'Friendship School' teaches Japanese culture

By Greg Kozocas

An idea for creating a summer cultural program for Japanese youth became a reality last month for a community of Japanese-Americans who wanted their children to learn the traditions and cultures of their ancestry.

The program, called Nakayoshi Gakko, or "Friendship School," completed its last class of its first year last Friday.

The school was held at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple and gave children a chance to take part in two weeks of full-day Japanese heritage activities. From Japanese cooking lessons and ikebana flower arranging to judo and akido demonstrations, children ages 5-11 kept busy with a wide array of fun and culture.

The program was initiated by temple members who wondered why the Mountain View congregation had no children's summer program. The temple approved the first summer school program last September and contributed facilities and seed money for it. Most of the demonstrations and materials used were donated by the presenters and other organizations.

Kathy Fujii, president of the Nakayoshi Gakko board, said the inaugural year was a success. "Everyone involved deeply wanted to help their children gain an understanding of their Japanese heritage," she said.

In a society where cultures and traditions collide with the busy lifestyle in Silicon Valley, many parents put their jobs on hold and welcomed the opportunity to volunteer and be involved in the program. Parents and grandparents, most of them members of the Mountain View temple, volunteered at the school for a least one full day.

Joanne Petersen, mother of two children enrolled in the program, hopes to sign her children up next year. Petersen had tried for years to get her children into the only other two Japanese summer programs in the South Bay, Suzume No Gakko in San Jose and Medaka No Gakko in Palo Alto, but they were always full.

"I wanted my children to get some sense of their ethnic heritage that I was never really taught as a child," Petersen said. She added that because her parents spent time in internment camps during World War II, they did not teach Peterson much about their Japanese culture. So for Petersen, the program was the perfect opportunity for her children to learn what she hadn't.

Other families felt as strongly about passing the traditions down to their children. Some families commuted up and down the Peninsula to bring their children to the camp. One parent sent her child from Hawaii to stay with her aunt in order to have the girl attend the camp.

At the school, children took part in one demonstration a day for 10 days, covering origami, a Japanese dance demonstration, folk toys, akido and kendo demonstrations, and a popular ikebana demonstration presented by Mrs. Chizu Iwata of the Ikenobu school.

The boys appeared to enjoy the judo and akido demonstrations. The girls said their favorites were the cooking lessons and the ikebana, in which they arranged flowers in the traditional Japanese manner and then were proud to show the results to their families on the last day of the camp. Dylan Koller, a fifth-grader, said he wants to be a sempai (teachers aid) at the camp some day. He said his goal is to learn to speak Japanese. "Learning to speak the language is really what I want, so I could understand what some of my Japanese friends are saying," Koller said. Derek Engel, a 10-year-old, said his favorite parts were the hands-on activities and the cooking, which was taught by Sensai Cathy Nakamura.

In Nakamura Sensai's cooking class, children prepared sushi, somen (cold noodles in sauce), gyoza (pot stickers), umani (chicken and vegetables over rice), and inarizushi (fried tofu sushi pockets), and much more. All the children were able to take part in cutting, stirring, wrapping, and--best of all--eating.

In other classrooms, children read Japanese fairy tales and wrote haiku. The children seemed enthusiastic about the history they learned and the fun the program provided. Parent volunteer Leslie Imai said her daughter and son had great exposure to their culture and fun at the same time.

"We wanted to create a program that was unique, affordable, and suitable for working parents with their schedules," Fujii said.

The program, which lasted from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and was extended an hour to 5:30 p.m., pleased working parents, who said they knew their children were in good hands with the staff of hired teachers, volunteers, sempais, and grandparents.

To ensure that the program operated smoothly and there was enough help for the 76 students, the board asked for one family member of each participating student to volunteer for at least one day, and, in addition, to volunteer at the temple's bazaar and obon festival in mid-July.

Allen Nara, a former temple president who played a significant role in gathering support for the program, said, "All of this here, including the temple, the Dharma Sunday school, everything, was given for the children."

Nara added that the temple was originally created by the elder Japanese population to continue their culture and traditions.

Occasionally parents asked Kathy Fujii if she would consider a summer program longer than two weeks. Fujii said she smiled and replied that at this point, they should just think about another two-week program for next year. At any rate, the program organizers hope they have begun a tradition that will last for a long, long time.