Smith Through a Distorted Looking Glass
- A "Visit to the Distinguished Seven Sisters"
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- By Michiyo Yamada GR '97
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- Michiyo Yamada is a graduate student in the one-year
Diploma in American Studies program. She came to Smith after graduating
from college in Japan because she thought Smith was the place where she
could acquire, as she puts it, "inner strength, independence and confidence."
She was born in Kyoto and lived there all her life until coming to Smith.
When she graduates in May, she plans to stay in the United States to pursue
another graduate degree in international relations and journalism.
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- Smith College, where you can enjoy your campus life like a Dream!"
That was the catchy phrase I noticed recently in the December 1996 issue
of JJ, a popular women's fashion magazine published in Japan.
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- Eagerly looking inside for the illustrated article, titled "Visit
to the Distinguished Seven Sisters," I found that Smith and Wellesley
College were the main subjects, chosen because they are known worldwide
as the alma maters of several First Ladies of the United States. I was
suddenly fascinated and eager to see how one Japanese women's magazine
might describe a celebrated American liberal arts college such as Smith.
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- The problem was, I was soon disappointed. The coverage was not only
sloppy but very superficial. It did not convey the richness of academic
life at an American liberal arts college but was simply a report of the
fashionable lifestyle of some students at Smith. These reporters missed
a perfect chance to introduce young Japanese readers to a real inside look
at American women's baccalaureate colleges, a subject about which the Japanese
general public knows very little.
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- What's more, they did not photograph Japanese students or interview
them about their lives at Smith. They also failed to notice the serious
parts of American college life, such as the regular semester schedule,
academic assignments and the exam system. If I had been the reporter, I
would have pointed out the use of the honor code at Smith during exams.
In Japan, professors supervise undergraduate students in exam rooms to
prevent cheating.
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- The JJ journalists also failed to notice two other distinctive
opportunities at Smith: student employment and internships. In Japan, both
in public and private institutions, campus jobs are all held by full-time
professionals. Students do not have the opportunity for on-the-job experience.
I think the idea of campus employment and on-campus internships should
be introduced to Japanese colleges and universities because both students
and administrators could benefit from these cooperative educational programs.
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- Our brain citadel, Neilson Library, was mentioned only briefly. From
my perspective, an American college library is the most fascinating aspect
of a student's academic life, not only in terms of the numbers of books,
but also because it provides such easy access to all sorts of information.
In Japan, I remember the difficulty I had when I tried to check out books
and documents that belonged to an academic department other than my own
or to a graduate body of my university. The due date always came too fast,
and I never could check out enough books at one time.
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- Recently, a Japanese newspaper article mentioned the differences between
Japanese and American libraries. Traditionally, Japanese libraries are
considered to exist for the preservation of resources, not primarily for
students' academic advancement. At my home university, Doshisha University
in Kyoto, professors and graduate students had most of the library borrowing
privileges to conduct their research; they clearly had better access. In
American colleges, students start their first serious academic research
as undergraduates; such research is reserved for graduate students in Japan.
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- What perhaps embarrassed me the most in the magazine article (and then
made me laugh) was the statement "Even the first years must go to
the library after classes to study." Yes, it's true, most first-year
students in Japanese colleges and universities do not need to be serious
in their academic course work until about a month before the examination
period.
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- Typically, in Japan, you are encouraged to enjoy the freedom of college
life after you have made it through the severe and extremely competitive
preparation period required for college entrance examinations and before
you are expected to begin the stressful hunt for a job and, in most cases,
to commit for a lifetime to that "first job." But once you are
settled in at college, you can relax. You go out every two or three days
after school for dinner and drinks with juniors and seniors who belong
to the same student clubs. Clubs are for recreation; whether the focus
is playing tennis, speaking English or rehearsing as a student rock band,
it doesn't matter.
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- Social life, not academics, dominates the life of many a Japanese college
student. Consequently, you have to be extremely self-motivated to be a
high academic achiever in college.
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- A photo caption in the JJ article made another point about Smith
women I found interesting because it applies the Japanese point of view
and assumes it is unusual for a woman to desire physical fitness. It said,
"We are also confident in our physical strength! Though we are in
a women's college, we are strong in Rugby, Tennis and Lacrosse!" Although
the reporters are supposedly quoting Smith students, I don't think this
kind of comment would ever be made by an American woman.
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- For students at Smith, to be physically fit is commonplace; it is not
a special attribute or an exceptional goal to strive for. Physical strength
is something anyone can have. Perhaps the Japanese writers found this quest
for fitness and love of competition among Smith women surprising because
in Japan this is not valued by college women. There, most women students
play tennis and lacrosse only as a way of socializing, or being "cool"
and fashionable.
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- Finally, although the reporters traveled far from Japan to come to
the United States and observe Smith and the lives of its students, their
report was disappointing because it did not go beyond the superficial scope
of most Japanese fashion magazines, which often misrepresent many facts
of American life.
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- Of course, you can say, "Well, this is just a popular magazine
that we do not have to take too seriously." But I do take it seriously,
because it is yet another example of poor journalism. It leaves me cynical
and concerned about the vast role the media can play in forming public
opinion.
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