Copyright © 2011 Kanda Gaigo Alumni Association(KGAA). All rights reserved.
For us, the staff from foreign countries, it was our responsibility to make it British. Especially, as Englishmen, I and Peter, a butler and Mr. Kawada, the Director-General who had deep knowledge about English culture were responsible for that role. So, we had to speak the Queen's English that was British English. When I used to lead the tour around British Hills, I used to explain in English, make jokes and use humor. It's our culture, it's the way we are.
Mr. Kawada, Peter and I worked as a team. There were never things like, "Well, I’m the boss," or, "I’m the butler," or "I’m the hotel manager." There was never any of this kind of talk. We could refer to the old English comedies and plays. Mr. Kawada was an amazing man with a broad knowledge about the plays in the UK too.
I remember once, the three of us came dancing down the stairs of the Manor House stairway. For any sake we had a lot of fun. It was perfect English environment to re-enact the English culture. We always said “One day when we are gone, please bury us here, at British Hills.”
We used to play Sherlock Holmes on Christmas and all the staff took part. Peter was always the Sherlock and I was the robber. It was great fun. And the New Year's parties, we played the bagpipes and had haggis. The ceremony was the same as the one in England.
The original advertisement of British Hills didn’t go down too well at times for us. It said “How would you like to be an ambassador of your country?” We were cultural ambassadors and represented the country. It was our role to make British Hills real England. It was our belief. English staff that had such responsibility joined British Hills. It was amazing!
That meant that even on my days off I was wearing shirt and tie. And I never wore a pair of jeans or a pair of shorts, unless I was playing tennis. British Hills was representing England and so I was loyal to its concept. It was our role to make British Hills real England. It was the reasons why we were staying in British Hills.
Around the time of the opening, the background staff was Japanese. We, the foreign staff, were front staff and supported the Japanese one. It was not the Japanese staff’s responsibility to make British Hills British because they didn't know enough about England. It was our responsibility, for us who were Britons, to make it English. (7/9)