かしわ Ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ Newsletter
2008
Autumn
No.26
Quarterly
Kashiwa
Published by the City of
Kashiwa International
Relations Office
5-10-1 Kashiwa, Kashiwa-shi
Tel:04-7167-0941
Population as of September 2008: 391,665 (Registered Foreign Residents: 5,703)
City
Counseling for Foreign Residents
Foreign resident advisors are available to help foreign residents living or working in Kashiwa with issues pertaining to
everyday life and city administration.
Languages and schedule: English on Mondays, Chinese and Spanish on Wednesdays.
Hours for all languages and days: 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Place: International Relations Office, 3rd Floor, City Hall Building 2 (telephone counseling is also available.)
※Services are also accepted by English-speaking Japanese staff at Kashiwanoha International Exchange Lounge.
Advising Days: Everyday except Wednesdays & Sundays
Time: 10:00am-7:00pm
Place：Kashiwanoha International Exchange Lounge, Tsukuba Express Kashiwanoha Campus Station, East Exit (1-min
walk)
For more information : International Relations Office, Tel: 7167-0941、
Kashiwanoha International Exchange Lounge, Tel:7134-3321
Autumn in Japan
Autumn is described as the season of harvest, good appetites, or enjoying sports.Rice is a typical Japanese autumn
harvest and is a staple food. Have you ever seen a human-like doll standing in the middle of the rice field? This doll is
called “Kakashi.” The word Kakashi is derived from a word “Kagashi,” which means “to make smell”. Ancient
Japanese skewered broiled animal meat to fill the air with the smell, and tried to defend their crops from the attack of
birds and animals.
Now it is common to put up the human-like doll in the rice field and protect the
crops. There is a theory that the prototype of "Kakashi" is a god called “Kuebiko,” who
appeared in Kojiki, the oldest Japanese history book. Kuebiko is the god of the mountain
s and rice fields. Even though he cannot walk, he knows everything in the world.
“Kakashi” which prot