By Erica Jones

It had been exactly a year since I watched the koto class play at the school festival. I remember being completely amazed by the sound: it was so beautiful and so Japanese. I also remember the first time I met the koto teacher, Yoriko. It was the same day, actually. She had the loveliest manner, so smiley and warm. She came and sat next to me and talked away to me in Japanese and didn't seem at all bothered that I didn't have a clue what she was saying. I'd only just arrived about a month before and basically couldn't speak a word. She couldn't really speak in English either, but somehow we managed to communicate. With the help of another teacher, I asked if I could try to learn the koto. Yoriko then looked at my hands (because when you play the koto, you wear picks on your fingers) and said that my fingernails were very pretty, and that I should come to the class on Thursday. It made me smile.

I found the koto room at school and went along on the Thursday after the festival. I sat down and looked around and just thought “What the hell am I doing here?!” The students were shy, I was shy, Yoriko spoke in Japanese. Plus, the music was written in kanji for the 13 strings and arranged in columns, from right to left. I hate the feeling of being out of my comfort zone, the feeling of when I try something new and I just can't do it because it's the first time. I was so frustrated! But, I stayed during lunchtime after the class and tried to figure out the song. I couldn’t read the kanji with any kind of speed so I tried to write the Arabic numerals beside them. Yoriko then said,“ No! My grandson is five. He can read it, so you can read it too.”

Every week I went to class and we spent lunchtime together. I got her to record tapes of the songs so I could practice without her during the week. We did this every week and managed to communicate with a mixture of Japanese and English. It's amazing how some people at my school can speak fluent English but never speak it to me, while Yoriko and I, using different languages, were able to communicate for hours at a time. Very soon, we became very close.

During one of our lessons, near Christmas time, I talked about my family, my mum who died when I was young and being really homesick at that point. She told me about her son who died last year. I later found out that other teachers at my school didn't even know about it. Even though she came to our school every week and her son had died, the teachers didn't even know that about her. We both cried a little. She said I was like another daughter and she was my Japanese mother.

I would say that Yoriko is the loveliest person in the world, and I'm so lucky to have met her. We see each other at least twice a week now. Once at school and once at her house. She has basically welcomed me into her family. From the start, she was always different from other, usually shy Japanese people. She was always smiley, warm, welcoming and genuine, and funny. The other day when we were having lunch together in the koto room, she realized she’d forgotten her cup for tea. Because she is pretty wealthy, it was hilarious to see her drink tea out of the Tupperware container she’d brought her sandwiches in! Can you imagine your Japanese teachers doing that in front of you?

One year later, I was wearing a yukatta and playing solo parts with the koto class at the school festival. We played 4 songs. Trying to be Japanese at the most important festival of the school year was daunting! For months all the teachers were saying they couldn't wait to hear me play. Then after rehearsal, the day before the festival, one teacher said, “Oh Erica, you have important solo part to play!

Now, in November, I've already started thinking about the reality of possibly leaving next year. It's such a sad thought. It will be sad to say goodbye to the really special people over here who really make a difference. I hope you are all lucky enough to find this connection with at least one person during your time here. My biggest thank you goes out to the most amazing lady in the world, Yoriko sensei!