A brush and a sword: paths to Japanese culture and extracurricular activities
Konbonwa. This is the first word I say as I enter the old elementary school gym that serves as our dojo. After a quick bow to the shomen (the front of the dojo; historically, a shrine would be there), I shuffle my way next to one of my fellow students. Across the dojo are 4 to 6 instructors. We bow to the shomen and to our instructors, meditate, declare our intentions to do our best, and gear up to practice and spar. The summer nights are hot and we end practice sweaty and tired. Winter makes the creaky wooden floor ice cube cold on the soles of our feet but we warm up after our group exercises. When practice ends, we scramble to put our gear away and clean the gym before going home.
It’s Saturday afternoon. I go to my friend’s house. I slip off my shoes, climb the steps, and enter her old upstairs bedroom. It has been converted into a classroom. Cushions are stacked in one corner, tables in another. Long strips of carefully and beautifully written kanji hang from a wire to dry. My calligraphy teacher — a pleasant woman in her 60s who is the goddess of happiness and hospitality incarnate — sits at her desk in front of the windows while the mountains peer in to observe everyone write. My teacher’s deft hand runs a brush dipped with orange ink across the thin paper to correct someone’s kanji. I grab a cushion, plop it down, pull out my paper, ink, and brushes. I usually begin by practicing kanji from my notebook before learning a new one and practicing it with my brush. Sometimes, I am bold enough to write broken haiku using what grammar and kanji I know with humorous results.
How to get involved.
Enough self-indulgence. How can you (yes, you) get involved with Japanese culture?
First, figure out what interests you. You might be interested in tea ceremony, judo, kyodo (Japanese archery), or ikebana (flower arranging). Maybe you’re musically inclined and want to learn how to play a traditional Japanese instrument such as the koto or the shamisen. One of the ALTs I know joined a taiko group. There’s plenty to do and get interested in. You just need to think about it and then find it. Look up YouTube videos and read up on what you can to see what catches your interest.
Second, ask around and see if there are any local clubs that are accepting new students. Your students may be involved in clubs outside of school, and your teachers may very well know about local clubs from your students. This is how I got started with kendo. You can also check posters at your school and other public spaces such as konbinis and coin laundries. You might just see something in your community that you can do. Sometimes, community centers will have information about upcoming events. At the start of every month in my Japanese class, we get pamphlets about upcoming events in the area. It’s how I learned about the local cosplay parade I took part in. Another obvious source of information would be other ALTs that you know as they may be involved in clubs and activities you could be interested in.
Suppose you’ve found something in your area that you’re interested in and that you can do. Now you need to reach out somehow and express interest. Many times, Japanese people are open to letting new people try stuff. (On a personal note, I never expected to find a community through kendo. Maybe the same will happen for you.) So you go. Your first few times at a club or class may involve just watching and observing. Keep showing up and prove that you’re interested. This is part of the process. However, sometimes you’ll be thrown into the middle of whatever it is that’s going on with some instruction and guidance from someone about basic fundamentals.
Next, keep going. Give it 3 or 4 honest tries to make a better informed decision. You should know if what you’re doing is right for you by then.
“But, Jacky,” I hear you scream from the other side of the monitor, “I don’t speak good Japanese! I can’t get involved with Japanese clubs.”
Go anyway. You’ll learn more Japanese beyond “Watashi wa…” by simply being there and doing stuff. When I started kendo and shodo, I could barely remember which hiragana was “wa” and “re.” Shodo helped me with my vocabulary and I learned some neat words. With kendo, I was matching actions to language. Funny thing happened: I started to learn more Japanese. My Japanese is still bad, but it’s much better compared to where it was when I started in April of 2022. Back then, I couldn’t read a children’s book. Now, I can half-way read and understand a kendo newsletter. And here’s a fun bonus to getting involved in these activities. You’ll learn very specific language about what you’re doing. It’s bonus level Japanese. Why not approach more Japanese language as a bonus? Because it is, and bonuses are great. No one complains about bonuses. Get involved. Go learn. Get some bonuses.
Hopefully you’ve found your thing. If you have, keep going. If you haven’t that’s ok, too. You at least got a fun memory or two of your time in Japan.
Why get involved in Japanese culture?
The answer is quite simple: you’re living here. You might as well get involved. Learning about the places where you live is a fun experience. It’s a chance and a means to understand and appreciate Japan on a deeper and more intimate level. This comes by having more contact with the culture, the language, and the people.
While you’re learning about Japan through its culture, you will learn and discover things about yourself. Shodo has revealed to me a means to quiet my mind in addition to helping me appreciate the language. Kendo is helping me learn to mitigate and manage my nerves by practicing self-control and emphasizing action. It’s also made me physically more aware of how I move and has toughened me up. I can’t give a walloping, but I sure can take one.
Making and finding your own way
Of course, you need not necessarily get involved with traditional arts. I personally encourage learning what you can about Japan how you can, but that might not be everyone’s cup of お茶. You can always do something else. A few people I know hit the gym together and attend a jazzercize class.
And here’s a sort of “Help someone else” tip; invite other ALTs to stuff. Many ALTs struggle with loneliness and isolation. You can’t invite them all to everything, but you can invite one or two to one thing. You have no idea how much having something to do and look forward to can help a person. And this will move us into the next topic; start your own club.
Wanna try fishing? Go fishing. People will talk to you. There’s some bonus Japanese right there. Into photography? Why not start a photography club? Doodle and draw? Start an art group. One ALT in Onomichi (who moved away in 2022) started a board game club of sorts by hosting gaming sessions at his apartment. There’s no reason why anyone can’t start a movie club, music club, cosplay club, or book club. Oh wait…we already have the Hiroshima Book Club that you can join!
If you need a meeting place, host at your apartment. Rotate apartments with other people. Or meet somewhere public. Having four or five people meet at a cafe or chain-restaurant to meet and discuss a common hobby won’t hurt anything. Order a drink and a snack and chill. Share photos on your smart phone or talk about books. If a restaurant can’t work for some reason, meet at a park. Talk to staff in a community center and see if you can borrow a room for two hours every two weeks or every month.
As far as getting people to know about your club, word of mouth works. Shoot a message to someone who might be interested. Ask them if they know anyone who might be interested. A club of three people is still a club. Your clubhouse can be McDonald’s. Your official club drink can be McCafe coffee.
I encourage you to find things that you can learn from and enjoy. After all, you’re in Japan. Use these circumstances to the best of your abilities and take advantage of it while you can. がんばって!!
