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What's Going On? TOPICS |
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April 2021page 1 |
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What's Going On? TOPICS |
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April 2021page 1 |
April 2021 page 1 TOPICS
Assistance Dogs Set People at Ease
On March 14, an event was held in Matsuyama to show the significance of assistance dogs of which there are three kinds: service dogs, guide dogs, and hearing dogs. Juri, the first service dog trained in Ehime, was invited to the event with her partner, Ms. Habara, living in Hiroshima. Juri, aged 3, was brought up by an association based in Matsuyama. Ms. Habara has a muscular weakness on the right half of her body. She said she could walk easily with Juri which prevented her from tripping by always walking on her right side.She used to fall down when she tried to bend down to pick things up, but now Juri picks up them for her. She added she was relieved to think even if her condition took a sudden turn for worse when she was alone, Juri would look for her smartphone and enable her to contact someone.She expressed her hope that more dogs would be trained in Ehime. A member of the association mentioned their severe economic situation and thanked the participants saying Juri was raised by people of Ehime and their operation mainly relied on people's good will.The association is now training a hearing dog, Ema. A member of the Japan Guide Dog Association, from Shimane Prefecture, explained guide dogs' three main roles: to stop at corners, to avoid obstacles, and to stop in front of differences in level. She demonstrated their roles with a PR guide dog, Hika. The event was held as the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the Matsuyama Dogo Lion’s Club.(March 16, Ehime Shimbun) |
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Learning Japanese by Comic Dialogues
On March 5, there were classes for international students to learn practical Japanese through comic dialogues at Kawahara E-business College. In one class, 13 intermediate and advanced students in the Japanese Department and the International Tourist Department of the college, had a lecture online by four comedians from Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd. The lecturers included an international comic duo named "Franponais", a Swiss wife and a Japanese husband who used to work for a trading company overseas.One comedian said, "I think you have had the experience of being laughed at when you made a mistake using Japanese. You can turn your mistakes into materials of comic dialogues." The professional comedians demonstrated their comic dialogues. The students made five duos and one trio, named themselves, and made short dialogues and presented them. One duo of women from Vietnam and Nepal made others laugh by mistaking kyuri, meaning cucumber, for kyuryo, meaning salary.(March 13, Ehime Shimbun) |
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COVID-19 Vaccinations in Ehime
Ehime Prefecture has announced how many COVID-19 vaccinations will be allocated to each city and town in April, and Matsuyama city has announced that the elderly and staff at nursing homes will have first priority. Vaccinations are expected to start on April 12. The city emphasizes that giving priority to those people can prevent them from becoming seriously ill and prevent the development of new clusters.According to the city, there are 15 nursing homes with about 1,200 elderly residents and about 1,000 workers in Matsuyama. Vaccinations will be given by the resident doctor at each home. The number of nursing facilities in total is 69, and the one of users and caretakers is about 7,000 in the city. The people in the facility with a resident doctor may be prioritized. Vaccines for 3,900 people will be delivered to the city in April.The planned distribution of vaccination vouchers to people aged 65 years old and above at the end of March will be delayed to around April 23, since the supply of vaccines will be very limited. A call center for COVID-19 vaccinations launched by the city on March 1 will answer questions and provide updates. The number of citizens aged 65 and above in the city is 141,905 (as of April 1, 2020) Call Center for COVID-19: 089-909-3353 (March 10, Ehime Shimbun) |
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Tobemori Zipline Opens
Would you like to take a thrilling aerial walk? Tobemori Zipline which connects Tobe Zoological Park and Ehime-Kodomo-no-Shiro, and is one of the largest in Shikoku opened on March 14. The Zipline provides you with the opportunity to enjoy the view and speed while sliding by pulley on the wires in the air. There are two courses, one is 410m from "Teppen-Toride" at the observation deck in Ehime-Kodomo-no-Shiro to "Tora-sha-mae" in front of the tiger cage in the Tobe Zoo, and the other is 320m from "Tora-sha-mae" to "Shibafu-Hiroba" an open field in Ehime-Kodomo-no-Shiro. It is 730m in total. This is one of the longest in Japan, and runs at 40-50 km/hour over the lake. Ehime prefecture operates this to welcome more visitors in the area by providing an easy access between the two facilities. The number of visitors to Tobe Zoo in 2010 was about 450,000, and about 340,000 to Ehime-Kodomo-no-Shiro. Prefecture set the annual target at 23,000 for the Zipline.You must be a 4th grader in elementary school and above, and a signed agreement by a parent is required for high school students and below. You must be 120 cm tall or taller, and weigh at least 25 kg and less than 110 kg including all the gear such as helmets. You have to take the round trip. The fare is 3,000 yen for 18 years old and above, 1,400 yen for high school students, and 1,300 yen for elementary and jr. high school students. The fare includes the entrance fee to the zoo. Advanced booking is required through https://www.i-kodomo.jp/zipline/index.html.(March 8 & 9, Asahi Shimbun Digital) |
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Cashless Payment Service Starts at Matsuyama City Hall
Matsuyama City will introduce cashless payment for service fees from March 1. The new service is provided for 31 certificates such as a copy of a resident's card and will initially be available at three locations: Matsuyama City Hall (citizen's section on the first floor), and the citizen service centers at Fuji Grand Matsuyama and Takashimaya. The service is intended to reduce the use of cash as a measure against Covid-19 and to improve convenience for citizens. Cashless payments can be made by credit card, electronic money, and other payment systems such as PayPay.(March 1, Asahi Shimbun Digital) |
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Iyotetsu to Reduce the Number of Trams from March
The Iyo Railway will revise the tram timetables, excluding the loop line (Routes 1 and 2), from March 1. The number of users is decreasing due to the coronavirus, so the number of trams in service will be reduced. According to Iyotetsu, the Matsuyama City Station Line (Route 3, Dogo Onsen-Matsuyama City Station) and the JR Matsuyama Station Line (Route 5, Dogo Onsen-JR Matsuyama Station) will run every 12 minutes (currently 10 minutes) during the daytime except during the morning and evening commutes. The number of daily services on the Honmachi Line (Route 6, Matsuyama City Station-Honmachi 6-chome), which operates only on weekdays, will be reduced from 44 to 28, and there will be no service for about two and a half hours in both the morning and afternoon. In addition, the last tram on three lines will be earlier: about10:00pm from Matsuyama City Station and Dogo Onsen on Routes 3 and 5 and around 7:30 pm from Matsuyama City Station and Honmachi 6 on Route 6. (February 26, Asahi Shimbun Digital) |
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Children's Cafeteria Opens in Matsuyama City
A children's cafeteria will open in March in Nakamura, near the center of Matsuyama City, to help reduce the number of children who eat alone and to provide a place where they can come to eat in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Marie Yamase (33), a representative of the volunteer organization "Matsuyama Sakanoue Japanese Language School" as well as the organizer of the cafeteria, said, "We want children to enjoy eating hot meals together regardless of nationality". Another purpose of setting up the cafeteria is to support people from other countries living in Ehime. She is preparing to start the new cafeteria in March with volunteers such as high school and university students, nursery school teachers, and students from abroad to serve children cooked meals and help them with their homework.About six years ago, Yamase provided support for Myanmar refugee families to settle in Tokyo. She was commissioned by the national government to help the families and she taught them Japanese for about half a year. After that, she kept in contact with the families and learned of their experiences: they didn't know where the reception counter was located when they went to a hospital, and they couldn't help their children with their homework from elementary school. She found it necessary to provide long-term support for other people like them.Yamase learned that because of the coronavirus pandemic, a Nepalese owner of an Indian restaurant had been facing difficulties, so at the end of December, she ran a one-day children's cafeteria to help him. About 60 people visited. After that, she learned that children were spending the night alone because their parents were both working or working at night or they were from single-parent families, so she decided to launch a regular children's cafeteria.Yamase intends to contact nearby elementary schools and tell children about the cafeteria and has been able to receive donations of rice for the meals they provide. The cafeteria will open once a week from March, and she hopes that it will be a comfortable place for children as well as to give single parents who have little time to take a break. At the same time, she also hopes that it will be a secure place for children and parents from other countries. Place: 1F Sanpuku Headquarters Building (2-1-3 Nakamura) Open date and hours: March 10, 17, 23; April 7, 14, 21, 28/ 4-7 pm Fee: No charge for all children; 300 yen for adults For further inquiries, please contact Marie Yamase (090-8213-6209) Website: https://www.m-sakanoue.org/ (February 25, Asahi Shimbun Digital) |
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Matsuyama International Center |