In 2002, Matthew Nighswonger, a current teacher at Shadow Ridge High School, left on a journey to teach government in Japan just two months after he graduated from Idaho State. After signing his first year contract to teach there, it was official, Nighswonger was going to Japan!

 As Nighswonger experienced day to day life in Japan, he realized that he now had a different role in their society than he did as a teacher in America. 

Nighswonger said, “I experienced being a minority. I feel like that has given me a unique perspective.” 

Experiencing life from this new point of view where he was the odd one out allowed Nighswonger to become much more empathetic and grow himself as a person. 

Even as the minority in Japan, Nighswonger was still treated with a lot of respect from the students. 

Nighswonger explains, “Teachers are referred to as ‘sensei.’ This word comes with a lot of respect and reverence. It automatically evokes respect, unlike here in America.” He noted this as it was a significant difference than how American students treat their teachers.

Another difference was that school was not a place to learn everything. Students who wanted to attend college were responsible for going to cram school (Juku) where they would learn what they needed in order to get to college. Most of what Nighswonger taught was just memorization.

“Japanese students aren’t smarter or better than American students,” Nighswonger explains. “Japanese students who are going to go to college dedicate themselves to school. They don’t have time for jobs or a lot of free time. This is both good and bad. Teens are teens, they drive adults crazy everywhere in the world.” 

Even though Japanese students are more focused on school, they still are normal kids who are just like the American students that Nighswonger teaches. 

As much as Nighswonger loves Japan, he says, “I would not live there for more than six months at this point in my life.” 

He has gotten too accustomed to the American lifestyle and it would be too hard of a shift for him to do again.   

“I was looking for a culture shock,” says Nighswonger. And that is definitely what he found. He loved Japan and taught his students there all about American culture. The Japanese students loved to hear all about American football and what the day to day life was like in America. Nighswonger’s love for the experience in Japan is what kept him there for an additional two years and what still sways him to visit with his family now whenever he can even if it’s not for long periods of time.