Productive Holidays in Sapporo

John Young
(University of Northern British Columbia, Canada, COE-Foreign Visiting Fellow, SRC, 1998)

I would like to extend my gratitude to the Slavic Research Centre and to Hokkaido University for a wonderful summer and a marvellous opportunity for academic research. I was impressed with the camaraderie among the faculty and visitors here at the Centre, impressed with the library and research resources, and grateful for the helpful staff and the July conference on Post Soviet regionology. I have had a very productive summer, and for that the Centre is largely responsible.
My own field of research, local government and regional politics in Russia, is generally quite difficult to study from afar. But the access to local newspapers and to a large number of journals and documents was surprising, and the assistance from faculty and visiting scholars was valuable. There are more than enough resources here to keep one busy for a lifetime, let alone three months. My neighbours in British Columbia could not quite comprehend why I would go to Japan to study Russia, but I will now be able to offer a more convincing explanation.
Of course I also learned much about Japan, a country that I had never before visited. I enjoyed the exposure to Japanese culture and history, particularly in my travels to Kyoto and Tokyo, but also to various sites around Sapporo. I also learned the pleasures of karaoke, and various likes and dislikes of Japanese cuisine (pass the pickled ginger, tempura and the okonomiyaki..., but I'll skip the sashimi). The pace of life here was very pleasant as well С it was a wonderful break to get away from various pressures at home and concentrate on one thing at a time.
While I am happy to return home to my family, I am yet sad to leave Sapporo. I'll miss standing out in a crowd (I'm 197 cm, and 110 kg) and being treated like a celebrity because of my stature. At the local fitness club, there was a rush of excitement when someone revealed my shoe size (32), and all the fitness addicts ran to stand beside me and put their feet next to mine. I interpreted such attention as acts of hospitality, and have forged new friendships here in Sapporo that I will treasure. I will also miss my nightly jogs around the university, biking through the city and enjoying a bento in Odori Park. I will miss looking up sources in the library with a high degree of success in finding what I'm looking for. And of course I will miss the ubiquitous "irrashaimase."
So thank you.

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