Nanaka Mizusawa is a junior at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan where she majors in Anthropology-Sociology at the Faculty of Liberal Arts. Her interest in refugee issues began when she joined the Sophia Refugee Support Group (SRSG), the student-led refugee supporting group through direct actions. Her first attempt to write an article with great help from one of the narrators, Sunday, deepened her understanding of the refugee issues in Japan and let her put herself in other people’s shoes. She feels so honored to have an opportunity to get involved in this project and to have gotten to know Sunday. The most memorable moment for her was the direct Zoom interview with the narrator. Although taking contact with the narrator and her other teammates was sometimes hard due to the pandemic outbreak, the online interview allowed her to not only hear the narrator’s story but also to feel the vibes and emotions from him which was the best part of this project.
Yui Matsushima is a junior at Sophia University Faculty of Liberal Arts, majoring in Anthropology- Sociology. With past experiences living in the US during her elementary school years, she faced cultural challenges living in Japan and hopes for a society where diversity is celebrated for everyone to live to their full potential. She feels a connection with refugees, as they are also a culturally diverse population in Japan, although coming from a totally different background. Her shocking visit to the detention center through SRSG has made the refugee issue in Japan, an issue she cannot ignore. In the project, she was inspired to meet someone as brave and positive as Sunday. His passion and the smiles he showed during the Zoom meeting are unforgettable. Also, she had a valuable learning experience as she followed the frightening events until the moment Sunday decided to flee. Through this, not only was she able to understand the circumstances in which refugees are displaced, but she was also able to expand her views on Ugandan politics (very different from Japan), as well as severe human rights violations.
Yui Matsushima
3rd year, Anthropology-Sociology Major, Faculty of Liberal Arts
‘Persecution Story,’ ‘Early Years in Japan‘
Amy Kamura is a senior at Sophia University, majoring in sociology and anthropology. Born and raised in Okinawa, Japan, she moved to Tokyo in 2016. Amy became interested in Japan’s refugee crisis after taking Professor Slater’s Introduction to Japanese Anthropology during her freshman year of university. Shocked by the low acceptance rates, it became an unforgettable issue throughout her university years. The most memorable outcome of the project is getting to know the narrator, Sunday, and her teammates. Although she was not able to meet Sunday or her teammates in person due to the COVID-19 outbreak, she feels that she was able to get to know them on a very intimate level. One lesson she learned during the project was trying to understand and explain the event that occurred to the narrators, and what it could mean to them.
