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Digging Sweet Potatoes With School Kids

Japan is full of all sorts of interesting cultural events you can partake in. Go out on a limb every once and a while and try something new.

By 2 min read 4

After three years of living in Japan (Sapporo, Hyogo, and now Tokyo), I’ve done a little bit of everything. Most recently, I went to a farm on the outskirts of Tokyo to dig up sweet potatoes with a small group of elementary-age children.

Regular, working adults are too busy to spend their Saturday afternoon digging sweet potatoes. Or perhaps it is a combination of a lack of interest and the fact it would be socially awkward (for most people) to be the the only adult in a group of children/retirees.

This seems to be the “downside” of participating in cultural events in Japan – you mostly end up with children or elderly folk.

sweet-potatos

If you want to get the most out of your time in Japan, regardless of whether it is a couple of months or a couple of decades, I have a couple of recommendations for participating in cultural events:

1. Bring a friend

Everything is significantly less awkward when you have someone to share it with. At the very least, you won’t be the only one who sticks out.

2. Engage with the locals.

Kids are incredibly friendly (once they get over the initial “oh my gosh, it’s a foreigner!” stage). Elderly obaachans are make great companions. At early morning farmers markets and summer rice-planting sessions, some of my best experiences come from chatting with friendly, elderly ladies.

3. Check the community center for postings.

Local community centers and government offices typically have a great selection of postings for upcoming events. If you can’t read it right away, snap a photo of the flyer, go home, and translate it.

4. If you fail, fail in style.

Some events are awkward. Others are a bust. It happens, but don’t let one bad experience ruin your sense of excitement and adventure.

5. When in doubt, remember you are foreign.

Very few people will actually expect you to be “Japanese.” And if you do make a mistake, I’ve found it is easiest to just laugh it off.

Japan is full of all sorts of interesting cultural events you can partake in. Go out on a limb every once and a while and try something new. At the very least, you can get an interesting story out of it.

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  • nasale says:

    Yum! I love sweet potatoes!

  • F.Y. says:

    Going to these events is always great fun and a great chance to make friends and practice Japanese. Every since the one time I destroyed multiple Daikon by not having the proper yanking them out of the ground form, I always try to keep the rule, “Watch a Roman do it once, then do as the Romans do” so I don’t mess anything up TOO bad again lol.

  • Lynn says:

    Sounds like a fun time! That happens to me a lot. We’ll get to the (usually free) cultural event, and usually only kids or older folks are there. Not a bad thing, but kind of makes me feel silly to be the only adult without a kid in tow.

  • Asit Saha says:

    Thanks a lot for uploading such an interesting photograph of children at work in the farm of sweet potatoes.

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