Remembering Sensei Hosoi

On July 8, the Aragon community experienced a tragic loss when Japanese teacher Junko Hosoi passed away after a long battle with cancer that kept her away much of last school year.

Hosoi began working at Aragon in 2004. Throughout her 22 year long career, she stayed incredibly engaged with the language-teaching community, attending and speaking at California Language Teachers’ Association conferences and becoming an instructor at University of California, Berkeley’s Academic Talent Development Program.

“She always improved her teaching by attending many conferences [and] workshops,” said Chinese teacher Qi Fan. “That [was] very good for [both] the students [and] for her colleagues: she always [informed] us about new teaching strategies or pedagogy. She [was] always on top of her [own] learning [and] set a very good example for students.”

Hosoi focused on making her room an immersive environment to help her students develop a stronger understanding of Japanese culture.

“She cared about her work [and] was always very focused on interpersonal [communication],” said senior Chase Rokala. “We studied trash disposal in Japan and ocean pollution, things that I [initially] thought [were] really niche. But when I went to Japan, I [realized] that’s actually a huge part of the culture, that they don’t really have many trash cans.”

Hosoi built on that cultural learning by bringing native Japanese speakers to her classes.

“They gave a whole play in Japanese to us,” said senior Macklin Berg. “We got little pamphlets, and we were able to draw on huge kanji boards. We learned how to draw bamboo, and she put [our drawings] up all over the classroom. That was unique because I never got to experience that in [any other] classroom in my life.”

Above all, Hosoi wanted her students to enjoy her class and appreciate the Japanese culture and language.

“When we were learning the Japanese alphabets, she would always emphasize the characters and make a funny scenario about them,” said junior Elias Kim-Steiger. “She gave us mochi once [and] that was really good. She was really passionate about [it and] really wanted to share her culture with us.”

Hosoi also incorporated fun activities in her classroom to build strong relationships and a sense of community among her students.
“She loved karaoke, [and when] we used to share a wall I would hear music coming in all the time,” said Spanish teacher Alejandra Cheever. “I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ And I went over, and she and her students were [doing] karaoke, and I was like, ‘Oh, cool! Next time, invite me!’”

On holidays and special occasions, Hosoi made sure to celebrate those days with her students.
“[On] Halloween, she dressed up as a frog,” said senior Laura Wang. “There was this chair in front of the classroom she [was] just sitting in [so] stoically as we all piled into class. [When] we looked at the front of the class, [it was] just a frog sitting there. It was very funny.”

Hosoi’s dedication and care for her students also went beyond the classroom.

“There’d be times I’d be walking down to badminton practice [and] she’d be walking down [and] give me a smile and a wave,” Rokala said. “What I remember most was those small, fun interactions. She was kind and welcoming.”

For senior Kira Partridge, that compassion was visible in little acts of empathy and consideration for her students.

“The Japanese class always takes walks halfway through the [period],” Partridge said. “That’s always memorable because she thought it was nice to get your mind off of things, which was really considerate of her. ”

Hosoi’s caring nature was prominent in her interactions with children.

“She didn’t have a family, but she loved young kids,” Fan said. “When [my daughter] Emma was young, she visited my house [and] I [could] tell she had this affectionate language and attitude toward young children.”

Hosoi’s devotion to her classes at Aragon continues to leave a lasting impact on her students.

“I didn’t know much about the Japanese language, but when I took her class, I fell in love with it,” Berg said. “I’m definitely going to continue taking it [in the future]. If it were another teacher who was just drilling in the Japanese language, instead of making it an overall fun experience, I wouldn’t have liked it as much.”

For Rokala, Hosoi’s class inspired a love for the language and culture that led him to study abroad in Japan for a summer.

“She’s thereason why I took Japanese, because my mom went to [a meeting] and she seemed like a kind person,” Rokala said. “[It] almost completely changed my trajectory because studying abroad is something I’d never have done if I didn’t take Japanese 1.”

Hosoi worked outside of Aragon to support the broader community of Japanese teachers in the Bay Area.

“She [was] very kind and [supported] me by [sharing] any information available,” said new Japanese teacher Chiaki Vanasupa. “When I [was] looking for a new teaching job, she [told] me, ‘This position is available’ and ‘You should apply for this,’ and she [was] always [sharing] information [about] events.”

Hosoi’s students and colleagues remember her love for actor Harrison Ford and baseball player Shohei Ohtani, who she would incorporate into her lessons.

“When I went to visit her in her last days, she had a big poster of Harrison Ford up on the wall that was hand drawn by students,” Cheever said. “She always wore her Dodgers hat because she loved Ohtani. The things that she loved she would share with everybody. She [also] had a lot of student things up on the walls [because] her students meant so much to her.”

Beyond her dedication and care, Hosoi is remembered for her courage and integrity.

“[When] I met her, I [realized] she was brave,” Fan said. “When she made a mistake, she never hid [it], she sincerely apologized. That really made me respect her more. Other people [might] try to lie about it [or] hide it, but Junko was honest and brave.”

In her final days, Cheever remembers Hosoi cracking jokes and having fun.

“You never know what life’s gonna throw at you, but you can control how you react to it,” Cheever said. “And seeing how she reacted to her situation, still [being] very much being herself, having her sense of humor, loving the things that she loved, made me see that that’s how we should live our lives.”

Aragon Counseling and Wellness are available to support those processing grief. Please visit the Counseling Office or Wellness Center in Room 224. Additionally, Kara Grief Support can be contacted at (650) 321-5272 or on their website, https://kara-grief.org/. allCove San Mateo is also available at (650) 226-7030; see their website, https://allcove.org/centers/san-mateo/, for more information.