Author Information: Dave Tucker

Dave Tucker is director at British educational technology firm, Sonocent. With a degree in Japanese under his belt -- for which he spent a year studying at Nanzan University in Nagoya -- and describing himself as "intellectually curious," he is a champion of the spoken word, dedicating his career to helping students and professionals alike fully harness its potential to transform the way they work and learn.


Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal
(born 10 September 1964) is a British artist, and author of The Hare with Amber Eyes, published in 2010.
He is most well known for his large scale installations of porcelain vessels and has received several awards and honours for his work

エドマンド・ドゥ・ヴァール
『琥珀の眼の兎』（エドマンド・ドゥ・ヴァール著/佐々田雅子訳/早川書房/2415円）
【評者】岩瀬達哉（ノンフィクション作家）

きっかけは二十年ほど前、日本の陶芸を学ぶために、著者が来日したことだった。終戦直後からずっと東京に住む大叔父は、このとき、あるコレクションを見せてくれた。二百六十四点の「根付」である。根付とは、きんちゃく袋の小さな留め具として江戸時代に流行したが、古美術界では根強いファンを持つ彫刻品でもある。お面をつけて遊ぶ子どもたち、鼠、花梨、裸女と蛸、性交する男女――。

大叔父は、ウィーンとパリを拠点に栄華を誇ったユダヤ人銀行家、エフルッシ一族の継嗣であった。しかしその経歴とは不釣り合いなことに、東京のささやかなマンションで生涯を閉じた。
著者は、この小さな美術品たちを相続した。そして戸惑う。いったいこれらはどうやって、日本から遠いヨーロッパへとたどりつき、時を経て、またふたたび日本へと戻ってきたのだろうか。根付たちが放浪してきた旅は、同じく、放浪の歴史をもつ一族につながる旅でもある、と。
十九世紀末、ペリーの開国によって海の外へと持ち出された日本の美術品は、西欧の芸術家と、そして彼らのパトロンである大富豪たちに「新しい風合い、新しい物の感じかた」を与え、熱狂させた。ジャポニズムである。

エフルッシ家の子どもたちは、東洋からやってきたこの小さな美術品を「ながめ、いじり、さする」玩具として、繁栄の時代を、肌の記憶にしみ込ませていった。
だが一族が、ロシアの穀物商からヨーロッパ中枢の大富豪へといっきに駆けのぼった時代は、同時に、彼らユダヤ人を「成り上がり者」として排斥する気運を育てた時代でもあった。
ナチス・ヒトラーの狂気を、なぜあの時代は受け入れたのか。一族の隆盛と没落の物語が、その理由を克明に再現するのである。

やがて手元に残されたのは、確かな感触をもって握りしめることのできる根付だけだった。それは、一族の平和だった時代が「よみがえる物語であり、手放すわけにはいかない未来」でもあったのだ。




3 Comments ( Login to comment )

*katsu78Oct. 29, 2015 - 08:09AM JST

I welcome companies providing increased audio-video ESL/EFL resources, particularly those who can provide a well-indexed resource list (sorting clips by linguistic purpose, grammatical content, theme, etc.), because finding the right video clip when I need it is often my biggest barrier to using them in class.

But to suggest that studying written English is anything less than an excellent way to learn self-expression or that the problem with English in Japan is the textbook medium (and not the way Japanese publishers arrange their content within the textbook medium) well, let's just say that deeply worries me about the expertise Tucker is really able to bring to bear on this problem. I've learned to be pretty suspicious of people who sell educational materials who can't reference language acquisition literature and instead talk about their own experience learning a language.



*PTownsendOct. 29, 2015 - 10:10AM JST

I have no firsthand knowledge of the way English is taught in Japanese schools, but from what I’ve heard it sounds like classes are an ordeal for most students. A reality is many people are not good language learners and many Japanese students will probably never need to use any language other than Japanese, so why force them to do something they don’t want or need to do? Secondary school education should not be based on a one-size-fits-all model.

I understand that English is lingua franca worldwide and believe that it will long remain so, but question why all (most?) Japanese students are required to take courses in it. Why can’t it be an elective course? If it were an elective, then most likely only students interested in learning to use the language would take it, perhaps resulting in better speakers overall.

If companies need some of their employees to use English, then the companies should set up specialised English training programmes to suit their specific requirements.
“ language is a social tool through which we express ourselves and create bonds with other humans.”
I agree with this, but humans also use language for a variety of purposes, the most obvious example being air-traffic controllers to pilots, a strictly functional use of language. Maybe the approach in Japan should be based on an as-needed basis; perhaps English should be taught primarily for specific purposes.

If Japan wants to further develop its tourist industry, and if Japan wants to be seen by the rest of the world as a good Rugby World Cup and Olympics Games host, then more effective ways of teaching languages to those who want to speak it need to be found. Most tourists I know come away from Japan disappointed in their ability to communicate with Japanese people.



*Mr. NoidallOct. 29, 2015 - 01:15PM JST

"Ultimately, teachers of English must find ways to empower students to find their voice in order to transform language learning from an academic subject into a part of who they are"
Easier said than done. especially with people who've been molded into believing that they're a different species of human from the rest of the world, and who view the foreign teacher as an extra terrestrial, whose main function is sing and shuffle about and entertain.



*shonanbb Oct. 29, 2015 - 06:47PM JST

Language learning is easy if you do it through food. Menus, recipes...hands on approach. It never ever fails. Believe me.

Same as teaching someone how to swim. Open your eyes under the water and see a new world.

Language is fun.



*sighclops Oct. 29, 2015 - 11:06PM JST

As I found during my own degree, audio resources are key to unlocking the enigma of spoken language proficiency. By proactively studying from recordings of speech, students can familiarise themselves with natural pronunciation, phrasing and intonation.

Agreed. I am a teacher myself and always recommend my students to embrace 'foreign media' and find something to their tastes, be it an English cartoon or TV show. I learnt a lot of my Japanese from watching tonnes of Japanese anime, starting from the really basic (eg. Dragon Ball) to the super-difficult (Initial D, Evangelion etc.).

The problem is, Japan is such a 'closed' country that encouraging students (especially those of younger ages) to enjoy music, media & other resources from abroad is akin to extracting blood from a stone. You only have to look at the Japanese entertainment industry, TV in particular, to see Japan's real insularity. I've been here almost a decade and it still baffles me.



*Asakura Cowboy Oct. 30, 2015 - 12:42PM JST

I agree that English should be optional and an elective, certainly at high school and university. Why force Japanese students to learn it if they have no chance/ plans to use it in the future? The same could be said for other subjects as well mind you. As PTownsend says, that way you would get far more motivated students in class and English teachers wouldn't have to deal with total indifference to English so much. I don't blame them for their attitude, because that's how I felt about some subjects at school too - difference was I could drop those subjects eventually, even math(s). Who cares if English is the Lingua Franca? They certainly don't. I have to teach compulsory English conversation to first year students at a national university, and feel sorry for the ones who dislike English, because they don't have a choice in the matter, even if they are shit at English and hate it with a passion. Most of them just see it purely as another class to gain credits, that's all.



*Kabukilover Oct. 31, 2015 - 09:36PM JST

These are sincere and well meant sentiments. Unfortunately I have heard and read similar sentiments for years and years, and uttered such sentiments myself when I was an upstart in Japan. The reason these sentiments continue to be repeated is because English education has been a failure in this country. We have had something like half a century of TESOL, which was supposed to be the antidote to the grammar-translation dinosaur. We have seen every gimmick thrown at the English classroom: conversation, fun and games, the silent way, total physical response, CALL, exams, drills, rote memorization and study abroad. Yet today fewer Japanese are interested in English and want to study at foreign universities. When was the last time some pesky stranger came up to you and said, "May I speak English with you?" If you can remember a time you are likely way over 30.

Today, as before, people who need to learn English learn it and usually learn it well. The people who don't need English forget everything they have learned once they have passed their university entrance exams. There is no magic pill that can cure this.

Once there is a necessity for the populace to learn English everyone in Japan will know English.



*lostrune2 Nov. 01, 2015 - 05:11AM JST

To the readers;

　I'm afraid that you are not interested in this topic, but I have worried about Japan's English education system and have wanted to know the opinions of foreigners.

　Coincidentally I met this site. Every reader has a chance to make comments and let others know their opinions on the specific topic on the website. I found it also interesting to know the others' opinion.

　You can read opinions in the site of Japan Today. Click features, and you'll find a column 'opinions'.

　Thank you. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Makki