2020/2/14

Momoka Kirihata, first-year student of the Faculty of Global Engagement’s Department of Global Studies, was selected to take part in the “Building the TOMODACHI Generation: Morgan Stanley Ambassadors Program 2020” to be held at Washington D.C. She would be the first student from KUFS to participate in this program that fosters the next generation. Starting February 29th, she will stay in the U.S. for two weeks.

The program was jointly established by The Washington Center and the U.S.-Japan Research Institute in academic year 2013. 21 students from Japan and the U.S. are selected to participate in cultural exchanges, learn about ways to address social issues, and to develop their abilities as leaders of the TOMODACHI Generation who can be successful anywhere in the world.

Kirihata applied to attend this program at the end of last October with a mission. She hopes to “learn how to pass on a local festival of my hometown to the next generation, since it’s on the verge of disappearance due to the effects of declining birthrates and the aging population.” After a Skype interview in mid-November, she received her acceptance notice in December. The Japanese students who were chosen are mostly second and third-year students from renowned public and private universities. She could not help but express her surprise, “I didn’t think that I would be chosen!” But she continued on with determination, “I hope to make the most of it since it’s the perfect opportunity to challenge myself.”

Back