MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marines and family members of Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 visited the Japanese students of Kono Elementary School in Otake City during a cultural exchange hosted by the school July 7.
The visit gave the Marines and children a better appreciation of each other’s culture through games and conversation.
Shigeki Hiraoka, the Kono Elementary School principal, said the most important outcome of the day’s activity was the understanding the two cultures could reach through conversation.
“We usually have a group of two or three Marines come to the school, so it’s a great opportunity when we have a large group like today come and visit,” said Hiraoka. “We want to continue this relationship to provide children with the opportunity to improve their English skills.”
Approximately 30 Marines, some who brought their own families along, anxiously unloaded off a bus and their personal vehicles and made their way to the school gym ready to begin the day’s event.
The children enthusiastically took advantage of the Marines’ visit to practice their English skills as they yelled out good morning and welcomed the Marines before they even reached the doors.
“I was anxious and felt my heart beat faster when I saw the Marines coming to my school,” said 10-year-old Shunsuke Kimura, a Kono Elementary School fifth-grader. “I’m really happy they came.”
After the children shook hands and high-fived the Marines, the students led their visitors to their seats and began to introduce themselves in English.
Kimura said he was happy that even though Marines and Japanese had deep differences through race and culture, he was still able to communicate using his English skills.
After the introductions were made, the games began with a round of London Bridge in which Marines and their families laughed as they struggled to duck low without falling in between the arch made by the children’s small arms.
The children smiled and giggled as they watched the Marines strain through their small arch ways.
“It’s fun to interact with them because it’s like the little brother and sister I never had,” said Sgt. Sean Weaver, an MWSS-171 systems repairer. “These experiences they’ll definitely remember when they grow up.”
To continue the day’s event, the students amazed the Marines as they demonstrated they‘re skills with the Kandama, a Japanese wooden toy made of a stick and ball tied together. While the children were easily able to have their ball land on the pointed end of the stick, they had to help the Marines figure the game out.
After the games, time was made so the children and Marines could sit down together and ask each other questions about sports and what they liked to do.
Having the students actually sit down with the Marines and hold a conversation makes the children more confident in their skills and makes them more open to sharing and accepting opinions, Hiraoka said.
After sitting down together, the students broke out their calligraphy sets and began to teach the Marines how to write their names and various Japanese words.
“With calligraphy, you’re sitting one-on-one. They’re showing you how to write your name and they’re writing their name down for you,” said Weaver. “You have something to take away, something to remember.”
With the events of the day, Marines who rarely left the station were presented with a new world.
“Many of the Marines stay inside their barracks rooms and they just get in their own world of video games or whatever their daily routine is and they don’t understand that there is an entire culture just outside the gate,” said Lt. Anthony Baker, MWSS-171 chaplain. “A big part of bridging that gap between what they know and what’s actually out there was accomplished today.”
The final activity of the day was a celebration and observance of the Tanabata Festival, which translates to Star Festival.
The Star Festival comes from an ancient Chinese myth passed across to Japan. The legend says that Altair, a cowherd, and a weaving girl named Vega, meet across the Milky Way on the seventh night of the seventh month of the year, fulfilling their wish to be with each other.
Following the Star Festival’s tradition, Japanese locals write one wish on a card and hang them on bamboo branches hoping their wishes will also come true.
The students taught this tradition to the visiting Marines and their families by having them write their own wishes on cards and hanging them on bamboo branches.
After the day’s activities came to an end and all wishes were made, the Marines loaded back up in their vehicles with a line of children waving goodbye and yelling out thank you.
The principal, looking forward to more visits in the future, had a few words for the departing Marines.
“We want you to bring more family members along next time,” said Hiraoka.