Exploring Japan up close

By: Ya-an Chan

Posted: 9/4/08

Sixty-three years after the U.S. dropped the world's first atomic bomb, a crowd of 21 SJSU students stood in silence in front of the historic Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, Japan, on June 20.

"The first thing that came into my mind was, 'Did the U.S. really do this?'" said David Tacmo, a junior graphic design major. "In my heart, I just felt like I had to respect the people who suffered a lot from the bombing. It was a feeling of remorse from everyone."

On a trip to explore the Japanese culture, participants of the SJSU faculty-led study abroad program arrived in Japan on May 30 where they would live for four weeks in Uji City, a city on the southern outskirts of Kyoto.

For many students, it was their first time visiting Japan.

"Before going on the trip, I really did not know what to expect," said Julie Hock, a junior advertising major. "I thought I might end up eating a lot of sushi and seeing a bunch of similar-looking places."

Instead, the students' experiences mirrored what Japanese Professor Keach Inaba had initially envisioned for them.

"I wanted the students to get to the heart of Japanese culture," Inaba said, "including not only Japanese traditional performing arts … but also Japanese pop culture."

According to SJSU's Study Abroad Web site, the four-week program focused on Kyoto and provided students with an overview of Japanese culture, history and society.

In addition to the lectures on Japanese history and traditional performing arts, students spent a lot of their time out in eight cities witnessing Japanese culture and history imprinted on the country's architecture.

The Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima Island was Nancy Thai's favorite site.

"It was nice seeing how this little island had its own culture developed," said the senior illustration major.

Miyajima Island, with an area of less than 12 square miles, has long been viewed as a holy island of Shintoism, Japan's primary religion, and a focal point for people's beliefs, according to the Miyajima Tourist Association Web site.

While at the island, students also walked through the shrine's famous Torii Gate located on the Seto Inland Sea, as the low tide allowed them to pass through the red 16- meter-high gate.

But what Kevin Frame, a senior computer science major, and Staci Helms, a senior international business major, said they learned the most from was living with the host families.

"I kind of felt like a big cousin in the family," said Frame, who stayed with the Urasugi family of five along with two other SJSU students.

Frame said the father took them for drives around the outskirts of the Kyoto, while the mother made them yukatas, a traditional Japanese summer garment.

"The family is the most important thing I learned," Frame said. "I learned a sense of community as I became a part of the family's normal life. I wasn't just observing it; I was involved in it."

Inaba said one of his goals was to expose students to the relationship between language and culture.

Even though her host family, the Taniguchi family, spoke English well, Helms said she learned so much of the culture as the parents tried to incorporate tradition at all times. One day, they dressed her up in traditional Japanese kimonos and on another, they taught her calligraphy.

According to Helms, the Taniguchi family always explained to her the reason certain things are important in Japanese culture, from regular house rules such as wearing slippers in the house to learning traditional arts.

"Of course I would make mistakes," Helms said. "But the family was always there to help me."

This close interaction between students and Japanese families not only changed the host families' perspective of American stereotypes, but also helped the students discover new sides of themselves.

Helms said that since her return from Japan, she has become more respectful of others and more aware of her surroundings.

Frame, on the other hand, said being in a foreign country has taught him to take more risks and be open to new environments.

"I became more willing to accept what other people do as I became part of the family's normal life," he said.

At the end of the program, students delivered speeches on stage before their host families in an auditorium.

"Thank you guys for helping me open myself up more," said Tacmo. "I found something within me that I didn't know before."