A Homestay Away from Home
A supporter of Fukushima schoolchildren since 2011, the Club hosted a number of students for a weekend in January.
After a four-hour bus ride from Fukushima, Kota Abe stood in the Winter Garden. Together with his classmates, dressed in their neatly pressed school uniforms, they were set to deliver a presentation, in English, before a packed house of families, Members and dignitaries, including Princess Takamado.
“I was nervous,” Abe, 14, says later. A student at Hirano Junior High School, he was one of 39 students from Fukushima City to participate in January’s weekend homestay program, organized by the Culture, Community and Entertainment Committee and co-sponsored by the Women’s Group.
The students stayed overnight with Member families and enjoyed a packed itinerary of games and a buffet at the Club. During their talk in the Winter Garden, students discussed Fukushima’s tourist attractions and unique cuisine, such as sake-marinated squid and carrots, and life after the events of March 11, 2011.
Nao Shimida, 14, a student at Fukushima No 4 Junior High School, recalls hiding under her elementary school desk during the 9.0-magnitude earthquake, as books and equipment crashed to the floor.
Almost five years after that terrifying day, Shimida says she will never forget her weekend in Tokyo. “I have never experienced anything like this,” she says. “I enjoyed exchanging cultures with my host family and being able to practice English.”
Members Michael and Katja Otter treated two Fukushima boys to Wiener schnitzel and other dishes from their native Austria and received wooden kokeshi dolls, a traditional craft from northern Japan, from the students.
“I was impressed with how polite the children are, and it was very easy for them to integrate into our family,” says Katja Otter. “They wrote such a nice note, saying, ‘Thank you, we had a wonderful time.’ They were very good role models for our kids.”
Member Carrie Fraipont and her family grilled a batch of hamburgers and made ice cream sundaes for their guests. “It was excellent,” says Fraipont. “My kids saw how brave they are to come here and spend time with a family who doesn’t speak their language.”
Member Miki Ohyama, who headed the task force that organized the weekend, says the Club has been supporting schools in Fukushima through a number of fundraising events and music programs since 2011. And last year, Women’s Group members organized an English workshop for schoolchildren in the prefecture.
Ohyama says Fukushima City’s board of education wanted to send students to Tokyo to show their appreciation to Club Members.
“The international community at TAC has always provided generous support for charitable causes, particularly this one, so I wanted to remind the children that we will never forget and to encourage the children to be strong for the future,” she says. “I have never had such strong emotions after an event. I am so proud to be a part of the entire TAC community [of] Members and staff.”
Words: Nick Narigon
Photo: Kayo Yamawaki
