Daiwa Scholars 2014
The Foundation is delighted to announce Daiwa Scholars 2014.
For this year’s intake, the Foundation has selected six Scholars.
In total, they have studied at seven different universities and their subject areas encompass Media and Communications, History, Education, 3D Design, German and Russian and Materials Engineering.
Daiwa Scholars 2014 departed for Tokyo in September 2014.
Their profiles with photographs can be found via the following link:
Daiwa Scholars 2014 profiles, PDFYou can listen to an interview between 2014 Daiwa Scholar, Freyja Sewell, and the BBC’s Dan Damon on the World Service’s World Update via the link below:
Freyja Sewell interview with Dan Damon on World Update, BBC World Service, MP3 file
About the scholars
Phoebe Amoroso
Phoebe Amoroso was awarded a BA (Hons) in Geography by the University of Cambridge in 2010, and completed an MSc in Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences in 2013. She recently worked as an editor at Wozedu, an educational and careers networking website for young people, and is currently pursuing freelance journalism. Her interest in Japan was sparked through karate. She has travelled to Japan three times for research, study and work purposes. She aspires to become a freelance reporter focusing on Japanese society, cuisine, travel and technology
Phoebe’s homestay in Japan was in Morioka City in Iwate Prefecture. Her work placement was at Thomson Reuters. Phoebe worked as a documentary producer / reporter at Amatelas a documentary/TV production company which works closely with NHK. Since April 2021, she has been Tokyo Correspondent for Feature Story USA Corporation.
Luke Fernandes
Luke Fernandes was awarded a BA (Hons) in Classics by the University of Cambridge in 2012, and completed an MA in Intellectual History at the University of Sussex in 2014. He is interested in religious syncretism between Buddhism and Shinto in Japan. He feels that an in-depth knowledge of Japanese language, literature and intellectual history would equip him to embark on a PhD with a focus on Japan, and support him in his aim of pursuing a career in academia.
Luke’s homestay in Japan was in Tokushima City in Tokushima Prefecture. His work placement was at Komazawa University and Hosei University.
Viran Pandya
Viran Pandya was awarded a BA (Hons) in History by the University of York in 2008, completed an MSt in History at the University of Oxford in 2009 and joined the Teach First programme in 2011. He has been teaching History at a school in south-east London for three years, and is completing an MA in Leadership at the Institute of Education. He spent three weeks in Tokyo in 2008, and is interested in the Japanese approach to education. He aims to complete a PhD in Education and to develop his career as a lead teacher and teacher trainer.
Viran’s homestay was in Ishigaki City in Okinawa Prefecture. His work placement was at the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee. Viran is currently Vice President at FleishmanHillard in Tokyo.
Freyja Sewell
Freyja Sewell was awarded a BA (Hons) in 3D Design by the University of Brighton in 2011, since then she has completed commissions from various clients including the London Design Museum and Selfridges. In 2010 she spent four months on a scholarship at Nagoya University of Arts, and she has recently been studying the Japanese language at SOAS, University of London. She aspires to incorporate knowledge from Japanese culture and design into her work as a designer and to set up her own design studio.
Freyja’s homestay was in Oita City in Oita Prefecture. Her work placement was at Nendo INC. After the Scholarship Freyja completed an MA at the Royal College of Art and works as a designer.
Liam Tasker
Liam Tasker completed a BA (Hons) in German and Russian at the University of Oxford in 2014. While at university he explored Japanese literature such as ‘The Tale of Genji’ and ‘No Longer Human’, and enjoyed Japanese films. His interest in Japan was triggered by Japanese video games. Following his Daiwa Scholarship he would like to pursue postgraduate study in digital game theory and design, and to pursue a career in video game writing and development.
Liam’s homestay was in Sapporo City in Hokkaido. His work placement was at the British Council. Liam is now working for Omnicom.
John Wheatley
John Wheatley completed an MEng in Materials Engineering at Imperial College London in 2014. While at university, in addition to being captain of the University Challenge team, he has also been a member of the Kendo Society and treasurer of the Japanese Society. He has an interest in Japanese language, literature and modern history. He has a professional interest in Japanese scientists’ work in materials engineering and nanotechnology, and aspires to work in cross-border engineering consultancy.
John’s homestay was in Ishigaki City in Okinawa Prefecture. His work placement was at the Biosensing Materials Lab at the University of Tokyo.
John works as a writer, presenter and engineer.