Introduction
Living in Japan for many years, I feel that I see more and moremeanings and contradictions in Japan, and what I see makes mewant to write. In my years in Japan teaching, writing, agonizing
through the earthquake, and witnessing the economic downturn,
political protests, attitude shifts and odd westernizations, I always
feel like writing about my experience.
In some ways, Japan is built from words, so using words,
organized into essays, can help to make sense of my experience ofJapan. My experience might be the starting point for these essays,but each essay is an attempt to understand much more than myown experience. “Essay” in French originally meant “to try,” andthat is what I want to do in these essays, try to make sense ofwhat I see and what happens to me.
The famous writer Henry James said that there was only one
rule for writing well: “Only connect.” That is, writing is a kind ofconnecting. I agree with that. As a writer and a teacher, I know
connecting is the basis of learning and education. Ideas connect topeople. People connect one idea to another idea. People connect topeople, and the cycle of connecting grows. Connecting is essential
for education, and essential for life.
For me, Japan has never completely normalized. There is always
a little disconnection. I realize now that though I am very muchin Japan, I will never quite be of Japan. I live here, but I am fromanother place. But that is a good position to write from—and inJapan maybe the only position to write from. The search for how
and where I fit in—where I connect—and how I often do not fit in,gives me topics to think and write about.
3These days, Japan is put into visuals—photographs, videos,anime, TV programs and films. I think that just looking at Japanis not enough. It is important to use words to help understand.
Even visiting or living here is not enough. We have to think inwords to really understand. Sometimes, video stops us fromseeing, while words can make us see much better.
As the Zen Buddhists say, the finger pointing at the moon is not
the moon. The essay pointing at Japan is not Japan. But thenagain, a finger or two pointed towards Japan can make everyone
see more, think more and experience the world more deeply.
That means taking joy in the differences, the similarities andeverything in between. That means finding the deeper meanings.
E.M. Forster said, “How do I know what I think until I see what Isay?” But for me in Japan, I always wonder: How do I know what
I see until I read what I wrote about what I saw?
As an American who has made Japan home, I am used toconfusion, of course, but then again, maybe “home” is a confusing
word no matter where you live, no matter what culture, country or
experience of life envelops you.
Of course, this is a textbook, and you will learn authentic English,
but it is the process of reacting to the world and trying to explain
my personal reactions that I hope you will learn from, too. Thatis an active process of learning how to see and learning how to
express what you see.
As you read and think, you will start to get a sense of how you,
too, can be both inbound and outbound. Inbound means paying
attention, observing, reacting and feeling. Outbound means4getting the courage to do something with English. Both of thoseare active processes and they are modeled in this textbook withthe aim of you students doing something similar, in your own
unique way.
Enjoy the journey in both directions!

Michael Pronko

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Contents
PART I: Inbound Japan

Japan through an American Teacher and Writer’s Prism

Unit 1
What’s in a Name?

10

Unit 2
Country of Eyes

16

Unit 3
The Language Dance

22

Unit 4
Japan Open and Closed

28

Unit 5
Why Ask Me?

34

Unit 6
Politics So Far from Home

40

Unit 7Is Japan in Decline?

46

Unit 8A New Era or An Era of Newness?

52

Unit 9Earthquake Life

58

Unit 10Integrating Immigrants

64

PART II: Outbound Japan
Global Mindset for the Future

Unit 11
The Right Amount of Conﬁdence

72

Unit 12
Mistake Makers of the World, Unite!

78

Unit 13The Art of Conversation

84

Unit 14“Get Out! Why Not Go?”90

Unit 15
Passion for English

96

Notes

103

Unit

01 What’s in a Name?

DL 002 ~ 014

CD1-02 ~CD1-14

Walking back to the station after a party with my seniorseminar students one evening, one of them suddenly turned tome with a serious look on her face and asked, “Can I ask you apersonal question?” “Of course,” I said. “What should I call you ex5

actly?” My first answer was going to be, “Call me Michael.” Americans love to be called by their first names. The great American
novel, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, starts out with the famousline, “Call me Ishmael.” In America, a first name is part of yourself-definition, a peg to hang your identity on. In Japan, though, it

10

is just not that simple.
All teachers are called sensei, a term of respect that establishes a clear social relation in a distinct hierarchy with clear expectations and obligations. As a sensei, I have duties to dispense,
knowledge to pass on, and advice to hand out: in short, a well-de10

Unit01

What’s in a Name?

fined role. Moving from “sensei” to “Michael” moves from the social
to the personal, from the role to the person, a distance that in Japan is wider than in America.
Outside of school, what I am called does not always correspond to the precise formal terms of address Japanese use. The

5Japanese system of names and titles devolves into a puzzling
jumble of inconsistencies with foreign names. On any given day,I might be addressed by any of the following: Michael, Pronko,
Pronko san, Pronko sensei, Michael san, or Michael sensei. Eachone indicates different degrees of intimacy and levels of social

10position, different levels of confusion. I have adjusted to living inJapan much better than my name has.
Japanese would always have san attached to their familyname like Suzuki san. But the different foreign name order andoften-unclear status means I have to be ready to answer to any-15thing. At some restaurants I frequent, the master calls me “Michaelsan,” but at others “Pronko san.” However, sometimes it is the polite, formal master who uses the more informal “Michael san.”Anyone from the takkyubin home deliveryman to the department store service counter to the city office workers might call me

20“Michael san,” too, just because Michael is in the front, left, spot
where Japanese family names usually go. I can never tell if theperson is confused about my family name, or trying to act westernized, or just feeling close.
On the other hand, the young chef at a small French bistro I25

sometimes eat at, who always gives me a casual French hug when
I leave, uses the more formal “Pronko san.” I guess the casual hugand formal address go together in a mismatched Japanese way.
Some colleagues at university call me, “Pronko sensei”; others, “Michael sensei”; others, “Michael,” but with no connection1130

to our relative age, closeness or protocol. One colleague I often go
for a drink with still calls me, “Pronko sensei.” Only now, as ourfriendship has deepened, it sounds ironic and joking. Switching
now would involve an awkward negotiation. It is easier to leave it
5

as it is.
When speaking English, colleagues will sometimes refer toother colleagues by their first name, which makes me wonder:
are they actually close or just using first names to fit the English
culture usage? To switch from family name to given name means

10switching an entire system of naming from one culture to the next,or to suddenly move several layers of intimacy closer. As with somany things in Japan, it is impossible to know.
My name almost never fits easily into application forms,
forcing me to adapt and bend my name. At one point, I had three15

different point cards for Yodobashi Camera, each with a different
variation of my name. I’d forget the card and get a new one. A
clerk would not let me combine the points, assuming I was threedifferent people at the same address until I sat down with a manager and explained.
It was my fault for filling in the application form a different

20

way each time, writing my name in the American order once, theJapanese order (family name first) once, and in katakana insteadof romaji once. I tried to include my middle name, too, which does
not fit in anywhere. “Which name is correct?” the manager de25

manded, but it was hard to say exactly. In Japan, I seem to have arotating collection of names.
This tangled system of names will only get more perplexing
as Japan internationalizes. One of my students who worked for a
joint venture firm called her British boss, “Martin” but her Jap-30

anese boss, “Sato shacho.” The name systems cannot merge, but12

Unit01

What’s in a Name?

they can coexist.
Japanese like to stay inside their work titles, and reserve
their first name for spouses, close friends or lovers. To become
close enough to use someone’s first name in Japanese is a powerful, moving moment. In English, your given name is used so often,5

it could never carry such intense intimacy.
Nowadays, I use my first name more and more, with students, colleagues and even when I make a reservation at a restaurant. It is not closeness I want, but rather a bit of consistency. InJapan, anyway, no one is going to correct what you call yourself,
so like in some online avatar game, you can call yourself whatever
you want.

1310

Ⅰ Using the keywords
In the blanks, put the most suitable word from the essay. Morethan one word might work, but choose the one that best fits.

1.	If you can understand the social, you can see
what position everyone is in compared to everyone else.
2.	The names and the titles do not match exactly. There are just.
too many.	Those
twofriends
haveknown each other for many years, de3veloping
to talk about everything with trust.
4.	To get the scholarship, I had to fill in many, many		 forms, with every piece of information about myself.
5.	In order to make a peaceful and functional society, many different kinds of people have to learn to.

Ⅱ Comprehending the essay
Review the essay and find the answers to these questions.

1. What kind of problems did the writer find with his foreignname in Japan?		 2.	What is the difference between names in the west and names
in Japan?		 3.	What kind of naming problem does he have at his university?		 4.	What kind of problems does he have with application forms?		 5.	What different meanings does a first name have in Japan
compared to the west?		 6.	What does the writer wonder will happen as Japan interna14

Unit01

What’s in a Name?

tionalizes?		 Ⅲ Summarizing the essay
By reusing your answers to the comprehension questions, write ashort summary of the essay in your own words.
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Ⅳ Discussing ideas and opinions
Think about your opinion on each of these questions and discusswith other students in groups.

1. What names or ways of calling people show intimacy andclose relationships?
2. Should Japanese names be written in western style or in traditional style in the future?
3. Which is better, using first names more or keeping exact titles with family names?
15