Yu Sugihara

Hi everyone, my name is Yu. I am a first-year biotechnology student, hoping to be your president of the Japanese Society next year!! For those of you who haven’t met me before, yes, you pronounced my name right. It is just Yu. My name originates from the Japanese phrase「悠々自適」which means “to take life easy” which pretty much perfectly sums up the type of person that I am.

For most of my life, I have lived outside of Japan. Which was great because I got to meet people from all over the world, learn about different cultures and experience things I never would have in Japan. However, as years passed, I felt myself slowly getting disconnected from my roots, which concerned me, but even more so, my parents. This was why when I came to Imperial, I was told by my parents that I must join the Japanese society or they would stop paying for my tuition fees. I guess what I am trying to say is, that I was forced to join the society. Jokes aside, since joining the society I have managed to refine my Japanese through talking to different people, made many new friends, some of whom I see almost every day, ultimately making me feel more connected to Japan.

As the president of this society, I hope to nurture an environment where everyone feels like they belong whether Japanese or not, where we will be able to call each other “family” and the society, “our home”.