Greetings from Kawakami-village,
Lettuce begin with saying my internet access has been spotty since leaving for Japan & I just found out setting up Wi-Fi in my apartment will take a while. Sorry if it seems like I have just disappeared from your life. I have moved to Japan and it is A M A Z I N G. I’ve never felt so immediately comfortable in a place in my entire life. I really hope it lasts because it would be great to have Kawakami as my base as I continue traveling the world.
I arrived in Tokyo, Japan on July 23, 2017. As soon as we got off the plane it was noticeably different. There weren’t any huge high rise buildings with flashing lights but the interior design of the airport was strikingly Japanese. I wasn’t in Cali anymore. The first Japanese person I met was from Brazil. He was checking my luggage and passport and saw that I had a Brazilian visa and his face lit up. “I’m from Brazil!” he said in broken English. Imagine the faces of everyone in my group when we get off the plane and I start speaking excitedly in Portuguese with the luggage guy. I’d be like where the hell am I and what dialect of Japanese is that? I was ecstatic. We stayed in the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo where we had orientation for three days then departed to our respective work sites. I met some cool people there who I’ll be sure to visit when it’s time to hit the road again.
View from Keio Plaza Hotel. You can see a little bit of Mt. Fuji in the background.
Everyone who was placed in the Nagano Prefecture (a prefecture is like a state) headed to our respective town together. We stopped at Lake Suwa for lunch.
A few months ago I found out I was placed in Kawakami-village in Nagano Prefecture, a town with a population of 3900 people and famous for it’s lettuce. Kawakami is the richest village in all of Japan boasting an average income is $250,000/year. Most everyone here (about 3900 people) are either farmers or field laborers and a lot of the people who aren’t still work in the fields for extra cash. People are paid in proportion to how much they work so young people really love it. During summer time, people begin work at 2AM and work up until 5PM. There are people in their 70s and 80s that still work in the fields and during winter, after harvest season, most young people leave to work at nearby ski resorts. I kid you not when I say there is lettuce EVERYWHERE in Kawakami village. No forreal, I’m in the staff lounge at my desk staring down at a box of lettuce. The caesar dressing here is also out of this world so I’ve been eating hella salad.
The Japanese really take of their employees: I am in a brand new apartment and my rent is $100/month, there is a very nice public gym free of charge, 70% of health care is taken care of, people are always giving me free lettuce (living), they gave me a bike to use, and they’re always smiling & asking me if I’m happy in Kawakami. The town is small but it has everything I need: a gym, post office, supermarket, clothing store, pharmacy, hospital, etc. Everything here is of great quality, clean, and decently priced. The village is nestled between the mountains at an elevation of roughly 1200 meters and it is BEAUTIFUL. If you never see me again, don’t be surprised. Kawakami’s sister city is Watsonville in California and they have an exchange program, so every once in awhile a group of Californians come to Kawakami. Everyone gets mad excited when I tell them that’s my state.
Sumyoshi Shrine in Kawakami
These are called Ema. They are small wooden blocks with prayers and wishes written on them.
This is an aosagi, or grey heron in English. The literal translation is blue heron however.
My first day in Kawakami wasn’t very eventful, just me moving into my apartment. The second day however I was brought to the town hall where I met my supervisor Kobayashi-san, the superintendent of education, Kawakami-san, the vice-president of Kawakami village, and all of the principals and staff members of the three schools I will be working at. I was told the day before I would have to give a brief speech but when I tell you I could not have been less prepared...Gente, they had a schedule printed out with times for everything but I was put on the spot so suddenly. We were hanging out in Kobayashi-san’s office then suddenly Kyohei (my caretaker) & Huong (the coordinator for international relations) were like, let’s go. They took me to the mayor’s office where we were to have this formal bowing ceremony. I need to do more research about it but judging by what he said (Huong translated) it was basically him welcoming me to the village and thanking me for being there. There was a lot of bowing involved which I have learned to love about Japanese culture. It imbues their culture with so much respect. As soon as he finished, Kobayashi-san looked at me like, “Where you at son?” and asked if there was anything I had to say. I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be until the news crew pointed their camera to me and started taking fliccs (Oh Lawd, whyyyy). *cue spontaneous speech about education, global citizenry, Kawakami, etc. It went well. After this they took me to the staff lounge and introduced me to everyone and asked that I do it again in front of even more people. Afterwards Huong was like, “I was so nervous. That was such a bad translation”. LOL. So who knows what they got from that. I could be a giraffe in disguise as an English teacher only there for the lettuce. Moving on. Side note: Huong is from Vietnam, speaks English, Japanese, and Vietnamese and she is so sweet. She has helped made me feel welcome in Kawakami.
My job position is called an ALT - or Assistant Language Teacher. I assist different teachers with English teaching and help promote English conversation in the classroom. However, the most prominent goal of the JET Program is to promote international dialogue and cross-cultural understanding. The main place where I will be working is at a Jr. High directly across the street from me but twice a week I co-teach at two different elementary schools. The Jr. High school is a two minute walk (literally across the street and down a hill), one elementary school is about a 12 minute walk, and the other is about a 25min drive. School doesn’t start until August 21 so I will be studying Japanese every day until then and getting situated in Kawakami. The staff here are great and I can’t wait to become better friends with them. This weekend we traveled to Saku, the closest city to us, and they took me out to dinner. They were so excited that I could use chopsticks. Everyday someone new compliments me about how well I use them, lol. I’m like, “Ya’ll know I frequent allll the Chinese spots in Cali??”
The Junior High School where I work.
Front of my apartment. I’m at the bottom, center, and left.
View of the junior high school from my apartment. If I manage to be late there is no helping me. I’ve been early every day though so wassssaaahhhhh
Being black in Japan is YAAASSSSSSSSS, LESSSS GOOOO. I love it. I did my research before because one has to when traveling while black (TWB). Most everyone I had heard from had positive experiences, the worst having been stared at or had their hair touched. In Kawakami people give me the biggest smiles and wave to me like I’m the president or something, lol. They get so excited when they see me on the street, the grocery store, the bank...Issa party everywhere. I got the kids who live next door to me to start saying hi to me in English and their parents are so happy about it. They really want me to be comfortable in Kawakami which has been demonstrated through the smallest of gestures. And bigger ones like putting plates & silverware in my apartment, lending me a bike, taking me on town tours, bringing me snacks, etc. People in town always want to talk to me despite the language barrier. I gots friends everywhere.
Not sure what she’s growing...
I have a caretaker (I laugh out loud every time I think of his title) named Kyohei Kawakami. He is 26 years old, loves rock, and has a great sense of humour. His English is limited and my Japanese is nonexistent but we are already good friends! Huong usually translates for us. I was actually worried about making friends in Japan because I don’t know any Japanese but looking back it was the silliest thing to be anxious about. I should’ve been worrying about reading the toilet instructions, walking on the right side of the road, bringing slippers my size (in Japan no shoes are worn inside but there are little slippers waiting for you in every building), figuring out my name in Japanese, bringing more American snacks (Japanese people LOVE snacks), and buying slip on shoes because taking off boots every time I enter a building is no bueno. Well I just wanted to give a brief overview of what’s been going on in my life. This has been an awesome experience so far and I’m praying that it lasts. I’ll post more in the future once my job begins. Also I’ll be posting more pictures from my Cuba trip so don’t get confused, I’m still in Japan. Stay up fam.
-This weekend at dinner I left to go to the restroom. While I was washing my hands the stall next to me opened and this kid peeked his head out and his eyes grew so big and he shut the door, LOL. I started growling and shaking the stall, hahahaha. JK, I would NEVER. But that would’ve been funny as hell. This was the funniest experience that’s happened so far.
-Japanese REVERSE into their parking spaces
-When students enter the staff room, or any room where the majority of people are staff, they say their name, room number, and what they are their for
-People might ask to take pictures with you
-There are loudspeakers throughout my town there are loud speakers that go off at:
5AM - letting people know the time
6:15AM - kids gather to do exercises
10AM - letting people know the time
5PM - letting people know the time
-The Japanese practically run to answer the phone. It’s considered rude to leave it ringing
-People bow A LOT in Japan. Entering a building, saying thank you, saying you’re welcome, exiting a building, meeting someone, leaving someone, after making love...jk, but who knows? I’ve only just arrived.
-Washing machines add the detergent for you
The Kawakami Ken! A dog that’s native only to Kawakami! The pride and joy of Kawakami alongside it’s lettuce.
No, seriously. This is the town symbol.
Vending machine. Haven’t seen any of the cool ones with ramen or used panties (yes that’s a thing...why? No idea)
I wonder if they can give me a fade.
