Discipline (Pt. 4)

Finally, I want to briefly mention the differing relations I noticed between the junior and senior members of the club. While at the party all of the club members acted as equals, during work time, the club was highly stratified. Junior members always used very respectful language and went about their work in a very serious way when in the presence of senior members. In contrast, the senior members seemed to be having fun with their work. The were working just as hard, but the didn't seem to feel the need to project an air of seriousness onto what they were doing.

The leaders are always 3rd year students and they are expected to step down for their 4th year to begin job hunting. Because of this, many 4th year ex-members are still on campus and around 10 such members attended the concert. At the end of each show, all the current members assembled in a half circle and all the 4th year ex-members filled the other half of the circle. Each ex-member was asked to give us inspiring words and after each of them had spoken, we bowed deeply and thanked them for their support. This practice seemed somewhat forced and it seemed to me at times, the respect that is supposed to be paid to seniors was more formally expected than actually felt. It seemed like a remnant of the previous generation being applied to the new generation that is otherwise much more affected by western ideas.

Though it was stressful for me at times, I'm glad I got the chance to participate in this club. I got tons of practice speaking Japanese and it is interesting to think that I was able to make what I consider real friends without ever speaking my native language. I feel that I have a more real understanding of the pressures faced by young members of Japanese society that I think most study abroad students miss as they typically only interact with Japanese students during fun times. I decided to leave the club at the end of this semester to pursue other things, but I intend to keep in contact with my friends in the Folk Song Club.