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John Manjiro Represents Bond between Japan and US

John Manjiro Represents Bond between Japan and US

January 12, 2019

By Kazuki Mizuno

John Manjiro is the first Japanese who set foot on U. S. soil. He is a figure who represents the relationship between Japan and the United States.

John Manjiro was a young fisherman born in Japan. When he was 14 years old, his boat was shipwrecked off the coast of Japan and he and his friends were washed ashore on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

They were rescued by an American ship and taken to Honolulu, Hawaii. They wanted to go back to Japan, but it was impossible for them to return to Japan because Japan at that time was a secluded country. Even Japanese were not allowed to return to their home country. Four of them decided to stay in Honolulu, but John decided to head for the U. S. mainland. The captain of the ship, Capt. Whitfield, adopted the Japanese boy as his son and educated him. Capt. Whitefield helped John return to Japan. Being able to speak English, as well as being familiar with American affairs, after returning to Japan John played an important role in opening Japan’s doors to the West.

Gift of being Understood

Gift of being Understood

January 12, 2019

By Hikari Shimase

The greatest memory of mine in Hawaii is the gift of being understood given by the Iolani students in Hawaii. On December 13, the Shimane and Yamagata students did presentations on Japanese culture, including Lafcadio Hearn, Iwami kagura, and Japanese dialects. Although we practiced the presentations, we were nervous if our presentations would be understood or not because they would be our first presentations ever to American students in English.

We were very relieved when the Iolani students watched our presentations attentively, and they showed great interest by actively interacting with our speakers.

The Iolani students were so kind to us and sang everyone’s favorite Chirstmas song, “Last Christmas,” together both in English and in Japanese. The Japanese students were truly moved.

Talking with the Iolani students was so much fun. To our surprise, many Iolani students are Japanese Americans. Some of them said their grandparents were Japanese.

We felt we were “connected” when our presentations were understood and we exchanged our ideas. At the end of the cultural exchanges, we shared our SNS’s and promised to keep in touch online.

Fantastic experience with Hawaiian students

January 12, 2019

By Mei Kawada

I had a great opportunity to interact with students of Iolani School, a private school for grades K-12 with more than 1,900 students in Honolulu. My experience with the wonderful Hawaiian students was mind-blowing because they were so enthusiastic about learning news things.

The Iolani School students asked the Japanese students who did presentations on Lafcadio Hearn, Iwami kagura, and Japanese dialects many questions. They were very surprised to learn a Japanese custom on Christmas Eve, which is that Japanese spend a romantic Christmas with lovers.

During a Japanese dialect presentation by Shimane students, they volunteered to practice challenging tongue twisters in Japanese. Their willingness to participate amazed the Japanese students. If these opportunities had been offered to Japanese, no Japanese students would have raised their hands to volunteer in Japan.

Iolani students also jumped at trying kendama and koma, which the Yamagata students demonstrated how to play. These traditional Japanese toys are quite difficult to master, but the Iolani students enthusiastically practiced them and some of them quickly succeeded in playing. The positive attitude of the Iolani students was a mind-blowing experience for me. They wanted to talk in Japanese and asked us many questions. They were positive and optimistic. They made me realize that it is important to grab an opportunity to learn if I want to learn something new rather than to wait patiently for an opportunity to be given to me by someone.

Pearl Harbor Reminds Horrors of War

Pearl Harbor Reminds Horrors of War

January 12, 2019

By Nanami Ishida, University of Shimane

A group of Japanese students from the University of Shimane and Yamagata University visited Pearl Harbor, the most significant place in Hawaii that changed the relationship between Japan and the United States.

After getting of a boat, the students landed on the USS Arizona Memorial. The white structure standing over the remains of the USS Arizona, the students observed the sunken dark ship underwater, but parts of the wreck were still seen over the water.

The Japanese students learned the history of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Although they knew the history from textbooks, visiting the site had them experience the horrors of the attack. It was painful to feel the tragedy of the crew trapped in the sunken ship in a few minutes. Hearing the story of the horrors, the students felt the wound of the crew and their family members directly. The fact the damage was caused by the Japanese broke the heart of the Japanese students.

The Japanese students also felt a pain of guilt. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked on Pearl Harbor and sank the American battleships including sailors on board under the water, causing the US to join World War II. As they learned the significance of the attack on Pearl Harbor in the world history, they thought that learning history was very important so as not to repeat the same mistake again.

Students Meet Consul General in Honolulu

Students Meet Consul General in Honolulu

January 12, 2019

By Chika Furusaki, University of Shimane

On December 11, 2018, Japanese students visited the Consulate-General of Japan in Honolulu, starting their short-term tour to strengthen the relationship between Japan and the United States.

They were 22 students from the University of Shimane and Yamagata University led by Professor Stephen Henneberry from Shimane and Professor Matthew Zisk from Yamagata.

They were invited to Hawaii by the Kakehashi Project, a program aiming for “building a bridge over” a river funded by the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE) in order to promote friendship between Japan and the United States.

Mr. Koichi Ito, Consul General, gave the young future leaders a warm welcome with tea and cookies in an elegant room of the modern consulate building, which was surrounded by big trees. Wearing an aloha shirt, Mr. Ito gently encouraged them to enjoy their stay in Hawaii and to make the best use of the opportunity.

A special lecture on the function of the Consulate, the history of Japanese in Hawaii, and Japanese cultural heritage in Hawaii was given to the students by Mr. Takayuki Shinozawa, Deputy Consul General.

According to Mr. Shinozawa, a consulate is established in a city which has strong ties with Japan, while an embassy is placed in the capital of a country. Honolulu in the State of Hawaii is a significant city where 13 % of the residents in Hawaii have Japanese ancestry. The first immigration of Japanese into Hawaii occurred in 1866 from Okinawa, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Niigata, Fukushima, etc. Therefore, a variety of Japanese culture is seen, such as branches of Izumo Grand Shrine from Shimane, Hongan Temple from Kyoto, bon dance festivals, and karate dojos.

The students asked many questions, and they learned about the interesting history of aloha shirts. To their surprise, aloha shirts were created from Japanese kimonos. Japanese immigrants remodeled kimonos into more comfortable work wear. The loose and airy shirts, which are the current aloha shirts, are a result of Japanese creativity to suit the needs of workers in plantations in a hot climate.

After interesting exchanges of questions and comments, Miss Chika Furusaki expressed their gratitude for the invitation, representing the students of the University of Shimane, and confidently declared they would do their best to promote friendship between Japan and the United States to kick off the beginning of their week-long tour in Honolulu.

Vampires and Zombies on Street

Vampires and Zombies on Street

December 19, 2018

By Moeno Uchimura, CWU

As an international student at Central Washington University, USA, I participated in American Halloween events for the first time in October 2018.

Americans prepare well for Halloween. For example, in the season of Halloween, a lot of pumpkins are sold in stores. They buy pumpkins to carve jack-o-lantern, which is a symbol of Halloween. They decorate their houses with these pumpkins in front of the doors. Also they use dolls of ghosts, skeletons, spiders, and witches to create a spooky atmosphere in their gardens. So, when I go around the town, I could see a lot of pumpkins and other ornaments.

There was a pumpkin-carving event at CWU. The campus was decorated with a lot of carved pumpkins. In the stores and dining halls at CWU, there were ornaments such as pumpkins, spiders, mummies and so on.

I thought that American people cherished Halloween more than Japanese because Japanese people enjoy Halloween only on October 31. Conversely, American people enjoyed preparing for Halloween starting a few weeks before Halloween. I have never been so many carved pumpkins in Japan.

Costumes are very important in American Halloween. In order to enjoy Halloween, I went to a store to buy a costume. There was a store that sold only Halloween costumes near the university. So, I went to the store and bought a cape and blood glue. I was very surprised because there were a lot of costumes, masks, toys, ornaments and so on.

I think that, in Japan, people often put on anime character’s costumes, but American people wear costumes of ghosts, vampires, zombies and so on. So, these costumes were very real and scary. Surprisingly, the nail or fingers such as vampires or monsters, or arms were sold, and these goods were very scary.

I wore a black one-piece dress and a cape, also used blood glue on my face.

After the class, wearing my vampire costume, I went to downtown near the university with friends to look at the atmosphere of the town. There were any children wearing costumes and holding baskets. Those children went to the houses and said, “Trick or treat”, and they got sweets. The decorations for each house were very good and scary. Especially, skeletons and ghosts were very real. I also got a lot of sweets

A lot of learning at WVC

A lot of learning at WVC

December 19, 2018

By Masafumi Oe

Almost two months have passed since I arrived at Washington, the United States. I enjoy learning new things at Wenatchee Valley College as an international student.

I have three classes a day from Friday to Saturday. They are English 92, EAP075, and English 97. One period lasts 60 minutes. My first class starts at 9 o’clock, the second class at 10 o’clock and the third one at 12 o’clock.

English 92 is Reading. Almost all the students taking this course are not American students. The students learn how to read effectively. For example, we try to find the main idea of a paragraph.

EAP is for international students. There are five students. We learn about American culture, costumes, traditions and life style, American English pronunciation, listening and note-taking, conversation role playing and presentations. We practice conversation in easy English.

English 97 is Writing. Most of the students are native English speakers, so this class has only two international students. We learn how to write reader-centered paragraphs.

Although I have only three courses, I take classes every day and the teachers give the students a lot of assignments. So I am quite busy.

I have lunch time between the second class and the third class. Almost of all the time when I have lunch, I go back to the dorm and eat lunch like bread or chicken. Sometimes, I go to cafeteria and have lunch, but it is expensive.

After class, I have tutoring from 1 pm-5 pm every Tuesday and Thursday. This tutoring is for international students, and we can ask questions about classes or assignments. There are nine international students, and we have two teachers in this tutoring, so we can spend a meaningful time, and we can practice conversation in English as well. It is so helpful to study English.

On no tutoring day, I often go to gym and do exercise. There are various machines for workout, so I can do workout effectively. In addition, I always play basketball after workout. It is a good chance to make friends. In fact, I played basketball with strangers and then we became friends. When I study alone, I usually go to library. It is a good place to study because it is so quiet, and teacher helps me if I want. Also, there are many computers and printers that students can use. A study room can be reserved if a student wants to do group work.

The dorm where I live is so close to the campus. It takes just one minute to go to the dorm from the campus. I share one room with another student who is Japanese. I share a kitchen with 24 people and a shower room and bath room with six people. At first there were a bed and a cupboard for each person in the dorm room, so my roommate and I bought a refrigerator and bedding. There is a share room in the dorm. There I can talk with many students.

On weekends, I often go shopping. I can get on a bus for free because I am a student, so I go shopping by bus. It takes about five minutes to go to a small store. This store has grocery mainly. When I want to get more things, I go to a bigger store by taking a bus for 20 minutes. I also have a good time with my friends on weekends such as watching movies or shopping.

Global Warming and the Loss of Biodiversity in Brazil

Global Warming and the Loss of Biodiversity in Brazil

December 19, 2018

Glenda Souza da Silva

Centro Universitário de Jaguariúna

In recent years, the planet has been affected by rising temperatures that have generated major concerns throughout the country. This is due to a phenomenon known as global warming, which is caused by burning fossil fuels such as gasoline, coal, diesel oil. It has also been caused by industries and non-renewable energy production, pollution and forest deforestation.

Brazil, because it is located near the equator and because it is a region that receives the sun’s rays with greater intensity, will feel the effects of the temperature changes affecting the country directly. In addition, because it has large coastal areas, it becomes vulnerable, as global warming intensifies the melting in Antarctica, which consequently increases sea level.

Another concern here is the impact of deforestation on animals. Animals, such as jaguars, blue macaws, maned wolves, among many others, are on the list of endangered animals in Brazil. The country is considered the richest in biodiversity in the world, but the loss of biodiversity is a worrying factor when talking about nature. It is estimated that the deforestation will cause the loss of the natural habitat of animals, causing these species to stop living. Scholars have reported that if the forest reaches between 20% and 25% of its area, it will be considered a climatic abyss.

To try to reverse this situation in the Amazon, actions such as reforestation have already been carried out. The fight for the preservation of species has increased, and with animals that are in serious danger of extinction, projects such as artificial insemination have already been carried out.

There must be a global awareness of how such factors are detrimental to life, not only to animal and plant life, but also to the quality of life of people.

Measures such as expanding the generation of energy through clean and renewable sources must be implemented by the country. Only then can we hope for a better future for both society as a whole and our beautiful natural biodiversity

Homestay in Canada Opens a New Door

Homestay in Canada Opens a New Door

December 19, 2018

Kosaku Hasayama

I participated in the study abroad program of the University of Shimane and studied at Langara College in Vancouver, Canada, in August 2018. I was simply interested in visiting a foreign country, but my experiences in Canada changed the meaning of studying English. I feel strongly I want to improve English and my desire to share ideas with many people around the world increased.

My life in Canada was all immersed in English for 24/7. I went to school every day to study English all day. All the classes at Langara College were conducted in English. It was very exhausting. At home I talked to my host family in English because it was homestay. I realized that my talking ability of English was low because I often could not express well what I wanted to say. But even so in Canada, I needed to express my ideas. For example, if I do something at home in my way and it is not right in Canada, my action will cause trouble to the host family. So I needed to ask questions and make my requests. I strongly wanted to be able to speak more with host family.

Using gestures was very helpful for my communication. I learned how to use gestures at school. I tried to use gestures to express my opinion in English, and I gradually was able to convey what I meant to others. After coming home, I always tried to put what I learned at school immediately to my conversation to the host mother. My host mother was a bit surprised at my improvement, and she praised me. It seemed that she understood well what I meant. I was happy to tell what I meant and I was touched by the fact that it was easy to convey the things I would like to convey by engaging gestures even in my poor English.

In Canada, I could make new friends, but I could not make friends other than Japanese. Why? It is because I don’t have strong English ability. I thought I had to improve my English ability. If I have more English ability, I could talk more with others. I think that I did not have the courage to talk to foreign people from myself, because I was worried that my English would not be understood. I strongly wanted to learn more English in order to be confident about my English ability.

In the end, I went to Canada and had a wonderful experience. I felt that I had to improve my English ability and I want to talk a lot with foreign people. The study abroad program gave me a new goal to me.

Students’Exchange Deepens Japan-Russia Friendship

Students’Exchange Deepens Japan-Russia Friendship

December 19, 2018

MarikoEguchi University of Shimane

University in Vladivostok, Russia, visited the University of Shimane on June 26, 2018,while their sailing training ship Nadezhda stayed in the Hamada Port,Shimane, Japan.

About 40 students arrived at the University of Shimane campus, wearing white sailor uniforms and caps. They are cadets who are trained to be officers after finishing their education.

Both Russian and Japanese students gathered around the memorial garden of Miyako Hiraoka to pray. Miyako, whose dream was to study abroad, lost her life when she was only 19 years old in a terrible murder. In 2009, the training ship Nadezhda first visited the Port of Hamada, and Miyako, who studied Russian, visited the ship and made friends with students from Maritime State University. Her dream never came true, but her wish has been, and will be passed on to other students, because the Maritime State University established a scholarship for Shimane students in memory of Miyako Hiraoka.

In the afternoon, both Russian and Japanese students had a great time at the gym. The Office of International Affairs of the University of Shimane prepared for dodge ball, but they failed to communicate the rules of the game to the Russian students. They ended up playing volleyball and Japanese traditional games. It was an instance of a cross-cultural communication problem, but the participants enjoyed being together.

YuriNakano, senior of the University of Students, showed some Russian students how to play a Japanese toy called “kendama.”The player is supposed to place a wooden ball connected to a stick into cups of the stick. She said that it was hard to describe how to play with the toy in English,but the Russian students were quick learners and they enjoyed playing it together.

Yuri said, “I had a lot of chances to talk with Russian students and I got very motivated to study the Russian language. I hope to greet them in Russian when they visit here again.”

Students from Maritime State University in Vladivostok, Russia and the University of Shimane in Hamada,Japan on board the Nadezdha