The Manjiro Society - Summer 1998 Newsletter

Volume 5, Number 1
Summer 1998

In This Issue: Index of other issues

Future Activities
Taeko's Voice
From the Campers' 1997 Essays
The Seventh Japan-America Grassroots Summit Tokyo-Yamagata
Chiba-McLean Youth Orchestra Exchange - March 1997
(Japanese names are presented western style, family name last, except for historical figures and bibliographic entries.)

Future Activities

Summer Camp 1999 - July 22 to August 5, 1999
8th Summit (1998) in Atlanta - November 13-16, 1998, contact the Summit organizers at (404) 876-5189
Chiba-McLean Music Exchange - March 25 to April 3, 1999
Summit in Japan 1999 - Early November, 1999, probable location: Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture

Taeko's Voice
Dear Manjiro Members and Friends:
I apologize for the long delay in sending you the Newsletter. We want you to know about some changes that occurred in our Manjiro Office after the Yamagata Summit in November 1997. Before mentioning these changes, I would like to thank all the 260 American participants who went to Yamagata and made the 7th Summit a great success. Despite the long plane ride, everyone was such a great sport, especially the senior citizens who walked miles in the snow with only a ball of rice for all day and walked again at the parade. I know how badly they wanted to take a shower in the hotel! These ladies who did "yamabushi" training were something else! I am certain that by now you must be great "yamabushi" after that experience. I would like to be with them when El-Nino hurricane attacks.
About the changes, the Manjiro Office on Tennyson Drive has moved to 6893 Chelsea Road, McLean (at my house). We decided that we do not need to keep a separate office that required rent. Personally, I wanted to retire from working for the Grassroots Summit which required me to work almost full time. Jenny, who worked full time as Assistant Director for almost two years, now works at the Phillipino-American Women's Organization, and seems to be enjoying the work, travelling to the Phillipines once in a while. She still helps us with the computer work (since I am pretty ignorant about computers, although I try). Walle and Hardy Hargreaves remain faithful Manjiro volunteers; Hardy makes sure that our computer works, and Walle keeps membership records straight. Michiko Joseff, CPA, also is a volunteer accountant who makes sure that we pay the right amount of tax. Without these people's help, our organization will not survive.
Regarding the status of the organization, we still exist as a non-profit membership organization. The only difference is that, regretfully, we lost our 501-C-3 status, which means that the contributions from our supporters or members are no longer tax deductible. I appreciate some members who still send us money to keep our Manjiro organization alive.
I appreciate that many people sent us the proxy for the March 31st meeting. Tom Clark, a board member and a lawyer who works at GESC in Connecticut also makes sure of our legal status. As I mentioned above, we are not coordinating the 8th Grassroots Summit in Atlanta, however, we included Summit information in our homepage (www.manjiro.org). Also, news of our future activities, Manjiro Summer Camp (11-25) and McLean and Chiba Youth Orchestra Exchange (3/99) are included.
As you will see in the comments from the participants of the 7th Yamagata Summit, everyone had an unforgettable experience. Thanks to the people of Yamagata, especially, it was a great success. I am sure that many people who met each other in Yamagata will carry their spirits to Atlanta.
Since we decided to keep the Manjiro group going, I do need more people to help us. If you are local (Washington, DC area) and interested in volunteering for Manjiro work, please let me know. Only a couple of hours a week would make a difference. Give us your input. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Taeko Floyd, Director, Manjiro Society

From the 1997 Camper's Essays
I thought America is a country with tall buildings and awful crimes... Washington, DC was different. Lots of green and not so tall buildings. I thought everybody cares for nature. It was exciting that I was able to communicate with American children, and I am more interested in learning English.
--Ikue, 13 years old

We cooked by ourselves. We used water from the stream and spring. We talked with friends until very late at night. It was far more fun than playing video games at home.
--Ren, 14

Fishing, singing, drawing and many more things we did in beautiful Virginia. I wish I could go tubing down the river one more time! I enjoyed berry picking. I learned there were different people who have a different way of thinking. I want to become a person who can accept a different way of thinking from mine.
--Asami, 15

Before I left Japan, I worried about my English, but I was able to communicate with Americans with the help of my hands. The new friends I met in the camp became like family--special family. I have my clock set at American time so that I can think of the wonderful time.
--Maya, 14

The camp was lots of fun and at the same time lots of hardship. At home, I just turn the switch to have fire for cooking, but in the camp we had to gather lots of twigs to start the fire. Water for the shower was taken from the spring. Nowadays we lead a very convenient life. I missed the Japanese "furo" most during the camp.
--Takehiro, 14

The Seventh Japan-America Grassroots Summit Tokyo-Yamagata
What a grand surprise to find that the Tokyo Headquarters and lodging for most of those attending the 1997 Summit was the Asakusa View Hotel, located just five minutes walk from the Senjo-ji Temple, one of the Japanese public's favorite areas to visit. Even after the exhausting transpacific airline flight and the long bus ride in from Narita Airport, the summiteers barely checked into their rooms on October 29 before they were out seeing the sights and tasting the foods of "old Tokyo." The summit looked to be a success even before it officially got under way on October 30 with an orientation and dinner reception at the Parliamentary Museum (Kensei Kinenkan) reception house next to the Japanese Diet building.
All the time changes made it relatively easy for everyone to get up before dawn on October 31 for the bus trip to Tokyo's Haneda Airport and the short flight to Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, where The Summit was to begin in earnest. The summiteers were charmed by the very young children Taiko drummers who greeted us briefly upon our landing at Shonai Airport.
Our day in Tsuruoka City was filled with activity as we went from the fascinating Amazon Folk Museum, where our lunches were waiting, to the opening ceremony with its welcoming speeches, exchange of Nakahama-Whitfield gifts--the people from whom the entire Summit derives, to musical presentations by Choristers from Colorado, the American high school band from Yokota AFB near Tokyo, and exciting Taiko drummers. To top it all off, it being the 31st of October, we had a Halloween party, with many of the Americans and a few of our new Japanese friends wearing costumes.
From November 1 to November 4, we separated into 15 different interest grous and went to the many corners of Yamagata Prefecture. The homestay portion of the Summit was the undoubted highlight for most of the summit participants. Whether the ostensible topic was sister cities, cooking beans, samurais and robots, the ascetic Yamabushi experience with the Zen priests, or learning the very athletic Hanagasa Odori (flower hat dance) among others, bonds of friendship were forged in two or three too short days that few could imagine beforehand. Many tears were shed as the summiteers departed Yamagata on November 4 for their return to Tokyo and then on to their homes in Japan and across the United States.
Participant Comments:

Our American sign language is entirely different from Japanese sign language but we communicated fairly OK...I didn't realize the Japanese people are very friendly.
The Yasuno's were excellent hosts and their traditional home also served as a Buddhist temple. The whole town of Obanazawa worked to make our stay special; for our final dinner another host family altered a child's kimono for our daughter to wear.
My experience far exceeded my expectations. The list of Japanese leaders who addressed our meetings was impressive. My home stay family mirrored my interests and demographics superbly.

Chiba-McLean Youth Orchestra Exchange - March 1997
Twenty-four members of the Chiba Youth Orchestra visited the McLean Youth Orchestra in Virginia in March 1997, including a homestay and performance with both orchestras participating. In return, about 20 members of the McLean Youth Orchestra, including some parents, plan to visit the Chiba Youth Orchestra and participate in their Spring Concert in March 1999. In addition to renewing friendships made in 1997, the American group plans to tour the old Japanese capital of Kyoto.
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