The New Occupation

Posted on April 12, 2007 by Jude Coulter-Pultz

English Teaching in Japan is the new Occupation. I am but one of many soldiers of education. We see each other on the trains every day and recognize each other by our uniforms - shirt, tie, slacks. Rarely do we speak to each other unless to ask the routine questions, such as "Where are you stationed?" or "How many years have you been in the service?" On base, we retreat into our little pocket worlds where, except for little things like not wearing shoes indoors, Japan all but disappears. Here, only English is spoken and it is the Japanese who are, for an hour a week, foreign.

Outside the borders of base camp, however, it's a different story. After teaching our native language for 8 hours out of the day, we spend the rest stammering in Japanese, trying to fit in and get by. The locals tend to regard us with a mixture of respect and disinterest, sometimes even resentment. On one level, we're admired for the valuable service we provide as native speakers, both in and out of the workplace. On another, our being foreign is a nuisance, the language and culture barrier creating dauntingly insurmountable obstacles.

Some of us just do our one-year stint and get out as quickly as possible. Others find a strange sort of solace in being an alien and play the ex-patriot. But even after moving on to a new job, even after becoming fluent in Japanese, even after perhaps finding a Japanese husband or wife, gaijinJapanese word meaning "outsider" commonly used to describe foreigners. Considered somewhat impolite. are always gaijin. Decades after its official termination, the Occupation is still very much alive. No matter what our true position, we are still soldiers, our presence tolerated, even appreciated, but never fully accepted as true members of society. This is the foreigner's life in Japan. The Occupation of the Willing.