|
Hyotan Readers Questionnaire |
| The Results You may remember that last summer in Hyotan 140, there was a questionnaire asking for your views on life in Hitachi. There were three aims for this questionnaire:- 1. To provide a chance for foreigners residing in Hitachi to voice their opinions on Hitachi to Japanese people; 2. Conversely, to give Japanese residents of Hitachi the opportunity to understand the feelings of non-Japanese residents; 3. And, possibly, to improve Hitachi for both Japanese and foreign residents, by providing both groups with the chance to talk to each other freely. But how were the results of the questionnaire to be made publicly available. The initial idea was to create a display featuring your opinions which would be part of the Hitachi Kokusai Bunka Matsuri 2003 ( Nov 22, 2003). From the results of the questionnaire, a display was put together and it was available for public viewing in the week leading up to and on the day of the Hitachi Kokusai Bunka Matsuri, November 22nd, 2003. However, it is unsure how successful this display was in achieving the three aims outlined in the above paragraph. Therefore an outline of the main results of the questionnaire will here again be put forth in this edition of Hyotan. The Respondents Overall 59 Hyotan readers completed the questionnaire. 23 respondents were from China, 8 from Korea, 7 from the USA. The other countries represented were Thailand, Mongolia, New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, India, Canada, Taiwan, Denmark, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Many of the respondents were students (24), but other occupations such as engineers or English teachers were well represented. The Questions Q1. What do you like about Hitachi? A variety of different views were offered in answer to this question. But some clear main themes did emerge:- the beach and sea; the mountains and nature in close proximity to the city; Heiwa Street at the time of the Cherry Blossom festival; the general feeling of quietness and orderliness; and the kindness and helpfulness of local people. The Saturday gNight Bazaarh was also very popular. The following quote sums things up pretty well:- gI like the location of Hitachi, between the sea and the mountains. Also there is Hitachi Company which sponsored my visit to Japan. The people in Hitachi are very helpful and caring. The Civic Center helped me to get to know various Japanese people and people from other countries too, like China etc. Ifve also learned a lot about Japanese Culture through the Civic Center. I like the sakura of Heiwa Street in front of the station. I have learned self-discipline and neatness from Japanese peopleh ( M. Muthuraman, India ) Q2. What donft you like about Hitachi? There was a resounding thumbs down to the By-pass road that is being built along the beach, especially from Westerners (New Zealand, America, Australia etc). They could not believe that Hitachifs great beaches were being ruined by a road! Others complained about traffic congestion. Other problems were the lack of chances for foreigners and Japanese people to meet each other and get involved in cultural exchange. Also it was said that sometimes Hitachi feels gdeadh, a town with no heart (center) because it is so spread out. And that there was a lack of places of entertainment to have fun or hang out. gI donft like the new freeway which is being built across the beach. One of the great things about Hitachi is the beaches, which will be ruined with the freewayh ( Maryon Fijnvandraat, Canada ) Q3. What could be improved about Hitachi? Again the respondents from Western countries quite forcefully wanted the deconstruction of gthe Road being built across the beachh. In general, more environmental awareness was felt to be needed ie more green spaces and the protection of wildlife and nature. Also, people wanted Hitachi to become more culturally exciting by having gFree concertsh in the Civic Center, by revitalizing the beach front, and by more summer outdoor events. More chances for cultural exchange between Japanese people and foreign residents were also felt to be needed, so as to reduce preconceptions and prejudices between the two. Also traffic and public transport were pinpointed as areas in need of improvement ie the lack of designated bicycle lanes and clear walking paths, and the confusing and expensive bus system! Q4. What experiences of interest have you had in Hitachi? gKaraoke without a doubt. I also enjoyed meeting the locals and using my crap Japanese on them, it made for a good laugh. Itfs amazing what you can do with limited Japanese. I think getting hijacked by drunk locals and being asked by strangers to join them in their homes for dinner or lunch always blew me awayh ( Warner Cowin, New Zealand ) gNone! Ifve had to work hard all the time!h ( Trainee, China ) gTaking part in Hanami on Kamine Park with my Japanese and non-Japanese friends was one of the funniest experiences of my life!h ( Ian Platford, UK ) gI took part in the gSakurah Japanese Speech Contest for Foreigners. It was a great experienceh (Ð@ûA) Conclusions It was very interesting reading the results of the questionnaire, so I would sincerely like to thank all those who took part. Certainly, many good things and some things that need improving about Hitachi were brought to light by this questionnaire. However, it was very small scale, so may be this exercise could be repeated again in the future on a much larger scale, so that the results could be of some real use! Hopefully, there will be more chances in the future for Japanese and foreign residents of Hitachi to exchange their ideas on the issues raised through the Hyotan Questionnaire. Ian Platford Hitachi City Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) (Member of the Hitachi Kokusai Bunka Matsuri 2003 Executive Planning Committee) @ |
(Top of Hyotan) (home)