“That’s Kochi”: A Journey through Rural Japan and Beyond

自分の持つ様々な経験を通して、様々なコミュニティを表現できることは、とって大きな喜びです。最近のブログでは、住んでいた高知県を中心に、日々の生活の様子を紹介しています。このブログのテーマに沿って、日本のさまざまな田舎のコミュニティや環境を紹介したいと思い、香川県にたどり着きました。香川県は高知のすぐ北に位置し、私のお気に入りの県のひとつです。美味しいうどんや美しい庭園で知られていますが、香川県を訪れたのは瀬戸内国際芸術祭(Setouchi Triennale)のためでした。

Being able to describe different communities through the variety of experiences that I have is something that gives me lots of joy. In recent blog posts I mainly focused on Kochi Prefecture, which is where I lived, and my day-to-day life. In line with the theme of the blog, I want to share different rural communities and environments in Japan which leads me to Kagawa Prefecture. One of my favourite Prefectures in Japan, Kagawa Prefecture is located just north of Kochi.  While known for its delicious udon and beautiful gardens, what brought me here was the  Setouchi Triennale.  One day, I was chatting to a friend of mine who lives in Tokyo, and she made an off-handed comment about this Art Festival that happens in Kagawa. She said it is held every three years, and it runs over three seasons (Spring, Summer and Autumn). I was intrigued, so I did a bit of research and discovered that it was happening that year. That was all I needed to hear, and I started planni...

I was contemplating writing this for a while now. Recently, I started my Master of Teaching program, so I felt inclined to do a bit of writing. With my university semester break starting, I have a bit more time for my blog to share some more experiences of living in rural Japan. I think it is important to understand that in any education systems there are positive and negatives. I could talk in detail about both.  In this blog I would rather focus on the fun times as it's more pleasant to reflect on. If you are interested in becoming an English teacher overseas, please message me! I hope you enjoy reading about some stories from when I was an Elementary and Junior High School teacher in rural japan and some important lessons that I learnt along the way. I will not be sharing too many photos, so you will have to use your imagination! I want to take you back. Take you back to a time when I was riding my bicycle along a dirt road in the middle of a farmland to get to school....

しばらく前からこれを書こうと考えていました。最近、教育学修士課程を開始したので、少しでも文章を書きたいと思っていたのです 。  ちょうど休みに入ったので、ブログを書く時間が少し増え、日本の田舎での生活の経験をもう少し紹介したいと思います。どんな教育システムにもプラスとマイナスがあることを理解することは重要だと思います。 どちらについても詳しく説明することができます。このブログでは、むしろ楽しかったことに焦点を当てたいと思います。もしあなたが海外で英語の先生になることに興味があれば、ぜひメッセージをください！ 日本の田舎で小中学校の教師をしていた頃の話を楽しんでいただけたらと思います。学んだ重要な教訓も含めて。写真はあまり公開しませんので、ご想像にお任せします！

2019四国大会 しばらく前から、日本の田舎でブラジリアン柔術をトレーニングした経験を書くのを楽しみにしていました。ご存知ない方のために、ブラジリアン柔術は、グラップリング、サブミッションホールド、チョークを中心とした護身術です。

Shikoku Competition 2019 I have been looking forward to writing about my experiences training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Rural Japan for a while now. For those who do not know, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a self-defence martial art focused on grappling, submission holds, and chokes.

I have been very fortunate to be included in many communities while living in Kochi and meet so many wonderful people along the way who have helped enriched my journey and my experience. I hope to highlight a few of those communities and friendship groups within this blog post, and how they shaped my experience while living in Japan, and what I learnt throughout the process. Day Trip with Joey, Shiho and Maki. Of course, one of the biggest communities I was involved in during my time living in Japan was my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club, which you can read all about in a blog titled “BJJ in Rural Japan” (Coming Soon). 

高知に住んでいる間、多くのコミュニティーに参加でき、旅と経験を豊かにするのを助けてくれたたくさんの素晴らしい人々に会うことができてとても幸運でした。ブログ投稿内のいくつかのコミュニティや友情グループ、それが日本での生活の中でどのように経験を形作ったか、そしてその過程を通して学んだことを強調したいと思います。 Joeyさん、Shihoさん、Makiさんとの日帰り旅行 もちろん、日本に住んでいる間に関わった最大のコミュニティの1つは、ブラジルの柔術クラブでした。「BJJ in Rural Japan」というタイトルのブログ（近日公開）ですべてを読むことができます。

My Mamachari Get on your bicycle and ride. Go wherever your heart contents. Enjoy the lush beauty that surrounds you. And the fruits of your labour will be rewarded.  I love Kochi Prefecture will all my heart, and one of my favourite ways to explore the prefecture was to just get on my Mamachari and ride. With an early start, and an obscure destination in mind, we will see where the day took us. Rural Japan is perfect as you can ride for about 10 minutes from your apartment, and already you are seeing acres of rice fields, the serene mountainous views in the shadows of the background, a plethora of temples and shrines or crystal clear water. And I was lucky to see it all with the journeys I took.  A destination that stood out to me was visiting Hidaka Village (日高村), just west to where I live, and only 90 minutes on the bicycle, so relatively close. What drew me to visiting Hidaka was their “Omurice Road” , but...