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◆Making a debut at “Pipi Hiroba” with my age-0 baby

◆To All Bicycle users Traffic violators will be issued with “Blue Ticket” from April 1st !

◆Parenting Support Community POPPO♡ A Place to Share the Moment

◆Walk Around Kawaguchi with 10,000 Steps.

◆Let’s Make Friends with Playing Beigoma at Kawaguchi Municipal Folk Museum!

◆School Playing Various Roles as the Sole Public Night-time Junior High School in Saitama Prefecture

◆Let’s Explore  Cupo・la    M4-Floor! 〜Counseling Desk for Foreign Residents〜

◆Let’s Donate Our Blood!

◆Acquire Practical Japanese Skill at Shibazono Japanese Class!

Today, I visited to join a parent and age-0-baby event at “Pipi Hiroba”, which is regularly held at Minami-hatogaya Regional Child-rearing Support Center, with my baby.

When it comes to going out with a baby, you will have a difficult time from the moment you start planning for it. If that would be a place you have never visited before, you will get a bit tensed up. In addition to this, you may feel uneasiness in both language and procedural routines if you have come from other country.

◆What we do at “Pipi Hiroba”

As soon as I opened the door to the place, the staff gave me instructions on initial registration and rules of the place. Then I picked up a name tag on which each month-age was printed. I filled in my baby’s name and date of birth on it. Attentive staff helped me out with all these procedures, so I did not have any trouble in finishing them all.

This “Pipi Hiroba”, an event for parents and age-0-babies, is held once a month there. 23 pairs were there on the day I visited. The room was filled with cheerful atmosphere.

At 10:30am, the event began with a play with hand-gestures. After that, we introduced ourselves in turn with the title of “What would I do if my wishes come true?” along with introducing baby’s name and month-age.

Lots of playing hours including self-introduction game with rock-paper-scissors, etc., helped us to start having a casual chat with other mums.

While mums were enjoying games, babies were crawling around, playing with toys, etc., spending their own times. Even when babies started to cry, mums did not need to rush because the staff immediately came to pacify the baby.

After playing games, it was the time for a mini-lecture on weaning food inviting a public nurse as a lecturer. Since participating babies have different month-age, it was not a step-by-step instruction on how to start giving weaning food, but on how to take a first glimpse of it.

Too much struggle is not what you need.

What matters is; try to make the table happier. Not trying to make them eat.

Sometimes you may feel, especially when you are parenting in Japan, the urge to “must stick to the basics”. However, this mini-lecture taught us we can just walk with your own baby’s pace. That is something releases you from invisible pressure.

The event was wrapped up with a picture-card storytelling for babies. It was only an hour’s event, but it was full of excitement for both babies and mums.

◆Interview with Ms. Masuko/Chief of Center

I had a talk with Ms. Masuko, Chief of the Support Center. She told me this Support Center has 4 major roles. One is to “Offer a place of communication” where child rearing mums can find friends and connects mums with communities. And “Offer a place to provide information”, where you can get access to child rearing tips. Then, to hold “Counseling” where you all can drop off your uneasiness and problems. And the last one is to “Hold lectures” to invite parents and babies to provide opportunities of learning and experiencing that will become essential to them.

The most impressive word from Ms. Masuko was that she describes this place as “Lowered threshold, widened frontage, and deepened depth”. They take every possible way to make this place first-comer-friendly. Not only as a place which always welcomes people with open arms, but also it has a policy to become a rescue operation point which can be of help to anyone when they seek for help. They say they also value being as ａ mediator among child rearing mums.

Recently, they have more and more users of foreign origins. They are trying their best to lower the threshold for them by making the best use of translation gadgets and a pack of practical English phrase cards.

What I have found by participated in the event was that this place gave us some sense of security. Baby cries; never mind. Not good at talking; never mind. Embracing atmosphere had a power to let mums and babies feel they can be themselves.

  For all parenting friends in Kawaguchi City, especially who tends to shy away from visiting places you have never been to, this is what you should come and see once. 

Minami-hatogaya Regional Child-rearing Support Center

Open hours: 9:00-12:00, 13:00-16:00

Closed: Tuesday/Sunday/National holidays and New Year Holidays from Dec.29^th～Jan.3^rd

Eligibility: Toddlers of age from 0 to 3 and their guardians.

Access: From Saitama Railway (subway) “Minami-hatogaya Station” (Exit 2), walk 5 minutes.

Editor’s note

 I had been nervous till I opened the door to the Support Center. Though cheerful vibes of the staff and other mums had magical power to make me keep smiling till the end. My baby must have had enough excitement for a day, the napping hours seemed a bit longer than usual. （Yubeshi）

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　To all bicycle users, did you know that you will be issued with “Blue Tickets” from April 1^st, 2026, if you violate traffic rules?

By this system, violators of traffic rules are obliged to pay a fixed fine (penalty) instead of being brought to a trial nor recorded as a criminal record (record of delinquencies kept at the authority). On the other hand, “Red Ticket (conceives the possibility of brought to a court trial)” remains for violators of drunk driving, obstructing driving, etc. This rule applies to age 16 and older cyclists.

  An officer from Traffic Division, Kawaguchi Police Department filled me in on the introducing of “Blue Ticket” system. ‘We would like you all to be more attentive to safety cycling. Purpose of this system is not to catch and punish violators. We just want you to use bicycles not causing any accidents”, he passionately explained. With this “Blue Ticket” issuance system, I think we should pay further attention to safety cycling.

　“Blue Ticket” will be issued for violations that deemed as malicious and dangerous. Here are major violations.

　Saitama Prefectural Police Department provides booklet on Traffic Safety Tutorials. Copies in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Tagalog, Spanish, Vietnamese are available.

　Booklets are also available via official website of Saitama Prefectural Police Department. Take this opportunity to check out traffic rules once more.

https://www.police.pref.saitama.lg.jp/f0010/kotsu/kyouikusidou/kyouikusiryou.html　

　Traffic Division of Kawaguchi City Police Department also provides Traffic Safety Sessions at requests of companies, residents’ associations, and peer groups. They also prepare interpreters on your prior request.

　Let me say this in conclusion!

Put on a helmet whenever ride on a bicycle. Not wearing helmet is not subject to Blue Ticket issuance, however, bicycle is officially categorized as a vehicle to which the rule stipulates to run on roadways. To protect yourself, get ready to put on helmets!

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Do you know a parenting support community called “POPPO♡” (hereinafter called POPPO)? It is on the basement level 1^st of SR・Hatogaya Station. After a train ride, pass through the ticket gate, take the exit No.1 and go down the stairs to the basement area. Then you will hear a cheerful voice of small children. POPPO is a parenting support community opens for age 0-3 children with an indoor playing space. This place, equipped with lots of toys and playground equipment as slide, etc., is always lively with kids and their parents. The space opens from Monday through Friday, from 9:00 to 12:00, and from 13:00 to 16:00. 

Besides opens a space for kids to play, this place is also functioning as a hub of “Parenting Support Service” to provide parenting counseling, city’s reliable information about childrearing, and so forth. Being entrusted by the city of Kawaguchi, this place is operated by the Kawaguchi City Council of Social Welfare, Social Welfare Corporation. All staff members have such licenses as preschool teachers, etc.   

As a matter of course, parenting mums and dads devote all their energies in taking care of babies, or tagging along with children. On the other hand, their connections to the outside world tend to dwindle away, a feeling of isolation slowly prey on. POPPO is a place where such parenting mums and dads can come and play with children. It also offers opportunity to meet other parenting friends in the area to have a talk and move forward together. In here, you will never feel “alone”. To grow together is what this place cares the most.

I asked them what was the strongest point of POPPO.

They said, ‘No need to book to come, and you can talk freely about trivial matters on your everyday life.’ Another perk is that children of different age come to this place. If you are new mum and dad, seeing children a bit older than yours playing around will make you imagine, ‘My little one is going to grow like this’. While others, parents of a little older one, can look back the time when their child was a baby, saying ‘I remember my child had this moment before’. In addition to this, the location, which is directly connected to SR Hatogaya Station, is perfect for you and your child to try to take a first train ride.  

　On the day I visited, I talked with two mums. We are not regular visitors, they said. ‘Sometimes we come here twice a week. Sometimes on a certain day of the week’. Have a few mum friends knowing each other by sight, though most of them are often seen spending the time in parent-child unit in here. Meeting at an event here may be a good chance to talk with other parents. What impressed me most was their remarks; ‘Nobody cares who else is playing in here’, ‘This place is firstcomer-friendly’. Others were also saying; ‘Staff members are kind enough to hear my silly complaints’, ‘It is good for me that I can come anytime I want because no booking is needed here’. Another mum said with a smile on her face; ‘My child has got bored with all the toys he has at home. Now he starts trying to grab household appliances instead of toys’, ‘Since POPPO has lots of toys, he seems happier than playing at home’.

In here, parents and children are playing at their own paces at first. Then, conversation starts from nowhere and that gives the cue to play together with others.

This plate-glassed space can be well observed from the outside. Anybody can see what is going on inside, and that makes the threshold “easy to cross” for newcomers-to-be. Above all, what impresses me most is cheerful staff and open atmosphere.

First coming mums and dads’ faces are more or less all look tense. However, being embraced by the staff members’ warmhearted wishes; “Want them to make another happiest memory here”, “Want them to leave here with a smiling face” and their lovely words, newcomers’ tension would be released soon. You will see brilliant smiles on every parent and child’s face as they leave. After a few visits here, you will develop a new comradeship with peers to whom you can grumble about daily trivial matters or let out uncertainties about your own parenting in a much lighter note.

Even families of foreign origins such as China, Korea, Vietnam, etc., are frequent visitors here. Never being bothered by cultural nor language differences, they are sharing the same vibes with no difficulty through children. POPPO is always ready to use a translating gadget, but visitors rarely use it because plain Japanese, smiles, gestures, and spirit of “To deliver a message” and “To share the moment” are all they need in communication here. Almost nothing disturbs us, they said.

POPPO always welcomes you with open arms. For

those considering to visit here for the first time and have no idea what the place is like, try and use its open-house-like events. For starters, check with their “Babies’ Time” event on each Tuesday from 13:00–14:00. They will have no special programs for this event. Just spare a larger space only for this event for parents and babies in the same age-in-months group so that you can spend the time in a more relaxing atmosphere.

　Even though language, culture and parenting style are all different, you can support each other in childrearing once you come to this place and share the same moment with others. 

“Kosodatehiroba (Parenting　Support Community) POPPO♡”

(The community’s operation is entrusted by the city of Kawaguchi and operated by the Kawaguchi City Council of Social Welfare, Social Welfare Corporation)

・Playing space      　　　 Weekdays 9:00-12:00 / 13:00-16:00

・Parenting counseling   Weekdays 9:00-12:00 / 13:00-17:00 

URL：https://kosodate-kwgc-saitama-ksp.jp/poppo/　　

Editor’s note

As I was talking to the people here, I remembered what it was like my parenting days were.

  My first parenting days had been a series of troubles and question marks on breast feeding/formula, hours of sleep, weaning food, etc.

During such turbulent days, I found POPPO, the place I could casually drop in and found someone who could closely listen to me.

I can still remember the moment how they welcomed me with broad smiles, even though I was such a premature mum.

I have not been to this place for a while, though they still remember about me and my child. Once again, I was welcomed by that unchanged warm smile. (YUBESHI)

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　Evidently, walking is good to keep you sound and stay healthy. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare also announces it is ideal to “Walk 10,000 steps a day”. However, I wonder how far can we get with 10,000 steps? To clear this question, I, a resident of Kawaguchi, tried how far I can get if I walk from Kawaguchi Station. I want you to walk with me on this “How far can I get with 10,000 steps’ walk” for a while.

　OK! Let us get started! Start walking from Kawaguchi Station West Exit to Kawaguchi Nishi Koen-park. Not to mention rows of cherry blossoms you will enjoy in spring, you can always enjoy beautiful changing colors of seasonal leaves in this park. Among lots of distinguished statues, cute statuettes of the Oriental Annual Zodiac are sitting at the end of this park. You should try and find them. After you locate the statuettes, let us get back to the Kawaguchi Station West Exit.

　From Kawaguchi Station West Exit, I proceed to go through an underpass which leads you to a bicycle parking space. There used to have a lot of shops in this underpass, and one of them was a shop where my husband bought his very first vinyl in his life.

　Walk up the stairs to get to the Kawaguchi Station East Exit. So far, I have walked 1,800 steps. Our next destination is newly established Kawaguchi City Hall Main Building 2.

　Although traffic is heavy on Shiyakusho-Mae-Dori Avenue, well laid sidewalks allow us to have a smooth walk on it. I tried to walk through a skywalk which connects City Hall Main Building 1 and 2 that had been stood-out even from its construction phase. It is like I am walking through a modern building of a museum of art! At this point, I have walked 3,400 steps.

  Kept going to the north till I got to Aoki-Chuo Elementary School. Then turned right to get to Auto-Race -Dori Avenue. By the way, signs of “Flood Water Depth (Projected)” put up on utility poles along the way caught my attention. I looked up to see a level marked with red tape taped around the pole. This indicates an estimated height of inundation when a flood reaches the area. This fact I found during my walk aroused me the importance of “Provision Against Emergencies”.

　As the motorcycle racing track pops up on your right, a huge shell top like building appeared in front of me! This is a water tower of Kawaguchi City Waterworks and Sewerage Bureau. As you get closer, you will realize how big it is. 5,400 steps I have made so far. Approximately an hour’s walk from where I started.

　Passed Tatekawa Himon Koen-park, let us move on to SKIP CITY. I chose to walk through a residential area but had no problem to get the place because signs here and there showed me which way to take. I have been walking for almost an hour and a half, so I decided to take a rest for rehydration. Now, it is 7,900 steps I have walked.

　With 2,000 another step then I will reach the target of 10,000 steps, however, if you have come all the way to get here, there is no other way but to visit Kawaguchi Green Center to see and enjoy seasonal flowers! I will give it another go. I took the shortest course of taking Prefectural Highway No.332. Vowing traffic safety to myself to a Koban with checkered pattern walls on my right-hand side, I solemnly kept walking. Focusing on every step I make like this is what I have never done before. I walked along the gently curving street that leads me to the right, passed drug stores and convenience stores, I see a bridge ahead of me…but wait! I have reached my target of 10,000 steps at this point. Putting aside the idea of this 10,000 steps trial, I keep going on to the Green Center. Crossed over Kamine Bashi-bridge of which parapets are decorated with comma-shaped beads, kept on walking for 10 more minutes, then the Green Center, my final goal of the day, came into my view. Total steps I took from Kawaguchi Station East Exit reached 12,261. The time required for this walk was about 2 hours. City’s large illustrated map full of recommendation sites was put up at the entrance of the Green Center. As I seeing that, I felt like to find a course for another expedition. Today, I had no problems in walking since it had no slopes along the way. Why do not you find your own Kawaguchi expedition course on which you can walk on your own pace?

　In that connection, I recommend this 10,000 steps course for you if you are worrying about getting lost in midway through the course. Start from the Station, head for Minami Junior High school, cross the National Highway No.122 and walk on a path atop an embankment of the Arakawa-river. When you get to Shikahama bashi-bridge, it is the point you can make a U-turn. Voilà! You have walked 10,000 steps to get there. A rest area is situated along this course to have a short rest while walking. All you got to do is just walk straight on. No way you will miss your way!

【Editor’s Note】

Let me say in passing that I successfully ended in losing 16 kg of my weight from 2-years of daily walking!

by　Zunko

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