Before I came to KCJS I hadn’t really decided what to participate in. Not all the programs would provide with such good chances for students to be involved in Japanese society. And I really hoped that I could take advantage of it. It took me a long time to think about what goal would I want to achieve at the end of semester. Is it a deep understanding of Japanese society? Or it could be getting to know about the working environment in Japanese since I have the idea to work in Japan after graduation? After careful consideration and getting advices from my teacher, I finally decided to practice Shamisen as my CIP program.

My initial consideration was that as a traditional and Japan-only instrument, Shamisen could be a good tool for me to learn about traditional Japanese music and arts. In China we actually have the similar instrument but nowadays most people don’t know more about it. However, after been imported to japan and assimilated to Japanese culture, Shamisen plays important part of Japanese「邦楽」. I would like to learn more about the spread and development of Shamisen through time.

At the beginning I thought it should be a group class that one teacher sits in the front and students follows teachers instruction and practicing. But then I found out that instead of a Shamisen class, it is more like an amateur’s club. Usually they have typical groups that practice same songs and meet regularly once a week. I was really nervous when I first meet with them. Partly because most of the members are elder people, I was worried that they would not be happy if a foreigner suddenly joined their private group. However, I was welcomed and even taken care of by them. They were curious about my past experience related to Japan, and would also like to tell me their personal relation to China, such as travel experience or business with Chinese partner. I was surprised because this is very different from things I learned from the Japanese minorities class that Japanese people would be offended if someone intend to enter their private group. Even I only joined them for few classes, I feel like I have already become a part of their party. Also, practicing Shamisen is a hart task for me since I had almost zero knowledge about string instrument. And because the Shamisen pick is actually really heavy, I had a hard time learning the basic rules like how to sit, rest my wrist and hold the ばち(picks) in the correct way. It was painful at the beginning, but when I firstly played a whole song, I felt that all the efforts were worthwhile.

I really want to thank my teacher Iwazaki Chieko sensei. She brought me into their club and also the area of traditional Japanese music. From her I learned not just about Shamisen as a instrument, but also how traditional Japanese aesthetics are changing and integrated with modern society. The insistence of Japanese artists and awareness of modern culture make Japan the special place that can retain its culture so well when other countries are somehow ignoring and losing their traditions.

For this semester, I joined the 京都まんが教室 for my CIP. Although the course fee is a little bit expensive, I’d say it’s totally worth it, mainly because it is where you could have a real cultural communication with people who really understand you.

The most precious thing I experienced from this CIP is the feeling of getting into a real Japanese circle where I belong. Different from the general anime or manga club I’ve joined in the US, this class is more like a doujin-based fan circle. Since most of the students in the manga class are young ladies around the same age, we mostly watch same types of anime and have interests in same kinds of stuff(e.g. shipping). Thus, there are never too many topics to chat about, from which I get to pick up a lot of unique language that is only used within the Japanese anime-fan circle. However, since it is kind of an advanced course, the format of “teaching” almost doesn’t exist. Basically, you just draw whatever you like in every class, and the instructors will give some personal advice and instructions on your drawings. Since I don’t have any essential knowledge of drawing anime characters or manga before, the level is way too high for me. (Other students are all doujin artists.)

Therefore, here is my advice for those who might be interested: If you love anime/Japanese pop culture, and want to experience the feeling of really being one of the Japanese anime fans, don’t hesitate to participate in the manga class. However, if all you want is to learn how to draw manga and do not have any essential knowledge, I would suggest taking a more formal course that focuses on teaching basic skills of drawing manga.

In order to fulfill my Community Involvement Project requirements, I am fortunate to have been given the privilege to participate in two activities that I had been interested in since before coming to Kyoto: taking cooking classes and learning to play the shamisen.

Once a month, I have participated in cooking classes with the Kyoto Cooking Circle at Wings Kyoto, a community center located near the Karasuma-Oike subway station. For a small price of ¥1000 per class, I have not only had the opportunity to learn homestyle Japanese recipes, such as kiritanpo, a style of nabe native to Akita prefecture, but I have also been able to converse with a wide variety of Japanese people, from Doshisha students to the elderly. As such, Kyoto Cooking Circle has provided me with a great chance to fulfill my goal of learning new Japanese recipes, while also giving me the opportunity to utilize and improve my Japanese outside the classroom.

With cooking classes at Kyoto Cooking Circle only being offered once a month, for each week when these classes have not been in session, I have instead taken private shamisen lessons in Ibaraki, a city in Osaka prefecture. Under the tutelage of my teacher Chimura-sensei, I have quickly learned a number of songs, such as “Sakura Sakura,” “Tanko Bushi,” and “Tsugaru Jongara Bushi.” Furthermore, similar to my experience with the Kyoto Cooking Circle, I have also been able to speak regularly with Chimura-sensei, which has helped me in becoming more comfortable in Japanese conversation. As such, taking shamisen lessons have also allowed me to fulfill one of my goals, while being able to practice my Japanese in the process.

Through both my cooking classes and shamisen lessons, I have also learned about a number of aspects and customs pertaining to Japanese culture that I would have not found out about elsewhere. Most strikingly, from my first cooking class, I learned that Japanese children are given more self-responsibility and freedom than those in America. For example, one of Kyoto Cooking Circle’s teachers allows her two boys, who are approximately eight to ten years old, to contribute to the class’ cooking by using sharp knives to chop up vegetables. Having grown up in America and seen numerous parents prevent their children from doing anything even remotely dangerous, I was almost shocked to see the two Japanese kids contributing and acting on their own. As such, I first encountered the level of freedom and independence Japanese children are given at my first cooking class. In terms of my shamisen lessons, I have noticed that there are many differences between individual music lessons in the United States and Japan. From my experience, I’ve found that guitar lessons in the United States would be focused on correctly playing every note of every song I learn. However, Chimura-sensei has explained to me that rather than playing a song perfectly, it is more important to put soul into my shamisen playing. Essentially, Chimura-sensei has emphasized that having a nice sound or tone in my playing is more important than playing every song I learn perfectly. As such, I have noticed that perhaps Japanese music lessons are more focused on playing songs with heart and soul, without having to be perfect, while in the United States, perfection was the goal.

As a whole, my experiences with Kyoto Cooking Circle and Chimura-sensei’s shamisen lessons have been extremely rewarding. In the process of having two Community Involvement Project activities, I have only only fulfilled my goals of learning to cook Japanese food and to play the shamisen, but I also have improved my Japanese and made a number of Japanese friends. As such, I highly recommend learning to cook or to play the shamisen as a CIP to anyone interested in either activity!