hear the army

(sample petition letters for download at the bottom of this post)

“I’d really appreciate your help. The Osaka City government is currently debating whether to burn radioactive Tohoku debris in Osaka in return for cash from the National government. Even several of the Tohoku government officials have stated they don’t want to ship the debris.

This is not only absolutely unnecessary, but will also have long-term consequences in a region that has been largely unscathed by the ongoing crisis in Fukushima….and where I live now. It will disproportionately affect children living in Kansai as proven by multiple scientific studies.

Most of the city assembly is against this proposition, but the mayor is staunchly supporting it while refusing to look at the scientific evidence showing the negative health repercussions. The final decision should take place at the end of this month, so I am working to support one of the assembly members to help gather official petition letters to protest against this policy.

They specifically requested letters from foreigners living both in and outside Osaka to show it is not just a local issue. Therefore I am kindly asking you to write a quick, one-page letter that would have an impact. The letter can be written in Japanese or English (as we have translators that can help). The Japanese letter deadline is March 14.

Japanese before he deadline of March 14, so we ask to have it arrive by March 7 if possible.

I know you are busy, but your help would be sincerely appreciated. If you can take 20 – 30 minutes…..

Attached is both the Japanese and English letter format which follows the legal requirements. . Please sign/hanko where it says signature.

For English, send by March 7 to:
Ms. Kinuko Motoshige
21-1107 Shinmachi
Daitou-shi, Osaka-fu JAPAN 574-0037
Tel: +81-80-4111-6608

For Japanese, please send direct to the city office:
〒530-8201 大阪市北区中之島1丁目3番20号
大阪市役所
市会事務局宛て

〒530-8201
Oosakashi Kitaku Nakanoshima 1-3-20
OosakaShiyakusho
ShikaiZimukyoku　Ate”

Petition Letter Format and Sample Petition Letters

• Required format for Petition Letter (everything must be included) WORD DOC
• Sample petition letter 1 (with hanko) WORD DOC
• Sample letter #2 WORD DOC
• English format WORD DOC

Click here to read Being Pregnant in Japan – Part 1, Up to Week 12ish
Click here to read Being Pregnant in Japan – Part 2, The 2nd Trimester

You:

It depends on the person and the time of year, but things took a turn for the worse almost to the day of my 3rd trimester. Chalk most of it up to the fact that it was July 21st when the heat and humidity in Japan become close to unbearable. My entire body blew up like a blowfish and from that day forward I my feet and ankles were always in pain and i could no longer wear my watch, wedding band, and 98% of my shoes.

(more…)

i’m glad i had bijou in japan…don’t get me wrong, i am sure there are wonderful clinics and birthing centers all over the US but i wonder if they would be covered by insurance, etc. yes, it wasn’t cheap here either, but the 7 night stay (including the night of the birth – arrived 11pm) after a cesarean trumps what i hear the is usually only 2-3 night in the US and the food was amazing!

what could i possibly be doing all that time?
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I was thinking since I am trying to figure this all out myself for the first time, some others might be interested in how exactly all this works. Looking back I wish I had kept more diligent notes but when you are working and volunteering WHILE trying to figure it all out, you tend to forget those things.

So, to the best of my memory, here’s how it’s gone so far…. (more…)

i’ve been entertaining the idea of buying a house lately.

of course there’s the fact that with rent you feel as though you’re throwing away money every month, but it was easier to rationalize here in japan because the value on your house will virtually never be what it was when you bought it ever again. that and the fact that we have company subsidized rent for a great apartment so even if we’re throwing away rent money, we’re getting a place for 1/2 the monthly price now and they wouldn’t subsidize a mortgage.

the subject came up with a colleague the other day and he says, “why don’t you buy a mobile house?”…i thought – i’ve never seen those in japan then realized it was just his strong aussie accent and he said, “why don’t you buy a murder house?”. apparently there is a huge stigma to homes where something tragic has happened and they go for a fraction of the price. if you’ve ever seen the movie “Juon” (there’s an american version called the grudge or curse or something but not a fraction as scary), you’ll know why. (more…)

today was also our first maternity class at the clinic. between the clinic and ward office, we have a barrage of classes over the next few months. none are mandatory, but i figure – why not? (more…)

how frightening is this:

“Customs slip cannabis into passenger’s bag

A passenger who landed at Tokyo’s Narita airport over the weekend has ended up with a surprise souvenir courtesy of customs officials — a package of cannabis. Sniffer dogs failed to find the cannabis after it had been slipped into a passenger’s bag.

A customs official hid the package in a suitcase belonging to a passenger arriving from Hong Kong as part of an exercise for sniffer dogs on Sunday, Reuters.com reported.

However, staff then lost track of the drugs and suitcase during the exercise, a spokeswoman for Tokyo customs said.

Customs regulations specify that a training suitcase be used for such exercises, but the official had used passengers’ suitcases for similar purposes in the past, domestic media reported.

Tokyo customs has asked anyone who finds the package to return it.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/26/tokyo.cannabis/

Hope they weren’t boarding the next flight to Singapore or somewhere that they have the death penalty for smuggling drugs! Idiots.

If you have no interest in birth, etc. then you have no reason to read further! This is for those women looking for a bilingual template to help with their birth plan.

Last weekend I read everything possible trying to figure out what kind of birth I would like to have. Then my Japanese teacher and I worked hard to translate my requests/questions into Japanese so I could ask the doctor and then formulate them into a birth plan.

I am posting them here hoping to save any woman in Japan who is trying to do the same thing some time and energy. Of course not everyone will have the same wishes for their labor/delivery as I do, but at least you can see some of the basic vocabulary, etc. and I hope it will help!

Congratulations to you if you’re expecting! Please leave me a comment if you were able to use it and/or if you have any questions about anything here! (more…)

whew – i knew having a baby was going to be tough, but i thought the 2nd trimester was when you could relax and enjoy it a bit!?! no such luck.

a lady who recently gave birth and lives near me just told me her story: she goes to the clinic at 3 weeks before her due date only to have the doctor exclaim, “the baby’s breech – you’ll need a c-section, but you’ve gained too much weight for us to do it here!”. so she had to go and find a bigger hospital/clinic that was somehow more prepared for the extra complications a cesarean on an obese woman might propose. THREE WEEKS BEFORE BIRTH. you think he could have told her when she weighed in over whatever the limit was for them to handle the birth should there be complications there!
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            as i’m strolling down the ramp from my station toward my apartment building i become aware of a shadow very close behind…the all of a sudden there’s a little touch on my left calf! so i swing around and this guy is trotting away in the other direction. so i’m just staring dumbfounded and he glances quickly back before descending down the stairs. at that point i look at my calf and there is a small, dark circle (like a wet spot) on my tights where i felt the touch. (more…)

        we’ve all seen the lists – here’s my breakthrough: i’ve made the 25min commute to work via my shiny red “mama chari” with a basket on front in a skirt. i have arrived.

then again – i suppose this could mean i’ve been somewhere in Europe or China too long also. can’t remember seeing it in the USA much though. oh for the day when America starts planning cities/towns where you can commute another way than car…
how i love my j-town for this!

        Lined up like the single string of pearls around our necks; the row of beads circling our hands. All black. Following the leader and the rules – bow, pray, pinch, hold, burn, bow. Did I forget anything? (more…)

        how it occurred to me at 8pm last night that my japanese license expired today is beyond me but thank god i did – the odds of me having the luck i had previously to pass the driving test the first try are slim. (more…)

        what the hell!?! yes, while innocently searching for a book on hiking in japan, i’m subjected to this: someone actually published a book titled: “ORDINARY ENGLISH-SPEAKING MEN, EXTRAORDINARY BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, TEACHING ENGLISH IN JAPAN”.

as if the title wasn’t enough, with chapters like “mini-mini skirts” and excerpts such as “I haven’t met many Western females that speak fluent Japanese” it’s no wonder many western women have a cynical outlook of some western guys in japan. how can they expect us to take them seriously when there’s crap like this published (and to think some might read it)!?! bluck. i feel for those who didn’t come to japan to date and have a japanese girlfriend or wife – must be even more difficult for you than it is for me to stomach nonsense like this.

Hikikomori (Recluse) and Parasite Single

My mom just sent me an NPR link about these two types of people in Japan today. As I read it, I couldn’t help but think about my husband who describes his younger brother in much the same way as this article describes these very troubled late teen to mid-life (mostly) male Japanese. His brother committed suicide on his 18th birthday.

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This little bit is for any Americans – or those other unfortunates hailing from a country where you have to take both a written and driving test to obtain your Japanese Driver’s License (South Africa, China, Brazil, Africa, Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, and Russia) – who want to get their driver’s license in Japan…or who just want to read about my experience! (more…)

Since we are having our wedding here, I thought you might be interested in knowing about Japanese wedding etiquette (never mind the fact that I need to know about it!): (more…)

あけましておめでとうございます！ことしもよろしくお願いします！
Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu!
Happy New Year! I hope we will have a good relationship again this year!

The New Year’s Holiday is probably one of the biggest and most important holidays in Japan. (more…)