Kinpatsu and London: Kiniro Mosaic as if it’s related to my professional goals

Today I rewatched episode 1 of the anime Kiniro Mosaic.  In this episode, a young Shinobu heads from Japan to London, despite knowing little English, on a homestay with an English family. While heading to the house she is staying at, Shinobu examines her surroundings. With the help of the father of the family, she makes her way to the house. Stepping out of the car leads to the discovery that where she will be staying is surrounded by beautiful trees (Figure 1). She is in awe.  Her adventure is reminiscent of anyone who enthusiastically travels across cultural boundaries; the settings are different, the culture is different, and everything is simply unexpected. 

 

Figure 1. Shinobu (young) facing the English countryside.

 

Not knowing English is a hurdle for Shinobu but she still manages to arrive at the house and meet the mom and her daughter. Her daughter Alice is initially terrified of Shinobu and hides behind her mom; she claims that Japanese girls are scary.

   Figure 2. Young Alice (left) and Shinobu (right) exploring London.

Fortunately, the mother of the household is fluent in Japanese (and English, obviously) and helps Shinobu settle down. (The father, it can be noted, plays little importance in this episode.) Through being persistent and saying hello to Alice, Shinobu wins her trust, even though Alice does not understand Japanese. This could be considered a classic case of the “connection of hearts beating out not understanding each other’s words” or something to that effect. It helps that Alice can understand a tiny amount of Japanese but after a lot of effort they click and become friends (Figure 2). She gets to see a lot of the London area while engaging in many English activities. Through this effort they grow as friends and appreciate each other’s culture more. Despite not being able to speak much together, they can partake in activities together, and move beyond words. In that sense, they are able to establish friendship beyond words, which represents a more powerful relationship than one based solely on talking. In another scene, Alice is taking a bath, to which Shino had added scented bath balls that smelled of cherry blossoms; Alice conflates this smell with Japan, making her wish to go there.

A few years pass and Shinobu receives a letter from Alice in English, meaning that she has to ask a friend for help. Her blue-haired friend Aya says that she thinks the letter indicates Alice is coming to Japan. Shinobu’s other friend, Yuko, cannot read it at all. This scene reflects how understanding other languages is difficult but also why students learn foreign languages in the first place. Despite this warning, Aya, Shinobu, and Yuko are startled when they see Alice; after these years Alice has learned Japanese and can speak to all of them. Now the tables are turned and Alice is living with Shinobu, granting her desires of cultural experience.

Here Alice represents the driven traveler – someone willing to learn the language and engage the culture, much the way Shinobu did in England. Through this episode, the show displays how powerful cultural exchange can be and how people grow from exposure to multiple cultures. Affirming this point, when Alice meets Shinobu’s mom, she talks about trying out a kimono and having difficulty with it; but Shinobu’s mom is simply impressed with Alice’s Japanese, reflecting her efforts. As a viewer, we see her strong growth from a few years ago in growing beyond fear and into admiration.

At some point in this piece, I should interject, right? I have been to both Japan and England and felt the awe that is being in another country. However, I think my experiences in England are more relevant to this show because I actually spent a couple of weeks there – while in London, I was able to see so many excellent cultural sites but I also got a better understand of living in that area. Even when you know the language, going to a new place is difficult and I was mainly okay because I had people to guide me. There are many minute differences, including the voltage, that make life feel so different in England versus the USA. I’m not sure I can say that my experience was akin to Shinobu’s but London was quite the adventure.

In one sense, this episode is an inspiring story to someone wanting to travel to a different country and engage the culture there. Tomorrow I have an interview for endorsement for the Rhodes scholar program, which would allow me to travel to London. I think that seeing an episode with a focus on London helps establish why I’d like to go there. The questions will certainly be academic in nature but it’s important to have a personal reason that makes me passionate about the location. Why London?  Much like Shinobu, there is a lot of beauty in that area, especially towards outer London (where I stayed). Images like Figure 1 highlight why London is valuable to me – I love greenery and trees, and I’m okay with rain.  Obviously, I won’t cite an anime show for reminding me about why I like London but it’s a good reminder. Now I can feel that I have non-academic, non-professional reason to want the Rhodes scholarship and that’s always beneficial for an interview. Someone who’s just strategic, well, that’s not who I want to be.