Introduction: “Machinaka Ryugaku” Program Launched in Okinawa

A new program called “Machinaka Ryugaku” (Neighborhood Study Abroad) has been launched in Okinawa, where children stay with foreign families living in the prefecture.

The program allows 31 selected students to experience English communication and cross-cultural exchange during a two-day, one-night homestay.

When I saw this news, I felt strongly that “now that traveling abroad has become more difficult, we must seriously expand opportunities for children to experience different cultures within Japan.”

Before becoming an administrative scrivener (行政書士 / gyōsei-shoshi), I worked for about 15 years at a travel agency specializing in overseas educational travel, where I served as a sales representative and branch manager. I was involved in planning, implementing, and escorting numerous overseas school trips and overseas training programs.

Because of that experience, I deeply understand the educational value of children actually traveling abroad and experiencing different cultures with all five senses.

At the same time, I am also keenly aware of how much more difficult it has become to provide such opportunities to all children in the current social situation.

However, the fact that traveling abroad has become more difficult is no reason to give up on cross-cultural education.

Rather, now more than ever, we should use the multicultural communities that exist within Japan as “living educational materials” and provide children with opportunities for real, hands-on experiences.

In this article, I will share my thoughts on why “cross-cultural education within Japan” is necessary now, and what significance the Okinawa initiative holds.

The Reality of Overseas Educational Travel: Costs Have Doubled in 15 Years

When I first began working in overseas educational travel more than 15 years ago, many overseas school trips and training programs could be conducted for around 300,000 yen.

However, I now hear that it is not uncommon for such programs to exceed 600,000 yen.

This is due to global inflation, rapid yen depreciation, rising airfares, and soaring fuel surcharges.

With wage increases in Japan not keeping pace with global inflation, sending children to participate in overseas school trips or training programs has become a significant financial burden for many families.

I still believe that as many children as possible should have the opportunity to travel abroad and experience different cultures firsthand.

However, I must also acknowledge that it is becoming increasingly unrealistic to expect this from every household.

Economic Circumstances Are No Excuse Not to Learn

That said, I absolutely do not believe that “if they can’t go abroad, they don’t need to learn about other cultures.”

Economic circumstances or social conditions are never a valid reason for children not to learn about different cultures and values.

Rather, now that the barriers to traveling abroad have risen, we adults must be creative and provide as many children as possible with opportunities to “experience” different cultures firsthand.

Currently, more than 4 million foreign nationals live in Japan. Japanese society has already transformed into a multicultural society.

If that is the case, there is no need to limit cross-cultural education to “going abroad.”

The idea of using the diverse cultures and people that exist within Japan as “living educational materials” is becoming increasingly important.

What You See on YouTube and What You Feel with Five Senses Are Completely Different

Today, we have the internet and YouTube. With just a smartphone, you can access information from around the world while staying in Japan.

You can see cityscapes from countries around the world, hear people talk about their lives, and learn about foreign schools and homes.

The amount of information available about the world has increased incomparably since I first began working in overseas educational travel.

However, the world you see through a screen and the world you experience by actually being there, feeling it with your own body, are completely different.

What a screen conveys is mainly visual and auditory information.

But a real experience involves other senses as well.

The air and smell the moment you step off the plane. The temperature and humidity. The noise of the streets. The texture of things you touch for the first time. The aroma wafting from markets or restaurants. And the taste of food eaten in that place.

You can feel culture not just with sight and hearing, but with all five senses: smell, touch, and taste.

Furthermore, when you meet people face to face, there are things that cannot be conveyed through a screen.

The confusion when you can’t communicate well. The experience of trying to understand someone’s feelings from their expressions and gestures. The moment you realize that what is common sense to you is not common sense to them. And the moment you laugh together with someone you initially thought of as a “foreigner” or “someone from a different culture,” and realize you are both human.

These are experiences that are difficult to obtain just by watching videos.

In fact, precisely because we live in an era when anyone can access information from around the world as secondary information through the internet and YouTube, I believe the value of “primary experience” has increased even more than before.

Okinawa’s History and Present of Multicultural Coexistence

Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972.

Until the year I was born, Okinawa was under U.S. administration. And even today, due to its historical and social background, many foreign nationals live within the local community.

Of course, there are various challenges. It is also true that incidents, accidents, and issues surrounding military bases have been repeatedly reported.

Therefore, it would not be appropriate to romanticize Okinawa as a simple “success story of multicultural coexistence.”

However, for more than 50 years since Okinawa’s return to Japan, people with different cultural backgrounds have lived together in the same local community.

I do not believe that multicultural coexistence means a state in which all problems have been resolved.

When people with different cultures and values live together, friction sometimes occurs. Nevertheless, people recognize each other’s differences and continue to live together in the same local community.

That long experience itself may serve as an important model for Japan as it moves toward a multicultural society.

The Meaning of “Experiencing” Cross-Cultural Education Within Japan

Studying abroad and overseas training inevitably involve financial and time barriers.

However, even within Japan, there are places where you can meet people with different languages, cultures, and historical backgrounds, interact with them, and think about values different from your own.

And what is important is not simply “studying about foreign countries.”

Actually going to that place. Meeting people. Talking together. Eating together. Feeling the smells of the place. Being surprised, confused, or finding it interesting when confronted with a culture or lifestyle different from your own.

In other words, experiencing different cultures using all five senses.

Going abroad is not the only form of global education.

But at the same time, simply watching foreign countries on YouTube is also not true global education.

There is a big difference between “knowing” something and “experiencing” it.

Noticing the “differences” that exist nearby, trying to learn about people with different backgrounds from yourself, and actually meeting, talking, and sharing time and space with them as much as possible.

That is the first step toward cross-cultural understanding and understanding others.

The Potential to Expand to Children Nationwide

Currently, this Okinawa initiative appears to be mainly targeted at children in Okinawa, but I hope it will eventually expand to children nationwide.

Of course, there will be practical challenges such as capacity, local operational structure, and costs.

Nevertheless, creating opportunities for children from across Japan to visit Okinawa, learn about its history and present, and actually interact with people from different cultural backgrounds has great educational value.

If we can lower the barrier to that first step, more children will have the opportunity to encounter different cultures and naturally accept diverse values.

The Abilities Japan Will Need Going Forward

If Japan is to move toward a truly multicultural society, what is needed is not just “knowledge” about foreign countries.

The sense of living together with people who have different cultures and values. The ability to imagine people in different positions from yourself. The attitude of trying to understand differences rather than excluding them. And the compassion and tolerance to respect others.

I do not believe that a global mindset is determined solely by how many times you have traveled abroad or whether you can speak a foreign language.

Trying to understand people who are different from you.
Not fearing differences, but first trying to understand the other person.
And trying to live together despite differences.

Precisely because we live in an era when we can connect with the entire world via the internet, there is value in closing the screen and meeting people face to face.

Conclusion: The Potential of Cross-Cultural Education Within Japan

Just because it has become difficult to go abroad does not mean we should become inward-looking.

Rather, precisely because the barriers to going abroad have risen, we must seriously consider “what can we do within Japan?”

The ability to live with others, compassion, tolerance, and kindness.

In order to increase the number of children in Japanese society who possess such qualities, I hope we can further expand the possibilities of “experiencing different cultures within Japan” as an educational approach.

And I hope that this initiative that has begun in Okinawa will one day develop into learning opportunities open not only to children in Okinawa, but to children throughout Japan.

【Reference Article URL】
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/0afec0b3ebd235372ca5555a0d5362e683abdfc0

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