OLYMPUS TECHNOZONE Vol.65 2005-11
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I used to make my own toys. My favorite school subjects
were science and workshop
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Your work as a teacher who does fascinating science experiments has made you major star. What do see as the origins of this role?
I grew up in the Yoro Valley in Chiba Prefecture. It was really
countryside then. Nowadays it's all golf courses, but back then before Japan
entered its high-growth era of the sixties, the area's hills, fields and
rivers were an endless playground for children.
I'm about the same age as you, and I grew up in a similar environment.
We had all sorts of ways to play. For example, we used to peel
the bark from keyaki tree branches and attach rubber tubes to the branches
them to make slingshots. And we made bows from old bamboo stalks that had
fallen down. These were traditional games that younger children learned from
their seniors when they reached the upper years of elementary school.
When I was at junior high, I got into trouble with the
teachers for sharpening a six-inch nail to make a kind of knife, and for making
ninja throwing stars.
The only school classes I
enjoyed were science and workshop. I built a see-through pump so I could see
how the valves worked, and I remember
trying to ring the bell with an electromagnet that I made.
I did things like that, too. I made a signaling
device. It had a light that went on or off as I flipped the switch.
I would incorporate school experiments and crafts into my play
in my own way. If I had lenses I would try to assemble them to make telescopes.
I managed to make an electromagnet by winding enamel wire around a nail.
I got the wire from the transformer of broken radio. I tried to make a motor
but it was too difficult, and I couldn't get it to turn. I made my play activities
as much like practical science as I could.
The things we used in experiments at school and the experimental
equipment that came with science magazines for children were like treasures
to me. Even when I threw away old equipment I always kept any usable materials,
such as enamel wire. I also had a large collection of magnets.
I remember reusing things from school experiments and workshop activities in my play. I used to get very
excited whenever the science teacher
took us to the laboratory to do simple experiments. I felt like a real scientist.
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