International Field School in Rebun Island

RJE3 program with Rebun Archeological field school was the greatest experience I had through my entire life. Main reason is that it was my first time of being in Japan more that couple of days and my first time experience of continuous and intensive international and intercultural communication. The great thing here is that RJE3 and field school participants were not only Japanese and Russian but also Finnish, Canadian, French, Dutch, American, Taiwanese, Chinese etc. It was amazing how members of such different cultures and specialties communicate and work together.

The good point I find in RJE3 program is its interdisciplinarity. Our lecture course and lecturers themselves have revealed that “interdisciplinarity” is not just a trendy word for hiding chaotic mess of theories and investigations. It was interesting how archeology, ecology, politics and cultural studies combined in such complex research of Northeast Asia and Arctic zone and also how well organized and structured it was. Even if I’m now engaged in archeology or climate sciences I found all the information I learn very exciting and useful for me as a researcher and as a person. Discussions on different topics about Far East and Hokkaido interaction in economic, political and cultural spheres also had a big influence on my mind, so I have a lot of things and new ideas to think about and use them in my own research projects.

I think in future it’s possible to create RJE3 analogues and deepen some specific topics (politics, economics, culture etc.) or expand our topic-list with linguistics, anthropology and philosophy. And of course I want to take a part in such program not only as listener, but as a lecturer too.

Hokkaido University and its campus is a wonderful place to learn and to work. It has a large amount of structural subdivisions practically in every field of knowledge like laboratories and research centers (Ainu or Slavic-Eurasian centers). Unfortunately I had not got enough time to spend in library, but after excursion I consider it also well organized. I hope to work there sometime much more.

Last but not least should me my impressions about Japan and Japanese. Many things I’ve known before my visit were got from literature (Kawabata, Akutagawa, Misima etc.) and Kurosawa’s movies. And I should say that all my expectations were more that confirmed. That aesthetic vibe I got before from Japanese works of art, I exactly found in all the environment, natural landscapes and people. We, the people of other countries, may learn a lot from Japanese especially if it goes about courtesy, friendliness, punctuality and diligence.

Finally I want to thank everyone I met and everyone involved in the organization of RJE3 program. I miss every second of my staying in Japan and feel sad I didn’t choose long-time program. But I hope to continue our teamwork and every kind of interactions as well, come back to Japan as soon as possible and meet all my new friends again.