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2013 GROUP TOUR REPORTOCTOBER, 2013: BREEZE ISSUE #72
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF JAPANESE

2013 INVITATIONAL GROUP
TOUR PROGRAM FOR US
EDUCATORSREPORT BY STEVEN JOHNSON
Douglas County School District
Denver, COPrior to this summer, all I knew about Japan was learnt frombooks and movies and a few college courses I had taken on the history of Japan. All this has changed as
I was able to visit Japan this past July. It was my first opportunity to travel to Asia, and I feel fortunate thatI was one of the fourteen American educators selected to travel to Japan with a group of superintendents,
school principals, curriculum and World language directors through the generous support of the JapanFoundation. It was an eye opening adventure.
The itinerary included stops in Tokyo, Sendai, and Kyoto, and along the way we were privileged to visit
several schools and tour various shrines, temples, and other cultural sites. We also visited a few of themany areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. We roamed the cities riding trains andthe packed subways and covered great distances quickly on the speedy Shinkansen . Our group visited
the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo as well as Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology. Each day was full of activity, and we packed in as much of Japan and Japanese culture as we
could during our short stay. There are a few memories that stand out.
Several of these stem from our visits to schools and the chance to meet Japanese students, teachers, andadministrators. As a former high school teacher and administrator, the chance to visit two high schools—
one private and one public—was a great honor. All the students were diligent workers and focused on
their studies in subjects any American high school student would recognize including biology, technology,Music, and Mathematics. At one high school, each and every student was required to engage in an afterschool activity of their choosing. Some were playing soccer and others baseball or volleyball. A small
group of girls were playing the shamisen as they sat on the floor. Yet another group was wearing padded
black uniforms, helmets with cage-like facemasks, and they were hitting each other. It wasn’t football, but
kendo , a Japanese martial art, and they were striking one another with long sword-like sticks yelling
loudly as they attacked and counter-attacked.
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The elementary school we visited in one of the areas affected by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami
north of Sendai. The visit there was emotional and deeply moving. We were surprised to see temporary
housing on the school’s grounds for local families impacted by the earthquake even though it has been
more than two years since the event. It was clear that the school’s principal and his teachers cherishedthe students in their care, and that they were dedicated to their intellectual, emotional, and physicalgrowth. These students seemed particularly focused on their studies, with the sixth graders studying
English language and the second graders learning the strokes for a single Japanese character, a character
requiring 12 or 13 separate strokes of the long brushes they held in their little hands. Students and schoolstaff were welcoming and engaged with us as we shared lunch with them. Most impressive was the special
assembly where the students performed for us. The assembly started with two sixth-grade students
delivering a powerful speech (one speaking in Japanese, the other in English) about their determination torise above the challenges presented by the earthquake and devastating tsunami. They then performed a
traditional Japanese dance, one depicting fishermen with their nets and their life at sea, and full of energy,shouts, and passion. None of us doubt that these students will overcome!
On a lighter note, five among our group decided to attend a baseball game on the night of July 4th. We
had been told this was something we needed to experience. Besides, it was July 4th, and we thought thiswould be a great way to see part of Japanese culture and to celebrate America’s Declaration ofIndependence at the same time. As we searched for the correct train that would take us to the stadium, ayoung woman working behind the counter at a shop was encouraged by her boss to help us find our way.
This was so typical. Whenever we asked for help, we always found the local Japanese people willing toassist. When we finally made it to the boarding area, fans wearing maroon and gold shirts and baseballcaps emblazoned with “Rakuten Eagles” told us we had found the right train.
The game itself was a fascinating mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar. The game of baseball and thepresence of a former major league slugger named Andruw Jones were familiar. Unfamiliar were thebaseball cheerleaders, girls selling beer served from small kegs they carried on their backs, and fans whocheered and chanted to the beat of a drum and waving large flags (though only when their own team wasup to bat). The Eagles won the game, but the highlight for us was the seventh inning stretch. As the fansjoined the announcer in singing a rousing song, they were also blowing up long balloons that were several
feet long. The fans were joyous and we wondered what was going on. Suddenly, as the singing wascoming to an end, the entire stadium let go of their balloons which then shot into the air, thousands ofthem, whistling as they were launched, just like fireworks. We were suddenly celebrating the Fourth of
July with all the fans, even if they didn’t realize it themselves.
Since returning from Japan, I have a heightened interest in the issues facing Asia and Japan in particular.
These include Japan’s conflict with China over the disputed islands as well as Prime Minister Abe’s desire
to reexamine Article 9 of Japan’s constitution. And there are still questions about the education system.
For example, while there is a significant emphasis on test scores for Japanese students, to what extent
are Japanese schools shifting to a greater emphasis on 21st Century skills like collaboration, creativity,and critical thinking? These important skills are difficult to demonstrate on a standardized test.
It was clear in our group’s conversations with both Japanese and American officials that both want to see
and increase in the number of students who are studying abroad, numbers that have declined in recentyears. Interestingly, I have only recently found out that a group of Japanese high school students from
Hokkaido will be visiting a high school in my district at the end of October, so I will not have to wait longto continue my study of Japan. Their visit will be a great encouragement to the Japanese language
students at our school and I hope to have the opportunity to follow up on some of my questions with thesePrivacy - Terms

visitors. We will welcome them with open arms and I look forward to sharing with them my recent
experience of their schools, culture, and Japanese “fireworks.” I hope their visit to the U.S. will be as
memorable for them as my trip to Japan is for me.

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2013 Group Tour Report: Steven Johnson

2013 J-LEAP Report: Amiko Nishijima

2013 J-LEAP Report: Hiroko Maekawa

2013 JET-MIP Essay: Ariana Foster

2013 JET-MIP Essay: Lian Eytinge2013 JET-MIP Essay: Rebecca Cook2013 JET-MIP Essay: Shannon Foremaster

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