Since 1990, local teens have visited Tsugaru City, Japan, each summer as members of the Bath-Tsugaru Sister- City Exchange program.
Nine local students, accompanied by exchange coordinator Cindy Matthews, two Bath city councilors, and an adult chaperone stayed with host families during their visit to Aomori Province July 19 to 30. Today, local students share their experiences.
Culture shock
BY ANTHONY HARDY
Coming off of a 13-hour plane ride the day before, the one hour trip to Aomori seemed to end just as it began. Here we collected our baggage, and rendezvoused with one of Cindy’s former students who is working in the Tsugaru local government. We all loaded onto yet another bus, and embarked on the hour long ride to Tsugaru City.
Along the way we saw a very mountainous landscape, as well as the many apple orchards and rice fields that Aomori and Tsugaru are famous for.
Shortly thereafter, we arrived at the Tsugaru City hall where we were given an orientation while waiting for our host families to arrive at the welcome party.
After some quiz games and a brief overview of our schedule, we all lined up single file, and walked into the room to the applause of the various host families and board members.
After several speeches, our names were called individually, we stood, and our host families waved to us.
After this, our host families came and collected us from the front of the room like lost sheep, and brought us back to the table where they had prepared a spread of food.
It was at this point that my ego was very throughly busted, as I realized how seldom the names of fruit and college majors come up in casual conversation.
This ultimately proved very amusing, and persisted throughout the whole 30- minute car ride back to the house after the party.
Upon reaching the house, I was introduced to both of my host grandparents, and given a tour.
I proved myself to be culturally aware and graceful by improperly removing my shoes, and then almost face planting in the hallway in front of the bathroom.
Both of these events were met with laughter after a moment’s panic, and I found myself laughing as well, for in spite of all of the hours of YouTube videos I watched on Japanese culture, I am still very capable of making basic mistakes.
After watching my host father pantomime how to use the shower, an enactment good enough for cable TV, I finally took a shower. Refreshed, I changed my clothes, and emerged back into the light of the kitchen where both of my host parents and host sister were sitting.
Though I have two host brothers, my host sister is the one that is interested in the exchange trip, and was the one peppering me with questions in broken English and via Google Translate.
After a short while, I was presented with a welcome gift, a pair of chopsticks with a Kabuki actor’s image on the front.
In return I gave them salt water taffy, something they had never heard of before. After establishing that the contents of the box was candy, and was in fact edible, they all tried a piece and seemed to enjoy it.
Though it wasn’t terribly late, I was incredibly tired, so it was at this point that I went to bed.
Anthony Hardy lives in
Cumberland.
Remembering the Cheseborough seaman
BY HALEY TODD
On day two of our stay in Tsugaru City, we gathered at the Fureai Kaikan Community Center in Shariki Village to catch the bus at 9 a.m.
Our first stop was at the Yoshinji Buddhist Temple. We spent the morning there, learning about the religion, and followed the monk in prayer for the lives lost years ago in the wreck of the Bath ship, Cheseborough.
When the morning ended, we went to a local market known as “Flat.” There, we tried soba noodles and added a raw quail egg.
After lunch, we visited the Shariki community to practice the ancient tradition of tea ceremony. We learned the proper way to drink tea, walk with tea, eat sweets and admire the tea cup.
After a few cups of green tea and some picture taking, we proceeded to the Cheseborough Memorial, where each member of the exchange program left a rose as a gesture of respect and remembrance. Next to the memorial was our final stop, the Takayama Inari Shrine.
A Shinto priest guided our tour through the beautiful shrine and garden. He educated us on the Shinto religion and the history of Japan. After exploring the elegant garden, we returned to our bus and spent the evening with our wonderful host families.
Haley Todd lives
in Woolwich.
Switching up the language
BY ROSE HOROWITZ
For a long time, I’ve really wanted to go to Japan, and now that I’m here, I realize nothing could have really prepared me for it. It would be like showing someone a photograph and expecting them to fully appreciate the beauty of the scene.
Most people would expect the most shocking cultural aspects to be big things like language. However, I have found that the small things (hand gestures, license plate format, the tastes of foods that also exist in America, etc.) are what make Japan truly amazing.
From the first day in Tokyo to today in Aomori, I have been trying to experience as much as I can, despite jet lag, because everything is new and exciting. Not to mention, contrary to my wishes, I might not be coming back here soon (although I hope to possibly someday study abroad here).
Communicating with Japanese people is sometimes difficult, but by using fragmented Japanese and motions, the message is eventually conveyed.
I know a little Japanese, and I’m Asian, so with the combination of those two aspects, I seem to be fooling the locals into thinking that I’m native.
One interesting thing that has happened as a result of being in Japan is that the language switch in my brain is all messed up. I’ve been answering Japanese people in English, and Americans in Japanese.
So far, my trip has been super awesome, great, and a little surreal, as I’m having a hard time believing that I’m actually finally here. Finding the right words to sum up what I’ve experienced so far would be impossible.
Suffice to say, it’s immeasurably fun, every day is an adventure, and as soon as I get home I’ll start saving up to come back again.
Rose Horowitz lives
in Harpswell.
Yoshinji Buddhist Temple
BY DYLAN ROBINSON
Walking into the temple, I was overwhelmed, not only with the sights of what appeared to be gold, but with the kindness of whomever seemed to be a priest of sorts.
Our purpose there was to perform “Zazen,” or meditation, and though at first I thought this might be a little odd with so many people, I grew to enjoy the overall experience.
Physically, my time spent there resulted in terrible leg pains (from sitting in the lotus or half-lotus position) and a few awkward moments, but mentally, the experience helped me relax and feel more at peace.
Another thing I appreciated was how connected to another culture it made me feel.
Even though our meditation was shortened by hours, I felt very thankful to the man leading the Zazen, as he took time out of his long day to show us something I feel many in our group will forget.
I, however, will never forget the Yoshinji Buddhist Temple.
Dylan Robinson lives in
Brunswick.
Bonding over banana cream pie
BY GABE KUNHARDT
On July 23, we went to meet the Tsugaru city mayor, Hiroyoshi Fukushima. We were able to give the mayor small gifts of our own, which is always fun.
Next, we visited the Inagaki Middle School, one of the local middle schools, where we got to hang out and get to know some students and learn about their school.
We also made mouth-watering banana cream pies with the students. I think we all made new friends. I know I did.
After that we went to the Shayokan, which is the house of a famous Japanese author from this area, Osamu Dazai. We were able to roam and take pictures of the building and house.
Lastly, we went to the Tachinebuta Museum. This was cool because it featured giant nebuta floats weighing 16 tons, and were very beautiful.
We had a chance to make a traditional Japanese kite. Overall, I would say it was a day well spent and I had fun.
Gabe Kunhardt lives in
Brunswick.
Meeting the governor
BY NICK RADER
Going to Japan has always been a dream of mine since I started studying the language in November 2010. My standard of Japan has always been high, and every day we have been in Aomori, I have not been disappointed. Today, July 25, was no different.
We started the day off by visiting the governor of Aomori. After about an hour on a coach bus, we finally arrived at the prefectural building where we were greeted by about a dozen staff members, clapping for us.
This left me in awe. This feeling of awe was furthered as we proceeded up the stairs and we walked down a hallway with staff members on either side of us. They were not staring at us, but instead, they were clapping and bowing. I felt exceptional and unique. I was not just another visitor.
The governor of Aomori himself, Shingo Mimura, was energetic and quickly took away the tense or formal edge to the 30-minute meeting. His energetic “okays” put a smile on everyone’s face.
However, we couldn’t stay for long as we left to continue our journey in Aomori. We did, however, take a group photo, inside the prefectural office, as well as outside in a small park at a bench that was donated by Maine in 2004 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Maine-Aomori Sister-State relationship.
Japan is very rich in culture. At times during this trip, I have felt that America is significantly inferior to Japan in so many ways, such as in its culture.
Japanese culture is fostered by many things. In Aomori, the Nebuta Festival is of major cultural significance, where floats up to 30 meters high are pulled around the city.
The festival is going to be held the first week of August, so we are going to miss it, but, we were given access to look at an unfinished float.
The float was very complex. About 15 meters high and maybe just as wide. It was huge!
I was taken aback by how ornate and intricate the float was. It had two figures as well as a phoenix. The float was covered in a wide array of colors and designs.
We will have an opportunity to participate in Tsugaru City’s Nebuta Festival later this week. I became a little giddy knowing that Nebuta is going to be like nothing I have ever experienced.
We were not the only ones learning about Japanese culture there. Small armies of Japanese children were also there to see the floats. Most of them were 3 or 4 years old. They were learning about their culture while young Americans, including myself could not identify or even describe American culture.
I often wonder what American culture is. Perhaps it is buying things in bulk or owning the largest car or house. However, how does this give our society value? How does American culture make American society unique?
Nick Rayder lives in Falmouth.
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