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~Country Report~
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Japan is a Country that is said to have been founded by a legend of the Sun Goddess herself. In 600 BC Emperor Jimmu, a direct descendant of this goddess and the present ruling imperial family founded the country. From there the Japanese court would adopt the Chinese writing system, and then introduce Buddhism, thus beginning the long period of Chinese cultural influence in the country.(Bureau)
In 1542 many things began to change for the small Island country. This is when the first recorded contact with the West occurred. This would then cause the country to keep all relations with the outside world and isolate themselves, except for some commercial contact with the Dutch and Chinese merchants. This would last for almost 200 years. In 1854 Matthew Perry for the U. S. Navy negotiated the opening of Japan to the west by using the Convention of Kanagawa. (Bureau)
Having the borders open to the West profoundly changed the society of Japan. The hug boom of Westernized ideas, clothing, and even legal and educational systems had then been adapted into the country. This would also cause the technology of Japan to change tremendously as well. The country would move from the proud sword wielding samurai to the strong gun wielding men of the Japanese Government.
The Japanese government is a parliamentary democracy. It has a House of Representatives and a House of Councilors. The main executive power is composed of a prime minister and ministers of the state, whom must be civilians. (CIA)
There are seven major political parties, just like there are major parties in the United States. These seven parties are the Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party, the People’s New Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, the New Clean Government Party, the Japan Communist Party, and Your Party. (Bureau)
Japan is very well known for the technology that is produced in the country. Just to name a few big name companies: Toyota Motors, Dokomo, Nippon Tel & Tel, Mizuho Financial, Mistubishi UFJ Finl, Honda Motors Tokyo Electric Power, Sony, Mistubishi, Canon, Resona Holdings, Nippon Steel, Mistui & Co, East Japan Railway, Fuji Photo Film, Toshiba, Sharp, Nintendo and more. Many of these names can be found all over the world, like Canon and Nintendo. (Economy Watch)
October 6, 2010, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs,
Economy Watch,
February 14, 2011, Central Intelligence Agency,
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~PROCESS~
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- Fine a person to interview.
- Collect information on the country that the interviewee calls home.
- Create questions to ask the interviewee.
- Finalize them for the interview.
- Get a snack to share.
- Set up a time and place to meet
- Quite place.
- Time that works for the interviewee.
- Make it public.
- Day of:
- Get there early.
- Make sure that computer recorder is working.
- Have a two paper copies of the questions.
- Bring snack.
- Water to drink.
- Have everything set up before the person arrives.
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~INTERVIEW~
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What was the hardest thing about transitioning to the U.S.? Some may call this Culture shock.
Answer: In my classes it was difficult for me to try and speak up in class. You know how the professors have group discussions and things? I'm not very good at speaking in class like that.
Why did you decide to come to SCSU instead of studying or working in your own country?
Answer: My major is International business so I wanted to study abroad because of my major. I think coming here will make my English better.
What are the school systems like in your country?
Answer: The biggest differences would probably be that we don't have to go to high school if we just want to work. We take a test for high school and it's really hard. We also take a test for university. And I think the years are different, like we have three years of junior high school and three years of high school. I think there are a lot of differences but that's all I can think of right now.
When and how do you start learning English in your country?
Answer: We really start English as a class in our 1st year of Junior High School but I had an English class in Elementary school in my 4th, 5th and 6th year too. It's changing now though. We learn English with a textbook and my school had a foreigner help teach us. The foreigner would chat with us and check our writing and play English games with us and then our teacher would teach us the grammar and stuff but it was really hard to remember everything.
How does the climate in your home country compare to here?
Answer: In Japan I live in Akita which is in the North of Japan. It's really nice there but it can be hot and cold. I think Minnesota is colder sometimes but I think they are a similar climate.
What are some cultural differences between your country and here?
Answer: It's difficult to explain them but the biggest difference is that Americans like to say what's in their minds. They are very open. In Japan we don't like to say what we are really thinking. It's kind of polite way of working together...not that Americans are rude but they are just open.
Who takes care of the finances in your family?
Answer: My mother takes care of most of our finances. She is a homemaker so she pays the bills and gives us our allowance but both my parents work out the bigger things together.
How do you get money for schooling and living expenses?
Answer: A lot of my money for school was saved from when I was a child but I also worked when I was in school to help pay for school and everything. We have loans too but my family didn't have loans for my school but maybe for my brother we will.
Who all lives in your home back in your country? Like family members.
Answer: In our house my parents and my younger brother live together now.
What has been the most challenging part about living in the US? Why?
Answer: Sometimes I miss being back home with my family because they understand me. I think it's challenging for Japanese people to be understood by Americans sometimes. It's like what I said before about speaking our minds. Other Japanese people understand what we mean but Americans sometimes want to know a lot more information or they take what we say very literally.
Where are you currently living here in the US?
Answer: I live in the dorms on campus, in Lawrence Hall.
What is that like for you?
Answer: There are a lot of people who come from all over the world. I really enjoy being able to meet so many different pleople. It is a lot of fun to live there.
Have you lost proficiency in speaking, writing or reading in your language since coming to the US?
Answer: I don't think so. I still use Japanese when I talk to my Japanese friends on campus and I still write in Japanese when I take notes so I don't think I so.
Are you self-conscious about your fluency in speaking and using the English language?
Answer: Yeah, I'm always afraid of making mistakes. Sometimes its ok but I think my pronunciation is really bad and sometimes my friends don't understand everything I'm saying.
Does this also then affect how you feel about speaking in class?
Answer: Yeah. I know that my English is not as great as some of the othere Japanese students that are here. So, that makes me not really want to talk out in class.
What are your personal experiences with racism since coming to the US?
Answer: I don't think I have noticed anything really bad. Sometimes people just stare at me or they speak really loud, like I can't hear them. There was one time when I was shopping with my friend and the clerk was saying kind of mean things to another clerk about my friend and I. But she kept calling us Chinese? My friend and I laughed about it because we're not Chinese! But other than that I have not really noticed any racism.
What were your preconceptions about the US before coming here and how have they changed?
Answer: Hmm, this is difficult. Before I came to America I think I had a good idea about Americans because my University has a lot of foreigners. But when I was in junior high school and high school I used to think that Americans couldn't use chopsticks and they don't like fish but then I went to University and all of the International students could use chopsticks and they really liked fish. Well, most of the time they liked it. I was also surprised by how popular Japanese comics are in America.
Do you still find it surprising when you see that people can use chopsticks or like Japanese foods?
Answer: I am not surprised, but I do like that they can use chopsticks. When it comes to food that makes me really happy. It is something that I have grown up with being Japanese and I really like sharing it with others.
Is there anything that you would like to say to add to this interview?
Answer: No, but this was really fun. I have always been a shy person, but being able to talk to you about myself is a lot of fun. I would do it again. Thank you.
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~Personal Review~
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I have gone through many interviews myself for various reasons, but to have to conduct and interview is very different. All the work that needs to go into interviewing takes a lot of time. This can be especially said when doing an interview with and international student. There is a lot of information and prep work that needs to be done even before the interview is conducted.
When the interview began I could tell that my interviewee was very nervous and quite shy. I have met her before due to being involved in JP Network on campus, but I had never really gotten to talk with her. Since she was more on the shy side it was hard to get conversations for questions to continue. She seemed to want to get the interview over with as fast as she could.
There was a point in the interview where I could physically tell that she was relaxing. I then could get a little more detailed answers from her. I did end up editing a lot of her answers together into one answer. There was a lot of coxing on my end, but in the end everything worked out quite well.
The interview as a whole was very interesting and I grew to know a lot more about my interviewee. I wish that I could have done the interview better, but with never conducting an interview before has turned this into a learning experience. After the day of our interview we met up again and had a wonderful chat about the interview and some of the questions. I realized later that I should have brought a recorder with.
