Visiting Japan

How useful is Japanese? What often-overlooked benefits are there? In this mini-feature, I’d like to provide some insights as I travel and stay in Japan for two weeks from the perspective of a non-native Japanese speaker, while also showing the benefits of learning the language. I would like to show readers that the benefits of using Japanese extends beyond simple travel phrases and encompasses a diversity of usages. Using Japanese, as well as other world languages, is both practical and fulfilling, and through my two weeks, I'd like to bring that aspect of the language to the forefront by sharing my experience with you all. I hope you enjoy the next few entries, and if you like it, please pass these stories along to your students and other language learners!

  

Day 0: Before the trip

The destination for my stay in Japan was Yamagata. The former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Edwin O. Reischauer, referred to it as another Japan “on the other side of the mountain.” This prefecture is tucked in the center of the Tohoku region, the northeast region of Japan, bordering Fukushima to the south, Miyagi to the east, and Akita to the north. I had lived there from 2012 to 2015 as a CIR (Coordinator for International Relations) working in the Prefectural Government Office, and was coming back for a two week trip.

The planning of this trip came little by little. From May 2017, I was in contact with the Association for International Relations of Yamagata (AIRY) and we started planning a presentation/workshop for the “Sekai wo Nozokeba” series that they and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) co-host. This series provides participants (mostly Japanese) a glimpse of the diversity around the world by inviting speakers who have been overseas. In my case, I proposed to talk about minorities in America, giving Asian Americans as an example, and using that topic as an entrance for the people there to think about the type of diversity within their own community. My theme was therefore “shifting perspectives,” an important aspect of global competence, and my end goal was to encourage greater empathy among different people.

What I liked from the beginning about this opportunity was that “Sekai wo Nozokeba”'s presentations are not just one-way presentations; they encourage active participation from the audience and encourage us all to relate the various themes to Japanese society. I felt that this was something that would be useful for everyone, especially those in the community.

Eventually, we settled on a date to meet in October. With the date set, I could plan my other activities, which will be discussed in my upcoming entries. As I started planning my trip, my schedule started to take shape. Meanwhile, I started reading as many books and resources as I could, in both Japanese and English, about the current state of foreigners in Japan, about cultivating a global mindset, about all this and more, to supplement what I would say on the day of the presentation and reinforce my points. It was important for me to use both English and Japanese resources. After all, if I were to present something about shifting perspectives, it was necessary for me myself to understand the Japanese perspective of the theme itself, too!

In the next few entries, I'll talk about my experience in Japan and some of the benefits I've recognized through my ability to speak Japanese. Stay tuned for more!