Eager envoys: Hawaii’s new
ambassadors to Japan
ready to learnEight children aged 10 and 11
By Susan Kreifels
will be the U.S. team to an Asia-
Pacific conference
Star-BulletinThey are headed to Japan this month as ambassadors from the United States. But they won't be solving the world's weighty problems.
Instead, they'll be faced with more day-to-day challenges: new things to eat, new ways to bathe, new ways to communicate when English doesn't work. And new ways to fight possible homesickness.
Eight Hawaii elementary students will travel to Fukuoka in southern Japan as the U.S. representatives at the Asian-Pacific Children's Convention. Students from the state have served as the United States' "junior ambassadors" for all 11 years of the conference, which is funded by the Fukuoka government.
The students, who plan to leave in the third full week of July, will be gone for 10 days and stay with Japanese host families. Jaime Yoshino of Aina Haina School and Emmy Nation of Trinity Christian School, both 11, said they were asked during the selection process what they would do if they got homesick.
"I said I would think of something in my house and it would be easier to fall asleep," Jaime said.
The two outgoing, enthused girls don't appear to be the homesick type. They've made quick friends with each other -- and that's one quality the selection committee wants.
More than 300 students from 40 Asian-Pacific nations will attend the conference, meant to expose them to different cultures and help them discover ways for the world to get along better.
The students, all 10 and 11, have attended four weekend seminars and activities to prepare them for the trip, including learning the Japanese translation of essential words: bathroom, food, hello, good-bye.
Duane Masami Fujiwara, one of two chaperones, led the seminars and helped choose the final eight students out of about 100 applicants from around the state.
Fujiwara was a member of the Honolulu Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce, which helps organize the local students. The conference was first funded by the Fukuoka Jaycees.
While other such philanthropic exchanges in Japan have gone bust along with the Japanese economy, Fujiwara has been impressed with Fukuoka's success at keeping the program alive. "If we can learn about each other's countries, we can better understand each other," Fujiwara said.
The whole city of Fukuoka gets involved in the annual event. "The kids wear IDs. If they get lost on the streets, people know who they are," he said.
Two former representatives from Hawaii also will attend. Jill Shishido, a University of Hawaii student who wants to teach English as a second language in Japan, attended the conference nine years ago and will serve as a peace ambassador this year. These "senior ambassadors" will discuss global issues and ways for the world to get along peacefully.
"In elementary school I was really shy but the trip made me open up more and made it easier to meet people," said Shishido, encouraging students to take part. "My host family treated me with a lot of respect."
While Jaime said she "was jumping all over the school" in excitement when she heard she was chosen for the trip, her mother was more hesitant -- and perhaps more likely to be "homesick."
"I know she'll come back more independent, like washing her own clothes," said Caryn Yoshino. "They won't let us call them (in Japan). That's really hard."
Fujiwara said that while each host family has at least one person who speaks some English, communicating is still a challenge. But the families "are really accommodating."
"One student told her family she liked pancakes," Fujiwara recalled. "She got them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We tell the kids don't take advantage."
