How did Sakura Science Plan play a role in your study / research in Japan?

The rich learning experience of Sakura Science Plan allowed me to follow up particular interests for my research. During the three weeks when I visited in Japan, I have gained new knowledge. The exchange program experience from 2015 November to December was a unique fruitful experience for me, since I generally enjoy working and sharing my ideas with Japanese students and professors from Gifu university and JPARC, under a multicultural environment. I have really nice memories of this JST exchange program.We come from different backgrounds, but really share so many of the same interests in the Japanese university. In this way, issues were raised which related not only to a discussion of hypernuclear physics, but also to their research works. I also enjoyed the free-form approach and the intensive style of the learning experience. It was demanding, but thoroughly enjoyable. All of the exchange program students were engaged and encouraged to exchange ideas and experiences with Japanese researcher. Therefore, Sakura Science Plan gave me a good experience and courage, so that I could go on to my second step to study in Japan. Second step, I came to Japan to study master's course under Prof. Kazuma Nakazawa's lab. Now, I am a second year master's student in Gifu University. In the future, I will do my relevance research work based on the exchange program knowledge, which is the more important between hyper nuclear physics. Now my research work is the construction of a single hyper nucleus. In the future, I will search and reconstruct between the interaction of YY and YN interaction like Nagaya events. And then, I would like to search the life time of the hyper nucleus. During my stay at Gifu University in Japan, I really developed a strong friendships in the lab, which offered more interaction and sharing of ideas which really made the whole process a much more enjoyable one.

Please describe your comments freely related to your life in Japan.

I have dreamed of studying abroad since my childhood and I am pretty sure that many students from different countries have the same feeling. I now live in the Japan and study at Gifu University. I am here to make a difference in my life. I will never forget my life in Japan. I was so excited to come here. I arrived in Japan as a student at Prof. Nakazawa's nuclear physics lab at Gifu University. My daily research with my professor and lab members (Japanese students) have helped me adjust to life in Japan and have allowed me to develop a deeper understanding of my research and Japanese culture. They were very nice people and they tried to help me in many ways. I have found that people living in Japan are very friendly and communicative. What is immediately notable is that everyone is smiling to me, saying “Ohayogozaimasu,” wishing me to have a good day and asking if I need help, especially in stores and markets. I like being in such a friendly atmosphere very much. Studying in Japan for me was filled with experiences that allowed me to become a more aware and confident person. In conclusion, I would like to say that it is wonderful to be an international student in a foreign country like Japan. And I am pretty confident that I will succeed with my dreams. In addition, I will do my best to help other students like me by giving my best advice and suggestions.

Please describe your message to people who are going to participate in this program.

My advice to you would be to take every opportunity, to embrace the Japanese culture, to make lifelong connections and to improve your language skills. And remember, home is just a plane-trip away. Many people are attracted to Japan because they like the way they do things, their social codes and traditions, for example. It could be to do with the way in which people interact with one another, or the music, the festivals and celebrations, the history, the art, and not forgetting the food! It is wonderful to come and live here in order to be immersed in a culture that is extraordinary to you, where you can experience things that wouldn’t be offered at home. Moreover, living in Japan is an enriching experience because it forces you to adapt to things that are unfamiliar and unusual to you. You become independent and open to new, exciting, or terrifying challenges that you would never have encountered in your home country. And that is the most rewarding of all: the opportunity to learn and develop as a person. Because you will discover things about yourself that you may not have known before: your beliefs, your passions, or your character. Through interacting within a foreign society, your eyes will be open to all sorts of aspects of life that would be difficult to learn in your native country. My exchange was fantastic. No matter how I’ll attempt to capture the experience in Japan, there are no exact words which could describe the time I had during my exchange.