I spent the month of November at Japan Local Government Centre, London, as part of my two year secondment at CLAIR’s Tokyo HQ. The main focus of my training was to carry out a research project on a theme set by myself, and also to get experience of the role carried out by JLGC. These are some of my experiences from my one month in the UK.
I researched policies for urban regeneration that were implemented in Liverpool through culture and the arts, and by being designated European City of Culture 2008. The Liverpool Biennial 2012 is in fact being held at the moment, which was another chance for me to study how modern art from all over the world can be made accessible. Aichi Prefecture, from which I am seconded, will hold the “Aichi Triennial 2013” (outside link) next year. The last event held in 2010 saw 570,000 visitors. We are very keen to open the event to anyone who has an interest in arts and culture.
I was also able to take part in a couple of events about the reconstruction in Miyagi Prefecture, as well as the Hyper Japan exhibition. I was able to see how popular Japanese pop culture is in the UK, and was surprised to see how many people were into cosplay – it really was a sight to see some old guy proudly striding around, dressed up as a French maid! At the venue, I was also so thankful to be able to see the Japanese rock star Hotei Tomoyasu, who has been living in the UK since summer. He will hold some concerts in December in London, although I will have returned to Japan by then unfortunately.
In Japan you often hear “food is London is terrible!” At the time of the London Olympics, there were lots of Japanese TV programmes asking if food in London really is that bad. When I got back to Japan, there were plenty of people in the office asking how food truly is in London.
My conclusion is that ordinary pubs and restaurants are not bad, although there is not much flavour in the food, (but not particularly tasty for the price). I felt that you had to add your own flavour and seasonings to get the taste you like [unlike in Japan]. However, if you really look for somewhere good, you certainly can get some delicious food! I went to a couple of celebrity chef’s restaurants while I was here. I am sure that those restaurants here would be very popular also in Japan. Having said that, I think it’s probably quite difficult to gauge what a good restaurant is in the UK, after having only stayed here for such a short time, but for my short stay I went to M&S very often. It is as good as similar shops selling prepared meals and so in Japan.
While I was in London, I was able to enjoy loads of things like the famous sights, museums and galleries, football matches, shopping and so on. I was really impressed at how much you can see and do in the museums and galleries for free. There is so much to see and do in these places that I did not have enough time in just one month to see all I wanted. I was also surprised at the amount of venues for musicals and plays. There are not as many permanent facilities in Japan for the theatre and drama. Even though I couldn’t understand all the English at the musicals, it was a great experience. Despite the high price of the tickets, I was able to take part in the victory celebrations with the Gooners at Arsenal as well! Arsene Wenger was formerly the manager of Nagoya Grampus 8, which is a team in my home prefecture of Aichi. While he was at the helm at Grampus 8, they were very strong, so it was a pleasure to see him again at the match.
During this one month stay, despite it being short, it was a really valuable experience for me, working with the London office staff, the friendly staff at the serviced apartment, as well as all the helpful people in the streets and in the restaurants, it really was enriching for me. I am very grateful to all the people in London who I met. I hope that I can do the same for you if and when you ever come to Japan.
Go Nagata, seconded from Aichi Prefecture
For the month of November, I was dispatched from Tokyo HQ and was able to get experience of working as an intern at the London office. For me who had practically no overseas travel experiences, this one month was the first time I had spent a long period of being overseas and every day was intense.
I had the opportunity to carry out a fieldwork research project into Barclays Cycle Hire, the community cycle project which continues to expand. As well as being a project within a major urban centre, it is also a large scale project with comparably more resources being put into it than other similar projects. Seeing it working together with the tube, the new route master and black cabs, Boris Bikes really do appear to be an inspiring advanced urban public transport system.
Also, for those who like music, London is a dream destination. While the local staff were able to introduce me to some of the most famous sites, I was able to enjoy some of the famous destinations. I don’t have any pictures on my mobile phone of any of the popular sites like Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, only loads of Battersea Power Station (from Pink Floyd’s album cover Animals). I would have taken pictures of punks, but when I went to the birthplace of Punk in Chelsea, there were none.
Another thing that I noticed while walking around town in London are how substantial bookshop are. There is a phrase in Japan which we often hear called “publishing downturn”, meaning the disappearance of bookshops in Japan. Whether there is a boom or a downturn I’m not sure, but all of the books shops in London appear very smart. All the displays are bright and the book covers are also stylish. It was fun just to walk around looking in these places. I felt that books are a really important medium for Londoners, whether it be reading, buying, selling or making them.
It was a stimulating 1 month but to tell you the truth the most challenging thing was the thought of using English. Even though I had been studying English while I was at Tokyo HQ, I can only say that I felt I was unprepared for using it in London. However, and it is obvious to say, but everyone in London has to speak English. Even though they are just tourists, they really try to speak the language and I felt I had been too conscious of English being a foreign language for me. It is just a tool to communicate. So I’ve came to understand that speaking English is not as hard as I thought.
Keisuke Hamada, seconded from Saitama Prefecture
