January 2008 X-Pat Files

The X-Pat Files - January 2008

(Brought to you by H&R Consultants)

  The X-Pat Files Community E-Newsletter provides a forum for the spread of information useful for English speakers living in Aichi. You can use the newsletter as an informational resource, and of course you can send in information you would like to share.
  This newsletter is a community service from The Japan Real Estate and Relocation company, H&R Consultants (www.japanhomesearch.com), and is edited by Sue Conolly (http://web.mac.com/conolly).

  Contents for This Edition

  1. Shipping a Car Back Home
2. Curves
3. World on Demand
4. Ice Skating
5. Baby Goods
6. Emergency Clinics
  7. New Year Events
  8. Book Mooch
9. Sake Brewery Tour in English
10. Rewards
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   1. Shipping a Car Back Home - One Person's Experience
(Thank you to Roxanne Gwyn for this submission)

We decided to take our car with us when we moved back to Australia because I had heard that you could load it up with your personal belongings and use it as a method of transporting clothes, toys, etc. – whatever would fit in the car. A friend had just done it, and she didn`t have any problems, so I thought it would make sense to take it with us to a) cut down on shipping costs because moving back home with a child and one on the way is expensive, and b) to make sure that we had a car when we got back to Australia because we had a child and one on the way. Well, it sounded like a good idea at the time anyway.

Here is a brief outline of the steps you need to take to get your car out of Japan and into Australia. I suppose it could be applied to other countries, and either way, you should always check out the latest requirements with the authorities, because it does change. At the time we did it Australian citizens and certain permanent resident visa holders are eligible to import one vehicle every 12 months as long as you were the owner for at least 12 months before applying to import to Australia. You can find out if you are eligible by checking online with DOTARS - more to come on them.

1. Check car availability in Australia

You need to know whether your car is available widely in Australia or not, because this will impact upon your ability to buy parts and get your car serviced once it is here, and will also affect your insurance costs. If you want to have something that is not sold in the market here you may have trouble selling it later on because parts will have to be shipped in. You will also have serious insurance hassles (see below).

2. Contact an insurance provider

As in Japan, insurance in Australia is compulsory. You have to get at least CTP (compulsory third party) insurance, and many people also get comprehensive insurance. I had a lot of trouble finding someone who would insure our car. Although we took a Subaru Forester into Australia, which is sold here and widely available, the insurance companies all refused to insure our vehicle because it was a `personal import`. The minute they hear personal import they can`t get off the phone fast enough! I ended up having to call the Financial Ombudsman in NSW to get a number of an insurer who would deal with us. In the end we had to use an insurer who offers insurance for rare cars, so as you would expect when using a selective insurer, the cost of insurance for us is now higher than it would be had we bought exactly the same car in Australia. Fortunately, it wasn`t a huge difference, and after comparing insurance notes with family and friends, I think we probably pay somewhere between $150 and $250 more a year than those with non-imported Foresters. I am sure that the premiums would be much higher though if the car we imported was only available on a limited basis.

3. Contact DOTARS (Dept. of Transport and Road Safety)

To import a vehicle into Australia you need an Import Vehicle Permit from DOTARS. Check out their website before you start and glean as much info as you can about the process, but always remember that it is really simple to just pick up the phone and call them. Australia is usually only 1 hour ahead of Japan, 2 during the Australian summer time, so it easy to catch them before you head to work in the morning (the waiting time on the phone seems to be less too). I had myself worked up about having to get official translators to do our documents that need to be submitted (as it states on their website), and was thinking that the cost of getting the docs submitted alone was going to be more than buying a new car in Australia (at around Y10,000 per page, it aint cheap!). On the website it says that this is a requirement, however when I called and asked about it, the person on the other end told me that I could just submit them with my own translation attached, and if they had any queries or doubts about the validity of the translation they would ask me to resubmit with an official translation. No worries mate! So, don`t believe that everything is as strict as it implies on the website, but it is a good general guide to get you started.

There are many docs that have to be submitted (proof of purchase, registration docs, parking permits, licenses etc.), but just remember that they are asking for it all to confirm that it is your car that you are importing, and that it hasn`t been involved in anything illegal (for instance, not having a car park here in Japan) so you don`t have to translate the fine print on your insurance papers. One bit of advice – get your paperwork done early!! It will probably take longer than you anticipate. Also, make sure that you have paid off the loan on your car (if you have one) and that you have changed the name over from the loan company into yours before you apply for an import permit. We forgot that important point, and that caused yet another headache for me in the middle of moving!

DOTARS claim that it takes 17 days to get your permit issued (on the phone they said that is the maximum time, and that it is usually quicker if it is not a peak period for them), so if you add on the international postage delays you are looking at around a month from when you apply. You cannot export your car without it (or if you do you are looking at lots more hassle when it lands in Australia) so make sure you get things rolling early on this one. I think you can use your import permit for 3 months from when it is issued, (check the latest info to be sure) so you have a few months` leeway.

4. Contact a shipping company

Once you have your vehicle import approval you can then contact a shipping company that will take your car from Nagoya to Australia. Note that they all have different ports of call, and many will call into Brisbane but not Sydney, or vice versa, so you will have to choose your company based on where you need your car to enter Australia. Alternatively, you can get your car road freighted to your closest capital city once it has reached a port in Australia. You will have to pay for the road transport on top of the shipping costs, but the shipping company will usually give you some kind of a credit ($200 credit for a $450 charge in our case from Brisbane to Sydney), so you end up paying about half the cost of the road transport. Of course that will vary depending on where in Australia you need the car transported to. The easiest way to do it is to get a shipping company that will take the car directly to the port closest to you.

This is where our plan to load our car with toys and books fell through. There is no problem with putting things in the vehicle and shipping them to Australia, so long as you do not mind everyone on the ship having access to everything, because your vehicle cannot be locked when it is on the ship and you leave the keys in it. (You can get a locked crate, but it will be much more expensive. You will have to shop around to find a shipping company that offers this – not all do). The problem is that road transport companies are not allowed to carry any personal effects in the vehicle when they are transporting it, so if you do have items in the car you have to arrange for a courier company to come to the port, unpack your car, then courier the items to your final destination. In Japan the Kuroneko Yamato`s offer excellent courier services at reasonable prices, but trying to get odd-sized parcels picked up and packaged by a courier and then sent from Brisbane to regional NSW was going to cost more than just sending everything in the post from Japan. In the end we decided not to take anything in the car, as the shipping company we wanted to use only stopped off in Brisbane before heading onto NZ, and our final destination was Sydney, so it was road transport from Brisbane to Sydney. Initially I was dealing with a company that shipped to Sydney directly, but I was frustrated with their level of service, and they were lacking in transparency with their costs and procedures, so I didn`t feel comfortable trusting them. Basically, we found a company that provided excellent service and seemed to be very straight forward, so we stuck with them and forfeited the idea of filling the car.

The company we chose was Seaway, (www.seaway.com.au) also known as Kiwi Car Carriers (www.kiwicar.com). They are the same company, and have offices in Nagoya and Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney (probably more capital cities too). Their service was always professional and fast, and their Japan office staff were very helpful, even providing us with templates for the documents that we have to prepare for the Japanese authorities to get the car released for export. We spoke to them in Japanese, but I am pretty sure they speak English, and all the forms were in English.

5. Find a customs broker in Australia

If your shipping company does not handle the customs broking, you need to find someone. They should be able to refer you to someone. You will pay fees to them to receive your vehicle and handle the customs inspections etc. We used seaway and found them to be very good.

6. Get an official workshop that can do compliance for your vehicle

Once your vehicle has landed in Australia and passed through customs, you have to get it officially verified as complied, and you will then receive a `blue slip` (this applies to NSW). We had no big work done on our car (I had heard from friends that seatbelts needed to be changed, seats taken out and replaced in order to get the car to comply – none of that was necessary for us) except we got the tyres changed, and that was simply because they were worn and needed it, not because of some Australian standard. The company we used for the compliance was really good, and they helped us a lot and even called me a few times when they got sick of getting my stressed out emails with a thousand questions for them to answer! They also picked us up at the closest station and took us to their workshop when we went to pick up our car, so the personal touch was appreciated amongst the never-ending trail of forms, rules, procedures etc. I was referred to them from a friend, and would be happy to recommend them if anyone wants to contact me personally.

7. Register your car!

The blue slip you get once compliance is complete is then taken, along with other necessary docs (statement from someone holding a NSW license that you are living at the address you claim to be yours, copy of license, CTP insurance or green slip etc etc.) to the RTA to get your car registered. Once you have the car registered, you can then sit back and think about whether it was all worth it, or not! You can arrange for a temporary registration to transport your vehicle to its ultimate destination before registering it. This is also done at a nearby RTA and you will have about 2days to move your car.

8. Fees

* You have to pay DOTARS when you submit the application for the vehicle import permit, which was approximately $50. On top of that you will have the associated costs for getting translations of the documents done if you cannot do this yourself (official translations being much more expensive). I recommend getting a bilingual friend to do it on the cheap – it doesn`t have to be perfectly translated, so long as the important details are correct.

* You have to pay a fee to the shipping company in Japan to do the paperwork and for the customs fee on the Japan end to get your car approved for export. Kiwi Cars offered a basic package where we took our car to them at the port, then removed our plates and took them to the Japanese transport authority (close to the port) and finalized the deregistration of our vehicle ourselves. The fee we paid to them was about Y35,000, which includes the Japanese customs charges. If you want the company to do the deregistration for you, it costs more, but it does save you at least one morning at the transport authorities offices, as well as the headache of making sure you have done all that needs to be done. If you don`t speak Japanese I would definitely recommend getting the shipping company to handle those details for you. One company quoted us Y80,000 to do the deregistration as well as the basic handling, and they get to keep any refunds that are paid when the car is dergistered.

If you do choose to do the deregistration you have to take along a few things such as your inkanshomeisho, inkan, and original registration documents, so it is best to call them in advance and make sure you have everything. In Nagoya they close for lunch from 12noon to 1pm and finish at 4pm, and will not work even 1 minute past the deadline, so make sure you don`t turn up late or you will have to go back the next day. You will have to jump through a few hoops here, go to a few different windows to get things stamped and checked and then on to the next window to buy stamps before getting the green lights to submit your papers back on the 1st floor where you started – a typical Japanese bureaucracy. Take some deep breaths before attempting this one! You may be entitled to some refunds on taxes or unused registration fees for your vehicle, but we didn`t do this (an emergency before we left made sure that there were many things we didn`t do as I had planned!) so you will have to check that out for yourself. I have heard that the recycling tax is refundable.

* You have to pay shipping costs. You can pay for the shipping either in Yen to the company here before you send your car, or pay once it arrives in Australia in Australian dollars. We paid about $1,000 for the shipping for our Forester. You may be able to save money if you play the exchange rate advantage. In our case we paid in Australia, so we were billed for the shipping and made a payment as soon as the car arrived. Shipping costs are based on the size of the car, so they will be able to give you a fairly accurate estimate no matter which end you pay on. The size of your car will be found on your registration papers, as well as engine size, chassis number etc., which are always required for each form you fill out.

* Once you get the car into Australia you have to pay customs duty, quarantine inspection charges, cleaning charges and other miscellaneous handling fees to your customs broker. All up we spent about $2,700 in miscellaneous fees associated with the import in addition to the shipping and fees paid in Japan, which included customs duty of $1,200. This is calculated based on a formula that involves the purchase price of the car, the insurance and shipping costs, and something else for good luck. You will find all those details on the DOTARS website so you can get a good estimate of your costs before deciding to go ahead with it.

* You have to pay to have your car complied to Australian standards. Basically this means you have to pay a lot of money to a mechanic who is authorized to charge such exorbitant prices to declare that your vehicle is roadworthy and up to standards. I only got 2 quotes but they differed by about $250 for just the basics, so it might be worthwhile to shop around. We paid about $800 for the compliance (which included a towing fee of $80 to get the car from the port to their workshop), plus $400 for new tyres.

* You have to pay insurance and rego costs which will vary depending on your state and type of car.

To summarise the costs involved in our case:

Application Fee to DOTARS    50
Translations    Free (I did it myself)
Japan customs and brokering    350
Shipping    1,000
Australia customs duty and brokering    2,700
Road Transport    200
Compliance    800
New tyres    400
TOTAL    5,500

Could we have sold our car and then bought the same model in Australia with the sale price plus $5,500? I don`t think so. But if you take into account the many hours I spent researching and dealing with the import, as well as the stress levels that you encounter when moving, the figure of $5,500 would be a lot higher. I wouldn`t recommend it if you are only going to do it once, unless you really really love your car. Of course, once you have your contacts in place and know what is required, it is easy to do it a second time, so if you think you might do it regularly and try to make some money from it, it could be your thing. If we had have used the untrustworthy company and loaded our car with books and toys we would have saved quite a bit of money on postage for our personal items, which would have made it more worthwhile.
Either way, I am glad that I have the experience, but if I could go back and do it again, in retrospect I wouldn`t. Good luck!

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2. Curves

I recently joined a gym called Curves, which is part of an international chain with its main office in the States. It's a little different to other workout gyms around, but the reason I am introducing it here is because once you're a member here, you can use your membership to workout in any of the gyms all over the world. For me, that means that even if I spend a month in Australia every year (which I do), I never have to interrupt my training schedule. This (hopefully!) keeps me on track and prevents me from having to "get back into it" after a long holiday, always a big problem!

Curves is a gym especially for women, based on a system of 30 minute workouts which include a balace of muscle training and aerobic exercise. Workouts are carried out on a small circuit course, so small that the one or two trainers who attend the circuit give special attention to those who are having trouble with any of the machines or could be using the various machines more effectively.

Since Curves was created in America, all of the sign-up materials that they have, questionnaires to fill in etc, are available in English as well as Japanese. Once you have passed the intial "interview" stage, there's very little language involved at all, since it all can be demonstrated on the machines. Each branch of Curves has its own joining up specials and discounts, so perhaps the first time you go it might be easiest to go with a Japanese speaking freind to help you understand all the discounts.

Click on the links below to find a Curves near you.

Nagoya

Curves Heian Dori (Kita Ward)
Curves Irinaka (Showa Ward)
Curves Imaike Uchiyama (Chikusa Ward)
Curves Tempaku Tsuchihara (Tempaku Ward)
Curves Honjin Dori (Nakamura-ku)
Curves Taihei Dori 3 (Nakagawa-ku)
Curves Takabata (Nakagawa Ward)
Curves Miyuki Mall (Nishi Ward)
Curves Pare Marche Horita (Mizuho Ward)
Curves Midori Fujizuka (Midori Ward)
Curves Midori Takinomizu (Midori Ward)
Curves Minato Bay City (Minato Ward)
Curves Jusco Nanyo (Minato Ward)
Curves Max Valu Inaei (Minato Ward)
Curves Daiei Nagoya East (Meito Ward)
Curves Yomogidai (Meito Ward)
Curves Shimizuya Fujigaoka (Meito Ward)
Curves Otobashi (Nakagawa Ward)

Other Areas in Aichi

Togo
Anjo (Andy)
Anjo (Yokoyama)
Ichinomiya (Asahi)
Ichinomiya (Suehiro)
Inazawa
Inuyama (Ito Yokado)
Okazaki (Kamoda)
Okazaki (Hashira)
Okazaki (Hikarigaoka)
Obu (Momoyama)
Obu (Kyowa)
Owari Asahi
Kariya (East)
Kariya (L City)
Kasugai (Torii Matsu)
Kasugai (Higashino)
Kasugai (Kozoji)
Kita Nagoya
Konan
Komaki (Central)
Komaki (Piesta Tokadai)
Seto
Chiryu
Tokai (Yokosuka)
Tokai (Minami Kagiya)
Toyokawa
Toyoake
Toyota (Misato)
Toyota (Midorigaoka)
Miyoshi
Nisshin
Bisai (Central)
Bisai (Nakahata)
Handa
Yatomi

Opening hours for all Curves Training Rooms are 10:00-19:00 on week days, but they are closed from 13:00-15:00 for a lunch break.   Saturdays they are open from 10:00-13:00, and Sundays they are closed. You don't need a reservation to train, just turn up at any time, scan your card with the computer at the desk and start training. The music is loud and easy to pump to, and every time you have to change machines or take your pulse, the instructions come over the music in English, so it's a breeze to train. The thing I like about it is that you're never alone - there's always someone there to guide you, and it's a nice atmosphere training among other women.

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3. World on Demand Television

There is a new option for watching international TV in Japan. Until recently, the options were either limited to a few English-language programs on cable TV (http://www.starcat.co.jp/english/) or a slightly more varied selection on satellite TV (http://www.skyperfectv.co.jp/en/). Now a new option available for all to enjoy is IPTV through the company World On-Demand.

IPTV, or “Internet Protocol TV”, enables you to watch TV through the internet signal. All you need is a good high-speed broadband connection (preferably fiber optic, but cable and ADSL are also ok) and a computer and/or TV. If you would like to watch directly on your TV, you also need a set-top box, but according to which package you sign up for and how long you plan to use the service, this may come free.

If you are from Australasia, France, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Pakistan or The Middle East, WOD probably offers you a greater selection of TV from your community than you can get anywhere else in Japan!

For more information, visit their website (http://www.worldondemand.net/), or call their English customer service helpline in Tokyo: 03-4550-2616.

Currently WOD offers a 1 Month Free Trial for members of the Indian and Philippine Communities.

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4. Ice Skating

There are many places the aspiring to be the next Mao Asada can go for ice-skating this winter. The links below are all for Japaneser websites but clicking around them will give you more detailed information on what kind of rinks are available. The last link, to Gifu Prefecture Crystal Park Ena Skating Rink is for an outdoor rink surrounded by beautiful mountains, and so is a lovely way to spend a cold winter's day.

Nagoya Sports Center (all year round)
Rink Size: 1456 square meters
Fee: 1400 yen, 1200 yen for junior/senior high school, 800 yen children, shoe rental 400 yen
Open Every Day
Hours: 11:30-18:00 (Week Days) 10:00-18:00 (Sundays and Holidays)
Parking Free up to 2 Hours
3 minutes walk from Osu Kannon Station on the Tsurumai Line
Ph: 052-321-1591

Howa Sports Land Minato Ice Rink (all year round)
Rink Size: 3911 square meters
Fee: 1400 yen, 800 yen for age 3 - junior high school, 300 yen accompanying adult, 400 yen shoe rental
Closed: Mondays (or next day in case of public holiday), 31st of December, 1st of January
Hours: (October-March) 13:00-18:00 (Tue-Fri), 10:00-18:00 (Sat), 10:00-16:00 (Sun & Public Hol)
Parking: Free, 200 spaces
5 minutes walk from Minato Kuyakusho Station on the Meijo Line
Ph: 052-654-0791

Aichi Expo Memorial Park Ice Skating Rink (all year round)
Rink Size: 1800 square meters in the middle, 200 meter course around the outside
Fee: 1400 yen, 800 yen under junior high school age, 300 yen shoe rental
Closed: from the 7th to 11th of January as it is being used for "Stars on Ice" event
Hours: 10:00-18:00 (April to September), 10:00-17:30 (October to March), closed on certain days, open every day during summer months.
Parking: Free
5 minutes walk from Aichi Kyuuhaku Kinen Koen Station on the Linimo Line from Fujigaoka
Ph: 0561-64-1130 (park phone number)

Gifu Prefecture Crystal Park Ena Skating Rink (November - February 12th)
Rink Size: 1800 square meters in the middle, 400 meter course around the outside
Fee: 1000 yen, 500 yen under junior high school age, 800 high school students, 100 yen per person entry fee, 500 yen shoe rental
Open Every Day
Hours: 8:30-20:30 every day, 8:30-18:00 New Years Eve
Parking: Free
8 minutes walk from Takenami Station on the JR Chuo Line
Ph: 0573-28-3390

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5. Shopping for Baby Goods

Someone asked me the other day about shops where you can buy items for a new baby. It's been such a long time since I had a baby myself (although it seems like yesterday) that revisting this topic was like a nice memory. Japan is a great place to have babies - there are great facilities and good parks, and it's easy to purchase anything you need for your baby ahead of time or along the way. Without going further than your local drug store, you can buy a whole range of baby products. More than just baby formula and disposable diapers, your local chain drug store is likely to stock baby food, snacks, shampoo, baby cups... and many other baby items you would not normally expect to find in a drug store.

Here is the information I sent my friend, edited and expanded for the X-Pat Files.

Akachan Hompo

Although Akachan Hompo only has a Japanese website, and to shop there you need a membership card for which you will have to apply for in Japanese (so take a friend with you the first time!), it is the number one place you can find baby goods for sale in Japan. On Akachan Hompo's website they list only two stores in the Aichi area (Nakagawa Ward and Kasugai), but I have been to the Akachan Hompo in Sakae (for which I found information on another website which I have copied and translated below) so hopefully the Sakae store is still alive and well. For the other shops, I've included a link for the map in Japanese - print it out and take it with you the first time. Akachan Hompo is truly a legend in the Japanese baby world, so you can show the map to anyone on the street and they will be able to point you in the right direction.

Akachan Hompo Nakagawa Ward
* On the second floor of Shin-Nakajima Frante
* By car, heading east on Route 1 (Showa-Bashi Dori), turn left (North) at the intersection "Nakajimabashi West". By public transport, take the Higashiyama Line to Takabata, and then the number 12, 14, 16 or 22 bus, and get off at "Nakajima Shougakkou" bus stop.
* TEL 052-365-2880 / FAX 052-353-5116
* Open Hours: 9:30-20:00

Akachan Hompo Kasugai
* Next to "Nitori" Furniture Store in "The Mall Part 2" Shopping Complex
* By car, heading north-east on Route 19, you'll see a big "Nitori" sign on the left, just before a large McDonalds. By public transport, take the JR Chuo Line to Kasugai Station and take a JR Bus to "Asayama-cho".
* TEL 0568-87-7451 / FAX 0568-57-0361
* Open Hours: 10:00-20:00

Akachan Hompo Gifu
* Address: 500-8175 Gifu-ken Gifu-shi Nagazumi-cho 5-8
* Information for this store did not come directly from Akachan-Hompo website, so please have a Japanese speaking friend call store before you set out.
* TEL 058-267-0365 / FAX 058-265-5686
* Open Hours: 10:00-18:30

Akachan Hompo Sakae
* On the 5th floor of the "Skyle" Building on the corner of the "Sakae" Intersection
* Information for this store did not come directly from Akachan-Hompo website, so please have a Japanese speaking friend call store before you set out.
* TEL 052-249-0911 / FAX 052-262-7160
* Open Hours: 10:00-20:00

Nishimatsuya

Another large chain of baby goods store is Nishimatsuya which you can find in your neighbourhood by the cute little bunny on the sign. Click on the links below for basic map in Japanese, and opening hours of your local Nishimatsuya baby chain store. Alternatively, use the phone number provided in the link to program the navigation in your car. Nishimatsuya has a lesser range than Akachan Hompo but it doesn't require you become a member so is an easy shopping option.

Toyokawa
Toyohashi Naka-iwata
Toyohashi Takashi
Kota
Wingdown Okazaki
Okazaki Ita
Anjo
Minato Ward Tochi
Midori Ward Takinomizu
Kita Ward Nagoya Kita
Shanpia Port Takatsuji (Showa Ward)
Nagoya Tempaku Ward
Nisshin Takenoyama
Toyota Hinode
Toyota Maruyama
Chiryu
Obu
Handa
Tokai
Konan
Komaki
Kozoji (Kasugai)
Seto Kozaka
Seto Mizuno
Oharu
Ichinomiya
Inazawa

Toys R Us

Both Toys R Us and Babies R Us offer shopping online as well as their local stores, but it's all in Japanese so not so useful unless you have a Japanese speaking friend ordering with you. Also, during certain seasons (such as Christmas) the websites become so busy that you can't get a connection, so sometimes it's just easier to go shopping! There is a very, very basic English website, but the store locator itself is in Japanese so I have copied links to the stores in this area. Of the stores listed, only the Okazaki Store (listed with an *asterisk) has a Babies R Us shop attached to it, but even the regular Toys R Us stores do stock a lot of baby products.

Each of the links listed below lists address in English, phone number for your navi, days closed (Japanese), opening hours, parking information and a map in Japanese. If you're unsure of anything, it might be good to check with a Japanese speaking friend before you set out.

Nagoya Minato
Kisogawa
Nishi-Kasugai
* Okazaki
Yagoto
Toyohashi
Nagoya-Nakagawa
Kozoji New Town (Kasugai)
Miyoshi
Higashiura
Gifu
Yokkaichi
Tsu

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6. Emergency Clinics over New Year
(the following appeared also in the January 2007 X-Pat Files, but is being listed here again as a reminder. To search for specific information archived in previous editions of the X-Pat Files, go to www.xpat-files.com and use the search function on that page. Please be aware that information may be outdated since its first publication. The information re-printed below has been cross-checked, but if in doubt always have a Japanese speaking friend call in advance.)

From December 29 to January 3 most hospitals and clinics will be closed. Only certain designated hospitals will be open during this period. Please refer to this list for the emergency clinic closest to you. In the case of a real emergency, call an ambulance by dialling 119 (may not work from cell phones), and saying KYUU-KYUU DESU... do not hang up until the dispatcher understands your name and location - if the phone is off the hook long enough they will also be able to trace your call even if your Japanese is not perfect.

Chikusa Ward
Imaike 5-4-15, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-733-1191
Subway Higashiyama / Sakuradori Line IMAIKE

Kita Ward
Shimoiida-cho 3-3-2, Kita-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-915-5351
Subway Meijo Line
HEIAN-DORI

Nishi Ward
Josai 4-15-10, Nishi-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-531-2929
Subway Tsurumai Line JOSHIN

Nakamura Ward
Noritake-hondori 2-80-2, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-471-8311
City Bus NORITAKE HONDORI

Showa Ward
Kawana-cho 2-4-4,, Showa-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-763-3115
City Bus YASUDADORI or Subway Sakuradori Line FUKIAGE

Mizuho Ward
Moronaga-cho 9-3, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-832-8001
Subway Meijo Line MIZUHO UNDOJO HIGASHI

Atsuta Ward
Temma1-5-4, Atsuta-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-689-7854
Subway Meijo Line
TEMMA-CHO

Nakagawa Ward
Takabata 1-222, Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-361-7271
Subway Higashiyama Line TAKABATA

Minato Ward
Koraku 2-6-18, Minato-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-653-7878
Subway Meiko Line
MINATO KUYAKUSHO

Minami Ward
Nishimatabei-cho 4-8-1, Minami-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-611-0990
Meitetsu Tokoname / Kowa Line OE

Moriyama Ward
Obata1-3-2, Moriyama-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-795-0099
City Bus MORIYAMA KUYAKUSHO
Meitetsu Seto Line OBATA

Midori Ward
Ikegami 98-5, Narumi-cho, Midori-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-892-1133
City Bus IKEGAMI

Meito Ward
Choda-cho 35, Meito-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-774-6631
Subway Higashiyama Line KAMIYASHIRO

Tempaku Ward
Ikeba 2-2403, Tempaku-ku, Nagoya
Phone: 052-801-0599
City Bus ISHIYAKUSHI

The rest of this list contains only links in Japanese, so the best thing to do is to put the phone number into your navigation, or to have a Japanese friend call for you ahead of time before you set out.

Toyota City After Hours Clinic
0565-34-3000

Toyota Doctor's Association After Hours Clinic
0565‐32‐7150

Toyota Memorial Hospital
Heiwa-cho 1-1, Toyota City
Phone: 0565-28-0100

Nisshin (Higashi Nagoya Doctors Association Emergency Clinic)
05617‐3‐7555

Anjo After Hours Clinic
0566‐76‐2022

Ichinomiya After Hours Clinic
0586‐71‐2766

Inazawa After Hours Clinic
0587‐36‐3006

Inuyama After Hours Clinic
0568‐62‐8100

Iwakura After Hours Clinic
0587‐66‐4708

Okazaki After Hours Clinic
0564-52-1572

Kasugai After Hours Clinic
0568‐84‐3060

Kariya After Hours Clinic
0566-24-1111

Konan After Hours Clinic
0587‐56‐4112

Komaki After Hours Clinic
0568‐75‐2070

Shinshiro After Hours Clinic
05362‐3‐3665

Chita After Hours Clinic
0562‐33‐0050

Tsushima After Hours Clinic & Medical Center
0567‐24‐3611

Toyohashi After Hours Clinic
0532‐48‐1110

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7. New Year Events

Meet and Greet Luncheon

For those of you who are new to Nagoya please come and join us for lunch. Meet and Greet lunch is the ideal place to make new friends, have a chat and find out what is going on in Nagoya. Shooters has a relaxed atmosphere and is closed during the day except for our event, so we have the run of the place. This means that it is a VERY easy event for mothers with babies or small children. It also means, however, that there must be an RSVP so that Shooters can cater for the correct number of people.

Please Note: Meet and Greet Coordinator Helen Braithwaite is leaving the country, and Joey Tan is taking over the Meet and Greet from this month. Please check with Joey (joeywltan@gmail.com) about the Meet and Greet dates for January.

Date and Time: To Be Announced (please contact for details)
Place: Shooters Sports Bar and Grill, Fushimi (http://www.shooters-nagoya.com)
Price: 1500 yen for buffet lunch and a drink.
RSVP: Joey Tan is taking over as Meet and Greet Coordinator from this month. Please ask Joey about the January Meet and Greet date by e-mail at joeywltan@gmail.com as soon as possible. When you are RSVPing for another person, please give the name of the other person to avoid double bookings.

Note: For those coming by car there is a relatively cheap option, Toyo Parking for 110 yen per half hour, down the street from Kinkos which is walkable from Shooters. For those with car navigation, the phone number of the parking lot is (052) 231-3550.

ACCJ Chubu Annual New Years Party 2008

Ring in the New Year with this special ACCJ event. Meet old friends, develop new relationships and dance the night away while enjoying the luxury of Windows on the World at Hilton Nagoya. Great food and drink and a warm atmosphere will help make this the only way to start 2008.

DATE: Friday, January 25th, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
VENUE: Hilton Nagoya 28th floor, Windows on the World
COST: Members: 7,500 yen, guests: 8,500 yen
DEADLINE for RSVP: January 18
CONTACT: Noriko Kato at nkato@accj.or.jp for tickets

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8. BookMooch

BookMooch is a community for exchanging used books, and a fantastic way of getting the books you want, and getting rid of the books you don't need any more. Members are from all over the world, with a growing community in Japan, so it's also a very easy way of getting books in English - for FREE!

Give & receive: Every time you give someone a book, you earn a point and can get any book you want from anyone else at BookMooch. Once you've read a book, you can keep it forever or put it back into BookMooch for someone else, as you wish.

No cost: there is no cost to join or use the BookMooch web site: your only cost is mailing your books to others. The post office in Japan has a lot of competition from other courier companies and so is relatively cheap, even to send books overseas (without a letter included, the parcel is called a "small package" and is a lot cheaper). I recently sent a book within Japan from a convenience store using a method called "Mail-Bin", and it only cost me 160 yen!

Points for entering books: you receive a tenth-of-a-point for every book you type into the system, and one point each time you give a book away. In order to keep receiving books, you need to give away at least one book for every five you receive.

Help charities: you can also give your points to charities such as children's hospitals (so a sick kid can get a free book delivered to their bed), Library fund, African literacy etc.

World wide: You can request books from other countries, in other languages. You receive 3 points when you send a book out of your country, to help compensate you for the greater mailing cost, but it only costs the moocher 2 points to get the book. John Buckman, who runs BookMooch, has lived in California, England, France and Germany, and was frustrated by the vast number of books that were printed in just one country and not available in the other countries (for example, many books are published in Britain and never made available in America). Living in Japan this is a great way to get the books you want.

Wishlist: you can keep a "book wish list" that will automatically notify you when you have the points and/or the book becomes available in the catalog.

Feedback score: each time you receive a book, you can leave feedback with the sender, just like how eBay does it. If you keep your feedback score up, people are most likely to help you out when you ask for a book.

If you're passionate about books, you know how emotionally difficult it is to throw a book away, even if you will never read it again. You want to find a good home for your books, have them find someone who appreciates them. Also, you may be interested in trying a lot of books out, and keep the ones that are great. It's a great crime to have a book disappear, out of print, for none to read. BookMooch keeps books in circulation, and finds new readers for them. If you're interested in getting free books, you can donate to charities, the points you gain by giving your books away.

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9. Sake Brewery (Sakagura) Tour in English

English speaking volunteer guides of Toyota International Association will take you on a walking tour to a genuine sakagura (warehouse styled sake brewery) in Toyota city. Take this rare opportunity only available in the cold season and deepen your knowledge about Japanese food culture. Your Japanese friends are welcome too.

DATES:
A : Sat. Jan.19, 2008
B : Sat. Jan 26, 2008
C : Sat. Feb. 2, 2008
D : Sat. Feb. 9, 2008
E：Sat.Feb.16,2008

〔Time schedule〕

     12:00pm Meet in front of the ticket gate at Aichi-Kanjo Line, Shin-Toyota station.
     12:14       Get on the train at Shin-Toyota station
     12:19       Get off the train at Shigo station, walk to the brewery, about a 15 min walk.
     12:35       Sakagura (Rice wine brewery) Urano Syuzo
     ~2:45p.m. We will guide you through a traditional kura (warehouse)-styled sake brewery, which has 140 years of history. You can enjoy sake tasting and purchase products at the end of the tour.
     3:06p.m.    Get on the train at Shigo station.
     3:11p.m.    Arrive back at Shin-Toyota station.

Sign up and inquires: Submit the form below directly to TIA (Toyota International Association) office, or send it by Fax. You can also send an e-mail with the same information.

Address of TIA: Sangyo Bunka Centre 3rd floor 1-25 Kozakahonmachi, Toyota
Fax: 0565-33-5950                      Email: enjoytoyota05@yahoo.co.jp

* Tour Fee: 500yen (Transportation is at your own expense: 220yen/person for a one-way ticket)
* Sorry, but we cannot allow drivers and under-aged people to taste the sake.
* Tour Capacity for each tour: 2-10 persons　　
* Please sign-up before 5 p.m.of the day before the tour.
* If you wish to cancel your booking, please let us know as soon as possible. Organized by TIA Volunteer Group E-IFF (English Information For Friends)

APPLICATION FORM (Copy and paste to e-mail or print and fax)

Name:
Country:
e-mail:
Date (A, B, C, D or E)
Number of people in your group:

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10. Rewards
Sue Conolly

In Japan there is a very old system of "lost and found", based on a 1300-year-old system preceding Japan's urbanization or unification as a nation (NY Times, 2004). According to this one article, small lost-and-found centers all over Japan have been used for centuries, even to facilitate the return of food and produce to their original owners.

In the modern practice, "finders" of lost money (for example) who hand the money in at a police box or similar lost-and-found office are entitled to about 10% of the money (called "Shareikin") as a reward from the owner after they have reclaimed their property. If the owner never comes forward, after six months the money is given back to the "finder", although it's only a small percentage of people who actually follow through on this right of claim.

The process goes something like this:

If you find something on the street like a wallet or a purse, you hand it in to the authorities who then take down your name and address. Then, when the owner of the wallet claims back their property, they must contact you directly and arrange for payment of the "Shareikin". This means that when you give your contact details to the police, they will be passing this information directly on to the owner of the property, so be advised of this when you hand in the item. This is of course the procedure only when you are officially handing something in to the police - if you leave it at the front desk of the hotel lobby where you found the wallet, for example, the tradition of "Shareikin" is dependant on whether the person who gets back their wallet knows who you are or not, so it's more of an act of a good samaritan. Here are some illustrations of how "Shareikin" works in the real world:

The ATM

Years ago, a friend of mine lost 100,000 yen in an ATM. She did this, because she was in a hurry as she had left her kids in the car, and the first couple of times she tried to withdraw the money, it didn't work, and she couldn't read the explanation to find out why. Anyway, after the second time it didn't work she grabbed the explanation paper and ran back to the car. Only the problem was that it HAD worked, and she had left 100,000 yen in the teller machine. I met her the next day at Citibank to pay the bill she had to pay with that money, but when I looked at her ATM receipt it in fact been withdrawn from her account, we soon worked out what had happened. She looked absolutely sick. There was a guy in the line behind her, she felt sure he would just pocket the cash with no repercussions.

We went to the UFJ bank where she opened her account, and they told us that there was nothing they could do (in fact they wouldn't even check their records) because if the receipt says the money was withdrawn then it was withdrawn and there was no room for a mistake. Then with heavy hearts we went to the police station, but miraculously the money had been handed in and we got it back just by filling in some forms, describing the event with the times and showing the ATM receipt. Then they told us that the guy who had handed it in was entitled to this "Shareikin" reward, and they gave us a paper to give to him and gave us his address and phone number. My friend was personally SO happy to have this information as she was SO grateful to the guy for not taking off with the 100,000 yen, so she immediately baked some cookies and took it over with the money. The guy took the cookies but didn't take the money until she pressed.... the law just requires that it is offered and it doesn't have to be taken.

The Shinkansen

One New Year's Eve, another friend, John, was riding the last Kodama Shinkansen at night with his manager. In front of them, a suited salaryman woke up as the train pulled in to his very local station where the train waits to be overtaken by faster trains. He got a shock to wake up at his own station, and he grabbed his coat off the hook and quickly jumped off the train. As he did, a big packet of cash fell to the ground with a thud, and my friend heard it. Inside, there was 333,000 yen (at least, that's what was written on the outside of the envelope). John grabbed it and jumped off the train (not even knowing if the train would go and he would be stuck there all night!!!) and raced after the man. The man was a little scared to be chased by a gaijin, so he kept going faster and faster... then my friend called out in Japanese "Hey, you who dropped the 333,000 yen!!!" and the guy turned around, the colour of chalk, because he realized what had happened. He was so grateful and immediately went to take some money out of the packet but John refused. The guy then chased HIM back to the train tracks waving this packet of money - the shinkansen doors are shutting and my friends manager is wedged in the door so that the train can't leave. John got on the train just in time, leaving the guy bowing and scraping from the platform. John's manager said to him "Hey, why did you even do that? Why didn't you just hand it in to the train conductor, then he has to give you a "Shareikin" and if he never claims it then it comes back to you!". My friend was a little shocked at his managers attitude, but he said that one day it would be repaid. "The world doesn't work that way!" said the manager.

The Coffee Shop

My same friend John and his same manager were in a coffee shop the very next week. They were sitting next to a table of young dyed-hair Japanese deliquent types. John's manager was really down about how noisy and rude the young folk were being, so they moved table.   After John and his manager left, my friend realized that he had left his wallet on the table. "Oh no," said the manager, "Those young people were at the next table... the money is probably gone by now." At just this time John's wife called.... she had had a call from the insurance company, who had had a call from the coffee shop. The insurance guy's meishi was the only telephone number in the wallet and so they called it. John rushed back to the coffee shop and was immensely grateful that the coffee shop waitress. But the coffee shop waitress pointed to the table of hair-dyed youths, and said it was them who handed it in. John went over to the table, and asked who it was who found his wallet. It was one of the girls. He offered her "Shareikin" immediately (and she looked like she could use it too), but no matter how he insisted she would not take it. Apparently her mother's handbag was lost the week before and somebody had brought it back to her, so this was just her way of "repaying" that favour.

So much for the manager's warning "The World Does Not Work That Way".

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