https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210522/k10013044921000.html

I wish I could say this type of behavior is rare in Japan but unfortunately, it’s not. I love Japan and have called Japan my home for over ten years. I have also lived apart from my hometown of Colorado for over ten years and still miss it daily. It’s where I’m from and even with horrible newsworthy events having happened in it in the last 20 years, I still feel great pride about it. So I understand when the people of this country are so proud of their culture and country and I would never say you can’t have those emotions however when it starts to disrespect other people it’s too far. And on this front, Japan needs to do better.

People often tell me they like to speak English because they can talk franky and they don’t have to beat around the bush. In Japanese, they often have to float around what they really want to say and hope that the other people understands the true meaning. When I teach English, of course I want my students to get better technically, but being able to speak English can open their mind up to other cultures, people and ways of approaching a conversation (aka debates are not always bad!). It’s bad enough that this type of warning was issued but when ever I hear these things, I often think about how many people it went through before seeing the public. How many people did not stand up and say, “This is not okay.”

I know Americans are by no means, angels, far from it and they certainly could learn a lot from Japanese people as well. But one of the enjoys of teaching is knowing that I could be expanding their minds. The biggest advantage in the Kids A-Z books that my elementary students read at home is that they see many different people represented in the books, they learn about many different topics AND they are questioned about why they think what they do. I hope to, not only, teach them proper English but to teach them to use their words to enact change and build the society that they would like to live.

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