OCTOBER 2023 – Fifteen undergraduate students from colleges and universities across the United States have been named recipients of Bridging Scholarships for Study Abroad in Japan. The winners will receive awards of $2,500 to assist with their expenses while they study in Japan for a semester in Spring 2023. Since 1999, more than almost 2,500 scholarships have been awarded by the US-Japan Bridging Foundation (www.bridgingfoundation.org).
Recipients of Bridging Scholarships for Study Abroad in Japan, Spring 2024
Mia ACZON / Bentley University (MA) / Sophia University (CIEE) / business management
Isabel ASKER / Georgetown University / Keio University / Japanese
Leslie BLANCO / Lehman College, CUNY / Sugiyama Jogakuin / Spanish & English K-12 education
Elarias BRITO / Connecticut College / Associated Kyoto Program / Latin American studies
Lydia BROWN / Spelman College (GA) / Kanda University of International Studies (IES) / international studies
Alliyah CHAMBERS / University of Denver (CO) / Waseda University / international business; Japanese
Emile CONVOCAR / Boston University / Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies / health science
Lana KOBAYASHI / University of California, Los Angeles) / Hitotsubashi University / public affairs
Kamaria McCrary / Agnes Scott College (GA) / Nanzan University / history
Alicia OLIVAS / California State University, Monterey Bay / Okayama University / psychology
Nadia PERDUE / Washington University in St. Louis / Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies / global studies; East Asian languages & cultures
Suzu PICCOLO / Oklahoma State University/ Kansai Gaidai University / global studies; pre-law
Monique PLATZ / Portland State University / Aoyama Gakuin University (IES) / business finance
Aiden SHIELL / Connecticut College / Associated Kyoto Program / East Asian studies; Hispanic studies
Orazio THOMAS / Gettysburg College (PA) / Temple University Japan / music; mathematics
These Bridging Scholars hail from a variety of schools–public and private, large universities and small colleges. Their majors range from biochemistry to fine arts, but they share a common interest in Japan, its society, and its language and culture. Their destinations also vary, from giant campuses in Tokyo to small colleges in rural Japan.
The goal of the Bridging Project is to promote study abroad in Japan by larger numbers of American undergraduate students. The American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ), which promotes education in Japanese language, literature, and culture, administers the Bridging Scholarship program.
For information on the scholarships, visit the Bridging Project online at www.aatj.org/studyabroad/japan-bridging-scholarships. For information on the Bridging Foundation, visit www.bridgingfoundation.org.
Contributors for the 2023-2024 Scholarships
Contributors to the 2023-2024 Bridging Scholarships fund include: Aflac International, Inc., BentallGreenOak, Casey Abel, Peter Bengtson; Danielle Breckenridge, Alan Cannon, Colt Chaffin, Web Coates, Paige Cottingham-Streater, Robin Dahlberg, Roseleen Dello Russo, Brian and Janie Doyle, Richard Dyck, ExxonMobil, Robert Feldman, The Freeman Foundation, Yoshiaki Fujiki, Eric Gangloff, Jon Gray, Peter Grilli; Hecht Law PC, Harry Hill, AB Hirschfeld, Jr., Ichigo Asset Management, Ltd., Amy Jackson, Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, Eri Kakuta, Brian Kelly, Edward Lincoln, Ginger Marcus, Tom Mason and Qi Wang, Kathy Matsui, Shikoh Matsumoto, David McCreery, Krishen Mehta, Joseph Meyer, Mission Value Partners, LLC, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Donna Ikeda & John Morey, Morgan Stanley Japan, Ekaterina Mozhaeva, MUFG Securities Americas Inc., Satoru and Hiroko Murase, Janette Noddin, Robert Noddin, Mark Ofriel, Susan Pharr, Thierry Porté, Chris Quackenbush, Roche Family Foundation, Frank Sanda, Susan Schmidt, David Semaya, Ryan Shaffer, Paul & Yoshiko Sheard, George & Brad Takei, Gary Thomas; Bill Tsutsui, Axel Urie, Chris Wells, Wolver Hill Advisors, LLC.
Bill Bishop Family Memorial Scholarship Fund: Tatsuo Achiwa, Mike Alfant, Eriko Asai, Tomoko Baba, Soumya Bardhan, Laurence Bates, Thom Breckenridge, Andrew Conrad, Mark Davidson, Nicole Despres, Simon Farrell, Marc Fuoti, Vickie Green, Barbara Hancock, Deborah Hayden, Miyako Hirano, Junko Igarashi, Shu Imanishi, Naoko Ito, Amy Jackson, Sakiho Kamei, Yuko Kidoguchi, Stephanie King (Warner), Marie Kissel, Sadahiro Kurita, Charles & Seiko Lake, Kenneth J Lebrun, Yuiko Noda, Ichiro Ota, Thierry Porté, Rachna Ratra, David Richards, Aki Sasaoka, Jeffrey Schnack, Eric Sedlak, Keiyu Shibata, Richard Sleboda, Eriko Sugiyama, Hiroko Sugiyama, Ricky Suzuki, Sho Takita, Taiga Tamura, Taeko Toshima, Bill Tsutsui, Eric Warner, Kazushi Yabe, Yu Yamanaka, Koki Yamashita
Robert Grondine Memorial Scholarship Fund: Chris Wells, Krishen Mehta
Jeremiah Trusty Memorial Scholarship Fund: Morgan & Brendan Aiello, David Albanese, Adam Bamford, Gregory Bamford, Suzanne Basalla, Brian Bawol, Rachel Brown, Jennifer Butler, Serena Cline, Bob Corwin, Jean Falvey, Eng Family, Charlie Fujikawa, Global Film Network Inc., Dana Heatherton, David Hino, Tim Hino, Natasha Huynh, Adam Jan, Helen Jew, Sunil Kasturi, Jillian Kereczman, Allison Knowles, Joel Kolmodin, Keith Krulak, Kristi Kuchta, Josh Lawrenz, Mei Yen Layne, Kris Lee, Laura Mabe, Jacob MacIntyre, Damien Magnuson, Dayspring Mattole, Christopher McDuffie, Matt Mele, Michelle Mele, Merriwether & Williams, Nathan Mesko, Brittany Morey, Kei Morita, Andrew Oberland, Courtney Ozaki, Barry Peterson, Jessica Pham, Kelly Pong-Der, Delwin Por, Kenny Rivas, Ann Siqveland, Rachel Steinmeier, Andrea Sugano, Lon Sullivan, Tyler Tokioka, Jason Trimiew, Martin and Sarah Trimiew, Lynne Tsugawa, Joshua Valdivia, Paul Vosti, David T Walker, Amy Weeden, Andrea Williams, Brendan Wong, Francis Wong, Brian Wu, Brent Yoshida, Anthony Yu
Ira Wolf Memorial Scholarship Fund: Amy Jackson, Nike, George & Brad Takei, Adam Wolf, Jeanne Wolf
