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Set up in 2000, the Hagio Prize aims to promote greater international understanding of the culture and society of Japan. The annual travel award was created at the request of Mrs Fumiko Hagio, personal assistant to six Reuters Chief Representatives in Tokyo between 1959 and 1983. Using funds generated from a holding of Reuters shares,  Mrs Hagio set up the educational fund in memory of her husband, Atsushi Hagio.

Jointly endowed by the Atsushi and Fumiko Hagio Fund and Reuters Foundation, the award is offered through the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS). Students successfully completing the Diploma in Modern Japanese at SOAS can apply for the prize, which entitles the winner to an educational stay in Japan lasting up to six weeks.

Full details of the terms and conditions of the prize can be found on the SOAS website at:

www.soas.ac.uk/languagecentre/japanese/hagio.html

The 2006 award was made to Martna Wrotna, who travelled to Japan in September.  Marta spent some of her time working for TV Hokkaido and for the Japanese Travel Bureau.  Reports are summarised below and those of previous winners can be read by clicking on the right-hand links.  

Report 1
My journey to Japan started on 23rd of September 2006. I am travelling with my mum and my baby girl, so the flight went quickly as I had company. Plus my daughter was acting like an angel, and she attracted attention of Japanese people flying on the plane.

We arrived at Tokyo Narita Airport on a beautiful sunny morning (24th).  We went through customs without any problems. Straightaway I had to speak in Japanese asking the way and buying bus tickets to Tokyo Haneda Airport. From Haneda we took a plane to Sapporo and arrived there in late afternoon. Japanese people turned out to be very helpful. A stranger from the train helped to carry our luggage and showed us the taxi stop. We were nicely surprised. That was so different from London.

We finally arrived to weekly mansion at 5 o’clock. Nice Japanese lady showed us around the room and was explaining everything in Japanese. I have to admit I haven’t understood too much on that first day. And speaking seemed so difficult. We were all really exhausted. But the room was nice, very clean and welcoming.

After I fed my daughter and put her to bed, I went to the supermarket to buy something to eat. Well, we were tired, but hungry. It was very hard to buy any food because everything was written in Japanese. I was shocked and worried. Finally I grabbed some sushi and juice, and got back to the mansion. After eating sushi with my mum, I went to bed and fell asleep straight away.

In the morning I was feeling much better and was waiting forward what the day would bring. I left home at 7.30am and managed to find the tube station. What struck me the most starting with that day was how clean Sapporo is. It is just unbelievable. And it is fantastic that all Japanese people recycle and segregate all rubbish so properly. That’s the way they are brought up. I wish we could do the same in London!

The way to the University on the first day was complicated. On top of that, I couldn’t understand what kinds of tickets are sold. I managed to get to the University right on time with help of passers-by. I have to say, Japanese are very helpful when you ask for help. And they are always polite. It is really amazing for me.

I was delighted to see my friend from SOAS, Toni, in the International Centre of the University. She’s also doing workplacement in Sapporo at the moment. The people who welcomed us were really kind and hospitable though it was so difficult to understand all what they said. I understood just the main sense of the talk.

So starting from Monday 25th me and Toni had 5 days of classes with a wonderful teacher Mrs Tanaka Misaki. She helped us a lot. She’s not only taught us Japanese but also tried to introduce us to some Japanese customs and Japanese culture. She was always full of joy, looking after us like an elder sister. One day she brought from home 2 Japanese summer kimonos called yukata. She let us were them. They were awesome! It was such a fantastic experience for me. She also explained some rules of wearing kimonos, and how to seat and get up with it on. That was very interesting for me. We got some good pictures. On the other occasion she brought origami paper and showed us how to make a crane. She always answered our questions regarding new challenges we were facing every day in Japan.

In the International Centre there was also a girl called Yumi. She was also very kind, and one day she showed us step by step the way how to make ‘’makizushi’’. We had good fun together, speaking in Japanese of course! And after that we ate what we made. It was delicious!

On Thursday 28th I met people from TV Hokkaido for the first time. That’s a company I was assigned to take the workplacement with the following week. We were to exchange the visit cards which is traditional way of introducing oneself on business terms in Japan. A very nice teacher from the University Mr Tanaka looked after me and Toni on that day. He was very accommodating and assured there is nothing to worry about. When we arrived to TV Hokkaido building I was really stressed out. I exchanged the visit cards with two managers that welcomed me. They were very friendly but I just couldn’t understand half of what they were saying. I was relieved when we left. After Toni’s appointment was over, Mr Tanaka invited us for big ice-cream. That was so sweet of him. Really, it came to me as a surprise how kind people can be without expecting things back.

On Sunday evening Mr Tanaka’s wife invited me, my mum and my baby for dinner. We ate home-made Japanese food and really enjoyed. I have to say on that first week my stomach was a bit upset with such a big amount of raw fish but by now I got used to. Mrs Tanaka was very kind. We talked a lot and I noticed that even though only one week has passed since I came I already improved my listening and speaking skills in Japanese. I was so happy about that! After that I met Mr and Mrs Tanaka two times. They are fantastic. They took me and my family for one day trips showing Hokkaido. We’ve been to Otaru, a city on the sea side. The weather was bad on that day, it rained all the time. But we enjoyed spending time together. We went to the huge market selling musical boxes. They were beautiful, and so many of them. Small and big, classical and modern. You could have spent few hours there and you wouldn’t be bored just watching. We also went to the glass market. There also were amazing pieces of glass. But the prices were also amazing. Very expensive. So we just watched.

On the other occasion Tanaka san took us to the hot spring. It was placed in mountains so the view was amazing. The water was hot – 40 degrees. It was really difficult to go in. But I did. And even my baby did! It was very relaxing. All of us enjoyed.

Now I want to write about one more thing that amazed me. Surely more than a half of population of Sapporo uses bikes to commute on everyday basis. Bikes are everywhere and what is interesting they can be ridden on the pavement as well as on the streets. I like this custom. It is so different from London. I would definitely get a bike if I was to stay here for longer.

I have already lots of memories and I am really enjoying my trip. I love Japanese people and Sapporo City. I think the hardest thing so far is getting used to Japanese writing system. I like Japanese characters, but they are really difficult to remember. So that’s my main struggle.

REPORT 2
My first work placement started on Monday, 2nd of October 2006. The day was beautiful. I put on my black skirt and formal jacket, and went to the TV Hokkaido building where I was assigned to work. I was stressed, as usual. I am like that every time when I meet new people. Plus I was very worried how I will cope with speaking and understanding Japanese in a specific work environment. As I expected it was a challenge. It took me some time to learn all the specific vocabulary related to TV broadcasting. I still cannot understand everything but I surely improved my speaking and listening skills. So I am very happy about that.

Starting with the first day, everyone has been very kind to me. Especially Japanese women, they have something special about them, it is inborn kindness I would say. They always had a smile and a good word for me. Men were also very polite. Mr Takahashi spent the whole morning with me explaining how the company works and also asking about me and my family. I felt very welcomed. On that first day in the evening, there was a party to mark the occasion of 18th anniversary of TV Hokkaido. Lots of people came, and many of them had a speech. As I found out later, giving a speech on every occasion is a very characteristic thing in Japanese culture. They even made me introduce myself in front of everyone. I was so embarrassed. I really don’t like making speeches in public. I just read what I had prepared earlier at home. Well, they were amazed telling me I speak very good Japanese. I wouldn’t agree. Anyway they were very kind and encouraging. I felt very welcomed.

In those first days I was very worried for not saying something rude. Japanese people use different grammatical forms depending on whom do they talk to. I was confused many times, what form should I use. But my co-workers always assured me that I was polite.
Working for a TV company in Japan was very interesting experience. Every day I traveled with a journalist and a cameraman to some interesting place for news gathering. We’ve been to Otaru, a seaside city, where we got on the Japan Coast Guard boat and went 30 km to the sea. The weather was fantastic that day, and the views beautiful. The following day we went to the Mount Teine to see the TV Hokkaido transmitter place on the mountain top. I was inside but I didn’t understand too much looking at all those machines. But it was interesting to see how it works. I was told that it is almost impossible to get there in winter because of huge amount of snow around the transmitter.

One of the most enjoyable days was when we went to the fish factory. A nice journalist, Kikuya san, made an interview with the boss about: in what way collagen is extracted from salmon skin. Then we put the masks and kilts and were showed around to see the process step by step. It was very interesting. I even received some cosmetic with collagen as a present. On the other day, I went to see the interview with a teenage star Okada kun. He is a singer and very popular. But that was a first time I heard about him so it didn’t feel that special. But the little girl who was making the interview was very very excited.
I was also taken along to see the reportage from very unusual classes. It was about how to cut the fish properly. I was observing very carefully how the lady was cleaning and then cutting a huge salmon, and it seemed really difficult. I prefer to buy prepared fish but there were many women interested in learning and even two men.

So everyday I went somewhere else seeing some part of Japanese life and culture. What you probably notice is that there were no tragic or scary news. And that is the other characteristic of Sapporo and Hokkaido. It is so safe. It is unbelievable. I am still not sure why that is. I was told that it is because the gap between poor and rich in Sapporo is practically not existent. But I also think it is part of their culture, they were taught since childhood to be polite and work hard. And they cannot easily change their nature.
All the trips I had probably seem to be like sightseeing. But in fact they were real gathering of the information for the evening news. Every evening at 5.22 pm TV Hokkaido was broadcasting Hokkaido news on the national news from Tokyo (all over Japan ). I found it very interesting. The news time was about 4 to 5 minutes, but it took lots of preparation and all people worked very hard to make it perfect. Every evening I would sit there observing the cooperative work of many people. They were good as a team, and very professional. I can say that I learned a lot about many aspects of work in TV industry in Japan. Generally I think it is not that different from a Western TV company. People working there were quite relaxed, very friendly, and didn’t seem to do over-time work which is so characteristic for Japanese workers. I have a comparison, as another company I worked for was very different, but I will write about it in the next report. Anyway, people from TV Hokkaido were very warm and sweet. At the end, they gave me a task to prepare a short text about my impressions of working for TV Hokkaido. Then, a journalist, Watanabe san, she checked the text and I was to read in front of camera as announcer in studio. That was so funny experience. We had to repeat couple of times as I made some mistakes while I was speaking. I was stressed of course! Being in front of camera! Afterwards, the tape has been edited and made as a short memorial film which I received as a present. On top of that on the last day TV Hokkaido crew prepared a farewell party for me with delicious Japanese food. Plus I received a beautiful card with signatures, and some presents for me and for Zosia. I could hardly believe it, they were so kind to me! I was really moved. I felt that God really blessed me, and that is true, He looked after me and my family so well throughout the trip.
Anyway, the work placement was fantastic, and I will keep it as a precious memory. And also I am in touch with many people from TV Hokkaido!

It was good to look back again and remember those fantastic moments I experienced while working for TV Hokkaido. In my next report I will describe my work placement in JTB – Japanese Travel Bureau.