Volume 14, Number 2 |
As part of its activities, the Tsukuba Information Center sponsors a bilingual discussion group the fourth Wednesday of every month from 2 to 4 pm, with invited guests giving a presentation from their area of expertise or experience. This month, we are pleased to have Mr. Joseph Toe Jam Robbie, who will be giving a presentation on the Ibaraki Hash House Harriers, an International Drinking Club With A Running Problem.
Do jogging and beer go together? We think so! Founded in 1938 by British soldiers in Malaysia, the Hash House Harriers Club has spread throughout the world and is represented in almost every country. There are 20 clubs in Japan! This is not a race and competition is strictly discouraged. It's like a game in which a hare lays a mystery course of about 6 km with chalk and flour. Then everybody tires to follow the course, helping each other to find the ending place. You can run, jog or walk. When all have finished, a party and drinking ceremony follow. Beer, soft drinks and snacks are available. This is followed by a dinner at a local pub, usually with live music from the Hash Band. It's all about getting some exercise, making new friends, and having a good time. A video and photo display will give you an idea of what it's all about.
The Coffee Hour is meant to be an informal exchange of information and opinions. English and Japanese are both used with efforts made to make sure those who can't understand one or the other are able to at least get the gist of the conversation. Likewise, you don't need to commit yourself to the entire two hours and can come and go freely. So drop by, whether for a short time or for the entire two hours, and enjoy some free refreshments along with a stimulating discussion. Please let us here your opinions as well.
The Shinto shrine on Mt. Tsukuba will be celebrating Chinese New Year (according to the old calendar) on Feb. 16, 17 and 18. The big events each day will take place at 3 pm, with various traditional events. If you haven't seen these ancient rituals, this would be a good time to take a trip up to see things. The plum blossoms will be coming out, though the peak time for that will be towards the end of the month and into early March.
The Tsukuba Information Center will sponsor Japanese classes from April through September, with classes on Tuesdays from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. The classes will consist of 3 levels with a limit of 25 students each, with introductory, beginner 1 (defined as those who have studied Japanese using Hiragana for 30 hours classroom time) and beginner 2 (which is twice that length). Classes begin on Tuesday, April 1 and go through September 26. All classes will be held on the third floor of the Information Center (next to Nova Hall). The classes are free of charge.
The registration and interview dates are February 22 from 10 am to 4 pm and February 29 from 10 am to noon on a first come first served basis. For more information, call Keiko or Machiko at 52-6789.
The children at the Tsukuba International School will be presenting their science projects to the public on Thursday, Feb. 24 beginning at 6:30 pm in the classrooms at the school. TIS is a community supported elementary school for English speaking children and is located within the Shuei High School complex on Tsuchiura-Gakuen Sen west of Tokodai. If the whether is good, two telescopes will be set up outside the school from 6 pm to observe Jupiter, Saturn and various other stars.
Twice a year, the Foreign Buyers Club holds a benefit for international schools in Japan. Anyone placing an order during this time can designate TIS as the beneficiary to a 5% rebate of the order, even if they live in a different part of Japan. Other schools may have different weeks they have chosen for their benefit orders, and so if you are ordering at different times and can find out when some other school is having their benefit, you can even designate that school for the 5%.
If you are an FBC member and want your order delivered directly to your home, you can place your order directly, and as long as you send it in during that week and write Tsukuba International School on the order form, TIS still gets the 5% rebate. If you are not a member or simply want to share the shipping cost with others (it's only 500 yen when the order total is over 50,000 yen and is being shipped to one place), then you can submit your order to the schol or to Tim Boyle. The items will arive in early April.
The catalogs used in the fall order are still valid, though an update is being issued. A few catalogs are still available and can be picked up either at the school or at the Tsukuba Christian Center. For further information, call Tim Boyle at 55-1907.
It's time again for a new beginners group at the Tsukuba Square Dance Club. Starting in March, people who have never square danced before can learn. The club meets each Saturday evening, 7-9 pm at the Takezono Kominkan, just behind (to the east of) the Takezono Shopping Center.
Square dancing is a lot of fun, involving both rhythmic movement and a bit of puzzle-like brain work. It was originally an American folk dance, but in the last 30 years has been considerably altered to its modern form, which is now quite popular all over Japan, as well as in the US, Canada, and Europe.
The TSDC is about 70 members, men and women of all ages and various backgrounds, mostly Japanese (Currently we have two foreign members). Some of the Japanese speak English, but it's a great way to make Japanese friends and practice your Japanese (One of our foreign members speaks Japanese and one doesn't). The group is very friendly, and welcomes foreigners warmly.
If you can't dance, don't worry. If you can walk, you can probably square dance well enough for all practical purposes. A sense of rhythm helps, but isn't absolutely necessary.
If you think you might be interested, or are just curious, drop by one of the Saturday evening meetings in January or February. No appointment is necessary.
For more information, call me at the number below, or email. You can also speak directly to the club leader, Handa-san, in either Japanese or English: 0298-52-1415, hank@olive.ocn.ne.jp
Tsukuba International School is a community supported school for English-speaking, elementary school-aged children in the Tsukuba area. TIS receives no public funds and is dependent on contributions plus student tuition for all of its operating expenses. One of the ways the international community can help TIS keep expenses down is to volunteer to help with specific needs of the school. Over the years, people with specific skills and expertise have donated their time on a once-a-week or occasional time basis.
Recently, TIS has lost several of its volunteers. TIS would especially like to thank John and Debbie Saxon for the many hours they contributed, with John coming in occasionally to help with computer problems and Debbie both serving on the Board of Advisors as well as helping in the classroom oncea week as an ESL teacher. Likewise, TIS is losing both Youn-Kyong Lee, who taught an art class once a week, and Aki Arai, who was a volunteer Japanese-language teacher for the children. The TIS community will certainly miss all of these dedicated people.
Needless to say, finding people who can take over what they were doing is a top priority. If any of our readers would be interested in exploring the possibility of helping out at TIS in any of these areas, please contact the school at 47-0330 or IHMelissa@aol.com.
The Ibaraki Nature Museum has a special exhibit through the month of February. On loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, one of the few complete skeletons of the extinct sabertooth tiger is making its first appearance in Japan.
Well worth a trip anytime, this special exhibit will make a trip to the Ibaraki Nature Museum even more special. Located about 40 minutes from Tsukuba by car, the museum can be quite crowded on holidays and Sundays, and so plan to get there early or go on regular weekdays. The entrance fee is a modest 510 yen for adults, 310 yen for high school and college students and 100 yen for junior high and under. On the 2nd and 4th Saturdays, the entrance fee is waved for high school students and under. The facilities are open from 9:30 am to 5 pm, and closed on Mondays.
To get there by car, take route 354 (Tsuchiura-Noda Sen) through Mitsukaido. From central Tsukuba, it's best to go out Tsuchiura-Gakuen Sen and turn left when it narrows to two lanes. This 4-lane road dead-ends in the 354 bypass. Turn right and proceed to route 294. Turn left onto 294 and then right again at the first light (a couple of km down the road). This will put you back on the old 354. Proceed across the Kinu River until you come to a fork in the road a little over 3 km from the intersection with 294. Take the road to the left. The museum is about 3 km from there on the left. Little signs with the figure of a mammoth guide the way.
If you're looking for an interesting outing on a cold winter's day, the Fukoroda Falls in northern Ibaraki is quite a sight to behold. At 120 meters tall and 20 to 30 meters wide, Fukoroda Falls is considered one of the premier waterfalls in all of Japan.
Since the waterfall faces more or less to the north, it receives little direct sunlight, and thus even in Ibaraki's comparatively mild winters, subfreezing temperatures are enough to cause ice to build up and stay. Likewise, the fact that the water is cascading over a wide, flat surface at a depth of only a few centimeters makes for ideal ice-forming conditions.
Late January and early February is when the ice is at its peak, but even later in February, after any cold snap, there'll be a lot of ice. In fact, on particularly cold days, when the ice is deemed stable enough, you can often watch ice climbers scale the shimmering wall of ice. Even with no climbers in sight, the sheer magnitude of this enormous icicle makes this trip well worth the effort. And if you happen to get there when it's warming up, you might be lucky enough to see great chunks come crashing down.
To get there by car, go up the Joban Expressway to the Naka Interchange and exit back towards Tsukuba. Turn right at the first main road and then again right on Route 118 a couple of km up from there. Continue up 118 through Omiya for about 35 km. The falls are to the right just shortly before you get to Daigo Machi.
You can also get there fairly easily by train. You simply take the Joban line to Mito and then change over to the line connecting Mito and Koriyama (Fukushima). You then get off at the Fukuroda Station. It's about 2 km up to the falls, and you can either take a bus, a taxi or a nice hike.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine they lay down for the night, and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?"
Watson pondered for a minute. "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo.
Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three.
Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?"
Holmes was silent for a moment, then spoke. "Watson, you idiot! It tells me that someone has stolen our tent!"
Are your investments in order? Below are some of the latest rumors from Wall Street. In the wake of the AOL/Time Warner deal, here are the latest mergers we can expect to see:
Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W.R. Grace Company merge to become Hale Mary Fuller Grace.
Polygram Records, Warner Brothers, and Keebler Crackers merge to become Polly-Warner-Cracker.
3M and Goodyear merge to become MMMGood.
John Deere and Abitibi-Price merge to become Deere Abi.
Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining merge to become Zip Audi Do Da.
Honeywell, Imasco, and Home Oil merge to become Honey I'm Home.
Denison Mines, and Alliance and Metal Mining merge to become Mine All Mine.
Federal Express and UPS merge to become FED UP.
Xerox and Wurlitzer will merge and begin manufacturing reproductive organs.
Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will merge and become Fairwell Honeychild.
3M, JC Penney and the Canadian Opera Company will merge and become 3 Penney Opera.
Knott's Berry Farm & National Organization of Women will merge and become Knott NOW!
By Tim Boyle
This past January 25, I attended a 5-hour seminar at the American Club in Tokyo. Sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce, representatives from both the Japanese Immigration Office and the American Embassy, along with immigration lawyers and other experts in the field gave presentations and fielded questions from the approximately 100 persons in attendance.
Of particular interest to the foreign community of Tsukuba are the significant improvements in regulations being made this month. Foremost among them is that the length of time re-entry permits will be valid is being increased to match the period of stay on one's visa. Thus, if you have a 3-year visa, you can get a 3-year re-entry permit. You will still have to go in to an immigration office at some point to get the permit, as you will not be able to get one when you receive your visa overseas or when you enter Japan at the airport. Nevertheless, this improvement will mean that you only have to make one trip for that purpose and you can do it anytime you're in the Otemachi (or Hitachi) area. The cost will remain the same, 3000 yen for a single entry permit and 6000 yen for a multiple entry permit.
According to the new regulations, it will also now be possible for one to specify the effective date of the permit so that it doesn't have to be the same as the date of issue. Apparently, this is to allow one to do the application procedure at the same time one is applying for a new authorized period of stay, so that the starting and ending dates will be the same.
The other big change is that the authorized period of stay for a number of visa categories is being increased. Many of the shorter visa periods are being phased out, with many of the 1-year visas being extended to 3 years. For instance, for the categories: professor, artist, religious activities, journalist, investor/business manager, legal/accounting services, spouse or child of a Japanese national, spouse or child of a permanent resident and long term resident 1, the shorter 6-month visa is being dropped and only 1 or 3-year visas will be issued. Likewise, the 6-month or 1-year visa that were available for medical services, researcher, instructor, engineer, specialist in human/international services, intra-company transferee and skilled labor will all change to 1-year or 3-year visas.
Of particular interest to college students is that the 6-month and 1-year visas for college students are being doubled to 1 and 2-year visas. Likewise, the shorter 3-month visa for pre-college student and trainee is being phased out, with only the 6-month and 1-year visas remaining. Also, the 30-day and 3-month visas for entertainer are being increased to 3-month and 6-month visas (in addition to the already existing 1-year visa).
The statement from the immigration bureau stated, "It will be the Immigration Bureau's policy to normally grant the maximum period of stay allowable for a given visa classification."
Of further interest is the statement concerning college and pre-college student visas. In light of fewer visa-related problems in the case of foreign college students and pre-college students, the number of documents that have to be submitted when applying for a Certificate of Eligibility, or submitting an Application for Change of Status or Residence, Or Application for Extension of Period of Stay, have been reduced. And in the case of schools with good reputations, nothing more than the application form will be required.
For those coming on tourist visas, the length of time is still 90 days, but it will now be possible to make an application for extension of the period of stay at an immigration office. This was stated with reference to the US-Japan visa waiver program (which means that US citizen coming to Japan as tourists and visa versa do not need to get a visa), but presumably it applies to other countries as well. (Nevertheless, those from other countries should check first to make sure).
As for changes that aren't so pleasant, at least for those who are staying illegally, is that the penalty for overstaying is going to increase. Previously, if one purposely overstayed one's visa, that would mean that when he or she tried to leave Japan, they would be blacklisted and not allowed to enter Japan again for 1 year. After Feb. 18, that period will increase to 5 years. Likewise, that person can be arrested and held in a detention facility for a week up to several months before actually being deported.
One other point that was brought up in the Q&A time that may be of interest to those married to Japanese nationals and who have children with dual nationality. Again, this was with respect to American and Japanese dual citizenship, but since it particularly involves the Japanese side, it would also apply in many other dual citizenship situations. Japan requires such children to choose one or the other citizenships by the age of 22. The US, however, does not require that, and in fact, will not revoke US citizenship unless a depatriation act is done, which involves actually going through a procedure to get a legal document stating that you are purposely revoking your citizenship. Thus, it is in effect possible to retain both citizenships. All one has to do is to choose the Japanese citizenship at age 22 but do nothing concerning the US citizenship. It will not automatically expire when you declare your choice of Japanese citizenship, and thus you can retain both passports. This might sound slightly illegal, but these were Japanese and American officials explaining the ins and outs of the process.
My overall impressions of the seminar were that the Japanese immigration (in spite of the fact that I have often been frustrated with them) is doing more to improve their service than are the Americans. In fact, it seems that they are in general more forgiving and lenient. We also heard of several horror stories concerning Japanese who had terrible experiences with American immigration officials. One Japanese lady in attendance who had previously worked in the US (legally) went for sight seeing and to visit a friend a couple of years ago. She made the mistake of having on her person her old (expired) US driver's license and bank book, and for some reason she really couldn't understand made the officer suspicious. Nothing she did to try to explain the situation did any good and she was accused of lying and intending on entering the US to live illegally. It ended up with her being strip-searched, handcuffed, put in jail and deported the next day. The officer in charge apparently has been fired and she was apologized to, but her financial loss was not reimbursed. Of the some 2 million plus visits by Japanese on the visa waiver program, only about 200 or so were refused entry, and all of these cases are reviewed. Thus, hopefully, the bad apples are weeded out through this process. Nevertheless, it is important to be up-front and not appear suspicious when going into any country. If you feel you are unfairly treated, then by all means report the incident to the superior in charge of the office.
As part of its ongoing efforts to improve life for foreign researchers in Tsukuba, the Tsukuba International Network (made up of representatives from numerous institutes and other organizations with an interest in the international community) has commissioned the Alien Times to collect information through a questionnaire on people's experiences with the medical system. The following questionnaire was included in the December issue of the Alien Times, but there was no option for response other than by mail, which few people wanted to take the time and expense to do. Thus, we are including it again to ask you to please take a few minutes to respond to these questions as appropriate to your situation. You can respond by either fax at 0298-53-8260 or by email to anna@jistec.jst.go.jp. Whether you respond by fax or email, you only need to list the number of the questions you are responding to along with your response. Your input will be valuable, so please contribute your experiences in this way.
Any other comments are welcome.