An Island Boy becomes an Eskimo? From Arima to Aomori - Shea Best
2025/9/15
Trinidad and Tobago can be described as many things, land of the steelpan, land of the hummingbird, the mecca of carnival, and of course the land of soca. The recently concluded Trinidad and Tobago carnival 2025 was underscored by many songs, dare I say anthems that shaped the atmospherics of this season's festivities. Songs such as “Pardy” speaking to the need to unwind as an arduous society in the bliss of carnival, “Carry it” reminiscing on the nostalgia of what feteing culture used to be like and of course the song that serves as the catalyst for this piece “Eskimo.” The soca artist creates a very vivid picture as he is missing the carnival festivities in Trinidad and Tobago as he is stuck in a harsh winter far from the warmth of the season. To quote him he says, “Yuh know I out in the cold,miss the sun when it snow, and I cyah fight the feeling and I wish I could be dey for yuh, when yuh out on the road I write yuh name in the snow…” The creative genius and hilarity of a soca artist singing his song whilst seeing him shovel snow explaining his longing for island warmth became an anthem playing everywhere during the season. Little did I know it would become a somewhat ironic prophecy when receiving the information that I would be posted in Aomori.
Konnichiwa, my name is Shea Best. Since the age of six, I’ve been captivated by Japan's rich history and culture, initially through martial arts and anime, as is the case for most people in my country. Yet, somehow this encounter had a deeper resonance with me throughout my life and led to a yearning to live in Japan. This interest led me to independently study a bit of Japan’s history and pursue a bit of Japanese language at UWI and of course consider doing the JET programme. For most people, JET represents a new opportunity and chance to explore and a multitude of other things. For myself, its purpose and a journey that is long overdue but with my faith in God I know there is nothing that happens before its time and I’m grateful to be a part of this year’s JET programme cohort.
I am an independent filmmaker and prior to JET I worked as a technical demonstrator, lecturer, latin and ballroom dance competitor/instructor, film festival coordinator and many other things. I am an active member within my church community in Congress WBN and I highlight this because of how my faith continues to empower me in giving me strength and capacity to solve whatever issues may come my way. And God has interesting plans for me in this case.
As previously mentioned when I got the news that I got into the JET programme I was elated and my mind began to go through a series of emotions and dream spasms about what life would be and exploring the fantasy of Japan as told by social media. Then, I was notified that I would be in Aomori. I immediately called some of my colleagues in Japan to inform them of where I would be; I was met with frequent “that's interesting and far.” Caveat being that, coming from a small island the concept of scale differs, a 2 hour traffic filled day going from Port of Spain to San Fernando (43 miles) can build a particular perception in one's mind. It was when one friend in particular said that it “takes probably close to 5 hours on the bullet train to get there” I started getting anxious at how big Japan potentially is. I went to the world's best information resource network to find out as much as I could about this new space, YouTube. The moment I typed in Aomori and hit search and the first few results I was met with informed me that it is the world’s snowiest city. I paused and started to immediately have visions of myself trudging through the multiple feet of snow whilst the soca song ESKIMO musically underscores the entire experience.
Excited to be in Japan but anxious I wrestled with coming to terms with the idea of living there as I continued to do research about the space. Then God just stepped in, I got a message from a familiar friend, Gabrielle Ghany, who is a member of my church group. She reached out to me expressing her excitement that another Trinbagonian JET is going to be in Aomori. What are the odds right? To which she quickly quelled any anxiety and gave me some really good information about the region. A definite God sent. With this new information and a familiar friend on the ground, I thoroughly felt reinvigorated for this journey.
My heart is now filled with increased hope and excitement, from the beauty of the landscape in the various seasons, yes even the winters. The amazing seafood that exists as well as a multitude of Aomori cuisine. The fresh apples and its many fresh product derivatives and of course the world famous Nebuta festival. With the support system of my faith in Christ, my family, church community, friends, new co-workers, colleagues, Gaby and the Trini-JETs I look forward to this exciting new adventure and the snow.
JET Programme Series: An Island Boy becomes an Eskimo? From Arima to Aomori - Shea Best (Japan Embassy's Facebook)
Konnichiwa, my name is Shea Best. Since the age of six, I’ve been captivated by Japan's rich history and culture, initially through martial arts and anime, as is the case for most people in my country. Yet, somehow this encounter had a deeper resonance with me throughout my life and led to a yearning to live in Japan. This interest led me to independently study a bit of Japan’s history and pursue a bit of Japanese language at UWI and of course consider doing the JET programme. For most people, JET represents a new opportunity and chance to explore and a multitude of other things. For myself, its purpose and a journey that is long overdue but with my faith in God I know there is nothing that happens before its time and I’m grateful to be a part of this year’s JET programme cohort.
I am an independent filmmaker and prior to JET I worked as a technical demonstrator, lecturer, latin and ballroom dance competitor/instructor, film festival coordinator and many other things. I am an active member within my church community in Congress WBN and I highlight this because of how my faith continues to empower me in giving me strength and capacity to solve whatever issues may come my way. And God has interesting plans for me in this case.
As previously mentioned when I got the news that I got into the JET programme I was elated and my mind began to go through a series of emotions and dream spasms about what life would be and exploring the fantasy of Japan as told by social media. Then, I was notified that I would be in Aomori. I immediately called some of my colleagues in Japan to inform them of where I would be; I was met with frequent “that's interesting and far.” Caveat being that, coming from a small island the concept of scale differs, a 2 hour traffic filled day going from Port of Spain to San Fernando (43 miles) can build a particular perception in one's mind. It was when one friend in particular said that it “takes probably close to 5 hours on the bullet train to get there” I started getting anxious at how big Japan potentially is. I went to the world's best information resource network to find out as much as I could about this new space, YouTube. The moment I typed in Aomori and hit search and the first few results I was met with informed me that it is the world’s snowiest city. I paused and started to immediately have visions of myself trudging through the multiple feet of snow whilst the soca song ESKIMO musically underscores the entire experience.
Excited to be in Japan but anxious I wrestled with coming to terms with the idea of living there as I continued to do research about the space. Then God just stepped in, I got a message from a familiar friend, Gabrielle Ghany, who is a member of my church group. She reached out to me expressing her excitement that another Trinbagonian JET is going to be in Aomori. What are the odds right? To which she quickly quelled any anxiety and gave me some really good information about the region. A definite God sent. With this new information and a familiar friend on the ground, I thoroughly felt reinvigorated for this journey.
My heart is now filled with increased hope and excitement, from the beauty of the landscape in the various seasons, yes even the winters. The amazing seafood that exists as well as a multitude of Aomori cuisine. The fresh apples and its many fresh product derivatives and of course the world famous Nebuta festival. With the support system of my faith in Christ, my family, church community, friends, new co-workers, colleagues, Gaby and the Trini-JETs I look forward to this exciting new adventure and the snow.
JET Programme Series: An Island Boy becomes an Eskimo? From Arima to Aomori - Shea Best (Japan Embassy's Facebook)