Omotenashi: How to Welcome People Lecture

 On September 8th, a lecture about ‘omotenashi; how to welcome people’ was presented by Hiroko Fujii, an international manner instructor.  The title of her lecture was ‘Show Japanese Essence in Global Society; Learning Different Cultures from omotenashi mind.’

This lecture was started by Ishikawa Prefectural Board of Education for all of the students from prefectural high schools.  The purpose was to help students learn the importance of welcoming people and to be considerate of others so that they would get along positively with them in society.  Omotenashi is regarded as a means of understanding foreign cultures.  Students are supposed to be proud of their Japanese identity with an omotenashi mind, and make the most of it when interacting with foreigners in the future.

Second-year students will have a school trip: general and science course will go to Taiwan and SG course will go to the US.  They will experience cultural exchange with local people by taking advantage of what they learned in this lecture.

[the participants’ comments]

＊My assumption, that only with the knowledge of foreign countries would I be able to fully understand world affairs, was proven invalid after this lecture.  I realized the importance of the knowledge of my own country.  I was surprised to know that some words common for the Japanese cannot be translated into foreign languages.  If I have the chance to visit the U.S, I want to discuss various types of hospitality or ‘omotenashi’ with local people. 

＊The theme of understanding foreign cultures was interesting because I’m now doing research on it.  I do feel pleased to be Japanese, because we always think not only about ourselves but also about others.  I hope our Japanese mind will be understood internationally and help strengthen the international community during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.