Disaster & Emergency Drill, 2011

The Disaster & Emergency Drill for this year was held on Sep. 25th. The scenario was that a big earthquake hit this area, and some demonstrations were held one after the other in real time to put out fires, rescue people, etc. 

There were demonstrations by medical staff (ambulance crews and doctors), the fire department, and utility companies (gas, telephone, electricity). Also participants (of course foreigners) volunteers to support  rescue activities, refugees and the injured.


You can watch a short video of some of the fire department's drill. 

Malam Cinta Indonesia 2011

The Indonesian Friendship Night in Tsukuba, 2011

The Japanese and Indonesian Friendship Association (Merah Putih Kai) Tsukuba and the Indonesian Students’ Association in Ibaraki (PPI Ibaraki) are organizing “Malam Cinta Indonesia 2011” which will be held on Oct. 2 (Sun.) from 5:00pm at the Tsukuba Center Square. Admission is free.

The Merah Putih Kai was founded in 1985. It was launched at the Tsukuba Expo and was intended to promote mutual exchange between Japan and and Indonesia. The former president of this association, Mr. Koike used to be a doctor on Indonesian ships. After world war II, he, with his hospital, tried to become a bridge between both countries. He helped Indonesian students and families a lot. However, he passed away last year.

This year’s event is held as a commemoration for Mr. Koike and also for the victims of disaster in eastern Japan.

There will be some exciting performances, such as Bali Dance by Saraswati, Japanese traditional tsugaru Jamisen, Tokimeiki Japanese drum Jyuku from Tsukuba University, Enjoy ECP from Ami city, Indonesia Java dance, Maluku dance, Poco-poco dance, and many more.

For more information:

In Japanese: Tel 090-4952-2323 (Mr. Arai Head of Merah putih Kai)

In english/indonesian: Tel 080-4209-1548 (Mr. Ikno head of PPI Ibaraki)

Tsuchiura Fireworks Competition

On October 1st, a Fireworks Competition will take place in Tsuchiura.
http://tsuchiura-hanabi.jp/

This is the biggest annual event in Tsuchiura, and the site is only 7km from Tsukuba-station so you can go there by bicycle.

This is a leaflet about the fireworks in English.
↓
http://tsuchiura-hanabi.jp/cgi/news/data/doc/1316170349_1.pdf


And this is the program list of fireworks in English.
↓
http://tsuchiura-hanabi.jp/cgi/news/data/doc/1316170349_2.pdf
This is a map around the fireworks .

http://tsuchiura-hanabi.jp/cgi/news/data/doc/1314873002_2.pdf
http://tsuchiura-hanabi.jp/access/pdf/kisei2011.pdf

Unfortunately the map is written all in Japanese.


←Tsukuba　　　　　　　↓　Arakawaoki

The river on this map is the Sakuragawa River.
The site is almost where the Tsuchiura-Aeon-shopping-center is.

The marks A,B and C are recommended ways to go to Tsuchiura-station after the fireworks because every road will be very crowded during and after the event.

How to get to the site?
There are many ways to get to the site but let me suggest a few different ways:
1. By bicycle
Going there by bike is easy. All you need is energy. You can get there and come back home faster than any other way but don't forget your warm clothes. It will be chilly after sunset.

2. By car
Depending on when you drive to the site, the business of the road is different.
During the morning is not so crowded yet and you still might be able to find your parking space somewhere around the site but you need to kill time until 6:30p.m.
Early afternoon, the road is not busy either but you can hardly find a parking space.

3. By car and train and shuttle bus
Park your car near Arakawaoki station or Kandatsu station or Ushiku maybe.
Then use a train to Tsuchiura. From Tsuchiura Station, there are shuttle buses but you need to get in the LONG line for a LONG time, maybe one hour or two. But the bus takes you to the site. In this case, while watcing the fireworks you might need something to sit on. Foldaway chairs or a plastic sheet would be good.
You can walk there from Tsuchiura station though.

I often go there by car. I leave home around half past 5 in the evening. From Arakawaoki we get on the Route 6 bypass. Cars only move very slowly or can't move. So in this way we are just driving under the fireworks, never get out of the car and around 8 o'clock we can pass near the site, then come back home before the fireworks finish so that we can avoid another traffic jam going back home!
We can enjoy at least 30 to 60 minutes under the big fireworks from the car window.

These are not the best ways and there might be better ways to get there. If you have some ideas please let us know.

Thank you for reading.

We hope you have a nice weekend!

A powerful typhoon is coming

A powerful typhoon is going to pass over the Kanto area later today, so please be very careful.

'Typhoon' is 台風   たいふう  taifuu in Japanese.

Sometimes suddenly there is very heavy rain and strong wind, but sometimes the sky becomes very calm. Please don't think the typhoon has passed! As a typhoon comes, it is very common that the weather changes from calm to very bad suddenly. And it will also be calm as the 'eye' of the typhoon passes.

Screen shot of the official website.

Right now the air pressure of the typhoon is 950hPa. That means it is a strong typhoon. You can check the details on the official website of the Japan Meteorological Agency (called 気象庁　きしょうちょう　kishouchou, in Japanese.) On their website please look for 'Tropical Cyclone Information'.



Here are some ideas to be safe in a typhoon:
- If you can, please stay at home.
- Many schools will cancel classes all day or the students will go home early. If you have children, please check what the teacher/school says.
- If you must go out, please wear non-slip shoes. The sidewalks in Tsukuba have many leaves and they become slippery.
- It is better not to ride a bicycle because the wind and rain will suddenly become strong and it is dangerous.
- Driving is also dangerous because the rain becomes so heavy you can't see the car in front of you.
- If your house or apartment has storm shutters on the window, please close them.
- Please pick up tools, toys, etc from your garden or balcony and put them away.
- Keep some bottles of water in your house for emergencies, and also some easy to eat food.
- Always keep a flashlight and extra batteries at home!!!
- NEVER go to check any streams, rivers, lakes or the sea. Many people die every year in Japan because they "went to look at the water".
- Usually the Tsukuba Express Train is okay even in bad weather, but many trains will be cancelled. If you go to Tokyo before a typhoon, there is a chance you cannot come home that day.
- If you have any questions, or you are worried, please try to ask some Japanese friends or neighbors :)

Today's typhoon will be near Tsukuba this evening, so please be careful and stay safe.

Sports Day

Japan is, I think very nice and safe country for foreign people to live in.

However, living in Japan, there must be a lot of things that they get confused about.

'Sports Day' might be one of them.

Almost every school holds a 'Sports Day' event annually in spring or autumn ( It used be only in autumn.)
It's a sports event where all children participate in many games and races to compete against each other, and some schools give them some prize or medal(fake ones).

It's like an Olympic game at school.
Children get really excited and the parents come to school to cheer on their children, bringing a camera and video camera, and get really enthusiastic about their children's result.

Yes, it's a really enjoyable event.

There are a few things that foreign parents should know about.-:

1. Lunch time
At lunch time, children go to find their parents and have their lunch with their family.

Japanese parents put a lot of effort into making the lunch. 

So hopefully your lunch is homemade or looks like it is homemade.

The lunch doesn't have to be special, just sandwiches or rice balls with sausages and some fruits is OK.

If you don't have time to cook and you have to bring the lunch-from a convenience store or something, I recommend you to change the package into your own container and pretend that you made it.

2. Picnic seat or blanket

When you have lunch or when you are not cheering your children, you'll need a place to sit down. There is no chair to rest so you need a picnic seat or blanket. Actually, in Japan most people take plastic picnic sheets, not blankets.

In my children's school, many people even take a picnic table and some chairs to the ground.

3. Parasol

Normally there aren't enough trees to make shade for all the spectators, so you should bring your own parasol or you'll get sunburned.

Thank you for reading. Please enjoy your holiday!

Disaster & Emergency Drill, 2011

Do you want to watch the Disaster & Emergency Drill, 2011?

DATE：September 25 (Sun.) 2011
TIME：8：30 to 12：00

Every year many cities in the Kanto area hold disaster and emergency drills in September, because in 1923 the Great Kanto Earthquake hit the Tokyo area on Sept. 1.

Tsukuba also holds a drill every year. You can watch demonstrations by medical staff (ambulance crews and doctors), the fire department, and utility companies (gas, telephone, electricity).

Some members can also take part in some drills, for example, volunteers using buckets of water to put out a small fire. The drills are very exciting with the big fire engines, rescues from a tall building and even a helicopter!

The event is free, but please register with the Tsukuba International Association if you want to attend.

Please check this poster for more information. (CLICK on this link.)

Tsukuba Orientation

On September 4th, 2011 there will be an event called "Tsukuba Orientation" held at the Tsukuba Science Information Center. (Next to Nova Hall.)

In the first part of the event, Mr. Suzuki  from the Globalization and Culture Division of theTsukuba City Office will talk about  living in Tsukuba. For example: health insurance, hospitals, learning Japanese, schools, etc.

After that, there will a Question and Answer time where you can ask questions. And you can learn about Japanese traditional toys such as Kendama, Otedama and more.

Please click here to check the poster and map.

Welcome to the T.I.A. blog

Welcome to the Tsukuba International Association blog!

We will have information about news, events and daily life in Tsukuba. If you have any questions about living in Tsukuba, please send us an email and we'll try to answer.

By the way, in the case of a disaster, there is a small risk that the Tsukuba City computer servers might be offline for a while. But you can still see this blog if you open a new window on your computer using this link:

http://blogoftsukubainternationalassociation.blogspot.com/

Please bookmark our blog in your computer and visit us often to see what is happening in Tsukuba.

Best regards,
The Tsukuba International Association Blog Team