Odawara Living Magazine
Your Source for the News, Events, Classifieds
& Information
About the
South-west Kanagawa Area of Japan.
Beautiful Odawara Castle in Springtime
Photo by Shawn Thir
Our Forum: The Odawara Bulletin
Board
|
The
Odawara International Lounge |
Want to own your own English school franchise in Japan? We
are looking for ambitious people who would like to have their own KES franchise. Ads Japan:
Post your ads for free! Living in Odawara
& Minami Ashigara Just where is Odawara
you may be wondering, and where do they get those fantastic umeboshi
from? Odawara is a city of 200,000 located near the Izu Penninsula
in south-west Kanagawa Prefecture. We are one hour south of Yokohama
by regular express train and 80 minutes south of Tokyo via the Odakyu line.
The umeboshi are pickled plums in English, and if you love
salty food, you have to try them. There are ;lum trees throughout
the area and there is a plum festival celebrating this bounty in February.
Odawara is also famous for kamaboko a kind of fish version of
spam that many Japanese love. We have a fantastic castle with
a moat, and cherry trees. You really should see it if you come to Japan..
We also boast the largest shopping centre in Kanagawa Prefecture.
Minami Ashigara, borders Odawara and has about 45,000 citizens. All Japanese older than 4 know that Kintaro a famous fairy tale took place here. Minami Ashigara was voted as having the best water in Japan, and that is why Fuji Film chose this small city to make its` film (a water intensive process), and Asahi Beer built its` latest high tech brewery in our city. We are located in a pleasant river valley of rice fields, businesses and fantastic views of Mount Fuji. Banking: Sagami Tribank is a good, reliable bank if you can find one near you. I have dealt with them for over a decade with no problems. They seem to have avoided many of the pitfalls that put larger banks under. The drawback of the Minami Ashigara branches are that there are virtually no English speaking staff. I have never met any, but there may be some. Some of my friends have used Citibank. With Citibank all banking can be done by phone in English including exchanging Yen to $ when the $ is low. Although
branches are only in Tokyo and Yokohama, you can open an account
by mail. You can also get a Internet:
There are internet cafes in Odawara but they come and go, so
it is best to check at The Odawara
Bulletin Board to see Pat-net is good but
expensive. They are not as foreigner friendly as So-net. Only one member
of the staff seems to understand any English and his English
is quite limited. They do not seem interested in getting or
keeping the business of the expatriat population of the area. You
can do better with So-net or some of the others. So-net seems to
have support in English by Email, but one of our teachers had trouble
when he tried to get English support over the phone, the woman who called him back
only spoke Japanese. OCN comes highly rated but I have never
used them. I don't know if they have support in English. I don`t recommend OCN
based on the fact that so many of my friends have had trouble
getting hooked up--software conflicts Buying a Computer:
Japanese Lessons:
There are free Japanese lessons offered at the Odawara Christian
Centre. English Newspapers
& Magazines: Japan
Today and News on Japan are two of my favourites.
They are both online and of course they are free. I like
them because they both have a lot of articles you would never get
to read anywhere else. The journalists for Japan Today seem
to be independants. usually published on Monday. You can find it and other English newspapers like the Daily Yomiuri, at newsstands in front of Shin Matsuda and Odawara Station. The Tokyo Jounal has many opinionated articles about life in Japan as well as event information. Sports & Exercise:
Telephone: .
Keep in mind that in Japan you are charged for all phone calls
based upon how far away the listener is and how long you talk.
The longer
you talk the more you pay. In view of this, many people rely on email
here, much more than back home. If you want to call friends and
relatives back home it is good to set up your own callback
service account.
I recommend Worldlink, and as far as I know, it is still the cheapest
to North America. It is also the largest callback company,
so it won't go out
of business anytime soon, and their service has been pretty reliable.
There are many callback services available. Another newer and
probably better idea is to get an internet phone account with Yahoo
or another provider. You wiill probably need a Japanese friend to
look into that for you, to find the best deal for you, as these services
are always changing. My understanding is that
this is a good deal if you are going to phone your country of origin
often. If you aren`t it isn`t necessary. Bookstores: Epo
in Odawara not only has a huge selection of Cds, it also carries
some English books on the same floor. Of course you always
have Amazon.Com but if you want to go to an
actual store there is Good
Day Books near Ebisu Station on the Yamanote line in Tokyo. They
carry Tokyo's
largest selection of used English books. They also sell new books.
Kinokuniya near Shinjuku Station East Exit has almost the whole
6th floor devoted
to new English books. As well: Tower Records near Shibuya Station,
Jena in Ginza: 5-6-1 Ginza, Chuo Ku, 03-3571-2980.
Want to donate
English books? Send them to: Kevin`s English Schools Library, 2659-4 Tsukahara, Minami
Ashigara Shi, Kanagawa Ken 250-0117 Japan.
Your books will be read by students and teachers.
Any English book in used or new condition will be greatly At the Odawara library there may be a few English books. The large new library in Kamonomiya, Odawara doesn`t have any English books. Hadano Public Library has many English books and it is just down the Odakyu Line from Odawara--about 15-20 minutes on the train if that, from Odawara Station. The big public library near Machida Station on the Odakyu line has many English books and magazines. The public library near Hon-Atsugi Station has some English books and videos that you can watch for free right in the library! The Canadian Embassy has a 15,000 book library free for the public to use. Check the Townpage telephone directory for more. British Council 1-2 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku 03-3235-8031 Open Mon-Fri, American Centre: 2-6-3 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo Mon-Fri, 03-3436-0901 Only Japanese can take books out but anyone can go there to read. Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library has 90,000 foreign books! It is adjacent to Arisugawa Park in Hiroo. Open everyday. 03-3442-8451. The Odawara Christian Centre used to have a library and may still do--located near Odawara Station near the Shinkansen exit. The Odawara International Lounge offers English newspapers, free Japanese lessons, magazines and some books. You can go there to meet people too. Foreign Food: Tozan
in Odawara across from McDonald's near Odawara Station
has some foreign food. As well, you can order Western Food Restaurants:
As well as McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken there
are many great European restaurants sprinkled Medical & Dental Care and Medical Insurance: Most expatriots usually get Japanese National Health insurance. This usually covers 70% of your medical bills including the cost of medicine. It also covers 70% of dental care. There are many competent doctors and hospitals in our area. As well if you would like medical care in English you can go to The Tokyo Medical and Surgical Clinic: #32 Mori Bldg., 3-4-30 Shiba-Koen, Minato-ku, Tokyo Tel. 03- 3436-3028 Their whole staff speaks English and they offer pretty well every medical service you could imagine. There is also a dental clinic with an English speaking staff as well. There are many competent dentists in our area too, but you may wish to go to Tokyo as the local dentists tend to take a long time to complete the dental work ie) for a filling you may need to go back 3 or 4 times to have the job completed instead of the normal one day visit in Canada. As you might expect, the medical equipment here is perhaps the most advanced in the world. Dr. Amagai is an English speaking dermatologist at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo 03-3353-1211. There are many good doctors in our area and a few speak a little English. Shiritsu Hospital in the Isaida area of Odawara is very famous. Two of my children were born there in fact. We didn't have our third there though as their policy on smoking in the hospital allowed the smoking room right next to the maternity ward. So smoke wafted into the pediatric area and the maternity area, for all the pregnant mothers and newborn babies to enjoy. I wrote a protest letter and we had our third child at Kami Hospital in Matsuda. The new wing is also good but the old wing made the national news as some newborn babies became very sick. The old wing is extremely dirty. One door even had a hole in the window. The staff however was great. So you be the judge. If we were to have a fourth a child, God forbid! We wouldn't have her or him there though. Shopping: Ito Yokado is a large shopping centre in one large store, it is in the Kamonomiya area of Odawara. There is free parking. There is a supermarket on the first floor and 2nd-4th floor house various goods including clothing, toys, jewelry etc. The brand new City Mall has many stores including Toys are Us. It seems to be the most popular place to shop. It is also located in the Kamonomiya area. Along that whole street the shopping is fairly interesting with many little stores, and boutiques. If you get hungry, Mr Donut is nearby. Finally, Epo near Odawara Station, and the shopping street where Epo is located is a popular place to browse, and go out for lunch or dinner. The Robinson's Imperial Mall is just like home as well! It is the biggest shopping mall in Kanagawa and it is a stone's throw from the City Mall and Ito Yokado. When you are in Kamonomiya, just ask someone where it is. It boasts all your favourite stores including the Gap and other famous names. Robinson's Shopping Mall in Kamonomiya, Odawara, is a sister shopping mall to Odawara City Mall--they are linked by walkways. It is the largest shopping mall in Kanagawa! It's great especially if you want clothes. The Outlet Mall in Gotemba about 45 minutes drive from here is very famous. It is supposed to be cheaper and sell great clothes. Gotemba area is also very picturesque, much like the Abbottsford area of British Columbia--if you know that area. Flea Markets: Merry Lue Store
in Tsukahara, Minami Ashigara has a flea market and sells antiques. The Odawara Plum
Festival: Is held from Feb. 1st-28th. You can see the beautiful
plum blossoms at Soga Plum Woods in Odawara. There will
be 30,000 plum
trees in full bloom! Take your camera! The plum woods
spread out from the foot of Odawara Castle and it offers a view of
Mount Fuji. Soga is also the site of one of the three most
famous vendettas in Japan involving the Soga brothers and contains
many historic sites. During the festival, there will be local
performing arts demonstrations, including the Odawara chochin (lantern)
dance. For those less culturally inclined you can
take part in the plum
pit spitting contest! Be sure to take some tissue with you! When you
tire of spitting you might enjoy trying some of Odawara's
famous ume-boshi
(pickled plum) at the concours. Site: Soga Plum Woods. Access:
Shimo-Soga Station (located within the plum woods) on the
JR Gotemba Line.
For further details call Odawara-shi Kanko Kyokai 0465-22-5002. I imagine
someone will speak English at this number. Note you don't go to the castle
you must start from Shimo-Soga Station. Some Helpful Links and Phone Numbers From Our Area Study English at the Canadian English school in the Odawara area--Kevin's English Schools in Kamonomiya, Tsukahara and Sekimoto. Jobs in Odawara & Japan: Probably more links to major job advertising sites than any other site about employment in Japan. You can place a free ad too! The Odawara Christian Centre: 0465-34-2438(English), 34-2796 (Japanese) Tues-Fri. 9AM-5PM). They hold church services in English and Japanese. They also offer free Japanese classes for foreigners. Community Counseling in English is offered in Yokohama, for inquiries call Scott Smith at 03-3968-4084. Free confidential telephone counseling at 03-3968-4099. John Festa's: A bar/restaurant located near Odawara Station. Just ask anyone in the area near the station they will point you in the right direction. Foreigners and Japanese gather here for food and drink. They often have foreigners on staff. It is modeled on a couple of Vancouver eateries. Thinking about Teaching Here? Get the scoop on the English Conversation Profession or Eikaiwa at ELT News. The
Odawara Hockey Association Do
you love hockey? Then join us for inline hockey (on roller blades).
We usually play on the weekends. Children welcome too!
We also play road hockey and go to watch hockey games sometimes
in Yokohama. The Odawara International Lounge: 0465-24-7760, 15-19, 1 Chome Sakaecho,Odawara.
Sakaecho Parking Lot, third floor. Located next to the Odawara
Post Office. It is in the nicest parkade you will ever find, built
to look like an old The
Historical Simulation Boardgamers Society of Japan We play
traditional games like chess, shogi, and Go. As well we play boardgames
about history, politics and economics. Some of the games we play are
known commonly as wargames. If you are interested in playing these
types of games contact them. Most members speak Japanese and English.
If you can't speak English that's okay. Odawara International Friendship Association:0465-33-1707, Japanese
class: 24-5649. A great website with a lot of information about
the city. Maybe the best! It even has a clickable map of the downtown
area. |
The Odawara
Bulletin Board Photo Gallery Maruta
no Mori: Minami Ashigara's Annual Camp Goose
Boats, Atsuko, & Little Green Men in Hakone Never
Trust a White Russian: I Own the Record at John Festa's How
to Study English (written in Japanese) Hockey Association Chess in Odawara |
Akage no An English School a