Nekojarashi

July / August 1998 No.14

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Topics Seasonal Guide People/Hot Spot
Suwa Dialect My Experience!?

Wow, we have a 365 degree panorama!

We climbed Mt. Nyukasa for the first time in a long time. We could have a lovely view of not only Yatsugatake and the town of Fujimi but also Lake Suwa, the Southern Alps and even the Northern Alps. "Wow, we have a 365 degree panorama!," said someone. It should be 360 degrees ... but never mind. We sometimes say "I was 120% satisfied!"

See Seasonal Guide for information about Mr. Nyukasa which you may not actually know.

Topics

• Japanese Classes for non-Japanese
  
  The number of Japanese classes for non-Japanese has increased in answer to the needs of the people who want to study Japanese in the Suwa area. As these classes are being conducted mainly by volunteers, please don't hesitate to take up the challenge. You'll be warmly welcome.
  (1) Place (2) Time (3) Fee (4) Information
  
  Chino City
  Kakehashi
  (1) Chino Catholic Church
  (2) Every Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
  (3) 300yen / year
  (4) Masuzawa tel. 0266-73-4788
  
  Sakura
  (1) Chino-shi Kominkan
  (2) Every Friday 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  (3) 3500yen / month
  (4) Chino-shi Kominkan tel. 0266-72-3266
  
  Japanese Class for foreigners
  (1) Chino-shi Kominkan
  (2) Every Friday 7:15 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Jun.5 to Aug.28)
  (3) 1000yen + 1000yen (for textbooks)
  (4) Chino-shi Kominkan tel. 0266-72-3266
  
  Suwa City
  Kakehashi
  (1) Suwa Catholic Church
  (2) Every Sunday 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  (3) 300yen (Entrance Fee)
  (4) Suwa Catholic Church tel. 0266-53-3110
  
  Suwa Japanese Class
  (1) Suwa-shi Kominkan
  (2) Every Tuesday & Friday 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
  (3) 1000yen / month + 500yen (Registration Fee for Apr. '98 to Mar. '99)
  (4) English : Onogawa tel. 0266-58-4274, Portuguese : Imamura tel. 0266-58-8276
  
  Niji
  (1) Suwa-shi Kominkan
  (2) Every Friday 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  (3) 500yen / month
  (4) Suwa-shi Kominkan tel. 0266-53-6219
  
  Japanese class for Brazilians
  (1) the Ohashi House (Suwa-shi Okita-cho)
  (2) Every Sunday 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
  (3) 3000yen / month
  (4) Portuguese : Ohashi tel. 0266-57-0876
  
  Okaya City
  Fureai
  (1) Josei Sogo Center (Women's Center)
  (2) Every Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
  Every Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
  (3) 300yen / month (copy charge)
  (4) Kamijo tel. 0266-22-4369
  
  Okaya International Exchange Association Japanese Class
  (1) Okaya City Hall, 2F, Room No. 204
  (2) Every Tuesday 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
  (3) Free of Charge
  (4) Okaya International Exchange Association tel. 0266-24-3226
  
  

• Concert
  
  Father William Skudlarek, who says Mass in Portuguese for Brazilians at Fujimi Catholic Church once a month, will hold a string ensemble concert in Fujimi. Father William is an American, and as he lived in Brazil for five years, he can speak Portuguese very well. In Nagano Prefecture, he says Mass in Portuguese in Matsumoto and Ueda in addition to Fujimi, and it gives mental support to Brazilians living in Japan.
  
  He is now at St. Anselmo Meguro Church (St. Benedict Monastery) and is planning for the construction of a St. Benedict Monastery in Fujimi. He is a master at playing the cello, too. Would you please come to the concert?
  
  When : Jul. 11 (Sat) at 7:30 p.m.
  Ticket : 2000yen (drink included)
  Where : Hanaba-no-chiisana-Ongakusya
  tel. 0266-62-8166
  
  

• Movie
  
  You can see the following movies at Fujimi Community Plaza, 2F, A.V. Hall, free of charge.
  
  Jul. 24 (Fri) 7:00 p.m. "Independence Day"
  Aug. 7 (Fri) 7:00 p.m. "The Prince of Mononoke"
  organized by the Movie Appreciation Club
  
  By the way, the "Stardust Theater in Haramura" will be held from Jul. 18 to Sep. 6 as usual.
  To be shown : "Titanic" / "As good as it gets", "The Princess of Mononoke" / "Kizuna", "Seven Years in Tibet", "Hamlet"
  
  

• Play
  
  "Grayish & Momo"
  
  This drama will be presented by "Gekidan B-kyu" which is a theatrical company doing very good performances in Tokyo. "Kobushi-no-kai", in which parents with children who have no will to go to school join hands, have asked them to come in earnest. Based on Michael Ende's Momo, this play was written for present-day children as well as for adults who are children at heart.
  
  When : Sep. 5 (Sat), Sep. 6 (Sun) at 2:00 p.m.
  Where : Shimosuwa Culture Center
  Contact : Miyazawa (Kobushi-no-kai) tel. 0266-73-2706
  
  

Seasonal Guide

Map of Nyukasa
useful and interesting

Height Above Sea Level : 1,955m
One of the 100 celebrated Japanese mountains noted for its beautiful flowers and lilies of the valley. It hovers over Fujimi Town, Takato Town and Hase Village.

Access for those who don't feel like walking:
By Taxi : about a 30 minute ride and about 5,500 yen from Fujimi Station
By Bus : Available at Fujimi Station from July 25 to August 30. 2 services a day at 10:00 and 12:55. About a 45 minute ride and the fare is 1,000 yen.
By gondola lift : About a 10 minute ride from the Panorama Ski Grounds. Fare is 1,100 yen.

From the description on a map, nyukasa.jpg (131KB)

<Nyukasa Mountain area>

Peak of Nyukasa (and its trail)
"30 minutes more to the peak. The path is steep and hard, so pick your steps carefully."
Nyukasa Farm
Manazuru Mountain Villa
"They have good ice cream!"
Bungalows
"Starlit inn where you can enjoy observing the stars opens from July 20 to the end of August. Manazuru Mountain Villa : 7,000 yen and up per night.
Bungalows : 5 square meters type : 4,000 yen per night
10 square type : 8,000 yen per night"

"Ordinary cars can come up this far."
Ogasawara Marsh
Crowds of lilies of the Valley
"Large car can come up this far."
Camp Grounds
Nyukasa Cottage
Nyukasa Marsh
"There is a walking path from the gondola terminus to the Manazuru Mountain Villa. It takes 20 minutes on foot."
Gondola Lift
"You can enjoy the beautiful scenery on this nice, swift ride."

<Town area>

Fujimi Panorama Ski Grounds
"Patter golf, funny bicycles, go-cart, radio-controlled-car circuit, paragliders, mountain bikes."

Rakuraku Milk Studio
"They have ice cream and yogurt made by local dairy farmers."
Ham and Cheese direct sales store
Fujimi Elementary School
Fujimi Ridge


<Flowers>

• Suzuran, Lilies of the valley
  This is the town flower of Fujimi. You can see street lamps made in shape of this flower in Fujimi.
  

• Kinpoge, Buttercups
  These are yellow flowers which look like Japanese apricot blossoms. You can
  find them in sunny places in field and mountains.
  
  
• Yanagi-ran, Wikow Herbs
  The name "Yanagi-ran" comes from the fact that the leaves are like those of
  willow trees (yanagi). They grow in colonies to a height of 1 to 1.5 m.
  
  
• Matsumushi-so, Gypsy Roses
  Lovely purple flowers you can enjoy on the peak of Nyukasa in August.
  This is one of the most typical flowers of the autumn highlands. Its name
  comes from the fact that the flower is like the pilgrim's bell called
  "Matsumushi".
  

People / Hot Spot


People

Mr. Giles Griffiths : AET at Chino Hokubu Junior High School

Brought up by the sea in the South of England. I headed to the Midlands to study Design and Technology at Trent University in Nottingham. At University, my passion for out door sports grew and my friends and I spent most weekends canoeing, climbing or recovering from hangovers! The long summer holidays were a great opportunity to travel and I usually worked for an adventure company in France, teaching canoeing to English school groups. After graduating I went back to the French Alps to work in a ski resort. In search of better things I returned to England to gain experience of teaching English in Oxford with the view to use teaching English as a way to travel the world. A short spell in Chiba with NOVA made me realize how much I loved the mountains and when my present job was advertised I jumped at the chance.

I'm currently very happy in Nagano. This area of Japan combines the rugged mountains, culture and healthy life style I have been looking for.

There is a great opportunity here to learn more of the language and culture e.g. Kyudo course in Chino. I look forward to the rest of my stay in Chino. Thanks to everyone who has helped me settle!

Best wishes

Giles

Hot Spot

Torimatsu, Butcher Shop (It has Brazilian foods, too)
"Torimatsu" is a wholesale shop which deals with mainly in meat and processed seafood products. And it is very popular with foreigners, because they can get all kind of meat. The owner says, "We have meat of all kinds."

As many foreign customers are Brazilians, the name of meat written in Portuguese and Japanese. Prices are reasonable (or cheap) and everything's fresh, so it's a good place to shop for a barbecue. It's replete with Brazilian foods and drinks, and has Japanese-Portuguese dictionaries and Portuguese newspapers.

I recommend 'Garana' -- a popular drink in Brazil, rare 'Paumit' -- palm sprouts for salads, coconut cookies, big chocolates, and 'Fejoda' -- canned prepared beans.

Address : 133 Haibarada, Yonezawa, Chino city tel. 0266-72-2641
closed : Mondays, open : 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Suwa Dialect
If you had studied Japanese rather well before coming to Japan or lived in an area in Japan outside of Suwa, you might think the following idioms are strange. But many Japanese live in this area don't think they are dialect.

My Experience!?

My Experience of a Korean Scrub Bath, by Mrs. ***

After having washed my body as usual, I entered the Scrubbing Room. Then the woman there said, "Please lie down." So I lay down on the bed on my back nervous, because I was naked. I looked like the "Carp on the cutting board" (entirely at their mercy).

She was used to doing it. She covered only the center of my body with a towel, put the scrubbing mittens on her hands and scrubbed my body from my neck to foot. After some time had passed she led my hand to my stomach.

To my surprise an unbelievably large quantity dirt had been scrubbed off. Though I take a bath and wash my body everyday.

Next she turned me upside down and scrubbed my back. Now I could relaxed. She scrubbed me from my neck to my toes and she massaged my back last. It took about 30 mi. All of old keratin was off my body, so I felt very clean and refreshed!

This pleasant experience made me decide to visit again soon.

You can try it at SHIOJIRI KENKO LAND in Shiojiri City. You have to pay 3000 yen in addition to the admission charge.

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