Arrival in Japan
Jake Barraclough (DS2023)
Boot Camp
Before we could touch down in the promised land, we were subjected to a rigorous month-longtraining program at the Daiwa Foundation HQ, London. This impressive building was once anintimidating fortress during the interview stages of the scholarship, but it soon became our cosy
second home. This was thanks to thehospitality of the Daiwa staff, who welcomed
us in, alongside the relaxed learning
environment created by our sensei. Ofcourse, I can’t forget to mention one of thehighlights… the magically refilling biscuit tin
and brand-new coffee machine, completewith Nespresso’s entire range of coffee pods.
It became our mission to try every one of the20 or so flavours throughout our stay (believe
it or not, watermelon-flavoured coffee
doesn’t quite hit the mark!).
Whilst the language learning was invaluable for our survival upon arrival in Japan, by the end of
this course I was completely exhausted. I then spent the next 10 days participating in a challenge
to coincide with the start of the Rugby World Cup which involved running a marathon every day,to take me from Rugby School to Paris. However, this was a breeze in comparison to the intensive
language course! It was touch-and-go whether I’d make it to Japan when I woke up in Paris(perhaps slightly hungover) on the morning of our flight. After a blurry Eurostar journey, I
frantically packed everything I owned into two suitcases and about made it to the airport intime.
The Race Against Homelessness
For most of the scholars, myself included, it
was our first-time visiting Japan and there wasa lot of unknown. There’s only so much you canlearn from watching videos and reading books
about a place, so I couldn’t wait to experience
it firsthand. Nothing could have prepared mefor the sheer size and density of Tokyo. There’s
so much going on that it makes London feel likea tranquil village. Another thing that caught me
off guard was the humidity. I’d spent two years
living near Florida during my Masters and thought I knew what it felt like to live inside a sauna,but the Japanese summer is a whole different animal. I’d come back from a trip to the local
konbini looking like I’d just been swimming. Luckily it began to cool down in October so I could
stop going through three T-shirts a day.

We had a hotel booked for the first few weeks but afterthat we had to fend for ourselves on the mean streets ofTokyo. This meant that, to avoid sleeping rough, we had totake immediate action to secure an apartment. We began
exploring the city from the get-go to determine where wewanted to live. There are so many different neighbourhoodsin Tokyo, all with distinct vibes, so it’s important to scout
out as many as possible during the first week (as it takessome time to process the housing application before you
can move in). Whilst the other scholars prioritised factors
such as price, size of apartment and distance from Waseda,
my approach was slightly more unorthodox. There was only
one thing that I took into consideration when deciding on
my housing… proximity to a green space.
The hotel’s buffet breakfast was a winnerLand of the Rising Run(ners)
As a fanatic runner myself, I was drawn
to Japan by its unique and obsessiverunningculture(afterreading
Adharanand Finn’s The Way of theRunner). I was fascinated to learn about
Japan’s depth of marathon talent andekiden races (long-distance relays)
which captivate the whole nation. The
most famous of these races, the Hakone
Ekiden, is watched by over 50 million
people and is the biggest sporting event
each year. My motivation for moving to Japan was to experience the running phenomenon firsthand and to understand why the sport is so popular there in comparison to in The West. I soon
discovered, though, how challenging running can actually be in Tokyo. The infuriating numberof road crossings and lack of open spaces had me questioning how this city could really be arunning hub. That was until I stumbled across the holy grail of Japanese running… Yoyogi Park.
From 6am onwards every morning, runners flock to this park to run laps around the concrete ortrail loops. I’d found my home.
Whilst I don’t actually live inside the park (I may
as well do as I spent about as much time there as
I do in my apartment), I managed to find a placeright nearby and the commute to Waseda is only30 minutes by bike. Thanks to friend of Daiwa andParalympic legend, Noel Thatcher MBE, I was put
in touch with a local running coach whorecommended I join a group called Team MK. The
team consists of full-time office workers who arealso semi-elite runners and they’ve been kindenough to accommodate into their midst a foreign

student speaking extremely broken Japanese. As well as being an incredible training
environment, it’s been the perfect place to practice the language. My ability to learn in theclassroom has felt painfully slow at times but speaking Japanese in this social setting has been
an effective and enjoyable way of embedding my learning.
It seems to go through waves where I appear to be
making good progress before the illusion comes
crashing back down. Take a recent trip to the konbini
for example. I thought I’d mastered the art of paying
when one audacious cashier threw me for a loop. As
usual, I was listening out for the buzz words: “fukuro”…
he must be asking if I want a bag, “genkin”… am I
paying by cash, but then suddenly he went off script. A
simple “do you want this heated?” had caught me off
guard and after seeing the bewildered look on my face,
I was humiliatingly asked again, but this time in English.
This is still a common occurrence but at least it acts asmotivation to study harder. I may have lost the battle
but the war wages on!
A Brit, an Aussie and a Kiwi enter a race…

They came, they saw, they were conquered by a horde of Japanese runners!