Mr. Iwase’s Retirement
Well, it seems like all the coolest people on the island are leaving while I’m in London. You see, these islands are considered a really crappy placement that is given to rookie teachers because no-one else wants them. After they serve their three year sentence, they’re allowed to switch to a school on the mainland. People almost invariably choose this path, with a few exceptions.
One of these exceptions, and a seemingly permanent fixture of Oshima, Mr. Iwase, will be retiring at the end of the month. Mr. Iwase is a truly amazing man; he’s been teaching English at Oshima Minami and Oshima High School for thirty-seven years. He’s the most senior state-employed staff member on the island (even the principal addresses him as his superior), and also one of the most humble and understanding people that I’ve ever met. Oh, and his English is absolutely flawless.
Mr. Iwase is currently sixty-three years old. Last year, he ran the Boston Marathon, and next month he will run the Oshima Marathon. One of my first conversations with him went like this:
Me: “So you like to run?”
Iwase: “Yes. I love it. You should come running with me.”
Me: “Sure thing, we’ll go slow.” (I was thinking about him, here)
Iwase: “Yes. Always slow.”
One day and ten kilometers later, I’m starving for oxygen, barely keeping up, and he hasn’t even broken a sweat. Hunched over afterward, I had some questions for him.
Me: “So how often do you run, anyway?”
Iwase: “I have run more than 5k everyday for the past seven-hundred-forty-six days. Usually I’ll run 10k, and if I have a full day, I’ll run 42k (a marathon).”
Me: “What about when there’s a typhoon?”
Iwase: “I run faster so I can get out of the rain.”
Damn.
Since Mr. Iwase has been here since the first JET Program participant arrived in 1985, he has seen fourteen other JETs come and go. He still keeps in touch with every single one of them; he’s our Oshima father-figure.
When I first arrived on Oshima, he was the one that took me all the way around the island to get my things straightened out. He was the one to drive an hour out of his way in the morning to come get me on my first day, and then the hour round-trip back to my house because I forgot my hanko (personal seal/signature thingy). And he was the one that laughed at the “hilarious” prospect of returning when I had forgotten my keys back at the office after we made it all the way across the island (I did manage to ninja my way up my balcony, though).
When I had to go to Tokyo in order to pick up Julia, Mr. Iwase was the one who covered my classes and made it possible. When I told him last month that I was having difficulty with Japanese, he arranged a free teacher for me for two one-and-a-half hour classes each week. When I needed to get internet installed in my apartment, he drove the hour round-trip so that he could translate for the installers.
As far as I know — and this is the gospel truth — Mr. Iwase is utterly incapable of doing wrong. He is my guardian angel here. For some reason, he is the only one who understands the difficulties that I go through on a daily basis. He’s taken it upon himself to be as selfless as possible, and for that I’ll never be able to fully repay him. I know that he will still be on the island, but I will still sorely miss sitting next to him in the office every Tuesday and Thursday.
I am, however, very happy for him; he deserves his retirement more than anyone here. It will give him the needed time to focus on his wife (whom he treats with a devoted and loving kindness that is absent in most Japanese husbands), his running and his carpentry (did I mention that he built his beautiful house and all of his furniture by hand?).
I had the distinct honor of teaching his very last class with him, ending thirty seven years of distinguished service for the the Town of Oshima. During the final moments, every teacher and student in the school crammed into the classroom, and presented him with huge bouquets of flowers and gifts. Teachers made speeches, and everyone in the room except for Iwase was weeping. He is truly loved at Minami High School, and I can only hope that someday I’m half the man that he is.