Exchange Student Program Soka University is presently engaged in academic exchange agreement with
96 universities throughout the world. In the Philippines, U.P . had entered
into such an agreement with Soka University in 1988, and De La Salle in
1996. Every year, two exchange students from each university are being
dispatched for the said program.
Aside from that, because this is the only English speaking country in Asia,
many Soka University students come here to study at their own expense.
Furthermore, short term language training program is also launched in Kalayaan
College where Dr. Abueva, a close friend of SGI President Ikeda, serves
as its principal.
File 038: March 2010
Yuto Hashimoto (University of the Philippines)
at the University of the Philippines
Hello! My name is Yuto Hashimoto, a third year student from Soka
University majoring in Law. I have studied at the University of the Philippines,
Diliman since May 2009 as an exchange student.
Now, I would like to take this opportunity to honestly share my motive
for coming here, my experience during my stay and my determination.
What Motivated me to come to the Philippines
with my friend
To be honest, what I used to be as a person is completely different from
what I am now. Even though I have been a member of SGI since birth, I was
unwilling to chant and join meetings at first. After my pleasant but unprofitable
high school days, I got a chance to enter Soka University, which marked
the turning point in my life.
I have been influenced by Soka studentsf humanity, especially by some of
my seniors who were also practicing SGI Buddhism diligently. And through
my university life, it did not take so much time for me to get the conviction
that SGI Buddhism is not what I had mistakenly imagined it to be, but is
on the contrary, effective indeed. So I was most grateful to Sensei, the
Gohonzon, and SGI friends for they have cultivated and enriched my life,
and made it more fruitful.
At the same time, I realized that I had always been helped by them, and came to strongly hope to repay my debt to them. But I did not have any idea as to how I could do this at that time. After spending some time in thinking about how I can realize it through chanting and reading Senseifs guidance, I found one particular line of guidance which emphasized the importance of English and I was somehow impressed by it. Coupled with the fact that I am originally interested in developing countries, I decided to take part in the intensive English learning program at the Cagayan Capitol University in the Philippines. This essentially became my first contact with this country.
Never had I gone through such an impressive experience in my life until I participated in the program. Because essentially, it was more than just an English learning experience for when I arrived, I can never forget my very first encounter of the stark reality of the gap between the rich and the poor. However, what impressed me the most was not such a tragic sight per se, but the vitality and hospitality of the local people in spite of those difficulties. This experience became a major triggering point for me to come to the Philippines as my big challenge and training in my college life in order for me to repay my debt in the future, and eventually to make my dream come true.
My Life in the Philippines
with my friends at University of the Philippines
So I came here in the Philippines with a hopeful picture of my life and
it has already been around five months since my arrival. By this time however,
things did not go as well as I expected them to be. On the contrary, what
awaited me was a lot of difficulties.
Although I had once been to the Philippines for three weeks (for the English language program), when it comes to actual living, I had to really adjust myself to a whole new way of life: for example, a different sense of time, unfamiliar food, and an inconvenient transportation system. Those things may seem to be trivial to some, but these very things actually made me physically and mentally exhausted. The life here was more challenging than I thought. In addition, I also faced the gap between the ideal and actual reality in as far as the use of the English language is concerned. Because even though I anticipated that I could use English whenever I wanted to, the reality was that the local people generally preferred to speak Tagalog (the local language) as their mother tongue, and not everyone can speak English proficiently. In this way, there were lots of things which made me feel down, and given that I received less encouragement as compared when I was in Japan, my motivation declined against my will.
As time went by, through my chanting and joining the SGI meetings, I gradually realized that all the factors which depressed me were external; that is to say, I was depressed because of the environmental factor, and not entirely due to the internal cause within myself. I therefore found how small I was and reminded myself of my original intention in coming here.
My Determination
My determination is simple: just to struggle and challenge myself continuously in order to repay my debt of gratitude to Sensei. Fortunately, my life here will continue until next March, and I still have that much more a chance to challenge myself. Although I do not feel that my stay here have born special fruit so far, I would like to struggle through many hindrances ahead nevertheless. I have learned that wherever I am, I am what I am, so I will challenge myself without seeking external factors. Whether I like it or not, as long as I am a Soka student, Sensei and Soka University are evaluated through me by other people. As such, what I will do from now is to keep on struggling against myself as a representative Soka student here.
As a closing word, I would like to share Senseifs guidance which I always
keep in mind: gFor what purpose should one cultivate wisdom? May you always
ask yourself this question!h Thank you!
