Myfanwy Smith

Aya’s ALT August 1997 – July 1998

Hello Everyone! My name is Myfanwy Smith. I was the JET Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Aya from August 1997 to July 1998. The JET programme is designed to introduce an international population in all areas of Japan in order to achieve a greater international understanding at a grass-roots level. In English, this means that foreigners come to very rural areas of Japan where they are supposed to teach languages. In reality, these people do a lot more "cultural sharing" than teaching. I spent one short year here in rural Aya Town in Miyazaki in the southern most extensions of Japan's main islands where I definitely learned more than I taught. Hopefully I have had as positive an effect on my friends in Aya as they have had on me. In truth, I'm sad to say "sayonara" (goodbye) and hope instead to say "Mata ne"(see you again sometime). Although I have learned quite a bit of Japanese language since my arrival, my experiences here have taught me much more than merely language. It's as impossible to catalogue all that I have learnt as it would be to share everything that I love about Japan, and even more difficult to express what I love to hate! I will share one experience with you in the hopes that you might get a feel for living in Modern Japan.

On the first sunny day this spring, a friend stopped me on the street to invite me to his Ikebana Flower Arrangement exhibition. His was a school of "Shogetsu," which is more true to the movements of Nature than obedient to the tranditional rules of flower arrangement. It was a special exhibition because a national leader in "Shogetsu" had come all the way from Tokyo to exhibit what, to my untrained eye, seemed to be a great big pile of sticks decorated with a clump of purple flowers. This first thought that ran through my mind was the desperate question of a graceful escape, but my friend soon enlightened me to the delicate, beautiful intricacies of Ikebana in general and of "Shogetsu" in particular. In just two hours, the bunch of sticks and the clump of flowers had become a representation of the wind moving through the forest and of the precarious balance between life and death in Nature.

The thing that impresses me the most about Ikebana artists is their dedication to the enhancement of natural beauty in spite of the realization that such beauty is the very essence of transcience. Their art begins to die upon the moment of creation, but this fact does not quell their desire to create. By example, these artists teach others to take as much joy in the process as in the destination.

This exhibition is very representative of my life in Japan, not just because I spent the day learning more than I thought possible. Also, as always, I was out of place. In my shorts and t-shirt, I did not fit in with the other guests, let alone with the hosts of the exhibition. Still, and as is usual in Japan, I was welcomed warmly by the kimono-clad hosts. For this, and for every similarly fulfilling experience I had while in Japan, I thank everyone who has touched my life here. You have expanded my horizons and I send you a thousand thank yous. I will miss you all.