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BY INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR CENTER

IAC MAILMAGAZINE

SPECIAL LOCAL INFORMATIONFOR INTERNATIONAL RESEARCHERSWORKING FOR TOHOKU UNIVERSITY

http://www.miyagi-kankou.or.jp/theme/detail.php?id=10228

Always Be Happy!

2019 SENDAIPAJEANT OFSTARLIGHT

It is now the season for the pageant of lights to illuminate Sendai! This will be the 34th year of the Sendai Pageant of Starlight, which started in 1986 with the wish of “lighting up Sendai in in the winter” and “making Mori-no-miyako (Sendai) a city of lights.”The theme for the 2019 Sendai Pageant of Starlight is “~Always Be Happy!~” It expresses the city’s desire for the many people who will visit the venue to be filled with joy. There will be numerous other exciting events held during the Pageant period, including a photo contest (http://www.sendaihikape.jp/event/photocontest/), marching parade along Jozenji-dori Street (http://www.sendaihikape.jp/event/santaparade/), and the familiar YEBISU Standing Bar stalls sponsored by YEBISU Beer (http://www.sendaihikape.jp/event/yebisu-bar/). This wonderful event that illuminates Sendai with around 600,000 lights is not to be missed!

Official Website2019 SENDAI PAGEANT OF STARLIGHTURL: http://www.sendaihikape.jp/

Period 2019/12/6(Fri)~31(Tue) 26days

LightingTime

Sunday-Thursday 17:30~22:00Friday/Saturday22nd , 24th December 17:30~23:0031st December 17:30~24:00

Venue Jozenji-dori (HigashiNiban-cho~Shiminkaikan)

COVER ARTICLE

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LET’S GO #HATSUMODE !

J-CULTURE

What is hatsumoude...Hatsumoude is the Japanese word used to describe the first visit to a shrine or temple in the New Year. It is a commonplace custom for Japanese people. At hatsumoude, you can offer prayers of thanks to the gods and ask them to grant your wishes, and you can also write your wishes on a special wooden tablet called an ema, or buy an omamori protective amulet. Hatsumoude is basically a custom for expressing gratitude to the gods of temples and shrines for the year that has passed, and also praying to them for the new year to be a good one.Hatsumoude is said to have originated from an event known as toshigomori. On the night of New Year’s Eve, the head of the village and households would confine themselves inside a shrine or temple in which that region’s local deity is enshrined, and stay awake there until the morning of New Year’s Day. This was later split into jyoya-moude, which is visiting a temple or shrine on New Year’s Eve, and ganjitsu-moude, which is visiting a temple or shrine on New Year’s Day; the present day hatsumoude is linked to ganjitsu-moude.Some regions in Japan still have the custom of practicing both jyoya-moude and ganjitsu-moude. Visiting a temple or shrine twice during the end-of year/New Year period is called ninen-mairi.Now that you know about hatsumoude, why don’t you visit a shrine on New Year’s Day with your family and/or friends (or if you are really familiar with this custom, how about trying ninen-mairi)?And don't forget to dress warmly – it will be cold outside!

Where to go...🔵🔵 Osaki Hachimangu Shrine

[Bus] Sendai city bus no.10 or 15Get off at Osaki Hachimangu-mae[Train] Approx. 15 mins walk fromKunimi station by JR Senzan lineURL: http://www.oosaki-hachiman.or.jp/pop/index.htmlMAP: https://goo.gl/maps/h18GroNEyzMmQqiJ8

🔵🔵 Shiogama Shrine

[Car] Approx. 15 mins drive fromSendai-Kohoku/Rifu-shiogama IC[Train] Approx. 15 mins walk fromHon-shiogama station by JR Senseki lineURL: http://www.shiogamajinja.jp/index.htmlMAP: https://goo.gl/maps/9vBj9CUBPtMFoMhQ9

🔵🔵 Chuson-ji Temple

[Car] Approx. 5 mins drive fromHiraizumi-Maesawa IC[Train] Approx. 20 mins walk fromHiraizumi station by JR Tohoku line URL: https://www.chusonji.or.jp/language_en/index.htmlMAP: https://goo.gl/maps/6HxfW3wadNgnB35M6

そ う だ 、 初 詣 （ は つ も う で ） に 行 こ う

J-CULTURE : Introducing Japanese culture with seasonal event information

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Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

J-Alert sends out emergency information onballistic missile attacks, emergency earthquake earlywarnings, tsunami warnings, and weather-relatedand other warnings using artificial satellites andlandlines. These warnings are sent to prefectures,cities, towns and villages throughout Japan, andthey automatically activate the municipal disasterprevention administrative wireless communications(simultaneous broadcast) and other systems thatdirectly and instantaneously transmit the warning toresidents and all others in the area.Information on ballistic missile attacks and othermatters related to protecting the public are sent outby the Cabinet Secretariat, while disaster preventionand climate information such as earthquake earlywarnings, tsunami warnings, and weather-relatedwarnings are sent out by the JapaneseMeteorological Agency (JMA). These warnings pass

through the transmission equipment of the Fireand Disaster Management Agency (FDMA), andare delivered to prefectures, cities, towns andvillages nationwide.In addition to these warnings sent out via localgovernment agencies, the Japanese government isnow also sending out J-Alert information to mobilephone companies, which then forward thisinformation via (area and emergency) mailmessages to individual phone subscribers.The J-Alert system is compatible with many iPhoneand Android smart phones that are currently soldby communications carriers. However, somemodels such as super-cheap SIM lines areincompatible with the J-Alert system. Please feelfree to inquire with the IAC to find out moreinformation.

We will regularly update the DRR information in this newsletter.If you would like a particular topic to be featured in this corner, or if you have

any comments or questions, please contact us at: iac@grp.tohoku.ac.jp

SenTIASenTIA issues multi-language mail magazines for sending out information during a disaster. We encourage you to sign up for this service at the website listed below.

Website(English) : http://int.sentia-sendai.jp/e/activity/mailmagazine.html

Facebook : @sendai.siraTwitter : @SENTIA_info

Sendai Tourism, Convention and International Association

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○There were probably many people who were surprised to hear their mobile and smart phones sounding an alert during the recent Typhoon No. 19 and continuous heavy rain. In this issue’s Disaster Prevention corner, we will explain the nationwide early warning system called J-Alert, which sends out an alert to individual mobile and smart phones during an emergency●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

減 災GENSAI

DRR column vol.1: J-Alert

NEW STAFF

Message:As I transitioned from being a student to a professor, and from theories to applied research, I realized that there are many issues facing local governments that require a multi-disciplinary and cross-sector approach. Many issues of significant concern such as climate change, disaster management, and recovery affect people from various facets of life in many different ways. Thus, as a researcher who has focused on collaborative planning for the last five years, it is my goal to expand the outreach of Tohoku University to multiple departments within our university, to work with other universities, and to work with the public and private sectors, where together we can examine and address issues of common concern.

Name David N. Nguyen

Lab Tohoku Forum for Creativity

Position Specially Appointed Assistant Professor

Research Field Disaster Management, Tourism, Urban Planning

Hometown Hawaii, USA

HobbyBasketball, drawing manga, weight lifting, traveling to all prefectures in Japan

Impression of Sendai/TU

Sendai is a big city, but everything happens around a 2km radius around Sendai Station

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＼ Welcome to Tohoku University, David san ! ／

CHA-CHAT J SALON

Date Topics

April 16 Let’s go to SOBA restaurant

May 21 Nice to meet you

June 11 Japanese in traditional game

July 9 Japanese manner of “Giving” and “Receiving”

July 30 KANJI and SHUJI #1

September 10 Exchanging of travel information -Day trip-

October 8 Learning Japanese with cooking

November 12 Japanese Exercise-Body parts-

December 10 Japanese in traditional play

January 14 KANJI and SHUJI #2

February 18 Treasure in Japanese Dollar store

March 17 Expressing my gratitude

＼＼ Please feel free to join the class!／／

たこやきTakoyaki

IAC holds a Japanese class for international researchers and their families! It’s called CHA-CHAT J SALON ーちゃちゃっとJサロン

Please book the class via email: iac@grp.tohoku.ac.jp

Q. どんなたべものがすきですか？Donna tabemono ga suki desuka?

What kind of food do you like?

Today’s Japanese from Cha-chat J salon in Nov.

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WHAT’S IAC

What is IAC :The International Affairs Center (IAC) provides various supports to international researchers of Tohoku University. We offer services including necessary information to work for Tohoku University and general living information in Sendai.

What we provide for you :

If you have any questions or require any further information,please contact IAC.We would be happy to help you!

E-mail : iac@grp.tohoku.ac.jp | Tel : 022-217-5971Address : AIMR Main Bld. 5th Floor, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, SendaiWebsite : http://www.wpi-aimr.tohoku.ac.jp/iac/indexE.html

CONTACT INFORMATION

Hiroshi OIKAWA Kanako TANNO Yui SAWANOSayaka UNOURA