「Institution」カテゴリーアーカイブ

Anna Kelly: Volunteering at a Museum

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For my community involvement project I have been volunteering at the museum and archives at the Kyoto Institute of Technology. The museum specializes in different fields of design, and has a wide collection of antique posters, radios, art books, and more. The most recent exhibitions on display were about foreign advertisements related to food, and the Dadaist artist, May Ray, respectively.

The role that I play at the museum changes every week depending on what kind of tasks there are that need to be done. In my time there I have helped take photos to document antiques, set up and take down exhibitions, frame posters to go into new exhibitions, and enter data from old art books. Although it is probably the most tedious of my tasks, I find looking through the art books the most interesting. Some of the books were published as far back as the Meiji Period, so I have had the opportunity to learn something about old kanji that is generally not used anymore. For example, I never would have guessed that 学 used to be 學, 芸 used to be 藝, 十 can be 拾 in official documents, or that the number twenty (廿) has its own kanji!

Because I worked at a museum instead of joining a club or circle at Doshisha or Kyoto University, I didn’t have many opportunities to meet others my age through my CIP. However, I do feel that I am lucky to have had the opportunity to have a somewhat job-like experience in Japan, and although they may have not been college students, the people I met were great and taught me a lot.

 

Here is the museum’s website, if you are interested:

https://www.kit.ac.jp/en/research/museum-and-archives/

Lauren Levine: Kyoto Walking Circle

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For my CIP I knew that I wanted to be in a relaxed environment with Japanese students my own age so that I would be able to engage the other club members as peers. For this reason I chose to join the Kyoto Walking Circle, a club open to students of various colleges around Kyoto, and which meets once a week to walk around and explore different temples and shrines around the city. The club met every Saturday at 1:30 PM (at different locations around Kyoto depending on which temple or shrine we were visiting that day) with occasional night time events during the week.

One thing that surprised was how many members the club had and how much the people that came varied from week to week. At a given activity there could be more than twenty people, but very often more than half of those people would not have come the following week. Since the walking club is a very relaxed environment, attendance is always optional and most people come to events sporadically. This meant that I got to meet a lot of different people, but I often would not see the same person multiple weeks in a row, which made it difficult to stay in contact and become close friends. Still, everyone was really welcoming and friendly, and I enjoyed hanging out with everyone during the club activities.

Another thing that I noticed was that there was not a strong distinction between senpai and kouhai in this club environment. Even though there were students ranging in age from first years all the way to graduate students, most people in the club spoke in short form to each other and treated each other like friends (though some younger members did frequently speak in teinei). When speaking to mw, people usually started by speaking formally during the introductions, but soon switched to casual speak afterward.

Rather than the main distinction in the group being specifically by age, the more prominent distinction was in the smaller circles of friends that formed within the group. Since the group had so many members, only some of whom would come any given week, it was normal for the group walking that day to split into smaller groups of 4-6 while we were all walking. Some groups were all girls, other were all boys, and others were mixed (though there tended to be more guys than girls at the club activities). These were not official groups, but just groups that naturally formed based on friendships because our group was too large to all walk around together.

As a result, each week I would usually only end up talking to about five or six people depending on whichever smaller group I ended up walking with. I usually walked with whoever I started talking with before the activity started. The people in my CIP were very friendly, so I was almost always approached by someone who wanted to make conversation. If not, I would just introduce myself to the person who was staring at me the most. We would sometimes talk about the place we were visiting, but usually our conversations revolved around more general discussions of school, hobbies, and interests.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time as a member of the Kyoto Walking Circle. I got to see a lot of different temples and shrines around Kyoto, and because our club activities were mostly walking, there was a lot of time to make conversation and get to know the members of the circle.

Jorge Gómez Fernández: Volunteering for Children at Hospital/ Cooking Circle

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I couldn’t be more thankful with everyone who has helped to enrich my experience here in Kyōto. From giving me their recommendations for good 京都の観光客スポット (Tourist spots in Kyōto) to teaching me how to make だし巻き卵 (Egg roll with Dashi) with a special Kyōto twist, everything has been a new and unique experience.

This semester I got to volunteer at the Kyōdai Hospital with ニコニコトマト(NikoNiko Tomato), where my responsibilities and duties ranged from being able to play with the children to helping other volunteers prepare for lesson plans or activities. Playing with the children was a bittersweet experience, as there is an inevitable sad aura that you feel by being there. However, once you start to see the children play, those feeling start to diminish. As a Japanese language learner, it was very interesting to see how moms and native Japanese volunteers interacted with the children. I say that in terms of diction and level of formality; they chose to use certain words and grammar patterns that I supposed were appropriate to use with children (e.g. 遊ぼう vs. 遊びましょう, 寝んね vs. 寝って, 噛み噛み [to chew]). The volunteers in charge of NikoNiko Tomato are a great group of people who are highly dedicated to what they do and deserve the upmost respect. I’m glad I met everyone.

In addition to NikoNiko Tomato, I attended a cooking circle that meets once a month. There, native Japanese cooking instructors taught us how to make traditional Japanese dishes. My first time, we made お好み焼き(Okonomiyaki), which was a delight because after you make the meal you get to enjoy it (I love to eat so this was one of my favorite parts). Additionally, I met some of the most interesting and 元気 (Genki) cooking instructors. They were extremely helpful and you could tell they loved what they were doing. The second time I went, I was welcomed back very warmly. We made an array of Japanese dishes such as キノコご飯 (Mushroom rice) and 柿なます (Persimmon salad). I’m so grateful to the women who keep this wonderful cooking circle going. You could tell that they fully prepare as they are very knowledgeable about traditional Japanese cooking. I’m really looking forward to cooking more Japanese dishes my last time in December, where I will also have to, dismally, say my final goodbye to my cooking instructors and Kyōto.

Elizabeth Smith: Dancing- Ballet and Nihon Buyou

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For my CIP, I’ve taken ballet classes at K.Classic Ballet, and private lessons in Nihon Buyou- classical Japanese dance. It has definitely been a highlight of my time in Japan!

I had no idea how much ballet would make Kyoto feel like home. Throughout my life, ballet has followed me everywhere I’ve gone- I’ve been dancing seriously since I was about eight, helped direct my college’s ballet company, and have also studied a ballet academy in Paris. Ballet classes are remarkably similar all over the world- so enrolling at K.Classic ballet felt less like being the “new kid,” and more like re-joining a community where I’ve always belonged. Additionally, I’m so lucky to have found such an inspiring place to take class- several students from the school have placed in internationally-known competitions, and last week, the class was visited by a recent alumni- who is now dancing professionally at American Ballet Theatre!

Being in the ballet studio has really helped me learn to pick up on small social cues and cultural differences. The atmosphere in most good ballet schools (anywhere in the world) ranges from disciplined to strict, and K.Classic Ballet is no different. On my first day, I remember the teacher making a speech to her students (in somewhat difficult to understand Kansai-ben) about the importance of working hard, and not wasting valuable time in the studio. As the semester has passed, I’ve noticed that the students here seem to define hard work differently than I have in the U.S. At home, there are often clear times when it is and is not appropriate to practice on the sides of the floor, (for example, when the teacher is working with another student, it is considered polite to stop dancing and watch.) Here, the students spend a much larger percentage of the time practicing on their own. They are constantly tweaking their technique and working to apply corrections, through repetition in every free moment, especially at times when in my past experience, it would be customary to be still and observant. Additionally, when Sensei gives her students a correction, I’ve noticed that in comparison with most American teachers, she leaves about twice as long for students to practice applying it. In order to fit in, I’ve had to carefully pick up on these different cues, and adjust my working style to match the other students.

Nihon Buyou has also been an incredible experience. I originally started Nihon Buyou in the U.S., when I was about four, and continued until I was about twelve. I had the opportunity to take it up again over the summer in Hokkaido, and was lucky that my sensei from then was able to put me in touch with a sensei in Kyoto. I absolutely adore my sensei here- she is one of the warmest, most understanding people that I’ve met. She spends a lot of time making sure that I understand the technical vocabulary that she uses, but has a sense of humor when things become confusing or difficult. Furthermore, something that has surprised me about Nihon Buyou here is the slight emphasis on developing a personal relationship with the teacher. In every lesson, the two of us start and end the lesson with a cup of tea, where we discuss everything from my host sister’s undoukais to her recent trip to Tokyo. I’ve taken private lessons in ballet before, and music as well, and although I’ve always gotten to know my teachers very well, there has never been an established time to stop and pause and talk with each other.  For me, especially with the occasional language barrier, taking time to drink tea together has helped me to better communicate with my teacher during the lessons themselves.

Overall, dancing in Kyoto has enriched my experience in two ways. Ballet has helped me find a place where a shared interest has helped me find a sense of belonging, while Nihon Buyou has helped me make the most of my time by helping me learn something that is incredibly difficult to pursue in the U.S. I’m incredibly grateful for the experiences I’ve had this semester, and can’t wait to see what the next will bring!

Joseph Tsuboi: Kyoto University Karate Club

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One of my goals before coming to study in Kyoto was to practice karate-do in Japan. I began shitō-ryū karate-dō when I was seven years old back home in California and I spent much of my childhood and early adulthood in the dōjō. Away at school in Boston, I have found it difficult to continue competition training and I mainly practice or teach when I am back home during vacations. Therefore, other than summer breaks, it had been a while since I had trained rigorously and continuously. Before leaving California, I talked to my sensei about karate-do in Japan, wondering how different it would be and whether I would be able to fit in easily. My sensei told me about locations in Osaka where I could practice, but, luckily, I was able to find a club that practices shitō-ryū karate-dō at Kyoto University.

Since I began practicing with the Kyoto University karate club, I have learned a lot about both karate techniques and also relationships within Japanese extracurricular activities. The first thing that was apparent to me was the senpai-kōhai social hierarchy within this club, which is prevalent among various groups. Though I had studied a bit of keigo before, I did not actually have experiences in which I could practice, so my keigo knowledge was put to the test during my initial contact with the club through email. When I showed up during the first week of the semester, I could immediately discern who were senpai and team captains. Though this karate club is taught by senpai who are either graduate school students or fellow undergraduate students, kōhai still bow to them in passing. Yet, at the same time, high and low level belts all train together and I was impressed by the skills of the lower levels students. Thus, the senpai-kōhai relationship is definitely intimidating, but the respect towards other members the club produces a great practice environment.

Additionally, I have learned quite a bit about kumite, or sparring, technique. This club splits up based on those who want to practice kata, or form, and those who want to practice kumite. I stuck with the kumite group, mostly because that’s what the majority of the group practices. Back home in my dojo, I take on a senpai role to many of the younger kids and I am expected to teach at times. At Kyōdai’s practices, I am once again kōhai and I have had to adjust my training mentality to accept critique and to be willing to change my techniques. This was not an easy thing to accept at first, but, truly, I know that I have learned a great amount of new skills. As a result, I have become more comfortable and confident in my kumite techniques thanks to Kyoto University karate club, and I hope to bring back what I have learned to my dōjō.

Ruiqi Wang: Manga Lesson

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As my CIP for this semester, I chose Manga kyoshitsu. At first, I just want to experience something different from last semester and learn something about Japan. As we all know that manga and animation are really famous and professional in Japan and I am actually a manga fan and doing some little mangas by myself as well, I decide to do this for my CIP in Kyoto manga kyoshitsu with Okamoto sensei and Himura sensei. I go there every Saturday afternoon and spend 3 hours there drawing things. Basically you can draw anything you like at first and sensei will tell you which kind of exercise you need specifically. For me, I like to draw illustrations with characters but I can’t do very well in drawing human body, so sensei just gave me a photo book with human bodies and taught me how to draw human body from beginning systematically. Sensei will also gave me many advices when I am drawing. For example, the way to transform real pictures into manga characters and the composition of pictures, as well as some small tips which are really helpful.

Not only the way of drawing, but I also learnt how to interact with Japanese people. It’s totally fine to use casual speaking style with Japanese students in university, but since students in manga kyoshitsu are not all collage students and usually you cannot tell their ages, it’s better to use desu masu form to them. Because senseis are at our age as well, there was no wall between us. Of course we have to use Keigo to senseis but the atmosphere was really relaxing. Since I read manga as well, other Japanese students didn’t consider me as a foreigner, which makes me feel comfortable in this class. (The other reason that they didn’t consider me as foreigner may be that I am a Chinese which you can’t really tell whether I am a foreigner or not from my appearance. ) There was an elder sensei who is teaching traditional painting at the same place will always serve tea for us and students will bring snacks to share with everyone during break. I think this is a very special Japanese culture that happening everywhere in Japan, the tea time.

I really appreciate this opportunity to really join in a Japanese community like this kind of small class for manga. In this class, I had a chance to interact with young Japanese and here a lot of interesting things of Japanese young culture.

Eva Czapski: Yoga Lessons in Kyoto

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Many people who come to Kyoto for travel or study-abroad come with expectations and preconceptions about its deep-rooted history, attachment to tradition, preservation of old customs and places, and general loyalty to the ways of the past. Tourists enjoy the torii gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha, the restored streets lined with machiya storefronts in Gion, and the countless hundreds of temples and shrines left over from the era of the Samurai. I spent a good amount of my first semester in Kyoto seeking out many of these types of historical-cultural experiences– I even chose a traditional art form, sumi-e, for my CIP activity– and even now, I love walking around the historical districts or visiting old temples on weekends. However, along with getting used to modern, everyday life in Kyoto, which has in fact developed into a very livable and culturally diverse city, I’ve gotten to know a side of Japanese life that isn’t tied to tradition or ancestral ways. In a place where everyone expects to see ancient buildings, traditionally-dressed Geisha, and narrow, lantern-lit alleyways (of which there are plenty to be found), there also exists a thriving, internationally-influenced modern culture, and a giant boom of lifestyle trends that closely resemble what was around me back home in the U.S.

Yoga is an ancient practice in itself, but the yoga trend in society is relatively new, and extremely current. Living in Boston, I was constantly surrounded by yoga classes, yoga wear, yoga images with inspirational Buddhist quotes, “yoga challenges,” and so on; as well as all the other facets of the yoga lifestyle, like trendy vegan cafes and specialized yoga clothing boutiques.

I was definitely surprised to find, once I’d started exploring a little deeper into everyday Kyoto life and society, that the same kind of trend is alive and flourishing here as well. I chose yoga classes as my CIP because I wanted to find out more about the Japanese philosophy and treatment toward the yoga lifestyle. Back at home, I was used to taking Vinyasa yoga whenever I did take a class, so I decided to continue the same thing here (they offer many levels of Vinyasa almost every day of the week at the studio I chose).

My yoga studio, Tamisa Yoga, is on the popular shopping street Teramachi, and includes a vegan cafe as well as a shop that sells yoga wear merchandise and imported organic foods. Tamisa reminds me so much of the kind of studios and organic cafes/smoothie-bars I am used to seeing back in the states– if even more hip and well put-together than ours are. It was so interesting to observe the way that people in Japan have embraced this globally-trending lifestyle, and taken their own spin on it both aesthetically and in practice. (The photos below are courtesy of tamisa-yoga.com.)

cosy cafetamisa1As far as the Vinyasa classes themselves, the main difference I noticed in the class culture was that everyone was more laid-back, including the instructor. Classmates smiled at each other and said a friendly お疲れ様ですat the end of each class, even offering to put away other people’s mats. The instructors spoke mainly in Japanese (although bilingual lessons are also offered), but some Vinyasa-esque phrases were reserved for English (“Relax your body, relax your mind, relax your heart”), and it seemed like everyone in the class understood what these meant. The fact that English and Western culture (foods and clothing from America, words written and spoken in English) is so tied to the yoga culture here, which had probably spread throughout East Asia to Japan far before America was even a country, was a very interesting point of study for me during my experience.

For anyone interested in taking beginner’s yoga classes, I recommend the activity both as a way to practice your Japanese listening and social skills, and to observe a very current and influential part of Kyoto culture. I’ll definitely be keeping up with the classes and the studio community while living here this summer.

Samuel Wachtel: Kyoto Daigaku Karate Club

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For my CIP, I joined the Kyoto University Varsity Karate Team. It’s been a really fun and challenging semester with them, and I’ve learned a lot, about both Karate and Japanese culture.

Before coming to Japan, I had trained Karate for a little over 10 years in America. American Karate has no central organization at all, and varies a lot place to place. However, Karate as a sport is not very popular in the US, so most people (and, therefore, most dojos) in the US are practicing to get involved with the art and culture, and to learn self-defense. In this particular collegiate karate team, we practice very sport-focused karate, which was a big shift for me.

Traditionally, karate consists of basics, sparring, and Kata (forms). In this club, everyone does only either sparring or Kata. They put me with the sparring people. We essentially practiced fencing with our hands. For example, they place a huge amount of emphasis on stomping your foot to make an impressive sound just as you retract your fist. Of course, this means always striking the opponent while standing on one foot, which is not remotely practical.

I became good friends with the Karate club. Everyone there is friendly and helpful. Particularly, my various Senpai and I became quite close. During club hours, they would teach me. Outside of club hours, we are the same grade level, so we always go out and eat together after practice. I have learned that, while my American Karate club is close, Japanese clubs are part club, part business, and part fraternity. Already graduated Senpai even regularly come to practice. I have a feeling that I will count as part of their group for many years to come.

Dera Luce: Bazaar Cafe

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Bazaar Cafe was created in 1998 by the United Church of Christ Japan as a way to employ socially marginalized people and foster a community. Their business cards state: “We welcome people from any country, language or cultural background, sexuality, age, ability…Come to Bazaar Cafe, enjoy yourself and feel at home.”

I volunteer at Bazaar Cafe on Saturdays. My typical day consists of washing dishes, eating free lunch with the rest of the workers, making a trip to the grocery store, helping with food preparation, eating more free food, and playing the piano for private events. I start work at 1 pm, and by around 5 or 6 pm I start thinking maybe I should go back to my homestay for dinner. Then I end up staying another 3 or 4 hours because there’s something interesting going on, and I’m enjoying my time with my friends at Bazaar Cafe.

My favorite memory of Bazaar Cafe is from my first day as a volunteer, when I ended up staying for Bible study. Although I’m not religious, I was curious to see how Christianity translates into the Japanese culture, what the Bible sounds like in Japanese, and so on. There were about 10 people in attendance. The leader of the session started by sharing a spiritual message she heard at a church retreat that had left an impression on her. She shared how she planned to apply the message to her life. Then, she opened it up for other people to share personal stories related to the theme if they felt inclined.

One by one, people began to open up and reveal pieces of themselves to the group. I had never met any of these people before, yet everyone felt comfortable sharing in that safe space. A theology student whom I had met earlier in the day sat next to me and graciously translated the parts that I couldn’t understand as people shared their stories. I shared something too, which was hard to do (partly because I was saying it in Japanese and partly because it was sensitive subject matter). There wasn’t a dry eye in the room by the end of the session, and we all hugged each other.

I’ve been to church before, and none of this is uncommon in a church setting in the U.S., but to experience it in Japan was something else. Japan does not have a hugging culture, nor is it the norm to express your true feelings. Sometimes I think I’m making too much of a generalization by thinking this, but I’ve had many Japanese people say to me, “No, that really is the way it is here, for the most part.” There are even terms for the distinction between your true feelings, honne, and what you actually express to others, tatamae.

Despite all that, I was able to experience a moment where people were honest about things that would be stigmatized even in the U.S., and everyone accepted each other. This showed me that Bazaar Cafe really is a place where one can feel at home.

Nia Lambert: Koto and Shamisen Lessons

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This past semester, I decided to continue studying Koto, which I had been playing for roughly half a year at my home institution.  As a result, I initially came in with the expectation that lessons would be pretty much the same as my typical group lessons.

In the end, I believe private lessons provided me a unique opportunity to not only learn more technical tricks but also to gain a deeper understanding of music and discussing music in Japanese.  Reaching those realizations, however, was initially very difficult.  On my first class, especially, I was amazed that after all of my hours and hours of studying Japanese, I didn’t understand a word my teacher said.  I later came to realize it was because she used Kansai dialect.  If she hadn’t been playing the Koto with me I would have had no idea what she was asking me to do.  I was overwhelmed, and even wound up making silly mistakes like saying 行ってきます(ittekimasu=I’ll be back, but used only when you leave your home) after class.  However, this language barrier forced me to listen even closer and to constantly ask questions, which thankfully made me more comfortable with my teacher.

Around half-way through the semester, I met a Japanese friend who is studying English and preparing to study abroad next semester.  He takes really diligent notes on all the English phrases, idioms, and words that he hears pretty much all of the time.   From looking at his notes and its benefits with his language study, I figured I would give it a try for my CIP.  It was by far one of the best decisions for my studies.  Not only did it let me keep track of new vocabulary and phrases, it helped me pay closer attention to general speaking, be unabashedly inquisitive when I didn’t understand, and opened up different conversations that in turn taught me interesting everyday objects and phrases.  For example, tying string into a bow or “bunny ears” is called 蝶々結び（chyou chyou musubi） or a butterfly knot.  During my newfound confidence I also began studying Shamisen.  This new study unexpectedly lead to a plethora of conversations about different materials, finger and plucking styles, and words to describe the moods associated with certain note changes.

Through my CIP I’ve been able to understand far more Kansai words likeもういっぺん,　わからへん、ちゃう、ええ instead of いい、and so much more.  Currently I’m working on 春の海 (Haru no Umi), a very difficult traditional koto piece, and look forward to learning more about the different cultural and linguistic words and phrases associated with traditional Japanese music.

 

Two of my Sensei's more expensive 撥（ばち）or picks for Shamisen. The white one is made of elephant tusk and tortoiseshell.

Two of my Sensei’s more expensive 撥（ばち）or picks for Shamisen. The white one is made of elephant tusk and tortoiseshell.

This is an antique shamisen from the the Edo period. The face painted is an お多福（おたふく）面 or mask of a homely woman.

This is an antique shamisen from the the Edo period. The face painted is an お多福（おたふく）面 or mask of a homely woman.

This is the koto my sensei lent me to practice throughout the semester. I have it in my 和室（わしつ）,or Japanese style room, in my homestay.

This is the koto my sensei lent me to practice throughout the semester. I have it in my 和室（わしつ）,or Japanese style room, in my homestay.