A Special Japanese Portrait

  Kensuke Shiota- a great friend...

During my first week at Kansai Gaidai University I met many people with whom I started to hang out. My fear of meeting new people disappeared the moment I went out for dinner with people I only knew for a few hours…

at Kansai Gaidai Houseclub

This is how I met Kensuke Shiota, a KGU student who practices Judo  at university.  I went to visit Caleb, a ryugakusee who started practicing judo this term; after the practice I had the opportunity to make the acquaintance of all his teammates. I was curious about Judo and I asked few questions…This martial art was completely new to me and therefore I thought of visiting more often.  Thus I asked the members if I could come and take pictures of their future practices. A few weeks later, they invited me to a judo tournament.  I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to get to know them better.

Judo Tournament

 winning the match

Kensuke, my model for this post, is a handsome, funny, intelligent guy who always cheers people up when he makes jokes in American slang. I admire the fact that he is ambitious and he concentrates a lot on his club work.  It was a wonderful experience to see him performing at the tournament, which was different from the regular practices at Kansai Gaidai University clubhouse.

practicing before the judo match

Going to the practices on a regular basis allowed me to understand and observe his personality and behavior towards his teammates and international students. Moreover, after the competition we all went out and had a great time. Kensuke is always happy when I ask him to take pictures of him. He sometimes jokes that he would be a superstar after reading this post. Hope he will be happy about this text too… :)

Winning the prize

not "a real" portrait but still funny...

A neighborhood in Hirakata

I will never forget the first day I arrived in Japan in front of Seminar House 4. I carried my luggage through the cozy park in order to arrive at my new place in Seminar house 3. Walking for the first time through this park, I noticed the coffee shop called Café de Raffinee and some children playing around; however, I could not pay attention to any more details since I was rushing to the dorms.

Next weekend I went with one of my new friends to the park. After chatting for a while we decided to have lunch in the small coffee shop that caught my attention since my arrival in Japan. Once I entered the place, I discovered that Japanese families actually come to have lunch with their family, friends and/or neighbors. I was interesting to be the only foreign person in the coffee shop without a family or children.  As I observed some of the Japanese families from my neighborhood spending their Saturday with family members, I must admit that became a little surprised.

After a while, I revisited the place since we decided to celebrate Jessica’s 22nd birthday there. Being together with my new friends and seeing some familiar Japanese faces (from my first visit) was a nice experience.  After having lunch I went to the bench and I saw how small children were running though the water fountains and how older children were playing sports together or with a member of their family.

Unfortunately, I cannot speak Japanese very well and therefore I could not talk to the people for long time about the activities that they do during the weekend in this neighborhood.  I asked for permission to take pictures of them and they politely agreed. I am fascinated to see how Japanese families spend their weekends together – here activities are very different from the place I grew up. Every Saturday I walk through the park and watch them for few minutes- it makes me feel better…

Early Impressions about Japan

Upon arriving in Japan, I had yet to understand the immense journey that I had undertaken. While I was pretty sure that my limited knowledge about Japan ( after all, I only knew about sushi and kimonos) would leave me reeling from culture shock, my initial assumptions were only the tip of the iceberg. After fifteen hours of flight, the initial bouts of nervousness hit me as the airplane's wheels skipped upon the runway of Kansai International Airport. When I first walked to Kansai Gaidai's campus, I took notice of the surrounding buildings; I was impressed by the architecture and the wonderful craftsmanship that was apparent in every work of art that I gazed upon. From the Japanese-style homes, to the vending machines and pachinko parlors, I thought everything was so fun and modern. Yet, the heir that I observed within the Japanese spirit, while not contradictory of the surroundings, was representative a moral code I have only seen in the Old Country, or that one could have observed decades ago within Western societies.

Few days later, I had the opportunity to visit the club house where I watched a Judo practice for the first time. After taking some pictures of the players I understood the great importance of the role the martial arts play in this country. I hope that my first look into this very different and exciting world of Japanese martial arts can be one of many springboards that I can in order to learn more about the mystery that is Japan. 

I will never forget the first visit to my home visit partner, Ami, where I cooked takoyaki, Japanese pancakes and ice cream. I also wore a Kimono for the first time in my life and I received one as a gift. Moreover, visiting her family gave me a better understanding of Japanese society and culture.