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21 1 Institutional Selves Women Teachers Sasaki-san drew her brush in an orange spiral of ink to mark the wellrounded corner of a large, black Japanese character drawn by a first-year student. She flew across the classroom to pin it up among the rows of characters in the back of the room. The mothers would be coming tomorrow to see the students’ work and she wanted to let them know how hard the students and she had been working. She glanced up at the large characters she had written above: “Persevere with strong spirit!” Meant for the students, they were an encouragement for her too.1 Fourth period was her only break in the day, and she tried to use it efficiently because after school she had calligraphy club and then several private students at home. She wanted so much to do well in these first years of teaching—in part to remain in the good favor she currently enjoyed. Often teachers got posted to schools on the coast or in the mountains for their first assignment, places that would have taken her three or four hours away from home in this rural northeast prefecture. Pleading the case that her mother needed her near, Sasaki-san had gotten a job in the main city at the leading girls’ school, currently rated second in the city just as its name showed. Her prizes in Japanese calligraphy had not hurt her effort, but her careful networking with superiors had also helped. Finishing the student papers, Sasaki-san scurried across the cold hall to the faculty room where most of the teachers and the vice-principal did their work at their desks. She gave a bright greeting and bowed slightly to the teachers occupying the desks beside hers as she tidied her desk a bit. In fact she rarely used it because she was one of the few teachers to have a desk in her own room; most rooms belonged to the students whose homeroom spaces teachers visited for classes. She was 22 Institutional Selves grateful for a place of her own away from the eyes of senior teachers and the vice-principal. Nonetheless, she made sure to come over for the short morning meetings led by the principal and at least once a day to make tea. She made her way to the small kitchen at the back of the room and poured a tray of teacups. First she took one on a special saucer to the vice-principal who sat at the center of the room. “Please give me the honor of serving you this tea,” she said in honorific Japanese as she bowed and placed the cup on his desk. His body bobbed a bit in acknowledgment as he put out his cigarette. “Ah, thanks! Japanese tea! The best!” he said, saying “Japanese tea” in accented English because a new American teacher had come. Sasaki-san covered her mouth and laughed politely. She took the opportunity of his good humor to “humbly ask for his permission” to take a day off next month for a calligraphy contest that she would go to in Tokyo. He made a slight face of distaste but agreed she could go this time. “Just remember that your main responsibility is to this school,” he said a bit gruffly. Sasaki-san assured him eagerly that this was so and backed away, bowing her thanks. Sasaki-san delivered teacups to other teachers working in the room, stopping to talk a bit with several. “Have you heard of that new noodle shop up on the main street? Shall we order noodles from there today?” asked a young male math teacher. “Ah! It’s early for lunch! Always thinking of food, aren’t you?” teased an older male social studies teacher. “How about it, Sasaki-san? I’ll call and order noodles. Won’t you have some today?” Sasaki-san thought quickly. She had a lunch box that her mother had filled for her in her room. They liked to economize as much as they could. On the other hand, this was a good chance to socialize a bit with the teachers in her group. She was in a group of eight teachers, all male except for her, responsible for the first-year students. Their desks in the faculty room were clustered together and they met regularly about how to advise the first-year students. The older social studies teacher was the head. Sasaki-san remembered that...

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