Blake Foster
September 11, 2010
Evergreen Independent Learning Contract
Experiences in Japan: Japanese Language, Culture and Society Spring Quarter
This is a summary essay of my first six months in Japan, and in terms of Evergreen academics, my 2010 Spring quarter in the course of my exchange at the University of Hyogo. This essay describes, in correspondence with the guidelines of my independent study contract and with the cultural observations I have made, what Japan has taught me this time around. I have lived in Japan before, for a year, when I was in high school. Now, however, is an adult experience much different from that time- where the first time brought wonder and excitement over the Japanese experience, this time brings a maturing experience both personally and in the sense of understanding Japanese culture. Now is an experience of coping, compromising and accepting individual place in a foreign culture.
The proficiency of my Japanese has particularly been an area of growth and neglect, and the initiative I take now will determine the level of Japanese that I originally sought out by taking part in this exchange. Aside from language learning, understanding how Japanese colleges work, both academically and in the extracurricular endeavors I have chosen, has been the most prominent lesson. Above that, forming relationships with people in the atmosphere of Japanese college has brought new dimensions out in what I have learned from Japanese culture. Throughout this essay I will explain the various areas of learning I have completed, or the lessons I have learned from incompletion in these areas, with appropriate reference to the academic blog that I kept throughout the course of Spring Quarter. Though arranged chronologically, the order of the essay is divided into explaining language learning, cultural learning and learning in my chosen field of special interest as described in my learning contract.
Upon arrival in Kobe, not yet accustomed to the largely concrete, flat and wide surroundings of my apartment building, I did not yet feel the weight or pressure of a year-long exchange. In some ways this helped me relax throughout the adjustment period to the area, but in another way it allowed me to be complacent without having accomplished anything. I was excited for school to start at the University of Hyogo, specifically in the new people I would meet, but unsure of what to expect in terms of academics. Least to say, academics in regard to studying at Hyogo and fulfilling my contract obligations was much lower on my list of priorities.
Right off the bat, though, I managed to dive into language studies by learning Japanese kanji characters on a daily basis. Although specifically promised in my learning contract, I only managed to keep up this practice for a couple of months before falling off, and only within the last few days have I finally returned to it. At some point the practice just lost meaning, and the blame can only be put on myself, but now the practice reinvigorates my sense of purpose here, a pick-up largely needed in the midst of summer boredom and loneliness. Self-reflection aside, the learning of kanji characters remains a desperately lacking area of my Japanese; this exchange was intended to be the game-changer for language proficiency, and if there should be any loss in credit for my studies in the Spring its in the lack of effort in language-learning, kanji in particular. The characters I did learn, while not all retained, have had the knack for reinforcing words and phrases that were hazy in my Japanese before. The process of learning kanji definitely contributes to language comprehension, even outside of simply reading words in Japanese. In these early stages of my exchange, therefore, I was able to maintain some kind of regimented learning process. The rest of language learning would come from interactions with Japanese people and culture in everyday life.
While the classes that I attended at Hyogo University were intended to give me sufficient Japanese instruction, the level of these classes, especially in terms of being somewhat specialized in economics, was a daunting task. The reading comprehension level of my classmates- near unanimously Chinese students- proved to be far beyond what I could muster, to the point where trying to keep up seemed like a fruitless task. Socializing with Japanese students took its priority over actual academic learning, which while rewarding and educational both in Japanese language and culture well in its own right, did little to further advance my Japanese in the way that a serious exchange effort should.
On the other hand, I was given somewhat special treatment in regards to my insufficient Japanese skills. Simplified worksheets that covered simplified texts of what the whole class was learning were designed to reinforce simplified concepts- and while so much simplification can lead to a sense of self-simplification, I was not making any admirable effort to be more complex, and so I obliged in completing the assignments. The tests and exams given to me by the professor of these Japanese courses was also specifically suited to me, and I managed to meet or surpass expectations on all of them. Test-taking is usually a source of strength over regular assignments, and I did not disappoint. Along with doing well on tests, I also took part in class discussions when I had a firm grasp of the topics, and felt comfortable communicating my ideas in Japanese. Nonetheless, in terms of Japanese language learning courses, I was not overall satisfied with my performance, and felt there was more I could learn.
Along with language instruction, in some of the classes that were designed for regular Japanese students, I completed several assigned essays both in-class and outside of school. These essays usually involved sociology or history, and while I completed the essays in Japanese they still, of course, could not express what I could say fully in English. This pertained to the essays I wrote initially in Japanese, of course. The final essay I wrote for the class “Intercultural Communication” was first written in English and then into Japanese from that version, and actually ended up being better than the original English draft (you can find the Japanese draft on my blog). For a class entitled “Intercultural Coexistence” students were assigned several essays based on intercultural issues win various countries around the world. Different professors would give lectures and students would record their reactions on a sheet of paper to be handed in at the end of the class, and I managed to complete these responses in (mostly) Japanese. While I did not manage to complete all the essays, one of the essays I completed for this course is available on my blog. Through these essays I was able to better grasp writing in Japanese, and while since the end of the academic semester I have been out of practice, what I learned still reinforced my language skills in writing and in every day grammar. In my seminar course I gave a presentation on the history of Japanese pop music in Japanese. While the text I had written in regards to the subject was in English, I gave a summary of it to students in my seminar, with a lot of commentary by the seminar professor. The professor had told me that anything was fine, as my seminar presentation does not hold the relevance of the other students, who would follow up on their presentations with research that would last for the remaining two years of college (I explain the seminar system at the University of Hyogo in my blog entry “Seminar groups, seminar 'Konpa'” from April 24, 2010). The presentation went somewhat well, and was definitely a challenge in terms of language learning.
Language learning in every day life has been as steady, although I cannot fully discern how much better or worse I have gotten. At times my ability to speak in Japanese corresponds to the mood I am in; if I am feeling down I tend to do worse, if I am exuberant than the language just spills out. There are times when I communicate in Japanese and feel no language pressure at all, meaning that I do not seek out words, but rather they come as naturally as they do in English. There are even times when explaining things in Japanese proves easier than in English, but this might be because the person I speak with may not be a natural English speaker. The question with every day language use, though, is can it be quantified into some academic merit? The answer depends on one's ability to turn personal experiences into something intellectually measurable. The point of a cultural exchange, after all, is to interact, intake and process the culture that you move into. In the language aspect of my learning contract I believe that my experiences contribute immensely to accrediting my time here as a student. While it may not have been smartly accomplished, I have accomplished much in speaking Japanese here in many ways that I could not have before coming on this exchange, and if there is anything champion my learning contract in language development it is this. The only thing now is to explain why, and the only way to explain why I became more fluent in Japanese language is to explain how I became more fluent in Japanese culture, as these learning experiences are often intertwined.
So with that lead-in, I summarize the cultural lessons of my time in Japan so far. From the start of school I was looking for something to stimulate my life, regardless of Japanese culture or not. I quickly committed to joining a school club, entitled “Folk Song Club” which I have covered extensively in my blog. This decision would not be regretted, as I have met many friends through Folk Song and have been exposed to a great deal of Japanese college culture, but the experience has not been without its ups and downs. Aside from the school activities I took great initiative in exploring the more urban areas of Kobe in Sannomiya and Motomachi, particularly at night with bars and the occasional night club. Through these experiences and the people I met, my Japanese skills allowed me to avoid locations that cater to foreigners and feel comfortable around regular Japanese people. This could not have been done without the effort I put into using the Japanese language.
The culture I experienced in Kobe and the surrounding areas certainly provided perspective to places I had previously been to in Japan. Even on the level of city-to-city, there are cultural differences in such a small and densely populated country as Japan. People in Kobe tend to represent a more Westernized sense of style and aesthetics, to the way the cities look and the way that people look. Compared to a place like Osaka, the personality of many people seems to be more serious and reserved, even while being generally warmer and more open than other areas of Japan. There are innumerable cafes and traditional Japanese kissaten, which are a more traditional style of Japanese cafe, frequented most often by the elderly. The amount of coffee sold around Kobe makes its image a natural fit for being the sister city of Seattle, Washington. In terms of food, whereas Osaka holds fame for more Japanese cuisine such as takoyaki and okonomiyaki Kobe is well-known for its high-quality beef and Western-styled cakes and confectionaries. The amount of Western-style bars and pubs is also makes Kobe a uniquely Westernized Japanese city. By Japanese standards these features makes Kobe very “fashionable” and “stylish” in its internationality. I settled into this atmosphere quickly, and the charm of the city grew on me quite well. I have come to understand a great deal of the local culture through the personal endeavors often described in my academic blog. The largest theme of these explorations though have been musical, as was a major interest of mine stated in my independent learning contract.
Through the Folk Song Club I met a very good friend who introduced me to the underground music culture of Kobe. Of significance is the Jam Jam Cafe, a jazz cafe that plays vinyl records of a both well-known and underground jazz from all eras (there is an entry in my blog that goes into further detail). Along with the Jam Jam Cafe, I saw some particularly avant-garde musical performances around Kobe and Osaka, and went to the Troop Cafe in Kobe, an electronica-oriented night club. Through this friend I discovered just how deeply some Japanese people delve into music, to the point where the interest is big enough to make more mainstream-oriented Japanese people view it as strange. I know people like this in the United States who are not so much marginalized for their interests, and found it culturally educational that something even so universal as music could actually marginalize some people in Japanese society. Even with this potential marginalization, music runs deeply in Kobe. In the Sannomiya area you can catch several musical performers on the street in various areas, often all at once. Sometimes there are even four-piece bands playing that eventually get shut down by the police for noise disturbance. As the Jam Jam Cafe and some other jazz cafe and kissaten indicate, Kobe is a city steeped in jazz and musical appreciation. There are jazz bars and other musical genre themed bars around the area, a kind of culture I only became aware of since coming to Kobe. By describing these observations, I feel that my cultural studies have rewarded me with new knowledge of Japan that could only be attained through my exchange, which leads me to view it as a personal success.
In terms of my specified interest in examining music culture in terms of attending a Japanese college, as well as Japanese college life in general, I was given plenty to observe by being part of the Folk Song Club. The club is by no means a serious endeavor; the structure and operation of it seems quite liberal compared to the other music club at the University of Hyogo, the keiongakubu or “Relaxing Music Club” which puts more serious effort in playing music. Generally in Folk Song, students just get drunk and play music. The preparation for these affairs, however, are taken quite seriously, which I often find quite perplexing. The club is made up of nearly a hundred members, making it a popular choice, as around 60% of the club are freshman members. They form bands that copy popular Japanese and foreign artists (you can see what I have done in my blog entries) and generally just have a good time, but there also lies a strong sense of responsibility to perform correctly as to not be embarrassed in front of other club members. After all, the shows they put on are usually only viewed by Folk Song members and no one outside the club circle. In this regard, they do not play music for the sake of getting better at playing music (although some members surely do) but rather use music as a way to socialize with a very large group of friends, brought together in a very Japanese way. In Japan I have noticed that structured environments, even to the point of bars themed by specific genres of music or other hobbies, are integral to bringing people together to socialize. This is why club activities in Japanese colleges are so important: students do not need endeavor themselves as individuals but rather have a preexisting group do the work for them- they find people with similar interests, goals, and ways of thinking because these social groups are in place for them to join. This comes at a price, however, as many students focus more on their club activities than their academics, and with the ever-increasing difficulty of finding work in Japan after graduation, it's no wonder.
My placement in the Folk Song Club has also been a great learning experience for Japanese group culture. While there are many individuals in the Folk Song Club that I consider my friends, when the group is all together in one setting, it can be more difficult to communicate. When together as a group, it is about the group rather than one person to another. If you do not feel in the same overall mood as the group it can be hard to find a way to interact with the group as a whole. While this is true with nearly any group of people in any culture, Japanese culture creates a great sense of group identity that can be often alienating to more introverted or individually-driven people, within or outside of Japanese culture. I have met other members who express similar experiences to what I have noticed. What it all comes down to, however, is how much effort you put into functioning with the group rather than just as yourself. It can be a rewarding experience to let go of individual hang-ups and give into a group setting, especially in a culture like Japan's.
The cultural hierarchy that exists everywhere in Japan was also evident in the Folk Song Club. The irony of the fact that the Folk Song Club admires rock and roll, a culture that at its heart defines itself by defying ideas of authority and rule, makes the presence of this hierarchy noteworthy. Younger students and new members address older members respectfully, and even in a group so laid-back as the Folk Song Club, it can create tension with these cultural rules are not followed. I know this from experience; some members dislike my lack of using polite Japanese (if any read is unaware, polite Japanese, or keigo, is its own form of Japanese, which gives an idea just how important hierarchy is to have its own forms of regular words) and have expressed it to me. As I said before in this essay, learning language and learning culture are often intertwined, and I have discovered that even when it seems alright to speak in any manner you please, someone will get offended, making polite Japanese an important concept to understand, and one that I still struggle to fully grasp today.
Along with the issue of politeness in Japanese, though, is the most important lesson of all that I have come to learn studying in Japan: no matter how much you learn about a culture, it is impossible to fully understand any culture as its basis is individual people, who all have different ideas on what their culture means. With this in mind, I intend to carry out the rest of my time in Japan and any time again after that with care in that the learning experience never ends, and one must always keep the mind open even when realities are betraying to what one has learned so far. This of course makes things a lot less boring, as there will always be some new dimension in learning about Japanese culture, any culture, and life itself.
Throughout this essay I have given light to what I have learned in accordance to my learning contract. While the essay may not have been clean-cut, neither was the learning experience itself. I can honestly say that this experience has been a rewarding one, both academically and in terms of my life as a whole. The next step comes in taking what I have learned on a personal level to a level that exceeds the expectations of me for this long-held intercultural exchange between Evergreen and Hyogo. From now, I embark on the next step to make this notion a reality, not only for the benefit of my college career but for the enrichment of my life as a whole.
