Apr 2

CLAIR Magazine “JET Plaza” series: Dr. Mark Williams (Gunma)

Article/Journalism, LifeAfterJET, Notable JET Alums, Return on JET-vestment Comments Off on CLAIR Magazine “JET Plaza” series: Dr. Mark Williams (Gunma)

Each month, current and former JET participants are featured in the “JET Plaza” section of the CLAIR Forum magazine. The May 2012 edition includes an article by Dr. Mark Williams, a former British English Teachers Scheme (BETS), the forerunner to the JET Programme. Posted by  Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.

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“Think of your JET experience with a long-term view. […] As time passes, you will realize that your experience left you with the desire to accomplish or attain something. Do not rush, but be patient as you seek to do so.”

After graduating from the University of Oxford with a a BA in Japanese Studies, Dr. Mark Williams (Gunma-ken, Maebashi-shi, 1979-81) came to Japan to work as a member of the British English Teachers Scheme (BETS) in Gunma Prefecture. He moved  from there to California to pursue a Ph.D. in postwar Japanese literature then joined the University of Leeds, UK, as a Lecturer in Japanese, to become Professor of Japanese Studies a few years later.  He has just completed a 4-year term as President of the British Association for Japanese Studies and 5 years as Head of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at Leeds and is currently on secondment as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Akita International University, Japan.

The Japan I Came to Know

Two Years in Gunma Prefecture

I participated on the British English Teachers Scheme (BETS) Programme for two years from 1979 to 1981. The BETS Programme was proposed by Nicholas MacLean and is also known as the MacLean Scheme. In Gunma Prefecture, I worked four days per week for two years at one base school each year (Maebashi Minami Senior High School my first year and Shibukawa Girl’s Senior High School my second year). The remaining day of the work week I spent visiting senior high schools throughout the prefecture, and I can say I likely visited every senior high school in the prefecture.

At the time, team-teaching classes were not as established as now, and no matter how enthusiastic, attempts to conduct entire classes in English were unfortunately often short-lived. The classes I conducted at the school I visited on Wednesdays were rich in variety resulting in a trial-and-error approach on my behalf. The several hundred-student school body would gather at once, and I would speak to them in English about my home country England, or explain the origin of English vocabulary words or the characteristics of the English language.

I was one of only a handful of foreigner instructors in Gunma Prefecture at the time. As such, I stood out greatly and even made front-page headlines in a local newspaper. My experience began with my arrival in Japan. The principal of my school came to meet me at Narita Airport, and we traveled from there to Maebashi Station. As soon as I exited Maebashi Station, I found myself surrounded by news reporters. One of them asked about my hobbies, and I replied “I enjoy music.” The headlines of the next morning’s newspaper reported, “New foreign instructor likes to sing.”

I majored in Japanese at university. At the time in England, there were few universities with Japanese language departments. My alma mater Oxford University was one of these. Universities in England provided education focused on specialized fields. Thanks to this education I graduated with a firm knowledge of Genji Monogatari and Japanese politics and economics. During my time at university, I had the opportunity to take a Japanese summer course at Nanzan University with 14 other students. This was my first experience of life in Japan, and thanks to this opportunity upon arriving in Gunma Prefecture I was able to learn the Japanese language in the relatively short span of three months upon arriving in Gunma Prefecture. And, of course, the Joshu Dialect as well.

My Life, Changed by BETS

Participating on the BETS Programme changed my life into something completely new. The largest change was probably that my preconceived notions of Japan disappeared through actually living here, as did my stereotypes of Japanese people. I no longer clump all Japanese people together into a sort of theory of Japanese people. If you think about it, humans are all individuals, not one of which who is a “[enter country] person”, and I never made “All English are…” generalizations about the English. England is a multicultural coexistent society, where people reside who vary not only in skin color. Before coming to Japan, I held a different view of Japan than I did of England, but my view changed as I studied Japanese society by living in it.

Through my time on the BETS Programme and the year I spent living in Tokyo afterword, I came to realize that I wanted to become an instructor of secondary and higher education. It was the time I spent teaching high school students English which inspired me to feel this w

After Tokyo, I set off for the University of California, Berkley to pursue a graduate degree and study Japanese literature, history, and religion. During my doctoral course, I studied abroad at the University of Tokyo and lived in the home of my wife’s parents while I did so. One day, I came across a help-wanted advertisement in an English newspaper for a Japanese Instructor in the Department of Chinese Studies at the University of Leeds. I applied for the position. Six months later, I received a phone call and, following an interview, was offered the position. The decision to accept the position was a difficult one, as I had just begun to compose my doctoral thesis. Fortunately, the University of Leeds was generous enough to allow me to work on my thesis upon assuming the post. Several years later, I established and set on track the Department of Japanese Studies at Leeds. Now, the number of students who study Japanese at Leeds exceeds the number of students who study Chinese, and many students from Leeds now participate in the JET Programme. Student passion for studying Japanese is as strong as ever in England, and Japan’s recognition as one of the forefront countries is a large reason for this. Of course, martial arts, anime, and manga are also rather influential.

Last year, I was invited by my longtime friend Professor Nakajima Mineo to join Akita International University in Akita City. Akita International University conducts all courses in English, aiming to promote both international and regional contributions. In addition to conducting English language instruction courses for elementary school teachers and English language courses for local residents, Akita International University encourages international facilitates international exchange by hosting public lectures, establishing exchange agreements with three local municipalities, and dispatching exchange students to local government offices in Akita Prefecture. Also, two JET Programme alumni currently teach at Akita International University.

Advice for Current JET Participants: Think of the long-term benefit, but don’t forget your future.

From my own experience, I would like to offer the following advice to current JET participants. That is, think of your JET experience with a long-term view. As a young person residing in the foreign country of Japan, you may not see the effects or large changes wrought by your experience in the short-term. However, as time passes, you will realize that your experience left you with the desire to accomplish or attain something. Do not rush, but be patient as you seek to do so.

Current JET participants should be thinking of their post-JET lives while they are participating on the JET Programme. I am not suggesting that JET participants should go about their work in a slipshod manner. JET participants should faithfully carry out their work duties. However, JET participants cannot continue participation on the JET Programme indefinitely. Indeed, after I finished my term as a BETS participant, I was not able to immediately find a career path and I suffered through several months of anxiety. I narrowed my choices down to furthering my study of Japan at the graduate level, attending law school, or obtaining employment at a financial institution. Upon further thought I chose to advance my education by attending graduate school in America, and I was exceedingly anxious until I made this decision. Similarly, it will take both time and luck to decide your path post-JET, and so I encourage current JETs to give thought to their post-JET lives now.

There is also reverse culture shock. It is easily understandable that anyone who leaves his/her home country and lives in another country for several years will experience large changes. During the time abroad, his/her parents, siblings, friends and acquaintances will have also changed. As both parties have changed, they cannot pick up where they left off when they reunite. Instead, they will have to reset and start the relationship anew.