Margarita Colón – Learning about ‘the way of the sword’ (Japanese)

All Student Stories, Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies

Story written by Martarita Colón, NPTS, ’14

I remember the day that I had my first encounter with a piece of Japanese culture. It was a crispy afternoon in my hometown of Dorado, P.R.  I turned on the T.V. set, and that’s when I saw my first peek of what I would later find out that goes by the name of animé. It was a different art and design style that I had never seen before.

Instant curiosity sprung up in my mind as to the reason behind why this character looked the way he did, and why he had a sword. And it wouldn’t be until years later, that my child curiosity about the Japanese ‘way of the sword’ and my growing interest in Japanese culture ever since would take me all the way to the land of the rising sun to live and learn Japanese culture and language.

My learning of the Japanese language has been years in the making, and continues to this day. Although I’ve always had an inherent passion for language, the Japanese language was an entirely different endeavor, yet incredibly alluring to me; it was an exotic language, having absolutely nothing to do with the romance languages that I knew all too well, and it came accompanied by a culture that was absolutely other-worldly to me at the time. But I was determined to learn as much as I could, and be open to as many experiences in Japan as possible that would allow me to have a glimpse into the everyday life and culture of the Japanese people. During my year in Japan’s northeastern city of Sendai, I was able to live amongst the locals, teach English to elementary school kids, travel to many different cities and towns like Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and other cities, all the while using and learning more Japanese.

Being able to communicate in a foreign language with others is an incredibly important asset that is essential for today’s increasingly competitive world. In my opinion, there is a very important reason that knowing a foreign language, or in my case Japanese, will aid you in: connection to culture. If you know the language, then you at the very least have a glimpse into the culture you are learning, and therefore, you can communicate and connect in an easier way to its’ people.
When the March 11th, 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake hit, at the beginning  I had no clue what was going on. After the earthquake, and the 5-hour endeavor of getting down the mountain, I spent the night at a shelter with my two friends, because there was no transportation into town and the power was out, not to mention the continued tsunami advisories. It was a cold night, and we were the only foreigners at the high school auditorium shelter. While huddling together for warmth and eating some biscuits the Red Cross members gave us, I asked two older women that had a portable radio if they heard any news about Sendai city, and how the situation was going there—I explained I was an exchange student in Sendai and that I hadn’t heard from any of my friends even though I had been trying to get a hold of them the entire evening. The rest of the night these two women kept me company, asking me things like what I liked about Sendai and how long had I been studying Japanese, and encouraged me to not feel afraid and that the trains would start running in the morning. They were so sweet and thoughtful, and I found their gracefulness and calmness in this situation to be very comforting—I am forever grateful to them for their kindness that night. And although there were times that I had lost-in-translation moments while speaking with them, this exchange happened because I was able to communicate in Japanese with them, which I noticed surprised them as well.

One of the many incredibly decorative and tasty meals I had while in Japan. This was after a mountain hike at ZAO, in Miyagi-prefecture.This was an incredibly memorable moment to me that I feel exemplifies the meaning of embarking on the journey of language-learning. After the earthquake, throughout volunteer activities in tsunami-struck areas, I kept learning not just about a language, but about a culture. In my days as a Kendou club member at the university, where I learned the Japanese ‘way of the sword’, and in everyday interactions with people, I kept learning. And now at MIIS, I continue to build upon what I’ve learned, in what has become a very important part of myself that started with a child’s simple curiosity, and has developed into a profound love for a culture and language that when it comes down to it, is not too different from our own, if we are simply open to learn.