Japanese New Year

Ota City Navigation
2012.12
2013.01
Multilingual Newsletter for International Residents
Population of
Ota City
Vol.17
English
Total ＝ 697,405 Japanese ＝ 679,016
Foreign Residents ＝ 18,389 As of November 1, 2012
N
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O-Shogatsu
J
Kadomatsu
Kadomatsu (New
Year ’s decorative
pine branches),
Shime-kazari (New
Year’s sacred straw
festoon);
Kadomatsu is a pine
b r a n c h a ff i x e d t o
the front of a gate or
entrance to a house.
Shime-kazari is hung
Shime-kazari
at a house’s entrance,
etc. It is considered
ideal to adorn your
home from December
13-28 or 30. This is the
origin of Kadomatsu.
To set up a tree as a
sign when Toshigamisama descends at the
beginning of a new year.
What is the Japanese New Year
(o-shogatsu)・・・?
The Japanese New Year falls on the first
day of the first month (January) of a new
year. This holiday is observed to welcome
Toshigami-sama (a god celebrated at the
beginning of the New Year). “Shogatsu”
is another name for January. It is said
that Toshigami-sama descends at the
Osechi-ryori
Osechi-ryori(special dishes prepared for
the New Year) is an assortment of lucky
home-style dishes for offering to Toshigamisama and hope of a family’ prosperity.
These dishes will keep unspoiled for a few
days. Osechi-ryori is typically packed in
lacquered boxes (Jubako) so that guests
can also eat from these dishes. Each dish
has a special meaning and expresses a
wish for a new year.
beginning of a new year so that crops will
grow in abundance and families will be
happy.
Ozoni (a soup containing rice
cakes, is eaten on New Year's
Day) is a soup with rice cakes,
vegetable and chicken. It is
offered for Toshigami-sama at
Kamidana (household Shinto
altar); It is also known as “Zonimochi”.
Differing in each region and
household, Ozoni can be prepared in many various ways
and can contain ingredients such as round or squared
rice cakes, or white or red miso (bean paste).
Ozoni
Kagami-mochi(round
rice cakes), formed
from large and small
circular rice cakes, is
used as a decoration
before God or in an
alcove on New year’s
Day as an offering for
Toshigami-sama. It is
usually displayed until January 11, which is a day
of Kagami-biraki (the custom of cutting and eating
round rice cakes).
Kagami-mochi
Notice from the City Office
High Cost Medical Expenses
-If you are paying a high amount of medical expense per month◆ Full Provision of High Cost Medical Care
◆ High Cost medical expense Loans
When medical expenses for one month exceed the maximum
Paying off High-cost medical care expenses takes time. If
amount borne by illness or injury, you can apply for
you are having difficulty paying medical care expenses
reimbursement of the expense amount that exceeded the person’s
share. An application form will be sent by mail to any person
falling under these requirements three months from the month
of these treatments. Please note that this reimbursement is
inapplicable after two years from the 1st of the next month of
because of high-cost, you can take out an interest free
loan of up to 90% of the expected amount of the medical
care expenses provided, However, loans under 10,000
yen are excluded.
these treatments.
● Required items
① Receipt or bill issued by a medical institution
② National Health Insurance Certificate
③ Seal (stamp cannot be used)
【Inquiries】 National Health Insurance & National Pension
④ Account number of householder
☎ 03-5744-1211　FAX 03-5744-1516
School Enrollment Application Forms
Enrollment applications will be sent out on December 18 to children who will be attending Ota City’s elementary or junior high school
next spring.
Children who fall under the following categories are required to comply with the following procedures as soon as possible. In particular,
the following groups ② - ④ have an effect on a classroom organization. Please do not delay in the following circumstances
① Children who wish to attend an Ota City’s school other
than the locally designated school
They need to submit an application of change on January 5-7.
Please note that enrollment in some schools may be not accepted
or selections will be made by lottery according to the facilities’
size or organization of classes.
For further details about reception desk times, etc., please refer
to the school's notice.
② Children who are enrolled in a National, Municipal or
private school
Please comply with the following procedures for notification
of the national, municipal or private school attendance with an
admission permit (written approval) at the following Department
or each special branch of Ota City Office.
2
③ Children who wish to enroll in a municipal school in a
different city
Please contact the board of education which governs the
proposed school.
④ Children who wish to enroll in junior high school in Ota
City and have graduated from an elementary school in
another city
Please visit the following Department with the certificate of
graduation. After application procedures, a notice of accepted
students school attendance will be issued.
【Inquiries】 School Affairs
☎ 03-5744-1429　FAX 03-5744-1536
Ota City Navigation 2012/12/15　Issued on the 15th every month (excluding January and August)
Procedures for Child Allowance
◆ Child Allowance application during the
※ When moving from another city, the scheduled date in
New Year’s Holiday
the Notification of moving from the previous residence
Child allowance’s desks of Ota City Office will be closed
falls under transfer date
during the New Year’s holiday season (December 29-January
3). Deadlines for children born in December or transferring
to Ota City in December is as follows (if you are sending the
application form by post, it should be postmarked on or before
the following deadline). For more details about electronic
application, please refer to the Ota City Office’s web site or
contact the following Department
◆ First month of Child Allowance payment
In principle, child allowance payment starts on the
following month you application for this allowance.
However, payment of this allowance will begin on the
month of application if you apply for this allowance
within the 15 days after birth. Please note that even if
D a t e o f b i r t h / Application Deadline to Receive
this application is accepted, after the deadline, the start of
transferring, etc.
Child Allowance from January 2013
payment will be delayed.
Dec. 1- 13
Dec. 28, 2012
Dec. 14- 20
Jan. 4, 2013
Dec. 21- 31
Within 15 days from the date after
birth or moving, etc. (if the 15th
day is a weekend or national day,
deadline is the next business day)
【Inquiries】 Ｃｈｉｌｄ -Raising Support
☎ 03-5744-1275　FAX 03-5744-1525
Take precautions against food poisoning this winter
Food poisoning is always a risk throughout the year but.
Norovirus, the most common form of food poisoning, occurs
mainly in the winter season. Campylobacter, the second
most commonly occurring. food poisoning is present
throughout the year.
Please note that these symptoms may be worse for children
or elderly people.
Norovirus
Norovirus is an extremely contagious infection, so you are
always at risk of being infected by one little virus. Period of
Campylobacter
You are always at risk of being infected by one little virus.
Therefore, when you eat raw or rare meat you may be infected
even though the meat of fresh. It can still be infected with the
virus.
●Symptoms: diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever (average 38
degrees)
※ Onset of symptoms is 2-5 days.
●Prevention methods:
・Heat all meat fully
・When having a barbecue or roasted meat, prepare separate
infection is one or two days. These symptoms usually alleviate
tongs or chopsticks to use only for roasting meat.
within a few days.
・When cooking dishes using both meat and rare foods, use a
●Symptoms:
separate cutting board or kitchen knife for cutting meat.
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever
・After touching rare meat directly, wash hands well.
●Prevention methods:
・Wash hands frequently.
・Fully cook all food
＊ Dispose of vomit by wearing gloves and try not to touch
【Inquiries】 Sanitation & Public Health
vomit directly.
☎ 03-5764-0697　FAX 03-5764-0711
Ota City Navigation 2012/12/15　Issued on the 15th every month (excluding January and August) 3
Thank you so much for reading Ota City Navigation
(hereinafter referred to as OCN). We held a roundtable discussion for readers of OCN on October 23
(Wed.) 15:00-17:00 to get feedback and advice from
Ota City Navigation
The 1st round-table discussion for
readers was held!
Q. What information should OCN include?
LIN: articles about differences between
Japanese and foreign cultures, customs of
daily life in Japan, attention to seasonal
diseases.
readers of OCN.
TOLENTINO: school events, good places for
Does OCN include information which you would like
having a barbecue in Ota City, famous places
to know more about?
for cherry-blossom viewing, good places
We received many ideas from foreign readers in Ota
for walking, evacuation areas at the time of
City.
Participants of this discussion
(name, nationality and time living in Japan)
LIN RONG
Chinese,
living in Japan
Q. How do you get information about Ota
accidents.
City?
RYU: origin of the name “Japan”, origins of
RYU: I get multilingual pamphlets from Ota City.
interesting places in Japan, information about
TOLENTINO: I ask the Ota City Office directly, or
sports facilities.
ask
MEL: information about Japanese flower
MEL: I ask my Japanese husband or family, or
arrangement (ikebana) lessons, foreign
research on the Internet.
residents in Ota City or mothers’ meeting.
CRIS: I get this information when the Ota City
for 10 years
Office sends this information by post to us.
SEUNG RYU
Korean,
living in Japan for
7 years
Q.　Where could we offer OCN
OZAWA　CRISTINA
in order to increase number of
Filipino,
living in Japan for 22
years
foreign readers?
Q. Where do you always get OCN?
CRIS:at pachinko parlors!
LIN:at my resutaurant. MEL:at big supermarkets.
MEL:received by e-mail or each library.
MICHELL AQUINO ITOH
Filipino,
living in Japan for 10 months
TOLENTINO NORMITA AQUINO
Filipino,
living in Japan for 17 years
Mel USHIKUBO
Canadian,
Q. How long have you been reading OCN?
CRIS: since July, 2011 (the 1st issue)
RYU: since 2011 in autumn
TOLENTINO: for 2 months
MICHELL: for a month
Q. What information are you interested in?
LIN: periodic medical examinations for children.
living in Japan for
Ota City sends information by post to us.
5 years
Master of the discussion:
But it may be better to give information
Q. How did hear about OCN?
everywhere about these examinations.
RYU: when having something at Ota
MEL:events information, because I am interested
Taiwanese,
City Office, I see at 1st floor of the
in exchanges between residents in Ota City.
living in Japan for 20
Office, because I decided to place
years
OCN at my shop.
YE YULING
4
Ota City Navigation 2012/12/15　Issued on the 15th every month (excluding January and August)
<Editors’ comments >
Thank you so much for many previous opinions.
This discussion was lively with lots of opinions
and laughs.
We aim to make more interesting newsletters・・・
Please let us know what you would like to hear
about in the future.
Ota City Navigation 2012/12/15　Issued on the 15th every month (excluding January and August) 5
Event Information
New Year’s events at
Ota-Bunka-no-mori
Ota City TAIKO Festival
●January 5 (Sat.):
● January 13 (Sun.), 5:00 p.m.-
① Japanese street performance and magic show = 1:30 p.m.-4:00
● Venue: Aprico (Ota Kumin Hall)
p.m. limit 200 people (first-come basis)
② S hishimai (Japanese lion dance), Ohayashi (Japanese
orchestra) and Mochi-tsuki (pounding boiled rice into mochi)
= 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Limit 200 people (first-come basis)
③ Wafuku Dress-up (get dressed up in a Japanese kimono) =
10:00 a.m.- 12 noon, limit 50 people (first-come basis).
● Entrance fee: Reserved seats only.
S-grade seat: \1,000, A-grade seat:\500
(Same day purchase= S-grade seat: \1,500, A-grade seat:
\1,000)
● Tickets on sale at: Ota Kumin Plaza, Aprico (Ota Kumin
Hall), Ota-Bunka-no-mori
Please bring your own kimono.
(Cultural Activities Support Facilities for Ota Residents)
【Inquiries】 Ota-Bunka-no-mori Association
【Inquiries】 Aprico
☎ 03-3772-0770　FAX 03-3772-0704
☎ 03-5744-1600　FAX 03-5744-1599
“Ikegami Shichifukujin
Guided Tour”
This tour is a walking guided tour through Ikegami area
highlighting seven temples.
● Date/Time: January 5 (Sat.), 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
● Fee: \500
● Capacity: 25 persons (selected by lottery)
Application: Please contact the Ota Tourism Association
(1-20-20 Minami-Kamata, 144-0035) by sending a reply
pre-paid postcard or FAX. The application must arrive no
later than December 25st.
※ One application is good for up to two people.
【Inquiries】 Ota Tourism Association
☎ 03-3734-0202　FAX 03-3734-0203
6
When you need to inquire the contact numbers on this magazine in a foreign language,the services
could be available at Interpeople Community Centre(ICC)'s multilingual Information desk.
TEL ＝ 03-6424-8822
Opening hours ＝ 10:00 〜 17:00
Ota's Tourist Attractions
Upcoming events
Cool Ota-Ku Ambassador
(12th)
Relay Column
Tamae Nakayama
January 1 (New Year’s Haneda Shichifukujin Inari Tour
Day)- 5 (Sat.)
(Anamori-Inari Shrine, etc.)
January 5 (Sat.)
Iki-iki Ota Photo Contest Exhibition
I came to Japan from Taiwan 30
years ago. I never dreamed of living
in Japan before then. Maybe I had
(Ota Kumin Hall Aprico)
- 9 (Wed.)
a deep relationship to Japan since
This exhibition is of photographs taken
by residents of Ota City.
before I was born. Today, Taiwan
Let’s discover the charms of Ota City
keeps a close relationship with
through these photos.
Take the Shichifukujin Tour by going
January 12 (Sat.)
on a yakata-bune (house boat) and
and 26 (Sat.)
walking on the former Tokai-do Road:
This tour includes taking a yakata-bune
(house boat) from the Haneda Airport
Japan. I will try to become the bridge between Taiwan and
Japan as the Ota City tourism ambassador.
One of the charms of Ota City is convenience of facilities
for ground, sea and air transportation. You can reach the
center of Tokyo or Yokohama in 20 minutes by train. Also,
it is very convenient to go to the Haneda Airport.
wharf to Shinagawa Port visiting
The oldest five-story pagoda of Important Cultural
Shichifukujin (Seven Deities of Good
Properties and Shoto-en, a Japanese garden, are located
Fortune), and also walking on the
in Ikegami-honmon-ji Temple. At Magome-bunshi Village,
former Tokai-do Road.
there is a Calligraphy Museum of Tsuneko Kumagaya
（Please apply in advance by December
27. For more details, please refer to the
Ota Tourism Association’s web site）
(kana character calligrapher), and a Folk Museum
preserving remains and precious cultural heritage, etc.
Also, there are excellent tourist spots such as the Ota
January 14
Hashigonori (at Ikegami-honmon-ji
Market which is one of the largest in Japan to handle
(Mon. holiday)
Temple)
fish and vegetables. Yacho Park, Omori Nori Museum and
1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
(scheduled time)
Omori Coast all have the scent of the sea.
Ota City has many exiting tourist spots. It is said that
“Seeing is believing”. I hope that people all over the world,
Hot Topic
Hashigonori
not only Japanese people, visit Ota City and enjoy the
charms.
Hashigonori (at Ikegami-honmon-ji Temple) is
a traditional Japanese performance that has been
passed down from the Edo Period Firefighters to
this day. In the Edo Period, firemen would climb up
a ladder to find the origin of a fire. The Hashigonori
performance originated from this action.
Come and see these amazing acrobatic techniques
performed on ladders 6 meters tall.
For more details, please refer to the following web
site: Ota Tourism Association (http://www.o-2.jp/)
Please come directly to the front of the Big Hall of
Ikegami-honmon-ji Temple.
【Inquiries】　Tourism Department　☎ 03-3733-6190 FAX 03-3733-6103
Ota City Navigation 2012/12/15　Issued on the 15th every month (excluding January and August) 7
Ota Interpeople Community Center
Two minutes walk from Ota City Office　http://www.micsota.jp/index.html
TEL ＝ 03-6424-8822
◆ About Ota Interpeople Community Center?
This is a place where international residents can meet, and interact freely. Ota City
Interpeople Community Center was established in September 2010 by Ota City by
reforming the Multilanguage Information Center established in October 2009.
◆ Services provided by the Center
◇ Consultations in Multiple Languages:
Support is offered in multiple languages to the international residents residing in
Ota City.
Consultations regarding daily matters, employment, aid with application
procedures to Ota City Office, and more. Please feel free to ask us for assistance.
Interpeople Community Center
蒲
Consultations are free of charge. For example- Frequently asked questions regarding
東急線
ＪＲ
線
◇ Translations: Generally free of charge for documents to submit to Ota City (e.g. Birth
大田
区役
所
Consultation schedules listed below.
田駅
Child Allowance (Kodomo Teate), divorce, visa, etc.
certificate for Child Allowance application, etc). Please consult us for other kinds of
東口
ロータリー
銀行
translation.
◇ Interpretation (verbal translations): Interpreters are sent to Ota City related
facilities.
Inquries: Interpeople Community Center　☎ 03-6424-8822
至川崎
環状八号線
December 28
Usually opened
December 29
Closed
December 30
Closed
December 31
Closed
January 1
Closed
【Inquiries】　Interpeople Community Center
January 2
Closed
☎ 03-6424-8822　FAX　03-5710-6330
January 3
Closed
January 4
Usually opened
New Year’s Holiday
Information
Multilingual consutation schedule
Languages
Monday
Tuesday
English
Thursday
Friday
10:00-17:00
10:00-17:00
10:00-17:00
10:00-17:00
Saturday
Sunday
10:00-17:00
Chinese
10:00-17:00
10:00-17:00
Tagalog
10:00-17:00
10:00-17:00
Vietnam
Wednesday
10:00-17:00
13:00-17:00
(2nd,3rd)
13:00-17:00
(1st,2nd)
13:30-17:00
(2nd,4th)
13:00-17:00
Thai
(4th)
▶ Make a reservation when you need an interpreter of any of the following languages:
Korean,Spanish,Portuguese,Thai,Russian,Urdu,Nepali,Hindi Bengali,Persian,Burmese,Mongolian
8
Issued on December 15,2012 Multicultrual Society Section,Ota City Office
144-8621 5-13-14,Kamata,Ota
TEL ＝ 03-5744-1717 FAX ＝ 03-5744-1518 http://www.city.ota.tokyo.jp　E-mail: tabunka@city.ota.tokyo.jp