US Post Office to Ban Shipment of Certain Electronic Devices in Overseas Mail May 16

The US Postal Service has announced that they will not longer allow international shipment of devices such as video cameras, portable radio scanners, gps devices, games, laptop computers, tablets, Bluetooth devices… There is some evidence that device relatd fires involved at least two cargo planes which had fatal crashes in recent years. USPS says they are attempting to follow international rules addressing such kinds of devices. Of course the major shipping companies have not made those restrictions so if you don’t mind how much it costs, you can still get your Christmas present to your overseas soldier family member.

You can read more about this new process on the FastCompany web site. If you are currently exporting electronic devices to countries overseas, be sure to look into this. If you are sending a present to Japan, better take this issue into consideration.

Tornados in Japan?

We were surprised to see the Japanese new coverage extensive damage due to tornados in the last week or so in Japan. It was primarily centered in NorthEast Japan (same as the area so heavily affected by the 3/11/2011 disaster) and down toward the Tokyo area. There have been severe thunderstorms down in much of the area from Mount Fuji area North. It was caused by the interaction of warm air coming from the South and a high level cold air mass coming down from the Asian continent. As the ground warms up during the morning, clouds form, leading to rain/hail/lightning in broad areas. What is atypical is the severity of the tornados (tatsumaki in Japanese).

The tornado that struck the Ibaraki Prefecture city of Tsukuba is pictured on May 6. (Photo courtesy of Kei Hashimoto) mainichi.jpA large swath of damage occured in the city of Tsukuba, North of Tokyo. You may know the area as the location of Tsukuba Science Center. The damage was not in that area, but was a 15 Km long swath through moderately populated areas.

In the past we have seen news accounts saying weather authorities were investigating whether storm caused damaged were from tatsumake but never heard the outcome. Recently we became aware that there are often low power tornados, but the weather in the last week has been particularly severe, with highly defined tornado funnels. And, looking at the damage, the small minivan type of Japanese cars seem quite vulnerable to these .

Congratulations to the Japanese Women's Field Hockey team (Olympics Bound)

The Women’s Field Hockey team triumphed in their last match in Olympic qualifiers and will join the 2012 Summer Olympics in Great Britain this year. They were generally successful in all of their matches, tying in one. The Japanese Men’s team is competing on Sunday this week for the right to appear in the analogus Olympic event.  Good Luck to them, we’ll post the results as an addition to this post.

Update on Monday, May 7, 2012 by Secretary - sj-okayama.org

The South African Men’s Field Hockey team beat the Japanese Men’s team 2 to 1, gaining the last spot in the 2012 Summer Olympics competition. The Japanese Men’s team willl not participate in the Olympic Games. They have not participated in the Games in the past. The South African teamhas attended the Olympics the last two times (2004, 2008). Good luck next time, Japan.

Join us at the Dedication of the Cherry Tree Honoring our 55th Anniversary

Updated on Sunday, May 6, 2012 by Secretary - sj-okayama.org

On May 4, (10:00 AM to 12:00 PM) there will be a major program at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Kelly Park in celebration with two ‘Big Deals’. A dedication of an honorary cherry tree celebrating our 55th anniversary and the return of the Koi to the garden ponds. Sister City President John Gill and Consul General Hiroshi Inomata will be among the speakers. (Event picture album added)

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Wonderful Day at Nikkei Matsuri - Well Done All

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the volunteers and hungry customers for helping with out fund raising efforts and for attending the 35th Nikkei Matsuri! The weather was good, not too hot. The parking… well, that’s another story. Again this year we used this event for a major fund raising effort, selling gyoza and water. This year the water was very popular, due to the bright sun, no doubt.

Vice Consul and wife with Kazuko Green (middle) at SJ-O Gyoza booth (click image)We were too busy to take pictures except for this cell phone shot of Vice President Kazuko Green along with Vice Consul and Ms. Kei Hagiwara, the new Consul for Intergovernmental Affairs of the San Francisco Japanese Consul General’s office. The Hagiwara family just arrived from Tokyo at the end of March and he has been involved in several events here in our area already. You can tell by their smiles that they are enthusiastic about their assignment here in Northern California and I am sure the Vice Consul Kei will be very busy. In fact we will see him again, along with the Consul General at the Koi dedication ceremony at the Japanese Friendship Garden on Friday, May 4; 10:30 AM. The public is encouraged to attend.

But back to the Nikkei Matsuri. Ralph Butterworth and Gloria Stern again took the leadership for this program and from our point of view, went swimingly! It’s a big job with long hours on the weekend of the event. So a big shout out to them and to President John Gill who cooked and cleaned and set up and took down… amazing efforts there. Thanks