The children of Japan
04/10/20 01:57
Shortly after moving to Rapid City we became active in our town’s sister cities program, especially the Rapid City - Nikko City relationship, which at the time was known as Rapid City - Imaichi relationship, At the time Imaichi, a city of a little over 60,000 residents, operated as an independent city. In 2006, Imaichi, Ashio, Fujihara, Kuriyama and Nikko became a single urban unit and the Imaichi City Hall became Nikko City Hall. The relationship between the two cities remains strong, but the name has changed to reflect the new urban government arrangement.
We became active by hosting students from Imaichi who were visiting Rapid City for ten days as part of the sister cities exchange. Each summer, students from Imaichi would come to Rapid City for ten days and then they would return home with students from Rapid City who would visit Imaichi for ten days. Our children were just the right age for the program and both were able to travel to Japan as part of the exchange. We hosted Japanese students for several years when we had teens in our home. Then we had the opportunity to host a Japanese student who was in Rapid City for a full one year exchange. Misami fit well into our family and was able to participate in our family life, including a wonderful summer vacation that included travel across Montana, through Yellowstone National Park, on to Boise ID, Portland OR, and Seattle WA. before returning home. The experience turned into a lifelong friendship that has expanded to a friendship between our families. We were fortunate to travel to Japan in 2018 and visit Misami, her husband, her parents and extended family on that visit. We were luck to be able to return to Japan in 2019 for a shorter visit and to see Masami on that trip as well.
Our visits to Japan included travel by train, which is very efficient and easy to use. Arriving in Tokyo, we learned to navigate the crush of large urban train stations, but we also traveled to rural areas on both trips and rode smaller connector trains and visited tiny isolated stations. Traveling around Japan by train one becomes quickly aware of children. Many children travel to and from school on trains. Schools run year-round in Japan with terms beginning in April and running through March. There is a six-week vacation in the summer. Education is mandatory and free for all children and schools are very competitive. There are even special “cram schools” for preschoolers to prepare them for their exams.
Japan is a very safe country, with low levels of violent crime. Children can safely travel unaccompanied and often travel in small groups of friends. Most schools require uniforms which identify the children as they are traveling to and from school.
We often observed school groups visiting various temples and other historic sites around Japan. Most of the time when we visited tourist destinations we would see several different groups of school children visiting the same sights.
Demographically, Japan is a country of elders. Long life expectancies combine with low birth rates, low infant mortality rates and small family size to make children a smaller segment of the population than many other countries. It is obvious to a visitor that children are treasured and that their safety and care is a high priority for the country. This is not to say that there are no problems facing children in Japan. Child poverty is on the increase in Japan. An increase in single-parent families puts pressure on children and single mothers often find themselves working multiple jobs with long hours. School scholarship programs assure that their children can attend schools, but there are a lot of pressures on families who often try to hide their poverty in a society filled with negative social stigma for those who lack sufficient income.
Immigrant children often face discrimination in Japan and sometimes slip between the cracks of social service and even educational institutions.
The problems faced by the children in Japan are not as evident as they are in the United States, which has much higher rates of infant mortality, childhood hunger and children who don’t have access to education.
Every year, during our 40 days of prayer for children, I try to set aside a day to pray for the children of Japan. Prior to our visits to that country, I commonly pictured teens, because I knew teens from Japan. These days my mental images of children in Japan include many younger children. I can easily remember the children traveling on the trains in their school uniforms. One image that remains with me is the group of preschool children, many in strollers, who were outside with a group in the center of Ueno, near Tokyo. The children were all dressed in pink uniforms and were laughing and enjoying being outside in the midst of the crowded sidewalks.
God of the entire universe, as we sing the song, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world,” we think of children living in different countries with different languages and different cultures. Today our prayers turn to the children of Japan, growing up in a densely populated part of the world. We are aware of the pressures that they face as they engage in a highly competitive school environment and a regimented learning environment. May they find opportunities to express their individuality and creativity in the midst of their busy lives. Bless them with a strong sense of their value and of the many possibilities for their future. Keep them safe in the midst of crowded cities and busy lives. Bless not only the children, but their parents as well. May they find time and energy to enjoy their children despite long days at work and weeks with little time off from work. Thank you for the blessings of children of many different cultures and languages and the richness they bring to our world. May we continue to open our lives to all of the children of your world. Amen.
We became active by hosting students from Imaichi who were visiting Rapid City for ten days as part of the sister cities exchange. Each summer, students from Imaichi would come to Rapid City for ten days and then they would return home with students from Rapid City who would visit Imaichi for ten days. Our children were just the right age for the program and both were able to travel to Japan as part of the exchange. We hosted Japanese students for several years when we had teens in our home. Then we had the opportunity to host a Japanese student who was in Rapid City for a full one year exchange. Misami fit well into our family and was able to participate in our family life, including a wonderful summer vacation that included travel across Montana, through Yellowstone National Park, on to Boise ID, Portland OR, and Seattle WA. before returning home. The experience turned into a lifelong friendship that has expanded to a friendship between our families. We were fortunate to travel to Japan in 2018 and visit Misami, her husband, her parents and extended family on that visit. We were luck to be able to return to Japan in 2019 for a shorter visit and to see Masami on that trip as well.
Our visits to Japan included travel by train, which is very efficient and easy to use. Arriving in Tokyo, we learned to navigate the crush of large urban train stations, but we also traveled to rural areas on both trips and rode smaller connector trains and visited tiny isolated stations. Traveling around Japan by train one becomes quickly aware of children. Many children travel to and from school on trains. Schools run year-round in Japan with terms beginning in April and running through March. There is a six-week vacation in the summer. Education is mandatory and free for all children and schools are very competitive. There are even special “cram schools” for preschoolers to prepare them for their exams.
Japan is a very safe country, with low levels of violent crime. Children can safely travel unaccompanied and often travel in small groups of friends. Most schools require uniforms which identify the children as they are traveling to and from school.
We often observed school groups visiting various temples and other historic sites around Japan. Most of the time when we visited tourist destinations we would see several different groups of school children visiting the same sights.
Demographically, Japan is a country of elders. Long life expectancies combine with low birth rates, low infant mortality rates and small family size to make children a smaller segment of the population than many other countries. It is obvious to a visitor that children are treasured and that their safety and care is a high priority for the country. This is not to say that there are no problems facing children in Japan. Child poverty is on the increase in Japan. An increase in single-parent families puts pressure on children and single mothers often find themselves working multiple jobs with long hours. School scholarship programs assure that their children can attend schools, but there are a lot of pressures on families who often try to hide their poverty in a society filled with negative social stigma for those who lack sufficient income.
Immigrant children often face discrimination in Japan and sometimes slip between the cracks of social service and even educational institutions.
The problems faced by the children in Japan are not as evident as they are in the United States, which has much higher rates of infant mortality, childhood hunger and children who don’t have access to education.
Every year, during our 40 days of prayer for children, I try to set aside a day to pray for the children of Japan. Prior to our visits to that country, I commonly pictured teens, because I knew teens from Japan. These days my mental images of children in Japan include many younger children. I can easily remember the children traveling on the trains in their school uniforms. One image that remains with me is the group of preschool children, many in strollers, who were outside with a group in the center of Ueno, near Tokyo. The children were all dressed in pink uniforms and were laughing and enjoying being outside in the midst of the crowded sidewalks.
God of the entire universe, as we sing the song, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world,” we think of children living in different countries with different languages and different cultures. Today our prayers turn to the children of Japan, growing up in a densely populated part of the world. We are aware of the pressures that they face as they engage in a highly competitive school environment and a regimented learning environment. May they find opportunities to express their individuality and creativity in the midst of their busy lives. Bless them with a strong sense of their value and of the many possibilities for their future. Keep them safe in the midst of crowded cities and busy lives. Bless not only the children, but their parents as well. May they find time and energy to enjoy their children despite long days at work and weeks with little time off from work. Thank you for the blessings of children of many different cultures and languages and the richness they bring to our world. May we continue to open our lives to all of the children of your world. Amen.
