Study abroad, a language exchange service, and Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai： The busy student life of Yuma Fujita (4th-year, College of Business Administration)
“I wanted to interact with people who have different values and learn new ways of thinking.” These are the words of Yuma Fujita, a fourth-year student in the College of Business Administration who studied abroad at the University of York in the U.K. Fujita describes his study abroad experience as a turning point in his life. It led him to launch the language exchange service Gakusei English and become the first head of Ooki Ni, the Ritsumeikan University World Expo Student Committee, eventually connecting to his post-graduation career path.
Fujita, who has always been confident in his ability to take action since he was young, grew up in an environment where languages other than Japanese were spoken due to his father being stationed overseas. In his second year at Ritsumeikan Senior High School, he participated in an exchange program in Singapore, and he thought that he would like to join a long-term study abroad program after going to university so he could see more of the world. Unfortunately, his enrollment coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and no long-term programs were open, so he was left wondering what he would do.
Then, in January 2022, he received some good news: the university would resume its summer exchange programs that year. “If I don’t try to go abroad now, I will surely regret it,” he thought. In order to improve his language skills, he had been working part-time at a cafe frequented by foreigners for some time, and he would tell the patrons about the charms of traditional Japanese culture and his hometown of Kyoto. Thanks to his hard work, he earned the chance to study abroad and went to the University of York in the U.K. for six months starting in September 2022.
While studying in the U.K., despite the impact of the weak yen, he experienced the country’s culture by participating in homestays, and he made many friends through his club activities. “During this study abroad program, I was inspired by the conversations I had with students my age who had completely different values, and I realized I wanted to work abroad. It was truly a turning point in my life,” remarks Fujita. The dizzying pace of his life during study abroad was stimulating.
The experience of living abroad also triggered a desire in Fujita to create opportunities for Japanese students to interact with students abroad even if they could not join a study abroad program, so while he was still abroad in York, he established an organization there called Gakusei English. The group offers services and events where students studying overseas can interact one-on-one with each other online and teach each other their native languages, and it now has more than 120 members.
In addition to this, Fujita became the first head of Ooki Ni, the Ritsumeikan University World Expo Student Committee, which aims to run a booth at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. “While I was on study abroad, there was a World Expo held in Dubai. I knew that the next World Expo after Dubai would be Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, so after I returned from my study abroad, I found that Ritsumeikan was offering an Expo-related program. Although I went on study abroad to gain inspiration from a foreign country, I realized that I could communicate this appeal from right here in Japan, so applied for a position,” explains Fujita. Being a member of Ooki Ni led to a wide range of opportunities, including running a booth at Ibaraki x Ritsumeikan Day and organizing a session with Sachiko Nakajima, one of the Thematic Project Producers for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai.
Fujita has secured a position with a trading house after graduation. Looking back on his four years at Ritsumeikan ahead of his graduation, Fujita enthusiastically remarks, “I spent the last four years getting my bearings. I feel the most important thing I learned was earning the gratitude and trust of other people. In the future, I want to challenge myself to be helpful to others and be a benefit to society on the global stage.”
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