Field Notes from My Master's Project in Japan 1997: Week 1

Week One
The Preparation for heading to Kawabe, Japan to work on my Master's Project
July 22, 1997

Preparation for this project began in October when I first got the idea that I wanted to return to the small town in Japan where I had lived six years before. Little did I know the amount of preparation that doing an independent project would entail, not to mention the amount of capital that I would need in order to finance the project. This first chapter of field notes just summarizes how I prepared.

Funding Preparation
This project was ambitious; I knew this from the start. One of my biggest initial hurdles was funding. To begin addressing this, I applied for every scholarship I qualified for: Overseas Press Club, National Federation of Press Women, American Association of University Women, Fuji, Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, Zeta Phi Beta, Duffy Fund. In addition, I started to amass a list of contacts that could possibly offer other forms of support.

I received support from the Overseas Press Club, Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, Fuji, and the Duffy Fund. I am still waiting to hear from Zeta Phi Beta. I also received 200 rolls of film from Kodak for the project and a stand-by ticket from San Francisco to Tokyo from my friends.

Contacts

I have spent the last three months gathering contact names and reconnecting with acquaintances in both Tokyo and Kawabe. Mr. Bob Kirshenbaum is my on-site supervisor; Jodi Cobb gave me his name.

I placed an ad in a free bulletin called "Tokyo Bulletin" saying that I was looking for a place to stay in Tokyo when I come into town once a month. Several interesting people contacted me via e-mail. One reply came from a Kansas City couple who are living in Tokyo for several years. I will stay with them when I am in Tokyo. Other replies came from a female computer programmer, a female college student, and a film maker.