Guest Speaker

2005年秋学期に開講している「国際理解教育」に、日本で生活して２年近くになる南アフリカ人のGlenさんをゲストにお招きしました。14歳の時に家族全員でヨットによる世界旅行を経験した新聞記者として働いた経験もおありで、つい最近、子供のための英語の本（松香フォニックス研究所 "Funny Alphabet World")を出版されています。すでに、春学期にも総合英語1AのGuest Speakerとして来てお話をしてくださっているので、Glenさんのプロフィールなどはそちらのwebページを参照しておいてください。

当日の内容

Topic: Living in Japan as non-Japanese --- Challenges /Supports in the system, society, and culture.

Cultural Experiment:

Who is the bravest of you? Please come up to the front. Please look at my me in the eyes, and don't look away, if you can. then tell me your name, age, where you live and about your family. と、代表の学生が前に出て、グレンさんの眼を見ながら自己紹介を始めると、だんだん恥ずかしくなって下を向いてしまいました。それに対して、This is a good example of very deep, learned cultural difference. Perhaps for a Japanese it is rude to stare. For a Westerner, it is important to maintain some eye contact, otherwise you think the person has something to hide, or you cannot trust them. と文化の違いを肌で感じる実験を見せてくださいました。

Culture: a set of learned beliefs, values and behaviors. The way of life shared by the member of a society.

Language:

Challenges

Support
  • Difficulty of learning --- 2 alphabets and Kanji
    1. Makes learning to read and write very difficult.
    2. Takes many years to master.
    3. Reading road signs, station signs, menus at restaurants, etc.
  • Politeness levels in the language.
    1. Difficult for foreigners to know when to use.
    2. Easy to make a mistake and upset someone.
  • Calendar and Counting
  • Children learn language much more easily
  • Some schools have extra classes for non-Japanese
  • Private sector --- schools and cram schools
  • Support from friends and family
  • Volunteer groups --- Machida Citizens Forum
  • TV, films, books, manga, etc.

Culture

Challenges

Support

暗黙の了解（Anmoku no Ryokai) --- Common Values and knowledge

  • Even if you lived here for a very long time and know Japanese language very well, you will still be at a disadvantage .
  • Almost impossible for foreigners to become Japanese, even if they live like Japanese (Australia as a contrast).
  • Shyness of Japanese towards foreigners --- will sometimes ignore you rather than be embarrassed.
  • Group is more important than individual --- opposite of Western culture. Hard to understand group decisions.
  • Group dynamics --- Bullying. The stronger the group, the stronger it will reject difference. It does this to survive.
  • Avoidance of Eye contact.
  • Less personal space
  • Gift giving --- complex and easy to mistake.
  • Saying No is difficult
    (Experiment --- Ask a friend to keep his/her watch forever. What does he/she do?)

Many opportunities to learn and understand Japanese Culture ---if you understand a bit of why people behave the way they do, it is easier to adapt.

  • Living in Japan
  • Many festivals
  • Museums
  • Japanese people very proud of their culture and like to share it with friends, schoolmates, family, and neighbors.
  • Books (ex. Kenji Miyazawa "Ame nimo makezu"---an excellent book to understand the Japanese thinking, "Gorsch the cellist", etc.)
  • TV, internet, film, Manga, etc.
  • Volunteer groups --- Machida Citizens Forum

What does all this mean for non-Japanese children and minorities in Japanese schools?