Tokonatsu Conbook 2016

TOKONATSU
2016

Editor’s letter
Welcome to the 2016 Tokonatsu convention booklet. I have received a selection of
wonderful submissions this year, an insight into teaching in Japan, artwork
revolving around the event and fantasy themes, and also a touching article about
Tokonatsu itself.
This year Tokonatsu has undergone some major changes. There is now a new house
system. The houses Red Phoenix, Blue Dragon, Green Turtle and Orange Tiger will
carry on from year to year, rather than new houses every year. Also in order to
expand and improve, the event is no longer fully catered for by Tokonatsu.
Breakfast is still included and will be available every morning, however for the rest
of the day food vans will visit the campsite and the tuck shop will also be open at
various times as well. The main building used for HQ, will now also be used as an
arcade and video games room, which I’m very much looking forward to.
There is also a local pub down the road, that I took shelter in during the
thunderstorm last year. After assembling a tent in the rain which is not an
experience I care to repeat, a good hot meal can make all the difference. Luckily the
weather improved as the weekend progressed.
Hoping for a storm free Tokonatsu this year.
Hayley Warner
(Conbook Editor)
SPECIAL THANK you TO MVM
Tokonatsu would like to thank MVM for their continued support and for providing
the anime that will be shown at this year’s event. They have also kindly sent DVDs
to be won as prizes. Please check out their online shop at www.anime-on-line.com
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INDEX
Page 1 – Cover
Page 2 – Editor’s Letter and Special Thank You to MVM
Page 3 – Index
Page 4 – Gaijin Life in the Countryside (Sam Haley)
Page 8 – Tokonatsu Houses (SketchieGambit)
Page 10 – Tokonatsu Night & Day (Abigail Horn)
Page 12 – A place that feels like home (Sean Tooman)
Page 14 – Team Red Phoenix Banner (Abigail Horn)
Wasp (Razorwind)
Page 15 – Daydreamer (K. BASS ART)
Page 16 – Map of Tokonatsu
Links to Artists Websites
hayleywarner.carbonmade.com
SketchieGambit.deviantart.com
www.facebook.com/kbassart
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Tokonatsu 2015 by Russell Fenton

adjusting to life teaching English in rural japan
There is something about visiting Japan as a foreigner – or “gaijin” – that many of
us have probably experienced whilst there, no matter the length of the visit. We are
visually different. In cities like Tokyo or Osaka, there is a buzz of busy human life;
yet unlike the UK, it is the white who are in the minority. Every Asian appearance is
assumed to be a Japanese resident (and unsurprisingly so, when only a stunning
1.22% of the Japanese population are foreign residents) and people of any other
racial background are scarce.
When I first stepped off my flight after landing in Narita and a wave of humid
summer heat spread over my tired eyes, I knew that this wasn't going to be the
same as life at home in the UK. I was embarking on a journey which I don't think I
was quite fully prepared for, as evidenced by me breaking down into tears when I
finally reached my hotel bed. Looking out of the window at the concrete jungle of
Tokyo was an overwhelming feeling. This was
my first time in Japan, and I'd be staying here
for a year. Alone.
Two days of gruelling lectures, life advice and
Japanese language study tips ensued. I was
swallowed by the humidity as, even in the
hotel, it seemed as if Japanese people feared
to use their AC lest the energy police come
and shout at them for not sweating to death
like the rest of the country. But then it came;
the day where we all got shipped off to our
new homes for the year, the day everyone
had been waiting for. I hopped on the Joetsu
line bullet train to my new prefecture,
Niigata.
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When I arrived, I was greeted at the station
by some of the staff from my Board of
Education, and two of my three fellow gaijin
co-workers. We drove past mountains and
hills, rice paddy after rice paddy until we
reached my new hometown, Tokamachi.
Tokyo had tourists, this place had none.
Tokyo had English speakers, this place had
barely any. The elderly gathered crops in the
summer haze while school students clad in
uniform wandered by.
People in the inaka – or “countryside” –
although they couldn't speak a word of
English, smiled and said good morning. They
asked me questions about where I come
from and welcomed me to their town, hoped
that I would try their local food, join in with
their community and have fun at their
festivals. So I got stuck in.
One cannot underestimate the initial
struggles of daily life in a country where you don't speak the language. I'd studied
enough to squeeze out a “yoroshiku onegaishimasu” in front of my head teachers,
but I was not prepared for the effect of not being able to read anything beyond
basic Japanese would have on my life. Everything from reading road signs to being
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able to tell the difference between milk and drinking yoghurt became a task for my
online dictionary. It is amazing how many times you'll be told your Japanese is good
for being able to answer basic questions. People in the inaka really love to hear you
speak their language. It's kind of a boost to hear when you're on your way to go fill
out forms at the bank with kanji you don't understand again.
Much the same as I struggled with Japanese, my school children all really struggled
to communicate with me in English. I guess I expected a higher level of English, but
why should they speak English when Japanese is the only thing people speak
around them? That's when it really set in that my job was more a job of inspiration
than of practical English teaching, and that is definitely something that people who
are interested in English teaching in Japan should bear in mind. There is a reason
they don't seek out people with excellent Japanese for these positions – that is their
school teacher's job.
One of my job duties as an English assistant teacher under our city's Board of
Education was to go to as many elementary schools as possible for a one-off daylong
“culture visit”, as they called them. As a result, I got to meet lots and lots of
young Japanese kids, who looked at me
as if I was the strangest thing on their
tiny Japanese-centred planet (and I quite
possibly was!) I was often greeted with
shouts of “TALL” or “WHOA BLUE EYES”
whilst wandering the corridors of
various schools.
In my culture visits, I would talk a little
about the UK, myself and then finally I'd
let the kids ask me any questions for five
or so minutes. I did the same lesson
every time, so I got a little better at
understanding their Japanese questions
and responding to them instead of
relying on my teachers to translate. Of
course, everyone who's spent any time
with children will know that kids will ask
anything they can if they're not limited
by rules, so naturally I didn't impose any
for maximum hilarity. Often these
questions were the standard favourites
of Japanese kids: “are you married?”,
“how old are you?” or even “how many
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children do you have?” (none!) But once or twice
you get the odd wild card. My favourite thus far,
from a third year elementary school girl, was: “Are
the UK preparing for war?” Myself and the other
teachers in the room were pretty stumped by that
one. Am I even well-informed enough to answer
that question? I mean, the UK could be preparing
for war. Who am I to reassure this small Japanese
child? Maybe I looked like someone who came to
Japan to spread war propaganda. I quickly moved
onto the next child who asked me what my
favourite colour was.
When I first pitched my tent at Tokonatsu in the
summer of 2008, I didn't realise just how far my
interest in Japan would take me – even further
than Middlesbrough to Milton Keynes and back, which, at the time, was the longest
journey I'd done in a few years. The friends and memories I've made there over the
years have truly nailed this festival in place in my heart. I hope that you too get to
explore and enjoy Japan in your lifetimes. It's definitely worth the trip.
By Sam Haley
Photos including header: Hanami (Flower Viewing) in Takada Park (also pages 5 and
6), Joetsu Nakano Broadway in Tokyo (page 4), Niigata City Fireworks Festival (page
7).
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Tokonatsu 11 Night & Day by Abigail Horn

A place that feels like home
I have been going to Tokonatsu since it began. As a 13 year old I was overly excited
about going to an event, as I hadn’t been to any before and it was all about
something I loved, anime. This was back in the time when my parents had to pay
for things and I had to get their permission. I had also not been camping before so
all in all, I will admit I was a bit scared. I was wondering if the people would be nice,
are their people my age, what if I don’t like it and all the usual stuff when you’re
doing something new.
So the time came to go to Toko, I had packed everything and more, worried I
wouldn’t have enough things for a weekend, and when I arrived at the site in
Milton Bryan I remember it was the most glorious sunny day I had seen in ages.
People setting tents up, chatting with each other and
playing Frisbee. After seeing this I started to relax
more. I realised that I was worried for no real reason
and I just enjoyed my little holiday away from school,
exams, and had my first real independent adventure. I
had choices to do events or just relax with people or
watch screenings in the anime tent. I honestly didn’t
know what to do so I just floated around.
I remember on the Sunday feeling really sad when it
was the closing ceremony as the weekend was
ending. I felt refreshed, had a tan and had made some
new friends and was feeling really happy and told
myself that I want to come again next year. So a year
passes and I can’t remember how it came about but I
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ended up gophering. So for my second Toko I was helping out and remember that I
ended up in the kitchen. When helping set up I distinctly remember feeling nervous
about serving the food because I really didn’t know how to talk to people or how to
strike up a conversation. So the time came and I remember I just kind of found
something I was happy with saying, and went with it. I realised after about 20
minutes I was actually doing fine and so over the course of the weekend I began to
talk more with people who were gophering and the committee. I didn’t realise at
the time that some of these people would become really good friends of mine, and
again we came to the end of the weekend and I just wanted to keep going.
Over the next few years my life takes a drastic change at home but I always looked
forward to going to Tokonatsu and gophering. I actually began talking to more
people and making more friends and I realised that the timid little me wasn’t there
anymore. I had a place that no matter what happened in the world always felt like
home. A few years down the line I felt I wanted to enjoy Toko as an attendee and so
took a step down from gophering and I began to enjoy the events more. Playing
Toko Disk, Otaku Royale on the odd occasion and its always funny seeing active hot
fixes for games because someone broke it last time. Over this time I began to see
new faces and I became a social butterfly, talking to so many people, getting to hear
different stories of their triumphs and of their woes.
At some point I began to realise that we are all growing up, people are starting to
get careers and go off to university and buy houses. The event changes as people
leave the committee and others take over and Tokonatsu continues to grow into
something beautiful. As we begin to see a new wave of youngsters attend, it brings
me so much joy thinking that this event could become as important to someone
else like it did me. It became my sanctuary away from life, a place to rest and enjoy
things with people
like me, people who
most of the time
might be behind a
screen or seeing the
world. The event is
nearing how old I
was when I started
going to it, there is
such a great
community spirit
here that I’ve not
really seen anywhere
else. It been a place
that’s showed me a
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world that I first thought I could never really live in and be happy but from that
seed I’ve now moved from my home town and following my heart. Life feels like it’s
moving at a million miles per hour but I always know where home will be.
By Sean Tooman (Colmy)
Photos kindly provided by Russell Fenton, Jordan Shepherd and Naomi Phillips.
Team Red Phoenix Banner by Abigail Horn
Wasp by Razorwind
Edo font was created by Vic Fieger and used with their permission.
www.vicfieger.com
Legal: all content inside this booklet is the copyright of it’s respective owner. All
design and editorial content is the copyright of Hayley Warner & Tokonatsu. No
content, in part or in whole, may be reproduced without the permission of the
original creator.
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Daydreamer by K. BASS ART

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