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Matt Medina
Dance & Culture
Tess Boone
Life History Interview
For my history interview I chose to do my friend on my baseball team, his name
is Daisuke Takayanagi and he is originally from Sasebo-Shi Nagasaki Japan. Daisuke
moved to the United States to try to pursue a career in baseball. He moved here when
he was a sophomore in high school, he was then enrolled in Juan Diego Catholic High
School but he would only attend JDCHS for just one short year. He said “the academics
were too hard for him there because he was still trying to learn English at the time”.
Daisuke then transferred to Provo High school. This was much easier for
Daisuke; this is where he learned how to speak English pretty well. Although school was
a lot easier for Daisuke the transition to living with a different family was a lot harder.
While Daisuke was attending JDCHS he loved the family he was staying with.
The family that Daisuke lived with was a married couple with two kids a boy and
a girl and one of the kids was on the baseball team, so Daisuke could hang out with him
and also the friend always knew when baseball practice was or when the team had
weight lifting. Now that Daisuke attends Provo high school he lives with just a married
couple so Daisuke has to communicate with some people on the team so he can find
out what time practice and weight lifting is at. Daisuke said this was really hard for him
because he had to find the baseball players since they weren’t in any of his classes
since they could already speak English fluently.
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While attending Provo high school Daisuke begin to struggle with the family he
was living with he wasn’t happy with the baseball, he wasn’t getting to play much and
then Daisuke decides he wants to move again. The family thought San Diego would be
the best bet for him. Daisuke would move to San Diego and attend Mount Miguel High
School. This was his favorite high school he made lots of friends and school was going
great and also baseball was going great. Also another big plus for Daisuke when he
lived in San Diego is that the family he was staying with loved him and treated him like
their own he said.
When I asked Daisuke about his culture and how different it was from the
American culture, he laughed and smiled. He said that the Japanese culture is
drastically different from the United States. He said biggest change for him, was school.
He said the format here is a lot easier. The school he went to went 6 days a week they
only got Sunday off and also they would go to school from 8-1 and 3-6. He said he
hated school there and they never really got time to hang out with their friends. He said
when he found out that Americans only go to school 5 days a week and at the most for
8 hours a day, he said he loved that part about America. Also he said that the parents in
Japan are a lot stricter to their kids. Daisuke said that is just because every parent over
in Japan wants their kid to be great at something and be famous.
Also Daisuke said the baseball culture in Japan is a lot different compared to
America. He said over here the players don’t respect their coaches. He said it’s a lot
more laid back here then it is in Japan. In Japan he said some coaches if they get mad
enough at you they will hit you, and they are hitting you to let you know that they don’t
like what you’re doing and if you keep doing it something worse will come of it. Also
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another reason why the players don’t respect their coaches in America is because in
Japan after every practice or game the players line up and shake the coaches’ hand
and say thank you for today. He said in America nobody does that.
Also another way that the Japanese culture is different is nobody really owns
cars, most people walk, bus, or ride a bike. Daisuke said his family doesn’t own a car
because they are expensive and the traffic is always bad and it takes longer to get
somewhere driving. Also Daisuke said that a lot of Japanese people smoke, and also a
lot of young kids smoke. It is very common to see kids in high school smoking
cigarettes. That is something you don’t see in America is a lot of teens smoking
cigarettes, and usually not that many Americans smoke.
Daisuke said moving to America was the hardest decision he’s ever had to make
in his life and also the hardest thing he had to overcome was the change. Daisuke is an
only child; both his parents work long hours of the day so he said he never really saw
his parents anyway. Daisuke also said that his Dad is very strict and they always don’t
see eye to eye and sometimes they get into big arguments but Daisuke still loves his
Dad because he knows he just wants what’s best for him.
Daisuke said when he moved here it was very hard, because he would get so
frustrated because he couldn’t speak the English language he said he felt like he didn’t
belong here because he couldn’t talk to anybody. He said that’s what pushed him the
most to learn the English language was that feeling of feeling like an outsider.
When I asked Daisuke about his experience of living here in Utah, he said that it
is too cold here in Utah, San Diego was a lot better. He also said it snows too much
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here in Utah. Also he doesn’t know why people would live here when they could live in a
place like San Diego, but he was just kidding when he made this comment. Then I
asked Daisuke how was the weather in Japan, he said it is similar to America, except it
rarely snows where he lives and in the summer it get really hot and humid, but he likes
the heat. Another thing that Daisuke and I talked about was the way Japanese people
dress compared to Americans. He said it is somewhat similar but the guys from Japan
that are his age and his friends typically have long hair and they like to wear Capri’s
instead of jeans. In America you never see men wearing Capri’s, so he said when he
wears them to school some people give him weird looks but he doesn’t care, that’s the
culture he grew up in.
In conclusion, my interview with Daisuke was great I thought. I see him every day
at weights and practice. But I have never really got the chance to sit down with him and
talk to him about his life. What surprised me the most about my interview with him is
how long the Japanese kids go to school, I think that is the reason they are ahead of
America technology wise. There is no way I could go to school that long. Another thing
that surprised me is that the Japanese people walk or bus everywhere, that is just
different to me, because I grew up in the American culture so I am used to driver
everywhere for transportation.
I learned so much from Daisuke, I don’t think I could do what he did. There is no
way I could just move to Japan right before high school, without knowing anybody from
Japan and defiantly not knowing the language. If you think about it what he has been
through and has overcome it is truly remarkable.