Tanaka & Green Scholarship Essay – Praharshitha (Haru) Thumati

Eight years after my first Japanese class, I finally landed in the country itself. In these past years, I had accumulated a long list of to-dos and eventually lived a study abroad so unique to me. Competing in Japan Bowl really shaped my study abroad experience. I knew so much more about the country I was living in besides just the language, and the years of studying for the contest significantly influenced my travel plans. Seeing an Oharai ritual on a hot summer rainy day at a small shrine in Osaka became one of my core memories. 

I am a soon-to-be 3^rd year student an UC San Diego majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Japanese. I chose to study abroad in a one-semester program at Hitotsubashi University, a small liberal arts college in the outskirts of Tokyo. In the 5 months I was in Japan, I really challenged myself by taking Japanese-taught classes that regular students were taking, participating in an internship that required N1 fluency, and travelling nearly every week. 

I am so grateful to have been able to go to Hitotsubashi because it was such a different environment from what I was used to at UCSD. I got to become friends with the local restaurant owners in Kunitachi and Kodaira, where the university and dorms are located. From my experience at UCSD, it was really easy to only hang around students of similar age. However, at Kunitachi and Kodaira, both small cities with a large elderly population, I made so many friends older than me. Because of these connections, I received an opportunity to do a talk about life in California to the residents of Kunitachi at the Civic Center. Thanks to these people, I was able to live my 5 months like a native. From parks to restaurants, I enjoyed the soul of Japan. 

Being a vegetarian in Japan was definitely something I was worried about, but living in the suburbs unexpectedly made it much easier than I expected. Because everything in Kodaira was locally owned, I could make personal requests to the owner and make the menu work out for me. Everyone would remember me by name and recommend new vegetarian-modified dishes every time I went. Surprisingly, Hitotsubashi did not have any vegetarian food in the dining halls, but after talking with the school officials, we were able to create a vegan menu that started being offered 2 months after I first brought up the concern. One of the things that I love about Japan is that you will be heard, as long as you speak. 

I ended up interning at Kanematsu, a supply chain trading company with a very long history—exactly the type of company that I wanted to work at. Unlike a project-based internship, this program was more like a workplace experience. I rotated to different divisions within Kanematsu every week, including the Finance department, Logistics and Insurance department, Steel department, and the Vehicles and Aerospace department. On top of listening to presentations about the different divisions, I also was able to fill out paperwork like the Letter of Credit and check invoices and quotations with the help of my senpais. As with the Japanese-taught classes, the complex Japanese was challenging in the beginning. In the finance department, they would talk about Bill of Landing, maritime insurance, and establishing banks—words that I did not even know in English. The previous four months of living in Japan really improved my speaking and listening through daily conversations, but words like “bearish candlestick” usually did not enter ordinary exchanges.

As the internship progressed, I eventually gave up trying to translate words in English as I was learning very technical words which I didn’t know in any language, and I instead proceeded to learn it organically by hearing the Japanese explanation from my mentors. I was the only intern at the company, and the work for the intern wasn’t specifically designed for a non-native speaker, but I enjoyed reaching new heights in my language journey with the help of my senpais. The best part of the internship (besides the luxurious office) was the kind people at Kanematsu. I came from a completely different STEM background, but everyone who mentored me spent so much effort into making presentations and schedules just for me. Over the course of a month, I collected 53 business cards, and I’m excited to keep in touch with each and every person. 

Although I really enjoyed working at Kanematsu and the liberal arts environment of Hitotsubashi, in the future I want to continue in the field of Biochemistry. It was amazing to be able to work at a Japanese firm for a month, but as of now I do not have any long terms plans of working in Japan. However, my ideal job would include some aspect of Japanese—whether it is going on work trips to Japan or working with Japanese researchers, I do not want my years of studying to become useless. 

The day after my internship, I moved out of my dorm forever and flew out of Japan. The stress of packing relieved by the memory of my things encapsulated the feelings of study abroad. I don’t know when it will be the next time I can go to Japan, but I do know that it will happen. Until then, I will continue to polish my Japanese and foster the many friendships that blossomed in the spring of 2024.  

I cannot thank JASWDC enough for all the opportunities they have given me. Japan Bowl encouraged me to dive deep into Japanese studies, and the Tanaka and Green Scholarship funded the real adventure in Japan. The scholarship covered my living costs and made my middle school dream possible. I do not know when the next time I go to Japan will be, but until then I will continue to be in touch with the Japanese community both in San Diego and Japan.