JUMPING BACK INTO JAPANESE

Even with the departure of longtime Sensei Koji Otani and the loss of an entry-level class, Japanese at Jefferson continues to flourish

Don! The sound of bachi wood mallets slam against black trash cans covered in tape. Sweat drips off the drummer’s forehead as the intense routine comes to a close. Despite a year full of setbacks and a smaller class size, the Jefferson Japanese program is returning with a bang.

PROGRAM PROBLEMS

Japanese 1 is not offered this year due to low student interest. Students entering the Japanese program at Jefferson will now have to begin studying at the Japanese 2 level. This hit the Japanese program hard, as Japanese 1 was a way of bringing new members into the program.

“In the past we’ve had an increased amount of interest in the Japanese language. I’m not sure exactly why they took [Japanese 1] away. Two years ago, last time we had in-person school, we had the largest Japanese one class we’ve had in a long time, almost 30 people,” senior Alyssa Rask said.

The loss of Japanese 1 for the 2021-2022 school year is only one of the many changes made to the program. For example, their former full time teacher Koji Otani has been replaced with part time teacher Fumiko Kuriki.

“[Otani Sensei] got us so many connections and gave us so many opportunities, so [losing him was] definitely was a big hit. He knew a lot of people at the Japanese Embassy, so [we had access to] those connections,” Rask said.

COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE

Other teachers have stepped in to fill the hole left by Otani. Spanish teacher Andre De Megret has become the sponsor of Japanese Culture Club (JCC) and Kuriki has been working hard to fill the gaps left by the pandemic in her students’ understanding of the language.

“[I think the] review is good for everyone. They can work together and the lower level students can recognise [things they would have missed] through peer teaching. ” Kuriki said.

Beyond language courses, Japanese-related clubs are facing their own set of problems. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, recruitment efforts before school started were not as effective. In an attempt to combat these challenges, students and teachers came up with creative ways to help the program.

“Doing taiko [a drum routine] during pep rallies has gotten us a lot of attention because people see these huge drums in front of the whole school, and they go “Oh, I want to do that.” We want to try to do more things like that, where we perform or we showcase,” Rask, the taiko captain, said.

JCC has also recruited students through entertainment.

“Mr. De Megret, our sponsor, does karate, so he did a demonstration on martial arts during one of our meetings. In another one of our lessons, we did a shoto [Japanese calligraphy] introduction. I think using hands-on methods as a way to advertise means we can actually show people what it is that we do,” Rask said.

HELPING NEW STUDENTS

Student-led efforts have also been made to assist students who are interested in participating in the Japanese program. Junior Trisha Naidu, who wanted to begin Japanese but was faced with entry level class closures, was tutored over the summer by senior Aneri Shah.

“It’s a shame that we don’t have the Japanese class that we used to have, but we do have a lot of people still interested in Japanese culture, and they’re free to attend JCC or Taiko club,” Shah said.

With efforts like this in place and all the outreach that’s being done there are many who are optimistic about the future of the Japanese program.

“I believe this program will grow. It will take a while but [we] will increase the number of students,” Kuriki said.

Taiko drummers line up for practice at a meeting of the Japanese Culture Club. “[In] Japanese Culture Club, we create and give presentations on different aspects of tradition. For instance, we have held origami workshops, calligraphy workshops, Taiko workshops, and a karate workshop,” senior Aneri Shah said. PHOTO // Elijah Tilleman