Bone Marrow Bank in Tsukuba
At the Tsukuba International Exchange Fair last weekend, there were some people handing out flyers about registering your bone marrow (骨髄, こつずい). When I was handed a flyer, I remembered reading about a fellow foreign resident of Japan who needed to find a bone marrow donor, so I decided to go and get my bone marrow tested and registered while I was at the festival.
The whole procedure didn't last very long. First, I had to fill out a form with my name and contact information and sign something to say that I did not have any of the listed afflictions. After that, I was given an explanation of what would happen if someone happened to need my bone marrow. The man explained that I would be given plenty of opportunities to say "no" for whatever reason -- because I was sick, or tired, or even too busy -- after a match is found. If I did eventually decide to donate my bone marrow, I would be in the hospital for about two or three days and all of my hospital expenses would be covered by the Japan Marrow Donor Program.
After the explanation was finished, I went and sat in a room to wait for a few minutes. There were lots of people in the room who had donated blood, and I would have been happy to donate some of my own while I was there, but since I lived in England for a year in the early 1990s, my blood cannot be accepted (because of the mad cow disease scare that happened around that time in England). I was eventually taken to a room where a doctor took my blood pressure and asked me a few questions. Once I passed the blood pressure test, a nurse took a very small amount of blood from my arm and sent me back to the reception area. At the reception area, I picked up my donor card and a present (two tea towels) and went back to the festival. The whole thing probably took about 30 to 40 minutes -- but if the festival wasn't happening at the time, I'm sure it would have been over even more quickly.
Since bone marrow matches are most likely to be found in people of similar racial background, it is important for foreign people who live in Japan to register themselves. Those of us who are not of Japanese descent have a very limited pool of bone marrow donors to choose from, should we fall ill. Since registration only takes a few minutes, doesn't hurt (except for the prick of the needle), and can be done right in Tsukuba Center, I would like to encourage you to consider doing it. You can have your bone marrow tested and registered in Tsukuba at the Red Cross Blood Donation Center which is located on the second floor (the same level as the pedestrian deck) of AiAi Mall, in between Joyo Bank and Tsukuba Information Center. The Donation Center is open every day, including weekends, from 10am to 12 noon and from 2pm to 5pm. Address: Azuma 1-1364-1-4, Tel: 029-852-7888.
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CAPEDS presents Sudan Café in Tsukuba vol.2 – What we found in “Real” Sudan-
The Alien Times has received the following information from CAPEDS.
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CAPEDS presents Sudan Café in Tsukuba vol.2
- What we found in "Real" Sudan-
What does come up with you,. when you hear the word "Sudan"?
Civil war? Terrorism? Yes, they exactly exist. However, will they ever shape the whole "Sudan"?
The non-profit organization Committee for Assisting and Promoting Education of the Disabled in Sudan(CAPEDS) is a organization aimed to promote and to assist education for the disabled in Sudan. We are now taking actions for promotion and assistance of information education and promotion of blind soccer in Khartoum, Sudan.
(To see more details : please look at http://capeds.org）
In October 2009, 2 of our student staffs went to Khartoum to know the conditions of our running project and to deepen exchange with our counterpart in Sudan. Can you imagine what did they find in Sudan?
Please join us to feel "Real Sudan" by the story of our staffs with hibiscus tea and Sudanese snacks.
The details are below.
Date: Dec 2nd, 2009(Wed) 18:30-20:40
Place : Class room 301, 3A building, Tsukuba University
(5 min by foot from the bus stop "Daigaku-Chuo")
Fee: Free
How to join: Please e-mail to info.tsukuba[at]capeds.org with the name and number of the participants. Please fill the title with "Participation of the event".
Walk-in participants are also welcomed.
If you have any questions, please send e-mail to info.tsukuba[at]capeds.org
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Discovering Tsukuba’s Animal Welfare Activists ( at last! )
Tsukuba`s Animal Welfare Activists at Matsuri Tsukuba
For animal lovers, Japan can be a very stressful place. Even here in Tsukuba, where life in general is quite pleasant , one has to somehow accustom oneself to the daily sight of broken-spirited dogs kept their whole lives in cages or boxes hardly larger than themselves, or tethered to extremely short chains with no shelter from the sun or rain, surrounded by piles of their own waste. And who living here has not had their peace ( of mind) disturbed by stir-crazy dogs whose ONLY options for exersize or stress relief are barking , howling, or yelping.
Another surprisingly pitiful state of affairs is the lack of proper animal shelters, where stray cats and dogs, or kittens and puppies could be taken to when found. As a long time resident and one of the writers of this blog, one of the most frequently asked questions I get is-: Ive found a homeless kitten (or puppy). What should I do? Who should I call?
Im sorry to say that the only answer I can offer is- Hold onto it yourself until you can find someone to adopt it.
Animal Welfare Activists at Matsuri Tsukuba
The alternative to that would be to bring the animal to the city office, where it would be held for 3 days in a filthy, windowless, foul-aired holding shed (some kittens are actually killed by rats there! Even those that are retrieved by owners or adopted by someone often contract severe illnesses at these unsanitary pounds) before being taken to be killed in Kasama.
I guess you could say that this would be a better fate than being sold to a supplier who would sell them to be used in some ( possibly horriffic) experiment.
Being a great lover of nature and animals myself, I had often searched for like-minded people in an around Tsukuba to help fight for various humane and enviromental issues. And though I have found certain individuals willing to help out, I was not aware of any group or organization which existed around here, dedicated to helping animals.
That is why it came as a SHOCK (though a very pleasant one), to find, among all the food stalls and buskers of Matsuri Tsukuba, not one, but THREE booths set up by various animal welfare groups who are active in Tsukuba.
![090830_1532~01_0001[1]](http://blog.alientimes.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/090830_153201_00011-300x225.jpg)
The first of these was the SUTENEKOBOUSHI KAI ( 捨猫防止会), literally the Society to Prevent The Abandonment of Cats and Kittens, which according to its representative in Tsukuba , Makomi Tsuruta, tries to educate the public about humane treatment and cat care and also promotes neutering in order to keep the homeless cat population under control. Their homepage is:
http://miaomiaogatti.blogspot.com/
Then there was the DOBUTSU AIGO WO KANGAERU IBARAKI NETWORK ( 動物愛護を考える茨城県民ネットワーク), the THINKING ABOUT THE HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS IBARAKI NETWORK, which was represented by Horiyuki Sakamoto. This group tries to pressure the local govermant to legislate for a more humane society. They are now focusing on the building of a better holding center (dog pound) at the future Tsukuba City office. Mr Sakamoto can be contacted at 0298 51 5580.
Animal Support Kizuna ( あにまるさぽーと ・きずな): http://kizna.sakura.ne.jp/index.html
actually goes to the holding facilities (pounds) and checks on conditions. They also try to rescue as many animals as they can by finding them homes. They need both volunteers and funds!
In the same booth I was happy to find Hisako Horie, who lives in Ushiku and represents ALIVE, a nationwide organization which works to make it Japan a better country for ALL ANIMALS and also to protect Japans environment. Please check out their website:
It was enlightening to speak with Tomoko Watanabe (who spends large parts of her earnings, as most of these activists do) on helping care for homeless animals. She explained how difficult it was, in Ibaraki Prefecture and especially in Tsukuba, to help find homes for dogs and cats who need them. So far, permission has not been gotten to set up adoption displays near Tsukuba Center and activists around here who want to do this have to travel with the animals all the way to Saitama Prefecture (every Saturday at the Minami Koshigaya Station), where passersby can see them and possibly take them home.
I also learned that Ibaraki Prefecture also leads Japan in animal euthanization.
If you are interested, this Wednesday (September 2), these activists will be going to the Kukizaki City Office to submit a pettion for a more humane holding facility. Why dont you come along. We will meet at the Andersen Bakery at 9:30 am.
Lets make Tsukuba (and Japan) an EVEN BETTER PLACE than it already is!
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Donate Your Used Things
Many people will leave Tsukuba in the next couple of months, so I thought it might be a good time to remind everyone about the possibility of donating used items to various charities. The Tell and Sell Japan website has a list of some places that accept used items. One of the charities on that list is particularly in need of children's things. I have included the information below.
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Give Kids a Chance
Will accept rehabilitative equipment for children with special needs, wheelchairs, adaptive chairs, foot braces, leg braces, hip supporters, Type A baby strollers (the big sturdy kind), strollers for twins (front and back style), buggy boards, bike toddler seats (with high back and harness). We are sending them to the Philippines to give to kids with special needs in orphanages and to the poor who can't afford such things. We will pick up around Tokyo and Kanagawa area. Can't pay cash-on-delivery (chakubarai) fees. We are concentrating our collection around Yokohama and can go as far as Chiba or Saitama. No deadline so please spread the word if you know someone who has any of these items. Give Kids A Chance. rshiroiwa[at]yahoo.com
See some items that have already been donated.
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Often these charities cannot afford the cost of having the item shipped, so you may incur some costs when you send your items. However, the idea that people who really need your used items -- people who might not be able to have what you are trying to get rid of unless you make this small effort -- are going to be able to make good use of them might help you justify the cost to yourself.
If you know of any charities or organizations that are not on the list, please let me know and I will add them.
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Fighting To Protect Tsukuba’s Remaining Wilds in Nakane Kondadai (中根 金田台)
An alternative title for this article could be 'The Taka and Takahashi-san' (Ms. Takahashi and the Hawk). That is because these are the chief protagonists in what has turned out to be a long and sometimes dirty (on the part of developers) struggle to preserve central Tsukuba's last remaining tracts of wild land, the home to numerous plants and creatures, including the majestic and protected O-Taka (オオタカ) --the goshawk.
Just north of the Sakura City Office, on both sides of the narrow road which runs by it from the Hanamuro intersection, there amazingly remain large areas of almost completely unused land, with brush so thick that in summer it is all but inaccessible, save for the few barely recognizable trails created by the small mammals which find shelter there. These are weasels, tanuki, rabbit and maybe even fox. The area resounds with the calls of pheasants (kiji), bush warbler (uguisu) and at night- OWLS.
In the middle of this veritable jungle is Kayoko Takahashi's tastefully designed house/aromatherapy studio. In her dining room there is always a field scope set up on a tripod. These days at almost any time during the day, if you put your eye to the eye-piece you will be in for a thrill. It is fixed on a favorite spot of the female O-Taka who you will almost surely see waiting for the return of her mate with food for their young. The actual nest sits a few trees away. This week the cry of the chicks is clearly audible.
My house is on the fringe of this same wilderness, and I can just make out Takahashi-san's roof amidst the trees, from my bedroom window. Just the other day I received a surprise visit from the male hawk. A shadow passed, and I guessed it was just another crow on my veranda. I turned for a look and my eyes almost popped out of my head when, through the curtain, I recognized the large raptor, munching on a freshly caught prey, just a few feet from my bed.
With the TX development project, this area was chosen as the location for the railroad's employee housing. It was ALL slated for clearing and development. Takahashi-san changed the course of events, however, by alertly informing officials about the annual presence of the breeding hawks and called for a re-evaluation of the project. Within a couple of days a bulldozer from the project's contractor UR 都市再生機構 (UR Toshi Saisei Kiko) arrived and started to push down all the trees which Takahashi-san had indicated!!!! Lucky for two things, though. First they missed the actual breeding nest and had knocked out only an old nest they had spotted, and second Takahashi-san witnessed and filmed the whole incident!!! An order from the prefectural government was obtained to temporarily halt construction.
What happens next is still up in the air, but as you might know, government sponsored projects are almost NEVER scrapped after being approved.For example, It was not possible to stop the filling in and destruction of Isahaya Bay in Nagasaki Prefecture even when eventually it was recognized by all parties that the huge project was ABSOLUTELY useless. But you never know, maybe things will work out differently in Tsukuba.
On Saturday July 12th at 1:30pm, we will tour the area paying special attention to flora,fauna and historical monuments. We will then of course discuss the situation. Anyone interested in these procedings
can contact me at avi@tora.email.ne.jp
Please come and join in the fight to keep Tsukuba GREEN and BEAUTIFUL.
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