It is important to participate in the culture of a country, in order to be in a state of mind to absorb the language. Not all encounters are pleasant or welcoming, but you have to persevere. Sometimes you meet resistance because you are a foreigner. This phenomenon is not unique to any culture, and can happen at any time. But most encounters will be pleasant and memorable.
One of my proudest moments in Japan was when I participated in the Kiba Matsuri, or Wood Market Festival. I was a member of one of many groups of young men wearing white shorts or loin cloth, a cotton happi coat and a hachimaki wrapped around my forehead. We carried heavy wooden shrines through Tokyo's streets from morning to night, drinking sake and getting showered with water by the onlookers. We shouted Wasshoi every time the heavy wooden shrine was thrown up into the air and caught again. Since I was taller than the other men, I either had to carry a disproportionate share of the load or constantly bend my knees. I guess I did a little of both from 5:30 in the morning until 3:30 in the afternoon. That night I could hardly crawl into bed, I was so tired and sore.
I often noticed that some foreigners who studied Japanese reached the peak of their language capability at the end of their period of language learning. Once launched into Japanese working life, they reverted back to living in English and their Japanese skills deteriorated. They never pushed themselves far enough to make living and working in Japanese seem natural for them. I deliberately took a different approach. This did not mean that I could not also live in English with other Canadians, it just meant that I had created another option for myself, that of living in Japanese.
The tendency for us to be most comfortable in our own cultural community is normal; however, it is no help to language learning. Once you really commit to the local language and make more local friends and professional acquaintances, the differences between people become less obvious than the similarities. I thoroughly enjoyed my nine-year stay in Japan. I came away with a profound appreciation for Japanese culture and the refinement that the Japanese bring to so many aspects of daily human activities.
I am aware of cultural differences between people, just as I notice differences of personality between individuals. Yet my understanding of the essential similarity of all individual human beings was only confirmed during my nine years in Japan. Above all, every human being is an individual, with hopes and fears and ambitions. We seek comfort from belonging to communities, whether local, national or religious. However, an even greater sense of comfort is available to those of us who recognize that, as individuals, we are all equal members of the human family.
Japan is facing many economic difficulties today. The traditional hierarchical structure of Japanese society has inhibited the input of the younger generation towards solving these problems. This will likely change. In what Kennichi Ohmae, a leading Japanese thinker, calls "the modern borderless world," increased knowledge of foreign languages will ensure a greater diversity of perspectives on issues affecting Japanese society.
