Indian handicrafts on sale for charity Mustard Seeds, an organization providing support for children and nongovernmental organizations in Kolkata, India, is holding a charity exhibition and sale of Indian handicrafts in Kyoto and Nara.

On sale will be silk scarves, stoles, silver jewelry, bags and many other items, all collected directly from local artisans and NPOs involved in the development of traditional crafts in various regions of India.

Part of the proceeds will go to support the Rehabilitation Centres for Children, a facility in Kolkata that provides free medical treatment for underprivileged children.

Today, the sale will be held at Ratna Cafe in Kyoto's Nakagyo Ward, from noon to 8:30 p.m. The venue is a five-minute walk from Hankyu Omiya Station, located on Iwagami Street, next to Horikawa Street. Call (075) 812-5862.

The venue for the sale next Friday and Saturday will be Chautary, an Asian textile boutique in Nara. The shop is a five-minute walk from Kintetsu Ayameike Station. The sale will be held from noon to 6 p.m. Call (0742) 46-9601.

For more information, call Mustard Seeds at (0742) 48-0012.

Free dental checkups to be offered in Osaka Heartful Library, a nonprofit organization based in Osaka, is hosting free dental checkups for foreign and Japanese residents on May 29 and 30 at Dawn Center (Osaka Prefectural Women's Center) in Chuo Ward.

At the annual event, local dentists provide foreigners who have no health insurance or have trouble communicating with doctors with advice on treatment plans and costs for various dental and oral problems, as well as giving a general dental checkup.

Interpretation in English, Chinese and Portuguese will be available.

Participation is free, but reservations are recommended.

For reservations and more information, call the organizer at (06) 6359-4443 (in Japanese), or e-mail [email protected]

Ice cream fest graces Tempozan Harbor:

An ice cream festival is being held until July 11 at Tempozan Harbor Village, a waterfront amusement district in Osaka's Minato Ward.

About 100 types of ice cream from around the country will be on sale. All contain or use flavors of specialties from various prefectures, including corn, melons and cream cheese from Hokkaido, strawberries from Miyagi, green tea from Fukuoka, shochu distilled from rice from Kumamoto, and even such marine products as crab from Hokkaido, octopus from Miyagi and shrimp from Toyama.

Prices range from 63 yen to 630 yen per serving.

The Turkish "sticky" ice cream called dondurma will also be sold, with a performance of stretching the ice cream. The price for dondurma is 400 yen.

Admission is free.

The venue is on the second floor of the Tempozan Marketplace building. The festival will be held between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. every day except for June 23 and 24. Turkish ice cream will be available from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Tempozan Harbor Village is a five-minute walk from Osaka-ko Station on the Chuo subway line.

For more information, call the organizer at (06) 6576-5501.