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Thread: Going to Japan

  1. #1
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    Default Going to Japan

    Going to Japan for a year to teach English. I'll be in Omu, Hokkaido. It's a small town/village of about 6,000 people located in the middle of nowhere on the northermost coast of Hokkaido, close to Russia. The next town to the east is Monbetsu, and next over is Abashiri.

    The only martial arts I've been able to locate is a Daito Ryu dojo in Abashiri, about 80 miles to the east.

    I plan on looking into studying there, if I can.

    Anybody know anything about that area of Japan? I can't find a thing about it anywhere.

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    Wow,

    You're really out in the sticks!

    I'm based in Sapporo, so I could help you out with some adresses in western Hokkaido but not where you are, I'm afraid. However, there are a lot of DR dojo all over the island. They have a various affiliations, but most trace their roots back to either the Kodokai (based in Kitami and Sapporo) or the mainline (ie Tokimune Sensei). But there are others. I know someone who trained under Sagawa Sensei years ago!

    Kondo Sensei's website has a few dojo listed in Hokkaido.

    If that doesn't help, as someone who has been living here and training in DR for a few years, I think your best option is asking around your high school when you get to Omu (or before). Most DR dojo here (especially outside Sapporo) are very difficult to get into, if only for the fact that you need pretty good Japanese to get your foot in the door. You usually need some sort of introduction, so someone at your school might have a connection. On the plus side, there are loads of really intresting DR groups scattered around Hokkaido, so It's likely you could find something really cool!

    Regards,

    Oisin Bourke

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    Thanks for the helpful information!

    The dojo I found in Abashiri was one, of many, listed on the mainline's webpage.

    So, what you are saying is that I need to find someone affiliated with the dojo to "introduce" me or "sponsor" me so I can at least get my foot in the door and inquire about training?

    Yikes!

    I speak, pretty much, no Japanese. I took it in college for a semester, but nothing comprehensive. So, I hope I can find a translator when I get there.

    So, what do you know about the area where Omu is located? Weather, people, culture, sites to see, ability to get things you need...like furniture, living supplies, food, etc...

    -Mike

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    Hello,

    When I was younger I traveled round Hokkaido by motorbike and thought that the countryside was very beautiful. Hokkaido is quite different from where I am, 1,000 miles to the south. So I think that one thing that will impress you or disappoint you, depending on your disposition, is the slow pace of life there, for you really are in the deep countryside. Pretty cold in winter (I believe the sea freezes) and mild in summer. I would think traveling will be demanding, for Sapporo is quite a distance away and you are many miles from the nearest railway line.

    Are you teaching at a high school, or for a company (though I cannot imagine there would be enough demand for a conversation school)? Have you not been provided with furnished accommodation.

    There are quite a number of residents in Japan who post on E-Budo and so you should feel free to ask if you have any problems about cultural matters.

    Best wishes,
    Peter Goldsbury,
    Forum Administrator,
    Hiroshima, Japan

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Haftel
    Going to Japan for a year to teach English. I'll be in Omu, Hokkaido. It's a small town/village of about 6,000 people located in the middle of nowhere on the northermost coast of Hokkaido, close to Russia. The next town to the east is Monbetsu, and next over is Abashiri.

    The only martial arts I've been able to locate is a Daito Ryu dojo in Abashiri, about 80 miles to the east.

    I plan on looking into studying there, if I can.

    Anybody know anything about that area of Japan? I can't find a thing about it anywhere.
    ooo! Dont forget to teach them english with a Brooklyn accent .

    Good luck with the trip
    Fredrik Hall
    "To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous." /Confucius

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    A quick question and an apology for derailing this thread. Do Japanese language have "accent" in the different regions ? In case my question is too confusing think of the US, New Yorkers have their own, North Carolina, California, ...etc
    Prince Loeffler
    Shugyokan Dojo

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    Yep, my Japanese is crap at the best of times, but I can't understand a thing down in Kyushu...
    Scott Halls
    Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu Kenjutsu - Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iai
    兵法二天一流剣術 - 無双直伝英信流居合

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    Default Living in Hokkaido

    Re:
    Living in the North:

    Like Peter Goldsbury said, Hokkaido is an extremely beautiful place and is pretty temperate. A lot of Canadians like the place. In the winter (Which can last from November to May, depending on where you are living) It snows incessantly. Winter sports are big up here. The North coast where you are I don't know much about, but I Think its very harsh in the wintertime. Lots of good seafood comes from around there, especially crab. Out of season vegetables are very expensive though.

    RE introductions and the like.

    Well, outside of Sapporo, and mybe Ashikawa and Hakodate, the towns up here are pretty isolated. The people here are lovely and very easy going, but it's just not very international. This cuts both ways. People will probably make a real effort to make you feel welcome, so use this to your advantage. It's highly possible that someone in your school will know someone who knows someone who... well, you get the point. The Takedas and Horikawas were active in that region. If I were you, I would really try to find someone in the locality. They might only have a private unaffilliated Dojo, but you could find a gem. Like I said, there are really interesting guys all over the Island.

    The Abashiri Dojo would be great, but you'll only get there at weekends at best. And winter transport will be tough. Still, it's better than nothing.


    One thing you should try to do is go to train in Shirataki. This was where Sokaku met and trained Ueshiba, and Tokimune was also born there. There's a lovely dojo still maintained there by the Aikikai and both aikido and DR groups often hold training camps there. The place hasn't changed much since those days, and it's a phenomenal experience training there. You really get a sense of amazement of how a small Japanese martial art has blossomed into a worldwide phenomenon.

    Oisin Bourke

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    Quote Originally Posted by P Goldsbury
    Hello,

    When I was younger I traveled round Hokkaido by motorbike and thought that the countryside was very beautiful. Hokkaido is quite different from where I am, 1,000 miles to the south. So I think that one thing that will impress you or disappoint you, depending on your disposition, is the slow pace of life there, for you really are in the deep countryside. Pretty cold in winter (I believe the sea freezes) and mild in summer. I would think traveling will be demanding, for Sapporo is quite a distance away and you are many miles from the nearest railway line.

    Are you teaching at a high school, or for a company (though I cannot imagine there would be enough demand for a conversation school)? Have you not been provided with furnished accommodation.

    There are quite a number of residents in Japan who post on E-Budo and so you should feel free to ask if you have any problems about cultural matters.

    Best wishes,
    My girlfriend is going to be teaching in Nankoku (on the island of Shikoku), which is about 1,000 miles to the South of Where I will be as well.

    By the way, she was wondering if anybody knew anything about Nankoku or Kochi prefecture.

    I'm probably not going to be traveling to Sapporo. The dojo I found in Abashiri is about 80 miles away...which sounds like it will be too far as well.

    But, maybe I'll find something closer.

    Thanks for the info.

    I'm taking part in the JET Program, so I'll be teaching high school and younger.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Prince Loeffler
    A quick question and an apology for derailing this thread. Do Japanese language have "accent" in the different regions ? In case my question is too confusing think of the US, New Yorkers have their own, North Carolina, California, ...etc
    It's worse (and better) than that. Japan is less like the U.S. (which, for all its accents, is still pretty much standardized), and more like England, or, say, Germany. What this means is that two different dialects of Japanese can be as different as, say, Norwegian and Swedish. Or Berlin German and Swiss German. Speaking at normal speed in their own dialects, an Okinawan and a Dosanko (person from Hokkaido) would be well-nigh mutually unintelligible.

    However, like the German countries and England, there's an official Standard Japanese (標準語, hyoujungo) that everyone learns in schools, that all the news announcers speak, and which is what foreigners learn in Japanese courses. A Japanese person hardly expects a foreigner to speak any Japanese at all, let alone dialects, so foreigners are almost universally spoken to in hyoujungo.* The hyoujungo can be tweaked a little by regional differences, but nothing too major.

    *The exception to this, like most things in Japan, is found in the Kansai region, particularly Osaka. Regional identity is probably the strongest there of anywhere in Japan, and many Kansai folk are not very comfortable speaking hyoujungo. They can, but they don't like it. There are a lot of Kansai personalities on TV, so people understand their dialect just fine, and even foreigners living in Tokyo end up picking up on it. Foreigners living in the Kansai area soon find themselves inundated with Kansai vocab, grammar, and expressions, and often end up speaking it themselves!
    Josh Reyer

    Swa sceal man don, žonne he ęt guše gengan ženceš longsumne lof, na ymb his lif cearaš. - The Beowulf Poet

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    Hi Mike,

    You seem to be getting some good advice here, and I will add in my 10 cents worth.

    I have never been on the JET scheme myself, but am quite familiar with it having been in Japan for many years. They look after the teachers pretty well, and it is highly probable your accommodation will be pre-arranged. Lack of Japanese skills shouldn't be a major issue at the workplace at least, generally the English teachers can't wait for a chance to "brush up my poor English"

    You are REALLY out in the sticks though, and transport will be an issue. Unless you have a car or can find someone to travel with I think commuting to Abashiri for training is pretty ambitious. On the other hand, there is a very famous penal institution located there which may provide some interesting opportunities to "mix" with the locals!

    I hope you like the cold though, the temperatures are seriously Arctic up there in winter. Good Luck!
    Justin August

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hazuki_47
    Hi Mike,

    You seem to be getting some good advice here, and I will add in my 10 cents worth.

    I have never been on the JET scheme myself, but am quite familiar with it having been in Japan for many years. They look after the teachers pretty well, and it is highly probable your accommodation will be pre-arranged. Lack of Japanese skills shouldn't be a major issue at the workplace at least, generally the English teachers can't wait for a chance to "brush up my poor English"

    You are REALLY out in the sticks though, and transport will be an issue. Unless you have a car or can find someone to travel with I think commuting to Abashiri for training is pretty ambitious. On the other hand, there is a very famous penal institution located there which may provide some interesting opportunities to "mix" with the locals!

    I hope you like the cold though, the temperatures are seriously Arctic up there in winter. Good Luck!
    Hello Justin,

    I was once invited by those who run the JET scheme to give an introductory lecture to the new JET people in the Chugoku district. It was a very serious occasion and my keynote lecture was obviously intended to be a wonderful occasion for the JET neophytes to learn about real 'international' Japanese culture from a 'pro' at the chalk face.

    Well, it was a total disaster, from a certain point of view. Of course I appeared in a professorial jacket and tie, but I talked mainly about zoos in Japan and how 'gaijin' in Japanese high schools were really like animals in cages, at the mercy of the whims of their Japanese academic colleagues. The JET veterans loved it, but the JET officials were rather upset and I have not been invited back for a second lecture. Perhaps the reference to zoos was a little too provocative (or too uncomfortably true).

    So it is true that they will look after you, but I think this depends on the location. Mike is going to the Far North, where foreigners are perhaps regarded as an unusual breed of Ainu. Perhaps Mike should make a blog and keep us posted.

    Mike, if you are contemplating practising Daito-ryu, I think you will be well-served. I have checked and Aikido is pretty thin on the ground. I have looked at the Aikikai website, but Shirataki appears to be the closest dojo.

    So you might consider becoming a real pioneer and teaching the art you already practice to the 'natives'. This should be a wonderful cultural experience. I myself practise aikido and I am now teaching aikido, in Japan, in Japanese, to Japanese. Some people come and look, but go away, unable to cope with this major revolution of their cultural education.

    So, be prepared for the exhibition of some heavy cultural sterotypes: foreigners are not genetically equipped to understand Japanese culture etc. Probably you will find that Japanese snow is regarded as different from other kinds of snow. And Japanese stomachs are considered to be vastly different from gaijin stomachs, concerning the Japanese food they can accept. Etc etc.

    Best wishes,
    Peter Goldsbury,
    Forum Administrator,
    Hiroshima, Japan

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    Holy crap!

    You guys are scaring the poo out of me...

    I may be getting a car or a motorbike or something, not sure yet.

    I will most definitely keep some sort of blog or journal about my experiences there. So, stay on the look out for a link or posts about it.

    I hadn't thought about teaching the arts I study there. It's a possibility, but I'm not exactly qualified by my instructor to do so...and I'm not sure I would be able to teach it without knowing Japanese because the art's curriculum is based on the transmission of principles, rather than techniques.

    I really hope I can find a good art to study while I'm there. If not Daito-Ryu, then maybe a Koryu of some type.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Haftel
    Holy crap!

    You guys are scaring the poo out of me...
    Well, I for one did not intend to do this, but you also need to be aware about how the JET scheme is regarded. Many JET members have made illustrious careers in Japan, and many Japanese high school teachers remember how disastrous it was having a 'raw' JET teacher reeking havoc in their classrooms.

    Best wishes,

    PAG
    Peter Goldsbury,
    Forum Administrator,
    Hiroshima, Japan

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    Mike, don't get too worried. A friend of mine who did the JET program was sent to a rather isolated fishing village. If I recall correctly, she was the only foreigner to have been there within living memory, and the nearest big city was too far for regular travel.

    She ended up loving every minute of it. It was a great experience for her, and she thinks she had a much better deal than JET people who went to more metropolitan areas.

    I know another guy who was posted to a pretty rural area and ended spending a good bit of time around the older men of the village. He had some great stories about getting drunk with these old veterans who still blamed the American aggressors for the Second World War.
    David Sims

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