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Report 1 - Japan – So Far… 4 OCTOBER 2003

I did hope to have a quiet, relaxing time in the week before my trip to Japan. Time to gather my thoughts and direct them towards the necessary duties of packing and preparation. After all, my schedule is for eight weeks I thought – hotels need to be booked, DJ lessons need to be arranged, Japanese needs to be learned.

In actuality, however, I was far busier than expected, with the time consuming nature of having to move house failing to appear in my series of thoughts. As a result, I had hardly any time to think about my forthcoming travels and became neither nervous nor excited.

It was upon my arrival at Narita Airport that the reality finally, and quickly, sank in – from this point onwards, I would have to use Japanese entirely for eight weeks. The rusty cogs in the small Japanese section of my brain, which had lain dormant since my final S.O.A.S. exam, creaked and ground into action at passport control. “Morning” I said to the man at the desk.

Maybe it was due to standing in a queue of Europeans, or maybe it was the long flight and jet lag, but whatever the weak excuse, it was a bad start. I attempted to re-assure myself by thinking that it could only get better from here.

I was cheered somewhat by the stunning speed and efficiency of the Narita Airport staff. From passport control to picking up my luggage took no longer than five minutes. Marvellous.

The procession of bus transfers, connecting flights and train journeys that ensued were entirely problem free and endowed me with renewed confidence, with the connecting flight from Tokyo to Hokkaido being particularly helpful. The aircraft was virtually empty and so the air stewardesses, upon learning to their surprise that I could maintain a basic conversation in Japanese, proceeded to talk to me for the whole journey.

I arrived at Hokkaido University (H.U.E.S.) on Monday the 22nd of September to meet the staff who had arranged the one weeks language tuition and homestay, and of course, the homestay family, Mr. and Mrs. Sawamura. My new temporary parents were as kind and accommodating as I could possibly have hoped for. After whisking me away from the University campus, they drove me along the exact route that I would have to take every morning, stopping at every bus and train station, explaining schedules and route numbers, how to use the ticket machines – even introducing me to the bus drivers. I was informed to such an extent that, if I were to have made a mistake on my way to university, it wouldn’t just have been stupid, it would have been rude.

My first night at the homestay house was difficult in terms of communication – the Sawamura’s quickly spoken and informal style of Japanese was often greeted by me with either confused or mildly panicked looks. The situation did improve though, and, I hope, is still improving. I have had to use Japanese, with varying degrees of success, in a wide variety of situations, from deciphering road maps and ordering food, to asking for directions and changing money at the bank.

There is also, of course, the extremely helpful language course at Hokkaido University, taught by the ever helpful but unfortunate Tanaka-Sensei. A week before I arrived, she was hit by a car whilst riding a bike, so our first meeting was shortly after she struggled to get out of a taxi wearing a neck brace and crutches. This did little to dent her enthusiasm however, and I am grateful to her and the rest of the staff for providing a course, which had just the right balance of new and previously learned material. Several important aspects of Japanese were covered, including telephone conversations, business introductions/farewell procedures and usage of polite and humble speech.

The timing of the course, although necessary, was the only mildly negative aspect I can think of. Aside from the Monday and Tuesday of the second week (29th and 30th September) the university was virtually empty because term had not yet started. These two days were much livelier and enjoyable as a consequence.

The rest of my experience so far can best be summed up by describing two main things. The first arrived at 4:56am on Friday morning and came in the form of a strangely vibrating bed. In my sleepy stupor I thought that it was either Mr. or Mrs. Sawamura shaking my bed in order to wake me up – something which in hindsight, admittedly, comes across as a little bizarre. As the bed began to shake more violently however, and things started to fall from the shelf, I realized that this might possibly be an earthquake.

And indeed it was – the biggest in the world this year apparently. Having never experienced an earthquake before (let alone one that measured 8 on the Richter scale) its possible to say that I was a little surprised.

The second began when I expressed to my homestay family, my desire to visit an ‘Onsen’ (hot spa), for which Japan is famous. The Sawamura’s then promptly arranged a mini-tour of Southern Hokkaido, taking in five onsen visits, a mountain tour and a camping trip. Such kindness and dedication to entertaining someone they hardly knew made a big impression on me and the presents I had given them upon arriving now seemed woefully inadequate.

As for the Onsen, little did I realize, in my reserved English naivety, that you take all your clothes off before entering the baths. Once naked however, I enjoyed every relaxing minute of my Onsen visits, with the first in particular being intriguing for its almost jet-black water and outdoor bath, replete with stunning scenery.

I am now staying at Sapporo International Youth Hostel before I go to Tokyo for my work experience at Reuters – my DJ teaching having been delayed until after I return from the capital. I will endeavour to report on each of these as they occur.

Jon Mann, October 2003

Report 2 - Work Experience 17 OCTOBER 2003

At the end of my initial two week stay in Sapporo, I was beginning to feel as if I was settling in to the Japanese lifestyle – I had been to Onsen’s, visited the mountains, eaten a whole host of Japanese food and lived with and conversed with Japanese for the entire time. I was also beginning to understand more about the Japanese mindset and the subtle but important differences in everyday life. For example, for anyone who has ever used the London Underground, the fascinatingly ordered movement of masses of people in train stations is truly a wonder to behold.

However, this growing feeling of familiarity with Japan was comprehensively deflated upon arriving in Tokyo. To say that this sprawling metropolis is different to Hokkaido and its capital Sapporo would be an understatement. 

I assume that the main reason for this is that Hokkaido was only colonized by the Japanese about 150 years ago, which for a country with such a rich culture and long history, is very recent indeed. As a result, there is a distinct lack of historical monuments or ancient temples on an island that is Japan’s second largest but which houses a mere 5% of the population. Add to this the fact that my home-stay accommodation was in a rural, Swedish style residential development and it becomes clearer to understand why Tokyo was such a surprise.

After the simplistic, American style ‘grid’ road system of Sapporo, the seemingly random maze of small inter-connected lanes around my initial accommodation was immensely confusing. I don’t think I have been as lost in my entire life. Once I had deviated form the main road, the tightly woven network of mainly residential buildings closed in around me as night fell and made progress far from assured. I felt like laying a trail of breadcrumbs.

Much to my relief however, I managed, with the help of some kindly locals, to find the Ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) I had booked for my first week in Tokyo. Ryokan’s are small hotels, which sacrifice western style hotel comforts for an authentic Japanese experience, with Japanese gardens, almost entirely wooden structure and rooms decked out in Tatami mats. Having stayed in western style accommodation since I arrived in Japan, this was an enjoyable and educational change. The beautifully ornate gardens, perpetual quiet and soothing baths all contributed to a calming, satisfying stay, offsetting the hectic nature of rush-hour Tokyo (which incidentally, takes up a large portion of the day).

Which brings me on to my first full day. After ringing the Reuters Tokyo bureau chief, Adrian Dickson, and arranging to start my work experience on Tuesday the 7th of October, I set off for Shinjuku station to find the offices of the Japanese Minshuku Association (Minshuku means ‘homestay’), hoping to arrange the accommodation for the rest of my stay. 

Shinjuku is by far the largest, most confusing train station I have ever visited. Sixty exits and continuous streams of people swamping you from all directions can easily lead to lost bearings, and in my case, did. Also, if you take into account the fact that I was actually in the wrong station (I should have been in Nishi-Shinjuku), my debut visit was not particularly fun or successful.

With this episode over with and the memory filed under ‘Excessive, Aimless Wandering’, I embarked upon the planned three weeks work experience. I was told that I would be working in the Reuters TV department, but I wasn’t sure what to expect – my previous, feeble experience in the media industry amounting to two weeks work experience at Express Newspapers as a 16 year old. Happily though, it has turned out to far surpass my expectations. After being introduced to the Human Resources executive Mika Endo, I was taken on a tour of the offices in the business district of Kamiyacho and immediately dispatched to the BAR Honda Formula 1 team press conference at the plush Okura Hotel. 

From then onwards (along with finally getting to grips with the Japanese rail system), I have been to the Imperial Palace, the Stock Exchange, the Space Science Museum, a protest at the American Embassy and lots of other Tokyo destinations in what has been an immensely varied and greatly enjoyable two weeks. The staff here have been friendly, accommodating and helpful since my arrival, explaining to me the procedure of preparing news footage, from filming on-site, through scripting and transcribing, to satellite broadcast. 

The only downside to working here is the fact that the majority of the Japanese employees speak perfect English and therefore always resort to using it when explaining things, particularly when a lot of unfamiliar, technical vocabulary needs to be used, or in situations where time is of the essence. This is of course necessary, and I am trying to use Japanese in as many situations as possible, during and outside of work.

I am grateful to everyone at Reuters and Reuters Foundation, and of course, Mrs. Hagio for providing me with this opportunity and I am eagerly looking forward to my final week here.

Jon Mann, October 2003

REPORT 3 – DJ Tuition 17 NOVEMBER 2003

My first DJ lesson in Japan did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. First of all, there was the small matter of my DJ equipment not arriving from England on time. No blame-shifting can be achieved here unfortunately because this mishap was entirely of my own doing (I had specified a “Deliver no earlier than…” date but nit the opposite). I came to my first lesson without the tools of my trade and thus, my whole reason for being there. Just to further accentuate the ineptness of my preparation, I was told that the 20 students at the Sapporo branch of the YMCA had been preparing the room until 10pm the previous night. This included drawing a huge “Welcome Jon!” mural on the blackboard, making Japanese and English flags and preparing an extensive selection of food and drink. “Could this situation possibly get any worse?” I asked myself. 

The first thing resembling a Plan B that I could think of was to ring the musical equipment rental shop I had contacted prior to sending my decks from England (I had decided on shipping my own equipment because renting on more than a couple of occasions was prohibitively expensive). At that point, however, I was willing to pay – it was the very least I could do.

Unfortunately, ‘nothing’ was the very most they could do, due to having no equipment in store at such short notice. At this point, I would have laughed at anyone who suggested that the lesson would turn out to be a success but, amazingly, it did just that, thanks mainly to Yasushi Yamashita, an English teacher at Sapporo’s Tohbetsu High School. 

Two months earlier, I had applied for the annual Hagio Prize scholarship with the aim of taking my DJ teaching experience to Japan. I had hoped to provide opportunities for Japanese children to learn something they perhaps would not have the chance to learn otherwise. It was shortly after I was awarded this scholarship, as I began to attempt to arrange the DJ classes, when I first contacted Mr. Yamashita. In order to achieve this, my first port of call was the internet, but the intimidating masses of Kanji on each site I visited were too difficult to negotiate without intensive study so – although I shouldn’t really be admitting this after completing a Japanese course - my limited internet attention span resulted in me relying entirely on photographs to navigate.

Because of this haphazard method of investigating something quite specific, progress was slow and frustrating for a long period. As time was rapidly running out however, I somehow happened upon the website of ‘Chieria’(the Sapporo Youth Centre), and the personal website of Kelly Batstone, who was teaching English in Sapporo until August this year. This would be a good start I thought, not realizing that in fact, I would have to look no further. After contacting Kelly to ask whether she could provide me with the contact details of anyone who may be able to help, I was given the e-mail address of a certain Mr. Yamashita and a note recommending him highly, describing his kindness and willingness to help.

Bearing in mind the fact that I only contacted Mr. Yamashita a week before I left for Japan, his subsequent, immediate and thorough effort on my behalf was truly surprising and greatly appreciated. Upon meeting for the first time in my initial week in Japan, I found that he had already set up meetings with the staff at Chieria, E.L.S. (an English Language School) and the YMCA, and was also working to arrange a series of lessons at his own school, Tohbetsu High. After two weeks in Tokyo, my entire schedule until mid November was arranged. Meeting people who will endeavour to do all they can for my benefit was becoming a habit, and was both humbling and impressive in equal measure.

On the brink of failure in my first lesson at the YMCA, Mr. Yamashita phoned a student of his called Watanabe, who had mentioned having an interest in DJ’ing. Not only did Watanabe have the right equipment, he was willing to let me borrow it all at short notice, enabling the lesson to go ahead as planned (In return for this, I gave Watanabe private lessons during my time at Tohbetsu High School and donated him some records.

As for the lessons on general, they all went smoothly from that point on, with all of the students showing an amazing ability to learn and use often very difficult techniques (which, incidentally, took me far longer to master). My mini teaching tour consisted of twelve lessons in four different places with over one hundred students participating. I have also, at the request of Mr. Yamashita, been helping to teach English at Tohbetsu, becoming an ever-present in the staffroom in the past two weeks. Highlights included a bout of extra-curricular scone making, hastily prepared attempts at an English-learning version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and a lesson in Kimono-making from a group of final-year students. This week in particular has been hugely enjoyable and thoroughly hectic, with no less than four different home-stays in four days, an almost full-time teaching schedule at two different schools and relentless early mornings.

I leave for Nagano this weekend but I will be extremely sad to leave this place and the many wonderful people I have met here. They have provided me with a truly memorable experience, and despite the fact that I came here to teach, I feel as though I have spent the majority of my time learning.

Jon Mann, November 2003

REPORT 4 – FINAL REPORT

It is only now, having re-adjusted to life in England, that my experience of life in Japan has come into focus, enabling me to sit back and review the memory as a whole with the benefit of context that only late trains, rubbish weather and discarded jet-lag can provide. 

Context and perspective are important because, personally, I find it fairly easy to become immediately accustomed to, ad thus over confident or relaxed in a new situation or location – a trait which proved to be both a benefit and a hindrance on my far eastern travels. The kinds of difficulties that can arise from a blasé mindset can be best illustrated by my attempt to ride a train in Nagano prefecture during my last week in Japan. Bearing in mind that I was attempting a mere 5-minute run on the bullet train to the nearest international cash-point, I eventually arrived in Tokyo a full hour and a half later aboard the quite clearly labelled ‘non-stop to Tokyo’ train.

The train flashed through all stations en-route to the capital without even a suggestion of slowdown – my train confidence being drained as each stop silently sailed by. I ended up paying more for the journey than I had intended to withdraw at the cash-point. Still, it was as comfortable and smooth a journey as you can expect on a train – this is Japan after all. During this unwanted excursion, I decided that flying was a preferable means of transport. Its not as if you can accidentally step onto the wrong train, is it?

This is, of course, a fairly extreme example of the pit-falls and wallet lightening effects of over-confidence, but the pro’s often outweigh the con’s. I found that during my whirlwind tour of four home-stays in a week, which spanned almost the entire breadth of Sapporo, it was a trait that was particularly useful. Also equally important was the kindness of the relevant families, who were, without exception, friendly, accommodating and – judging by the amount of food I was offered – seemingly overstocked. Some of the household pets, however, were verging on the over-friendly, particularly the large golden retriever of the Tanabe family, who seemed to think it would be a good idea to wake me at 6am by dribbling on me.

I was also given three hand-drawn Brutish flags, some amazingly intricate and delicate origami animals and a tiny thank you note written on Afro-Ken paper by the various children I stayed with. Despite this good will, I felt at times as though I was conducting a social experiment – visiting and interviewing people in their home environment, studying their food and inspecting their living quarters. I never really had a chance to settle anywhere and get to know people well enough to move past standard conversational patterns and actually understand my various temporary parents. This was a shame but it allowed me a variety and depth of experience that staying in hotels and hostels simply cannot provide.

The locations for my DJ lessons were far more settled, with Tohbetsu high school being a permanent fixture for the whole three weeks. This allowed me to get to know the students and fellow teachers far better and gave me an insight into the studying and working life of the average Japanese. One aspect in particular caught my attention whilst working at the high school, and still astounds me now – the students clean the school. Everything from changing rubbish bins to sweeping the halls is carried out by an enthusiastic body of willing students. If this was introduced in England there would be a full-scale, nationwide youth rebellion.

This is perhaps the most obvious way of illustrating the differences between Japanese and English school life but there are plenty of less noticeable but equally important factors that are perhaps indicative of Japanese society on a wider scale. More emphasis is placed on joining and actively contributing to extra curricular activities. They often seem to be a natural continuation of a normal school day and it is not unusual for students (and most teachers) to stay until six or seven in the evening. This makes for a far more close-knit and sociable atmosphere than you would find in most English schools and although I am not in a position to make sweeping statements, I feel that the situation in schools may reflect trends in Japanese society as a whole.

Another trend that I identified was the extraordinary ability of virtually all my students to pick up often difficult, complicated DJ’ing techniques within a very short time. Hopefully, some will continue to practice DJ’ing or become interested in creating music, making my visit and the investment by Mrs. Hagio and Reuters Foundation worthwhile. The whole trip, from my slip-up at passport control to my rushed visit to Kyoto in the last couple of days (arrive, look at temples, leave…) was fantastic and I hope to continue my Japanese studies in the new year and visit Japan again in the very near future.

Jon Mann, December 2003