destination
The joys of
Japan
Many people visit Japan to experience its
unique culture and way of life. Language
travellers will find many opportunities to have
new experiences and gain new skills, as
BETHAN NORRIS reports.
W
Students at
Eurocentres in
Kanazawa can
take trips to
local landmarks
including the
Kenrokuen
Gardens (right)
48 May 2008
ith its history of long periods of isolation from the rest of
the world, Japan is an exotic and exciting destination for
language travellers to visit due to its distinctive traditions
that are unique to the country.
According to Shinichiro Tokoku from Kai Japanese Language
School in Tokyo, who has worked at the school for 10 years,
introducing students to these traditions as well as learning about
other people’s, is part of the appeal in working in a language
school. “I can say that Japan is a rather geographically, linguistically
and culturally isolated country,” he says. “I feel it is meaningful
for us to provide opportunities for foreign students to encounter
unfamiliar experiences in Japan. Working in such an international
environment gives me the chance to know people who have different
backgrounds, different cultures as well as very different customs.
This job makes my life much richer.”
Tokyo, Japan’s capital, is one of the world’s biggest cities with
the conurbation of Tokyo-Yokohama containing over 35 million
people. Masanori Nakayama from Lakeland College Japan campus,
which is located in the city, says that Tokyo offers a range of
experiences that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. “This
is an incredibly unique country and culture – within this internationally
diverse and modernised society, there are places, events and aspects
within that have been preserved so well for the sake of sharing them
with the world,” he says, adding that he advises students to do
things that only Japan offers during their stay. “Our students are able
to enjoy some of the world’s most beautiful hot springs, traditional
festivals, cherry blossom viewing, tea ceremonies, firework displays
and much more. It is at these times that students are able to escape
the similarities of other major cities in the world and find something
truly unique, something truly Japan.”
There are also opportunities to learn Japanese at language
schools outside Tokyo and Mikuki Shiratori from Sendai Language
School (SLS) points out some of the benefi ts of studying in this
city. “Sendai is the biggest city in the northern east region of Japan
with about a population of a million people,” she says. “Everywhere
in the city you can enjoy a lot of green and throughout the city
there runs a beautiful river.” The city is within an hour of a number
of attractions such as ski resorts, hot springs and old temples
although Shiratori says that students can find magical places to visit
within the city itself that retain their charm
all year round. “My favourite place in town
is Jozenji Street that is lined with zelkova
trees,” she says. “Throughout the year you
can enjoy beautiful scenery in each season:
the fresh green in early summer, the
golden leaves in autumn and the romantic
illumination at night in winter.”
Shiratori also finds working in the
language travel industry to be a particularly
rewarding experience. “I have worked
for SLS for over nine years and I really
enjoy working here,” she says. “Teaching
international students sometimes gives me
an opportunity to know more about Japan,
because everyday I can find new aspects of
students that are totally different from my
sense or ideas.”
Getting to the heart of a different
country is part of the appeal of learning
a language overseas and Japan’s unique
culture is something that most students
particularly enjoy experiencing. Yasuko
Aizawa, Centre Manager at Eurocentres in
Kanazawa, says that guided activities are very
much part of the tuition plan for language
students. “We want students to learn about
the life, behaviour, mentality and way of
thinking of [the local] people,” she says.
“[We also want them to experience] a variety
of food, interesting products and gadgets in
everyday life.”
Students at Eurocentres can take part
in activities such as Japanese cooking,
the tea ceremony, kimono dressing, gold
leaf chopstick making, martial arts and rice
planting and harvesting that are arranged
by the school, while also taking trips to the
Geisha quarter and a sake brewery. In Tokyo,
students at Kai Japanese Language School
can learn to make soba noodles as well as
undertake traditional handcrafts such as
making Japanese windbells – known as furin
and hung by local people from the eaves of
houses in the summer – and ceramic art,
according to Tokoku. “More social activities
include organised trips to an izakia [traditional
Japanese pub], bowling nights and trips to
theme parks.”
The capital city’s extensive public
transport system also offers the chance for
students to explore some of its distinctive
regions depending on their own interests,
as Tokoku explains. “Shibuya is an area famous for being a centre for
youth culture,” he says. “Many new Japanese fashions and trends
can be spotted on the streets among the young in this area. Akihabara
contains the largest concentration of electronics and computer stores
in the world. It therefore has become the worldwide centre for a whole
Japanese sub-culture based upon Manga – Japanese comics – and
Otaku – roughly translated as computer geek/nerd.”
But one of Japan’s greatest attractions for visitors is surely its
extensive festivals – matsuri – which have their origins in ancient
Shinto rituals and beliefs and take place all year round. Local shrines
have their own festivals and are often a magnificent spectacle.
Shiratori advises students to take part in the local Aoba festival in
Sendai, which is held on the mountain of Koya-san and lasts for two
weeks. “People make a group and perform the suzume [sparrow]
dance that originally started in 1600AD,” she says. “The Tanabata
Typical activities
for students at
Kai Japanese
Language School
in Tokyo include
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Language Travel Magazine 49
A teacher at Sendai
Language school
in Sendai points
out some Japanese
characters (below)
[star] festival is the best and most famous festival held in the summer
in Sendai. In this festival, you can enjoy beautiful decorations in the
arcade streets.”
In Tokyo there are three festivals held by the big shrines between
May and June each year: the Sanno festival, the Kanda festival and
the Sanja festival. During the festivals, hundreds of portable shrines,
or omikoshi, are carried through the streets to bring prosperity while
offerings of rice sake and fruit are made to the gods. Tokoku says
that the Sumida River firework festival in July is a particular highlight.
“20,000 non-stop firework explosions can be seen in a few hours
along the Sumida River,” he adds.
Language schools in Japan report that demand for Japanese
language programmes is mostly from Asian markets although they
hope that this might change in the future. Nakayama says, “Our
recruiting agents at the moment are mainly
located in Asia, concentrated mostly in Korea
and China, but we are really looking for
the opportunity to extend this invitation to
more students in Europe and other Western
countries as well.”
Foreigners visiting Japan for tourism
purposes or to learn the language are
guaranteed a friendly welcome, as Aizawa
relates. “Most of our students are very happy
with the school and homestay, learn a lot
about Japan, make lots of discoveries, are
treated kindly by the community, come back
many times and continue contact with their
host families.”
Agent viewpoint
“Travelling around is one of the
most popular weekend activities for
our students. Visiting old towns like
Kamakura, Kyoto or Osaka is quite
popular. Tokyo is the favourite destination for
our students. One of the big advantages is the
standard of Japanese that is spoken in this area;
it is easier for foreigners to communicate with
locals. Although Tokyo is the most expensive city in
Japan, it is one of the easiest areas for foreigners
to find a part-time job, if they have a proper visa.”
Mayumi Morimoto, Language School Worldwide, Spain
“Japan is quickly becoming more and
more popular with our clients. There
is a lot more interest from high school
age students to attend language immersion programmes in Japan, as well. Some of
the extra-curricular activities offered by our school
in Kanazawa include tea ceremonies, Japanese
cooking, kimono dressing and manners and origami paper craft. The two most popular cities are
Kanazawa and Kyoto. Students like the cultural
experience they get in these two cities, and the
opportunity to live with Japanese host families.”
Anne Wittig, NRCSA, USA
“Japanese is much more popular than
a few years ago. Some people want
to be prepared for this future market
and some are just fascinated by the
exotic culture and language. Some students
want to be in a smaller city or by the sea. Others
want to experience Japanese life in Tokyo. These
would usually be the ones that already have some
travelling experience or are a bit more mature.”
Andrea Gerber, Pro Linguis, Switzerland
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50 May 2008
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