「Brown University」カテゴリーアーカイブ

Stella Tsogtjargal: Shamisen

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For my CIP, I decided to learn shamisen! I haven’t played a musical instrument since middle school and I think classical Japanese music is really beautiful, so I really loved learning shamisen, which is kind of like a guitar.

Two other KCJS students were at our lessons, and it was really nice to have people there that weren’t just the students/teachers at the studio. Everyone at the studio was very kind, and we’d often all get dinner after the lesson.

The final performance was very special. It was the first time I had worn a kimono, and everyone from the studio was very encouraging. I’m happy with how everything turned out!

If you’re interested in engaging with Japanese culture through music, I couldn’t recommend shamisen, koto, or shakuhachi more!

Emmett Young: Volunteering at Mitsuba Kindergarten

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This semester for my Community Involvement Project I volunteered at a local kindergarten by the name of Mitsuba where I was essentially hanging out with the kindergarteners there for a couple hours each week. This experience was really fun overall and was actually my first ever time working with kids of such a young age which is ironic given the fact that it was in Japan where a language barrier at some times was very prominent. Regardless, it was an experience that led to a lot of personal growth in learning how to interact with and become familiar with people without always being able to communicate what I hope to say. My advice for incoming students is to honestly do things that you haven’t done before. It sounds generic though when you do things that are not only new to yourself, but you’re also experiencing a language barrier at the same time, it teaches you a lot about how to handle those extremely foreign situations. Then as you get more comfortable with whatever you are doing, the feeling of gratitude is magnified. 

Emelyn Madrigal: Kyoto University Running Circle Anpan Independants

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I joined the Kyoto University Anpan Running Club where twice a week sessions were held along the Kamogawa river, with university students representing multiple universities in Kyoto. The set routes included 4km vs 8km, however you are free to run more or less.

This is a perfect opportunity for those who want to stay active while also immersing themselves in the Japanese culture and daily life. I personally loved that I was able to experience just a normal part of a Japanese student’s life.

I will say however that this activity requires a person to be extremely extroverted and proactive in forming relationships with the other Japanese members as they can be very shy towards foreigners, and it can be easy to simply run on your own along the route. No matter what CIP activity it is, remember that you are in charge of reaching out and keeping up with new relationships.

Faith Li: Ikebana at Kadou Enshu

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My CIP activity is Ikebana–the Japanese art of flower arrangement, also known as  kadō. 

I’m taking lessons at Kado Enshu, a school which has locations in Marutamachi (group lessons), and Kitaoji (private lessons). A typical Ikebana lesson for me lasts around 1.5 hours, and consists of arranging my flowers (almost always in upright , moribana  style), with some suggestions from Sensei throughout the process, and then with some final tweaking from Sensei.

Here, I want to share the pros and cons of taking Ikebana lessons, as well as some advice:

Firstly, Ikebana is definitely one of the pricier CIP choices! I paid 30,000 yen (around $200 USD circa 2024) for 8 lessons per month. On top of this, I also paid a 2500 yen annual membership fee, and maybe around 30 USD for a kenzan  and flower scissors. KCJS is able to cover a portion of these fees, but there will still be a sizeable portion (well over $100 USD) left to pay. I believe that these prices are on the cheaper side as well!

Next, is the fact that you’re not going to get a lot of Japanese practice in–you’ll be silently arranging your flowers for the bulk of the session, and this is very much a solitary activity. This is especially true for me , since my Sensei speaks fluent English, so he often just spoke to me in English. If language immersion is a priority for you, I’d recommend something like volunteering with children.

Finally, like any traditional Japanese craft, Ikebana requires a lot of patience, and I ended up progressing slower than I expected. So, don’t expect to progress too rapidly, since it’s an art that’s meant to be perfected over one’s lifetime. Make sure that you’re sufficiently interested in Ikebana to be willing to do the same style of arrangements for pretty much 2 months straight!

If you’d like to pursue Ikebana, I highly suggest purchasing at least your own kenzan and scissors. As for the Ikebana vase, the actual Ikebana vases are quite expensive (hundreds! shudder), so I just use this random bowl that can fit a kenzan and some water. This way, once you bring your flowers home, rather then sticking them in some random vase, you can re-arrange them yourself at home. Kadou Enshu provides me with kenzan, flower bowls, and flowers while I’m practicing during class, but the only piece of my arrangement that I’m allowed to keep and bring home with me are the actual flowers.

Ultimately, I’m glad that I chose to pursue Ikebana, because it’s something that I wouldn’t have the chance to study in America (at least not without an exorbitant fee), and I would consider this a more transferable skill as far as traditional activites go (unlike something heavily ritualistic and intangible like Sado ), since I can certainly continue to make floral arrangements in the future as well. Also, it’s just a super Zen activity with a beautiful philosophy and history behind it!

Adam Bollt: Volunteering at the Doshisha University Historical Archives

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My activity was volunteering at the Doshisha University Historical Editorial Office and History Archival Center. I got to participate in and learn about numerous tasks the university carries out in order to preserve and promote its history. One week, I was helping arrange an exhibition for the university, and another, I was handling precious historical objects that belonged to famous figures in Japanese history. It was a truly unique experience to see Japanese historical conservation from the inside out, and to meet and talk with other people fascinated by history, whose perspective on history was necessarily shaped by growing up in a culture and historical environment wildly different from mine. I believe that any experience as a study abroad student has contact and interaction with new perspectives as a primary objective, and this historical-related activity was perfect for that – indeed, history is all about perspective! The volunteer activity felt mostly very informal, so one could really choose to do what was personally interesting if one spoke up – though there were certain moments of sudden formality, so one could get a taste of a whole gamut of types of experiences. So be flexible enough to go with the flow and enjoy every moment for how unique it is!

Jacqueline Zou: Kyoto Animal Shelter

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My CIP was to volunteer at the Kyoto Animal Shelter 動物愛護センター. Our weekly session usually involves walking the dogs and cleaning the dog pens and cat pens. I really enjoyed walking the dogs—the best part of it is that, as we gradually gained the dogs’ trust, we got to know the name and personality of every dog and truly became friends with them. We were even able to teach them how to listen to instructions to sit down. The workers there are also extremely friendly and encouraging.

For future students looking into volunteering at the shelter, it does require some tough mentality to clean up the dog pens at times because it can get very nasty, but I think being able to spend time with these adorable animals outweighs the tediousness of work.

Kyra Douglass: Tea Ceremony

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For my CIP this semester, I took tea ceremony lessons. When I came to Japan for the first time in 2018, I had the opportunity to go to a rural high school’s tea ceremony club. Admittedly, I didn’t really like matcha at the time, so I was having a hard time drinking it then. However, between then and the start of this last semester, I’ve come to love matcha, so deciding to take tea ceremony lessons was a no-brainer for me. Our first day was more of a demonstration and less of a lesson. It was still winter at that point, so the more suburban/semi-rural area that we traveled to for the demo was even more beautiful because of the snow on the ground. The windy streets surrounded by trees and mountains were like nothing I had ever seen. When we finally found the ryokan we would have classes in, we met Fujimura Sensei. She was wearing a kimono, which fit right in with the general traditional vibe of the small tatami room where our classes would be held.  

 

I was extremely nervous at that point. Everything in the room was so perfect, intentional, and unfamiliar to me, and I was afraid that I was somehow going to break something. Since this was very early into the semester, this had become a very common feeling since arriving in Japan: being generally uncomfortable. As Fujimura Sensei was doing the demonstration, I was so impressed by not only the intricacy of the ritual but how graceful and sure she was in each of her movements. I was a little intimidated at first, thinking there was no way I would be able to come close to that level. Even so, Fujimura Sensei was extremely kind, and I would later find out, just as patient and encouraging. Our lessons were completely in Japanese, and when I would struggle with the language, she would use hand movements to help me understand. Also, Connie Situ and Geetanjali Gandhe, the two other KCJS students who were taking the lessons with me, were beyond helpful when it came to helping me understand some of the Japanese instructions. Through their help and Sensei’s teaching style and overall friendliness, I was able to let go of the need to be perfect, and this made me so much more confident and, ultimately, have a lot more fun. This is something I want to carry with me after the end of the program because it can open more doors for me because I am less afraid of failure and am more comfortable with being uncomfortable. 

 

My CIP was also special because Fujimura Sensei went out of her way to teach us about the cultural history of Kyoto and Japan at large. To celebrate White Day, she prepared a multiple-course meal for us and explained the meaning and traditions behind each dish. It was delicious and I was really happy to participate in this holiday for the first time. Later in the semester during sakura season, we did an ochakai, or formal tea ceremony, at Heian Jingu, and later drove out to the countryside to do our own tea ceremony. It was such a beautiful experience, and I’m grateful to Fujimura Sensei for putting it all together. This semester was definitely full of awkward moments and small failures, but because of that, I feel like I am a more confident person than I was at the start.

Lola Simon: Karakami Papermaking

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This semester, I studied a form of traditional decorative papermaking known as karakami with Sugawara Fumiha, a karakami artisan based in Kyoto. Professor Melissa Rinne, who I took the class Kyoto Artisans and their Worlds with, connected me to Sugawara-sensei, who graciously offered to work with me for my CIP.

I study visual art at Brown with a particular focus on printmaking. I hoped to learn something related to printmaking or papermaking for my CIP. Karakami is at the intersection of both! It involves using carved wood blocks to create patterned papers that are typically used to decorate fusuma sliding doors or shoji screens. Karakami came to Japan from Tang Dynasty China during the 8th century, so it is an extremely old art form that still maintains traditional techniques. This involves mixing pigments using mica, a type of crystal found in granite, with gofun, a white pigment made from ground seashells, and funori, a type of glue that comes from dried and boiled seaweed. The ink is brushed onto a special sieve made of gauze, which is then pressed directly onto the woodblock to transfer the ink to the carving. Finally, a piece of paper is placed onto the block, and, using pressure from your palms, the design is transferred onto the paper.

I was able to create and carve my own karakami woodblock designs of bleeding heart flowers and blueberries. I learned how to mix inks, print the blocks, and cut and glue together the papers in order to create a continuous pattern. I even got to make my own karakami panel which I can hang up in my room.

This experience was one of the most meaningful opportunities in my study of both art and Japanese. I learned so much from Sugawara-sensei, who was an extremely kind, generous, and patient teacher. Over the course of the lessons, I grew more and more comfortable talking to Sugawara-sensei in Japanese and was able to form a life-long connection. I was able to learn an art form that I never could have studied without my time at KCJS, and will be forever grateful for this experience.

Advice to future students: if you have a particular interest you hope to pursue in Kyoto, go for it, even if it seems like something that could be difficult to find! I never thought I’d be able to study printmaking with an artisan in Kyoto, yet alone something as special as karakami. However, after talking to KCJS staff and professors about my interests in printmaking, I was able to be connected with Sugawara-sensei, who, despite having never taught lessons before, enthusiastically agreed to teach me. The KCJS program is incredibly supportive and well-connected to Kyoto and may be able to find you opportunities you’d never expect.

Ink mixing!

Karakami paper laid out to dry.

Carving a design.

Bryce Okihiro: Volunteering at Hiroto Yoshida's Sweet Potato Farm and Toshiharu Nagao's Shop in Miyama

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The CIP I undertook this semester involved working at Hiroto Yoshida’s sweet potato farm (e.g. constructing fencing, tilling the soil, planting sweet potato shoots) and assisting a local shop owner Toshiharu Nagao (e.g. packaging sweet potato products, learning about roasting sweet potatoes) in a rural area called Miyama in northern Kyoto. Through the experience, I learned about the processes and challenges of farming and having a business in the countryside and the methods through which young people are trying to revitalize Japan’s declining town areas. 

The experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, not merely because I had the chance to explore a region of Kyoto not so commonly visited, but more importantly, because of the transparent conversations I had with locals and the perspective-altering experiences I had whilst working on the farm and interacting with people in the community!

I would definitely recommend this CIP to students who have a passion for farming and a deep interest in the challenges facing Japan’s rural areas. The time and labor commitment to this CIP is intensive (one volunteering session will run from morning to evening (it takes two hours to commute to Miyama and another two hours to come back!)), so if you aren’t genuinely interested in experiencing and learning about life in Miyama, I suggest not even thinking about doing this CIP. But if you do have a genuine passion for farming and learning about rural life in Japan (as well as learning Japanese since most residents in Miyama don’t speak much English), this CIP will undoubtedly be an invaluable and extremely worthwhile experience, and perhaps even life-changing as well!

Zackary Entwistle: Shakuhachi

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I learned how to play shakuhachi for my CIP. Every Thursday I received private lessons from Kawamiya-san for around two hours where I was taught the fundamentals of the instrument, and every Tuesday I put what I learned at my lesson into context by playing with Iwazaki-sensei’s ensemble of koto, shamisen, and shakuhachi players. These lessons and rehearsals culminated with two performances, one where I played a duet with my private lesson teacher and another where I performed a couple pieces with the larger ensemble.

I adored my experience learning shakuhachi here in Kyoto. I’ll cherish not only my newly acquired (but still extremely rudimentary) ability to play this instrument I had never even heard in person before coming to this country, but also the memories I made from practicing at rehearsals, getting dinner with my teachers, and going to parties together after the performances. Of course there were also times when I struggled, as hardship is inherent to learning a new instrument, and especially finding time to practice at home in addition to scheduled practices twice a week was challenging to do during a short study abroad experience. But overall, I couldn’t have dreamed of a cooler way to interact authentically with Japanese people and learn about traditional Japanese culture, improving my language skills along the way too.

For any incoming students thinking of learning a new instrument as your CIP, just make sure you’re okay with the sacrifices first. Your time abroad is short and an activity that requires diligent practice like this will drain any freetime left in your already extremely packed study abroad schedule; my time spent on shakuhachi-related activities would sum to more than 10 hours most weeks. I was happy to let shakuhachi be such a big part of my study abroad experience, but you should be mindful of the commitments you’re making before you make them.

(See the full performance here: youtu.be/7RdvqViO6cI)