Since I managed to do it that time, and Japan was so close and culturally not that different, I decided to study in Japan rather light-heartedly. Last spring, I came to study at Doshisha University in Kyoto, carrying a few books and pieces of clothes.
Studying in Kyoto, which I thought was like a next-door neighbor, was too much for me. I had to stay up all night to prepare for exams, presentations, debates and write an essay almost every day. My daily life was very different from when I stayed in Kyoto for a few days.
I recollect a few things that remains deep in my impression.
A lot of Japanese people were short and petite.
They were quiet, modest and exceedingly considerate of other people. They were polite, to the point of excess.
There are surely a lot of young people in a university campus, but outside school there are many elderly people. Japan is the oldest country in the world which showed a trend of an aging population from early on.
The number of Japanese people with the age of 65 or older amounts to about 40 million. The age of 80 or older amounts to 10 million, and there are more than 60,000 people who are the age of 100 or older. People as old as 100 years old are so common now that they are not newsworthy now.
They do report on the Korean president on TV, but they do more so on Kim Jung Un of Norh Korea. He is always on TV, so I assume that people will be anxious of news about North Korea and visiting South Korea would be a big worry if it were me. Staying in Japan, I find it surprising that Koreans, who live closer to North Korea, do not worry that much about war.
Westerners usually ask if I’m from North Korea or South Korea. They rather find it weird when I find that question absurd. I guess that means their news media broadcast similar coverage on the two Koreas, just as Japanese media does.
They are not that interested in Korea as much as we are in Japan. Maybe that is because Japan is an advanced country that deals with a lot of countries, but I fear that they have turned apathetic toward Korea now.
Even when two Japanese are awarded Nobel Prizes in the same year, they remain calm. I would expect there would be a fuss in Korea if the same thing happened to us. There were once reporters lining up in front of the house of the poet Ko Un. On the contrary, they covered Murakami Haruki briefly when he was considered one of the leading candidates for Nobel Prize in Literature.
The number of students from Korea has decreased and those from China has skyrocketed.
Comics and animation courses are active in university. I couldn’t take those classes as I wasn’t familiar with the names of the Japanese animation.
The number of Chinese tourists has suddenly sparked, and the money that the Chinese spent in Japan for two months in July and August exceeds 2 trillion yen. I suspect it’s because of word of mouth in China.
I often see the opposition leader and Prime Minister Abe in a heated discussion in congress. I am always surprised at this as Japanese people are usually extremely polite to each other, but the opposition leader was retorting to the head of the government in a strong manner.
In Japan, robots greet you in front of the entrance to the store; they are leading in robot and space technology, and their awareness on environment, hygiene, and waste is very high.
They always talk about preserving their 1,000-year-old tradition and history as well as Japan in 50 years.
There were many other things that left a strong impression with me, but what struck me the most were classes, as that was where I spent the most time.
I always wondered where the politeness, sincerity, thoroughness, delicateness, honesty, considerateness of the ordinary Japanese, not the politicians interested in getting more votes, came from. Of course, one cannot know everything from studying just for a year as an adult, but I did get a certain feeling. Their attitude of teaching and learning exuded those traits. They were more meticulous than expected, and required sincerity, thoroughness, manners and righteousness from others.
I guess teachers teach with passion in every country. But the attitude of teachers toward students was very different in Japan. They were extremely kind, soft and sweet. Their humble and polite attitude was constant. All of the 20 professors whose classes I took were like that, and kindness and dedication of several of the professors were always so admiring that I wanted to emulate.
It is usually said that the Japanese don’t wear their true feelings and opinions on the outside. But at least their outside is very admirable. Students are ultimately influenced by that attitude and try to emulate them.
At the end of a year, Toyama Kazuko, an old female professor bowed deeply and said: “Today was the last class of this year. I was very moved that you studied hard. I mean it. I enjoyed a good year thanks to that. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu in the new year.” I was moved by this.
And she moved me again the same way at the beginning of the year.
