Hisashiburi ne!

Wow, I've been gone for a long time. I'm sorry, a lot has happened over the last few weeks. I got deferred by Harvard, began a counter student government/movement at school, while I also received my acceptance letter for going to school in Japan next year. At the same time a lot important news has come out of Japan.

The three most important events to have occurred are the changing of the clause on education in the Japanese Constitution, scripted questions in town hall style meetings, and the all time low popularity rating of Shinzo Abe. ( Go to this excellent article to get a good understanding of the issue: http://japanfocus.org/products/details/2293) Beginning with the first piece. Abe and the LDP finally made their move. After speaking about carrying out "reforms" to the education system, they have finally done so by passing legislation that will have students be taught to love their country. The language that I've used, is just as harmless and vague as used in the new bill passed. But this is the point. By making the language as vague as possible Abe and his far right wing allies in government have the ability to carry out more reactionary legislation that will bring education more into line with what it was before 1945. Abe's allies, more willing to speak their minds, insist on teaching reverence of the imperial family to Japan's youth, and instilling a strong patriotic sentiment. What we are seeing here is a blatant takeover of Japanese politics by quiet and not so quiet nationalists who wish to impose their own agenda and views of history on Japan's citizens.
Abe did all of this with much consequence. He his popularity has gone down from 65% in September, when he took office, to 45% in a matter of weeks. The majority of the nation has voiced anger at the change to the constitution. Academics, and most importantly of all the academics that Abe's government hired from Waseda University to vouch for the change to the education clause in the constitution came out and said that the changes 'were not necessary at all.' There is a clear divide between the people and the prime minister.
The last of the three news bits is the newly revealed scripted realities of the LDP's town hall meetings. In an effort to raise support for the new policy towards education, Abe and ministers held town hall style meetings. The catch, revealed by investigative reporters, was that normal day people were being approached before the meetings and being paid money to ask certain questions at a certain moment. All of this has been very embarrassing for Abe and co. Trust in the honesty of the prime minister's office has ebbed even lower, contributing to the marked decrease in Abe's popularity numbers. What is clear here is that Abe is more hawkish than Koizumi, (in process of taking down barriers to use of JSDF), very confrontational with North Korea over the abduction issue, and is certainly intent on redefining what education is in Japan while not taking action to curb the problems of bullying that have been the source for numerous suicides this past fall. I wish Japan good luck. It's going to need it. If there is one thing that remarkable for Japanese politics, then that is how unremarkable its most powerful LDP politicians are.

As Promised

Nagoya-jo (Nagoya Castle) Nagoya is a city of a lot of promising historical sites for those who are interested in feudal Japanese history. Well, that would be the case if World War II had not happened, and if the fire bombing of 73 Japanese cities including Nagoya hadn't been done. Nagoya castle is disappointing at best. What you see in this picture looks nice from this distance. Get close to it and then you will realize the truth of its nature. It's a fake. The real building, along with the rest of Nagoya was incinerated during World War II. All that survived of the real castle was its stone foundation, and one of the towers and gates from what was once a sprawling castle. So on close inspection the castle is made of concrete and metal. The interior is a museum built in a modern rendition. The result is a lackluster experience. It was only the next day at school that I learned from my friend Cleo, that there was an amazing castle on a large hill 10 minutes outside of Nagoya. She insisted that it's everything that Nagoya-jo isn't.

Going native! This was taken on a Sunday afternoon when I was preparing to deliver a speech (in Japanese) to a regional AFS meeting. I'd never worn Yukata (summer kimono) before, and certainly I'd never had a chance to even get close to a kimono in my life. So it was a very special day when my host family decided that I should have a yukata of my own. It cost about $90. This is on the cheap end for Yukata. But nevertheless I was thrilled. It took two people, plus myself, and about 10 minutes to get the sash and yukata on correctly! I can't imagine wearing this every day and having to spend so much time putting on the correct way. Although modern clothes may lack the jazz that some old clothes had, utility of modern clothing certainly wins in the end in my opinion.


Lest We Forget... Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941. Today marks the 66th year since America and the Allied powers went to war with Japan. To all of the Allied and Japanese veterans still alive, I hope the years of peace since 1945 have healed any mental wounds from the war. Never again a world in arms.... only if.

Newly discovered pictures

Flipping through a stack of CD's on my computer desk, I found an unusual blank CD with no label on it. After inserting into my computer I realized I had found the pictures that Shigetaka, the father of the grandchildren in my host family had taken for me. In the CD are pictures from our trip to Nagoya Castle, Meijimura, and a Chunichi Dragons Baseball game (They creamed those Tokyo Giants 14-4! Note:Giants=Yankees of Japan) These following pictures are ones I've decided are the most interesting of the batch. Enjoy.

Baseball! The only other nation in the world that discovered the greatness that is baseball before the year 1900! Japanese baseball games are something which cannot be explained. It has to be experienced. It feels like American baseball, but it has some of its unique bits that American baseball does not possess. Such as cheerleaders, giant TV screens telling you when to cheer, nets stopping most line drives from entering the stands, and most of all, civil fans! Think of that! No swearing, no jeering, and no drunks! It’s the complete opposite of Fenway Park. Although it might sound too pacified, it is still

Miki (one of two host sisters) and I are riding the oldest working train in Japan at Meijimura. This train dates back to the 1870's and ran on the first trainline in Japan that went from Yokohama to Tokyo. If you ever end up in Japan, Meijimura is a place of sheer natural and architectural beauty that exists no where else within Japan.

*** More pictures to come soon! I've only gotten 3 hours of sleep in almost the last 48 hours, so I'm heading off to bed at an early 9:33 PM. Good night!

Textbooks, letters, and Ayami

Sorry for not posting over the last days. Life has gotten busy with college applications, and a liberal...... sprinkling of 2.5 hours of AP European history a night after a small hiatus from home work for this class.

Today in Japanese class we finally received our first official text book of the year after using print outs and packets for the last three months. At Brookline High School we began using the Obentoo 1 text book in freshman year, then the Obentoo 2 in sophomore year. In junior year we switched over to the Adventures in Japanese 2 textbook. This year we are using Adventures in Japanese 3. In freshman and sophomore years I and my classmates suffered from that ilk that’s Obentoo. That textbook was down right awful in comparison with other textbooks I’ve seen at book stores and online. Unfortunately for us, it wasn’t until last year that Aio Sensei, and Iida Sensei decided to scrap the Obentoo textbooks all together and use the Adventures in Japanese 1 for freshman, and work up to the 4th volume by senior year. For me, this in reality does not truly matter because I learned a almost a years worth of Japanese alone attending school in Japan. But for my friends at school, it seems just plain dumb that these textbooks were used to begin with.
Obentoo moves at a pain staking slow pace. It also does not cover a whole lot compared to other text books in its 1st and 2nd volumes. I really think it impedes how much one can learn in a year. After speaking with Aio sensei, I learned that the year 1 Japanese students will already be where my class was in late 1st semester of year 2 of Japanese classes by the end of this year. Looks as if my classmates and I were dealt a bad hand these over these last few years.

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And now for something completely different:

After traveling to Japan two times in just one year, I’ve become heavily loaded with an enjoyably yet obligatory task that I never had before: correspondence. After two host families, two tutors, and two good friends, I find myself writing an insane amount of letters to Japan via snail mail and e-mail every month. It was worse, it used to be a couple of letters every week. I say worse only because my senior year of high school is ridiculously busy between my Middle East History Seminar, AP European History, AP Japanese 4, Public Speaking, Statistics, and college applications. Oh, and Fencing too…. I love writing to Masatoshi and his parents in Fujidera, Osaka-fu. But I also have to write to my other host family, the Nakagawas in Taketoyo, Aichi-ken. Then there are my letters just to Masatoshi himself, and letters to just the children of my second host family, and even more letters to my friend Ayami (more to come up on her), at boarding school in Aichi-ken. This list fluctuates, but for the most part I feel guilty if my letters are short. This means I end up writing a lot… Even with this, I absolutely enjoy receiving mail every weak or two from Japan. It makes me happy in an indescribable way that my host families and the friends write to me constantly. Knowing that I was able become more than just a friend means so much to me. Having the feeling that there will always be two welcoming homes in Japan is simply amazing and wonderful.

( Me, Masatoshi, and his father. Not seen is his mother who is taking the photo.)

Concerning my friend Ayami:

I could just copy all of my journal entries I made from summer about Ayami and I in Japan, but I think that would be really lazy of me. So about Ayami! It was the last week in Japan that we met. Through AFS (American Field Services), all of the AFS summer exchange students in Aichi prefecture, being about 25, met at Nagoya’s main train station. We were joined by a number of Japanese high school students who were attending an AFS sponsored English summer camp (My host sister Miho worked there as a counselor). Ayami and her friend Yuriko were with us, but at the start of the trip I hadn’t met them yet. It would only be after a 3 hour bus ride from Nagoya to Kyoto that I would encounter Ayami.
The first stop on our 1 day excursion to Kyoto was the temple of Kinkaku-ji (The golden pavilion). I should note that I traveled in Kyoto for 4 days last April, so this 1 day trip was rather disappointing in terms of seeing anything new) Before I continue with this story I want to say a few words on Kinkaku-ji. There is no temple that is as disappointing and crowded infested as this temple in Kyoto. To any future travelers, be warned that this place is infested during also seasons by people. Not only is it visually disappointing, there simply isn’t much there to do, walk over, or see, other than a large array of gift shops. The golden temple itself is stunning, but once you walk by it all that is left is a plethora of shops leading back to the parking lot. There are much better temples to visit than this temple in Kyoto.
Although Kinkaku-ji is rather dull, it was where I met my friend Ayami. I hadn’t noticed that she and her friend came along on the trip. I’m attentive!... So when I saw her exit the bus I walked over to ask her and Yuriko if they were host sisters. That was when I learned they were AFS English summer campers. I ended up spending the first half of the visit at the temple talking with them. Somewhere in the crowds I lost sight of them. So I ended up stuck at the gift shops for the remaining time where I aided a Japanese AFS volunteer in rounding up stray students.
Second stop was Eigamura (movie village). This place was campy and corny in some parts, but it was nevertheless fun. I ended up seeing a new drama being filmed. Apparently the actors must’ve been popular because all of the Japanese girls were really excited, while I stood there clueless as to who these actors were. It was interested to see how they created these dramas, and how after each take the actors were attacked by a horde of makeup helpers who patted their sweaty faces down with perfume and towels. I then went to watch a sword fight demonstration where I got this funny picture taken with a fellow American friend of mine.
When I headed back to the small streets of the movie set medieval town, I ran into Ayami and Yuriko again. We ended up spending the rest of the day together after that 2nd encounter. Strangely enough, I only have one photo of us together from that day.

(Ayami and I at Eigamura)

(Note the guy on the left wearing Shinsengumi kimono)

Kiyomizudera temple the last place we went that day. This temple is by far my favorite temple/location in Japan so far. When I went there in April, the whole forest and hills around it were covered by blooming sakura. It was a sight that I’ll never forget. It was still pretty during the summer, but it lacked its majestic beauty that it only has when covered in cherry blossoms. Ayami, Yuriko, and I spent the last few hours of the trip together at the temple. We went to each other’s favorite locations at the temple, and then headed out for lunch and for a stroll through the historical neighborhood. I’m only summarizing the day through vague descriptions, but the point of this is that we actually only met once in person. And that was on that day. Beginning on my last full day in Japan, we started a continuous correspondence that hasn’t abated since. We’ve sent somewhere between almost 80 letters to each other over the past 4 months. None of this would have happened if I had not taken the initiative to get Ayami’s address right before she left by train from Kyoto back to Nagoya. I’m really happy that I made this decision because I almost didn’t. We will hopefully be seeing each other again when I return to Japan next year. I hope things work out... This event fell into place under the law of trips. You meet people that you wish you’d known at the start of your trip near the end of any trip…

Well that's all for today! I think I've made up for those missed days....

Next year in Japan

At the start of my first entry in this blog I mentioned that I'll probably be going back to Japan next August. If it works out I'll be taking classes at a Japanese high school. But because I'll have graduated American high school already there won't be any required classes for me to take. After speaking with a person at CIEE, the organization I'm going with, it seems that I'll probably be helping teach English at school as a teacher's aid. Now I remember when she mentioned this. I thought to myself, since when do I have any credentials to help teach? I'm very knowledgeable in history, politics, geography, but I would not say explaining grammar has ever been a strength of mine. In fact it's always been something I've hated at school, even though I love to write. My realization of my inability to explain the complexities of English grammar came last summer at school in England. I was sitting at my desk in my dorm room one evening with my 3 other roommates, Mahmud (Kuwait), Hiro (Japan), and Konstantin (Bulgaria). We were all doing our homework, but then Konstantin spoke up and asked if I could explain something to him. He showed me a work book for English which had a number of exorcises. I read it over. He then asked if I understood it. That was when I nervously said no... He then asked me why I couldn't explain it to him. That was the moment where I just wanted to say, "give me a break, I wasn't the sick minded person who made this mess." Instead I gave some unwitty and probably bad but honest excuse as to why I couldn't help. That was when Mahmud came over and gave the right answer... making me feel pretty stupid. Arabic was his first language...
Now in defense I have to say that not since 7th grade have any of my English teachers ever tried to teach grammar. But this year my speech writing teacher has given a whole workshop on English grammar and nuances. So at least I think I have a better grasp of all the rhymes and reasons than ever before.
So Japan... Well teaching will be interesting. I will only have just been out of high school, and now I might potentially be teaching in front of students who are my age or just a year or two younger. Thank God I'll only be an assistant in this possible scenario. If this does occur, and if I ever become a JET, this should serve as a good learning experience... But I've a hard time imagining how I'd get any respect if I were in the classroom by myself.

For some it's unremarkable, but for others..

The town of Taketoyo from top of the hill where my host family's house was during the summer of 2006. Although it's an urban landscape, somehow the light in the sky makes this polluted world seem utterly mysterious to me. This picture is my favorite of all of the 100's that I took. Something about it speaks to me the most.

Family and friends The past...

Wish I were with you, Miho, Miki, and Hiroaki. I truly miss you guys. One day we'll meet again in person...

Oh Yeah! Thanksgiving happened

This is Japan related.... Well it was that time of year again. Thanksgiving! One time of the year that I get to see the clan... note I say clan, not family... My family has more than 100 people... But luckily only 49 were supposed to show up. But as plans go, this plan fell apart. 5 more people somehow made it to the party. Friends of cousins we were told, but in the end our Thanksgivings have always been accomadating for those uninvited. What made this Thanksgiving different than others was that this year I had two friends over from Showa Boston. Showa Boston is the overseas campus of Showa University, the oldest all girls university in Japan. Twice destroyed, once by the 1925 Great Kanto Earthquake, and again by the fire bombing by American B-29's during World War II. To give my two friends, Tomoe and Manako, a 1st person view of an American family holiday I decided this would be the best one.

Me, Tomoe, and Manako

Now before I go any further I should note this is there first time in America, and that they only arrived here during the last week of September, 2006. They write and read English very well, but speaking is not as strong for them. But that is why they're here.
The night turned out to be quite overwhelming for them at first. For the 5 hours they were here I made I stood by them to help translate and make sure they weren't lost amongst my relatives. All of my relatives were execptionally kind to them. Whenever someone would come over to speak with them, they would always begin by saying that they adored Japanese food. Tomoe, Manako, and I found this to be very funny. The most interesting part of the evening was that I learned of some of my family's connection to Japan. My aunt Beverley's brother joined the army in 1945. In 1946 he was stationed with the occupation forces in Japan. At the time any Japanese person who hadn't lost their income and wealth during the war had to sell all of their belongings on the black market to fend off malnourishment, and potential starvation. Because of this many GI's on tiny army salaries brought home to the states priceless family heirlooms of all sorts. It just happened that my aunt's brother back in the late 1940's returned with a collection of beautiful kimonos. In mondern day Japan to buy a kimono is incredibly, incredibly expensive. The prices range from $10,000 and up. To rent one for a day costs a few $100's. So when my aunt told Tomoe, Manako, and I that she had these kimonos sitting in her closet for 60 YEARS(!!!) untouched, their eyes grew wide. I too was shocked. I quickly began to try and explain to her how special of a gift her brother brought home.

Another interesting story happened when my aunt Lida came over to speak with us. She grew up in Shanghi before WWII. She was born in 1930 in China. Her family, Russian Jews, fled the progroms in the 1890's and came over to the city of Harbin, Manchuria.(present day China). Harbin at the time was a city of Russians, ex-pats, and Chinese merchants. While I was translating her story into Japanese, I got to use for the first and probably one of only few times in my life, the Japanese name for Manchuria in a conversation with a Japanese person. When Japan annexed Manchuria in the 1930's they renamed it Manchuko. Knowing that seemingly random piece of knowledge paid off! My aunt's family did well, and decided to move to the international quarter in Shanghi. After the the war she moved to America where she studied Japanese. She's forgotten how to speak, and she's forgotten most of her kanji, but she still remembers katakana and hiragana. Although she forgot Japanese, she still speaks Russian, German, French, Italian, English, and is in the process of learning Spanish. She is simply amazing. The party went well, and I think for all of the overwhelming experiences that come with being in America for the first time, and going to a Thanksgiving party at my house with 50 people, they held up admirably. By the end they were trying to get pictures with all of my family members.

My talk with Annie Part I

Today I went out for an afternoon to visit a friend of my mother's. It's incredible luck, but this woman that my mother met happened to have taught English in Japan for 10 years at 5 schools while also focusing on studying art. Now she is a full time painter, but during her 10 years of work in Japan from the mid 80's to the mid 90's she saw and experienced an incredible amount of things. I'd met her before last May. At that time I'd just gotten back from Japan in April. After I'd seen her she gave to me Japanese-English dictionary, published by Harvard, that was written in 1940 in preparation for the outbreak of war between Japan and the USA. In its preface it states that its creation is for the sole purpose in giving an updated vocab to those who might be working in the military and to scholars, who undoubtly would be helping with the war effort.
But about today! Between 11 AM-2:30PM we spoke about our experieces and thoughts on Japan. We mainly focused on education because that was where she and I had the most similar experiences when it comes to Japan. She and her husband lived in a smal town in the countryside. Their host father, who was a vice principal at the time, was the superintendent by the last years of her stay in Japan. She gained an incredible insight into what was happening in the education system at the time. We both talked at length about how Japanese schools and students changed after the Bubble Economy popped in '89. If you've read Japan Unbound, or Shogun's Ghost, you might be aware of how discipline and the vaunted Japan school work ethic is nothing more than a myth. She talked about what it was like to watch corporal punishment be dished out to students in the 80's, but during the early 90's things changed around. The students now had authority, and the teachers, for all of their mistakes, were powerless in many cases to control any misbehavior. One example was a day when she was teaching at a high school in the early 90's. There were a group of boys who kept on leaving the classroom. They kept distracting everyone else by their speaking loudly in the hallways. So finally, after she became to irritated by it all, she went over to all of the doors and locked them when the kids walked back out into the halls one more time. But of course this didn't really solve the problem. The boys began to bang on the doors, and make faces through the windows. Feeling hopeless, she turned to her asisstant Japanese teacher for help. she asked, "Can't you do something about this?" The other woman replied, "We can't, I don't have any authority to do anything." To get a good expalnation as to why this teacher was helpless, I strongly reccomend reading the first chapter of John Nathan's Japan Unbound.

Later today I'll come back and fill in some more on what we spoke about. I've got to get back to working on my college application!!

The November School Suicides

Well bad news. It seems that the disk that I saved my paper to isn't cooperating with my computer. Technology, got to love it.
Over the last 3 weeks Japan seems to have just got through an incredible amount of suicides in its junior highs and high schools. In almost all cases it is suspected that the reason for the suicides was ijime, or bullying. This problem seems to be ridiculously out of control. In so many cases students who are suffering from bullying are too ashamed to speak with anyone. And in many cases when they do, they're told that they either deserve it because they look funny, act weird, or smell. These things seem almost inconsequential to the western mind, but for Japanese society it the equivalent of being told that you're not wanted. In Japan for one to become out of touch, or disliked by the "group", in this case one's fellow classmates, it is unbearable. Although this is true, there seems to be a unique response of suicide in Japanese teenagers. It is very rare in America for teen's who've been diverted or who have committed suicide to have chosen bullying for a cause to want to die. Rather a much more varied list of reasons comes up.
One problem that afflicts Japan in many different corners of its society is its lack of a large mental health service sector. Most schools do not have social workers, and in many cases, to even go see a mental health expert such as a therapist is looked down upon. This social stigma in Japan impedes upon many kids, and adults from seeking help. In a society such as Japan (and those of many other highly "modern" nations too) many never have close friends because of the amount of work, and busy lives that most people end up leading. My fellow Japan blogger, Kern, an English teacher in Japan, posted a letter sent to all teachers in his school on the topic of the spate of suicides occurring suddenly this month. In it the education officials tell those who are suffering from bullying and teasing to speak with a close friend or relative. But they do not mention social workers, or other trained professionals who's job is to help people such as the kids who are considering committing suicide. The reason that this is, is because there aren't many social workers around to begin with. My last, and current Japanese tutors are both grad students training to become social workers. Both of them believe that so many of the problems afflicting suffers of bullying could be helped by having many trained social workers in Japan. They also realize that that for this to come about, the Japanese government and Ministry of Education will have to take steps in normalizing the image of seeking help from people such as therapists.
In books such as Japan: A Reinterpretation, and in Shogun's Ghost, the issue of schools failing to aid students suffering from bullying is given lots of attention. To learn a lot on this issue I strongly suggest reading these two books. A recent example of this was seen earlier this month. A female student in a Japanese school was being pressured by a group of fellow students routinely to hand over money to them. Up until her suicide she had collectively given them a large sum of money. She didn't sit quiet while all of this happened. Instead she complained to the school administration. When the principal reviewed the case he labeled it as not being a case of bullying. When the girl finally failed to get the school's help, from teachers and from other faculty members, she committed suicide. In the resulting chaos the principle apologized in a press conference. He told the media that he was terribly sorry for misreporting the seriousness of the bullying of the girl in a report he'd made on the issue. The next day he did not show up for work. The police eventually discovered his body hanging from a tree. Another case of suicide. So why did teachers and the very person in charge of the school fail this girl? There would seem to me a fundamental problem in how bullying cases are approached by many faculty members of Japanese schools. Also, why do those who conduct bullying do so? The answer is both a reflection of the problems facing all Japanese students, and the lack of discussion on certain ethical issues. In interviews those who bullied others reported that they found it to be a way to relieve the stress from their busy school lives. They also were reported to have said that those they bullied deserved it because of they thought, behaved, or form many other reasons.
I’ve got to get back to editing a draft of my AP Euro essay. I will come back later to discuss more on this. As a closing thought, I think that the tragedy of this problem truly rests in the bad responses that the education system comes up with to the problem. So far everything it has done has failed. Meaningful actions are needed

Here are a few of my pictures from my stay in Japan when I went to Nagano High School.

Here is a funny picture from school. After a long day my friend Peter (blonde hair boy on the right), Lisa (far left) and my host brother's friend (I'm blanking out on her name), and I were all exaughsted. Coming out of Classical Japanese, a class dreaded by every Japanese student, I ambushed the group with my camera. Peter apparently was too demoralized after trying to understand what was going on in that class to offer a smile.






Classmates from Classical Japanese! Fellow sufferers! Take a camera out in Japan and one will find that instantly everyone wants their picture taken. These classmates couldn't let me go with my camera in hand without their picture taken.





English class for ichi nensei high school students. The man on the left in the Manchester United shirt is Paul Sensei. Paul, who had gotten a degree in history from university in England, decided that his life needed a little bit of excitement. The result was that he became a JET English teacher.

I and a number of the other exchange students from my high school in America helped out daily in his class with teaching English to the students. The day that this picture was taken, Paul was working with his Japanese counterpart, who is seen here. Because Paul had no prior experience with learning Japanese before his coming to Japan in 2006, his aid helped translate for him. They made quite a funny pair.

One of the days that I was in his class Paul was attemting to explain that Great Britain was made up of semi independent regions, being England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It took a while for him to get across that "England" was different than "Britain". The word for Britain in Japanese refers to England, as if England was all of Britain. Because of this there was a lot of confusion...

First Entry: A little about me

Hello everyone! I'm Sam, and I hope you enjoy this blog. I'll be covering lots of subjects about Japan until I leave for my third trip to Japan in August of 2007. Although I will have graduated American high school by May 2007, I am taking a year off. I'll be attending high school in Japan for one more year, while helping out teaching English. At this moment in time I will be either living in Iwate prefecture, Chiba prefecture, or in the city of Kobe (Hyougo prefecture). If things continue to go well, I will be placed in a high school in Kobe.
This past summer and Spring I studied abroad in Japan. I'll be posting about these past trips and talking about different things that I observed while I was in Japan. While I was attending Nagano High School in the town of Kawachi Nagano (Osaka prefecture, not in Nagano prefecture!) I was also working on taking notes for a large paper, examining the problems within the Japanese high schools and the lack of meaningful reforms offered by Japan's Ministry of Education. which was published along with 20 others in a journal for Stanford University this past October. Without rewriting my paper here, I'll hopefully be posting a copy of this paper. Though because my computer just recently crashed, I will have to find the right disk I saved it to.
Well enough about that boring stuff! So why am I interested in Japan? Great Question! The simple answer is that I am not exactly sure how I got drawn to Japan. But I do know that once I did become interested in Japanese history and culture I wanted to learn more about it and travel to Japan. When I was in Lawrence elementary school (In my town this is k-8th grade), I grew up surrounded by Japanese culture. My town, Brookline, is right near the Longwood Medical Centre in Boston, the largest collection of hospitals on the east coast of the USA. Many Japanese parents who had kids, but were attending grad school for degrese in medicine sent their children to my school. The result was that out of 450 kids, almost 30% were Japanese. As a kid I grew up around the language, and with Japanese holidays. Japanese holidays such as New Years, to Boys Day and Girls Day were celebrated at my school. One of my fondest memories is of the many fares we had in my school where the mothers of the Japanese children sold lots of traditional foods and crafts. At other times we had traveling Taiko drum troupes and story tellers visit my school. This, more than anything else, was probably the source for my eventual interest in Japan. By the time I entered high school, I had begun to read books on Japanese history and contemporary society. One such was Patrick Smith's Japan: A Reinterpretation, and Andrew Gordon's JAPAN: From Tokugawa Times to the Present. Since then I've read numerous books on Japan, and continue to do so. In my Freshman year I took up studying Japanese. I was very lucky that Brookline High School offered Japanese.

I'll try and update my blog routinely every week depending on my school work load. And lastly, thank you for spending the time reading this blog.