Human Library @Global TC Day Part 1
It’s been almost a whole month since our Human Library event @ Global TC day! I had written up an event report in Japanese but not in English, so here it is. (If you’d like to access the Japanese version, please check it out here.)
★Event Information
Date: Sunday, July 28th, 2019 2:00~5:00 p.m. (Registration from 1:30 p.m.)
Place: Sophia University Building 2, Room 402
Fee: 500 yen (free for Sophia and Columbia alumni, students and faculty)
Number of participants: 39 (including “books” and staff)
*We had to close the sign-up link the day before the event as our maximum cap of 30 people had filled up, but we still had a few people who wished to be waitlisted. Thank you to everyone who signed up and came out!
★Who came?
We had seven people who shared their stories as “books” and 32 people who listened to their stories as “readers.” Of the participants, about 25 people were affiliated with Columbia. Maybe because of this, it seemed like the majority of the participants were comfortable having a dialogue in either English or Japanese (or both).
We were initially a bit worried about hosting a bilingual Human Library event, as we fully understand that language proficiency is key to holding a deep and meaningful dialogue, and that sometimes a dialogue in a second language could be stressful for both the listener and speaker because of limitations on what they can convey. However, we also did not want to restrict the dialogues to any one language as our “books” were already linguistically diverse, with some preferring to use only English, some only Japanese, and some both English and Japanese.
In the end, I think it worked well thanks to both the “readers” and the “books.” I noticed how one bilingual “book” changed what language to use based on the “readers,” and I also noticed “readers” changing what language they used depending on the “book” and other “readers.” I think we were able to manage a bilingual event all because we had such flexible and cooperative participants. Thank you to our participants for being so cooperative and helpful!
★What did we do?
We asked participants to “check out” three books and sign up for the stories they wanted to listen to at registration. Then, we had three rounds of 30-minute dialogue sessions, with a 15-minute break in between the dialogue sessions.
The following is a list of summaries of each “book.”
Book 1: Living in Japan as a “Cultural Chameleon”
“Cultural chameleon” comes from the words of a former coworker who referred to me as such. I would like to talk about my challenges in grappling with my inner identity, having spent 14 years in the US and 13 in Japan.
Book 2:Living in Japan as a “Blind Taiko Drummer”
As a Sophia alumnus and social worker, I studied Developmental Disabilities at Teachers College as a non-degree student. I will share my non-heroic story as a visually-impaired musician.
Book 3: Living in Japan as a “Patient of Incurable Disease”
Only two cases are known for complete cure of HIV infection in the world. Thus, the possibility for my being cured for this disease is extremely slim. I will share my “surviving strategies” in living with this virus.
Book 4:Living in Japan as a “Neither/Nor”
“Foreigner? Japanese? International student? Returnee? Who am I?” I will share my story of living in between but also in neither China nor Japan for the past 20 years.
Book 5:Living in Japan as a “Former Returnee”
“Kikokushijo” is often seen with an elitist image, but returnees often go through a far more complex process of growing up in a linguistic and cultural tandem. I will share this complicated experience of becoming an adult as a returnee in Japan.
Book 6: Living in Japan as a “Christian”
Christians make up less than 1% of the population in Japan, yet we are all surrounded by foods and cultural emblems rooted in Christianity! Are Christians really a minority?! I will share my stories of living a life rooted in a foreign culture and foreign values in Japan.
Book 7: Living in Japan as an “Almost 30 Year-old Woman”
As a Miss Singapore 2013 title holder & Harvard graduate, I will tell my “behind-the-scenes” story about imperfections and otherness, and about not fitting into any boxes as a 29 year-old woman in Japan.
As you can see from the above list, the “readers” were able to choose from a wide variety of topics and stereotypes. Many respondents in our event feedback survey commented that they wished they could listen to all seven “books,” and I can totally understand this frustration. But in a way, I guess the beauty of this Human Library framework is that it’s impossible to “read” all the books because of time constraints, and that there are always more “books” to read, just like there is always a book you’ve never read in a real library!
To continue reading about the event and comments from participants, please go to my next entry!
