Exchange Student Program The Soka University is presently engaged in academic exchange agreement
with 96 universities in the world. In the Philippines, U.P . had entered
into this agreement with the Soka University in 1988, and De La Sale in
1996. Every year, two exchange students from each university are dispatched.
Aside from that, because this is the only English speaking country in
Asia, many Soka University students came here to study at their own expense.
Furthermore, short term language training program is launched in Kalayan
College where Dr. Abueva, a friend of President Ikeda, serves as principal.
File 020: March 2008
Minami Tajima
(De La Salle University in Manila)
Hello, my name is Minami Tajima. I am a third year student majoring
in Economics at Soka University.
I studied at De La Salle University as an exchange student from May, 2007 to February, 2008.
The Reason I came to the Philippines
When I was a Soka high school student, I was fortunate enough to attend
the conferment ceremony in Tokyo where an honorary degree was bestowed
upon Ikeda-Sensei from Capitol University. On the following day after
that ceremony, the founder of Capitol University, Ms Rosales visited Soka
high school and made a speech.
In that speech, she said, “I trust you as disciples of Ikeda-Sensei,” and related to us her horrible Death March experience with tears. When I listened to her story, I was very shocked to know what Japanese soldiers did in the Philippines, and from that moment on, I had a special and intimate feeling towards the Philippines.
After I entered Soka University, I decided to go abroad to study because
I wanted to contribute to world Kosen-rufu by improving my English language
skills. Since my major is Economics and I was learning economics
development, I wanted to see the real situation of a developing country.
That is why I came to the Philippines.
My Life in the Philippines
My life in the Philippines was harder than what I had expected. When I was in Soka University, my friends and I talked about Sensei and we encouraged each other everyday through Sensei’s guidance. On the other hand, after coming over here, I had to encourage myself because my friends were no longer with me. And it was very difficult for me since I could not feel Sensei close to me too. However, the local SGI members were able to change my outlook on this. Because after I came to the Philippines, I joined the Diamond Kotekitai group of SGI Philippines. And while I attended the practices, I noticed that even though most of them had never met Sensei, they nevertheless were eagerly looking for a chance to meet Sensei. I was impressed by this fact. I then realized that even though Sensei was in Japan and I was in the Philippines, there was no distance separating Sensei and me if I felt him in my mind. For me, it was a kind of a personal test if I could feel Sensei close to me or not. After I noticed it, I was able to focus and started to study hard. However, I faced yet another wall. That is, the very strong pressure as an exchange student. Because by being chosen as an exchange student, I was chosen as a representative of Soka University. Whenever I felt this pressure, I always had severe stomach ache. So I chanted Daimoku a lot everyday, and I decided to myself: “I am a disciple of Sensei, so I cannot lose.” This decision made me stop from running away from the Philippines.
When I was suffering such pressure, one of my Korean friends told me, “You
can think of me as your sister in the Philippines.” I was truly saved
by her words and thought that “even though our nationalities were different,
we can be true friends.” Ikeda-Sensei also has a lot of friends all
over the world. It is said that “If we have a friend in another country,
we will pray for that country’s peace, and it will be connected to the
realization of world peace.” I really understood these words’ meaning
after I made friends in the Philippines. Not only did I make Korean friends,
I was also able to make some Filipino friends. When I started to
study in De La Salle University, I was surprised because most of the students
were younger than me and they were just 17 or 18 years old. However,
they were already matured, and they always helped me out whenever I had
problems in class. At first, I could not believe it because people
sometimes do not care about others so much back in Japan. However,
my classmates here really took good care of me. Also, while I was
with them, I realized that people in this country are living with a cheerful
outlook and always looked at the brighter side of things. Since Japanese
tend to be too serious sometimes, including myself, the kindness and gaiety
of Filipinos attracted me. Of course, there are differences between
people in different countries. Accordingly, I learned that it is
important to understand the people and culture of that country.
As I said before, I wanted to see the real situation of a developing country.
However, when I actually met children who asked me for money for the first
time, I was very shocked. Of course, I know they had no intention of hurting
me, but sometimes I felt scared because they did not leave my side.
It showed how they had the strong will to get some spare change from people.
Observing this, I thought I really wanted to change this situation as soon
as possible. In actuality, what I can only do for now is to thoroughly
improve my wisdom. However, I believe the situation of the Philippines
would improve for the better in due time if we fought for Kosen-rufu.
My Determination
I learned many things during my stay in the Philippines. Even though
I will be going back to Japan, I am determined to continue improving myself.
Now as a youth, it is time to succeed Sensei in our endeavors for
world Kosen-rufu.
Sensei once said, “Soka University students are my life.” Therefore, as
a disciple of Ikeda-Sensei, I will fight alongside Sensei at all times,
and I will contribute to world Kosen-rufu. Moreover, I will strive
to be victorious in my life.
