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東京大学公共政策大学院 | GraSPP / Graduate School of Public Policy | The university of Tokyo

GraSPPers Voice GraSPPers Voice

Changes that CAMPUS ASIA Program has brought about on my experience 

Ryohei Takahashi (from Japan)

I had a beautiful journey through the CAMPUS ASIA Program. In Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing, I met fascinating people, saw amazing landscapes, and enjoyed delicious foods. This program is an irreplaceable experience to my graduate school experience.

Tokyo: After enrolling into GraSPP, I decided to join this ambitious program. As a former public servant, it was very stimulating for me to learn new topics with excellent students from various countries. The excellence of CAMPUS ASIA fellows was astonishing, which made this program more appealing and worth challenging. The lectures I took at UTokyo covered a wide range of subjects and were insightful.,During my time at UTokyo I developed a better understanding of the issues related to Japan, East Asia and the world.

Seoul (Exchange): Because the political turmoil between Japan and South Korea had been very intense and the figures of South Korea are negatively depicted on media coverage, I did not have a big expectation of Seoul. Contrary to my expectation, I had a positive experience, and I learned a lot about South Korea. Topics include the ambivalent feelings of South Koreans on Japan, domestic problems such as extremely low birth rate, high unemployment rate and high poverty rate among the elderly, and a monopolized economic structure. My stay in Seoul gave me a clear-cut picture on our“near but far neighbor.”

Beijing (Double Degree): I was impressed by the diversity at Peking University. Fortunately, I had a lot of opportunities to get acquainted with international students from Europe, Africa, North America, South America and Asia. Additionally, during the lectures, we had opportunities to discuss relevant issues such as Sino-U.S. relation, political turmoil around the COVID-19 and other political topics with Chinese professors. Surely, these opportunities are very valuable to deepen the understanding of the international relation around China and the world.

Prior to this program, I saw China, Korea, and Japan as separate countries. Now that I have completed the program, I am able to see the three countries from a large perspective of “East Asia.” Although there are difficult issues that lack a clear solution in East Asia,  the CAMPUS Asia Program will certainly give students a down-to-earth understanding on our neighbors, which allows us to become more international.