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2012 JAPANESE AMERICAN LEADERSHIP DELEGATIONSEPTEMBER, 2012: BREEZE ISSUE #59
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF JAPANESE

2012 JAPANESE AMERICAN LEADERSHIP DELEGATION (JALD) REFLECTIONS
by: Janet Ikeda
East Asian Languages & Literatures, Washington and Lee University
Past President of ATJ
In March of 2012 I traveled to Japan with USJC President Irene Hirano Inouye, Counsel Toshio Odagiri andnine other delegates of the Japanese American Leadership Delegation. It was a privilege to have been
selected to join this important delegation. The landscape first revealed itself at the start of our journey as
we set down in Tokyo. The ride from Narita Airport to the hotel gave us a glimpse of the newly constructedTokyo Sky Tree, as it dominated the skyline and symbolized so much of Japan’s upward gaze toward thefuture. Reflecting upon the past, there were signs everywhere down below encouraging Japan topersevere in the struggle of the 3/11 aftermath. From Tokyo we boarded the Bullet Train and traveled toSendai, where we descended to the coastal region of Ishinomaki to see up close the tremendous power ofearth and water. The wisdom of the past taught people to seek higher ground. Looking about we could
see the devastation of everything built at sea level. Perched high atop a hill, an ancient shrine remained
intact and it was here, we were told, those escaping the great wave found refuge. Piles of rubble, buoys,cars, and shells showed that the ebb and flow of the tsunami swept everything away in its wake and thendeposited it back on shore in disarray. Now neatly arranged piles, some as high as small mountains,Privacy - Terms

waited for disposal. As we stood atop Hiyoriyama, where Basho once stood on his journey to the deepnorth, JEN staff told us stories of how hospital patients were brought to the foot of the mountain andcarried piggy back up the steep stairs to the top.
It was an honor meeting high government officials, such as Prime Minister Noda and Foreign Minister
Gemba. We met business leaders, non-profit change makers, prominent members of the JapaneseAmerican community in Japan and a member of the imperial family. The young people we met in Japanembodied such a feeling of exuberance and hope. Entrepreneurs, volunteers, non-profit organization
leaders and survivors alike had that same look of determination. Some of the young business leaders wespoke with in Sendai had left conventional jobs against the wishes of their parents, armed only with ahope of reviving the Tohoku area and a renewed vision of Japan’s future. In a world that grows alarmingly
more digital and virtual each day, I felt that this very real and tangible wave had awakened everyone. I
began to wipe away those images of today’s youth sitting listlessly while staring at cellphone screens. Ata Beyond Tomorrow banquet in Tokyo, child survivors sang makenaide, nakanaide in a moving song that
expressed that this was neither a time to give in nor a time for tears. After our meeting with MEXT officials
we were guided to a 3/11 exhibition where one striking photograph titled genki dama and translated as“Energy Balls,” showed hands forming musubi , the ultimate Japanese comfort food.
One of the memorable events of the delegation trip was the CGP Symposium on "Empowering Civil Society
for the Future of Japan." In the wake of 3/11 the 2012 JALD group was able to participate in a discussion
about the crucial issues that face Japan -- the revitalization of community and civil society, the spirit ofvolunteerism, and the acute realization that tasuke-au is essential during tragedy. It is often the case that
one needs to travel a long distance to discover something about one's self. Typically, as a lifelong learnerand teacher of Japanese, I have turned my gaze outward, hoping to learn all I can about Japan and itspeople. On this trip I felt myself looking inward. The attributes of strength and resilience of the Japanesepeople, exhibited so recently in the months following March 2011, were very much a part of the fiber of
early Japanese immigrants who ventured to unknown lands in the nineteenth and early twentiethcenturies. Four members of our delegation gave presentations. Dr. Paul Watanabe provided a brief
profile of Japanese Americans in the U.S. today, Barbara Hibino spoke about NPOs from a Silicon Valley
perspective, Mark Mitsui described the spirit of entrepreneurship and Susan Onuma shared her New Yorkexperiences relating to empowerment of civil society. The Japanese presenters taught us much about
the ongoing work in the Tohoku area and described the particular challenges. They described thechallenges to us as the following: few highly specialized NPOs, leadership is not a role that many actively
seek, lack of coordination and funding, no social mechanisms for setup and support, the confusion thatarises when a safe road map of one's life is washed away, the young and idealistic who are discouraged
from straying from a conservative career path. I think we could all empathize and understand these issues
from events that challenge us here at home in our own country. I came away with two important lessons;one, that education should not focus solely on curriculum and career. It should also teach people aresilience and flexibility that allows them to deal with the unexpected and inspires them to seek anunpredictable path of helping others. It should encourage finding creative solutions. And, two, that thepossibility of failure, which early immigrants encountered on a daily basis, is something modern citizensare finding less familiar. The gaman and ganbaru mentality of the issei now makes sense if we can seethat it was naturally accompanied by mistakes and setbacks. We were told that the Japanese have notbeen teaching their young people that failure is an option. From the JALD presentations I realized thatcourage and failure are important elements of entrepreneurship and, perhaps, an essential part ofrestructuring and revitalization.

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This trip for me was very holistic in the sense that the personal and professional came together. Life canbe a string of occasional intersections and, for the most part, my heritage and profession have remainedon distinctly parallel tracks. Studying Japanese literature in graduate school had little to do with my issei
grandparents’ experience in the U.S. Therefore, traveling to Japan with the JALD delegates created anideal crossroads. It gave me the opportunity to view Japan through a different lens and get to know
Japanese American leaders from around the U.S. Our delegation also gave the Japanese an opportunity
to meet Japanese Americans of various professionals. When I first studied abroad in Japan during the1970s the word nikkei was not widely understood. In addition, this experience helped reshape my imageof Japan and renewed my teaching. Before departing, I had beginning Japanese language students learn
the stroke order for the character “kizuna.” Advanced students read poetry of Wagō Ryōichi, Kaneko
Misuzu, Mado Michio and, of course, Miyazawa Kenji. In the busy moments leading up to the trip, I began
to understand that disaster refreshes our vocabulary and gives voice to experiences that at first seem aworld away. Miyazawa’s well-worn words “ame ni mo makezu, kaze ni mo makezu” seemed to take on newmeaning.
A meeting with U.S. Ambassador Roos and the Embassy staff affirmed our belief that the U.S.-Japanrelationship is a long and close one. American and Japanese youth feel an affinity for each other andshare a new set of cultural icons. When I asked embassy staff to reflect on their own career trajectory,
one member said it was essential to focus on kanji and to read the Nikkei shinbun on a daily basis without
the filter of reading English translations. Another staff member compared the Japanese language boom
years of the 1990s to that of the current interest in Chinese. Students who studied a language simply
because of a trend seemed to lack the passion necessary to sustain that study. In the face of competinginterests, today’s Japanese language learner has a true enthusiasm about the language and culture. This
will sustain them in their language-learning journey ahead.
Studying world languages is absolutely crucial to developing a genuine interest in people and culturesand leads to a deeper understanding of what it means to be a global citizen. Since the March trip I findmyself looking more closely at three groups of young people. One, Japanese Language Learners: Morerecently I served as the president of the Association of Teachers of Japanese (now a new organization
known as AATJ). I was impressed with the many dedicated teachers who are supporting a future
generation of avid language learners. Those of us who teach Japanese know that students have both anaffinity with and fascination of Japan. They respond to the pop culture that seems to tickle theirimaginations. They want to walk the same streets as Murakami Haruki’s fictional characters. Since 3/11
there has been no noticeable decrease in the number of students studying Japanese who seek a studyabroad experience in Japan. Two, Japanese Students: I learned on this trip that there has been over theyears a steady drop in the number of Japanese students coming to study in the U.S. We realize that there
are other places in the world competing for the Japanese student’s interest, along with a host ofimpediments to their going abroad. There is also the puzzling notion that in a shrinking world some find it
more comfortable to retreat to the familiar. Even more so than ever before, we need to rededicate ourenergy to the educational exchange between our two countries. Three, Japanese American students: I
would like to propose that we go beyond the overstated use of words such as gaman and ganbaru , andencourage more Japanese Americans to take up a study of the Japanese language. While we value ourheritage and what I often think of as my grandparents' Meiji values, I know that the Japan of today can bejust as mystifying as our own children. For young Japanese Americans, learning the Japanese language
will reconnect them with a heritage that they may suddenly find remote when older relatives pass away.
For the sansei baby boomer generation, many who are retired, studying the Japanese language will
provide renewed stimulation and encourage travel to Japan. Just as so many people want to take aPrivacy - Terms

European language in order to travel, take a cooking class or understand opera, learning Japanese laterin life can be very rewarding, not to mention fun and downright baffling. What would the early issei makeof terms in Japan today that refer to men as "herbivores" and women as "carnivores"?

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2012 Japanese American Leadership Delegation2012 JET-MIP Essay: Andrew Juarez

2012 JET-MIP Essay: Andrew Kim

2012 JET-MIP Essay: Anna Lee

2012 JET-MIP Essay: Anna Mai

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