Aran Jones Author, SaySomethingIn

I was feeling pretty nervous as the train pulled out of Bangor station. It had been lovely, at first, to get an invitation to the Japanese Embassy in London, to celebrate the midway point of the Cymru/Japan 2025 project.

When the invitation came through, I decided to brush up on the Japanese I’d learnt in our intensive 10 day ‘Japanuary’ course at the start of the year.

And then I had completely failed to do that.

I had done nothing. I was heading down to London, to stand in a room full of people who might want to know how well our Japanese course worked, and I felt as if I couldn’t remember a single word in Japanese.

I often tell our learners, cheerfully, that it really doesn’t matter how long a break they take from learning. Because the SSi Method requires such effort, it doesn’t take long for all those memories to come back to life when you start again.

So there was a poetic justice in being put on the spot myself.

The train picked up speed, I showed my ticket, and then (with a little internal sigh of self-pity) I resigned myself to seeing how much Japanese would come back to me in about three hours on the train.

They’d set aside a fairly large room for the presentations, but it was already crowded, so I’m sure the organisers were enjoying the relief that kicks in when you know the place won’t be empty. I sat towards the front with Nick, our head of partnerships, clutching the bags of matcha Welshcakes that Nick had made a beeline for the moment we walked in.

The presentations were good. The First Minister and the Japanese Ambassador both spoke warmly and well, we watched a video about the project so far which moved rather beautifully between Japanese, English and Welsh, there was a panel discussion with Welsh business leaders working for or in partnership with Japanese companies, and then an excellent performance from Only Boys Aloud.

We wrapped up the event with drinks, sushi, an appearance by the Expo 2025 mascot Myaku-Myaku, and the chance to chat to some interesting people.

No, you’re right, none of that is particularly startling (although I was impressed at the successful balance between serious and fun).

What really stood out for me, though, far more than I had expected, was the sense of genuine connection.

Ambassador Suzuki, of course, famously sung Hen Wlad fy Nhadau earlier this year, and First Minister Eluned Morgan had responded in kind by singing Kimigayo to welcome the Ambassador to Wales. A small thing, you might think, but it was obvious that both gestures had been deeply appreciated and would be remembered for a long time – and it was equally obvious that they had created a very real connection between the Ambassador and the First Minister.

In a similar way, you could feel the attention sharpening when Only Boys Aloud performed a song in Welsh and Japanese. Language takes effort, so when someone learns some of your language, that effort shows a serious level of respect. When we are seen and respected, we feel connected.

Language isn’t a barrier, as has sometimes been suggested in Wales.

It’s a powerful short-cut to deep connection.

It certainly had an impact on me. We’re going to make our free lessons for Hen Wlad fy Nhadau and Calon Lân available through the medium of Japanese as soon as we can, and when they’re ready we’re going to send them down to the good people at Sony in Bridgend. It’s another small thing, but it will add an extra point of connection to the wider picture.

And in a couple of weeks, Nick will be joining the Welsh government trade mission to Japan, and meeting Japanese companies involved in teaching English, to see if we can build some partnerships around our English course for Japanese speakers.

I rather love the idea of Welsh and Japanese companies working together to teach English. I think it could help fund new opportunities to strengthen the cultural and linguistic connections between Wales and Japan.

The only thing I’m not looking forward to (unlike the Ambassador, who sounded worryingly confident about them) are the three rugby matches between Wales and Japan over the rest of this year. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if we win one of them (but I have always been a very pessimistic rugby supporter, and I’m hoping to be proven wrong).

I had to rush at the end to catch my train back to Bangor.

Does that sound like a good excuse for not having tried out my Japanese on anyone?

Okay, no, it’s not. But despite my cowardice on the spot, something very interesting had happened on the train on the way down. I skimmed back through almost everything we did in January, and not only did it mostly come back to life, but I felt as if I had much more ability to express myself, and to move from one sentence to another, than I felt at the end of Japanuary.

I can actually talk a very little bit of Japanese now.

So the next time I meet a Japanese speaker, I’ll have to make sure I don’t have a train to catch, and I do manage to find a little more courage. I’m determined to do it before the end of Cymru/Japan 2025.

Sharing tastes of each other’s languages will, I believe, help strengthen the connections between our countries.

That might mean more inward investment in Wales, or more opportunities for Welsh companies in Japan – but even more importantly, it might mean more shared understanding and friendship in a world being destabilised by angry old men.

Learning languages leads naturally to friendship.

And friendship is how we unleash all the greatest human potential.

Find out more about SaySomethingIn here.