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I remember on arriving at Kansai Airport my initial excitement at finally being in Japan after dreaming of what it would be like for so long. I was absolutely exhausted and felt in need of a good shower after the twelve hour flight, but I felt so happy to be finally surrounded by Japanese people, signs written in kanji and the vending machines I had been told you could find on every street corner. One internal flight to Hokkaido and a few train rides later, we arrived at the Sapporo International Youth Hostel, where we would be staying for the next 3 nights. I’ve never seen such a clean hotel, let alone a youth hostel.

From the moment I got to Japan I felt a lot safer than anywhere else I had been. People walk along the street with their wallets protruding from their back pockets; bikes are left unlocked in the street; and in more extremes cases I saw rucksacks on the floor of stations which were unattended, probably while their owners were grabbing something to eat or in the toilet. I even heard that people pop in to the convenience store while leaving their cars running totally unattended.

After three days at the youth hostel, we met up with our fellow SOAS classmates, our first home stay families, and staff at Hokkaido University of Education (HUES), including Junkichi Suzuki, the organiser of the program. I think the best way to get a taste of everyday Japanese life is through a home stay. My first home stay family had three young children, which I was very pleased about as I had asked to stay with a family with children - you can learn a lot from children language-wise. I nearly always spoke to the family in Japanese. The children all studied English at school or in outside classes, but were probably too shy to use English in front of me. My second home stay family, where I was to spend the next 2 weeks, were equally as kind and welcoming. 

   
Sarah King (first left) with her initial home-stay family in Sapporo. She is holding the children's pet hamster "Puni-chan".

Part of the program involved spending some time at the university, where we did language revision and were given tips for the work placement and home stays, which was really helpful. We were also taken out one night by the Dean of the university for probably the most spectacular meal of my life! As Hokkaido is famous for its crab, the main feature of this massive feast was a whole crab each.

My placement was with STV (Sapporo Television). Although I was very much looking forward to starting my work experience, I also had some reservations. I knew that I would have to make a lot of very formal introductions, and possibly some speeches and on my first day, to my horror, I was told that I had been invited to a party taking place the following evening where I was to make a speech. I expected I would just have to stand up at my table and say a few words in front of a few people, but on reaching the party I saw I would be standing on stage with a microphone, in front of a couple of hundred people. I felt quite petrified, to say the least.

The people at STV were extremely hospitable and I always felt very well looked after. During the first 2 weeks in the TV department, some of the activities included being shown how to use the editing facilities; going with a camera crew and reporter to the opening of a new floor at Mitsukoshi; and attending a press conference. I was also taken to Odori Park in the heart of Sapporo, with a camera crew, where I was given a digital camera to film the beautiful Autumn leaves. On returning to STV I was allowed to edit what I had shot at the park. There were a couple of days when I went out with the early morning broadcast crew, which meant getting to STV at 5am, but I got a chance to see some parts of Sapporo I probably never would have otherwise. The second two weeks were spent in the Radio Department. On three occasions I was given the chance to speak on radio; one time I was asked to talk about the top most famous Japanese people in England.

I felt very sad on my last day at STV, just because I was going to miss the people so much. I made some good friends there who I hoped to keep in contact with for life. That evening a leaving party was held at the STV restaurant for all of the work placement participants. This is where we were all to make our farewell speeches, giving us an opportunity to thank every one involved in the program and to talk about our experiences in Sapporo. The final speeches really showed how far we had all come in just 5 weeks.

Tokyo is renowned for being overcrowded and its packed trains. We tried to avoid travelling at the peak of rush hour, but we found the trains seemed to be crowded at most times of the day. The difference between the trains in Japan and the Tube in London, is people seem a lot more civil in Japan, and the crowds are somehow a lot more organised. Some of my favourite places in Tokyo included Asakusa, which has an amazing arcade of shops, selling all kinds of things you would associate with traditional Japan (kimonos, masks, etc.), Shibuya and Ueno Park. Most of the places we visited were tourist hotspots, so it was very crowded. I went to Akihabara to buy a denshi jisho (an electronic Japanese - English dictionary), which proved invaluable for the rest of the trip. We visited a number of museums and temples in Tokyo. One of the most interesting museums was the Nippon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai (The Japanese Sword Museum) in Shibuya. We also managed to visit Nikko whilst based in Tokyo. Nikko is a place where I wish I could have stayed longer, because it takes a lot of time to go round all the temples and take in the breathtaking scenery.

(Sarah also made private arrangements to extend her stay to allow her to visit other cities such as Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Osaka)

Since coming back to England I think of Japan and the time I spent there every day. On top of the stunning scenery, amazing food, and generally pleasant atmosphere, the things that will leave the longest lasting impression is the fact everything seems to work over in Japan. The low crime rate, clean streets, reliable transport, good customer service and feeling like you can trust the people around you. It is these factors that makes Japan so special for me.

Sarah King, December 2001