Daiwa Foundation Tohoku Scholarship report by Hiromi Shiraishi

I am very grateful to the British Council and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation for awarding me a Daiwa Foundation Tohoku Scholarship. The scholarship supported me financially and allowed me to concentrate on studying during my course. Due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, I quit my job in order to pursue a Master’s degree in the UK. In addition my university studies, the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation also gave me opportunities to meet new people through various events, which would have been impossible otherwise. All of these experiences have helped me to have a fruitful and rewarding time in the UK.

I came to the UK in order to complete a one-year postgraduate course in Environmental Studies at University College London. I had an unforgettable, valuable experience through studying and living in the UK. Meeting various people, experiencing new cultures and listening to different opinions have enabled me to see things in a different, new and broader perspective.

Studying at university for a Master’s course in the UK was much harder than I had expected. My English skills were far from sufficient in order to understand different accents and express my opinion freely. Living in a new place apart from my family and friends was demanding and stressful. However at the same time, I enjoyed the experience as it was what I had been eager to do for a long time. The course has allowed me to deepen my knowledge of environmental issues and provided me with skills to look at these problems objectively and critically. It was stimulating and encouraging for me to read many papers and books, and to know that there are many academics whom research environmental issues from various perspectives. In addition, group projects reminded me of the importance of expressing my opinion. People in foreign countries do not understand or guess what I am thinking unless I speak out. Moreover, I had good friends who were on the MSc course from various countries including the UK, the US and China and the time that we spent together was very precious. A downside of the one-year postgraduate program was that I feel we didn’t have enough time together.

Living in London was also a great experience for me. I was deeply fascinated with this cosmopolitan city which accepts various cultures, cuisines and peoples from all over the world.

Apart from university life, I met local people from different backgrounds through volunteering in northeast London. I engaged in a small corporation that attempts to grow organic food in London, which also enabled me to meet like-minded people. Although it was challenging for me to understand some people’s English, the experience there allowed me to know how local people live their life, to join the community and to live as a Londoner, not just as an international student.

As I like green spaces and the countryside, I enjoyed being outside and walking around London. One of my favourite aspects of the UK and London is that people lie down on the grass in the parks and enjoy being close to nature. I loved experiencing the beauty of trees, flowers and sky in my daily life as when I was in Japan. They not only provided me with pleasure, happiness and joy, but also encouraged me to study hard by reminding me the reason why I would like to contribute to solving environmental issues. Additionally, although I did not have many opportunities to go to the countryside during the course, I sometimes went walking to the countryside and visited small towns, which made me like the UK more and more. When I went walking in the southeast of London in May, a carpet of bluebells took my breath away.

I had great memories of the two times that I stayed with British families. I spent Christmas with a British family who let me experience a British Christmas dinner and games. I knew that people spend Christmas differently in Western countries, but it was different from how I imagined it before coming to the UK. I was especially surprised that all public transportation does not work on Christmas day, and by the number of presents under the Christmas tree. The family prepared presents for me, which made me very happy.

The second time I went to Lincolnshire. The family cooked a nice dinner and sweets for me and another friend, and took us to many places. In addition, they had prepared us birthday cake as that day was in-between our birthdays! I was very impressed by their warmth, kindness and hospitality.

I always had mixed feeling about being far from the areas affected by the disaster and having left my hometown Miyagi in order to study in the UK, instead of assisting with the recovery directly as I had in my previous job. However, that is also what made me appreciate this opportunity to have lived in London; to have the scholarship and study was what I was eager to do. Based on the experience and knowledge that I gained in the UK, I would like to contribute to the creation of an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable and equitable society. Doing this, I believe, will help to revive my hometown, the Tohoku Region and Japan as a whole.

I also would like to help build a stronger relationship between the UK and Japan. Before studying here, the UK seemed a distant nation for me. The English that I had heard in Japan was mainly American English. In addition, I feel that while Japanese food such as sushi has become popular in London, Japan is still a distant country when compared to China or India for many British people, which makes me feel disappointed. As such, I would like to enhance communication at individual level between our two countries in order to shorten the distance between them.

I am grateful to the British Council and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation for supporting me in many ways while I studied at university in the UK. I would like to give back to them what I have received by what I can achieve in my future career and my life.