My Period Vol.022 - It all started with the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers. My period changes as I lived in Latin America.
Kana, 36, Japanese teacher (living in Mexico)
Menarche: 3rd year of junior high school (age 15)
Current average period length: 6 days
Current average menstrual cycle: 28-31 days
Sanitary products currently used: Sanitary napkins
-What day is your period?
A slightly time-consuming day
-What image comes to mind when you hear the word "menstruation"?
Women's specific
- From here on, I'd like to look back on half of my life, focusing on menstruation. When was your first period? How do you remember it?
It was the first day of my school trip in my third year of junior high school. On the morning of the day we were leaving, I noticed some menstrual blood on my underwear and assumed I had my period. I was embarrassed, so I didn't say anything to my mother. I used some sanitary napkins that were stocked in the bathroom, put some in my travel bag, and headed off on the school trip.
I didn't have any period problems during the school trip. I didn't have any leaks or stomach aches. Bathing was a bit inconvenient. We all had to use the large public bath, so I just took a shower.
I didn't even tell my friends that I had my period. That's because I felt like it wasn't something you should tell anyone about. So even after I came back from the school trip, I didn't tell my mother about my period, and she didn't say anything to me either. I think my mother naturally found out that I was on my period when she noticed that the stock of sanitary napkins in the bathroom at home was running low and that some had been thrown away in the sanitary box.
I was in the brass band as a club activity. My period never interfered with my club activities, and I think I had mild periods to begin with. I didn't have any period pain, my flow wasn't heavy, and my menstrual cycle was regular.
-How did you change when you became a high school student?
I wanted to take brass band more seriously, so I went to a school with a strong brass band club. My periods were light, just like they were in middle school, but they started to interfere with club activities. Club activities were 360 days a year, and I practiced sitting for long periods, so I had limited opportunities to go to the bathroom. I started to feel uncomfortable with my pads touching my private parts, and the stuffiness caused by them. I remember feeling particularly bad when my period coincided with a tournament or competition. Since I had to wear a costume, I was worried about leaking, so I used nighttime pads to get by.
-What did you do after graduating from high school? Did your period change?
I took a year off to go to university. During that time, I worked at a local yakitori restaurant run by my parents, and used the money I earned to hire a private tutor to study for three months before the entrance exam. I was admitted to university through a public recommendation system, so I didn't have to take the National Center Test, and the only subjects I had to take were Japanese and English. Given that situation, I focused on studying those two subjects for three months, and I was finally accepted.
I went on to a university in Osaka and studied Spanish for four years. Since it was far from my parents' house, I also started living alone. By going from living with my parents to living alone, I started doing my own cooking and cleaning, and I continued playing in the brass band at university, so my days were busy. I couldn't afford a part-time job, so I managed to get by on scholarships.
Around this time, I started to experience an increased appetite and sleepiness before my period. This increased appetite before my period continues to this day. Other than that, I don't think I experienced any other changes in my physical condition due to my period.
-What happened after you graduated from university?
I returned to my hometown and started working at my family's yakitori restaurant. I had been looking for a job while I was in school, but it didn't go well. After working at the yakitori restaurant for a while, I had the opportunity to talk to a regular customer who was working as an assistant manager at a local hotel, and it turned out that the hotel was hiring, so I got a job there.
I worked there for a total of four years, first in bell service and then in front desk service. After leaving the hotel, I went to Australia for a month, but when I returned to Japan and started thinking about what I wanted to do next, my family's yakitori restaurant was short-staffed, so I started working there again, and stayed there for two or three years.
Then, when I was 29, I went to Ecuador for two years as a member of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers. I had always been interested in overseas volunteer work and Latin America, and I had studied Spanish for four years at university, so I wanted to go to a Spanish-speaking country. What actually led me to go was an encounter with a customer who came to the yakitori restaurant where I worked. He was working at a JICA training center that runs the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, and as we talked, he told me, "You'll pass," so I decided to give it a go! I applied with determination, and was successfully accepted.
I was hired in Ecuador for a position in environmental education. Specifically, I was assigned to the environmental department of the city hall in Ecuador, where I sorted and collected garbage, gave talks about the environment at elementary and junior high schools and on local radio, and conducted classes that incorporated activities. It was a very fulfilling and enjoyable two years.
After I went to Ecuador, something strange happened with my period. My previously regular menstrual cycle became irregular, sometimes coming every 25 days, and sometimes missing for a month and a half, and it became impossible to predict my menstrual cycle. JICA had told me to record my basal body temperature and menstrual cycle while I was there, but I didn't pay much attention to it, and so my menstrual cycle became irregular.
Before joining the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, I had to record my menstrual cycle and basal body temperature for three months and submit them to JICA. Since the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers activities will be a big change from my previous life, it is known from past experience that menstrual irregularities are likely to occur, and I think this is done in advance to keep track of any changes in my physical condition.
For sanitary products, I brought one bag of Japanese-made napkins with me, and after using them up, I bought local napkins. The Ecuadorian napkins were a bit of a hassle to remove from the individual packaging, but other than that, I didn't find them inconvenient.
In Ecuador, I was a bit nervous because I didn't know when my period would come, but other than that, I didn't experience any other changes in my physical condition.
-What happened after you finished your Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers program?
When I was 31, my two-year program ended and I returned to Japan and started working again at my parents' yakitori restaurant. Life in Ecuador was so good that I wanted to go back, but then COVID hit, so I ended up staying in Japan for about three years.
Around this time, my periods became heavier and I started experiencing severe menstrual cramps around the second day of my period, to the point where I had to take painkillers several times a year.
While I was living in Japan and looking for an opportunity to go abroad, I came across an opening for a grassroots staff position at the Embassy of Japan in Ecuador, and I applied, wanting to work in Ecuador again. However, I was rejected due to insufficient language skills, which prompted me to decide to start studying Spanish again. At the same time, I remembered a Mexican staffing agency that was introduced at a seminar hosted by JICA that I attended while in Ecuador, so I registered with them. I searched for work in Mexico through that company while still in Japan, and was hired for a sales position at a Japanese company in Mexico.
I moved to Mexico two and a half years ago and started attending Spanish language school while working and living in Spanish. I worked at the Japanese company for a year and a half, then quit three months ago and started working as a Japanese language teacher there. I'll also start working as an interpreter next month. I can get permanent residency after living there for four years, so I plan to stay in Mexico at least until then. I'm still thinking about what I'll do after that.
Living in Mexico is very interesting. First of all, even though the language is Spanish, there are many phrases and expressions that are unique to Mexico. If you take the words literally, the meaning often changes, so I communicate by guessing what they mean. Also, Mexicans basically live from day to day, so they don't save any money. That's why salaries are generally paid weekly, and there are many other differences from Japan. There are many people in Mexico who want to learn Japanese, so I feel there is a demand for Japanese, and I'm happy that they are interested in Japan.
My period hasn't changed since I moved to Mexico, and my cycle is regular, but I experience menstrual cramps on the second day. I also experience a significant increase in appetite before my period. By the way, Mexican sanitary napkins are the same as those in Ecuador. I've been using Mexican sanitary napkins for the past two years.
-Looking back on your period, what do you think now?
Looking back, for the first 16 or 17 years after my first period, up until I was in my early 30s, my periods were relatively light, so I was lucky that my life wasn't affected by them.However, after I turned 30, the second day of my period became heavier, and I wondered if my body was changing.
Note: "My Period" aims to provide an opportunity to think about and talk about menstruation, an issue that is often hidden, by recording and sharing how people of various generations and backgrounds have dealt with it. It does not endorse any specific products, services, or methods of coping. The content posted is based on each person's personal experience, so if you have any symptoms that concern you, please consult a medical institution.
