Abstract
Recently I have begun using essays written by returnees (who studied overseas before entering junior high school) in order to bolster my students' cross-cultural awareness. Returnees question the behavior and thinking of regular Japanese students, and thereby provide questions for those Japanese students themselves regarding their own and other cultures. The essays generated a sense of warmth towards and familiarity with the returnee students, as Japanbound students put themselves in the returnees' shoes and acquired an awareness unavailable to them from traditional culturally deficient learning materials. Using the essays, in turn, has provided the returnees with a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. The following will demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach, and the possibilities potential in it.
