MONTANA CITY — Melanie Williams longed to visit Japan ever since she was a teenager and heard stories about the country and culture from her employer, who was Japanese.

So when Williams heard about an opportunity for teachers to visit Japan through the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program, she leaped at the chance.

And it was a good thing she did, as the program has just ended.

The Montana City School teacher was one of 120 chosen from a pool of 1,700 applicants and was the sole Montanan traveling to Japan in June.

In return for their free, three-week immersion in Japanese culture, the teachers were asked to share what they learned about Japan and Japanese culture with their students and community when they returned.

“It was a phenomenal way to experience the culture,” Williams said, seated in her Montana City School office, with a wall of photos from Japan as a backdrop.

“I didn’t know the language. I couldn’t read it.”

But language didn’t prove as much of a barrier as one would think.

“I gained a deeper appreciation of what we have in America,” she said, “but I also realized you can be in a country and not know the language and not be able to read it, yet find out they’re just like us. We’re all on this world together, and it’s a small world.”

The trip boosted her confidence, she said, giving her a sense she could land anywhere and she’d be alright.

“There’s still those commonalities, a smile is always a smile. There’s no barrier too much to overcome — professionally and personally. It was a life-changing event.”

Much of the trip was spent in schools, where the teachers were enthusiastically welcomed.

“The kids embraced us. They welcomed us with open arms.”

Some things surprised her.

“(Classroom) walls are barren. There’s very little technology.”

She saw few computers in the schools.

A computer keyboard for the Japanese language is unwieldy, she learned. It uses thousands of characters, rather than just 26 letters required in English.

In some ways the schools are leaps and bounds ahead of American schools, she said.

“The students are very good at computation. They (instructors) teach to tests and standards.”

In other ways, the students lag American youth.

“Their kids don’t know how to problem solve,” she said. “They struggle with creativity. There’s a great deal of conformity and uniformity.”

So much so that the students at a school she visited are color-coded, with first graders wearing identical yellow hats and yellow backpacks.

Although some educators realize conformity is a problem, no one apparently wants to take a lead in calling for change.

“Kids love school,” said Williams. “They’re relaxed. They don’t seem stressed. They’re at school more than they are home. They giggled and laughed a lot. It’s a very trusting environment.”

Their mornings are devoted to core classes, and the afternoons are focused on clubs, from kendo (martial arts), to music, to table tennis.

After school, middle schoolers attend cram schools, preparing for their high school entry exams.

The cram schools can be very stressful, she said.

“Your high school is determined by your entry exam. Those with the best scores go to the best high schools.”

It’s not uncommon for middle school students to start their school day at 8 a.m. and end cram school at 8 p.m.

There are at least a few rebellious teenagers, however. In Tokyo, they hang out on Harajuku Street.

They listen to.... the Carpenters! Old Michael Jackson songs and Madonna are also popular.

And they wear “toe socks,” which are either socks with toes, or socks with holes for displaying one’s nude toes.

No one, not even the rebels, wears shorts.

But high heels are definitely in.

From Tokyo, a city of 12 million, Williams also traveled to her host city, Ichinoseki, in the prefecture or state of Iwate.

Arriving right after an earthquake had hit seven miles away, she experienced 12 aftershocks in the days that followed.

This region is so prone to earthquakes that the motel rooms come equipped with a flashlight and a helmet, she said, and every item in the room is bolted down so it can’t move.

The 80-year-old mayor greeted the teachers at city hall, still wearing his gear from rescue operations.

The teachers traveled to Ichinoseki by bullet train, which is the main connector between towns rather than highways.

Williams expected the city of 125,000, to be similar to Billings, she said. Instead, she found it was like a collection of small towns.

And in the middle of it were farms, where farmers weeded and tilled their crops by hand rather than with machines.

Here, rice paddies surrounded apartment buildings.

In Ichinoseki, Williams stayed with a host family, getting a much more intimate feel for Japanese life and culture.

She learned about the importance and etiquette of daily Japanese baths, the delights of enjoying good sushi and became adept at eating with chop sticks.

But Williams left Japan with more than an album full of photos and a box of books, magazines and memorabilia.

She made friendships that go beyond language.

And she carried away impressions of the people she met and observed.

Although they may live in urban areas with huge populations, such as Tokyo, the Japanese people carry themselves with their own sense of personal space, she said.

“They’re so stoic and calm. It’s actually calm everywhere you go.”

And she saw people living the philosophy that her high school employer had taught her years ago.

“No matter what you do, be the best at it,” he would say. “No matter what you do, take pride in it.

“He had such a profound effect on me,” Williams said.

Just as he and the Japanese people shared with her, she wants to share with others.

She’s presented at teachers’ conferences and shared her materials with a Great Falls high school class studying Japan.

And some Montana City School students, after hearing Williams present, became pen pals with Japanese students.

Reporter Marga Lincoln: 447-4074 or marga.lincoln@helenair.com