On Friday, April 5, as someone selected as a 2024 Atsumi International Foundation fellow, I arrived at the Atsumi Foundation Hall to participate in the April Gathering. While the sky was cloudy, with the temperature at around 15 degrees Celsius, the day was filled with beautiful Sakura beginning to bloom. This was because the cold weather in March led to a slower blossoming this year.

As I arrived at the Atsumi Hall around 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled 11:00 AM, a few office staffs and people who appeared to be fellows were sitting around a table. I sat down next to another fellow who arrived around the same time. It was a very comfortable single sofa. After a while, a man sat on a reserved seat on my left-hand side. It turns out he was the Executive Director of the Foundation. As we discovered we were both graduates of Keio University, we had a pleasant conversation for a while. When I asked the fellow on my right-hand side for their name and hometown, it was Korea. As I said "my mother is Korean" in Korean, they were surprised. I was a bit happy.

The event began once all the fellows arrived. First, the Executive Director and the Associate Director greeted us and explained about the Foundation. I felt very grateful to the donors whose donations make the scholarship we receive possible. After that, we took turn introducing ourselves. The staffs set 3 prompts ("What is a problem you have recently solved and you are satisfied with?", "Please tell us your favorite sport", and "Please tell us what you are a 'stan (oshi)s of" for us to choose from, and we were to introduce our name, hometown, research topic, along with responding to the prompt. Once your turn is over, you were to pass the owl plushie to someone you want to hear from. My turn did not come until later, but everyone's introduction was so interesting that my stress had long dissipated by the time it was my turn. I chose the "stan" prompt, and passionately talked about a boardgame I have been addicted to since a few years ago. An introduction that was especially memorable was Office Chief Harada's story. He was long perplexed that "why don't the culprits in crime drama dig such a deep hole so that the dead body is not discovered", but as he experienced digging a hole firsthand and found it much more exhausting than he thought, his question was resolved. His point of view and choice of words were brilliant, and gave me a good chuckle.

As the introduction picked up steam, time was running short. After taking a group photo, I spoke with the other fellows and Foundation staffs, with great food such as onigiri, karaage, and some fruits and sweets. As I spoke with the other fellows, we shared our anxiety related to our doctoral dissertation or teaching as an adjunct lecturer for the first time. The sense that "we all feel the same" was a great encouragement. There are still some other fellows I have not yet talked to as there is some distance between us, but this has made me look forward to the gatherings and workshop in the future.

Finally, I would like to thank the Atsumi International Foundation for choosing me as a fellow. I love the Foundation's mission, "to create a good world citizen". I hope to pursue this mission through research. For now, with mutual encouragement with my batchmates, I shall aim to finish my doctoral dissertation in this one-year period.

Written by: Sato Yuna (2024 fellow)

Translated by: Motoki Luxmiwattana