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	Interview Project: What is Playful?
		The Child Research Net will interview people of all ages, from teenagers to people in their sixties, on playful and Playshop. Let us hear your thoughts, too! Examples of questions are: What is playful? What does "playful" mean? What is it that makes your everyday life playful ? When is it difficult for you to become playful? Expectations for Playshop Questions on Playshop

Comments from people in their:

Comments from teens 11 yr. old, fifth grader (male) Nov.24,99 Q: What are some playful experiences at work and at home? A: I perform children's roles in Noh, and when I performed Yoshitsune on the Noh stage, I was very serious and felt that I had become a person who lived long ago, and felt very happy. Is that what you call playful? Q: When don't you feel playful? A: When my mother tells me to do my homework. Q: What is playful to you? A: I am not really sure, but I want to attend the Playshop on November 28. I think it is going to be interesting. back to top

Comments from people in their twenties Part-timer (female) Nov.26,99 Q: When do you feel playful in your daily life? A: When I am shopping for clothes, a bag, or small items at a department store. When I am talking with some good friends. Q: When don't you feel playful? A: When my teacher scolds me at school. Q: Where do you feel playful? A: At home (I love being at home!) Company employee (male) Nov.26,99 Q: What is playful to you? A: When I get an idea about the future. Education-related work (female) Nov.26,99 Q: What is playful? A: Playful isn't something logical and I can't explain it in words. It's when I really enjoy myself from the bottom of my heart. I am focused and time just passes in a flash. But, this doesn't mean that I feel playful every day. I don't feel playful when I don't have time or the inner resources. Company employee (female) Nov.26,99 Q: What is playful? A: Now that I think about it, since I entered the company, I haven't done many playful things. Since I have to get my boss's approval each time I want to do something, I am probably playful until it is time to get his approval. I work on the home page and think about ideas for it. But, the moment my work is reviewed by my superiors, playtime is over. (Do I have a gloomy view of things?) Basically, the home page I make feels playful. Since it is not a company document, it has to be playful or no one will want to look at it. When there are playful people around me, I feel playful. Playful is infectious. And, it is necessary to work on the playful nature that you have so you can react to a playfulness of other people. And, to make other people feel playful, you have to take the initiative in feeling playful yourself. Other than this, I feel playful when: * the weather is good * I am with animals * I am doing something creative * I want to give of myself * I want someone I like * I am thinking about the future. Planning Cooperation Staff (female, university student) Nov.22,99 Q: What is your definition of playful? A: Browsing through the event homepage, I came across the notion of interactive communication as being a dance. The more I think about it, playfulness is indeed represented in the act of dancing. I myself love dancing; I took dancing lessons as a child and always loved dancing and choreographing. I recall the difficulty of trying to teach someone to dance as dancing is largely a subjective grasp and enjoyment of music. One cannot succeed in dancing if music is treated as an object to which one passively reacts. The feel of taking part in the creation of the rhythmical beat is essential to expressing your interpretation and improvisation of the perceived music. I understand that Hillel, along with his colleagues, is and has been attempting to create a learning environment and compatible teaching methods in which such individual interpretation and improvisation of the subject matter can be expressed freely and meaningfully. Being a student of his, I was definitely influenced by his such philosophy, and am looking forward to witnessing a magnificent demonstration of playful, danceable learning. University students (female) Nov.22,99 Q: When do you feel playful? A: When I am traveling. A: When I am concentrating on something. A: When I am in love. A: When I come up with a new recipe in my mind. University student (female) Nov.19,99 Q: When do you feel playful? A: (1) When I am under pressure, time-wise and physically, and I do the things that I like (club activities and studying for fun). Strangely enough, my head is clear, I am full of ideas and I accomplish things at ten times the usual speed. I don't need to eat or sleep until I finish, and then, I collapse the moment I am done. (2) When I enjoy doing what other people hate to do. For example, I feel that I have gained something by living in a rundown apartment that is twenty years old. The door won't close unless I kick it and even though the window is closed, mosquitoes come through the cracks and this makes my friends who come over laugh. Something is always breaking so now I am good at using a screwdriver and nails. I can do just about anything myself, and when something happens, my friends look up to me because of what I can do, etc., etc. You can create a playful life with something that seemingly has no merit if you try hard enough. Part-timer (male) Nov.19,99 Q: When do you feel playful? A: When I can understand what the other person is thinking without verbal communication, and the other person has understood me. The moment our hearts understand each another. Planning Cooperation Staffs (female, university students) Nov.16,99 Q: When do you feel playful? A: When I am absorbed in something and feel "very fun." A: When I am going for a ride. A: When I am drinking. A: When I am concentrating myself to win before a game. A: When I am having a great time at a concert. A: When I feel like I am surrounded with toys. A: When I am doing what I really like to do. Planning Cooperation Staffs (male, university students) Nov.15,99 Q: When do you feel playful? A: When everyone in the group is able to share the same idea in their minds. A: When I feel a sense of attachment or closeness to something. A: When I am so absorbed in something that I forget about the time. Planning Cooperation Staff (female, university student) Nov.15,99 Q: When do you feel playful? A: To enjoy making others happy. To enjoy being made happy by others. It can be a smile during busy hours at work, a nice surprise in the mail, or just going starting a conversation with people around you. I think you need to be comfortable with yourself (without serious concerns, feeling low, etc) in order to think about wanting to make others happy, so playfulness is something that is very important to yourself as well as others! When I was in the 6th grade, my friends gave me a surprise party. I was very touched, and that party taught me how nice it is to have people think about you and have them plan how to surprise you and make you happy. From then on, I have always enjoyed thinking up ways to make others happy, remembering the feeling I got that day at the party. Planning Cooperation Staff (female, university student) Nov.11,99 Q: What does playful mean to you? A: My name is Yuko and I am a junior in Professor Ueda's seminar at Konan Women's University. I am very happy to participate in this workshop hosted by Child Research Net. I am looking forward to this workshop since I hear it is for fifth and sixth graders and I love children. After I received this question, I thought about what it means to be playful. I would like to send you some thoughts that I have on this. I think a playful moment is one that you create yourself. I feel playful every day. I don't really know why, but maybe it is because there are so many things I want to try and so many things to do. Things don't bother me as much as they did before. There are so many more things that I like and this may be why I feel playful every day. I can feel playful anywhere. It is just a matter of changing myself. It would be nice to see more children with a sparkle in their eyes and laughing faces. I may not have answered your questions, but I have tried to write what I feel. I always want to feel playful. Planning Cooperation Staff (female, university student) Nov.9,99 Q: How do you feel when you are playful? A: To not be always serious. Trying to find entertainment in all that we come across. I think this is playfulness. I have a playful habit of winking at people. It seems to startle some of them, but after a while they get used to it and start to wink back. I guess it leads to a feeling of connection or friendship. Whenever I drink apple juice, it reminds me of a game I used to play by myself. I called it "The Desert Game" and it's very simple. I would pour myself a glass of apple juice and sit down at the table. Then I pretend that I'm in a desert, and that this is the last drink that I have. I would try to fight back the urge to gulp down the apple juice, and slowly sip it, making plans to make it last for a long time. Now, doesn't this sound playful? Planning Cooperation Staff (female, university student) Nov.9,99 Q: How do you feel when you are playful? A: To be free in soul and action. To have the heart to laugh at yourself. That's playfulness. The other day I met a bunch of 5th graders on the train on a field trip. Being a tutor, I amused them by striking up a conversation, asking them how they were getting by with their decimal fractions. It was just a way of relating to them on a fun, casual level and yet not being totally off-track from schoolwork. Many of them hollered bye-bye as they got off the train. Planning Cooperation Staff (female, university student) Nov.9,99 Q: How do you feel when you are playful? A: I went to a live concert of musicians from Mali in West Africa the other day. The music was so powerful, especially the drumbeat was exciting and inspiring which was actually far beyond what I had expected. I was truly amazed by their music. It made my world expand. I think playful feeling, playful moment is what makes you feel the world around you wider, deeper, and more fun! One of my friends is going to send me her old drumstick! Planning Cooperation Staffs (male, university students) Nov.8,99 Q: How do you feel when you are playful? A: My mind is cool but my heart is full of emotion. Passion and ideas seem to pour out of me. It's hard to explain logically, but it is like "the mainstream of life." A: My mind concentrates hard on one thing but at the same time my inner being seems to expand. Planning Cooperation Staffs (female, university students) Nov.8,99 Q: How do you feel when you are playful? A: I feel like I am in a four dimensional space. A: I have nothing in mind but having a good time. A: Smiling. A: I can put everything aside and concentrate on one thing. back to top

Comments from people in their thirties Researcher (female) Nov.24,99 Q: What is a playful feeling? A: When I realize something new through encounters with people. Of course, there are many new things to learn from such encounters, but coming across something new from a person I have just met is also a playful moment. Education-related work (male) Nov.24,99 Q: What is being playful? A: When I can feel humble in a natural way, without being self-depreciative or servile. Office worker (female) Nov.24,99 Q: When do you feel playful in your daily life? A: When I play with my two-year old. When my child does the opposite of what I expect in a good sense. For example, when my son uses a word that I don't expect him to know or when he says or does something totally unexpected when I am least expecting it. I am so happy to see how he is developing, and at the same time, I am so excited about what he will do next. A: When I read an interesting book. When I read a psychological suspense novel and I can't tell what will happen next or the moment I understand something that I thought strange. When I get excited about encountering something surprising. Q: When don't you feel playful? A: When I do the same thing over and over in a mechanical way. When I attend a meeting that is not productive. Even if the occasion is a happy one, I can't feel playful if I am worried about something. Q: Where do you feel playful? A: If I am with children, I can feel playful anywhere. If I am with adults, when I am in a comfortable place and don't feel rushed. Wherever I can enjoy leisure time in a relaxed and comfortable way. Places that I visit for the first time, museums, concerts, and stimulating places that are removed from my everyday life are also nice. Riding a roller coaster at amusement parks makes me feel playful by bypassing logical thinking. Q: What is playful? A: Feeling excited about encountering new things, people, and ideas. Being slightly surprised and wanting to start out on something new. The feeling of wanting to start and make something new. Isn't feeling playful the moment that you feel "I want to do something!"? Q: What are some playful experiences in your daily life or work? A: When I discover something new or interesting while I am analyzing data or looking up information. When I come across some writing that sums up (generalizes) what I have been thinking or what I have been expecting from experience. When I feel excited about having done something great. When the fog clears in my head after I have been confused and I feel refreshed. At that time, I feel playful, even at work. In the same way, I feel very playful when I am talking to people in a meeting or elsewhere and I get a new idea or I see what I want to do. Researcher (female) Nov.19,99 Q: What is feeling playful? A: When serious: When I am trying something new and I set up my own theory or way of doing something, and the moment I feel that it can work. A: When relaxed: When I am outside with my family on a warm sunny day. Everyone is in good health and relaxed and we eat salmon rice balls under the blue sky. A: When I entered the company: I finished some work on the plane going to Hokkaido, dropped it in a mailbox in Sapporo, and got on the Super-white Arrow to begin my vacation. School Teacher (female) Nov.10,99 Q: What playful experiences have you had in your daily life or at work? A: Whether I am teaching English or another subject, I want my students to discover the fun of what they are learning. My students scribble comments or draw on their test papers and I add my own since the test papers themselves are one means of communication. When I sense that a student feels insecure about his or her ability or identity, I draw a smiling face to cheer the student up, or when a student has done well, I draw myself looking happy so I enjoy this, too. If teachers don't have the capacity to relax and feel comfortable about having fun, they won't be able to convey the fun of learning to their students. Trying different things with a challenging spirit is my own way of being playful. School Teacher (female) Nov.10,99 Q: What is being playful? A: It is having a positive spirit and sense of humor, and this comes from the capacity to relax and be at ease. This kind of spirit does not look backward when it faces difficulty, but recognizes and approaches the problem with a flexible mind that thinks "what can I do to make it happen?" Q: What do you expect from Playshop? A: I hope to gain some inspiration for the future. I would like to make playful friends. School Teacher (female) Nov.10,99 Q: When do you feel playful in your daily life? A: When I have the capacity to relax and be at ease. When I am talking to people who have the capacity to relax and be at ease. Q: When don't you feel playful? A: When I don't have the capacity to relax and be at ease. When I feel that I can't break loose from a fixed framework. Q: Where do you feel playful? A: I feel most comfortable at home. But, rather than feeling playful in a particular place, I can feel playful anywhere as long as I am with friends and people who let me be myself. Aspects of the physical environment such as space and time are important, but who I am with is probably the biggest factor. back to top

Comments from people in their forties 40s, industrial designer in India (male) Jun.16,2000 Q: What is the meaning of play? A: Play is a deliberate creation of situations that trigger various emotions. The emotions could be that of fear or anger or arrogance or those of security, bonding with others, or physical exhilaration. 40s, company worker (male) Nov.25,99 Q: When do you feel playful? A: When I am competing and totally absorbed in something, like when I am playing baseball or softball, and it is a close game. That's when I am totally focused in a fun way. Q: Where do you feel playful? A: At the golf course. When I am outside with my friends and we are having fun playing golf and competing against one another. 40s, university professor (female) Nov.25,99 Q: Where do you feel playful? A: When I go to a place on the banks of the Tamagawa River that has a view of Mt. Fuji, I know how the dogs feel when they run free. It's a place where you don't have to walk in a straight direction. It's a place where you can jump up and down or sit down on the ground, and this brings me such relief. Q: What is playful? A: Having serious fun. Q: What are your expectations of Playshop? A: I want to go back to being a child and be taught by wonderful teachers. On the night of November 28, I am going to be young again and I keep looking forward to this. Q: What are some playful experiences at work and at home? A: Once I thought up a game, played it with children, and had a great time. I felt excited then and this was probably being playful. Teacher (male) Nov.18,99 Q: When do you feel playful in daily life? A: When I am absorbed in meaningful work and inspiring work. Q: When don't you feel playful? A: When I am with people who go on and on about some problem that doesn't really matter. Q: Where do you feel playful? A: At work (office, classroom). Q: What is playful? A: A sense of play (a feeling of play that you discover while seriously absorbed in work). Q: What do you expect from Playshop? A: I would like to look into everyone's hearts as well as my own. Q: What are some playful experiences in your daily life or work? A: I actually feel playful when I am involved in my work every day. I don't want to sleep because I am having too much fun. Yes. Librarian (female) Nov.18,99 Q: When do you feel playful in daily life? A: When I experience something new or learn something new. Q: When don't you feel playful? A: When I feel that I have to do something, but I can't get anything done and time just passes Q: Where do you feel playful? A: At the theater wherever I feel that I am enhancing myself. Q: What is playful? A: A fun feeling, feeling happy. Q: What do you expect from Playshop? A: Encountering a new part of myself, encountering a self that I didn't know. Q: What are some playful experiences in your daily life or work? A: Some years ago, when I was on stage, I was suddenly called on as a standby. When I stood in the floodlights as the curtain opened, I felt shivers from the top of head to my toes, and at that moment, I felt the tension rise to an incredible level. back to top

Comments from people in their fifties Education-related work (male) Nov.26,99 Q: When do you feel playful? A: When I am listening to music. When I am feeling the rhythm. Q: When don't you feel playful? A: When I am running out of time. When I am under pressure. back to top

Comments from people in their sixties and older Age unknown, artist in Florida, U.S.A. (female) Nov.26,99 Q: What is being playful? A: "To keep from crying I open my mouth and laugh." -William Shakespeare And laughter is the best medicine. I love your philosophy of being playful! Best wishes for a successful Playshop!!! Education-related work (male) Nov.26,99 Q: When do you feel playful? A: When I am trying to recall childhood memories of the place where I was born and brought up and other memories. When I am looking up information and actually visiting these places. Q: When don't you feel playful? A: Maybe when I don't have anything to do. Education-related work (male) Nov.26,99 Q: What is playful? A: Playful is feeling lively. The satisfaction, motivation, and discovery that comes from being full of life create a new self. In the process of stimulation -> combustion -> liveliness -> discovery, the key is making a place for stimulation (notice something new). Education-related work (male) Nov.26,99 Q: What is playful? A: The image I have is a festival called "Hatsuuma-sai," which was celebrated when I was a child a long time ago. There were many stalls along the 300-meter approach to the shrine. Some sold cotton candy and others sold cheap candy. There were games where you could throw rings and shoot at a target to win a prize. There were giant men who could breathe fire and street performers who sold bananas at bargain prices. I took the little pocket money that I had and looked forward to having a good time spending it at the festival. This is the image I have of playful. Age unknown, university student in the U.S.A. (male) Nov.25,99 Q: What is being playful? A: I forget sometimes too what playful is. In this country (US), striving for success and a bunch of totally depressed people just wear the play out of us. I have 5 kids and watch 3 others for working parents. I am back in school to get a degree in education. I find playfulness in being around children a lot, it feels great. I hope to have little ones around always so I don't forget. I have the most fun playing song games even if they seem dumb and nonsense (they are the best types). Our school had Fite in concert the other day and the little ones just loved it. Many of the teachers did not join in, probably afraid of looking stupid stamping their feet and waving their heads but oh well, their loss. I have seen that kids learn a lot from songs and remember the words better, but even if it is not an educational song, they love to sing. About the only playful thing us adults do anymore is sing, sometimes a song will come on the radio and just make us "get jiggy." Age unknown, university student in Texas, U.S.A. (female) Nov.24,99 Q: What is being playful? A: I am a graduate student and seem to be stressed in many areas of my life, but I always take the time to take joy in my many happy, playful moments during the day. Whether it be learning about my year old niece's ability to walk-how they grow-to admiring what a wonderful place we live-Texas. It's the little things in life that make it enjoyable and being playful...on all levels is what gets us through. Education-related work (male) Nov.18,99 Q: What is feeling playful? A: When I listen to Nodo Jiman (Amateur Singing Hour) on TV. Each time, I look forward to songs by the guest singers and I try to do my best to sing along. I practice over and over and sometimes test my skill at karaoke. Educator (male) Nov.12,99 Q: When do you feel playful? A: When the seeds that I have planted and taken care of sprout. When the flowers bloom after taking care of the young plant. When I am moved by the beauty of flowers. When someone tells me I grow very beautiful flowers. When I am absorbed in gardening. Educator (male) Nov.12,99 Q: When do you feel playful? A: When I am playing golf with my friends, when I am playing with my grandchildren, when I am trying to solve a problem in my field of major. When I am concentrating on something so much that I forget the time and feel a sense of satisfaction afterwards. back to top Copyright (c) 1999,Child Research Net,All rights reserved.