A memorable study exchange to Japan
“I will always miss Japan whenever I am away from that place. It is a remarkable country and the people are exceptionally kind and generous”, says young leader Charlie Rowe.
Between September 2010 and February 2011, Charlie studied at the Humanities Department of the University of Hirosaki where he took papers in Japanese Language, Economics, International Relations, Japanese Literature and Regional Traditions. His trip to Japan was part of the University of Otago exchange programme with travel funding from an Asia:NZ grant.
Photo: Charlie at Hirosaki Castle
While Charlie has been to Japan on previous occasions, this was his first experience of living there for a longer stretch of time and travelling extensively outside the Tokyo region. “It was wonderful to be in amongst it all”, he said, although reading the newspaper every morning over breakfast left him with the impression that “Japan was going through a bit of a confidence crisis compared to the previous times I had visited.” Charlie attributes this to security concerns related to North Korea, slight political tensions with China and Russia, and the cancellation of the Spring Sumo tournament due to suspicions of cheating amongst some key wrestlers.
Charlie’s university days in Hirosaki typically started early with a breakfast of rice and natou - except when he could hear the 'school song' tune drifting out across the playing field – “then I'd know I had slept in because the dormitory was located right next door!” The long days were sometimes challenging. “Classes were very long, 90 minutes a go, and some days I had five in a row with barely any breaks so this was a little test of my patience”.
Photo: Hirosaki University
Charlie really enjoyed travelling and spending time with friends in the weekends. “It was very easy to travel around the Aomori prefecture by train, and eventually I got a part-time job teaching and examining English for an education company which paid for my travel and stop-overs in hotels, so that was great.”
Not long after Charlie returned to New Zealand, Japan was struck by a massive earthquake and tsunami disaster, which he felt very lucky to have avoided. “My boss from the part-time job was actually located in Sendai and my job used to take me to that very same coastline most Saturdays or Sundays. I'm yet to hear from him and any of his colleagues so this is very worrying news. They're the loveliest of people and the townships along the coast are so charming, but it's very difficult to get back in touch with a lot of people, so I have no idea how they are doing.”
Despite this distressing event, Charlie would still encourage young leaders to visit Japan. “It's an amazing country and for me it was a privilege to walk off the beaten track and get a glimpse of life through a Japanese lens.” He welcomes any member of the network heading to Hirosaki or Aomori Prefecture to contact him for any advice or comments. “I thought I was prepared for Japan, but I was completely wrong there!” concedes Charlie.
