X-Pat Files

Nagoya hosts one of six annual Grand Sumo Tournaments. Grand Tournaments are held every two months and each last for 15 days. Fukuoka, Osaka, and Nagoya each host one of the Grand Tournaments, while three more are held in Tokyo. This year's Nagoya Grand Tournament takes place in July at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.

2010 July Grand Sumo Tournament
Sun. July 11th, 2010 - Sun. July 25th, 2010
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - Nagoya

Japan's "Alien Registration System" amongst other things will be changing in July of 2012 in a large overhaul of the Immigration System. The main points in the changes are;

1. The introduction of a new "Resident Card" system for foreigners, which will basically take the "visa" out of your passport and put it in your wallet in the form of a ID card containing an IC chip.

2. The extension of periods of stay from 3 years to 5 years for most visa categories.

3. Exemption from needing a "Re-Entry Permit" if you are out of Japan for less than 12-months

“Golden Shachi” beer won the "Chairman's Prize” in local competition, and was featured in an article in UK’s The Independent on Microbrews in Japan. Reportedly, this pilsner is with rich and tasty aroma.

There has recently been a change in the law regarding child benefits. Before this change only parents who had a low income in the previous financial year (in Japan) were entitled to receive child benefits. Now with the new law, all parents with children who were born after April 2nd 1995 will be eligible to receive this benefit. The benefit is JPY 13,000 per child per month.

The Nagoya Kanko Route Bus is a big, gold, air-conditioned, and compared to a normal city bus, luxurious bus that stops at many of Nagoya’s tourist spots. It departs daily except on Mondays and at New Year every 30 minutes on weekends, hourly on weekdays.

The Nagoya Barbarians Rugby Club, recently promoted to the A-League, is looking for players - Japanese and foreign. Getting into a sport is a great way to meet new people and keep fit, and "rugger" is one of the better sports out there. Straight from the horse's mouth, we have it on good authority that, "Rugby is not about getting drunk! It's about teamwork, goal-setting, and mental and physical training."

Animal-lovers, might want to visit The Japan Cat Network at www.japancatnet.com - this is a registered nonprofit organization working to reduce Japan's stray and abandoned cat population using the effective TNR (trap, neuter, return) method, to stop the cats from reproducing and adding to the problem. They also run fostering and adoption programs for those who are looking for pets.