Shimane Homestay:
Amy Smith – 2022 Daiwa Scholar
I’m currently sitting at my desk in Hamada, Shimane Prefecture exactly 2 weeks into my homestay
with the thought that if I don’t start writing my blog now, I will forget everything that has happenedby the time I return to Tokyo. With a whirlwind of activities, all organised by my homestay Mum, I
have decided to group my blog into 4 weekly sections, which I will try and keep as brief as possible(this might be difficult) to give you all an insight into one of the most amazing experiences I’ve everhad.
I must briefly introduce my residence (or palace) in which I have been lucky to reside in this month.
With a grand piano, views overlooking the ocean, and a balcony the size of my entire Tokyoapartment, I could not have asked for a more picturesque location for my homestay. Shimane
prefecture on the west coast of Japan contrasts with the usual hustle and bustle of Tokyo life.
Everything about Shimane is peaceful, from the oceans to the nature, and the trains consisting of
only one carriage say a lot about the pace of life. However, I very quickly realised I needed to learn
the word for spider.

My morning coffee and evening balcony views
Week 1
Upon arriving at Hamada station on the 2nd of September I was a bundle of nerves and excitement,
ready to be thrown into the deep end with my newly-acquired Japanese language skills. Luckily, I
landed in the most loving home with Mariko-san, Keichio-san and Miru-chan (a very loving fluffy cat
to which I am unfortunately extremely allergic).

Miru- chan

Week 1 consisted of an extremely varied set of activities with visits to the local flea market,
lighthouses, cafes and apparently one of the best aquariums in Japan - I got to see beluga whales
blowing bubbles so I can confirm it was as good as expected. I also visited the local high school not
once but twice in the first week, for the school’s cultural day and sports day respectively. It is safe tosay both were wildly different to my experiences in Scotland, the main one being we would neverhave attempted to run a relay race in 32°, nor would we ever have been given that opportunity.

Hamada High School ; Cultural Tea Ceremony & Sports Day Balloon Release
The highlight of my first week was my day trip to Izumo, to visit Izumo Taisha – considered one ofJapan’s most important and oldest shrines. The Izumo region plays a central role in Japan’s creation
mythology and it was fascinating to experience the history with running commentary from myhomestay Mum, who is definitely a lecturer for a reason. We had the region’s famous soba noodles,
drove round the coast to visit some more beaches and ended the day with かき氷(kakigori - shavedice) before I fell asleep in the car, the entire journey home.

出雲大社 Izumo Taisha
I was also fortunate enough arrive in Hamada just in time for a free month trial at ‘カーブス’ –Curves. For those new to Curves, as I once was, it is a female-only gym chain consisting of a 30
minute circuit type class. I cannot speak for the rest of Japan, but in Hamada these classes seemed tobe exclusively for women above the age of 60 and I received many a ‘上手’ (skilled) for my ability tomanoeuvre the machines at almost quadruple the speed of anyone else there. At the ripe age of just23, I do think I have quite an advantage.

If all of this wasn’t enough, to end the week, I had my first ever ‘Takoyaki-party’. Takoyaki is a type ofJapanese dish consisting of dough balls filled with octopus. Having never attempted what always
looked like a near impossible task, I was surprised to find it much easier than expected and extremely
enjoyable. I think my enthusiasm was potentially too strong as I am now returning to Tokyo with myvery own Takoyaki maker – a very kind present from Mariko-san.

Takoyaki PartyWeek 2
My homestay Mum is a lecturer at the local university and thus had recruited more than a few
unsuspecting students to spend the day with the strange Scottish girl staying at her house. As aresult, I ended up with one of the biggest coincidences I’ve encountered in Japan thus far. I wasintroduced to Ren-san who is half Japanese and half Scottish. You can imagine the shock on my face
that, despite looking fully Japanese, his accent had an uncanny resemblance to my very native
Glaswegian Scottish accent. We quickly established that his Mum was brought up in the town besidemine, 10 minutes from my house! I am consistently amazed by how close you can be to home, evenwhen you are thousands of miles away.
My homestay parents have 2 daughters, both of whom were in the UK when I arrived in Shimane.
One studies at Oxford, while the other was on a 3 week language exchange program and arrived backhome during my second week. After collecting her from the airport, we headed home to gossip allabout her first ever trip to England! お土産 (omiyage – act of giving gifts to your Japanese friends,coworkers or family when visiting a place) is a big part of Japanese culture, and so I was not surprised
when Miho-san announced she’d brought back some from the UK. What did shock me however was
the sheer VOLUME of items – everything from jaffa cakes to luxury hot chocolate, 1kg of fudge and a
London Christmas tree bauble. You name it, we had it. I was shocked (and somewhat excited for ajaffa cake) at the generosity of both Miho and the airline baggage allowance - I seriously hope myfamily don’t have these expectations upon my return from Japan. The next day we celebrated Mihosan’s birthday with a lovely cake from the local bakery and made Pimm’s cocktails with the 1L bottle
she had also somehow managed to bring back from the UK (£11 in duty free – a bargain too).

Miho-san’s Omiyage-filled Celebrations
Shimane is also home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site - Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine which in the past
was responsible for one-third of the world’s silver production. Two more lucky students wereenlisted for my day trip:Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine

Week 3Week 3 marked the midway point of my homestay where the busy days as a tourist began to wind
down as I settled into life in Shimane. I filled my days with coffee, Japanese grammar, work
placement preparation and even reignited a long-lost-love for running. My favourite part of running
here is not the gorgeous scenery but the looks of bewildered Japanese drivers as they see a foreigner
running in ungodly heat – this has fuelled my motivation for running most days.
Homestay Mum and Dad (as I have nicknamed them, much to my real mother’s sadness) and I wenton a lovely day trip to 三段峡 (sandankyo), an area filled with lovely walks and rivers, where we tooka boat ride through a tiny ravine to reach a hidden waterfall. We followed our mini adventure at arestaurant nearby and all ordered ‘karage’ on Mariko-san’s recommendation. Despite being beside ariver, I had naively assumed the karage would be chicken so you can imagine the look on my facewhen an entire deep-fried fish was placed in front of me. After some discussion of whether I shouldeat the head or the tail first, my Scottish instincts kicked in with thoughts that anything deep friedmust be yummy and thus the entire fish was devoured.

The boat, the waterfall and the unfortunate fish in question
Bowling and (my first ever sober) karaoke were also on this week’s agenda with some more ofMariko-sans students. I am happy to announce that despite language and cultural differences, a deep
love for Taylor Swift songs knows no boundaries.
Every Thursday I have also been attending an English Language school, teaching and playing gameswith children from the ages of 4 to 7. I say teaching, but I think I’ve learned more new Japanese
vocabulary than they have English – a humbling experience to say the least. This has been one of thehighlights of every week and helped me to feel like a part of the community here in Hamada. After
this week’s English class, I was invited by a friend to visit the Hamada Taiko group practice.
Thankfully, as both of my parents are musicians, I was brought up with some rhythmic ability andtherefore was able to join in extremely successfully with the group.

English Lessons & Taiko Practice
Week 4
Iwami Kagura is an integral part of the culture in Shimane with over 130 active Kagura organisationsin the prefecture. Kagura translates to ‘entertaining the gods’ and Iwami Kagura originates
specifically in Western Japan and is best known for its fast-paced music and dance. Kagura is basedon stories from the Kojiki or other early historic documents, normally involving confrontations
between gods and demons. Kagura is a truly amazing sight, with extreme skill and care taken in theperformances to entertain. My enjoyment for Kagura was likely enhanced by our onsen (thermalbath) trip beforehand, sending me into a particularly relaxed state- very different from my usual
Saturday nights in Tokyo.

石見神楽 Iwami Kagura
Homestay Dad and I also took a trip Tatamigaura, flat rock beach, which as the name suggests is abeach full of flat rocks of varying shapes and sizes – we joked by the time I leave I will have seen
every tourist attraction in the entirety of Shimane, and I don’t think I’m far off. My final week saw
another two day trips to Matsue (Shimane’s biggest city) and Tsuwano, but due to the excessive
length of this blog and my ability to ramble forever, I have simply added some pictures instead:Matsue & Tsuwano Day Trips
With a 7- page blog, an additional 10,000 pictures in my camera roll and a brand new Takoyaki maker,
I think it’s safe to say my homestay has been the experience of a lifetime. I cannot express or find thewords (I am an engineer for a reason) to thank my homestay family enough for their kindness,
hospitality, and jam-packed itinerary they carefully constructed for me over the last 4 weeks to makemy homestay as enjoyable as possible. I hope to visit Shimane again and I’m glad my homestay family
have recently turned a portion of the house into an Airbnb, making any future visits almost too easy.