Foreign studies in Japan

(eine "Fortsetzung" zu dem Eintrag "Kann man in Japan Akupunktur lernen". Dies ist die englische Version eines Aufsatzes, den ich auf Japanisch geschrieben habe und in der Septemberausgabe einer japanischen Fachzeitschrift veroeffentlicht wird)

Foreign studies in Japan - my personal opinion

I came about 30 years ago to Japan in order to study Kyudo (Japanese archery). Having a Japanese lady write me a letter in Japanese I inquired in advance from Germany at the Japanese Kyudo Association, explaining my personal situation and politely asked whether that association could possibly introduce me to a Dojo (a place where martial arts are practiced), where I might study Japanese archery. Yet, the answer was, that I should first come to Japan, and “then we will see”. Once in Japan I visited several such practice halls, but had very great difficulties finding a place where the first response to my request was NOT “no thank you”. Finally, the priest Koun Suhara of the Enkakuji temple in Kita Kamakura, with the help of people interpreting for me, offered some constructive and concrete advice that led me to study under master Tanigawa at the Kanagawa prefectural Budokan.

In Japan I am beyond doubt an “alien” (the official word here for foreigner). A direct translation of the Japanese term would be “outsider”. Japanese people by contrast would be ”insider” (although they do not use THIS term to refer to themselves) and still very often consider mingling / communicating with those “outsiders” inappropriate. Outsiders may in fact and under certain circumstances be very entertaining and are welcome to leave their money as tourists, but considering them as “equal” seems to be still very difficult. I spent 30 years in this country and my probably marked lack in proficiency of the language certainly contributes to my feeling of alienation as an “alien” here in Japan.
Even if somebody comes from abroad (Japanese: “on the other side of the sea” - which means exactly the rest of the world!) with a zeal of “studying xxx”, I have heard / been told several times in the past that they cannot be taught because of the language barrier. When I was still teaching English conversation a long time ago I noticed this phenomenon too: when the students are not familiar with the words in question, they easily become frightened and therefore did not make any progress. In the words of those students: “It would be embarrassing to make a mistake, so I become frightened.” Precisely for this reason they rather choose to fall silent than to use the wrong word. Yet, in Japan there is even a proverb that admonishes against this behavior, saying that “mistakes are the foundation of progress” or put into words more likely to be used by speakers of the English language: “practice makes perfect”.

Acupuncture and moxibustion (oriental medicine in general) is an extremely specialized “intellectual property” (know-how), that has to be and should be 'handed down' from teacher to pupil rather than learned from books. If anything, nowadays this intellectual property seems to be increasingly “marketed”. Indeed, the Chinese people, who happen to be very good at doing business, currently are aggressively marketing this intellectual property on a global scale, so that there seems to be very little room and opportunity for the Japanese to present their view of the subject, neither in written nor in spoken form.

Pride in the spirit of one's craft
If you are a craftsman ? and I believe that practitioners of acupuncture and moxibustion are quite respectable craftsmen ? you should take pride in the skills of your work. It is my personal opinion that many Japanese do not take sufficient pride in their skills. The skills involved in acupuncture and moxibustion globally promoted / marketed (displayed) by the Chinese people are doubtlessly of outstanding nature. Yet, personally I am under the impression, that “Chinese acupuncture” may not necessarily be the optimal technique for “modern man”. The majority of foreigners who had experienced Chinese acupuncture visiting my clinic reported, that they were very grateful for the painlessness of Japanese needling (sometimes including the absence of the “deqi” feeling, also often experienced as unpleasant)!

My remarks here are NOT meant to indicate a discrimination between “China” and “Japan”. Basically I came to Japan because of my love for the Chinese philosophical background of Japanese cultural aspects (at that time Japanese archery). Some of the major influences during my puberty were related to philosophical concepts like they are found in the “I Ching”, in the writings of Lao Tsu or the Yin-Yang theory.
Yet, the observation that scientific publications from China pertaining to acupuncture and moxibustion always give an efficacy of 90% and above, while they seem to be marked by a very poor reproducibility and a number of other bold statements (e.g., acupuncture without eliciting “deqi” does not work) have induced in me a more or less acute feeling of suspicion.

In China, however, there is already a system in place that helps foreigners wishing to study acupuncture there. There seem to be classes for foreigners, specific schools that teach foreigners and directions toward universities and hospitals that allow foreigners to visit. Moreover, it seems to be possible to find out about these aspects through net searches from abroad. Often the personal history of foreign authors of articles about acupuncture list the phrase: “foreign studies in China”. Even if this may have only been 10 days, the usually reaction seems to the “fantastic” or “genuine”. In other words, “foreign studies in China” is a label that carries a considerable . On the other hand, the reaction to similar statements referring to foreign studies in Japan seems to elicit not much more than a half-hearted “hmmm”. That means, 'foreign studies in Japan' is an item of only little . Personally I believe this is an awful waste of intellectual property.

Before this background I sometimes receive inquires from foreigners about the possibility of studying in Japan, because my website happens to have pages in both English and German. The askers say: 'I am already familiar with / have studied Chinese acupuncture, but would like to know more about JAPANESE acupuncture. Where and how can I study this subject, or to whom should I ask for help.
Unfortunately, I am in most cases not able to answer those questions. Personally I do not know that many practitioners. Several inquiries I made at different times at the Japanese Acupuncture and Moxibustion Society and similar professional societies always produced the same depressing answer: there is no authority in charge of this kind of information. This too is a great waste, I believe.
Conversely, I have been asked by colleagues: “Why are you trying to help those foreigners? If you keep asking favors for those foreigners, the other practitioners in the field will come to dislike you for asking such troublesome things. Anyway, any foreigner who would like to study (look for people or institutions they might visit in Japan) should first do sufficient research (meaning Internet searches).
My reponse would be first, remembering the trouble I had when I came to Japan makes me WANT to help those on a quest for knowledge / skills. Second, the above mentioned “research” proves to be very difficult, because probably more than 90% of the large number of acupuncture related sites in Japan are written only in Japanese. Therefore it is very difficult for people who do not understand the Japanese language to find out things about Japan. I think, this means that in intellectual (in particular related to acupuncture) terms the period of national seclusion has not yet ended in Japan.

Introducing Japanese acupuncture and moxibution to the world
In the past I repeatedly have expressed my personal opinion, that the Japanese people should show more pride in their tradition, skills and outstanding technology, promoting themselves on the global stage. That is, the Japanese intellectual property should be “marketed” more aggressively. For this purpose the following means might be helpful:
1.actively publishing research papers
2.accepting/teaching foreign “students”
3.Japanese people playing active roles abroad.

Current Japanese system
In the current situation there is apparently no system for the acceptance of foreign students in place at any of the representative Japanese academic and professional societies. And as far as I know their establishment is also not planned. In the past it was already pointed out, that the number of possible applicants in Japan is too small for setting up a class. That is doubtlessly true.
Yet, many possible forms are conceivable. For example, the academic societies could call upon their members and prepare a list of volunteers that would accept foreigners as visiting students. Then people would at least know who and where to ask. Practitioners who do not want to host foreign students could thus be spared the relevant troublesome and sometimes certainly annoying questions.
Those who offered to accept foreign students could then further register more specific conditions under which they would be willing to accept foreigners. (Actually, I once asked a certain practitioner whether he would be willing to show his skills to a foreigner who said, “OK, that will be a xxx Yen fee.” Personally I was unspeakably disheartened by this statement, while the applicant considered that as a matter of course.)
Some practitioners considering to host foreign students could be afraid, s/he might not understand the language. However, there are many high school or university students (working adults too) that are desperately looking for chances to speak English. Using these as volunteer interpreters would probably make both parties happy. People who may not be able to speak the language, but are well capable of writing, could take over any correspondence. Thus, I daresay that any “language-related” problems are only minor or non-existent.

The Japanese Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion should function in modern terms as the “global portal”, where people from all over the world may have a look and then express their consent. The site should provide a broad range of information that foreigners might be looking for. This includes the above stated problem that the majority of Japanese acupuncture related sites are written ONLY in Japanese. Viewed from a global perspective Japan is still a black box (or maybe a black hole): although its presence is acknowledged, its contents still remains obscure ...

Academic achievements
People accepting applicants for foreign studies must NOT BE scholars. Being craftsmen and taking pride in their craft is just perfect. The majority of people inquiring with me implicitly state that they are not looking for scholarship, but would like to watch craftsmen in action. Although a little learning could not do any harm, these people come in search for the Japanese craftsmanship and superior technology. Technology here refers to “manufacturing” things and thus means needles, therapeutic apparatuses etc.).
Picture:
Left = sharp pencil mine, 0.5 mm
Right from top
injection needle
Chinese needle
Japanese needle


In Japan students are supposed to learn by “watching” their master, not by being “instructed”. I would like to appeal here to Japan as a country as well as the individual practitioners to open their heart (and country) and give people with an earnest desire to learn the chance to do so. And show (free of charge if possible!) the world that Japanese technology (engineering) and skills are not second to anybody. Please share this intellectual property with the world and thus put an end to the (intellectual) national seclusion.