Polestar April 2018

POLESTAR HOKKAIDO

APRIL 2018 R ehan

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EDITOR’S NOTE

PRESIDENT’S CORNER FAREWELL FROM BEATRICE BRIDGING CULTURE THROUGH MARTIAL ARTS HAIKU HOKKAIDO LIFE COMIC

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A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to check out this issue of the Polestar! My name is Alex Reyes and I am this year’s editor. I’ve also taken on the role of designer to ease the process of making each issue. To give a short introduction, I am a First Year JET from San Francisco, California. I have a ton of hobbies, but due to time and energy constraints, I mainly take photos during my freetime. I’m looking forward to being in charge of this year’s Polestar.

If you have the time, please check out each issue! I am also in dire need of articles, photo submissions, etc. so if you are interested, send me an email at editor@hajet.org.

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President’s Corner Devan Hawkins Hello wonderful people of HAJET! As many of you may or may not know, my name is Devan Scott Hawkins, and this is my very first Polestar article! (Hooray!) Now, let me introduce myself for those who don’t yet know me; and those of you who do, can just skip to the next paragraph.

Prior to coming to Japan on JET, I was a city boy from Toronto, Canada who just finished his university degree in computing and cognition. By way of fanboying about kendo at my interview, I wound up in the small fishing village of Furubira, west of Sapporo. Despite the fact that my Japanese was poor, I had never lived alone or taught kids, I’m doing all of these things on the daily now. I’m loving every second of it. This is the abbreviated version though, so let me tell you the full version.

Let me tell you a little story about how my life got turned upside-down.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was as shy as shy could be. He lived in a rough neighborhood where child and adult alike believed that the world was out to get them, and that you wouldn’t amount to anything if you were at the bottom of some imaginary food chain. This little boy didn’t believe that narrative though; in his heart of hearts, he had something that set him apart from most of his peers: Burning hatred. As superficial, shallow or misplaced as a child’s emotions can sometimes be, they were pure. He hated everything and everyone that just accepted their fate -- everything to do with the idea that change wasn’t really possible. This little boy, impudent and spiteful, rejected everything he could about his surroundings.

He didn’t cooperate with other students, he didn’t use their slang, he never spoke more than he needed to, and never drew attention to himself. He studied, he was polite with polite company, and spoke with adults who had open minds.

One day, his hopes of something better came true. He was awarded a scholarship in the 8th grade for outstanding students with fewer opportunities. That scholarship would pay for about half of all his university tuition. When this was announced at his middle school graduation ceremony, everyone was staring at him with amazement -- completely shocked that someone from this no-name school was seemingly breaking the mold. And while all eyes were on him, he was looking forward, and never looked back. He had an opportunity to finally move away from all the negativity he endured for so long, and he was not afraid to seize it. A courage (and hatred) that would continue to propel him forward.

Now that’s all I’m going to share with you for now. (You’ll have to read the next issue of Polestar if you wanna hear more!) But I will say that this was the rags part of the ‘rags to riches’ story, so the future looks a lot brighter for the boy. Of course, there is nothing particularly grandiose about the boy either -- nor would there ever be. But for him, running headfirst into the new and unknown gave him his first real chance at what he had always wanted: to lead his own life.

So with that, with the power entrusted in me, welcome to a new year of HAJET.

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A Farewell Betrice Yambrach

It’s been about a year since the current HAJET PC and myself took office. Sometimes it feels like it’s been a full year and other times it’s as if everything rushed by way too quickly.

Quite a few of you might already know this, but for those who don’t, when I first came to Hokkaido on JET back in August 2015, I wasn’t interested in joining HAJET. A friend of mine, who was also a first year at that time and sitting next to me at Sapporo Orientation, not quite forced, but strongly insisted I sign up with her, as well as choose a lifetime membership over a 1-year membership.

Regardless of my initial hesitation, I realized almost right away that signing up for a HAJET membership was something I wouldn’t regret and take for granted. In a very positive way HAJET has shaped my time here in Hokkaido and will continue to do so as long as I’m a JET. Possibly even after.

Essentially, HAJET means a lot to me and it has done a lot for me. Coming into the role of President last year, my personal goal was to make sure that HAJET continued (and continues) to be a meaningful and beneficial organization for our members and their community here in Hokkaido, be it their town, school, or students. Because of what I had gained from HAJET, I wanted to make sure that the organization was as open and accessible as possible so that others could gain and grow from it as well. In a sense, I wanted to maintain the community that made me fall in love so that I could guarantee that others could enjoy Hokkaido and HAJET just as much.

The Prefectural Council is never perfect and every year we tend to run into a few issues. Regardless, I am so proud of my Prefectural Council team this past year and all of their work and efforts. We had some bumps along the way, but in spite of that, I think we achieved a lot and really had an awesome year. I hope that we, the Prefectural Council, were able to fulfill your expectations of us and give back to you, the HAJET community, just as much as we have gained from this organization and maybe even more.

In addition, the overall HAJET image is just a reflection of our membership. I am constantly thankful for all of you and your never-ending support and enthusiasm that allowed us to come so far this year.

I’m really excited about this next year for HAJET. I know most of the new Prefectural Council members personally and have no doubt that they’ll do a fine job and continue to make this organization stronger and take it to greater lengths.

Thanks for the fantastic year everyone. Have a good rest of the winter, take care of yourselves, and I’ll see you all in the spring when the snow has melted and I come out of hibernation from underneath my kotatsu.

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Bridging Cultural Chasms Through Japanese Martial Arts Nivedh Sreejit Hello everyone!

I’ve mentioned here before that HAJET has been a big part of my life and experience in Hokkaido and I wanted to also write about another major contributor to my positive experience of Japan thus far: my practice of Kendo at the Monbetsu Kendo Club.

During my welcome enkai with the board of education here in Monbetsu, I had mentioned to some of my colleagues that I had practiced martial arts (karate) when I was younger and was looking to get into shape and involve myself in a martial art to keep me focused and healthy. I wondered aloud if there were any active Kendo clubs in Monbetsu as I had heard that they were fairly wide-spread in Japan and Kendo was a martial art I had always wanted to try. To my surprise, my colleagues pointed down the table and told me that one of our coworkers was a high-ranking Kendo practitioner (kendoka) and from that moment on I was intent on finding out more. Within the week, I had contacted him and was given directions to our local dojo and told to meet there at 6:30 p.m. With absolutely no expectations I showed up to the dojo where my sensei greeted me and then proceeded to ask me questions in Japanese that I could neither comprehend or respond to.

It was the first indication that my martial arts classes here would be a very different proposition to my experiences in Canada and India.

The technical language of Kendo is Japanese and so it was challenging to understand the instructions of my sensei in the beginning due to my limited Japanese ability. To make things worse, many of the philosophical concepts of Kendo are complex and difficult to communicate through a dense language barrier and so in the beginning I relied on external sources like the internet/podcasts and my own research to fill in the gaps. However, much to my surprise, the chairman of the Kendo club marched into the board of education office not long after I had started and dropped off a book on the history of Budō or “the martial way”.

In reading it, I came to understand the rich history of modern martial arts in Japan and Kendo’s place within it. At the dojo, I spent most of my first classes watching my fellow kendoka, all of whom were elementary/junior high students in my city practicing various movements and strikes and did my best to copy them. Luckily, I came to realize that my experience wasn’t radically different from that of most other beginners in Kendo.

Verbal instructions were kept to a minimum and physical and mental limits were pushed daily, leaving my palms bruised and my feet peeling. Many of my fellow practitioners (young and old) stopped to correct my technique and etiquette whenever necessary and so I learned much of my basics through this simple process.

Through the manner in which I was supported, I started to realize that the Kendo club functioned and trained its members in a communitybased manner. Parents and older members as well as practicing children all aided one another in the pursuit of good kendo and the organization and execution of dojo related events. I noticed that several senseis would step in to train us and the parents who watched their children practice would play an active role in making sure they understood the lessons of the day. As the weeks passed I too would be on the receiving end of this amazing support system, as parents of students would step in and find ways to relay information about the Dojo’s practice schedule and upcoming events. Everyone involved went to great lengths to make sure I was informed and included in all of the club’s activities. One parent even went the length of having my sensei’s instructions translated for me so I would understand the training of the day, and a good friend of mine in Monbetsu would stop by to do the same. I can’t help but feel grateful for this sort of community support in my practice of kendo and realize that my progress in the last 6 months is due largely to the efforts of the many people who chose to bridge the cultural and linguistic chasm in favour of including me in their community space. Eventually, I was asked to start wearing the Keikogi and Hakama, the ceremonial uniform of practicing kendoka and about a month after that I was lent a set of Bogu and Tare (armour pieces for protecting the stomach and thighs) and told to come early to class and learn how to put it on. Kendo is a martial art with many complex ceremonial aspects that begin with entering the dojo and wearing the uniform.

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Bridging Cultural Chasms Through Japanese Martial Arts continued There were many knots and folds I had to learn and despite the aid of youtube videos, i’d somehow manage to get it wrong, only to have my Bogu slip loose during practice and and my senseis correcting my (forbidden) vertical knots. Much like everything else in Kendo, with repetition, time and guidance, I learned many of these details as i progressed along. I put Kendo as a central priority (alongside my work as an ALT) and devoted 3 nights a week as well as weekends where there were events related to the club and for me this has been incredibly rewarding. In December, much to my delight, I passed my first exam and attained the rank of ni-kyu. I plan on continuing on for the remainder of the time I am in Japan and continuing my practice when I return to Canada at the end of my stint here as an ALT.

Beyond the dojo, the kendo community has become a central aspect of my social life in Monbetsu. Practicing several times a week and attending weekend events has meant that I have grown close to many of my fellow kendoka and their families. Some of these relationships have grown very deep and I find myself feeling very welcomed in Monbetsu because of them. One family in particular has taken to including me in various activities and supporting me in so many ways that i’ve truly felt insulated from the sense of culture shock I once felt here. Most recently, I spent a day at Monbetsu’s Drift Ice Festival with kids and families of the Kendo club and it was one of my favourite days in Monbetsu yet! It’s fascinating to me that i’ve been enabled in such a powerful way to share my culture and receive so much in return through Kendo. Cultural exchange and learning was a primary motivator for me in coming to Japan and I’m so pleasantly surprised and thankful to the Monbetsu Kendo Club for facilitating that rewarding process.

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