Tamabi Over

I feel happy that I don't have to wake up early to take the train to Hashimoto every Wednesday (a journey of approx 1.5 hours door to door), to teach two classes to Arts Studies students at Tama Art University.
I feel sad that I will not be seeing the students any longer, who over five months, I have come to know and learn from.
I went for a drink with several of the students after the final class. I learnt that one works part time as a 'Bunny Girl' in a prestigious bar in Ginza. Several have also formed a small circle which meets and holds music listening sessions in pitch blackness etc. Several others were keen to help me realise my peaceful re-enactment of Operation Downfall (see below post) from the coasts of Chiba and Kanagawa to central Tokyo. I suggested we carry only custard pies and walkie talkies. Someone suggested that some people should also 'play' the Japanese side, which would probably make things more tense.
I found that, on average, at least one student falls asleep during every class. Sometimes I gently wake them.
One third year student made me a 12 CD compilation of post-war Japanese popular music - from early jazz and enka through to hip hop and electronica. This is quite amazing, and has helped me chart a way through this terrain, which until now, had been very partially mapped.
From September I go back to teaching art management students at Musashino Art University. Last year, I made a point of asking one student to 'curate' the room each session - they were free to decide on the layout of the room, whether we sat on chairs, the floor, where I spoke from etc. It worked. I think I will continue this.
Having taught at art universities for two years now, I feel that on the whole they can be incredibly experimental and flexible places. There are also ways to get normally silent undergraduates to speak. I hope to continue probing the spaces in between lectures, seminars, workshops and lounges.