Japanese culture much more than sushi and sumo

FREETOWN — Taylor Johnson didn’t think he had much in common with the Japanese. He doesn’t use chopsticks to eat his meals, and when it comes to origami, he’s better at making paper airplanes.

But on Thursday afternoon, Johnson, 10, learned something about Japan that made him feel a little bit closer to the country.

“I didn’t know they made the Nintendo Wii,” he said. “I’ve got one of those.”

Many of his classmates at Freetown Elementary School were just as excited to learn that the game system they go home and play every night was created in Japan.

The Wii is just one of many popular products made in Japan and sold right here in Jackson County, Emiko Ishihara explained to students.

More than a dozen Japanese women, many of whom are members of the Sakura Helping Hands group in Seymour, visited the Freetown school Thursday to share their culture with fourth- and fifth-graders.

After learning about Japanese geography, customs, food and other facts, students broke into groups and made their way to four different stations set up in the school’s multi-purpose room, where they got to participate in a variety of fun activities highlighting different aspects of Japanese life.

Dressing up in what Ishihara described as sporting gear, students pretended to be Japanese samurai warriors and sumo wrestlers.

“I liked dressing up in Japanese clothes,” said Ethan Parr, 11.

Victoria Pfeiffer agreed.

“I think the way they dress is cool,” she said.

The two also had fun racing their classmates and Principal Trent Shelton to see who could transfer marshmallows the fastest from one bowl to another using chopsticks.

“I think I would like to go to Japan someday, but things sure are a lot different there,” Parr said.

This isn’t the first time the Japanese group has visited the school, as they try to come each year.

“They’ve probably been here the last four or five years now,” fifth-grade teacher Theresa Rouse said. “It’s just an excellent way to expose our students to another culture so they can learn to respect other cultures and apply it to our own culture.”

Rouse said the visit is a great learning tool because it gives students so much more than a textbook lesson.

“Having them here is educational, fun, entertaining and just an exciting way to learn,” she said. “Rather than through books or movies, they get a hands-on experience and they are learning that we live in a global society.”

She points out that the students aren’t the only ones who learn from the visit.

“I have a sister-in-law from Okinawa, so this gives me more appreciation of her culture and way of thinking,” she said. “The more you know, the better you can understand other people, and at the heart of things, we are all the same.”

Ishihara said through their presentation and activities, the women want the children to “see and feel Japan.”

“It’s not only sushi and sumo,” she said. “There are those things, but other aspects too. We want them to have correct image of Japan.”

Many of the students enjoyed playing with traditional Japanese toys, which included spinning tops, blow-up paper balloons and wooden cone and ball games.

“I think it’s amazing how they just flip it up and the ball lands in the cup,” Shelby Miller, 11, said. “It’s a lot harder than it looks. They make it look easy.”

Accompanying the group was Shirley Marshall, who since 1992 has worked with local Japanese women on reading, writing and speaking English as well as life skills while they reside in Seymour. Their presence in Jackson County comes about when their husbands are transferred to Japanese-owned industries in the area for a few years at a time.

“I always enjoy seeing the way they interact with the children and how the children receive them,” Marshall said.
But Marshall says she gets just as much if not more out of her time with the women.

“They teach me more than I teach them,” she said. “They have become wonderful friends.”