Wednesday, December 25, 2019

[EVENT] Let's Make Festival Masks (February 2nd, 2020)


*This event is now fully booked. You will be put in the waiting list and we will let you know when someone cancels. 

A daddies' group based in Nishi ward, Kyoiku-kai and IMCY are going to hold a co-event in February to celebrate Setsubun and Carnival. Kids are going to make two festival masks. If the weather is okay, we are going to enjoy bean-throwing, which is one of the Setsubun traditions,  in the park nearby.  

Date: Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 (10AM~)
Venue: Tobe Community House
Fee: 500 yen/family

Please read through the flyer and SIGN UP to join. 

We are looking forward to seeing many of you!


Monday, December 9, 2019

[INFO] Garbage and Recyclables Collections during New Year Holidays

There is no garbage collection during the New Year holidays as follows:



Click to download the PDF files in each language

(This information is provided through YOKE)


Sunday, October 20, 2019

[EVENT] Hodogaya International Festa 2019, November 17th (SUN)



IMCY is going to join in Hodogaya International Festa this year, too!

Date: November 17th (SUN) 10:00-15:00  (*IMCY stand starts at 11:00). 
Venue: Iwama Shimin Plaza  (Access *Jumps to Hodogaya International Lounge website. We'll be on the 4F)

We are joining with Hodogaya International Mothers Gathering "Piccolo" volunteers this year. Our workshop this year is Pompom dolls as in the photo (¥100 for materials).

There are many fun events, experiences, stands, food stands etc. at the festival.
For more details on the festival, please visit Hodogaya International Lounge website

Please come and join us!!

Thursday, September 5, 2019

[HEALTH] Visual and Audio Checkup for 3 Years Olds


Some of you might have received this letter from the city of Yokohama. This is an announcement for the visual and audio checkup for three-year-old children (turning four this before next April). It says from this fiscal year (or school year/ from April to March in Japan),  they pulled down the target age from four to three, so if you have a four-year-old(s) and a three-year-old(s), you receive the letter for both (or all) of them this year. 

If your child(ren) is already enrolled in a school (nursery or kindergarten), you will receive the checkup questionnaire sheet through your school (between September 2019 and January 2010). 

If your child(ren) stays at home or goes to school outside Yokohama, contact the Children's Health Council Center (the address and the number on the bottom of the left side page). They'll ask your child(ren)'s name, birthdate, address to send the questionnaire after October 2019. Then you are supposed to sent it back in two weeks. They'll enclose a return envelop so you won't need to pay for the postal stamps.

If they judge that your child(ren) needs more detailed checkup, they'll send you another letter (and the checkup will be free of charge) . If not, you will receive nothing. 


The page about the checkup on the website of the city of Yokohama (though they only talk about four year olds). 



Sunday, June 9, 2019

[IMCY Activity Report] Music Together Allegro Demo Session


On a fine day in early June, some IMCY members attended a demo session by Music Together Allegro at their Center Kita classroom.  It's only a few-minute walk from the Yokohama Municipal Subway station (Yokohama History Museum side).  

The Music Together program is a world-wide music program for kids (age 0-5 years old) and caregivers.

Center Kita is the only classroom where the lesson is conducted all in English. In other classrooms, both English and Japanese are used so you don't have to worry even if you don't speak much Japanese. 


Egg shaker time! Shake shake!

Dancing time! 

Book & song time

The age group of our members' kids was about 18mo to 3yo. Some looked a little shy at the beginning but once the music started, they started to join and enjoy the rhythm and movement. We downloaded their application and listened to the songs (the songs used at the demo are free) before coming to the lesson. It seemed like our children enjoyed particularly making some music with little musical instruments such as egg shakers, maracas, castanets etc... Songs, dance, stories...the instructor never let children get bored. Everyone had a great time! 

Their summer season starts soon and registration is now available. For the summer season, you can enroll with siblings for free.

They offer demo lessons at every classroom:

They can also provide the Center Kita room for playgroups or meet-ups when the room is available (before/after the lessons). 

For more details and inquiries, please contact Music Together Allegro


Sunday, June 2, 2019

[WELFARE] Child Allowance Present Condition Form 2019

If you received a yellow envelop from the city, you need to turn in Jido Teate, Genkyo Todoke (児童手当・特例給付現況届) , Child Allowance Present Condition form by the end of June, to continue to receive the allowance for another year.  If you have children under 15 and have not received the envelop, you might need to check if your registration was properly done when you moved in to Yokohama. 



In the envelop, you find:
1) A green sheet (the announcement of the present condition form)
2) A blue-green sheet (how to apply over the Internet using your "My Number" card)
3) A white one-sided sheet (how to fill in the form)
4) A white sheet (the child allowance present condition form to fill//turn in)
5) A green envelop (to send it by post but you need to buy a postal stamp)



*in this context, "you" refers to the recipient of the envelop, usually one of the caretakers who earns more than the other(s).
*"My Number" stands for the social security and tax number (system).


1) SUMMERY OF THE GREEN SHEET

 




[IMPORTANT]You need to turn in the present condition form: in case it wasn't submitted, you will not receive the allowance in June and after.

What To Submit
-A present condition form
-A photocopy of your health insurance card or pension certificate etc.

-The department of Child and Youth will contact you in case you need to submit other documents.


Deadline
Sunday, 30th June, 2019
*ATTENTION: Confirm the business hours of your local ward office if you wish to turn it in at the counter.

How to Submit
1) By Post: Use the green envelop enclosed in the letter. Please put the right amount of postal stamp. You can also make use of registered mail system of the Japan Post if you wish.

2) At the Counter: You can bring it to your ward office, こども家庭支援課 (kodomo katei shien ka/the department of Child and Family Support).

[on the BACK]
Income Check of the Recipient's Spouse
To confirm who is the main supporter of your household (=who earns more), the income of the recipient's spouse must be checked and the accordance is needed.

Prescription of Child Allowance
You will no longer have right to receive Child Allowance in two years without submitting the present condition form. You will have to re-apply at your ward office in that case.

How much Child Allowance you will receive
The amount changes according to your income.
The monthly amount per child
Child Allowance (under the income limit):
under 3 y-old 15000 yen
3-12 (elementary school), 1st &2nd child 10000 yen, after 3rd child 15000 yen
12-15 (junior high school) 10,000 yen
Special Benefit (over the income limit): 5000 yen regardless of age
Point: Income Limit 
If your income is over the income limit, you will receive Special Benefit (5000 yen/child/month) regardless of the age and the number of children.
The recipient is a caretaker who support most of the expense of the child (basically the one who earns more). If your spouse earns more etc. you need to change the recipient (the department of Child and Adolescent will let you know).

The income limit differs according to the number of dependent family members and the deduction.
*Let me skip the income limit system!*



2) SUMMERY OF THE BLUE-GREEN SHEET 

 




Now you can apply the form by the e-apply system.
In the city of Yokohama, you can turn it in over Myna Portal from the 1st to 30th June.
You need the "My Number" card and IC card reader/writer. Please visit the website below for more information.

Myna Portal URL: https:/app.oss.myna.go.jp/Application/search
Or search "ぴったりサービス".

From the top page, choose 神奈川県・横浜市 (Kanagawa prefecture, Yokohama city),
then search 現況届, and choose 児童手当等の現況届.

[on the Back]

For questions about how to use the e-apply system (toll free) 0120-95-0178
For questions about the allowance 045-641-8411 (faximille 045-641-8412)

From later in the year Reiwa 1 (2019), you will not need to submit the copy of your health insurance. However, you need to, this time. More information will be announced when it gets ready.

Please answer the questionnaire about e-apply system.
Read the QR code and answer the questionnaire (it takes about 2 minutes) if you could. By June 30th.


3) SUMMERY OF THE WHITE ONE-SIDED SHEET




How to fill in the form

Date of application  ex) June 15th, 2019 = 令和 1   6 月 15 日
Always in  yy-mm-dd order in Japan. The year 2019 is Reiwa 1 (from May).
Recipient information area
The recipient's name (who earns the most in your household)
Family name stamp if you have, or the recipient's signature.
Sex: Male 男 Female 
Birthdate (may already be printed) Circle 昭和(showa) if you were born before January 8th, 1989. Circle 平成(heisei) if you were born after. 
Address (may be already printed), if the current address isn't what is printed here, erase with two parallel lines and fill in the correct address
Telephone numbers (upper line: home, lower line: mobile phone number)
Address on January 1st, 2019: Circle and if outside Yokohama, write the address in the ( )  (横浜市内 inside Yokohama, 横浜市街 outside Yokohama, 国外 overseas)
*If outside Yokohama, fill in the prefecture, city, and ward names of your previous residence
Occupation: Circle  会社員 employee 自営業 self-employed 公務員 civil servant 無職unemployed その他 others (  )
Office name and number
Employee or not: 被用者=Employee
⑬ Pension Type: (1) Employee's Pension (2) Mutual Aid Pension (3) National Pension (including no.3) (4) No Pension
Those with (1) and (2) are required to photocopy the health insurance card and attach it on the back of the form.
⑭(Upper)Do you have a spouse? Circle Yes: 有 No: 
If no, you don't have to fill in the Spouse area.
(Lower)Do you (financially) support your spouse? Circle Yes: 有 No: 
When filling in the information of your spouse below, you need his/her accordance as in Convenant clauses and agreement.
Spouse's information area
Name of the spouse
Birthdate of the spouse
Address: Do you live together with your spouse? Circle Yes:同居 No:別居 If No, fill in the address in the [ ].
Occupation: Circle  会社員 employee 自営業 self-employed 公務員 civil servant 無職 unemployed その他 others
Address on January 1st 2019. Circle 横浜市 inside Yokohama 横浜市外 outside Yokohama 国外 overseas
Office name and number
Children information area
㉔Children whom the recipient takes care of (guard) and who were born after April 2nd, 2001
(write the full names of your children)
Relationship (child  grandchild etc.)
㉖Birthdate
㉗Residence(同居 together 別居 separated)
Living (must be 同一same if it's your child. In case of caretakers other than the parents, 維持maintaining)

*Please fill in all your children from 0 year old to 18 years old (considered as 18 years old till March 31st after turning 18).
*Need another document if you live separately with your children. 
*In case your children are studying abroad, write down the date of departure. Need another document to submit, too.

4) SUMMERY OF THE WHITE SHEET (FORM)
What is written on the bottom

*You cannot change the recipient with this form. 

*If you have more than six children, you have two sheets of this form. Please submit both.


Convenant clauses and agreement
(1) I agree with that the city of Yokohama searches the recipient and his/her spouse's income information for official records or documents at other executive agencies or using My Number system in order to judge the necessary conditions to provide Child Allowance. 
(2) In case the necessary information cannot be confirmed by official records, I will turn in necessary documents.

Caution: To continue to receive Child Allowance, you need to turn in this Present Condition form.
In two years without turning in the form, you will lose the right to receive the allowance.

The backside
Please attach a copy of your health insurance on this side.

@Why a copy of our health insurance card is necessary?
We need to confirm that the recipient of the allowance is "employed" or not and we use the copy of the health insurance card of the recipient as an easy way to check it (If the recipient is a member of National Pension or s/he is not a member of any, the photocopy of the health insurance card is not necessary).
 You may need to turn in the pension certificate depending on your pension, so please read the following statements and submit what is necessary.

1. The recipient is a member of
-Employees Pension (so-called Kosei Nenkin pension or Kyosai Nenkin pension)
If the recipient had an issuance card of one of below or don't know whats:
 (a) Health Insurance Membership Card (Japan Health Insurance Association/ Health Insurance Associations)
 (b) Japan Doboku Kenchiku (public engineering) Health Insurance Association Card
 (c) Private School Teachers mutual-aid Association Card
 (d) Japan Post mutual-aid Association Card
(e) Sailor Health Insurance Card
(f) Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology mutual-aid Membership Card (limited to branches like universities)
 (g) Among mutual-aid membership cards, the one that it is clear the employer is an independent administrative institution or a local independent administrative institution.
 
Please attach the photocopy of the recipient's card. *Not the one of your children.

2. The recipient is a member of (1) Employees Pension or (2) Mutual Aid Pension (as declared on the surface) but the health insurance is National Health Insurance.
Please receive a certificate from your office.
*Your office (company) will fill in the form on the bottom.