1. 本期要聞.

(a) 聖誕節與新年:

Jon Walden (學生專員)剛領了一筆很大的年終獎金並回英國過聖誕節"逍遙"去了,但他將於新年之前回到日本來, 所以本期的校刊將由Declan撰寫.

我知道 - 現在說要慶祝還有點早,但此版也許是今年最後一次的校刊 (下一刊將在1月18日出刊),所以在此祝大家新年快樂...

在聖誕節及新年,那絕對是有一堆事情等著你去做.假如您在日本過節的話,何不找機會和大家同樂,共享新年的樂趣. 若您是在海外的話,在此預祝您新年快樂!!!

最近會發生的一些重要大事:

(b) 國際聖誕節晚會:

在聖誕節來臨之前,我們將舉辦一場晚會. 在12月21日星期五,在東岡崎名鐵車站附近的力的舞廳(位於東岡崎白木屋餐廳附近的卡拉ok酒吧)會舉辦一場聖誕節舞會(9.00 pm至04.00 am). 只要付2000日幣,您就可以隨心所欲地暢飲啤酒! 若您是Yamasa之學生的話,另可享受500日幣的折扣. 若您不知道力的舞廳之位置或不想自己前往的話,可以在當天8.30 pm前往 Yamasa II大樓,到時將和本校學生一起騎腳踏車前往 (大概所需時間為10至12分鐘),若您還有任何問題的話,請電0564 26 1880.

(c) Live music at CAM Hall:

The "Culture and Music" Hall near is one of Okazaki's livelier and longer established venues for live music. It tends to attract a young crowd. On the 24th you can see "Peace!!", "Jumping Betty" (both groups from Tokyo), "Sunset Records", "Evergreen". The opening act is "Aibar". About 4 hours in total. CAM opens at 18:00, the gig starts at 18:30. Tickets are 2000 yen in advance, 2300 yen at the door. For details Telephone/0564-23-8220, Fax/0564-23-8221

(d) Some places to go on New Years Eve:

In Okazaki: For a traditional bonfire and alcohol based new year, head to your nearest temple. Hot sake, camaraderie, and the chance to get rid of one of your 108 evils. One of the best in Okazaki is the ancestral temple of Tokugawa Ieyasu - Daijuji temple.

In Nagoya: If you want to experience a genuine Japanese crowd, head to Atsuta Shrine. From midnight on the 31st of December, some 3.5 million Japanese will visit this shrine. Its a fun crowd, often young. Only catch is that you won't be able to come home until the next day if you miss the last train (which you will). Head to the Sakae night life district in Nagoya and dance till dawn.

At Nagashima spaland: For an authentic (though slightly bizarre) Japanese experience, head to this massive amusement park. It features "Steel Dragon" - the world's highest, fastest and longest roller coaster. It also has the longest drop. There are live bands (exclusively J-Pop) and the audience is younger than the Atsuta Shrine and Sakae crowd.

Video:   New Year at Yasaka Shrine

In Kyoto: Kyoto is very much a student's town. There are 35 or so universities, so it is a fairly young population. There is only one place to be in Kyoto on News Years Eve - Yasaka Jinja - the shrine of the Gion district. Buy a straw rope and light it from one of the fires - this tradition is one where people would carry a sacred flame from this immensely popular shrine back to their homes to light the hearth. There are often bands playing in Maruyama park (see video) behind the shrine and it is a short walk from Yasaka to Kiyomizudera or Chion-in temple. At Chion-in there is a giant bell weighing 74 tons - it takes 17 monks pulling in unison to get the bell to yield the appropriate "gong".

In Osaka: The most happening place is Shinbashi bridge. As the festive atmosphere and alcohol consumption steadily increases - so does that at which people strip off their clothing and jump into the river below. Even more interesting is watching them try to get out of the river. The river is lined with vertical concrete walls several meters high, its very dark, and very cold. Makes for a nice spectator sport.

In Tokyo: Odaiba, Odaiba, Odaiba. Hint - Go to Odaiba.

(e) Speech contest:

Kim Ei-ran

As reported in last weeks newsletter, the winner of the annual Okazaki City Japanese speech contest (sponsored by the Okazaki International Association) was won by Kim Ei-ran (AJSP). We have been able to digitally capture her speech from a VHS cassette, click here to view it in Windows Media Player.

The title of Ei-ran's speech was "The war on Sunday" and gained plenty of laughs. I'll try to add a Real Player version in the new year. For those who don't have sufficient Japanese proficiency yet we will also try to add a transcipt and a commentary. The downside of all this of course is that next year the pressure is on. To all those enrolling in April - Ganbatte!

(f) Karaoke:

While the quality of speechmaking at Yamasa has improved greatly over the years since I was a student here (maybe it was my fault?), unfortunately the same cannot yet be said for the quality of the singing. Of course, Karaoke is something that should be done for fun - and so congratulations to the 7 members of E class (AIJP) who won the first annual "Christmas Karaoke Taikai" which was held in the distance learning theater yesterday.

(g) Graduation:

Congratulations also to the students who graduated this afternoon. We hope that you have the opportunity to join us or visit us again in the future. A graduation ceremony is always a combination of emotions. There is the happiness of seeing the success people have had acquiring the language and pursuing their goals. The sadness of seeing good friends leave. We wish you the best and ask you to keep in touch.

(h) Radio Show:

Joseph Huang and teachers in FM Okazaki studio

On Monday 10th December Joseph Huang (AIJP) "B Class" interviewed three teachers live on his radio show. At first Ban Tomoe, Sayumi Kuroda, and Norikazu Yokozawa looked a little nervous, but they soon settled down (teasing each other as usual) and discussed a number of things including the meaning of life (from a Japanese language teacher's viewpoint), Yokozawa-sensei's penchant for cross-dressing (he didn't believe me when I said I'd include it in the newsletter...) and their plans for Christmas and New Year.

The show has been broadcast every Monday since October 1st and is scheduled to continue until the end of March. You can listen to our station live on the internet - The URL for the show is http://www.yamasa.org/fm/english/live.html (please note that the links will only work when the studio in Aoi Hall is broadcasting live - I have included a clock to assist you)

If you would like to request a song, make a dedication or send Joseph a message to be read out during his show please come to the International Office or fax Joseph directly on 0564 55-8764 (make sure you include his name and your own name on the fax). Joseph is currently looking for guests for his Christmas Eve show, so if you'd like to appear on the radio, let him know! The show will be on air on Christmas and New Years Eve from 9.30pm at 76.3 FM.

(i) Shodo (Japanese calligraphy) lessons:

Nowadays most Japanese people use pencils, pens and often computers to write letters and documents. But the art of shodo (calligraphy), where an ink-dipped brush is used to create Chinese kanji and Japanese kana characters, remains a traditional part of Japan's culture. If you would like to learn more about shodo then come to the Student Village every Monday night at 7.00pm - 8.00pm where Kato Erina sensei will be taking a shodo lesson. There is no fee (if you would like to buy a shodo writing set then this can be purchased for 1,500 Yen) and anybody is welcome to join. Please come to the International Office before Thursday if you wish to register to take part.

(j) Course cancellations:

The Acceleration 2 month modular program F (from February 1st 2002) has been cancelled due to a lack of available accommodation for new students enrolling on these dates. Applications for the Acceleration program (as well as AIJP and AJSP) from 2002/01/07 have now closed. We apologise for any inconvenience this might cause. The next start date for the Acceleration program is 2002/01/07, though there are spaces in the SILAC program from January 10th. Please contact Admissions for more information.

(k) Jobs:

Recruitment ongoing for the following positions:

• Director of Studies for the Online Center
• Japanese teachers for the Online Center (2 positions filled, 1 remaining)
• Video Editing, Streaming media and multimedia developer

see http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/careers.html for details and other vacancies, and contact careers@yamasa.org if you are interested in applying. Most are connected with web publishing and translation. Study Japanese for free in exchange for part-time work in the International Office. These are ongoing positions - we need people all year round, so please contact us if you are interested in positions later in the year as well.

(f) Other bits:

• Make money by writing articles for the newsletter. See the contributions page for details.
• Find a course: see the program catalog.
• Contact Admissions if you have any questions.
• See below for information regarding course deadlines.

Declan Murphy
Director, International Office
The Yamasa Institute Aichi Center for Japanese Studies
1-2-1 Hanehigashimachi Okazaki
Aichi Japan 444-0832

Tel: +81 (0) 564 55 8111
Fax: +81 (0) 564 55 8174 (admissions)
Fax: +81 (0) 564 55 8113 (student affairs)
Email: Admissions
Email: newsletter@yamasa.org
URL: http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/
URL: http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/

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2. Course Information

Accommodation

From December through January Villa Studio Apartments 3 and 4 are full, Residence U and K are also full during December and January and Residence L is full until March 2002. There are a limited number of rooms available in the Student Village. Students applying for courses from December/January and wishing to stay in accommodation which is currently unavailable will be placed on a waiting list. There are usually some last-minute changes, so check with Admissions for information or see the availability file for details. Please note that accommodation is not reserved until we have recieved the tuition fees for your chosen course in full.

Accommodation in apartments in the annexe of the Rec World Hotel (near Daijuji Temple) will be used whenever Yamasa's accommodation becomes full. The prices for the "1K-Single" and "2K-Shared" room options have been discounted and are now the same price as the Student Village. For more information on the apartments in the Rec World Hotel annexe, please see the following pages: