The Inner World Expressed by Sign Language | Hikari

I have been studying sign language for about two years.
The reason I started learning sign language was that I found a flyer for a sign language class near my house.

The moment I saw the flyer, I suddenly remembered a feeling I had completely forgotten: "Oh, come to think of it, I once wanted to learn sign language."
Encouraged by the casual nature of the class—no prior registration required, just show up at the designated time—I opened the door to the classroom, and that was the beginning.

On the first day of class, when I was asked to introduce myself and explain why I wanted to start learning sign language, I was a bit stumped.
When I wanted to learn sign language in the past, there was almost no motive behind that feeling.
I remember it as a sudden, impulsive thought of "sign language."
Also, there was a time when I noticed that my grandfather's hands in a photo I was scrolling through were identical to my own, and I felt a sense of endearment toward that connection; perhaps that also contributed to my hands becoming an important part of me.

In my self-introduction, I answered honestly that I was interested in expressing feelings with my hands rather than with words.

The class meets once a week, with people ranging from elementary school students to those in their 60s, all participating for various reasons, such as needing it for work or having a friend who is deaf.
It seems there are different ways of expressing sign language around the world, and naturally, we are learning Japanese Sign Language, but it still felt like learning a new language.

There are sign language expressions associated with the sense of the words we use daily, and there are also expressions with completely new sensations.
For example, when we feel relieved, we might place a hand on our chest, but the sign for "relief" involves stroking down the chest with both hands.
I think it is an expression that naturally appears in daily life as well.

To give an example of a sign with a new sensation, "emotion" or "being moved" is expressed by forming the hands into a bud shape and twisting them upward from the side of the cheeks.
I thought, "Huh," but when I actually moved my hands, I imagined the sensation of my soul trembling and rising at the moment my heart was moved, and I had the experience of having it verbalized in reverse: "So this is what was happening inside my body when I was moved!"

The sign language expressions of the deaf instructors who come to the class are truly amazing; when they describe living creatures, it's as if they are possessed by them, and even when they talk about daily life, the rhythm and the nuance of their movements make the situation vividly imaginable, and laughter bubbles up from the bottom of my stomach.

Sign language is one of the communication tools for those who cannot hear, but lately, I have begun to feel that it is more than just that.
Sign language is something that can express what the soul feels, and it might be a tool that allows both deaf and hearing people to share what is inside their bodies, regardless of their ability to hear.

Thinking about this, now that a new world has begun to open up, I am very much looking forward to deepening my learning from here on.