DR. CERNY IN JAPAN
Ohiyo Gozaimus. Watashi wa Nebraska noh Dr. Jon Cerny dess. Yorushiku onegai shimasu.
I spent three weeks in Japan as a participant in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund, a teacher education program that brings 200 American educators to Japan three times a year. During our visit to Japan we shared ideas with Japanese educators, students, and citizens and learned as much as we could about Japanese culture. Upon our return to the United States we are asked to share our experiences with our colleagues, students, and others in our communities so that they will have a better understanding and appreciation of Japan.
Ikoma Group- November 2006
Here is my story.
Day One: Sunday in San Francisco.
I flew to Denver and on to San Francisco for orientation meetings. They filled us in on what to do and what not to do in Japan. For example, when entering Japanese homes, you must take off your street shoes and put on slippers for inside. And it is very important to take the street shoes off outside and then step inside with your clean stocking feet to put on the slippers. When taking a bath in the Japanese home it is like a hot tub. You first wash off outside the tub, then get inside and soak (but not too long, because others will be using it and would like the water to be warm when they get in).
Ikoma Group in our happy coats
Day Two: Monday. Flying to Japan.
My plane left the San Francisco airport at 11:35 am Monday morning (4:35 am Japan time) and arrived in Narita airport outside Tokyo at 2:53 p.m. Japan time. Yes, it was a ten hour flight. And when we arrived, it was Tuesday in Japan. They showed four movies on the flight. Between movies and short naps I would get up and walk around the plane so that my legs would not go to sleep. We flew a 747 that holds 600 passengers. I had a window seat, but couldn’t see anything but clouds.
Hard Rock Cafe- Tokyo
Tokyo has a population of 12 million.
Tokyo Tower- View from the hotel
Day Three: Tuesday. Dinner with a Japanese host.
Dr. Shigemichi Suzuki, a professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, was my host. He took us to the Tokyo World Trade Center for dinner. I ordered the Shark Fin soup. It was not very good. The host also ordered several dishes for the group and we shared cashew chicken and shrimp and vegetables along with three other dishes.
A Japanese Restaurant in Tokyo
Day Four: Tour of Tokyo
I started the day off right with a delicious Japanese breakfast- Fish, kelp (seaweed) in soy sauce, pickled plum, and Japanese tea. I exchanged some money ($1 = 113 yen)
Eating Lunch
The tour began with a stop at the National Diet, the equivalent of our House of Representatives. Since this was a Japanese holiday (Thanksgiving- Labor Day) the building was empty.
National Diet Building
The second stop was at the Asakusa Shrine, which is a religious place of worship for the Shinto religion.
The Shrine
Incense was burning in front of the shrine and waving the smoke at your head is said to stimulate hair growth. By the time I walked away I reeked of smoke. Five year olds are brought to the shrine and dressed in traditional clothing for a ceremony.
Is it helping the hair grow?
In the evening two traditional Japanese forms of entertainment were performed: Kyogen- which is like a humorous one act play, and Kubuki- which is dance with music.
Kibuki Dancer
We were warned about going to an area of Tokyo called Roppongi, so of course we hopped in the subway and headed for Roppongi. For dinner I had my first sushi, with a cold snail appetizer. I was too full to eat the snail. We walked the fifteen blocks back to the hotel.
Day Five: The Fish Market
I caught a taxi from the hotel to the famous Tokyo fish market at 4:00 am. It was very hectic because most of the seafood to Japan passes through this market.
Selling Tuna at the Fish Market
On the way back I stopped in at a Buddhist Temple to watch the monks begin their morning chants. Later on in the afternoon the monks were selling postcards for a dollar each, so I bought two.
In the afternoon we met with the Minister of Cultural Affairs (the first woman minister) and the Head of the Diet Budget Committee. This would be the equivalent of meeting with a member of President Bush’s cabinet and the House chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Day Six: Peace Education
We met with a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima. His home was located one mile of the epicenter. This is part of his story.
“I was outside my house when suddenly the sky exploded. I grabbed my small son and ran inside. My wife had not returned from the market. She had been knocked unconscious. When she returned, half of her face had been burned up. The house was destroyed. We took what clothes we could find and headed for the river, because we did not know what happened. There was fire burning everywhere. As we walked, there were dead bodies lying in the street. He was lucky because he lived in the southern part of the city and the south winds blew the radiation to the north.”
Meeting a Hiroshima survivor
Went to the Tokyo National Museum where there was an art exhibit by a famous Japanese artist named Hokusi. They had an exhibit of old Samurai warrior artifacts that was very interesting.
Samurai Armor
Day Seven: Mount Fuji
I took a bus half of the way up Mount Fuji. Japan is the size of California and has a population of only half of the United States. And it is 65 percent mountains. Tokyo is the largest city in the world with 12 million people. So it is very crowded. We found out that some Japanese do not like to be touched. One of the female teachers tapped a shop owner on the shoulder to get his attention and he refused to sell her anything and made her leave the store.
After Fuji, we rode on a pirate ship across a large lake. Then we took a cable car ride up the side of an active volcano and got out to walk to a hot spring. It smelled of sulfur. At the top we were treated to eggs boiled in the hot spring water. The outside was black due to a chemical reaction with the water. Eating it is said to add seven years to your life.
Day Eight: Kamakura and the Imperial Palace
Today I decided to navigate the city of Tokyo all by myself. I took the subway to the Imperial Palace (Japan has an emperor and a royal family). The East garden (a large traditional Japanese garden) was the only part open to the public. The palace is the site of Edo Castle and many walls are still there, although most have been rebuilt because they were destroyed in World War II. MacArthur's headquarters during WWII was one block away, but no visitors are allowed since 9-11.
The Imperial Palace- East Garden (Edo Castle)
Condos and houses in rural areas cost around $400,000.
In the afternoon I took a train to Kamakura, which is one of the oldest cities in Japan.
View of the sea from Kamakura
I used the words sume masen (excuse me) often as I navigated through the city to find its two top attractions, the Big Buddha and the Hari Temple. Whenever I needed directions all I said was “Big Buddha” and the Japanese would kindly point me in the right direction. How was the Buddha? BIG.
Daibutsu- Big Buddha
I walked the three miles back to the hotel and came across a Thai Festival in Hidiya Park. They had a band from Thailand playing and they were selling food, so I had a bowl of Thai noodles for dinner.
A Thai Rock Band
Day Nine: To Nara
Nineteen of us traveled to our home for a week- Nara. We traveled by bullet train, which moves about 180 mph. Nara is between Kyoto and Osaka. Nara became the first permanent capital of Japan in 710 BC. The population of Nara is 300,000. It is famous for the deer running freely in Nara Park. It also has the second biggest Buddha in Japan. This Buddha is housed in the largest wooden building in the world.
Largest Manmade Wooden Structure in the World
When washing your hands in a public restroom you will notice that there are no towels or hand dryers. People are expected to carry hand towels with them (or handkerchiefs) for this purpose. This is true even in the schools. Also the public restrooms do not have doors, so you lack privacy. And most of the toilets are Asian style squat toilets.
Day Ten: Tour of Ikoma
Ikoma, our host city, is a short drive from Nara. When we arrived at City Hall we were met with a standing ovation as the workers were lined up all of the way from our bus to the elevator. We were greeted by the Superintendent of Schools and the Deputy Mayor.
Ikoma City Hall
We were given a tour of Hozanji Temple and a traditional Japanese house. At the Temple I took a picture of the God of the Toilet. The Shinto religion has 8 million gods and they worship in Shrines. Buddhists worship in Temples. Most Japanese are both. Weddings are usually in Shrines and Funerals in Temples.
Day Eleven- Ikoma High School
Education in Japan- Students must take the National exam. Colleges use the scores to determine which students will be accepted. They can take the exam up to five times. Many students attend “cram school” at nights and on weekends to improve their chances of scoring well.
Arriving at Ikoma High School
Ikoma High School has 1000 students. There are 40 students in each classroom. The teachers move, students do not. Students are not required to attend high school. After teachers are hired, they have a job for life.
We visited the Fire Department and saw some of the equipment they need in case of earthquakes.
Rescue Equipment
Then we went to a reception to meet our host families. Two days of the stay is to be spent with them. In my host family the husband is 74 and the wife is 69. he spoke a little English, she spoke none.
Ikoma group and their host families
The entertainment that night was a group of Japanese drummers, and we were shown how to play them.
Drum practice
Day Twelve- Elementary school.
Elementary School
They had no janitor. The students had a cleaning period after lunch.
There was also no heat in the schools. Since the girls wore skirts, they brought blankets to school to cover their legs.
They had a music assembly that day, so everyone had a chance to play traditional Japanese instruments, a Sata (harp) and wood flute.
Playing the Sata
The students were eager to practice their English by talking with us. They understand very little English, yet many of them had English words on their clothes. I was told that it was the current fashion in Japan.
A Playboy Bunny
Day Thirteen- Middle School
Here I found out that teachers are paid about $41,000 per year.
Days Fourteen and Fifteen- The home stay.
My host family took me to a traditional Japanese restaurant for a seven course meal.
1- snail, potatoe and vegetables, Japanese tea
2- sushi and radish
3- hamburger/cabbage roll, onion soup, sweet potato
4- shrimp and onion tempura with wasabi
5- vegetable tempura with mustard
6- whisked egg on rice, miso soup, and two kinds of beets
7- ground soybean and sugar coated flour dumplings, coffee
A Japanese Box Lunch
The bathroom required special slippers.
We drove up on the mountain to look down at Osaka and Kyoto. For dinner we had sukiyaki, sushi, rice and miso soup.
They live in a traditional house with a nice garden. I slept on a mattress on the floor with an electric blanket. I was the first to take a bath.
My host gathering oranges from his garden
Day sixteen- Last day in Ikoma
We talked with parents who said they pay between $300-$400 per month for cram school. It is very important in junior high to make sure they get into the right high school.
Meeting with Ikoma parents
Students come home from school around 6:00 pm, eat dinner, go to cram school until 10:00 pm, take a bath and go to bed. Very little time for family.
Day seventeen- The Ryokan, Japanese Inn
This is where I experienced the onsen, or public bath.
Ichigo Ichi-e Once an opportunity is gone it will never come again.
There were separate men and women bathing facilities. There was a changing room to clean off before going in. The water was very hot and we were given little towels to wipe sweat off our heads. That nigh we dressed up in traditional Japanese outfits, including the wooden shoes, and went for a walk around Nara.
Day eighteen- Return home.
Goodbye Japanese Friends
