A month in London...
 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
|
