Eng 191
11/15/2011
Interviewer: Wenda Qian
Interviewee: Kaori Fijita
Date of Interview: 11/14/2011
Country Report
Japan is an island nation in East Asia, it has four main island to form the whole country, these are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, also” Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents." (1) Before Tokyo became the capital city, Kyoto was the one. Now Kyoto is a resort place, many Japanese traditional building are located on there.
(Kyoto) Kaori’s hometown is Chiba; it is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, It is located on the center part of japan, next to Tokyo. ”Chiba City is also one of the Kantō region's primary seaports, and is home to Chiba Port, which handles one of the highest volumes of cargo in the nation. Much of the city is residential, although there are many factories and warehouses located along the coast. There are several major urban centers in the city, including Makuhari, a prime waterfront business district in which Makuhari Messe is located, and Central Chiba, in which the prefectural government office and the city hall are located.”(2)
Japan is a major economic power in the world. After the Second World War, Japan got very poor as a loser in the war. However, Japan's economic growth very fast from the 1960s to the 1980s has been called the Japanese post-war economic miracle. Japan developed fast because The Vietnam War and the Marshall plan. Also, Japan's auto-mobile industry and electronic industry are very advanced. This is why Japan revives so quickly. The other important reason is that Japanese government focus on education, thus even under the poor situation after war, Japanese children still had a good study condition. Also Japan has many famous electronic brands like Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic. Auto-mobile such as Infinite, Lexus and Honda are all popular in America. In addition, Japan’s third industry is cartoon, there are a great mounts of Japanese cartoon are showing up in many countries over the world, they bring Japan 23 billion profit every year.
Japan is not a big country, but climate varies greatly from north to south. "Japan's geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones: Hokkaidō, Sea of Japan, Central Highland, Seto Inland Sea, Pacific Ocean, and Ryūkyū Islands." (1) Sakura (cherry blossom) is a famous flower in Japan, like Fiji mount and Ninja, Sakura is a representative of Japan, it is getting ripen on July. Every year, most tourists come to Japan to enjoy the beautiful Sakura. Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. It is also the representative of Japan. There are many viewer and climber go to the mount every year. "It is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku."(3)
Japanese food is poplar over the world; I remember my first interviewee said that food makes him proud of his country, I can understand, because many people like Japanese food. In my hometown, there are many Japanese restaurants. The typical Japanese meal consists of a bowl of rice (gohan), a bowl of miso soup (miso shiru), pickled vegetables (tsukemono) and fish or meat. While rice is the staple food, several kinds of noodles (udon, soba and ramen) are cheap and very popular for light meals. As an island nation, the Japanese take great pride in their seafood. A wide variety of fish, squid, octopus, eel, and shellfish appear in all kinds of dishes from sushi to tempura.(4)
(1)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan
Preparation of the Interview
For my third interview, I didn’t plan too much. Because I knew a Japanese girl from my friend LuLu, her name is Kaori and she is really nice and easy-going. We had a basketball game with St John University on last Saturday, she came to watch our game and I formally knew her at that time. Actually, I used to take her as my second interviewee, but I didn’t find her and I got some trouble with my friend LuLu. This time, I planned to interview Kaori at library on Tuesday; however I luckily finished the mission ahead of schedule. I went to library on Monday for my other homework, LuLu and Kaori sit on the other table next to me. I was very exciting and immediately printed out my questions. I went to her and had talked with her; she looked very busy, I was afraid that she would refuse to accept my interview. After I told her my requirement, she nicely agreed for listen my questions. Because I didn’t know I can interview her early, I even didn’t have pen. She lent me hers, then the interview begun. The same as last two, I showed her my questions before interview, she asked me that she need to write or just talk, I told I would record, she just needed to answer me. I recorded the coversation by phone, it almost take 17 minutes.This interview is successful as the second one. After the interview, I hope to take a photo with her, she agreed my entire requirement.
Interview #3
Interviewer: Wenda Qian
Interviewee: Kaori Fujita
Place: library second floor
(The photo was taken by friend "Lulu")
Kaori Fujita: It is OK, do I have to say or write?
Wenda Qian: Just say it, I will write them down, and I record the conversation by cell phone.
Kaori Fujita: OK.
Wenda Qian: What is your name?
Kaori Fujita: I am Kaori Fujita. (Then she told how to spell the name.)
Wenda Qian: Cool! I know you came from Japan; can you which part of Japan?
Kaori Fujita: I am from Chiba. It is the prefecture next Tokyo.
Wenda Qian: Prefecture?
Kaori Fujita: Yeah, it is like a state.
Wenda Qian: OK, got it. So it is in the north part of Japan, right?
Kaori Fujita: It is center.
Wenda Qian: Next, can you tell education system of your country?
Kaori Fujita: We go to elementary school for six years, three years for middle school, and three years for high school. After high school, you can choose to go to college or university; there are two years in college and four years in university.
Wenda Qian: It is same in America and China. How was your culture influence your people values or family values?
Kaori Fujita: UH….
Wenda Qian: It is a very hard question.
Kaori Fujita: Yeah, it is. My mother usually tells me that is important to say” Thank you”, I think it is kind of basic culture in Japan. Foreigners think Japanese are polite, because we say” Thank you” all the time.
Wenda Qian: Oh…What is the form of government in your country?
Kaori Fujita: Wu…Government. It is parliament system.
Wenda Qian: Tell me one thing you are proud of your country?
Kaori Fujita: Uh…I will say other people think Japanese are polite. After I came here, people in here think I am polite. The value between Japan and American are difference, so I can’t say too much. But I think Japanese are more polite.
Wenda Qian: Ok, what place you would recommend to tourists?
Kaori Fujita: Definitely Kyoto.
Wenda Qian: My second interviewee also told me that place, can you tell me about Kyoto?
Kaori Fujita: It is nice place; there are a lot of temples. And Kyoto used to be the capital city.
Wenda Qian: Cool! When did it change?
Kaori Fujita: OH…sorry, I am not good at Japanese history. But it was long time ago.
Wenda Qian: What festivals do you celebrate in your country?
Kaori Fujita: We have “Yiji, Gu, Samg” (I don’t know how to spell the Japanese words.) Yiji means seven, Gu means five and Samg means three. Like when you became seven years old, we celebrate as festival. It is same as five years old and three years old.
Wenda Qian: So celebrate in each age. How do you celebrate?
Kaori Fujita: We usually go to temple, to pray for healthy.
Wenda Qian: What is wealthy like in your hometown?
Kaori Fujita: My hometown? We have four seasons, it is same in MN. But the winter is more humid. It is same in China?
Wenda Qian: Yeah, what is a type of sport in your country?
Kaori Fujita: I will say it is baseball and soccer.
Wenda Qian: That is all?
Kaori Fujita: Yeah, that is all.
Wenda Qian: Ok, can you tell me the traditional food in your country?
Kaori Fujita: Of course Sushi. But I don’t like it.
Wenda Qian: Why?
Kaori Fujita: Because I don’t fish.
Wenda Qian: HaHa, I thought Japanese all like to eat fish. What do most women do after they get married in Japan?
Kaori Fujita: En…They can choose. They can be house wife or they can keep working.
Wenda Qian: How does your mother choose?
Kaori Fujita: My mother has a job. After I was born, she was keeping working outside.
Wenda Qian: I believe you will choose the same way, women have more rights than before.
Kaori Fujita: Yeah, it is changing.
Wenda Qian: What is your major?
Kaori Fujita: My major is Travel and Tourism.
Wenda Qian: That is very interesting major, why do you select this major?
Kaori Fujita: Because I like traveling, I hope to find a job related to my major in the future.
Wenda Qian: Next, why do you come to America?
Kaori Fujita: I want to learn English and I think English is really important to my major.
Wenda Qian: Ok, so why do you come to this school?
Kaori Fujita: it is cheap, and they give us a lot of scholarship.
Wenda Qian: Would you like to find a job on campus?
Kaori Fujita: Yeah. I hope I can be a night security, I thought it got to be very hard, so I didn’t apply it. Night security should be good for me to see many people.
Wenda Qian: How many children does each family usually have in Japan?
Kaori Fujita: The number has been decreasing, less than two I think.
Wenda Qian: Do you have brother or sister?
Kaori Fujita: I have two older brothers.
Wenda Qian: So you are the youngest one, both your brothers have job now?
Kaori Fujita: Yeah, they both are working.
Wenda Qian: How old are people in your county by the time they got married?
Kaori Fujita: It is increasing. It depends on gender, if I talk about female; I think it is around 30.
Wenda Qian: 30? That is not young, what about men?
Kaori Fujita: I am not sure…
Wenda Qian: I heard that most Japanese people get marry very early.
Kaori Fujita: I think it was, used to be early. Currently, it is getting older and older.
Wenda Qian: What is the relationship between you and your America friends?
Kaori Fujita: I think each of us have different values, it is very nice to talk with them.
Wenda Qian: Did you get cultural shock before?
Kaori Fujita: Did I? I don’t really get cultural shock.
Wenda Qian: What is the most difficult problem you have faced after you came here?
Kaori Fujita: I think there was a hard time to make good friends, because I was scary to make a mistake by talking, I didn’t take too much.
Wenda Qian: Even right now?
Kaori Fujita: Not really, sometime in class.
Wenda Qian: Last question, what is your plan after you graduate from here?
Kaori Fujita: I will go back to japan.
Wenda Qian: what kind of job you will get?
Kaori Fujita: I am still finding out, I think it should be something related to my major.
Wenda Qian: Ok, mission complete. Thank you very much!
Kaori Fujita: You are very welcome.
Personal review
For my third interview, I have done better job than last two. I think I had a good conversation with my interviewee. The last two interviews, I got nervous. I can’t open my mind for talking. Sometime, it is very hard to ask a stranger for interview. Luckily, most people are nice and helpful. They all will to help me; especially I got many supports from my friends. Sometime, I am afraid that I can’t completely understand my interviewee’s answer. So I have to focus on the short answer and record it. Record is a easy way to find the information slowly. Japan is an nation near China, for culture, we have many similar points, Kaori showed me her homework after interview, her writing is cute, I can figure out many Japanese word. I think confident is an important factor. When you do everything confidently, you will forget your weakness, and then make your job efficiently. After three interviews, I believe I have got some experience and communication skills.
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