be provided through several means such as TV and radio from 1 October 2007.

- What is the Earthquake Early Warning (or “緊急地震速報 (Kinkyu Jishin Sokuho)” in Japanese)?

- Examples of Response to an Earthquake Early Warning

- Limitations of the Earthquake Early Warning

- About Earthquake Early Warning(pdf)

Or please visit their “Earthquake Early Warning” page.

“Kashima Soccer Stadium – Stadium Wedding“

This wedding plan isn’t just about the bride and groom holding their wedding ceremony in a soccer stadium because the bride and groom will also receive the soccer star treatment during their wedding! The bride kicks the ball to start the ceremony and walks down “the aisle” that will be placed in the middle of the soccer ground. The new couple gets to hold a press conference (to talk to their guests) in the stadium’s press room after the ceremony!

For the images and the details, please visit this company’s website:
Concierge Mito
Related site:
Kashima Soccer Stadium website

It was the  timing of the storm which made it so dramatic. I should even say UNFORGETABLE . At Konda`s Yasaka Shrine, where in the past important rain supplication ceremonies ( amagoi) had often been held, most notably during the Great Famine of Tenmei, and with the Shimada Ishi ( a  stone which according to local legend was successfully used to pray for rain) its narrow precincts, the festival drummers were building up into a crazed frenzy. The portable shine( Mikoshi) had just returned from making its rounds and was passing between the onlookers and the drummers. Just at that moment, a stong gust of wind whipped the placed off the tables which had been set up for the post festival feast- and with a flash of lightning- it started to rain. 

We had enough time, before the drizzle turned to a downpour, to get into the car and drive home. But after the 2 minute drive, the rain had become so intense and the lightning so terrifying that we just waited it out IN THE CAR, for about an hour.

I realized that the festival had gone well, celebrated with true spirit- because the God enshrined at all the Yasaka Jinja`s at which the Gion Festivals are held are all dedicated to Susanoo-no-Mikoto- GOD OF THE STORM!

Before of this amazing experience I am reposting an article I have written and posted before:

HIDE YOUR BELLYBUTTONS!

These days electrical storms have been occurring so regularly around Tsukuba that you could almost set your watch by them. The lightning flashes begin just after dark and sometimes continue, with remarkable frequency, for hours. Though these nocturnal pyrotechnics can be beautiful to watch from your window, these storms are also quite SCARY (especially for children and dogs) and dangerous. A few years ago as the thunder roared and the lightning seemed to be singling out my neighborhood for special attention, my house filled with acrid smoke. Certain that a thunderbolt had struck and started a fire, I FRANTICALLY ran from room to room searching for the flames, with my dog barking hysterically at my heels. What I found, however, was that smoke was pouring out of my lightning-surge fried computer, which of course had to be trashed. I now run to unplug my computer and television at the first sign of a storm.

Most Tsukubans these days are quick to attribute the nightly KAMINARI (thunder and lightning) to global warming. In past ages, however, the Japanese would have asserted just as quickly, and with even more confidence, that the thunderclaps and lightning bolts were the work of RAIJIN (the god of thunder and lightning) and his companion RAIJU. You have probably seen some of the famous art works depicting Raijin, an ogre in a tiger-skin loin cloth, holding the sticks to beat his drums, which create the thunderous roar. Raiju on the other hand is usually imagined as a small mammalian hybrid, part tanuki, part cat, part mole. According to folk beliefs, these usually sedate creatures, prefer to sleep within the safe confines of the human bellybutton! When Raijin wants to summon his companion for a storm, he shoots arrows to arouse the little fella and get him out of his warm and snuggly resting place.

That is why, to this day, when a storm starts up anywhere in Japan, you might hear parents warning their small kids: “Cover your bellybuttons! He’s gonna get your bellybutton! O-heso kakushitoki na! Torarechau kara ne!” I’ve certainly been hearing this curious expression a lot these days! I’ve even heard that older people turn over on their stomachs if there is a storm while they are in bed at night, just to be on the safe side.

When I asked parents about this expression, besides telling me about Raijin and Raiju, they also explained the practical sides of this belief. One, that after lightning the air cools down (is this true?), so it is better to cover up, and two, that it’s better to stay low during a storm, and crouching down to conceal your belly is a good precaution to take. The efficacy of this second point was actually confirmed when I checked the established lightning safetey tips here:

http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/lst.html

 It is also very interesting to look at the Japanese words for thunder and lightning. They reveal a great deal about how these phenomena were traditionally viewed. The word for thunder is kaminari, which literally means Kami (god(s)) nari (resounding). Simple enough. More interesting is the Kanji character for that word (雷). Rain over a rice field. This surely implies the belief in the importance of thunder in its connection to the coming of rain and watering of the fields.

The word for lightning itself is even more interesting. Inazuma (稲妻) literally means ”rice plant’s wife”! The ancient East-Asian rice cultivators must have believed that lightning was a necessary element in the bringing about of rice. As if the gods, like Dr Frankenstein, used electric bolts to instill life into the inanimate!

There are numerous shrines throughout Japan dedicated to Raijin. I have written about one shrine in Tsukuba, the Inaoka Kaminari Jinja, which had been used for generations as a place to make supplications for rain.

Some people might remember how YEARS AGO in Tsukuba, a group of teachers (was it 3 or 5?) had called in sick at school and went off to play golf (in the days when that was a real luxury). When the rain started they took refuge under a tree. When lightning struck they were all killed. That’s why I always get an uneasy feeling when I’m outdoors during this season’s storms. It is then that ISSA`s haiku comes to mind-

稲妻を浴せかけるや死ぎらい
INAZUMA　O　ABISEKAKERU　YO　SHINIGIRAI

Lightning flashing all around
I don’t wanna die!

If you’ve got a surge protector, it can also be fun to watch the lightning monitor at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) website.

Most Tsukubans these days are quick to attribute the nightly KAMINARI (thunder and lightning) to global warming. In past ages, however, the Japanese would have asserted just as quickly, and with even more confidence, that the thunderclaps and lightning bolts were the work of RAIJIN (the god of thunder and lightning) and his companion RAIJU. You have probably seen some of the famous art works depicting Raijin, an ogre in a tiger-skin loin cloth, holding the sticks to beat his drums, which create the thunderous roar. Raiju on the other hand is usually imagined as a small mammalian hybrid, part tanuki, part cat, part mole. According to folk beliefs, these usually sedate creatures, prefer to sleep within the safe confines of the human bellybutton! When Raijin wants to summon his companion for a storm, he shoots arrows to arouse the little fella and get him out of his warm and snuggly resting place.

That is why, to this day, when a storm starts up anywhere in Japan, you might hear parents warning their small kids: “Cover your bellybuttons! He’s gonna get your bellybutton! O-heso kakushitoki na! Torarechau kara ne!” I’ve certainly been hearing this curious expression a lot these days! I’ve even heard that older people turn over on their stomachs if there is a storm while they are in bed at night, just to be on the safe side.

When I asked parents about this expression, besides telling me about Raijin and Raiju, they also explained the practical sides of this belief. One, that after lightning the air cools down (is this true?), so it is better to cover up, and two, that it’s better to stay low during a storm, and crouching down to conceal your belly is a good precaution to take. The efficacy of this second point was actually confirmed when I checked the established LIGHTNING SAFETY TIPS(www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_plslst.html ).

It is also very interesting to look at the Japanese words for thunder and lightning. They reveal a great deal about how these phenomena were traditionally viewed. The word for thunder is kaminari, which literally means Kami (god(s)) nari (resounding). Simple enough. More interesting is the Kanji character for that word (雷). Rain over a rice field. This surely implies the belief in the importance of thunder in its connection to the coming of rain and watering of the fields.

The word for lightning itself is even more interesting. Inazuma (稲妻) literally means ”rice plant’s wife”! The ancient East-Asian rice cultivators must have believed that lightning was a necessary element in the bringing about of rice. As if the gods, like Dr Frankenstein, used electric bolts to instill life into the inanimate!

There are numerous shrines throughout Japan dedicated to Raijin. I have written about one shrine in Tsukuba, the Inaoka Kaminari Jinja, which had been used for generations as a place to make supplications for rain.

Some people might remember how YEARS AGO in Tsukuba, a group of teachers (was it 3 or 5?) had called in sick at school and went off to play golf (in the days when that was a real luxury). When the rain started they took refuge under a tree. When lightning struck they were all killed. That’s why I always get an uneasy feeling when I’m outdoors during this season’s storms. It is then that ISSA`s haiku comes to mind-

稲妻を浴せかけるや死ぎらい
INAZUMA　O　ABISEKAKERU　YO　SHINIGIRAI

Lightning flashing all around
I don’t wanna die!

If you’ve got a surge protector, it can also be fun to watch the lightning monitor at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) website.

2 Comments

• At September 1, 2008, Shaney wrote:

  My computer AND modem got lightly toasted in a storm last Thursday. I recommend unplugging your modem from the phone line too when things get stormy. (The Hikari people say that lightning can't affect the line that goes from my wall into the Hikari modem. Is that true? The modem that got toasted was ADSL.)

• At September 21, 2008, Avi Landau wrote:

  I just watched the 1949 film Stray Dogs(nora inu), the earliest

  Kurosawa film to be considered a masterpiece. In one seen, while Detective Satoh is questioning the middle-aged proprietress of a TEA HOUSE there is a sudden roar of thunder and a flash of lightning. The woman instincitively ducks down to protect her bellybutton!

One reason for this might be that the GESHI falls smack in the middle of the rainy season (梅雨, tsuyu), and is marred almost every year by gloomy, overcast weather. In fact, though there is almost a five hour difference in the length of daytime between the GESHI and the 冬至 (touji, winter solstice) in the Tsukuba area, the sun SHINES unobscured for many more hours on average on the shortest day of the year!

There is now a way to make your summer solstice MEANINGFUL, and certainly more fun than it has ever been for you in Japan before. For several years a movement has been growing which promotes turning the summer solstice into CANDLE NIGHT. As a way to promote energy conservation and environmental awareness, people around the world are asked to refrain from using electricity between 8 and 10pm. There are many ways life can be enjoyed without the help of the Tokyo Electric Power Company. You should try it!

For more information and plenty of ideas check out :
www.candle-night.org/english/

Of course you should conserve energy EVERY DAY ! This festive way of living without electricity for a few hours is a good place to start, especially for giving awareness to kids.

Have a happy 夏至. Enjoy the daylight! IT ONLY GETS SHORTER FROM TOMORROW!

One reason for this might be that the GESHI falls smack in the middle of the rainy season (梅雨, tsuyu), and is marred almost every year by gloomy, overcast weather. In fact, though there is almost a five hour difference in the length of daytime between the GESHI and the 冬至 (touji, winter solstice) in the Tsukuba area, the sun SHINES unobscured for many more hours on average on the shortest day of the year!

There is now a way to make your summer solstice MEANINGFUL, and certainly more fun than it has ever been for you in Japan before. For several years a movement has been growing which promotes turning the summer solstice into CANDLE NIGHT. As a way to promote energy conservation and environmental awareness, people around the world are asked to refrain from using electricity between 8 and 10pm. There are many ways life can be enjoyed without the help of the Tokyo Electric Power Company. You should try it!

For more information and plenty of ideas check out :
www.candle-night.org/english/

Of course you should conserve energy EVERY DAY ! This festive way of living without electricity for a few hours is a good place to start, especially for giving awareness to kids.

Have a happy 夏至. Enjoy the daylight! IT ONLY GETS SHORTER FROM TOMORROW!

Demographics and aging parent care
Perhaps you came to Japan thinking you would stay for a year or two, enjoy the life of an English teacher abroad, and then resume your “real life” back home. Two years stretched to five, and five into 10. You built your “real life” in Japan and now feel more at home here than in your native country.

Perhaps your spouse accepted an overseas appointment and you followed. Now you are balancing a family life with long hours in the world’s most demanding workplace.

Here in Japan, consumed with the details of managing day-to-day life, expatriates can feel far removed from political, community and family life in their native countries. Time can seem to stand still. But time waits for no gaijin.

With increasing longevity worldwide, many people in midlife and even late midlife have at least one living parent. “Mid-lifers” who postponed childbirth into their 30s and 40s, may now find themselves “sandwiched” between school age children and aging parents.

When is the right time to begin making parent care plans?
Through clues picked up during phone conversations with parents, and from first-hand observation during infrequent visits, longterm expatriates begin to notice signs that their parents “back home” in their native countries have begun the inevitable journey into old age.

Deep down you may know that, at some point, your parent will probably need help and that you may be the one called on to direct your parent’s care.

You may sense that it would be prudent to make some arrangements in advance, but don’t know when or where to begin. Age takes its toll at different rates for different people. People in young old-age (50s and 60s) can experience strokes and heart attacks. During the 70s problems with multiple chronic health conditions can increase. In the 80s diminishment of physical capabilities slows or even restricts an elder’s day-to-day activities. By the mid-80s, even elders for whom aging was slow to take a toll, will notice loss of previously taken-for-granted health and physical abilities.

“Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries among older people – common everyday types of falls like a slip on a patch of ice or a rug, a stumble on the stairs, or a brief loss of balance. Each year one of every three Americans 65 and older falls-and almost a third require medical treatment.” (AARP November/December 2008)

The short answer: It is never too early to begin planning ahead, but overnight it can become too late. My own story is a good example.

My family’s parent care plan and its limitations
In their 70s my parents took me into their confidence about their wills and financial matters. Dad had always handled finances. He and mom executed legal documents designating me to hold power of attorney (POA) to ensure that I could step in and handle finances if dad couldn’t.

When dad was 81, he suffered a massive stroke. My brother and I both rushed “home” from out of state to join our mother and sister in handling the emergency. We took turns sitting with dad in the hospital; ministering to mom’s needs as she faced loss of her life partner of more than 50 years; handling communication with concerned friends and family; and handling communication with physicians and decisions related to dad’s care. Because we had made arrangements in advance, I immediately took responsibility for finances.

Since their mid-60s, my parents had lived in a condominium in a senior retirement community. Prior to dad’s stroke, they had never talked with either me or my siblings about arrangements for long term care should either of them ever require it. After just a few short weeks of post-stroke care covered by healthcare insurance, dad would need complete care 24-hours a day for the rest of his life, either provided pro-bono by a family member or at the family’s expense by professional caregivers at home or in an extended care facility.

Mom, my brother and sister and I were faced with navigating this unexplored and scary terrain. Would we move dad to my sister’s house, in a nearby town, for care? If so would my sister quit work and care for him at home? Would we hire and manage a caregiver to take care of dad in the house during the hours that my sister worked? Would mom sell the retirement condo and move into a retirement community closer to my sister? Or would we move dad into an extended care facility, aka nursing home. If so, would it be near my sister’s town where she could visit him frequently, or would it be near mom’s retirement community. But mom did not drive and would need rides to visit dad. We anguished over the final decision to place dad in extended care near my sister, sell mom’s condo, and find a retirement community for her near my sister.

By planning ahead how to handle day-to-day finances, healthcare decisions in the hospital or doctors’ office, and end of life matters, our family had taken some important steps. Dad’s need following the stroke, for complete care for the rest of his life, unleashed an overwhelming tsunami of logistical and financial challenges and emotional stress for which our family was completely unprepared. Like most people who have made no long term care plans, we had no choice but to react and handle decision making as best we could in a crisis mode.

Making a plan that will work for you and your family in a crisis
My experience with parent care inspired my late mid-life decision to leave the corporate world and launch Binocular Vision Advisors. In the years since founding Binocular Vision, I have witnessed numerous examples of eldercare crises that could have been gracefully handled or even completely averted, if only grown children had become involved earlier and helped their parents engage in at least some degree of planning.

There are myriad books and internet resources that contain information about parent care. With research it is possible for grown children to glean the information they need in order to manage the process of planning ahead for parent care. But most people never go through the process.

In an October 28, 2008, in the New York Times “New Old Age” online blog, Cindy Cabrillo, CEO of Work Options Group, sums up the reality for most grown children of aging parents, “. . . few of us plan in advance for the time and money we may have to spend on eldercare, arguably because we don’t want to think about it and are hoping it will never come up. We close one eye, look the other way, handle one hurdle at a time and don’t realize how much trouble we’re in until it accelerates. Nobody wants to think about it beforehand. When you’re in the throes of it you don’t have time. And when you’re done, you don’t want to go back there again.”

For people who do want to plan ahead, I saw a need for a tool that brings together the pieces expatriate grown children (of any nationality) need to plan ahead, and walks them through a doable process for carrying out the plan. I created The Five-Step Long Distance Care Strategy to meet this need. For more information, go to my website (http://www.binocvision.com) and download Your Parent Care Plan.

About Marcia Johnson & Binocular Vision Advisors
Marcia Johnson launched Binocular Vision Advisors in 2003 to connect grown children caring for older parents from a distance with eldercare services they and their parents need. Based in Tokyo since 2007, she consults with English speaking expatriates caring for aging parents from overseas. Through programs for groups and consultation with individuals Binocular Vision helps expatriate families (regardless of nationality) cope with long distance caregiving and supports corporate productivity by helping expatriate workers address parent care challenges. Expatriates, whose parents live in Canada or the USA, can engage Binocular Vision to select qualified geriatric care manager candidates their near parents.

2 Comments

• At December 6, 2008, Taking Care of Elderly Parents from Abroad « International Women’s Network wrote:

  [...] You can read more about Marcia and her company on TsukuBlog: http://blog.alientimes.org/2008/12/parent-care-when-you-cant-be-there/ [...]

• At December 7, 2008, Linda wrote:

  Thank you for such a well written description of the challenges of the process of caring for one's parents. I am interested in looking at your site. It sounds very promising for many people.

…OK, guys. Hang in there. Japan’s infamous muggy weather is too much to handle, even for a Japanese guy obviously, but it’s going to get worse. If you are new to Ibaraki or Japan, you might want to note that the season after the rainy season is actually the 暴走族 (bou sou zoku) or motorcycle gang season. Several days ago, some people, possibly high school kids were setting off bottle rockets… at two in the morning! These kinds of troublemakers come out when the weather gets nicer, and they’ve definitely become the unwelcome seasonal tradition of Japan.

On a more serious note, there was also a murder in Tsukuba last week. The owner of a pachinko parlor in Takamihara, which is the area adjacent to Ushiku City, was murdered last Tuesday night. The killer is still on the loose.

What may affect many of TsukuBlog readers is a series of motorcycle thefts in the area. As Shaney wrote in her post “Increase in Bike and Motorcycle Theft in Tsukuba,” bike and motorcycle thefts are on the rise at an alarming rate. Three Namiki residents found their beloved motorcycles stolen last Tuesday morning. Four other motorcycles were stolen in Tsukuba between June 15 and 16. All were large-size motorcycles such as Harley-Davidsons (very popular targets!), and all were safeguarded against theft. The police suspect that a professional motorcycle theft ring(s) is behind these cases. This website, “バイク盗難 情報局 (motorcycle theft information),” is also cautioning all motorcycle owners in Japan about the recent motorcycle theft cases. The website is specifically warning those motorcycle owners who live along/near the following Routes: Route 17, Route 16, Route 14, Route 246, Route 408, Route 125, Route 4, and Route 354. As you know, Routes 408, 125 and 354 go through Tsukuba.

Some of you may already have signed up for this, but the Ibaraki Prefectural Police launched a service last month that informs Ibaraki residents of crimes and crime prevention information by e-mail. The service is called ひばりくん防犯メール(Hibari-kun bouhan mail), or Skylark Crime Prevention Mail. Skylark is the prefectural bird of Ibaraki, by the way. My son’s school handed out letters about this new service a couple of weeks ago, but I was too lazy to sign up. However, the recent motorcycle thefts in Tsukuba got me to sign up for this service because just the thought of a professional theft ring roaming around in my neighborhood made me sick and made me very worried about neighborhood safety.

The registration process is VERY simple. Just send a blank e-mail to add[AT]mail1.police.pref.ibaraki.jp and click on the URL in the message sent back to you. It won’t ask you to enter your residential address. All you need to do is to click and choose the city, then choose which information you’d like to receive. I picked Tsukuba, and selected both “crime prevention information” and “traffic accident information” to be sent to my e-mail account. The only message I’ve received so far since I signed up for this service last week was about a suspicious man in his 50s in Mito who’s been approaching kids. Subscribers will receive traffic accident information, break-in/purse snatcher/bicycle theft reports and announcements from the Ibaraki Prefectural Police. Watch your bikes and motorcycles… and kids!

2 Comments

• At October 3, 2007, TsukuBlog » Police warns people about the recent chain e-mails wrote:

  [...] to ひばりくん防犯メール (Skylark Crime Prevention Mail), the similar e-mails went around last year. So now you know! Related [...]

• At November 16, 2007, TsukuBlog » Car owners, be on alert! wrote:

  [...] post: Receive Area Crime Reports on Your Computer or Cellphone Related [...]

Here are some suggestions that they give to help reduce the amount of electricity we use.

• Raise the setting on your air conditioner.
• Use curtains or blinds to reduce the amount of sun that enters your room.
• Turn off appliances that you are not using.
• Turn off lights that you are not using.
• Close the refrigerator door quickly after opening it.
• Don’t overstock your refrigerator.
• If you are not watching your television, turn it off at the main switch (not just the remote control switch).
• Reduce the operating hours of elevators and escalators.

Allied Pickfords — phone (04) 5651-2747, fax (04) 5664-7134 or check out www.alliedpickfords.co.jp

Economove — call (toll-free) (0120) 981-862. Web site at www.economovejapan.com/index.htm

Econoship — phone (toll-free) (0120) 222-111, mail info@econoship.net or check online at www.econoship.net

Japan Express — call (toll-free) (0120) 228-322. Online at www.japanexpress.co.jp/hikkoshi/eng.htm

Japan Luggage Express Ltd — phone (toll-free) (0120) 48-0081 or check www.jluggage.com

Nippon Express — call (toll-free) (0120) 150-422 or find them online at www.nittsu.co.jp/english/e_index.htm

Premier Worldwide Movers — phone (03) 6402-2371. Web site at www.premierworldwide.com

Quoz — call (03) 5932-7777. Web site at www.quoz.biz

Shipmates — call toll-free on (0120) 225-188 or check www.yourshipmates.com

Shipping will generally take a week to 11 days, depending on the destination, and cost varies quite a bit depending on various factors such as where you are shipping to, what you are sending and so on.