Reflection with our Japanese Partners

We returned to Tokyo to meet up with the 47 Japanese teachers we had met in San Francisco. Our meeting goal was to share our educational experiences in Japan and the US in order to promote better practices in ESD. Our hope was to forge partnerships between the two countries to better understand each other and ourselves. We were asked to write down our most significant findings from our Japan Fulbright Teacher Exchange for ESD. I wrote: 1) It takes a whole community to create and sustain the effort to educate for ESD – farmers, teachers, parents, business, government AND children. 2) We must first teach the children to love the earth and each other. 3) We must shift our current assumptions of how the planet works and how each of us connect to the earth. My friend, Freya from Tennessee, wrote, “thinking in systems creates space for sustainability”. Hiroshima wrote that we must set clear goals and definitions. We must think positively.

Delicacy of Snow

Our last Hokkaido ESD adventure took place at Hokkaido University of Education, Sapporo Campus, renowned for its agriculture department. After a very brief tour, Professor Eriko Furumura presented her work on the combined effort of community and the University on promoting ESD. One of her projects was titled “ the Cool of Snow Makes Delicacy” - we are not sure if the title got lost in translation, but the idea is that winter ice is harvested and stored under an insolation of compost. The coolness and moisture provided by the slow melting of the ice is used to grow exceptionally delicious shitake mushrooms. The use of winter ice for food preservation, has been used by our ancestors and this technology has been re-discovered and promoted by Professor Kobiyma and put to use to satisfy our agricultural and energy needs. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/insider/trenches/mikesblog/energy-conservation-from-snow-in-the-summertime-only-in-hokkaido

Making Miso Soup and Rice Balls

Imagine a classroom with over 48 5th grade students wielding sharp knifes and working next to open flames. I have only 16 8th grade students and teaching them to strike a match is a little hair raising. Students in Japan are given more responsibility than students in the US. They work together in teams and hold each other accountable. Peers keep each other in line, the teachers rarely step in to moderate behavior.

Today we had the privilege to observe and participate in the making of rice balls and miso soup. Many of the ingredients of the meal we made were grown and harvested by the students themselves. I cannot post an image each step of the process on-line as the children’s faces would be fully exposed and this is against Japanese law. So where children’s faces are well obscured, I have provided a visual. You can contact me for more images if you are interested in re-creating this meal. I plan on making rice balls and miso soup next semester with my students, so stay tuned to my web site for details, http://www.aa.edu/sustainability

Step 1: Read the directions and review safety guidelines
Step 2: Thinly slice green onions
Step 3: Thinly slice fried tofu
Step 4: Measure and thoroughly rinse rice – place in pot with water
Step 5: Boil Rice
Step 4: While Rice is boiling, be-head dried sardines and place in pot with water to boil
Step 5: After boiling, remove sardines using long wooden chopsticks – this is tricky
Step 6: Stir in Fu (a dried buckwheat crouton), onions, and fried tofu and fermented soy paste into sardine water. Let sit while you make the rice balls
Step 7: Take the rice off the stove, and with a special rice ladle, mix up the rice.
Step 8: Place a ball of rice into a piece of plastic wrap, sprinkle with salt, twist the rice into the plastic and using your hands mold the warm rice into a triangle.
Step 9: Wrap the rice triangle into a piece of Nori (sea weed).
Step 101: Spoon out the soup into bowls, pass out the chopsticks, and say a word of thanks, Ita da ki mas
Step 12: Enjoy your meal! I did.

Read and Study at Every Opportunity ~ Ninomiya Kinjiro

A statue of Ninomiya Kinjiro graces the entrance of Nitshitobetsu Elementary School, a common icon that encourages reading and studying at every opportunity. Ninomiya was a prominent 19th century Japanese agricultural leader, philosopher, moralist and economist”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninomiya_Kinjiro, whose portrait depicts a boy reading while he walks carrying a heavy load on his back.

Mr. Watari, who had also joined the Fulbright Japan teacher exchange in San Francisco, was our guide during our elementary school visit. We first toured the school gardens where he showed use both the fields and the green house. The greenhouse was built and is operated in cooperation with the local community. In the fields, we saw rows of tomatoes, potatoes, cucumber, corn, soy bean and sugar beets. Whatever produce was not consumed by the school was donated to the community. Each grade at the school tends to a specific crop and the planting, harvesting and preparing is integrated into the curriculum. For example, the sugar beets are harvested and then prepared into sugar. The students learn how labor intensive this process is and discover just how many sugar beets are needed to make such a small amount of sugar. Another project is to grow, harvest and then ferment the soy bean. Later in the day, we joined the 5th graders in making miso soup from last years soy harvest. In the 3rd grade the integrated study unit emphasizes food culture and is called “Lets examine the rice”. Students plant harvest observe, thresh, cook and finally present their work.

Ita da ki mas; we are thankful for the food that we are about to receive

After our discussion in the Park visitor center, we were treated to a lunch especially prepared for us by one of the wive’s of our hosts. Each Bento Box contained delicate and artistically presented small portions of fish, rice, exquisitely flavored salads and chicken. The beauty and care put into the food makes it hard to disturb. However, hunger won out. After the meal we had a leisurely wait for the school group we would be joining as they finished their own lunch outside underneath a tent. The school group had set up a BBQ, and the children were just finishing tending to the cleanup and extinguishing the coals. All elementary children are required to wear a reversible colored hat. We saw bright yellow heads scurrying about the landscape as the children ran to and fro tidying and getting ready for their excursion. The students were then taken to a debriefing area where they were given instructions on safety as well as the protocol for catching aquatic macro-invertebrates. The students were being taught about water quality and how insects can be used as an indicator of ecosystem health. Next, the 60 little yellow capped heads bobbed up the road to the field site, where after dousing themselves with un-godly amount of insect repellent (I couldn’t find any mosquitos myself), the children waded into the river with their boots and began lifting up rocks and debris to find the hiding critters. Imagine over 60 ten year olds splashing about in the river, managing to stick to the agenda and not succumbing to the urge to push, soak or trip each other up. I am not sure we American teachers have the pleasure of such well behaved children.

"Listen to the Music of the Earth"

Domin no Mori Nature Park is called a “Citizen’s Forest” and is located at the head waters of the river that feeds all the croplands and water supply. Two thirds of the area is forested and is the largest park on Hokkaido. It is a park dedicated to youth education and preservation. During our orientation to the Park in the visitor center, one of the American teachers asked about the large dam that we saw being constructed on the river, and whether there was a controversy over whether the dam should be completed. The Park representative danced around the question, until Mr. Yamamoto interjected that this was not a question that could be easily answered by a representative of the Park and might be more easily answered by an NPO such as himself. A lesson in Japanese politics – Mr. Yamamoto explained to us that plans to secure drinking water for a growing population had been made 30 years ago when the population was still growing. Japan’s current birth rate is at about 1.3%, which is below the replacement level of 2.1%. (This low birth rate has growing implications for the larger society, but most immediately it can be seen in the closing of schools as fewer and fewer children are born to fill the class rooms). The dam had been under construction for some time, but people are now beginning to question the wisdom of completing the dam when the population is contracting so drastically and the economy is still reeling. The decision to continue with the dam needs to include both the cost to continue to build, the economic realities of recession and the profound impacts of dams to the riparian ecosystems. The dam provides a perfect case where education for sustainable development could help provide citizens with the knowledge and skills needed to make the most effective and inclusive decision. In this situation, citizens need to be able to analyze and understand enough science to refute or embrace dam advocates' claim that flood control is also an important outcome of the dam. What other solutions besides a potentially destructive and monumentally expensive dam can be found to solve a flooding problem? How better can the community be served while protecting the natural environment and the resources humans need to thrive?

"Drinking with Teachers"

Aki, a spirited young female teacher organized our evening to include an icebreaker. After the school day ended, we joined some Jr. High, Elementary and High school teachers at a local bar. I sat next to Mr. Tanaka, a Jr. high teacher who had traveled to the States with the Japan Fulbright Japan-US teacher exchange in April to learn about ESD in American schools. Sake, beer and a few shots of whiskey quickly overcame our language barriers, and we proceeded to deepen our understanding of each other. As you might expect, the next morning words and ideas were rather blurry, but the feelings of simpatico remained.

An alternative school for “School Refusers”

We arrived at Sopporo High school at about 5:00 pm, just in time to quickly tour the unusual “Eco-Void heating and cooling system”. The nuances of the this temperature control system were a bit lost on me, as fatigue was beginning to take a toll on my mental faculties. What I could gather through the fog of my exhaustion and the considerable garbling due to translation, was that the outside walls of the school were heated by solar radiation and the heated air was funneled through open windows into circular cement voids in the middle of building. Heated air in the winter or cooled air in the summer would circulate through these voids, resulting in the building requiring less of the more conventional temperature control like refrigerated air. At about 6:00 P.M. we begain our tour of classes. Yes it was a night high school. Sopporo High is considered an alternative school targeted at students who are not able or are unwilling to attend a regular highschool. The students who attend this kind of alternative school have typically not faired well in the traditional school system and dropped out of school. Japanese call these kind of children School Refusers. The reasons for refusing school are diverse. One explanation is that the predominate social pressure to conform to the group stresses some children to the point of choosing not to pqrticipate. Another explanation is even more dire – intense bullying. Sopporo High has created an atmosphere that is more relaxed to accommodate those students in need of more individuality. School uniforms are not required and students do not have to change into school slippers upon entering the building. The attire and appearance of Sapporo high school students reminded me of high school students you might encounter in any US city; ear piercings, dyed hair, high heals and rather revealing clothing – very few tattoos though – tattoos are considered highly inappropriate as they signify membership in the Yakuza , (Japan’s Underworld). In addition, the school has a considerable counseling system that helps students cope with their challenging social situations. Each day school starts with the home room where the teacher can check up on her students. IF the student is absent the teacher is required to call the child until he or she is reached. The aim of the school is to help the students complete high school while improving self esteem. In a question session with some students, we asked why they had chosen to attend Sapporo High. One boy answered that through his elementary and Jr. High school years, he was “unable” to go to school. He decided that he wanted to try to better himself and so chose this school as a way to do that. ESD is an intergral part of Sapporo High school, and an emphasis is placed on students understanding their role in the world and how disregard for environment leads to inequity and poverty. We followed some students as they tended their potato gardens and later practiced their Kanji to improve their hand-writing so that when they apply for a job, their handwriting does not exclude them from employment.

After school that evening, we ate dinner in the school cafeteria – which again did not follow the norm that we had experienced in all other Japanese schools, where students eat lunch in the classroom with their Sensai. At Sapporo High, students came as needed, bought or brought their lunch and cleared their dishes individually. This was a sharp contrast to the group effort that Japanese lunches are so famous for, where students serve each other, clean up after each other and eat communally.

Tobetsu Jr. High School

Tobetsu Jr. High School emphasizes tradition by inviting community members into the school to share with children their knowledge of traditional musical instruments. The shamisen is a banjo-like instrument with three strings and a long neck. The original materials were cat skin for the smaller instruments and dog skins for the larger ones. In the South of Japan, the shamisen was made of snake skin, but today they are usually made from a synthetic material.

Tobetsu Ecological Center

The Tobetsu Ecological Center (TEC) is located in an old school, which was closed down due to lack of students. My host family’s daughter attended this school as one of the last students. She told me that there were only 9 students in her last year. School closures are common in Japan as fewer and fewer children are born to fill the classrooms. The mission of TEC : to create a sustainable society through environmental education and city planning. Mr. Yamamoto is the Center’s CEO and he uses three phrases to define ecology: co-existence with nature; fair society; and fulfillment of each individual. Yamamoto referenced Rachel Carson’s “Sense of Wonder” and said that this book was the foundation of his NPO. Other influential books included “Earth Education – A New Beginning” by Steve Van Matre and “Project Seasons” by Shelburne Farms.
http://www.esd-j.org/en/whatsesdj/founders.html

children are the agents of CHANGE

Miyajimanuma wetland is an example of how modern agriculture has changed the relationship between humans and the planet. This wetland has been designated a RAMSAR site because of its value to endangered migratory birds, this place is the last stop before the birds must cross the sea to get to mainland China and Siberia. Not only is this wetland shrinking because of the lack of connectivity to the river and drainage from the rice fields, it also suffers from eutrophication (nutrient enrichment) and sediment loading from agriculture. It is estimated that the wetland will be gone in less than 50 years, unless changes in agricultural practices begin soon. Our interpreter explained that framers must be convinced of the importance of saving the birds, they must agree to leave some rice in the fields, refrain from plowing and baling and stop the use of pesticides. In order to affect this change his organization is educating the children, and the children have become the agents of change in their community. The children have come up with campaigns to save the wetlands and the birds.

Organic Rice

Our next stop was the organic rice field, http://kyowa-sougyo.ftw.jp/.
Japan’s agriculture is one the highest consumers of pesticides and herbicides in the world. We asked the owner of the rice farm why he had decided to grow organic rice. He said that he became worried about his own exposure to the chemicals as well as the loss of biodiversity resulting from their use. The cost of the rice to the consumer is almost double compared to conventionally grown rice. We asked who was willing to pay for this organic rice and the farmer said that many parents of children who had developed skin problems and other allergies purchased his rice.

One of the techniques that can be used to increase the health of the rice field ecosystem is called “Winter Water Rice Farming”. Traditionally water was kept in the rice paddies through the winter. The ice that formed insulated the mud and the decomposition kept the temperature warm enough for macro-invertebrates to live. In modern agriculture, the use of heavy machinery dictates that the paddies be drained so that the mud can dry up enough to allow the machinery to move through and harvest. The water is left off the field through the winter. This has many consequences for the ecosystem. Without the macro-invertebrates, there is little food for the larger animals to eat. Large scale harvesting leaves little rice grain leftover for the migrating water fowl like the tundra swan, the white fronted goose and the Aleutian Canada Goose – the last being an endangered species. In addition, the birds are being squeezed out of their wetland habitat by the receding water levels – the rice paddies that once fed the wetland are no longer fed by the influx of water from the river. The lack of foragers and insect predators increases the population of the pest species, resulting in higher pesticide use.

Organic Bakery and Green Building Construction

The highlight of our day was lunch at the Nordessen Organic Bakery owned by Tetuo Hayakawa; www.nordessen.jp. Email: nordessen@yahoo.co.jp . He treated us to fine food, a gentle and restful atmosphere and harmonica music! He first explained to us how he made his bread using organic yeast. He said that most yeast used in bread today is genetically the same and produced using chemicals. He collects his yeast from the apple trees, hop plants, grape leaves and clover on his property. He told us that each variety of yeast produces a different taste in the bread. He provided us with the variety of the bagels and breads he and his wife make, accompanied by a salad made of baby lettuces, radish, small beans and nuts, and a cold leek and corn soup. To drink he offered us fresh pressed raspberry juice. Oishi! While we ate he soothed our tired souls with “Take Me Home Country Roads” on his harmonica. I ate my lunch outside in his garden graced by flowers, butterflies and a small pond.

After lunch, we toured some eco-houses that a green builder had designed and built. The green features of the homes included high efficiency stoves to burn wood, insulation and passive solar windows. The cost for the homes ranged 250 to 450 thousand. Most of his houses were purchased by people moving into the area from Sapporo – not local people.

Hokkaido Tobetsu High School

Our school visits in Tobetsu began at the Hokkaido Tobetsu High School, an agricultural school. We visited the school greenhouse where they were growing strawberries and flowers. Pesticides and chemical fertilizers are used in the production. Students do not handle the pesticides but did handle and apply the fertilizer. After picking some strawberries, which were sweet but most likely drenched in toxins, we were taken back into a classroom and greeted by the International Volunteer Club. In Japan, students join clubs – after school activities – not mandatory but highly encouraged. The students in this club made a presentation of the projects they are involved in; “Crean up Project in Tobetsu”, “Make Flower Beds in Park” and “ Donate Blood”, very similar clubs that we have in the United States. The students then demonstrated some Japanese children’s games for us. The next day pictures of the American teachers trying to play the games showed up in the local paper. We then joined a domestic science class, where students learn about early childhood education. A huge paper mache figure of Totoro, my favorite anime character, stood watch over the class. Several students presented their hand puppets that they had made accompanied by sweet songs that told children’s folk tales like the three little pigs. Several girls taught each pair of American teachers how to fold origami cranes and kubatos(hats).