Did you receive your cash from PM Aso yet? If you haven’t got your 定額給付金 teigaku kyufukin, or flash benefit, you should contact your city hall. Each municipality is responsible for the method of distribution. I got  letter in the mail from Kashiwa City Hall instructing me on what information to send in, and the money has since been transfered to my bank account.

So, what to spend it on? I’m going to put most of it in the guerilla garden I started last year, which has since gotten the blessing of the ladlord.

The other economic incentive this year, an eco-point system that provides reedemable points earned on purchases of some appliances, has been described in a Japan Times  article out this week. To make the program all more attractive, if I recycle my old fridge when I make the purchase of the new one, I can get additional points. The program is open until next April, and all the details are on the エコポイント Ecopoint website.

At Katori in northern Chiba Prefecture, a garden has revived the old tradition of wedding boats to bear the couple down the river. This past Sunday, Japan Times reports, happy newlyweds in traditional costume enjoyed the early summer weather, and next Sunday, and the Saturday after that, there will be more processions. For a comprehensive list of festivals and events in June, see the Japan National Tourism Board listing for this month.

This week, Bloomberg reports that Japan may be slipping into deflation, and we’re starting to see wages and consumer prices decreasing. I didn’t get a raise this year, some local friends are hanging on to get paid late, and we’re seeing businesses in the region going.

I’m so glad that Dreamer found just the right place for now. She’s living in a guest house two towns over. The rent is very reasonable and includes utilities and ‘Net connection. Besides, she’s got lots of roommates to get to know. A new resident in Kashiwa found cheap digs next to the local Buddhist temple. Japanese people are generally leery of cemeteries and won’t live near one, so he’s got low rent and quiet neighbours.

I’m not moving anywhere soon,  but I’ve been thinking how to keep overhead low. There are lots of people finding ways to keep to budget. Thomas at Nihon Hacks gives tips on how to find cheap steaks, get the most out of your pot of rice and warm your toes in winter. The Frugal Japan website has lots of practical advice for keeping costs down and living more efficiently, too.

And this year I learned about all the free economy in Tokyo. Between FreeStuff Japan and Tokyo Freecycle, you can unload good stuff you no longer need and acquire new old stuff. The Freeconomy is just catching on in Japan, and Nagareyama resident G and I are registered in the local area. I love the categories they allow you to choose from, allowing you to become a lender of tools – I’ve got knitting needles, gardening hand tools and a sparsely equipped toolbox – and list all the strengths and abilities you didn’t realize you had but could share with others.

Looking back through the blog statistics, I realized this month marks one year of the Chibaraki blog.  Lots of local gaijin and Japanese people have contributed with linkage, photos, insights, and good company in my wanderings around Chiba, Saitama and Ibaraki Prefectures. Thanks!

This is Ryuichi and Pri dancing bachata.  Ryuichi is from Dominica who teaches dance all over Tokyo.

Ben in Kashiwa turned lots of local people on to Latin dance. A few weeks ago, I got my first Salsa lesson with Ken, and got hooked. Don’t worry if you don’t have a dance partner. It is a really friendly atmosphere, and nearly everybody gets up and moves to the music. Ben and Jose at Yumebutai Studio sent on this information about upcoming salsa and bachata lessons -
May 23  KEN  (Learn steps and movement from the master)
May 30  RYUICHI   From Dominica, Ryuichi will take  special 2 one hour classes, salsa & bachata. 

Dance every Saturday this May!!
Hours: 7:00~12:00pm
1 hr beginners lesson: 7:00~8:00pm, 1000 yen
Door: 1000 yen with 1 drink.  All drinks 500 yen
At Yumebutai Dance Studio (5 mins from east exit Kashiwa station)
www.salsakashiwa.com

Last weekend, The Dreamer, who is new to Nagareyama, and I went on a field trip to see 本土時 Hondoji, the Nichiren Buddhist temple famous for its four-season garden.

When you walk out of the north exit of 北小金 Kitakogane Station on the Joban local line, it is less than a ten minute walk to the temple. Marking the beginning of the avenue of trees leading to the temple you will see two stone pillars.

The cherry trees were just finished.  The irises haven’t started yet. But we got to enjoy all the variety of greens and textures. The tree-lined street has a soba shop, a tea house or two, and an omiyage stand selling pickles and local produce.

 

 

 

 

The Dreamer brought her temple pilgrim book called 朱印帖 shuinchou, and the priest in training wrote in large kanji 妙法 myouhou.  Myouhou means wonderful truth, and is part of the chant, Namu myouhou renge kyou,  central to Nichiren Buddhism. The caretaker made us a cup of tea and a snack while the ink dried and we talked about the community around the temple. People come and volunteer in the garden. There are talks on Nichiren Buddhism and a few times a year, a tour of the temple.

On the avenue approach to the temple, there was a man with a pickup truck selling 竹の子 takenoko. For 400 yen, he gave me a huge bamboo shoot, a bag of rice bran, and simple instructions on how to cook it. The shoot didn’t smell like I had thought. It took about 30 minutes in the tea kettle, cooling off overnight in the water for it to take on the characteristic smell. It’s really good sliced up and scattered in scrambled eggs in the morning. I made eggplant, cucumber, carrot and bamboo shoot stirfry seasoned with Chinese chili sauce and garlic.

 

 

Gideon, a British expat living in Kashiwa, has a remarkable eye for sights. He brings micro and macro views of Japanese culture, nature and technology. His next gallery exhibit with 写楽 Sharaku Photo Club is next weekend.

He writes -

I’d like to invite you to my latest gallery show in Matsudo, this time with some of my most remarkable images yet. I can almost guarantee you’ve never seen anything quite like it! Whilst my former shows have concentrated on the natural, the subtle, this is dedicated to the immense and extraordinary, printed out very large to show every last detail, every last star or city light. Of course, there are lots of other photos to be seen there too by other photographers, of all sorts of scenes to be enjoyed.

This is especially for all of you who found getting down to Tokyo too hard- though I know you are all busy, I hope you can take some time out to make it to this. 

The Time- 5/12-5/17 10:00am-6:00pm, though the first day 5/12 starts after 1:00pm. 5/16 and 17 (saturday and sunday) finish at 5:00.

The Place- Matsudo Isetan (near the west exit of Matsudo JR station, 4th Floor)

I’ll aim to be there for sure on Saturday and Sunday after about 1:00 pm. Maybe I’ll be there other times too… but if not, there are plenty of people to show you around, who will be very happy to see you and show you their photos as well!

When your train is about to depart a station anywhere on the JR East lines, you will hear a melody to tell you the train is departing. The train lines and stations have distinctive jingles which remind you where you are and whether you are on a local or express train bound for wherever.

I spend a lot of time on the Joban express and local lines, and sometimes see train nerds with microphones held to the station platform speakers. I thought, perhaps they are collecting evidence to lodge a noise pollution complaint. But it turns out they were recording and carefully cataloguing the hundreds of train melodies. An interesting hobby.

There’s a Coco Ichiban on the west side of Kashiwa Station! I’m a perpetual East Side girl, and rarely venture to the right side of the tracks. Vancouver, Glasgow, Uwajima City, Kashiwa City, it doesn’t seem to matter which town I’m in, my personal feng shui always places me east of center. Mel the Roommie and I discovered Coco last week when we ventured beyond Kashiwa Station’s west exit for apartment hunting. Get this, Coco Ichiban not only has a multilingual menu, it also provides a PDF of the menu on their website, so you can practice your Chinese or Arabic or whatever on the servers.

Have you met Solomon at Buffalo’s, right downstairs of Coco? He says that Buffalo’s is doing Saturday night DJ parties. He says come eat good food, listen to DJs spin tunes and dance.

A Kashiwa resident friend I bumped into in the front street took me out to see World Spice, Kashiwa’s halal foods store. The shelves are stocked with dried beans of all descriptions, canned curry fixings that are otherwise hard to come by, and the prices are reasonable. To get there, walk five minutes south along the Joban tracks to 泉町 Izumi-cho.