Osaka Prefectural Government, General Affairs Dept., Personnel Division
Prologue
Abundant natural beauty and sheep, the country of Kiwis and rugby, a nation with recent successful administrative reform, and the "Honor Student of the Southern Hemisphere," which is receiving attention from all over the world. With a variety of thoughts filling our hearts and minds, we five rough and tough (?) Osakans boarded our plane, and left the Kansai International Airport behind as the early summer sun was setting in the west. We were on our way to New Zealand and the R.I. D-9980 rotarians who were awaiting the coming of winter in New Zealand.
Few people and much space
When I am asked, "What was your first impression of New Zealand?", I always say, "It's a spacious land with few people and abundant natural beauty." This may be possible for some people to envision from the fact that there are only 3.5 million people in the whole country, but if I statistically compare the city we visited (Dunedin, the 5th largest "metropolis" in New Zealand), it will be easier to understand. The population of Osaka Prefecture is about 8.8 million, but Dunedin (with a land area 1.8 times larger than Osaka Prefecture) has only 120,000 people (about the same population as Tondabayashi City in Osaka Pref.). There are no skyscrapers there, and the city is surrounded by pastures. Dunedin is filled with green trees, and you can hear the sound of a nearby river. The fact that New Zealand is so large and has so few people accounts for many of the nation's special characteristics. However, it isn't just because there is so much land and so few people that the country has such abundant natural beauty. I learned through this study tour that the people of New Zealand have made extraordinary efforts to preserve the environment. In New Zealand, the natural beauty we've lost here in Japan can be found right in the middle of the city in its pure form.
The world's greatest rugby country
On the day we arrived in Dunedin, we found that the Rotary Club had made arrangements for us to attend a rugby match between the local team, the Otago Highlanders, and an Australian team, the South Wales Waratahs. The game we had the opportunity to attend was a game between two of the "Super 12" rugby teams in that part of the world (these two teams are part of a 12-team league consisting of top-level players New Zealand, Australia and South Africa). They aren't professionals, "per se," but they do receive a yearly stipend of NZ $65,000 (5.5 million) from the New Zealand Rugby Football Union. The average worker in New Zealand receives about $30,000 annually, so they are doing pretty well. Unfortunately, the local team lost the match, but with the rock music and fireworks before the match, and the exciting and thrilling game that followed, everyone was satisfied even though their team lost. The atmosphere during the game resembled that of a Japanese J-League soccer game, but still there was no comparison as the Carisbrook Rugby Stadium seemed to shake and tremble with the excitement. It was a feeling and fervency that I am not able to describe in words.
After the game was over, thanks to the meticulous care of the local Rotarians, we were able to attend the post-game reception sponsored by the Otago Rugby Football Union, and I had the honor of giving a presentation in front of the members of both teams.
I knew that rugby was the most popular sport in New Zealand, but even young children know who the members of the All Blacks (the national team of New Zealand) are, and they are all very proud when a local boy gets to play for the All Blacks. Also, everywhere we went, we could always find many rugby fields throughout the city, and I was surprised to see how lush and green the fields were in every city we visited. These fields are generally taken care of by local governing bodies, and I heard that in rural districts, many fields are taken care of by volunteers. When I learned that anyone can use these rugby fields for free whenever they wish, I realized one factor behind why New Zealand is a rugby powerhouse.
But rugby is not the only sport enjoyed in New Zealand. Kiwis also enjoy hockey, golf, skiing, boating, tramping (the Kiwi way of saying mountain trekking) and other sports. One point that deserves attention is the fact that sports are a very intimate part of life in New Zealand, and New Zealand has created an environment in which anyone may casually take part in sports. At present, people in Osaka are becoming more interested in sports with the "Namihaya" National Sports Festival and the bid to host the Summer Olympics, but if things are to be as they are in New Zealand, it can't be just a handful of experts who are interested in sports here in Japan. It is important for us to work hard to create an environment in which "anyone can take part casually" in citizens' sports programs and enjoy a lifetime of sports.
During the post-game reception and at several Rotary meetings, I mentioned Japan's recent humiliating defeat at the hands of the All Blacks. I said, "It would be nice if Japanese rugby could catch up with New Zealand someday ...", and I hope that Japan will make progress in building and providing the facilities and sports foundation we need to hasten that day.
Still, it was a great honor for me to be able to stand before New Zealand's top level players and rugby football union officials, give a presentation and exchange presents. I am deeply grateful to the Rotary Club for their kind consideration in making it possible for me to do this, and to also nurture friendship between the Osaka Prefectural Rugby Football Union and the Otago Rugby Football Union. This will be a new channel for deepening international friendship, and to me, as a member of the Osaka Union, it was a truly valuable and precious opportunity.
Administrative reform
New Zealand is famous for its successful economic and administrative reforms, and the purpose of our vocational study on this GSE trip was to deepen our understanding of the administrative reforms carried out by the government. These reforms are discussed in detail in some of the other team members' articles, but I want to mention that overall, I often heard critical opinions regarding the fact that the administrative reforms and the resulting low standard of national welfare care have also caused suffering among the populace in this country, which used to have a very high standard of welfare care.
This topic is very much related to the work I am doing at present, and above all I am interested in handling the problem of an increasingly aging population. New Zealand is also dealing with the same problem, and from 1989, the government instituted a "no compulsory retirement age" social security policy, with the idea being that people should "work while they are able to work." Also, since social security payments are not adequate, people also need a personal pension plan. This is a major social problem. Yet, I often heard people saying that they wanted to retire early and enjoy their retirement. The gap between the government's sense of crisis and the feelings of the average person is something that the administrative reforms, which are still in the experimental stage, have not yet dealt with, and one can only guess what will happen. It will be interesting to see what actually happens in this regard.
This problem is the same as that here in Japan, except that here, where the elderly population is growing at an unprecedented rate, the problem is more serious. Not only do we need to deal with the pension problem, but we also have to get a proper perspective on the degree to which future citizens will bear the burden of paying for the needs of the elderly. In Japan, as we seek to develop a consistent policy, we need to study and learn from New Zealand's experiment, take enough time to calmly assess the situation in Japan and debate our options in order to obtain the understanding of the citizens who will be affected by Japan's fiscal policy.
Kiwi life-style
While in New Zealand, we received the hospitality of many Rotarians and had the opportunity to stay in many different homes. From among the homestays I experienced, I would like to share with you something about those homestays that were particularly interesting and which contributed to those experiences about which I can say "I learned this during a homestay." My time at various people's homes was an extremely valuable experience that enabled me to learn, in part, about the Kiwi life-style.
/Mr. A. takes care of 65 sheep, 6 cows and 3 horses as a hobby. He is busy on weekends, getting up very early to move his flock to fresher pasture, and it is expensive to cut hay, plant seed and fertilize his pasture land. The sheep and cows are owned by Mr. A., but the horses belong to his wife and daughter. His wife practices horseback riding weekly, and once a month a trainer comes from Christchurch to teach her.
It was Mother's Day (May 11) while I was at Mr. A.'s home, so he said, "Today, my son and I are making lunch." They made pumpkin soup (which has sour cream in it), and served bread with it. This is a very simple meal, but I saw it many times during my time in New Zealand, and I guess it is probably a typical lunch for New Zealanders. Lunch was much simpler and more frugal than I had imagined it would be.
/Even though it meant some sacrifice for himself and his children (long commutes to work and school), Mr. B. built his home on the southern shore of a lake (since the sunny side of a home in New Zealand is the north side in the southern hemisphere) far from the city. In the summer, he and his family are able to enjoy boating, and in the winter skiing on the weekends. Mr. B. worked like mad until he was 40, and, since he had bought his house and saved up enough to more or less maintain a good life style, he decided to only work 3 days a week so that he could enjoy the other 4 days leisurely. But he rethought this decision (maybe because he had too much free time on his hands?), and now he works 4 days a week and takes 3 days off with his family. He says he is enjoying his life now. Incidentally, he turned 45 this year.
/Mr. and Mrs. C. are teachers. Of course, they own a ranch and use their vast land holdings and a bit of rented land to operate a horse trekking ranch for tourists. (I guess in New Zealand it isn't a problem for public employees to work other jobs.) This offers them the chance to make money with their hobby.
Mr. C.'s hope is to retire early and enjoy his life doing the things he likes, but it seems that his wife won't let him do this until they have enough money saved up. The wife is the practical one in the family, no matter what country one is in!
/Mr. D. was the section chief of a medium-size electrical equipment company. He had been a top executive in a national organization, but he ended up at this job because of the trend toward privatization. He was asked to serve as the chief executive of this company, but he said it was not the job he was looking for, so he was working there now part-time. Of course, he wasn't satisfied with the way things were when I met him, and he was still looking for a better job. He enjoys his hobby, golf, and he lives in a 200 sq. meter home on 900 sq. meters of land.
After I returned to Japan, I got a letter from him. After writing about the All Blacks and the rugby season (playing in New Zealand's dry, sub-freezing climate), he went on to say that he had gotten a new job. Wouldn't you know, it was a position as the new chief executive of one of the companies we had visited during our vocational study. This meant that the former c.e., who had explained the workings of the company to us back in May, had been fired because he had failed to achieve the level of success required by his contract. It seems very severe, but this is the way things are in New Zealand. We had been told that "Those in the upper level of management in national companies who lost their jobs as a result of the administrative reforms get jobs as managers in the privatized companies that are now owned by local governments!" I never imagined that I would actually experience an actual example of this so close to home. To be sure, only the GSE program could offer such an opportunity to "see New Zealand through homestays."
/Emigration to New Zealand started in the 1840's, so New Zealand is a relatively young nation. I saw that, overall, there is a trend to preserve all the historical sites and old buildings since there is so little national history. I saw this trend in the fact that every city we visited on our trip included visits to the historical sites and old buildings in their area. The same can be said on a personal level as well. People everywhere I went were very proud of their family history, and consider it important. At one home, the couple displayed the photographs of their ancestors to the third generation (both the husband's and the wife's).
Also, the family is also treated with great importance, and families have photographs of all their children on display as well.
/Mr. E. has a 17-year-old son who plays rugby, but he is different than boys his age here in Japan who would concentrate on rugby alone. When his family showed me a photo album, I saw that he also enjoys fishing and hunting (deer, wild boar and ducks), windsurfing, skiing and a variety of outdoor sports. What was really envious is the fact that it is possible for him to do all of these things right near his home. Moreover, he told me that he plans to study very hard next year because he wants to go to university, and he has very clear goals.
/In general, New Zealanders take long vacations as a family in the summer, going overseas or spending a relaxing time at a holiday house in New Zealand. One dairy farmer, Mr. F., works extremely hard during the summers (even on Sundays), so that he can take a 6-week vacation in the winter.
This year, he is planning to go to England with his family. His children are still in elementary school, but during that time they will skip school. He and his wife will look after their schooling. It is unthinkable here in Japan that one would miss school to go on a vacation like this, but this is another way in which the life-style in New Zealand is one in which people take responsibility for their own lives.
/I don't know how husbands and wives usually share responsibilities around the home, but in New Zealand, it seems that they generally share the work or help each other out. Most of the men did the harder manual work, such as chopping the woods and taking care of the yard, but I also saw many of them helping get meals ready and cleaning up after meals. In particular, I often saw husbands getting breakfast ready in the mornings (New Zealand breakfasts are quite simple, consisting of just cereal or bread, with juice and coffee). I guess this is due to the fact that most women have some kind of job, and both the husband and the wife have a basic understanding that they must work together to run the home.
Also, men treat women very kindly in New Zealand. At one farm I stayed at, my host, Mr. G., was busy getting breakfast ready. When I entered the dining room and said good morning, he was pouring tea. He asked me, "Do you want anything to drink?" When I asked for coffee, he said with a wink as he pointed toward another room, "After I take this to my wife, OK?" And off he headed toward the bedroom where his wife was waiting for her tea. I'm sure Japanese wives would be very envious if they heard this story.
A person's life-style is very much related to his country's make-up and history, and it's not a matter of comparing them and saying which one is good or bad. In this present age, when society and economies are changing so dramatically and rapidly, it is important for us to look after our own unique culture. To me, who had until this trip never consciously put much thought into my own life-style, having the opportunity to actually experience and feel a different culture ("Oh, there is also this kind of life-style in the world ...") and to reflect upon my own life-style has been a very meaningful thing, for which I am deeply grateful.
At every Rotary meeting I attended, I introduced Osaka this way. "Osaka is a bustling metropolis, and the production in our region ranks 9th among the various OECD nations (their national domestic production)." But, if someone had asked me about "the quality of life" in Osaka, how would I have answered? Now that I have completed the GSE trip, I would answer that question differently. I think that every Japanese needs to take time to think seriously about what true happiness really is.
In Maori, New Zealand is called the "Land of the Long, White Clouds," and the long clouds hanging over the mountains there seem low enough to reach out and touch. During the 5 weeks I spent in the midst of this natural beauty, I experienced the hospitality of 13 host families and many Rotarians, and was able to get a good look at New Zealand from the inside. I remember well the informal Rotary meeting we had in Winton, which is a small town we visited on the last leg of our trip. Some Rotarians and their families, as well as some of their friends, treated us to a potluck tea (dinner). While surrounded by many of our Kiwi friends, we enjoyed dinner and dessert late into the night, lost in conversation. Then, with the sound of a bubbling brook, the chirping of birds and the smell of meadows all around us, we GSE team member sang "Furusato" ("My Hometown") with the feeling that it really was our hometown there in New Zealand. And while we sang, we were reminded of the fact that this pure natural beauty, which New Zealand has worked hard to preserve, has been lost to us here in Japan.
Through this GSE trip and the vocational study I was able to undertake, I made many new friends and learned and experienced many things. I was not able to write about all of them due to space constraints, but if I were to sum up everything in one expression, I would say I experienced "nature and human kindness." I was touched by the warm friendship of people all over New Zealand. I will remember for the rest of my life the warm welcome I received, not just from Rotarians, but from their families (even the small children!), friends, and those we met at the places we visited on our vocational study trips. I want to do all I can in the future to maintain the relationships that I've built, and to continue these relationships forever.
Finally, I want to express my deep gratitude to all those in R.I. D-9980 who were involved in planning and preparing this GSE program for us, and to the Osaka Higashi Rotary Club for recommending me and giving me this wonderful opportunity. Thank you, too, to all those on the R.I. D-2660 GSE Committee who made all the arrangements on the Japanese side.
I would like to bring this report to a close now by also expressing my gratitude to our team leader, Mamoru "George" Nakajima, for his outstanding leadership, and to my fellow team members, Akio Sugai, Koichi Kawamura and Yutaka Yamamoto.
