Tenth graders from Takko-Machi
– Gilroy’s sister city in Japan – spent the day performing
traditional dance, teaching Gilroy High School students about the
art of calligraphy and instructing their American counterparts in
the traditions of the Japanese tea ceremony.
Tenth graders from Takko-Machi – Gilroy’s sister city in Japan – spent the day performing traditional dance, teaching Gilroy High School students about the art of calligraphy and instructing their American counterparts in the traditions of the Japanese tea ceremony.
Here for a week, the 19 Japanese students have toured Gilroy and the greater Bay Area and spent time sharing their culture and history with students at GHS and Brownell Middle School.
Despite the language barrier, the teens *– American and Japanese alike – learned a few things from being exposed to another culture.
Situated in a town of 7,000, Takko-Machi High School is home to only 200 students. The nearest big city is Hachinohe and at 250,000 residents, even that is dwarfed in proportion to Gilroy’s nearest metropolis, San Jose.
*In Japanese, Takko translates to “small hill” and Machi to “town.” Like Gilroy, this tiny town in the hills is world famous for its garlic.
“In their eyes, Gilroy is a big city,” said Keiko Sato who works for the Sister City Association as a translator. She has traveled to Gilroy more than 20 times and loves coming every time, although this visit’s dreary weather was a disappointment. “But it’s snowing in Takko right now so this is not bad,” she added.
In the drier months, the townspeople perform spiritual dances in the hope that it will bring more rain for crops, Sato said. The visiting students performed a similar dance in the GHS cafeteria. Decked out in kimonos and happi coats, a traditional straight-sleeved coat, the Japanese students performed a dramatic dance they had been practicing for months.
“It took lots of preparation,” Sato said. “It had to be perfect.”
The major reasons for bringing a class of 10th graders to the States is to polish their English and learn the culture differences between Gilroy and Takko Machi, said Takko Machi High School’s vice-principal, Keiji Kuji.
As the students mingled around tables and worked on drawing their names in Japanese calligraphy, the lack of a common language did not phase them. The hands-on activity rendered words unimportant.
The Japanese students have been living with American host families for the week and are sad about leaving Gilroy on Wednesday.
“I want to stay longer,” said Momoko Hizawa with the help of Sato’s translation. “The people here are not rushing. They are so kind.”
Hizawa’s fellow classmate, Mayumi Omura, agreed that her hose family was most hospitable. “I love my host family.”
Sally Enriquez, a global studies teacher at GHS, didn’t want to miss the chance of exposing her 9th graders to the cultural teachings of the visiting students.
“Our Japanese unit isn’t until May but the hands-on experience will be a great intro to the unit,” Enriquez said. “They learn so much more in an hour with the Japanese students than they do watching a video.”
Javier Hernandez, a student in Enriquez’s class, learned how to write his name and the symbol for friendship in Japanese calligraphy.
“It’s harder than it looks,” he said. “But it was pretty cool, a new experience.”
See more photos of students in the
