Bei Nichi Sogotaiken (U.S./Japan Cross-Cultural Experience)
People from all over the world come to visit Nippon Kan, but the majority of visitors are from Japan. In return Nippon Kan offers a program where students may stay in Japan for an extended period of time to study. In the mountains of Northern Japan lies the village of Naruse, where simple traditional lifestyles remain much as they have been for centuries. Naruse is the site of Nippon Kan’s exchange program, which offers a unique opportunity to study authentic traditional culture on a firsthand basis. Elements of Japanese culture and religion of which we are aware here in the United States, such as flower arrangement, tea ceremony, Zen, and the martial arts, all developed in a unique cultural and environmental background, and this background is inseparable from these forms themselves. It is important when looking at a flower arrangement or a bonsai tree to know and understand the background in which it was brought into being. It is the same with the practice of Aikido. If you wish to study and deeply understand Aikido’s philosophy, it is important to know the “soil” from which it grew.
The purpose in our exchange program with Japan is to allow students today a chance to experience this historical background. The participants are able to experience events and lifestyles and to communicate one-on-one with villagers who maintain traditional ways of living. For this reason, students are not sent to large cosmopolitan cities like Tokyo or Osaka where much of this tradition has been lost.
The village of Naruse has a population of 3,600 people and a 600year history. Students who go to live there are assigned to the village office. They are offered a wide variety of experiences, including volunteering in the village office, learning about farming, forestry, and animal husbandry, and of course practicing Aikido. Students learn much about the local culture and arts by living in the temple, with families as a home-stay guest, and eventually, if their stay is long enough, on their own.
Nippon Kan and the village jointly provide for all accommodations and $750 to $1,000 per month in scholarship assistance. In return, Nippon Kan hosts two to three members of the village each year. Our purpose is that these visitors become as well informed about the United States as the students we send to the village become about Japan.
Because this program requires a special kind of student, candidates are selected only after they have been practicing at Nippon Kan for at least six months. In this way, they will have had sufficient background for the program to afford them a successful experience.