Vancouver and Kagoshima in Japan

There are a lot of similarities and differences between Vancouver and my hometown, Kagoshima, in Japan. One remarkable difference would be the population of people from different countries. I was very surprised when I came here, because there are many foreign people, including me. However, in Kagoshima, which is in the countryside, we rarely see such people. A further difference to consider is the language that is spoken in each area. In Vancouver, most people speak English because it is the native language(also French). It seems to be natural, but if we talk with people from another countries in Kagoshima, we usually talk in English despite our native language is Japanese. In my opinion, it is not common that foreigners come to Kagoshima to learn Japanese and the proportion of foreigners is quite a few, that is why we talk with them in English. The only thing I am concerned is that we should protect our own language, though English is lingua franca. There are another differences between us, but we have similarities as well. I firmly believe the kindness of people is similar. If we ask the impression of Kagoshima to tourists, most people say that people are bery kind and we can feel confortable. I feel the same thing in Vancouver.

Over the 10 years, globalozation has been changing my hometown. For example, now, we have not only Japanese instruction but English, Chinese, Korean, and French in public washrooms, stores, or the announce of transportation. It means the population of foreigners is increasing and the view is becoming wide. I suppose that kinds of globalization help us to broaden our mind and to develop the country. I am sure that globalization is very important to respect each country or way of thinking and it is the most effective way to make world peace. I hope Kagoshima will be changed in a positive way more and more.