People here are free thinkers

Japanese teacher, journalist and businessman talks about his experience in the late 1980s, his position on education and on thinking long-term


I came to Hungary in 1988 for I could not resist the temptation to see communism fall.

I had ants in my pants from the moment I found out about Gorbachov’s perestroika and glasnosty, not to mention the Polish politician and human rights’ activist Lech Walesa and his occupational strike in Gdansk. I knew that there were groundbreaking changes in world-politics to happen and decided that I should see this for myself.

I arrived exactly a year before the democratic changes took place in the region and was amazed to see how the situation was developing from day to day. In the classic words of the wise State Protection Authority leader, Gábor Péter, the “international situation was gradually cumulating.” Never would I have anticipated a transition so rapid and I was thrilled to see the large number of demonstrations and attended as many as I possibly could.

I spent three years studying in Hungary: in the first year I studied Hungarian, which was no easy task. Learning Hungarian as a foreigner is really tough, however, I do believe in the theory according to which Japanese and Hungarians are related to each other. Strangely, I found similarities between Hungarian and Japanese grammar, which made it slightly easier for me to master the language.

The Ft2,000 scholarship I received every month from the Hungarian state was enough to cover all my expenses at the time. It is true, there were no goods in the shops to buy, but still, I managed to get by. My first great shock came when, intending to purchase a chic winter-coat in one of the first weeks of my stay, I went to a clothes’ shop. Surprisingly, there actually were coats available late fall, and some two hundred of them no less; however, they all had the same cut. My first Hungarian coat thus helped me assimilate and mature into a part of the unified Hungarian society.

The Budapest University of Karl Marx is my alma mater, for I conducted post-graduate studies of political sciences there, once I became an expert on Hungarian language.

Thanks to my extensive knowledge of Central-Eastern European politics, I was later hired as a foreign correspondent by a Japanese paper and was providing news coverage on the political events of the region. I was even sent to the former Yugoslavia in 1994 to report on the Balkan War.

The war in Yugoslavia had its own logics. Actions of all involved nations seemed justifiable to me, for arguments of all participating states were fair from their own angle. The media however generally took an anti-Serbian stance and was not free from deliberate manipulation either. War crimes committed by Slobodan Milosevic are inexcusable, of course; yet from a Tito-ish point of view, the intention of whom was to create a single South-Slavonic country and frame of mind, Croatia’s declaration of independence and breakaway in the times of need may have appeared selfish to other nations.

Regarding the deteriorating Slovakian-Hungarian relations, I believe that the European Union will provide an appropriate answer to the problem. Furthermore, I am positive that minority issues in these countries are not overly difficult to reconcile peacefully. The current economic crisis is of a far greater concern to me than Hungary’s conflict with neighboring countries.

Independence and freedom of nations is a basic political value, yet the trend nowadays points towards unification. The importance of origin or nationality has faded – what matters today is people’s financial situation and whether countries have a strong basis on which social reforms can be carried out.
Exporting Hungarian goods to Japan, such as liver-cleansing tea from Pannonhalma, bee propolis or soaps made from honey and special healing minerals, I set up my own business, the Japan-Hungary Business Office, after many years of work as a journalist. Our office provides services of translation and company advice to Japanese firms and investors in Hungary.

The only Japanese newspaper in Hungary, the Monthly Hungary Journal is also run by my company as well as the Japanese website, “Hungary Today.” With this monthly journal we are trying to provide Hungary’s Japanese community with relevant information and news coverage on Hungary and the region.

A Hungarian psychic, Ms. Klára Baráth, my clairvoyant business partner frequently travels to Japan with me and appears on Japanese television, telling fortunes and helping the police solve cases of missing persons. She is so modern that she is even willing to send people’s daily horoscopes to Japan in text messages to read when sitting on the train, commuting to their workplaces. Klára has an amazing gift of seeing people’s future and has so far helped many people and is by now very popular with the Japanese.

A Japanese private school also functions in my office, right next to the Japanese primary school in Budapest’s 12th district of Virányos. Since I am originally a teacher myself, I take great pleasure in giving lessons to youngsters as well as Japanese housewives on Hungarian gastronomy.

Firmly believing that Hungarian food is the best in the region, I am determined to teach Japanese ladies the recipe of my personal favourites: Paprikás csirke (Chicken-paprika) and cigánypecsenye (Gipsy Steak), which of course my wife too can prepare really well.

Hungarian schools in general are better than Japanese in the sense that they are more liberal and allow children to express their own personality and will more; Japanese schools on the other hand teach young people more discipline and diligence. I really dislike the fact that Japanese children are treated with the utmost austerity, although teachers are much more respected and well-paid then here, which is praiseworthy.

People here are free thinkers and take responsibility for their own lives. Japanese are expected to live in compliance with society’s expectations and are thus severely restricted in their future prospects.

Hungarian politics to me is deeply depressing. It seems as if the two big political parties, the Socialists and the Fidesz were constantly and viciously fighting, yet both abuse their political power and are in cahoots with each other once it comes to fighting against corruption for instance.

Reforms are not successful here because they are not carried out in favour of the Hungarian people. Doctors should not and can not be blamed for the failure of the health-care reform: salaries of Hungarian doctors being shamefully low, one can not possibly suppose that it serves their best interest to keep up the current system. The poor condition of hospitals therefore clearly reflects mismanagement on the side of policy making; modernization, I believe, could easily succeed through the selling of the huge real estates hospitals and health centers possess.

Hungarians are a very talented people and have great potential in many ways. Hungarians are smart, honest and ambitious. What is more, Hungary is a country of fantastic natural endowments: the spas are absolutely unique and are not just in Budapest, but everywhere in the country; and the fact that Hungary lies between the East and West is ideal, for it could become the center for logistics and other commercial services.

What I like most in Hungarians is that they are straightforward, hospitable and friendly – and I must say, that the majority of my friends are Hungarians. On the other hand though, I am of the opinion that Hungarians should work on building trust and thinking long-term, for that would make them even more successful.

Orsolya Tokaji-Nagy

12.12.2008