Gilroy- The visiting high school students from Takko-machi,
Japan, are preparing to take their leave of Gilroy, much sooner
than they would have liked.
Gilroy- The visiting high school students from Takko-machi, Japan, are preparing to take their leave of Gilroy, much sooner than they would have liked. During the Sayonara dinner, an occasion for host families and exchange students to share mutual thanks, the Japanese high schoolers read goodbye messages that were so heartfelt one would have thought they’d been in Gilroy for months, instead of seven days.
“I will never forget you,” said Aya Iwama, after describing each member of her host family for the audience. Others ended their speeches with “you are welcome in Takko” and “I love you.” By the time the speeches were done, more than half of the students were in tears.
“This is a very important experience for them, something they are proud of,” said Keiko Sato, who has accompanied students for the last 10 years as an employee of Takko Garlic International.
“Takko has 7,000 people, and if you live in a small town, you don’t always know what’s going on.”
What’s going on is that Takko and Gilroy have a thriving sister city relationship, which began in 1988, largely by association with the Gilroy Garlic Festival. After the relationship became official, the garlic production in the small northern town jumped, making them the garlic capital of Japan. Nowadays you can visit the “Gilroy Cafe” in Takko’s Garlic Center, where you can order garlic noodles or pizza.
After 19 years, the sister city program between the two cities is a well-oiled machine, providing the opportunity for dozens of Japanese students, in all age groups, to visit each year, as well as allowing Gilroy students in the GHS Chamber Singers to visit Takko. This year, the Chamber Singers will visit Japan in early April, spending half the visit in Takko.
Through the 10 years she has been visiting America and watching students make cross-cultural connections, Sato says it has only become easier.
“With more technology, such as e-mail, there are more people making connections,” said Sato. “We hope that the students have long relationships with their host families.”
After dinner, the Gilroyans assembled were treated to almost two hours of entertainment, including several dances performed by the female students. The dances selected covered a vast array of Japanese culture, from traditional harvest dances to a modern aerobic-style dance, called “Yosakoi.” During the traditional dances the students were serious and composed, dressed in elaborate gold-skirted kimonos, but “Yosakoi” gave them occasion to smile and burst into laughter when they made a mistake.
For the last dance, all the Japanese students performed the summer festival dance called “Nanyadoyara'” and then invited their new American friends to join them, or at least try.
It was clear that the hospitable Gilroy families and their grateful Japanese visitors were well-matched, but they could all recall the sense of confusion that resulted from a difficult language barrier.
“Communication was tough,” said Frank Lauber, who had hosted a female student, Maki Tabana, for a week. “We bought a dictionary, and that helped, but the kids were much better at communicating than we were.”
This did not dampen the fun as Lauber and his family took Maki to Santa Cruz to see elephant seals, and went shopping at the outlets.
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” said Lauber.
Their daughter, Talia, a junior, will be traveling to Japan in April with the choir.
“Before I met them, I had no idea what [the students] would be like,” said the younger Lauber. “Communication was hard, like playing Pictionary. But now I definitely know more about what it will be like when I go there.”
All of the Japanese students were quick to express their appreciation for Gilroy and America in general, though they said the trip wasn’t without surprises. Hiromi Sakaue, 16, said she was most intrigued by the way American worshippers crossed themselves, when she went to church with her host family.
“It was interesting, like in American movies,” said Sakaue.
The group from Takko always takes a teacher along on their trips. This time it was Masato Sakurai, a math and karate instructor who gave the American crowd a demonstration of his karate skills as part of the entertainment. With his excellent English skills, it was clear he had a special interest in America.
“I want to live here,” he joked. “Americans have much more liberty. In Japan, children are usually raised to imitate their parents and be obedient. The government in Japan works in the same way.”
This was Sakurai’s third visit to America, although he has seen more of the country than some of its own people, having flown to New York City and then made a cross-country trip by motorcycle when he was a college student.
Phil Robb, who has been to Japan many times as director of the GHS Chamber Singers, has a few ideas as to what sets the western garlic capital and its eastern counterpart apart.
“In Japan, the group is more important than the individual,” he said. “Our kids are taught to be individuals, but sometimes that’s not such a good thing. I tell my students how the group needs to be first, and that’s the strongest thing we can learn from them.”
There were some who, basking in the general warmth created by the singing and dancing, saw the occasion as a display of our overarching similarities. Jennifer Speno, the 2005 Garlic Festival president said, “We have a lot in common. We’re all based around our families, we all go to school and get jobs.”
Speno, who was the host mother to take Hiromi Sakaue to church, said she likes being involved for many reasons, not the least of which is the benefit for her own children.
“They’re now interested in different cultures,” said Speno. “I hope my children go to Takko, and become ambassadors for Gilroy there.”
