Information Sources

Written Information

From the day you arrive you should be aware of the Living Manual Corner in NTT's Musashino library. The library is in the basement of building 1 and there a small selection of books are kept as a source of reference, several of which are mentioned here. Amongst these is a file containing information gathered by foreigners regarding topics as diverse as a good dentist and where to buy health food.

For the basics of day to day life, there is a guide called Living in Musashino (similar guides available from other city and ward offices) which explains many useful, and also many intriguing things about the city. Such important subjects as earthquake emergency procedures, local hospitals and garbage days are explained. This book is available at the city hall. A similar source of such information which is a bit more general is Living In Tokyo published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which has basically the same function as the Musashino book, but covers the 23 wards of central Tokyo. These two books will be given to you when you register at the municipal office. Your Daily Life in Tokyo - A Manual for Foreign Residents published by The Japan Times, also contains a lot of useful general information on topics like taxes, social welfare, medical care, child care, schooling, insurance etc.. Living for Less in Tokyo and Liking It gives a lot of information in a "frequently asked questions" format. For telephone numbers, City Source is the English language NTT yellow pages (business telephone book) for Tokyo and is a considerable help with all the usual numbers that you will require. This is given to all international researchers joining NTT. More specific sources of information regarding medical, insurance and other major concerns are mentioned in the relevant sections of this Living Manual.

Useful map books - The accessibility of Tokyo and many of the surrounding areas is good from Musashino-shi. One thing that is vital is Tokyo, A Bilingual Atlas which is in fact the only book which offers both Romaji and Kanji for easy reference and simplified travelling within the inner city. Recently the publisher, Kodansha brought out a sister book, Japan, A Bilingual Atlas. Besides getting to know the city, access to the mountains and many areas of historic interest is relatively easy. See the recreation section for a selection of books suitable for planning trips around Tokyo and further a field.

Newspapers & News - The most popular English newspapers in Japan are the Japan Times and the Daily Yomiuri. They can be obtained from main stations, or more commonly by subscription. The relevant numbers to call to arrange a subscription are 03-3453 4350 and 0120 431159 respectively. The prices are 4300-yen per month and 2100-yen per month respectively. Other English language papers exist, such as the Asahi Evening News, the Asian Wall Street Journal, and the International Herald Tribune. The library at NTT subscribes to the Japan Times as well as several foreign magazines. An inexhaustive list is: Newsweek, Business Week, Fortune, Nature and Scientific American. Many of the foreigners also tend to share subscriptions to magazines such as The Economist, Time etc. The television channels in Japan broadcast several bilingual news programs daily, and several bilingual radio and English language radio stations also exist. The BBC World Service can be picked up with a good shortwave radio.

Magazines - Several 'what's happening' type magazines exist. The best is the weekly ぴあ (PIA) and unfortunately for most of us is in Japanese. There are two monthly magazines in English, Tokyo Journal and Tokyo Time Out. The former was established first and has recently had a format change in the face of growing competition. The general opinion is that this is the more comprehensive. These offer listings of Cinema, Music, Theatre, Art and Festival events each month.

As a final comment on printed information sources, some general reading that you may enjoy and find informative are the following books about Japan. Obviously there are many more texts available, but these are held in quite high regard. In the general reviews category, Inside Japan by Peter Tasker, and Nippon, The Land and it's People ((c)Nippon Steel 1988) are very good. The Gaijin Scientist (British Council) specifically discusses experiences of foreign scientists in Japanese industry and universities.

Electronic Information

As mentioned elsewhere in this book, the computers at NTT are very well networked. Access is available to USENET, the worldwide electronic news service for UNIX computers, and some of the NTT management policies can be found there. These are easily accessed though a Unix based machine, replies can be sent etc. In the near future we hope to have bulletin boards set up where, for example, items for sale could be listed. Regular E-mail is a quick route to talking to all of the international researchers across site, throughout NTT, and throughout the world. It is available to everyone at NTT. Dr. M. Morita in the research planning department of Basic Research Labs. can be contacted at morita@will.ntt.jp. Several English language e-mail mailing lists are maintained for questions and discussion relating to the international researcher community here:

global-list@will.ntt.jp: a list of all the current international researchers at NTT plus some staff. The topics can be anything that would interest three or more researchers and vary from announcements of "sayonara sales" to poetry.
global-list-alumni@will.ntt.jp: for former international researchers
living-manual@will.ntt.jp: for corrections and additions to this Living Manual
foreignbox@will.ntt.jp: a list of international researchers and staff who can answer questions from newcomers.

The first and last lists are the most important for the researchers before they arrive in Japan. The global-list can be used to find buyers and sellers of used goods while the foreignbox can be used for questions more related to NTT business. The newcomers are invited to join the global-list even before their arrival at NTT. Please send mail to global-list-request@will.ntt.jp to subscribe to the list.

Another source of electronic information are the on-line databases. These can be quite handy for translating Japanese, finding phone numbers, and looking for books in the Musashino Library. A complete description can be found in the appendices.

Verbal Information

Completely stuck for something or looking for the fastest solution? Try phoning the Tokyo English Life-line, TELL (03-5481-4347, 03-5481-4455) where just about any information you require can be obtained. MIA (Musashino International Association), run by the city of Musashino, is also a very useful for specific information regarding the locality. They are situated a short walk to the north of Mitaka station and are open weekdays, plus two Saturdays per month. The telephone number for MIA is 0422-36-4511 and the address in the Useful Addresses Appendix.

There is a comprehensive listing of numbers you can call, including the emergency services, in the Telephone Services Appendix.

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