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Just over ten years after becoming the first U.S. ambassador to Japan to participate in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony in 2010, Ambassador John Roos spoke about his experiences with 26 high school students in Stanford e-Japan from throughout Japan. In his October 16, 2020 online talk, Ambassador John Roos noted that his tenure in Japan—2009 to 2013—was defined by three major issues: (1) the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake or 3/11; (2) Operation Tomodachi (“friend” in Japanese) during which the U.S. Armed Forces helped in disaster relief following the 3/11 crisis; and (3) the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 6, 2010.

Regarding the first and second issues, Ambassador Roos recalled, “I was proud that the United States was there to help the people in Japan who obviously faced one of the biggest crises in your history… Vice President Biden came to Japan and the two of us traveled up to the Tohoku region because he wanted to see firsthand how he could help and how the United States could help, and I saw him interacting with not only the leaders but the people of the Tohoku region.” In addition to Operation Tomodachi, the youth-focused Tomodachi Initiative—a public-private partnership between the U.S.-Japan Council and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, with support from the Government of Japan—was born out of support for Japan’s recovery from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Regarding the third issue, Ambassador Roos shared, “I was the first United States ambassador to go to the Hiroshima commemoration ceremony. And I did that because I felt it was important to show respect for all of the victims of World War II and particularly obviously the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I did it because I felt that it was helping to promote President Obama’s agenda of the elimination of all nuclear weapons.”

During his talk, Ambassador Roos coupled his sharing of specific personal recollections with general insights on being the U.S. ambassador to Japan. For example, he explained that the role of the U.S. ambassador to Japan is twofold. First, the U.S. ambassador’s responsibility is to protect and look after the health and safety of the Americans that live in Japan—about 150,000 of them—including another 50,000 U.S. military personnel and their dependents. Second, nurturing and looking after the relationship between Japan and the United States, of course, is critical. He not only touched upon economic, political, and security relations but also emphasized the importance of student-to-student exchange. Concerning the latter, he is concerned that students from the United States are not spending enough time in Japan, and students in Japan are not spending enough time in the United States.

His insights profoundly connected to a student from Kyoto who commented, “When I am older, I hope to become a diplomat and maybe even an ambassador, so I’m really excited to get to talk to you today.” She continued, “What do you think makes a successful ambassador?” Ambassador Roos replied, “I hope you become the ambassador to the United States… Obviously, an ambassador needs to deal with all of the different policy issues and many difficult issues, but I think the most important thing is—and you may not expect this—but it is to listen… and to learn and to hear all sides of the equation… to show empathy.”

The current fall 2020 session of Stanford e-Japan is the 12th offering of the course since 2015. Stanford e-Japan is made possible by Mr. Tadashi Yanai, Chairman, President, and CEO of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Mr. Yanai and Ambassador Roos share a mutual concern for the need for students in Japan and the United States to spend more time in each other’s countries.

As a closing question, Stanford e-Japan Instructor Meiko Kotani asked Ambassador Roos what he expects from Japanese high school students and what role he thinks they should play to foster the U.S.–Japan relationship. Roos responded, “Well, first of all, let me tell you how impressed I am by this group of students. The reason I am doing this session at 9:00pm on a Friday night is because I think you are the future of the relationship. So I encourage you to find ways to connect with the younger generation of [the United States] because in the end, we need you. We need the best and brightest minds, not only in the United States but in Japan and the rest of the world to confront some pretty big challenges we have in the world right now… When I listen to you, it gives me a tremendous amount of hope, and so I’m just honored to have had the opportunity to talk with you.”

After Ambassador Roos signed off, the students shared some points that especially resonated with them. Among these were the deep respect that Ambassador Roos has for Japan and his visit to all 47 prefectures; the importance he placed upon the need for high school students in Japan to communicate with high school students in the United States; the importance he placed upon the leadership of the United States to be humble despite its power; and the importance of empathy. And since 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, the following words that Roos stated seemed to especially resonate with the students: “President Obama said that we may not eliminate nuclear weapons in his lifetime or my lifetime. I hope in your lifetime.”

Valerie Wu, a student at the University of Southern California and an alum of 91�Թ�’s Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP), Sejong Korea Scholars Program (SKSP), and China Scholars Program (CSP), recently interviewed Dr. Tanya Lee, instructor of CSP, for US-China Today, a publication of USC U.S.-China Institute.

In the September 26 interview, Lee shares insightful comments on her experiences teaching the CSP, including insights on the importance of studying China for everyone, regardless of their eventual career; and how she identifies topics for the course. In addition, Lee references 91�Թ�’s newest course, Stanford e-China (SeC), which was developed for high school students in China and focuses on “Technologies Changing the World: Design Thinking into Action.” Lee and SeC instructor Carey Moncaster are engineering a collaboration between CSP and SeC students in November, in which they will work on a “green technology” project together, exploring practical solutions to sustainability issues they see in their own communities. The students will also be connecting informally over social media and are very eager to make contact with their counterparts overseas.

Looking back at her experience in the CSP, Wu commented, “The interdisciplinary, global thinking that I cultivated as a student at 91�Թ� has become a fundamental aspect of my academic career. As a Narrative Studies and Law, History & Culture double major with an interest in China, the academic mentorship I received through the CSP highlighted the ways that intellectual study intersects with all these different ways of thinking about a certain topic. The way an issue is framed, specifically the way that we apply our own interpretation to it, reflects not only our understanding of culture, but also our place in it.” For Lee, witnessing students like Wu continue their study of China in college makes her feel more optimistic about future U.S.–China relations, despite the current tension between the two countries.

Wu’s interview of Lee can be accessed .

On September 2, 2020, over 160 educators from across the United States joined a webinar titled “Angel Island Immigration Station: The Hidden History.” The Angel Island Immigration Station was located in San Francisco Bay and was operational from 1910 to 1940. It was established in order to control and enforce the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and other immigration-related laws that followed, e.g., the Immigration Act of 1924, which included the Asian Exclusion Act and the National Origins Act.

The featured speaker was Connie Young Yu, a writer, activist, and historian. Yu has written and spoken extensively about the contrasts between Ellis Island Immigration Station in New York Harbor—in which immigrants primarily from Europe were welcomed by an image of the Statue of Liberty—and Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay where immigrants entering the United States primarily from Asia were detained and interrogated. The largest detained group of immigrants was from China. Reflecting on the webinar, Yu commented:

I was glad to share my “hidden history” during the 91�Թ� webinar, including the saving of the immigration barracks in the 1970s and my grandmother’s lengthy detention on Angel Island. The immigration station barracks—now a national monument—were nearly destroyed had it not been for Ranger Alexander Weiss and the activism of a citizens’ committee. The writing on the barracks’ walls by Chinese detainees still speaks to us today of peoples’ struggle against immigration exclusion and institutionalized racism.

The webinar can be viewed below.

Yu’s talk was followed by 91�Թ�’s Jonas Edman who worked with graphic artist Rich Lee to publish Angel Island: The Chinese-American Experience. Edman shared scenes and activities from this graphic novel that tell the story of Chinese immigrants who were detained at Angel Island Immigration Station. The graphic novel has been widely used nationally to educate students about immigration to the United States from China. Yu remarked, “I was thrilled to hear from Jonas Edman about the brilliant graphic novel, Angel Island: The Chinese American Experience. At last, as part of the curriculum, students can learn in living color about how the detainees struggled and endured, the human side of Chinese immigration exclusion.”

Given the prevalence of immigration-related news over the past several years, several teachers in attendance noted the importance for school curricula to include topics related to immigration history in the United States. Following the webinar, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation’s Executive Director Edward Tepporn reflected:

Growing up in Texas, I didn’t learn about Angel Island and its significant role in our nation’s complex history until after I moved to the Bay Area… Especially as racism and xenophobia are on the rise in the U.S., it’s important to uplift the full history of how our nation has treated its diverse immigrant communities, including the injustices they have endured as well as their important contributions.

Edman suggests that teachers consider asking students essential questions like: How and why did U.S. immigration policy favor certain groups and not others? What impact did laws such as the U.S. federal law, Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, have on Chinese immigration to the United States? In what ways did Chinese immigrants advocate for themselves and actively respond to discrimination and exclusion? How is U.S. immigration policy similar and different today? Also, Edman highly recommends teachers to visit the , which includes excellent teaching resources, including primary sources.

The webinar was made possible through the support of the Freeman Foundation’s initiative. The webinar was a joint collaboration between 91�Թ� and Stanford’s . Special thanks to Dr. Dafna Zur, CEAS Director, and John Groschwitz, CEAS Associate Director, for their support; and to 91�Թ�’s Naomi Funahashi for facilitating the webinar and Sabrina Ishimatsu for planning the webinar.

Applications opened last week for the , Sejong Korea Scholars Program (SKSP), and —three intensive online courses offered by 91�Թ�, 91�Թ�, to high school students across the United States. All three applications can now be viewed at . Interested students must submit their completed application (including an essay and letter of recommendation) by the deadlines listed below.

Spring 2021 Online Course Application Deadlines

China Scholars Program: October 16, 2020
Sejong Korea Scholars Program: October 16, 2020
Reischauer Scholars Program: October 16, 2020

All three online courses are currently accepting applications for the Spring 2021 term, which will begin in February and run through June. Designed as college-level introductions to East Asia, these academically rigorous courses present high school students the unique opportunity to engage in a guided study of China, Korea, or Japan directly with leading scholars, former diplomats, and other experts from Stanford and beyond. High school students with a strong interest in East Asia and/or international relations are especially encouraged to apply.

“U.S. relations with East Asia is prominently featured in the news daily,” says Naomi Funahashi, instructor of the Reischauer Scholars Program. “91�Թ� is incredibly fortunate to have Stanford faculty conducting cutting-edge research on Korea, Japan, and China who are willing to help our students interpret key historical events and understand contemporary topics related to security, trade, and politics.”

Rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors in the United States are eligible to apply to any of the three programs. Students who are interested in more than one program can apply to two or three and rank their preferences on their applications; those who are accepted into multiple programs will be invited to enroll in their highest-preference course.

For more information on a specific course, please refer to its individual webpage at , , or .

The RSP, SKSP, and CSP are 91�Թ�’s online courses for high school students. In addition, we offer online courses for high school students in Japan () and China (). To be notified when the next application period opens, or follow us on , , or .

Amidst the hectic year known as 2020, I started and finished 91�Թ�’s Sejong Korea Scholars Program (SKSP), an online program offered through Stanford for high school students interested in Korea. The program was challenging but also rewarding; I honestly loved every moment of it.

My interest in Korea began when I was in elementary school. Growing up in Queens, New York, a New York City borough with a diverse population, Korean culture was introduced to me in the form of food. Although some may think all Asian food is the same, as a Chinese American, I know how vastly different Korean food can be from Chinese food. My Korean American classmates would bring in Korean foods for lunch—kimchi, gimbap, galbi—and because I had never seen it before, I’d always want to know how it tasted. Luckily for me, Queens had a sizable ethnic Korean population and with that came great Korean restaurants. I was a frequent visitor to these tasty restaurants. Through this, I became interested in learning more about Korea, but outside of food, a few videos I had watched, and some information from my classmates, I didn’t know much, if anything at all, about Korea.

Heading into the SKSP, I was worried I didn’t know as much as my classmates. When I started the SKSP, all of my worries subsided. You didn’t need a strong background on Korea or in Korean. I was told that the most important thing to have is a genuine interest or curiosity about the topic, which was something I did have. I also have to say that my classmates were some of the most motivated students I’ve ever met.

And during our biweekly meetings, we would attend lectures with experts on Korea and professionals who worked with Korea. Something interesting I learned from a lecture was that the “BBC Dad” Professor Robert Kelly is a political analyst on Korean affairs, which I don’t find to be a coincidence; instead, learning the fact that Professor Kelly is an expert on Korea shows how widespread and important the study of Korea today is.

We explored a bit of pre-nineteenth century Korean history and then explored more on religions in Korea, colonial Korea, the division of Korea and the Korean War, post-war Korea, the divergence of North and South Korea, and trends in South Korean culture including bits about chaebols and the Hallyu wave. I found a particular interest in the Korean diaspora in Japan, which I learned about when learning about Korea in its colonial period. And because the SKSP has a research component, I wrote my paper on that and enjoyed my time so much because it was a topic I genuinely wanted to learn more about. After completing my paper, I was led to Min Jin Lee’s novel Pachinko, a historical fiction about a Korean family in Japan, and found myself so invested because I had some background knowledge.

Starting the course before the pandemic and completing it during the pandemic was interesting, to say the least. When the coronavirus situation took a turn for the worse, my high school courses scrambled to finish the year, but the SKSP went on normally, and I was able to invest more time into learning about Korea. I have to give props to the course instructor, Dr. HyoJung Jang, and the program coordinator Jonas Edman for keeping the course running smoothly through a worldwide crisis and helping us students with any questions and issues we had.

I participated in the SKSP as a senior in high school, and having taken it right before college has been incredible. This course has helped develop my self-driven learning skills, which I believe will be unimaginably beneficial for me as I head off to begin my first year of college. The SKSP is a college-level course that teaches in the same way college courses are taught, and right now, I find that my experience with the SKSP has prepared me for my college classes that I have only recently started.

The SKSP has furthered my interest in international relations, which I hope to major in at the University of Pennsylvania where I am a freshman this fall. I am definitely looking forward to furthering my knowledge of Korea and hope I am able to visit one day after traveling is safe once again. For me, as someone who came into the SKSP with a curiosity and left with even more, I can’t wait to continue on my path of learning. For those interested in the SKSP, I say go for it. It has changed not only how much I know about the world, but also how I perceive it. I hope 91�Թ� continues to offer this terrific opportunity and students take this opportunity, so they can make a difference in the world.

In 2015, 91�Թ� launched Stanford e-Japan, an online course for high school students in Japan. Two key objectives of the course were to introduce the students to U.S.–Japan relations and to also encourage the students to consider studying in the United States. Since then, many Stanford e-Japan alumni have spent time studying at U.S. colleges as exchange students for a year and on summer programs, and several as four-year undergraduates.

One of the challenges for international students to enroll in college in the United States is the cost of tuition. To encourage more Japanese students to consider applying to U.S. universities as full-time undergraduates, Mr. Tadashi Yanai—through the —has offered competitive four-year scholarships to Japanese high school students who enter top colleges in the United States. Several Stanford e-Japan alumni have received the prestigious and very generous scholarships.

This year, four Stanford e-Japan alumni are recipients of the Yanai Tadashi Scholarships. The Yanai Scholars are scheduled to begin their undergraduate studies in the United States from this fall. They are:

• Yuki Hayashita (Shiba High School, Tokyo): Brown University
• Ryotaro Homma (Kaisei Academy, Tokyo): Yale University
• Hugo Ichioka (Zushi Kaisei High School, Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture): Williams College
• Riki Shimizu (Nada High School, Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture): Duke University
   

Riki Shimizu, who was a student in the fall 2018 Stanford e-Japan course, noted, “Stanford e-Japan was one of the most instructive programs in high school. Back then I did not have enough English ability to fully express my thoughts, but I think it somewhat improved through the courses to the level that I could consider U.S. colleges as an option. Without attending e-Japan, I wouldn’t be able to go to Duke…” Shimizu’s Stanford e-Japan Instructor Waka Brown commented, “I am touched that Riki credits my course for providing him with the inspiration to apply to universities in the United States.” She continued, “The fact that Riki will be going to Duke University, Yuki to Brown University, and Ryotaro to Yale University is exceedingly rewarding to me as one of their former teachers.”

Stanford e-Japan is also generously supported by the Yanai Tadashi Foundation. Stanford e-Japan Instructor Meiko Kotani, who taught the fall 2019 Stanford e-Japan course, is hopeful that more Japanese students will consider applying to U.S. colleges in the future. Upon hearing that her student, Hugo Ichioka, was accepted into Williams College, she stated, “The excitement that was conveyed from his email, which alerted me to the news that he had become a Yanai Scholar, made me reflect upon the importance of working with young students and encouraging them to think ‘outside of the box’ and to apply to universities outside of Japan… during one of my online classes, I had my students meet with high school students in the United States who were enrolled in 91�Թ�’s Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP) and this seemed to have prompted many to consider studying in the United States.”

This type of meaningful exchange between Japanese students and American students has become significant in the college life of Yanai Scholar Daisuke Masuda, a rising junior at 91�Թ�. When asked what advice he would give to the new Yanai Scholars, Masuda commented, “Interacting with people with diverse backgrounds has always been an integral part of my college life in the United States. The more you know about their culture, the better you can appreciate why they do what they do. I would encourage you to get to know your peers from around the world and learn various approaches to learning, careers, and life in general.”

91�Թ� also offers online courses to U.S. high school students on Japan (Reischauer Scholars Program), China (), and Korea (), and an online course to Chinese high school students on the United States ().

To stay informed of 91�Թ� news, and follow us on , , and .

Starting something new from scratch is always challenging. Though it requires huge amounts of effort and contains the possibility of not working out, I believe that it is absolutely worth exploring a new challenge because it has the power of creating chances of making people happier. This is the most important thing I learned from the people who took the initiative to establish the wonderful program, Stanford e-Japan.

Though it was the inaugural year of the program when I joined in 2015, I was truly impressed not only with the high quality of the academic content, but also with the rich opportunities of communication with prestigious leaders from various fields. Moreover, the program generously offered the top three students the chance to visit 91�Թ� for a ceremony.

It was exhilarating to be in the program due to the endless surprises and new learnings that I encountered throughout the course. 

Since then, I have resolved to initiate new challenges myself in order to contribute to younger students just as Stanford e-Japan Instructor Waka Brown did for me. After I returned to Keio University from a one-year university exchange program at the University of California, San Diego, I established a student-led organization with several members at Keio from diverse backgrounds. Our student-led organization aims to cultivate young global citizens of Japan by allowing students attending Japanese high schools to have meaningful interactions with international students from Japanese universities like Keio.

In addition to encouraging the high school students to explore new challenges, I also wanted to share how interesting it is to learn about different cultures, including the histories of foreign countries and the benefits of interacting with people who have different backgrounds. We focus on designing an environment so that high school students can actively discuss and exchange ideas with international students in person while also building their English presentation skills. Through our program, we believe every high school student has the opportunity to learn something new like communication skills with individuals of different backgrounds, the ability to reach a mutual understanding with people of differing opinions, and leadership skills to lead discussions in a diverse community.

During our programs at several high schools, I have been able to hear many voices from the high school students, international students, and even high school teachers that suggest that they have fortunately had meaningful and fruitful experiences during our programs. Despite some initial struggles, I now strongly believe that even small programs like ours can make a difference in our society. I will never forget the precious lessons learned from Stanford e-Japan, and perhaps the most important lesson is for me to continue to explore new challenges and to encourage young students to do so as well.

The following reflection is a guest post written by Jun Yamasaki, a Spring 2017 alum and honoree of the \Stanford e-Japan Program, which is currently accepting applications for Fall 2020. He is now a student at Northwestern University.

My journey with Stanford e-Japan began with my enrollment in the fall session of the course when I was in the second year of high school in 2017. “Journey” may not be a word that is usually associated with the taking of a class, yet, my usage of it here is deliberate. Three years have passed since I was a student in Ms. Waka Brown’s class, and I have since graduated high school to pursue a college education in the United States at Northwestern University. As I reflect on my experience with Stanford e-Japan, the word “journey” seems ever more appropriate, for the program has been and will continue to be interlinked with my personal development as I look towards my future path.

The initial motivation behind my enrollment in Stanford e-Japan was rooted in my background as a kikokusei or kikokushijo, Japanese words that are used to describe students who have returned to Japan from a long period abroad. When I was five years old, I was suddenly told by my parents that we would be moving to the United States. To say that I was shocked or surprised would be an understatement; after all, my “world” at the time had consisted of a set of small bubbles, all on the scale of a few kilometers: my immediate neighborhood and the cities where my grandparents resided. A bullet train station linked those two discrete bubbles together during summer and winter breaks. Understandably, as a kindergartener, my knowledge and command of the English language was not even close to rudimentary.

A few months saw my repertoire slowly increase, and with it, my comfort in my new environment. The openness, friendliness, and hospitality of the people I met during my time in the States helped me feel that I belonged there, that I was not just some outsider from another country, and that I could consider where I lived in Florida, and later California, as my new homes. These experiences were perhaps my first encounter or involvement with U.S.–Japan relations.

My return to Japan in 6th grade unexpectedly proved to be more difficult for me than going to the United States. My entire experience with my attempts at reacclimation is another story altogether, but essentially, I experienced what many kikokushijo term as “reverse culture shock” due to the significant differences in culture and behavioral expectations in the United States and Japan. This led to a period that involved many questions about my own identity, as a result of those experiences, as well as the inevitable question that many kikokushijo are asked when they bring up their upbringing outside of Japan: “So do you consider yourself Japanese or American?” I have yet to come up with a satisfying answer. Sometimes, for the sake of conversation, I briefly consider just giving a simple answer. However, I almost never do so, because a simple answer does not do justice to the significance and weight of the topic for kikokushijo like me; not to mention that an answer aside from “It depends” would grossly fail to take into account the complexity of the concept of culture itself, and the many philosophical considerations that have to be made in such a discussion.

It was these experiences, or more specifically, the questions that arose from these experiences, that led me to enroll in Stanford e-Japan.

While I was enrolled in the course, each module of Stanford e-Japan helped me construct a multi-dimensional understanding of U.S.–Japan relations. This was not only helpful in satisfying my own curiosity, but especially today, I appreciate how solid of a foundation this course has given me to understand, interpret, and construct informed opinions about current events. Modules such as “U.S. High Schools and Education,” “Diversity Issues in the United States,” “Civil and Human Rights: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy,” and “The Japanese American Internment,” have offered me perspectives about the background and significance of some of the crucial racial injustice issues in the United States today that I would not have been able to have access to had I not taken the course. In addition, as countries around the world struggle against the global health emergency that is COVID-19, modules such as “Healthcare in the United States” have become ever more relevant.

Stanford e-Japan’s efforts to help increase the number of Japanese students studying abroad have also impacted me both directly and indirectly. The “Studying Abroad” module and the subsequent discussions with my fellow classmates about our future plans with regard to college and how we will continue to strengthen the U.S.–Japan relationship were very informative and productive. This was especially helpful because around this time, I was not sure if I wanted to stay in Japan as most of my classmates at school were planning to do, or go to the United States. Although I had some idea at that point about the quality of U.S. college education, spending six years back home in Japan had made me slightly hesitant at the prospect of living for four (or more) years away from my group of friends and family.

Participating in Stanford e-Japan gave me a glimpse into what I could experience at a college in the United States, and the turning point in my decision came in August of 2018, when I attended the joint Stanford e-Japan and Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP) awards ceremony on the Stanford campus. I was simply awestruck by the quality and depth of the analyses that the Reischauer Scholars had conducted for their presentations. I distinctly recall Ms. Brown and Ms. Funahashi (RSP Instructor) remarking that the level of research that they had conducted was near the level of a university or graduate school paper.

After the awards ceremony, the e-Japan and RSP students had a chance to tour the Stanford campus. At one point, we talked about our experiences with the U.S.–Japan relationship and our future plans. I distinctly recall that this was one of the major turning points in my decision to apply to colleges in the United States; in that moment, sitting there and conversing with the other award winners that sunny California afternoon, I had a powerful realization that this was the college life that I wanted to experience over the next four years.

Even after my graduation, Ms. Brown and the other instructors have been kind enough to invite me to return to the Stanford e-Japan virtual classrooms to talk to the current students about topics such as studying abroad and education in the United States. I always tell them that it was important to me that whatever field I went into, I wanted to be involved in some shape or form with the U.S.–Japan relationship. Taking Stanford e-Japan and examining the U.S.–Japan relationship from so many different perspectives and dimensions helped me “connect the dots,” and realize that my seemingly disparate interests were not necessarily mutually exclusive.

This leads me to the current stage of my journey. As a stepping stone towards the future goal that I was able to identify through my participation in Stanford e-Japan, I am currently studying mechanical engineering and applied mathematics, with plans to obtain further education and research experience in the form of a PhD in aerospace engineering after my undergraduate studies. Although I have enjoyed all of the classes I have taken so far, one class called “Design Thinking and Communication” stands out to me in particular. In this class, students are split into groups of four students, and are tasked with devising a solution for real, outside clients. In my case, my group was paired with a project partner from the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, a rehabilitation research hospital in downtown Chicago. As we went through the design process to create a solution for our client’s patients, we had to research and approach the problem from multiple different perspectives, such as societal impacts and financial concerns; not just the more tangible, technical-oriented considerations. Although they may be slightly different in subject matter, I am currently enjoying studying engineering for the same fundamental reasons that I enjoyed Stanford e-Japan.

Stanford e-Japan is truly unique in that it is a course that has been, and will continue to be relevant for its students even years after the conclusion of their enrollment. I am always happy to hear that Ms. Brown, Dr. Mukai (91�Թ� Director), and 91�Թ� have been continuing their efforts to bring such a great program to increasing numbers of students. As someone who is fortunate enough to attend college in the United States thanks to the generosity of the , I am pleased to hear that Mr. Yanai is also supporting Stanford e-Japan. It is my hope that 91�Թ� will continue to offer such courses to students who are as motivated and driven as those I studied with when I was a student in Stanford e-Japan.