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ALC Newsletter No. 078 2/27/08
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By the International Marketing Team at ALC Press http://www.alc.co.jp/international
Contents:
1) The "Dear Readers" Column: Messages from the International
Marketing Team at ALC Press
2) Trendy Japanese #34: taspo
(a new IC card needed for purchasing cigarettes from vending machines)
3) Quiz on Japan #17: "Which saying is true about Japan's Doll's Festival?"
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Dear Readers,
Greetings from Tokyo!
A free English conversation lesson we are offering from 10:00 p.m.
to 11:00 p.m., Japan time, every night at English Cafe located in ALC's SIM in Second Life has been going very well. It's nice to see English learners enjoying communicating with each other.
We are going to hold an interesting event in Second Life. One of our team members just got married in real life and we are going to hold a wedding ceremony in Second Life for her and her husband.
It will take place in the wedding center in the Bali Resort SIM (a different SIM from ALC's) on Saturday March 1 from 8:00 p.m.
to 10:00 p.m., Japan time. Anybody can come and see the wedding in the virtual world! Participants will be encouraged to take pictures during the wedding and put them up on the bulletin board in ALC's SIM. On March 7, the just-married couple will choose their three favorite shots and give prizes to those photo-takers. Isn't that interesting? You had better believe that anything that happens
in real life will also happen in Second Life! If you would like to
come to see the wedding, you need to register yourself in Second Life and get an avatar first. If you would like to do so, please go to Second Life's official site: <http://secondlife.com/> Then, please come to our SIM first by searching with our SIM's name "ALC" or go directly to "Bali Resort."
Best wishes from the International Marketing Team at ALC Press.
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Trendy Japanese #34: taspo
(a new IC card needed for purchasing cigarettes from vending
machines)
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Some people used to say that Japan was a smokers' paradise. There were several reasons for that. The price of cigarettes was around 300 yen (about $2.80) for a pack of 10. You could smoke almost anywhere, including in the office or in a restaurant. And anybody─ even children─could buy cigarettes from vending machines 24 hours a day.
It's true that the price hasn't changed, but the overall situation around smoking in Japan is rapidly changing. In 2002, Chiyoda ward in Tokyo became the first municipal district to ban and fine people for smoking on some streets within the ward. Non smoking streets have been expanding since then. while the separation of smoking and non smoking areas is becoming common in offices and restaurants throughout the country.
And about 620,000 tobacco vending machines, which account for almost a half of the total sales of tobacco in Japan, are no exception.
In 1996, the tobacco industry began to regulate selling cigarettes from vending machines, stopping most sales from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Now you can't purchase cigarettes from almost any vending machine late at night.
And now, a new IC card called "taspo" is being introduced. Soon you won't be able to purchase cigarettes from vending machines without your own taspo. A taspo can also be used as a rechargeable electronic money card, so it'll be convenient for people 20 years old or older, who are legally allowed to smoke in Japan. It'll surely be inconvenient for those who are underage, which is why taspo is being introduced. But the effectiveness of taspo is yet unknown ─ some people say it'll be meaningless as long as people can borrow a taspo from others. Nevertheless, taspo may still change Japan's smoking culture ─ well, let's see how it goes.
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Quiz on Japan #17:"Which saying is true about Japan's Doll's Festival?"
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How much do you know about Japan? We'll give you a quiz in each issue, so try to find the right answer!
［Answer to last week's quiz］
Last week's quiz question was "Which one is true about Japan's smoking situation (as of February 2008)?" You should know the answer by now ... it's answer (b): Even children can buy cigarettes from vending machines!
Quiz for this week: March 3 is "Hinamatsuri" (Doll's Festival) ─ a day to celebrate little girls' health and happiness. It is customary to display a special set of small dolls on "Hinamatsuri", and there's a certain saying related to the dolls. What is it?
(a) If you change the dolls' kimonos every year, your daughter(s) will never be poor.
(b) If you put makeup on the dolls neatly, your daughter(s) will always be beautiful.
(c) If something bad has happened to your daughter(s) over the last year, you need to break one of the dolls so it will take over her bad luck.
(d) You'd better put the dolls away soon after "Hinamatsuri" is over.
Otherwise, your daughter(s) will have difficulty getting married.
Check out the correct answer in the next issue!
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Thank you for reading!
*Back issues of the ALC Newsletter are available at:
http://www.alc.co.jp/international/Newsletter.html
*If you wish to be removed from this newsletter or change the e-mail address to which it is sent, please let us know by e-mailing us at:
intl-mag@alc.co.jp
Publisher: ALC Press, Inc.
2-54-12 Eifuku, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 168-8611 Japan
Writers: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press / Ayako Ishimoto
Editor: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press
Copyright (c) 2008 ALC Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
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