Issue No

Tony Stewart (Gunma)

After a long winter of snowy ski slopes, the hills of Tambara Park change color during the spring to welcome fragrant fields of lavender in the summer months. The park also has different varieties of other flower arrangements that make their wide park change colors over the course of the spring, but their most famous ones are the few types of lavender that peak in bloom at different times during late spring and summer to ensure a long season of beautiful purple hills.

I visited the park in late July with friends by riding their car up the mountains of North Gunma on a sunny day. The bright color of the flowers is great against the blue sky for good pictures. The park is easy for pedestrians to go up the hills but also has a lift you can use for part of the ride up. Surprisingly, at their restaurant, I had one of the best sauce katsu-don I ever had in Japan, which I was surprised to find in such a remote random location. The park also has some lavender ice cream and even lavender soba, the noodles a weird purple color that didn’t attract me too much but that my friends dared to try. You can also buy lavender tea and dried lavender for cooking, as well as various health products including the flower at their gift shop.

The best way to get there is by car, passing the winding mountain roads up to the park, 1,300 m up. You can also take shuttles or local buses from Numata Station, on the JR Joetsu Line. It’s worth making the detour up there on a hot summer day, since the elevation will usually offer cooler winds and a more endurable temperature. A great way to freshen up bathed in the aroma of lavender fields.

Tambara Lavender Park 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission: 800 to 1000 yen depending on blooming status Blooming mid-July to mid-August

Tony is a third-year ALT from Ohio, now living in Southern Gunma. He doesn’t like chocolate but will ride the train anywhere for a good burger.

Mona Tadayon (Shizuoka)

The shift of another season brings a new energy into the air, and spring in Japan is no exception. The sakura are blooming, the breeze is warming, and the local train station is filled with the comings and goings of old friends, new friends, and everything in between. It is a time of endings and new beginnings.

As spring blossoms into 2022, students and teachers alike can feel the seasonal shift take place. In Japanese education, spring adds a rather bittersweet energy to the end of the school year. From my experience as a student and teacher back in Canada, I can confidently say that I have taken part in my fair share of graduation ceremonies, but I think there is something particularly special about graduation in Japan. Graduation is a disciplined procedure, which is preceded by weeks of rehearsals and attention to fine detail. While the ceremony itself is quite mundane in its general proceedings there is one part that stood out to me, a part that I have never experienced as either a teacher or student, it’s a part that I would simply call: gratitude. It would seem that this final part of the ceremony is unique to Hamamatsu: a famous city in the Shizuoka prefecture where I currently live and work.

At the end of the junior high school ceremony, the Maruzuka class of 2022 all walked on stage in their bright indigo uniforms and faced their focal audience: six senior-year senseis sitting at the center of the students’ chairs, and all their parents sitting just behind them in a large separate audience – all of whom looked up at the display of vibrant youth with proud faces. To the score of a lovely piano composition played by one of the senior students, the young pupils shared their gratitude with their senseis - class by class, one sensei at a time, before all thanking their parents in unison. While giving their thanks, the students allowed themselves to be free in their display of emotion. In this moment, not a single tear or sense of pride seemed to be shy of showing itself. As the students got emotional, so did the teachers, the parents, and me – the ALT with just ちょっと chotto (a little) Japanese comprehension.

Eri Ikuma, who is a passionate educator and sensei at Maruzuka JHS (Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka), had this to say regarding the importance of the school uniform on this special day:

With Eri’s perspective in mind and the falling of the spring petals, I realize that the uniform stands for so much more than just a formality. The uniform represents Maruzuka as a sakura tree. While the sakura tree blossoms every spring, the petals are unique every season. Just as the students who are wearing the Maruzuka uniform today, are not the students who will be wearing it tomorrow.

As I looked around the gymnasium at the faces of those in the audience—wishing desperatelythat Ihadbrought ahandkerchief with me—I saw that the majority of faces were also shedding tears behind their facemasks in a display of sincere gratitude. Honestly, it would have been difficult not to get emotional—the display felt like an act of letting go, letting go of something that meant a great deal. Letting go is a challenge that transcends culture and language. It’s hard to let go, even if it means moving towards growth. The entire energy of the room was palpably moved by the overwhelming show of gratitude—by the undeniable growth, by the end of another beautiful season. As a teacher, I thought back to my first classroom of graduating students, and how difficult it was to say goodbye to them at the end of the year. If my class had shown me such a powerful display of gratitude, I would have transformed into a puddle on the gym floor: embarrassed, overwhelmed, full of pride, and admittedly a small sense of grief. As a teacher, you put a great deal of yourself into your work and I see that dedication in all the educators I have had the pleasure to observe and work alongside as an ALT in Japan. I have seen the hours they put in, the early Saturday mornings when they come for club activities and the level of responsibility they take for their students. I see it, and I understand the loyalty and dedication that goes into their work. I believe that raising a child is a group effort—and I think Japanese educators understand that, as people raised in a school system based in a culture of tradition and homogeneity.

Being a teacher is a form of guardianship and at times, it can even feel like parenthood. However, as a teacher, you also know that you will have to say goodbye soon. Students must continue walking down the path of their lives. They must continue through the many seasons they will endure. In the end, as a teacher you must make the most of the few seasons you have with your students and realize that you are only one part of their lives. Hopefully, a good part—one that deserves such an endearing display of gratitude. While it is not needed, I think it is a great way to let go of something, to process such a pivotal point in their young lives; a season that will only occur once.

While the cherry blossoms will bloom again, the petals will never quite be the same. But, as the end of the season approaches, we can see new branches bud on the sakura trees. In time, those branches will bloom and blossom as they did the year before, and every year before that.

Uniformity brings harmony. I know we are all different. I know that, and I want to respect everyone’s character. Some people might think that uniforms kill their identity, but I think everyonewearsthesameuniform so that I can see their personality and character more clearly. I know everyone is different, even if they wear the same clothes. I can see who they are.

Mona Tadayon is a passionate educator and writer from Toronto, Canada. She has been living in Hamamatsu City since the

Mona Tadayon is a passionate educator and writer from Toronto, Canada. She has been living in Hamamatsu City since the fall of 2021 and has come to Japan with a curiosity for its culture. She is particularly interested in how Japanese culture influences education. In her spare time, she enjoys eating chicken katsu, singing karaoke, swimming in the ocean, and exploring!

Sakura Illustration: | linustock.com

A hundred red pinwheels met our eyes as we drove past the pockets of towns nestled in the mountains of Shizuoka. They matched the bright red kayak strapped to the roof of Suzuki’s car. The pinwheels trailed up the road leading us to an old private house at the Roadside Station in the Tenryu ward of Hamamatsu. For the weekend, one of the many old traditional homes next to the station became a gathering space for locals, artists, and travelers to experience the beauty of Japan through an installation connecting traditions from the mountains to the sea.

The installation was an immersive experience of contemporary art where the viewer sees, hears, feels, and even smells the space. The featured art was created by Mariko Naito. She is a professional ikebana artist, tea ceremony master, and lecturer who is originally from Tottori prefecture.

Inspired by local history, daily life, and regional characteristics of Japan, she breathes new life into traditions that are sometimes overlooked. At this installation, she wanted Sierra Nelson-Liner (Shizuoka)

the viewers to experience the old house and traditional garden. To have them feel nature both big and small. And to have them see nature within themselves.

Her art flowed perfectly with the house itself. The sliding doors were open to allow the various hanging seeds and plants to float in the breeze. She had hand crafted small camellia flowers from paper and placed them between wires and wooden structures. One was blue and yellow in an act to bring awareness and support to Ukraine.

Outside, in the garden, was where the mountains met the sea. Guest speaker Katsuaki Suzuki had brought his dugout cedar canoe to put on display. Ms. Naito placed a large branch of paperbrush on top of it. The pinwheels twirled in the wind.

Last April I was fortunate enough to attend the roadside event as well as interview Katsuaki Suzuki, an ocean explorer and guest speaker at the event, which linked his and Ms. Naito’s expertise together.

Katsuaki Suzuki is a marine explorer and friend to many. He has experience paddling several huge rivers and oceans around the globe. A lover of coastlines and beach plants; he offers both kayak and dugout canoe tours throughout Japan. You can hopefully travel with Suzuki by contacting him through his website 浜名湖パドル カヤックツア ー(Hamanako Paddle Tours).

One seemingly casual question you can ask him is; “How long does it take to travel around Japan?” To which he will reply; “About 4 years.” He speaks from experience. His longest voyage has been a roughly 4 year trip of 1200 days circumnavigating Japan. He did so by rowing his bright red sea kayak to and from Bentenjima, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka prefecture.

WhatinspiredhimtotravelaroundJapan by kayak? “It was an impulse,” he said. He had previously traveled in Thailand, India, and Hawaii, so he was also motivated to learn more about “water communities” in his home country.

Japan has a lot of “old coastal communities that are rich in culture.” On his journey he was in search of people who depend on, experience, or live and interact with the sea. He wanted to know more deeply about their “ocean culture”. To do this Suzuki talked to many fishermen and “mermaids”—as he put it with a smile. He investigated these places’ history, daily life, construction techniques, and of course local foods and beach plants. He learned from many ama divers along the coastline. They are women who are taught to dive without breathing equipment. They are wellknown in Mie prefecture for diving in search of pearls. He also learned from the native Ainu people in the north.

When recollecting the trip most of his responses were filled with the gratitude towards the interactions with nature one does not usually experience. Emerging from the nearby volcanic mountain, Sakurajima, on Kyushu Island, he paddled while watching the magnificent volcanic plumes. He also describes the Shiritoko peninsula in Hokkaido. There, he was no longer in the human community, but the bear community. He paddled while watching brown bears and whales. Sometimes he was even chased by sharks. Living in the wild for about four years sounds very exciting. After the trip he noticed that he came to like Japan, and its amazing coastline, even more. The trip definitely connected him deeper to his home country.

He has also participated in an internationalmaritimecommunityproject sponsored by Tokyo’s National Museum of Nature and Science. Together with a small team he successfully completed a 225-kilometer voyage from Taiwan to Yonaguni Island, Okinawa Prefecture, in a wooden boat, using star navigation.

Following that adventure Suzuki organized gatherings for the next two years, teaching children and locals how to construct a dugout canoe of their Sanriku Rias coastline (Tohoku) Shiretoko (Hokkaido) Lake Hamana (Shizuoka) Sakurajima (Kagoshima) South Sea of Japan (Yamaguchi Prefecture) Izu Peninsula (Shizuoka) Owase (Mie Prefecture) Seto Inland Sea

own. That same boat, completed in 2021, was the one on display at the event with Mariko Naito.

Suzuki finally remarked that he wants everyone who reads this to remember that “from the highest mountains to the far reaches of the ocean we truly are connected.” He also wants us to have fun and be inspired to experience kayaking in different places around Japan, so his recommended Kayaking spots are outlined for you below.

Sierra Nelson-Liner is an ALT who is the Community Editor for CONNECT Magazine. She is always chasing flowers. She hopes to learn more about cultural exchange through farming. You can follow her farming experiences on her @satoyama_stories instagram.

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