2010年8月23日月曜日

Japan and the ancient art of shrugging - New York Times op-ed

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/opinion/22kato.html

>Freshly overtaken by China, Japan now seems to stand at the vanguard of a new downsizing movement, leading the way for countries bound sooner or later to follow in its wake. In a world whose limits are increasingly apparent, Japan and its youths, old beyond their years, may well reveal what it is like to outgrow growth.

Norihiro Kato is a professor of Japanese literature at Waseda University. This article was translated by Michael Emmerich from the Japanese.


Since I teach Japan's new generation in my freshmen and sophomore academic English classes, this issue of Japan's future identity is something that will come up as a running theme in our discussions. Kato makes a good point that Japan, or at least the young people of Japan, can and should develop a comfortable, confident sense of self that does not excessively worry about GDP rankings. Just be yourselves!

2010年8月20日金曜日

Our Century's Greatest Injustic/Half the Sky by Wudunn



Gender discrimination is one of the topics that my students often explore in our Autumn units on "communication, perception, culture" and "race/ethnicity".

This video might be a good starting point for research on the process of improving the position of females in various regions of the world, both in developing and developed countries.

WuDunn's presentation makes seem valuable points about the need for improving security, nutrition, and education for females, especially in developing countries. Although she doesn't validate her evidence with sources, she makes a good case arguing that discrimination against females is the greatest injustice and greatest priority for change in the 21st century. Whether there are other priorities is open to debate, but in any case, I strongly agree with the point she makes with the final anecdote about how privileged we are in developed countries and how important it is to realize our responsibility to help others.

2010年8月19日木曜日

Reflecting on Reflection - A Reflection Taxonomy by Peter Pappas

I stumbled across this link on a Google Reader feed from another teacher's blog and thought it was a very useful framework for understanding reflection in education.
http://peterpappas.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d880253ef0120a7a4dd53970b-pi

This Prezi presentation, also by Pappas is a very nice introduction to the importance of reflection. Need to learn how to make one of these. I wonder how long something like this takes to make.

2010年8月18日水曜日

「武士道」の概念と日本の戦争責任~韓国のある新聞コラムを読んで思うこと

自分は「フレッシュアイ」とうニュース・キーワードサービスに登録していて、「英語教育」 「異文化理解」 「ICU」など自分の興味あるキーワードが入っているネット上のニュースが自動的にメールで配信されるようにしている。興味ある研究分野やニュース分野があるみなさんには是非お薦め。

さて、時々、どうしてこのニュースが配信された??と不思議に思う記事が来る時もある。以下の「武士道」に関する韓国の中央日報の日本語版の記事が一例だ。特に自分が登録したキーワードは見たらないのだが。。。

しかし内容は興味深い。異文化理解の面から見て、この記事とそれに対する読者コメントが非常に興味深い。日本と韓国の歴史認識の違いの根源を示している部分があるように思えるし、どうしてこのように「武士道」の捉え方が違うのか考えるのは価値があるプロセスだと思う。記事の内容も、読者のコメントも対立する感情にあふれているのだが、その感情の中からどのように歩み寄りや相互理解ができるのか、機会があったら学生と考えてみてもいいなと思った。秋のARWの授業に関連しているので、ちょっと思いを書いてみたくなった。

さて、内容は新聞の意見コラムで、もともと韓国語で書かれ、日本語訳がネットの日本語版に出たらしい。

日本語訳版: リンク
韓国語原文: リンク

作者が言いたいことはどうも2つあるようだ。抜粋すると:

1)「武士道は歴史的事実を根拠とする実体ではない。 神話や象徴操作に近い。 ひどく言えば‘はったり’ともいえる。」 (注:記事の中の「武士道」の定義は新渡戸稲造が1899年に米国で英語で出版した本『BUSHIDO:The Soul of Japan』の中に書かれた精神とのことである。その内容はでっちあげの部分が多いと言いたいらしい。)

2)「武士道を崇敬していた日本軍国主義の蛮行を見れば、武士道が虚構だったことがよく表れている。 今の保守右翼も同じだ。 侵略戦争に対する反省と謝罪を惜しむ人たちのどこに武士道の風貌を見ることができるのか。 元々なかっただけに見えないのだ。」

要するに、侵略戦争の実態やそれに対する謝罪を日本の保守的な政治家が惜しむことを見る限り、日本には所謂「武士道」の「義」 (justice/fair play) の精神が足りない、そして元々日本の伝統文化に武士道の「義」の観念が根付いていたかどうかを疑しい、と言いたいようだ。

これは日本の読者が怒るのは当然。歴史的にどうであろうと、現代の日本人の多くは「武士道」を大切な文化だと思っている。どんな国の人でも、自分の国の伝統文化や道徳観が正義の心を欠いていると示唆されたら気分を悪くする。そういう意味で、言っていることが一部又は全て本当かどうかを差し置いて、まず二国間の関係を前進させる上で建設的な文章とは言えない。

ただ、韓国語で韓国の読者のために書かれたものなので、それを考慮する必要はある。戦争責任の認識について、もしこの内容が韓国の市民が一般的に思っていることを強く代表しているとしたら、そのような感情を日本人が知って、今後の対話の参考にするための上では価値があるかも知れない。

しかし、それにしても、第三者(一応アメリカ人なので)から見て、あまりに強引過ぎる文章と論調であるのは確かだ。日本の保守派が戦争責任の謝罪を渋っていることが気に入らないなら、もってストレートにそれを書くべきであろう。日本の武士道に「義」の精神があったのかどうかという議論を巻き込まなくても良さそうなものだ。

では、事実関係はどうなのか。

先ず、武士道という言葉の根源は?そして歴史的なその実態は?現代における存在感は?
Wikipediaをさっと読んだだけでは理解できなさそうだが、「義」のある武士の精神を新渡戸がでっちあげたというのも正確ではない気がする。
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6%E5%A3%AB%E9%81%93
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido
BUSHIDO:The Soul of Japan

武士道の歴史は専門外なので、あまり大きいことは言わないが、最後に言いたいのは、歴史に対する反省は大切であり、中央日報の記事の筆者が指摘しているように「侵略を反省しているのではなく、敗戦を反省している」ような間違った歴史認識を持っている日本人がいるのは事実である。そして日本における侵略の歴史の教育や反省は被害者の韓国や中国から見て(そして私の理解が正しければドイツなどに比べ)足りないのも事実である。親や兄弟を殺された家族のように、被害者にとってはいつまでも、どのように謝罪されても足りない部分もあるのであろうが、加害者の日本はまだ謙虚な努力と持続的な反省が必要であると思う。これはアメリカでもどの国でも同じである。国としての過去の過ちを認めて毎年反省・謝罪することは国際的な平和と協調に貢献する風土を養う上で大切である。

しかし、同時に、韓国や中国側にも平和と協調への責任感は必用である。この記事を見る限り、建設的に日本側の戦争に関する教育や反省を求めようとしているとは思えない。加害者側に反省して謝罪する責任があるのと同時に、被害者側にも建設的に理解を求め、関係を先に進める努力は必要だと思える。この記事はその努力を怠っているのではないだろうか。

4th Tokyo Marathon?

Just submitted my application for the 2011 Tokyo Marathon.Registration for Tokyo Marathon 2011

Apparently foreigners (even those living in Tokyo) are exempt from the high stakes lottery with almost 10 to 1 odds that makes it very difficult for Japanese runners to get in. Lucky me. I have Japanese running buddies who have applied every year and haven't been able to get in.

So far, I've run in 2008, 2009, and 2010, so this would be my fourth one. My best time was set this year with 4 hrs 17 min, and I hope I can break the four hour barrier this time. Got some running style analysis and new shoes with custom in-soles molded for me in Seattle and I'm ready to hit the training hard.

Running in the same marathon could get a bit old, but the Tokyo Marathon stays attractive to me just because of the sheer size of the event, with 35,000 runners pounding through the streets of Tokyo, and the sheer convenience of having the starting line less than an hour away in Shinjuku a few stops down the Chuo train line.

I hope I get in! I definitely need the goal to motivate me to do some more consistent running with longer distances...three weeks of hamburgers, pizza, and BBQs in the USA followed by a higher than usual rate of beer drinking on trips to Vietnam and Shizuoka have fattened me up nicely over the summer.

Time to get back in shape!

Taking Michael to Seattle: Success!

So we're back in Japan after three weeks in beautiful, cool, sunny Seattle, and the trip was a great success.

Michael got to know his cousins Colton and Aili well and hang out with American kids at summer adventure and soccer day camps speaking in authentic 7-year-old English. I (Mark) got to hang out with family and friends, experience being a full time house husband for a few days, and enjoy some kayaking, hiking and microbrew tasting. I got a few hours of work in at the UW library, but not much...there was just too many things to do.
soccer-cousins.JPG
Many, many thanks to my sister Jeannette, her husband Derrick, and kids Colton and Aili for putting us up and putting up with us for so many days, and to Ken B. for letting Colton, Michael and I interrupt your peace and stay for the week of Adventure Camp. We hope we didn't overstay our welcome too much. Cousins Michael and Colton were a potent combination, endlessly being silly, finding ways to mess around, outdoing each other, telling on each other and getting in each other's faces. The noise level was high, and I think all parties are a little relieved that they are now separated by the Pacific Ocean once again.

Thanks to the stay, Michael's fluency in American first grade vernacular has been enriched by new invaluable phrases such as, just to list a few frequently recurring ones off the top of my head:
"It's not fair. You always get to go first. It's my turn."
"This is boring. I hate this. I really hate this. Why do I have to do this?"
"(Uncle MaAAAark, Michael punched me! ) Shut up. No I didn't. Dad, he's making it up.
"Stop it. No, YOU stop it. No YOU stop. YOU YOU YOU YOU (endlessly)"
car-fighting-cousins.JPG

But seriously, it was really great for Michael to have a chance to play, mess around, and be silly in English to his heart's content.

For Michael, International Soccer School (link) week was his best week and he absolutely loved being able to play soccer all day 9am to 4pm, day after day for a week. The practice menu was simple, with kids mostly playing game after game, sometimes mixing Michael with bigger kids up to sixth grade. It really worked out well for him. He was a better player than most kids in his age group of 6-8, and that led to a certain level of admiration and acceptance from the group of American kids in spite of not being much of a conversationalist (like getting picked first for team selection--which was good for him, but a bit cruel for less experienced players like his cousin Colton). I observed the beginning and end of a few practices, and he just played the game quietly and diligently, with just limited spoken interaction such as "(kid) What's the score now? " "(Michael) three nil" or "(kid) Do you want to take the corner kick?" "(Michael) "OK." Quiet and diligent (almost too serious) made him very popular with his coaches and that must have made him feel really good, too. He's excited about going next year (if there is a next year...).

The 20 days flew by!

So, what's the "English immersion" plan for summer next year? Budget and yen/dollar rate permitting, I definitely want to go as a whole family rather than just Michael and I. Also, it would be best to have our own place to stay and our own rental car rather than occupy a family or friend's house....In fact, with the beautiful weather in Seattle in summer, it was tempting to look into buying a place over there, but that's a plan for the long term future since I'm not tenured and we haven't bought a house in Japan yet.

As for summer camps, soccer camp was good, but I kind of hope I can put Michael in a camp that gets a little more verbal development...like a science camp or computer camp kind of thing?

Once again, thanks to all in Seattle for your kindness and hospitality!