Photo By Maj. Joel Seppala | Yoshiharu Miyagi, (fifth from the left), with Head Start students at Okinawa Peace...... read more read more
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan - Upon arrival at Kadena Air Base or Naha International Airport, service members and their families are tired and more than a little disoriented, globally speaking. Their understanding of the place they will call home for the next two to three years is as cloudy as the skies they’ve spent the last 10 hours in. When newcomers venture off base to experience Okinawa for the first time, the fresh sights and sounds that greet them are exciting and also a little intimidating. Customarily greeting a passerby on the street becomes an awkward, anxious moment. Suddenly, ordering a bowl of soup is not so easy. In the United States, using chop sticks at the local Chinese restaurant was a novel exercise; here there are actual norms and expectations when using them. For soldiers arriving on island, these uncomfortable experiences can be short-lived, thanks to a knowledgeable, energetic, language and culture instructor at Torii Station, Okinawa.
Twice a month for a week at a time, Yoshiharu Miyagi, or Miyagi-san as he is known to his students, instructs newly-arrived soldiers as well as some civilians and spouses, on common Japanese phrases. In addition, Miyagi teaches his students the history and some of the rich cultural traditions of Okinawa. Highlights of the course include two popular field trips.
One of the trips centers on the Battle of Okinawa. This trip includes a site visit and tour of the World War II Japanese naval underground headquarters. The tour is followed by a briefing on the Battle of Okinawa at the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force base in Naha. The field trip concludes with a visit to the Okinawa Peace Memorial Park, a site which honors those lost during the battle. The second field trip allows students to explore the cultural history of Okinawa.
Miyagi invites his students to tour the rich history and tradition of Okinawa. He accomplishes this by taking them on a tour of Ryukyu Mura. Ryukyu Mura is a re-creation of Okinawan history in which authentic transplanted village houses, as well as talented dancers and role players, resurrect village life on the island. Throughout the class, Miyagi combines his passion for teaching and learning with his island experience to create a most enjoyable, enriching experience for his students.
Miyagi grew up in Okinawa and now brings his life experiences into the classroom. As a child, his mother told him stories about the Battle of Okinawa. This gave Miyagi an appreciation for the suffering borne by his countrymen during the battle as well as the hardships suffered by those on both sides. Along the way, Miyagi developed an interest in military history, particularly that which involved the Pacific theater. He studied English literature and education in college and taught middle school to those with special needs for four years. Miyagi worked as a gate guard and as a worker at the gym on Torii Station, Okinawa, before his current position. He knew when the position opened; he was the right person for the job.
Miyagi enjoys his job and views the experience as a cultural exchange. “I like to learn from the students. We are neighbors,” said Miyagi.
Students in the most recent Head Start class enjoyed the classroom atmosphere of humor and energy that Miyagi brought.
Torre Boyd, an Army spouse, commented that the class was “very informative; stuff you wouldn’t have learned as fast unless you had an Okinawan friend.”
Capt. Clifton Russ, a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 78th Signal Battalion, noted that Miyagi fostered a “good, interactive environment that involved the students, and didn’t just push slides.”
In fact, Miyagi uses interaction, humor, and repetition to help commit common phrases to memory and to reinforce the importance of common cultural norms in Okinawa.
The Head Start class, enjoyable and worthwhile, helps to emphasize larger themes of cultural awareness. United States service members may well be the only Americans some Okinawans meet. Cultural training and basic language training like what the Head Start class teaches helps better ensure that the Americans will be respectful of cultural sensitivities and show an interest in communicating with their hosts in their own language. As Miyagi-san says, “we are neighbors.”
| Date Taken: | 07.11.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 07.19.2013 04:12 |
| Story ID: | 110450 |
| Location: | TORII STATION, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 174 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Dynamic instructor gives Okinawa-based US Soldiers a “Head Start”, by MAJ Joel Seppala, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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