Two students majoring in Japanese at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have been awarded the MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) Scholarship by the Japanese government. Koy Yoshizumi and Marques Batoon, are among only four students in the country to receive the highly regarded scholarship this year, and began their yearlong studies in Japan this October.
“I feel truly blessed to receive this scholarship,” said Yoshizumi, who is taking classes at Keio University in Tokyo. “I want to take every opportunity that comes my way, and I guess I want to ‘put myself out there’ a little more.”
Yoshizumi, who grew up in Kapolei, first became interested in Japanese culture through anime, a passion that has fueled his academic journey.
Batoon, a double major in Japanese and information and computer sciences, is studying at Doshisha University in Kyoto. His year abroad offers him the chance to work on a unique project.
“One of my goals is to complete my Japanese language study app game and play it with the classmates here who are also studying Japanese,” Batoon said.
His fascination with the language began in the fourth grade when his best friend, moved to Hawaiʻi from Japan and spoke English and Japanese.
Both Yoshizumi and Batoon represent the thriving Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL) department at UH Mānoa, the largest of its kind in the nation, offering courses in Japanese, Chinese and Korean. The department continues to produce globally engaged graduates, many of whom go on to work in fields ranging from academia to government service.
“I hope that the awardees will make a year in Japan as MEXT scholars a fruitful one, by studying hard, by experiencing different aspects of Japanese society and culture firsthand, and by growing as individuals,” said Miki Ogasawara, an instructor who teaches Japanese at UH Mānoa.
In 2023, two more EALL students at UH Mānoa were among the four recipients nationwide to be awarded the MEXT scholarship.
EALL is housed in the UH Mānoa College of Arts, Languages and Letters.
