The phone No. is:

077-522-4776

You can speak in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, or Chinese.

Consultation hours are 8:30 am to 5:15 pm.

Meanwhile, flu vaccinations started in Shiga on Nov. 2 for pregnant women and people with vulnerable heath conditions. Shiga currently has the vaccine for 7,000 people. They are starting with hospital patients. Pregnant women who are outpatients will be vaccinated from mid-Nov.

Children age 1 to 3rd grade will be vaccinated from mid-Dec., and children from 4th grade up to high schoolers and the elderly will be vaccinated from January.

Vaccinations are by appointment only. The cost is a few thousand yen.

See Shiga’s flu updates in English here:
http://www.pref.shiga.jp/multilingual/infuluenza/english/index.html

For the first time, I have created and published a 2010 calendar for Shiga Prefecture in English. The calendar features my photos of Shiga, showing its beautiful seasons, traditional festivals, architecture, Lake Biwa, and a few “fun” things. Each monthly photo has an English caption, and both Japanese and American holidays are included.

You can see a preview of the calendar’s 12 months above. Click on the right arrow button. To see a larger view, click on the Full Screen Mode button. (Then you can read the captions too.)  The last page is displayed as black, but it’s actually white. The calendar size is 8.5 inches x 11 inches when closed. When open and hung on the wall, the calendar is 17 in. high and 11 in. wide.

The calendar is available for sale online at lulu.com based in the U.S. Just click on the Buy Now button (and get your credit card ready). The price is $15.22 plus shipping. Shipping within the U.S. will cost only a few dollars via ordinary mail. If you’re in Japan, the postage will cost $10.48 for one copy only. If you order five or more copies at one time, the calendar cost and shipping cost will get much cheaper. ($38.92 to ship 10 copies, for example.) It takes about 3 weeks for your order to arrive in Japan via ordinary mail. Express mail and trackable shipping options are also available, but expensive. You can also order from Japan and have the calendar shipped to an address in the U.S. or other countries which may be cheaper. It is cheapest to ship within the U.S. Makes a great gift.

Below is a list of photos in the calendar. I tried to include as many cities and towns as possible, but it was impossible to include all 26 municipalities of Shiga in a 12-month calendar. I plan to publish a Shiga calendar every year from now on, so those missing cities/towns will be included in the 2011 calendar and later.

Cover: Shigaraki-ware tanuki (raccoon dog)
Jan.: Nagisa Park rape blossoms, Moriyama
Feb.: Hokoen Park plum blossoms and Nagahama Castle, Nagahama
Mar.: Tsuchiyama Saio Princess Procession, Koka
Apr.: Hikone Castle cherry blossoms
May: Niu Chawan Matsuri, Yogo
June: Taga Taisha rice planting festival, Taga
July: Omi-Maiko beach, Otsu
Aug.: Imazu Regatta, Takashima
Sep.: Azuchi Castle replica (Nobunaga no Yakata museum), Azuchi
Oct.: Ibukiyama Taiko Drum Dance, Maibara
Nov.: Kongorinji temple, Aisho
Dec.: Mascot characters (Dotaku-kun, Tabimaru, Hiko-nyan)

The calendars are also selling for 2,000 yen at the Biwako Shuko no Uta Shiryokan museum (Phone: 0740-22-2108) in Imazu, Takashima. For those who cannot order in English, they can call this museum and order in Japanese.

You can also access the calendar page directly with this link:
http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/2010-shiga-prefecture/7556294

ただいま滋賀県の2010年の英文カレンダーを初めて出版いたしました。国内外の外国人が滋賀県の魅力をもっと知ってもらうために作りました。

色とりどりの花や紅葉 、伝統的なお祭り、歴史的な建築、大自然とのふれあい、そしてちょっと面白い写真も選んでカレンダーにしました。写真は私がすべて撮りました。（ひこにゃんの写真だけハワイの友人が撮ってくれました。）

なるべく多くの市町を紹介しておりますが、やはり12ヶ月しかないので掲載されていない市町もあります。取り上げていない市町は、2011年以降のカレンダーに入れる予定です。アメリカと日本の祝日も掲載しています。

このカレンダーは海外のインターネットショップで委託販売中。中身の拝見(Preview)とご注文は上記の画像でできます。矢印のボタンをクリックしてすべての月の写真が見れます。（Full Screen Modeのボタンをクリックすると拡大できます。）購入したい場合、Buy Nowのボタンをクリック。ただし、注文ページは英語です。

日本からも注文できますが、 輸入品のため、ちょっと割高になります。でも5冊以上の注文では送料などの単価が安くなります。普通の郵便だと届くまで大体３週間かかります。または、日本で注文してアメリカなどの友人へ送ることもできます。アメリカ内の送料が一番安いです。

滋賀県内では、びわ湖高島観光協会の今津支所（琵琶湖周航の歌資料館内）で店頭販売中（電話での注文もOK、Tel: 0740-22-2108）。 販売価格は2000円（送料別）です。

注文ページの直接リンクはここ：
http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/2010-shiga-prefecture/7556294

As of September 30, 2009, 2,525 kids (including preschoolers) have contracted the swin flu in Shiga Prefecture. This number includes 384 high schoolers in Shiga.

The swine flu is especially widespread in Otsu with 1,084 kids up to junior high school who contracted it.

Nationwide vaccinations will begin in Japan from the week of Oct. 19, 2009. In Shiga, vaccinations will start with 13,000 medical personnal. Then from Nov., high-risk people such as pregnant women and asthmatic patients will be vaccinated first, followed by young elementary school children in Dec. 2009.

According to the police, there were eighteen bicycling accidents in Shiga caused by the rider using a mobile phone while cycling. Four of the accidents resulted in serious injuries. The police has concluded that when you use a mobile phone (keitai or K-tai) with one hand while riding a bicycle, you cannot focus your attention on the road and you are more prone to lose your balance and crash.

You cannot talk on the phone, write/read email, nor watch videos on your mobile phone while riding a bicycle. So, just do not hold your mobile phone in one hand while riding a bicycle. If you get caught, you may be fined no more than 50,000 yen.

If you need to use your phone, just stop riding your bicycle. Problem solved.

自転車も携帯電話使用禁止

The Otsu City Council passed a bill on March 18, 2009 to ban smoking in and around all major train stations in Otsu. The smoking ban will take effect from July 2009. The Japanese word for “No smoking” is kin’en (kanji written above).

Smokers beware–do not smoke in and around the following train stations:

JR stations: Otsu, Zeze, Ishiyama, Seta, and Otsukyo

Keihan Line: Sakamoto, Miidera, Ojiyama, Hama-Otsu, and Ishiyamadera.

The worse thing is to smoke while walking. Because people walking behind and beside you will get your breaths of poison as well. So don’t do it.

Also, smoking will be totally banned inside the Shiga Prefectural Office (Kencho) from April 2009. The smoker’s rooms on each floor will be removed and smokers will have to go outside the building to smoke.

Now let’s hope all the other cities and towns in Shiga will follow suit and ban smoking at train stations and government facilities.

That is, if the swine flu does not further spread in Shiga.

The student lives in Otsu and was visiting his parents’ home in Kobe during May 15-18. In Kobe, he worked part-time at a fast-food place where a high school student also working there was later diagnosed with swine flu.

He attended university classes in Kusatsu on the 18th. They are now contacting his classmates who had classes with him at the university.

Ritsumeikan University and most of Shiga’s public schools (especially in Shiga’s six southern cities) will be closed for seven days starting today. Many public and sports events have also been cancelled. Shiga is Japan’s third prefecture hit with swine flu.

School trips to Shiga are being canceled one after another. One school switched its trip from Shiga to Kyoto which I cannot understand. Matter of time before Kyoto gets it too.

Watch all the surgical masks sell out in Shiga from today.