|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
yamasa.org / home / acjs / network / newsletter
/ - Tuition Tour Schedules  Ní thuigim thú |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| yamasa.org / home / acjs / network / newsletter
/ - Tuition Tour Schedules Ní thuigim thú |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
        |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Help us improve! Suggestion Box
|
| Previous |
Today's Contents:
1. The first bits: Visa, Discovery, Jichinsai & Residence Hane,
Okazaki Guidebook is fixed!
(1) The first bits:
(a) Visas:
If you have applied for a student visa for April 2005, please check your email. If you do not receive an email from
admissions@yamasa.org by midnight your time on February 2nd,
please contact me. Apologies again to those who were not accepted
for April's student visa, making the selections is always a difficult process. Please note that
if you missed out on a student visa for April, there are five program vacancies for
the Spring Quarter (enter using a tourist or other short stay visa), and that we are now
accepting applications for the October visa. Re-applications are always welcome and considered.
(b) Discovery Program:
Program dates and destinations for April 2005 to March 2006 are now (finally) on the site in the program
catalog. Discovery remains the only program of its kind in Japan, and while it was already ultra-flexible,
it is now even more so. In addition to being able to do the tour component either before, during or after
the studies, you are now able to choose a wider range of study formats including for the first time, the three
Acceleration Program Format 2 options.
(c) Weekend optional tours:
Skiing & snowboarding, cultural sites etc dominate the winter options. I have been able to add several additional tours to
the winter quarter. These include two additional day trips February 20th (to Horaiji and the fantastic senmaida - I'm hoping for snow)
and March 13th (to parts of Shiga and Kyoto most students can't get to cheaply without a car) as well as another 2 night
skiiing/snowboarding trip to Hakuba on March 4th-6th. This will be the last time you'll be able to experience powder snow
before the spring arrives.
Cheaper than independent travel by train, with door to door service and
a guide. If you are not careful, you can even learn stuff. Next week it will be possible to book, pay for and confirm your
place for the Gion festival, the Mount Fuji climb, world heritage listed Shirakawa-go etc, without leaving your
geekbox - as the reservations system now available online. If you prefer to pay cash or by bank transfer, please
contact Mr Toshiyuki Nakajima in the Student Services office (ground floor, Yamasa II building).
(d) Okazaki Guidebook: Loyal readers of our humble newsletter would remember (Issue 99 if
you are new) that a
certain tired and irritated bearded Irishman was muttering about how certain Californian engineers should be the first lined
up against the wall when the revolution comes due to the *shtml problem. If you happen to be a Californian engineer you can rest easy -
the problem is fixed (kinda) as we are now using *php.
In other words, those of you who like me are using Firefox etc to browse the web can now enjoy the
online version of our new Okazaki Guidebook. The best guide to Okazaki.
If you are looking for a place to do karate,
eat succulent delights, visit a Jodo, Zen or any other kind of Buddhist temple in Okazaki, find the perfect souvenir, find
out much it costs to send a box full of dictionaries/texts/notes etc home by air economy post at the end of your course,
discover which festivals are when, book a hotel for your parents or friends coming to visit you, find out where you can get
the perfect pint of Guinness on a Monday night, read up on how to open a bank account or find a good camera shop, and so on
and so forth, have a good look. Suggestions for improvements are always welcome. A big thank you to Duke in New Mexico for a
well spotted correction, see you in March.
(e) "Billiard Table Fund": The billiard table fund (see Issue 100) has just hobbled past the 10000 yen mark with the speed of
a drunken tortoise. To speed things up a bit, Zig Zag will be auctioning a lovely bottle of wine this Thursday and Friday, with all
proceeds donated to the billiard table cause.
The Jichinsai was held January 21st ( view photos and video) and some very heavy earthmoving is currently underway.
I have completed & uploaded an English version of the floorplans (in pdf and gif format). There are two different interior
designs, and will eventually be 8 different options available in total. Please don't bombard
me with questions about the new apartments just yet - as I don't know some of the answers either. If you are interested in
living in the new Residence Hane, please check the following link which will include regular updates.
http://www.yamasa.org/english/reshane.html
(g) Other bits:
The Editor
(2) Course Information
Accommodation
If you are coming to Okazaki during the next few months, please visit the
housing availability file (Opens new window).
Message from Yukiko Iijima (Housing Officer): Please also note
that it is extremely important that you rank your accommodation preferences clearly. Upgrades are possible
in the event of cancellations - so if your first preference is a single room in the village, select "Village single" as
first choice, "Residence U" as your second choice and so on.
Long-term Courses:
Applications for October Student Visa intake:
April admissions for long term visas have closed (see below for short term applications).
We are now accepting applications for the student visa from October. Early applications are advised.
Please note that applications for October are usually more competitive than for April due to the
selection process and the limited number of visas
we are allocated by the Immigration Bureau for October. To obtain application forms
click here.
Short-term courses:
All Extension programs have space from February 17th. For
Academic programs, the next available
start date for AIJP, AJSP and Acceleration Format 1 is April 6th 2005. Student visa applications for April have closed, but for
applicants for 1 academic quarter only, using a short term tankitaizai (tourist) or other appropriate visa, applications close February 23rd.
Skiing/Snowboarding Also, please keep
February 12-13 and
March 4-6 free
if you want to go skiing or snowboarding. Ski, snowboard, or try throwing snowballs at me. Retaliation is guaranteed.
Discovery Tours all have vacancies - contact Admissions for further
information. Tour dates for this year are available at
http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/english/programs/discovery_dates.html
3. THINGS JAPANESE: Onsen!
2. Course and accommodation information: Winter, April 2005 Applications
3. Things Japanese: Onsen (in Okazaki, and elsewhere)
4. Student Interview: Yeo Sze En-shin (Singapore, AJSP)
5. Japan Guide: Sapporo Dome (Hokkaido) & Japan Ukiyoe Museum (Nagano)
6. Jichinsai (ground breaking ceremony)
7. About The Yamasa Institute
(f) Bulldozers: Unlike the billiard table fund, the construction of the new accommodation
is simply racing along. As was mentioned in the previous newsletter, we are building another 20
apartments. The name of the new building is currently designated "Residence Hane" (pronounced huh-ne, not hayne).
Drilling for foundations
Contact Admissions if you have any questions.
Yamasa News
The
Yamasa Institute - Aichi Center for Japanese Studies
1-2-1 Hanehigashimachi
Okazaki
Aichi Japan 444-0832
 |
| Hirayu Onsen |
Although there are natural onsens in towns and cities, the popularity of relaxing in onsens is such that an entire tourism industry has grown up around some of the more famous onsens in rural and regional areas of Japan. Just as ordinary Japanese have made the act of taking a bath into something equivalent to an artistic ritual, tourism operators have turned some of the more onsen destinations into something akin to a concrete and neon decorated circus. There are however many simple onsens in unspoilt parts of the country, and no trip to or within Japan is complete without enjoying one.
Although onsen first became ultra popular as destinations in themselves sometime during the Heian Period, many onsens have a history dating back to the earliest years of Japanese settlement. It is likely that the Ainu and wildlife made use of the thermal waters even before this. For example the Yunoyama Onsen in the Suzuka Kokutei Park near Gozaisho-Dake in Mie, not far west of Nagoya, was located in the eighth century by hunters who discovered that deer were enjoying a good hot soak in its waters - to this day Yunoyama's nickname remains "Deer Onsen". Deep in the snows of Nagano, another popular onsen is Jigokudani. To this day it isn't just humans who...
Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/newsletter/things_japanese_32.html
4. STUDENT INTERVIEW: Yeo Sze En, Shin (AJSP)
 |
| Yeo Sze En, Shin |
DM: What made you decide you wanted to study Japanese?
S: After university I was working for the Singapore Sports Council, and there was a Japan Exchange Program. We
usually had senior citizens from Hiroshima come down to visit, and we couldn't communicate.
They didn't speak any English or Chinese and we couldn't speak Japanese.
So that was when I thought I'd try to learn a bit.
DM: So initially was it largely a work related thing?
S: In part, yes, but at the same time....
Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/newsletter/student_int_64.html
5. Japan Guide: Sapporo Dome (Hokkaido) and Japan Ukiyoe Museum (Nagano)
 |
| Sapporo Dome |
Unlike other indoor stadiums, or any other such all weather facilities for that matter, the Sapporo Dome actually has two completely separate playing surfaces for baseball and soccer. For baseball, a field of artificial turf is used including ascending and descending pitcher's mound and bases. However, for soccer matches, the artificial turf is rolled up and an 85 meter by 120 meter natural grass soccer pitch is slowly rolled in from outside the stadium.
The process requires some coordination as to move....
Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/hokkaido/sapporo_dome.html
Japan Ukiyoe Museum: One of the best museums of ukiyoe art in Japan. The word "ukiyo-e" means "the picture of buoyant and joyful (or floating) world". While the term has become synonymous with Japanese wood-block print art, it is actually a genre style of the 17th to 19th centuries that also incorporated painting. Two famous examples of this art form are Hokusai Katsushika's masterpiece "Namiura" (Great Wave), from his "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji" series, and Toushuusai Sharaku's 18th century portrait of a kabuki actor.
The development of this art form occurred during the Edo period (1603-1867) which was a time of relative peace whereby the middle class and common man could afford to spend their spare time and resources on transient pleasures such as Kabuki theater and Geisha houses. Ukiyoe artists derived their subjects from this "floating world": beautiful women (often courtesans), sumo wrestlers, kabuki actors, and landscapes.
The art form reached Europe during the Meiji period where it also became popular. Ukiyoe was an inspiration for cubism and it is widely known that it had a great influence on impressionists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec......
Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/nagano/sakai_ukiyoe.html
6. JICHINSAI
The Jichinsai ceremony is a Shinto ritual intended to calm the kami (god) of the earth whenever a new building or other construction begins. It was/is believed that without going through the protocol of requesting permission from the earth kami, any building constructed would anger the kami and lead to it's destruction. Another purpose is to pray that the actual construction proceeds without any "incidents".
Even when Japanese construct buildings offshore (the construction of factories in China, Europe and the USA for example) a Jichinsai is inevitably held. The ceremony is not so much religious but more of a cultural more. There have been examples of court....
Continued at http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/newsletter/other_20.html
7. ABOUT THE YAMASA INSTITUTE
The Yamasa Institute is compromised of two teaching centers - the Aichi Center in Okazaki and the Online Center providing Japanese education worldwide. It is committed to providing high-quality education in the Japanese language. We are a non-profit organization, a part of the Hattori Group. We are accredited by Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education - APJLE, accreditation number B302 - and "the only Institute in the Mikawa region with the appropriate programs, systems, curriculum and facilities required for quality Japanese language education" according to the Ministry of Justice. Further, in recognition of the excellent quality of our programs, we are in the top tier of 'Appropriately Authorized Japanese Language Education Institutes' - in fact, the only school in the Mikawa area with this prestigious recommendation. For full details see the accreditation section on the homepage at http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/english/accreditation.html
| C O M M U N I T Y M E M B E R S | |||
|
|||
www.yamasa.org content is created and maintained by
Declan Murphy and the students and
staff of the
Yamasa Institute's Multimedia Studio. This site is Yamasa - All rights reserved.
