英米　１年
I want to express my appreciation to Avril sensei. Her lecture was so interesting because it was almost the first time to hear real stories from a black educator. Her stories were full of surprises. Even now I feel astonished when I get news about discrimination. Everyone should know that there is no difference between the black and the white (of course and the yellow), but why does such discrimination occur? Hearing the story of her friends, I felt sad and swore I will never do that in my heart. The most impressive story was the incident she experienced in the JR station. I really admire her for her ability to take action. Although she may have been upset when the clerk talked only to her friend, I think most people would not cry out against that kind of things. However, she did so by sending a letter. Thanks to that, workers in JR must have started to take care of their behavior and I believe many black people will be comfortable with them. What she did was just writing, but her action was a great leap for equality.

英米　２年
Thank you for grateful presentation today. As Ms. Matsui said, most Japanese people have negative image of black people and racial prejudice. This is because they look like different from Japanese people. People in Japan tend to judge people just by appearances. Maybe we Japanese don’t know how to get in touch with those who are not Japanese. Moreover, there are few opportunities for us to get close to people who have different cultures. I think everyone should think about racial prejudice and consider about this. Once they do some activities like this, they’ll never ignore black people again. Compared to the UK, a country with a lot of immigrants, Japan is a country with few immigrants. However, along with globalization, Japan will become more a diverse country. For people, going to a foreign country and living there is a big decision. We must accept and respect everyone.

英米　２年
I was glad to hear this precious presentation. I understood there is racial discrimination in Japan and black foreigners can be discriminated against in their daily life. As she said, the clerk talked only to a white foreigner, which made shocked me. Also, some universities do not hire black foreigner teachers. I think if black foreigners are hired as well as white foreigners in a university, they can offer a different perspective, so students can learn more. The number of foreigners who move to Japan has increased dramatically, therefore I think that Japanese people should respect the opinions of foreigners and communicate with them. Also, it is effective for the Japanese government to introduce classes about multi-culturalism into the schools.

英米　２年
Today, we had speech about English teaching and black teachers who are women. That was very interesting because it was related to teachers and English. These days, thanks to globalization, we can see many people from foreign countries in Japan. However, unfortunately, there are not only good points for them living in Japan, but also bad points, such as discrimination. I think it is not possible for us to erase that mindset immediately. However, I don’t think there are reasons why we should discriminate against them. I think it is good to have differences from each other, such as looks, languages, and so on. I want to meet as many kinds as people as I can and get to know many people in the future and I want to teach them Japanese or English if I can to help their lives become easier.

英米　３年
Thank you very much for your presentation today. Although I disagreed with the presenter’s opinion that English teachers in Japan are not that diverse considering that I have been taught by all types of teachers through my education in Japanese public schools, I had much to agree with the presentation content. Discrimination against foreigners in Japan is a matter which cannot be just washed off by some policies and laws, but it can only be resolved through a change in people’s perceptions. I myself have faced several discriminations now and then as someone who holds a passport from a different nation. Although I look Japanese, speak the language perfectly and go to university in Japan, bank tellers or the staff in the local library for example would turn their behavior towards me upside down as soon as they figure out that I do not have Japanese nationality. From some ordinary girl I am always turned into some freak who somehow manages to speak Japanese quite well. Thus, as I agree with today’s presenter’s point that people should be eager to treat people equally no matter how they look or what language they speak, I believe there is more that can be done which is to change stereotypes. But how do we do that? I have once written a paper on the British national identity reflected in the London Olympics opening ceremony and have discovered that Britain in fact does promote the idea that she is a multicultural nation as seen by the ending of the spectacular ceremony. Considering that millions of people around the world have watched this spectacle on their televisions at home, how come people still regard Britain as some country filled with white skinned, blue eyed and blond-haired people? I have concluded even though this relatively new image of multicultural Britain has hit millions of people at this one special time, it was still not enough to change the solid stereotype behind it. The reason is simple in my perspective. Taking when you see acknowledged films based in Britain for instance, you barely see the multicultural aspect of Britain. Although there is some diversity in the cast of the Harry Potter films, which I consider to be one of the most famous British films of all times, the main characters still physically fit the typical British stereotype. Entertainment planforms such as films and books impact people’s way of seeing things at an unconscious level. I am pretty sure that loads of people around the world were filled with the urge to go to Britain and see the dreamy world of Harry Potter once they saw the films. This curiosity brought in by entertainment could be used in a positive way. What if we brought in the barely seen multiculturality into the entertainment world? This might not change one’s society in seconds but at least it would lead people to get off the stereotypes and possibly stop judging someone’s nationality by what they look like. This could lead to a fairer treatment towards all people in all societies, which is a thing I long dream of experiencing one day.

英米　４年
Thank you for amazing presentation Mrs. Matsui. I really enjoyed it. I was so surprised that there are still some barriers because of skin color when foreign people get a job in Japan. and I was shocked that Japanese people are rude to (or discriminate against) foreigners, but they didn't notice, as you told us about the story of JR. At that time you told us the story, I thought what I should do to avoid that unconscious discrimination and rude attitude. And I totally agree with your answer that we should behave to foreigners in the same way as we do to Japanese. In addition, I think, from my experience when I stayed in Australia, it would be happier that when we talk to foreigners in Japanese, we should speak slowly and clearly, and use easy words, which would make better communication. Lastly, I missed an opportunity to ask a question in today's class, so I'd like to write down here. I often have the opportunity to talk with foreigners when I work part time in a cafe or restaurant. And I often wonder if I should talk to them in English or Japanese. I think like that because they look like foreign persons for me (not Japanese) but if they can speak in Japanese fluently, they may not feel happy when I talk to them in English. So my question is, "Are you happy if Japanese people talk to you in English or Japanese?"

ドイツ　１年
I noticed I had a lot of prejudice and held a lot of stereotypes though today’s class. In fact, my English teacher image is funny, kind, white, and comes from the UK, USA or Australia. I’m ashamed that I had such image. I don’t care where English teachers come from, but maybe this opinion was created because I didn’t think about teachers except those that fit my image. I also noticed that some problems are trivial for me but not for other people. I should never forget this awareness. No one has same way to thinking and feeling. I learned if we have dissatisfaction with something, raising our voice is important to change from negative to positive. We don’t need to bear being treated badly. But I think too big a voice will arouse the hostility of people. We need to find a suitable degree.

中国　２年
Today’s speaker talked about her research and experiences as a black woman in Japan. She spoke as if students were in the same room with her and talked to each of us with gestures. As for her self-introduction, I felt her affection towards her job and her students. I can imagine if she sees children in her class, it would cause an avalanche and overflow of smiles on their faces. As for her experiences, it was so thought-provoking. She is such an eloquent speaker, and she talked about them with all smiles. That’s why even if controversial, I felt like I saw her feelings and experiences that are hardly shown in public. We have learned about black history caused by discrimination or stereotype. We have watched some videos of child workers in a lousy environment. However, we haven’t seen the opposite aspect. The guest speaker’s words of “Africa is not a country” clearly tell what I want to say. What impressed me is that she never blamed those who don’t know “the facts.” She said what we see from the media or textbook makes stereotype so it can’t be helped. While listening to her speech, I remembered my experience that I was looked down on by some UK people. I know these kinds of problems don’t become other peoples’ business until they have experienced it firsthand. Attention is drawn to these issues by the fact that in the USA, Joe Biden won the election. Now is the best time to talk about these difficult topics. I haven’t had a heart-to-heart talk about difficult issues. After listening to her speech, I would like to talk with her, who likes to talk about difficult topics, feels proud of herself, and can talk about their reality.

国際関係
Mrs. Avril, thank you for giving me a wonderful presentation! What you said about a seat next to foreigner being empty was very interesting for me because I saw that scene in the subway last week. A black man sat in the subway. The people around him stared at him curiously and the seat next to him was empty. I’m in the International Relations department, so I thought about why the people was looking at him curiously. The man is also a human as we are. However, in my case, I didn’t learn what attitude I should take to these people in school. At least, I’m studying about multicultural coexistence and cultural understanding, so I can see the man as the same as I am but it’s maybe difficult for ordinary Japanese people to do it because they lived without the information about foreign people. Therefore, the most important things for getting rid of an empty next to foreigners is developing education about multicultural coexistence and cultural understanding in Japan.

留学生
Avril Matsui is a person who has been teaching to every age, and who loves what she does. But in her stay in Japan, she has felt many times different, and this is because she is a black woman living in a country where it is unusual to see an African descendant person. In today’s class, we learned about the diversity of English Language Teaching in Japan, but as a black woman. She talked about cultural diversity, the difference in treatment, stereotypes, and how Japanese can make the foreigners feel included into Japan’s society. The first thing Ms. Matsui mentions is about the image Japanese have about English speakers or people that are British. We saw a book where there were images of UK, but there were only white people. Japanese may think that English is a white language, and this is not true. There’s a big diversity of people who are born British and who speak a perfect English, despite their physical appearance. Matsui also mentions that there’s a difference in treatment. People would approach to her and make her feel like a rock star, but sometimes they would ask questions out of place. She even had a problem with a JR clerk who refused to talk to her just because she looked different. She didn’t talk only about herself; we had testimonies shown to us about other black women living in Japan who experienced similar situations. It is amazing how Ms. Matsui talks about this, and how even when she had different kind of situations, at the end she is still going and happy of getting to know Japan’s culture. Being a black woman teaching English has had its positives. Ms. Matsui is able to teach from different perspectives, and even talk about some topics that may seem taboo for many. She mentioned that this sometimes made the relationships in the classroom much better, so it was beneficial. This made me wonder if I could talk about some of these topics too when teaching English. I would definitely like to hear my student's opinions on this. Lastly, we talked about cultural stereotypes and how to include foreigners into Japan’s society. It’s almost impossible to not have a stereotype in mind when going to another country, or when getting to know a foreigner. But, we should treat them the same way we treat other people so that they feel a part of it, and to avoid making them feel alienated from everyone. This was an amazing talk, and I loved absolutely every part of what Matsui told us. As a new foreigner in Japan, I too have experienced this in my short stay of 1 week, and I believe I will experience more of this. Hearing what she said inspired me to keep going, and to embrace what is about to come to my life. One phrase that lingers in my mind that Matsui said is, “if you do not use your voice, nothing won’t happen.”