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CG Kamo’s Remarks

At the JET Farewell Reception

July 30, 2010 

Aloha!

It is the Consulate tradition to send off new JET participants to Japan at this time of the year by holding a farewell party at the official residence. This is my happy duty to welcome the new JET participants who are about to depart to Japan. I am sure that they are aspiring to an exciting and fruitful stay in Japan. My somber duty here is to prick their ballooning expectations and rosy dreams to be deflated to a healthy level.

But before doing so, I would like to thank my honored guests today for their presence and support for the JET program. Each year we have new JETs, Consuls General come and go, but the selection committee remains. Many thanks go to the committee members for their time and talent. I admire for their tenacity and audacity. They are tenacious in getting the best teachers for Japanese school students and audacious in monopolizing the joy of harassing the promising young people with nasty questions.

We have representatives from other Japan-related organizations, including representatives from various kenjin-kais which associate with their respective home prefectures in Japan. I hope that each kenjin-kai will meet with their JET during this party.

We have JET alumni and alumnae here today as well. They are the best resources for the new JETs to look to regarding matters from what they have to do in their first 100 days to compatibility of work and romance.

Some of you are AJAs. What is AJA? It stands for Americans of Japanese Ancestry. They came to Hawaii 125 years ago from Japan on government sponsored contracts. They worked very hard in sugarcane fields and endured hardships. You all know that. My point is that you are, in a way, new age contract workers, this time going in the opposite direction, from Hawaii to Japan. You don’t go to Japan for fun and relaxation, but to work in classrooms across Japan as your contract prescribes.

Your forefathers struggled with English in their new found land more than a century ago. Please recall the hardships and handicaps that your forefathers endured in those years when you stand in your classroom in Japan. I am certain that you will be determined to work harder in helping out your Japanese students with their English.

You have got the DNA of pioneers, inherited from your great ancestors. The Japanese immigration to Hawaii is a grand feat of historical size in the entire history of the Japanese race. It is my hope that you encourage your students to think big, go global, and be ambitious. You will make a strong stimulus to the young people of Japan.

I wish you all the best in Japan.