People from Kyushu/九州 are open-minded

In my previous post (click here), I said that many people from Yamaguchi Prefecture/山口県 played important roles in transforming Japan into a modern nation about one hundred and fifty years ago. Other than them, many people from Kyusyu region/九州, which consists of seven prefectures, especially from Kagoshima Prefecture /鹿児島県, are listed as historical figures. Since Kyusyu region and Yamaguchi Prefecture are located near the Asian Continent, people there were more likely to be subjected to the influence of foreign countries at the time. They were the most sensitive to global situations and were relatively used to accepting different values during the period of national isolation.

The tendency of being open to new values still remains with people in Kyushu. Professor Robert Campbell of the University of Tokyo, who is a well-known American scholar of Japanese literature in Japan and often appears on TV, looked back on his life in Japan in a interview. According to the interview, he first came to Kyushu to study Japanese literature many years ago. As soon as he arrived at a university there, a Japanese professor treated him as if he had studied under that professor for a long time. The professor didn't care about his poor Japanese and his nationality:American. Local people also had an open-minded attitude toward him. He felt comfortable with that. He concluded the story, saying with feeling that the first experience in Japan made him feel like he wanted to study more in Japan. He's been in Japan for about 25 years since then.

I've heard an interesting story about school kids. Some statistics have shown that when transfer students come to a class, students in Kyushu have the most interest in them. Students in Kyushu always welcome transfer students warmly whereas ones in other areas tend to hesitate to speak to them. On top of that, many actors/actresses, singers and so on from Kyushu have succeeded.

I don't have many friends from Kyushu, so I have no first-hand experience of this. However, It's most likely to be true.