Let’s interview Mr. Hamauzu, he had brought up his children when he was graduate student (3)

When we have our children who couldn’t get along without cooperating one another, we can make the community. 

I interviewed Professor Shinji Hamauzu (Graduate School of Letters, Department of Ethics and Clinical Philosophy), he had brought up his children some 30 years ago, when he was a doctoral program student. In the final chapter, he told his studying abroad, academic conference participation and connection with the locals after his children had grown up a little. （Reporter: KatsuraNoguchi, Translator: Su）

 ―――Would you tell me your experience studying abroad? 

Hamauzu: As soon as I completed the doctoral program without degree, I went abroad to study for 2 years. At first, we planned to go to Germany together. My wife applies to the Japanese school, I apply to Der Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst for studying abroad, and if everything go well…we thought so, but it was undecided which country the applicants to the Japanese school were assigned to. So, we thought that we got in trouble if we were assigned to different countries. We looked up lots of things, but it turned out difficult for us to be assigned to the same country. So, we gave up this idea and I went abroad by myself.

　　 I didn’t remember my daughter crying, especially when I went to Germany. Well, that was because she was 2 years old and couldn’t grasp a situation. She mightn’t have understand the meaning “I won’t return home for a while,” at all. Well, when I returned from abroad 2 years later, she looked me thinking “Who is this? Who on earth is this man?” sure enough, ha-ha. 

　　I have often seen the students bringing their children to the university since I went to Northern Europe, rather than when I was in Germany. In Northern Europe, I felt that some students held their baby with a sling and hanged out in a university. At that time, we didn’t really see the students with children in Germany, for it was 30 years ago. However, I felt that many people went to university and did their research and study even if they became 40 or 50 years old. That was because, even now, we needn’t pay tuition fees in Germany. And I often saw some people with children playing on the lawn of the university campus. University was the place which was within the town, didn’t have any walls and general citizen hanged out at. I didn’t know which person was student because “park in the university” was the same as general parks. Some of them might be the family of the university students. 

　　Conversely, I became a faculty member now. A few years ago, I met an exchange student of doctoral program, whose partner was also an exchange student. She gave birth to a child and must write her doctoral thesis. Besides, her child got sick with various diseases, so she had a hard time. Because of this, her parents came and stayed for a period of time, or they brought her baby to their homeland temporarily. I think that they had a hard time. If I remember correctly, they couldn’t leave their children with a nursery school. Fortunately, she finished writing her thesis, complete the doctoral course and got a job in her homeland. The persons who are raising their children in the serious situation, not only exchange students but also the ones who don’t have parents to rely on and rather have to look after their grandparents, might be in a similar position to students study abroad.

 ―――When your children had a fever, how did you deal with the academic conference participation on Saturday and Sunday? 

Hamauzu: When the eldest daughter was from 2 to 3 years old, I went to Germany by myself and my wife brought her up. However, my wife’s parent’s home was 2 hours away by car. When they were in trouble, grandparents came there and took care of my daughter. In particular, when my daughter had a fever, the nursery school wouldn’t look after her. Well, when I was in Japan, the same thing happened. When my daughter had a fever, I was completely helpless.

　　 I wished for sick child day care which looked after my children when they got sick, but no such place existed at that time. After that, it was about 10 years ago, I got a glimpse of “Assembly of sick child day care” and received a brochure which said “There are so many sick child day cares all over Japan.” I thought “Oh, it finally became available.” When I brought up my children, if they had a fever but I must go to an academic meeting, we adjusted the time each other and managed to get through; “I take care of them in the morning and my wife do in the afternoon” or reverse our shifts. 

　　Basically, I had never taken my children to an academic meeting nor a research society. When I attended a conference, my wife generally was at home. If we couldn’t make it, I didn’t go any longer. We did like that. Fortunately, my wife was an elementary school teacher, so she worked a half day on Saturdays and was off on Sundays. In that sense, I didn’t have difficulty going to academic meetings. 

　　I think, although I went to graduate school while bringing up my children, I was blessed with a good environment. That was because my wife was a breadwinner and made an environment in which I could devote myself to academic research. The person who entered the graduate school at the same time as me, as I said in the beginning, must earn by himself and gave up research jobs after all. Well, although he dropped out and worked at the cram school, he might have earned a much higher income than me, it might have been all right as one thought, somehow. 

 ―――Were you connected with the locals?

Hamauzu: When my daughter was in a nursery school, I would attended the conferences because Emile valued the connection between parents. However, it was not until she went to an elementary school that I didn’t feel the connection with the locals strongly. 

　　“She began to go to an elementary school.” It has become tough since then. Nursery school looks after children until 5 p.m. However, elementary school closes earlier. My home was deep in the mountains, at the furthest end of elementary school district and 50 minutes away on foot of children. On her way to school, some streets were unfrequented. A latchkey child has difficulty going to school, so we decided to let her go after-school activity from first grade. 

　　After-school activity has been enhanced now, but it was still privately-managed at that time. All things were under private management, so we had to contribute money to operating costs, secure a place and instructors. We did all things by ourselves; found a house, looked for cooperators, established our management system and shared the monthly expenses. There were various circumstances and everybody couldn’t get along without cooperating one another, so I thought that something like cooperation of community powerfully worked there. Because it cost us much, in order to reduce a burden as much as possible, we brought gifts which were not used and handmade things, displayed them on a lot of bazaars and took turns selling them. 

　　In addition, I happened to undertake the chairperson of after-school activity. When we had to leave the house which we had rented, I made a petition to city council members of a district. Just then, after-school activity gradually changed from private management to “public-build and private-operate,” that is, school secured the place, and in some cases, permitted us to use classrooms for after-school activity. Some classrooms began to become vacant. School found advising teachers, but we had to pay the expenses. The systems began to change over to such a form. Accelerating this movement, we went to a city council and appealed to “establish and manage them publicly” if possible. Like that, the local parents who raised their children of approximately the same age interacted actively with one another, so it seemed like a community. 

　　I think that it is tough for parents and children to do their best in an isolated state without community. Now that I live alone in the apartment in Toyonaka, especially in Osaka, even though people live in the same housing developments, less than 20 percent put up a nameplate on the mailbox and some don’t do on the door. They know neither their neighbor’s family name nor occupation each other. Even if they greet neighbors, they never exchange words with residents on the different floors. I think there is an aspect that it is children and the elderly who make this network or connection. People of productive-age, who are working, have little to do with something like community any longer, don’t they? When we have our children, we can make a connection. So I want to cherish it. 

（Fin.）