By Ai Yoshida

"OK, you guys. Stand up and go over to the back of the room. I'll show you where to be seated. The seating arrangement is permanent," Thus begins Prof. Fukuhara's first English class. Professor Toshiaki Fukuhara is one of the English teachers SU English majors regard with awe. He will leave his home in Hokkaido to live in Machida, a city in Metropolitan Tokyo, following his retirement in March 2002. He has been teaching English for 29 years at Sapporo University. Prof. Fukuhara is popular among his students despite his intensive training method like his murderous reading assignments: they must read an English book of more than 500 pages in a month. In his lectures, he teaches English idioms and expressions carefully and in detail. At the same time, he tries to be friendly with his students. He sometimes tells them his former students' success stories which deeply impress them.

Prof. Fukuhara graduated from the Hokkaido College of Liberal Arts (later of Education). He changed his major from music to English when he was a junior. He could have attended the Tokyo Academy of Music and Fine Arts. But he didn't, he confesses, because of his meager financial means and insufficient musical talent, although he loved music very much. English was easy for him to learn, although he had studied little of it during WWII. His American friends helped him improve his English as he translated his favorite Japanese books into English. He also read a large number of English books because he loved reading. In the meantime, he learned to think and speak in English without the medium of Japanese. He tried to better his English pronunciation by isolating and improving his own weak points. He found English fascinating and enjoyed taking English exams like TOEFL. Prof. Fukuhara's office is filled with thousands of English books. He says, "I always tell my students to read books as I do." His belief that you learn to speak better English by reading English books is persuasive.

As a high school teacher, Prof. Fukuhara was awarded an all-expense-paid Fulbright English Teacher Development Program Scholarship offered by the United States Government after a keen competition. He attended San Francisco State University. He was particularly interested in "Voice and Articulation" class there which was rarely taught in Japan. He transferred from Sapporo Nishi High School to Sapporo University in 1973 after repeated invitations and much consideration.

Prof. Fukuhara, who calls himself an English professional instead of an educator, researches unconventional English usages. He pursues the "inevitability" in them. "A music teacher in my college days tremendously influenced me with his grand personality," he reminisces. "His name was Prof. Niino. He was a great scholar, teacher and musician. I was very happy to study music under such a capable teacher. He taught me that there was "inevitability" in music and every other art."

In addition, Prof. Fukuhara emphasizes that, "Language is a tool, but not an objective in itself. You pursue your own possibilities in an endless journey to inevitability. A teacher's job is to assist his/her students to learn English efficiently on this journey." One realizes how dearly he thinks of his students and how much he loves his teaching job.

Prof. Fukuhara makes a point of encouraging his students to stand strong in the face of hardships which may come their way in various shapes such as his English classes. "SU students should be stronger; they are too soft. I'd like my students to be more active in class participation, especially males. Today's girls seem to me more energetic and positive in the way they behave than boys. For instance, more female students go abroad to study. I hope both my boys and girls will be ambitious in the pursuit of their ideals and their own perfection, as some of my students have succeeded not only at home but abroad."

Although he could continue his present job on a part-time basis, Prof. Fukuhara prefers retirement because he says work is not everything to him. He looks forward to starting a new phase of life. He is delighted to retire. As he spoke, Prof. Fukuhara appeared somewhat younger than his 71 years. He is slightly concerned about living in Tokyo as he knows little about it. He happily remarks that he has no definite plans for retirement; he is free to do anything he likes after he moves to Machida City. He adds that volunteer work may be a good idea. He jokingly says he might drive a motorcycle around as he did in his younger days. When asked about the way he dresses, which some of his students like, he replied embarrassedly that he just picks up anything that happens to be around. Does he not buy his own clothes by himself?

In your student days, you may encounter a few teachers who influence and stimulate you. You meet such teachers and associate with them as closely as you like. Prof. Fukuhara is one of those teachers. He teaches not only English, but many other things from his own experiences. Students have learned a lot from his lectures. It is unfortunate that SU students can't take Prof. Fukuhara's classes anymore. I would like to express my gratitude to him on behalf of my fellow SU students.

Thank you for teaching for a long 29 years at SU. Congratulations and happy retirement, Prof. Fukuhara!