December 2012 — Twenty 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 up to $4,000 to assist with their living expenses while they study in Japan during the Spring 2013 semester. Since the program began in 1999, 1,270 scholarships have been awarded by the US-Japan Bridging Foundation to students studying abroad in Japan.

The Japan-US Friendship Commission, an independent federal agency promoting mutual understanding between the United States and Japan, in an effort to highlight public / private partnerships, initiated the Bridging Project scholarship program and established a 501(c)(3) private foundation, the US-Japan Bridging Foundation (www.bridgingfoundation.org), to accept contributions.

The goal of the Bridging Project is to promote study abroad in Japan by larger numbers of American undergraduate students. The scholarship program is administered by AATJ.

Contributors to the 2013 Bridging Scholarship fund include Aflac, AIG Japan Holdings, Amway International, Ronald and Maria Anderson, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Laurence Bates, Bloomberg LP, the Bridging Scholars Alumni Fund, Stephen and Sally Butters, Chartis Far East Holding KK, Citigroup Japan, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC, Estee Lauder, Exxon Mobil G.K., Robert Feldman, the Freeman Foundation, Goldman Sachs Gives, Ichigo Asset Management, Norimasa and Atsuko Hirai, JP Morgan Japan, Lockheed Martin, Mission Value Partners, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Morgan Stanley Japan, Oak Lawn Marketing, ORIX USA, Thierry and Yasko Porte, Paul Takanawa, George and Brad Takei, Temple University-Japan Campus, the Terasaki Foundation, Toyota Motor Corporation, Kouji Yamada, and Christopher Wells.

Bridging Scholars hail from a variety of schools–public and private, large universities and small colleges. Their majors range from computer science to fine art, but they share a common interest in Japan, its language, and its culture. Their destinations also vary, from giant campuses in Tokyo to intimate consortium programs in rural Japan. A list of the recipients, their home schools, their majors, and their destination programs can be found below.

For information on the US-Japan Bridging Foundation, visit www.bridgingfoundation.org.

Recipients of Bridging Scholarships for Study Abroad in Japan, Spring 2013

Lindsay ANDERSON / University of Illinois / IES Tokyo (Meikai University) / East Asian Languages and Cultures
Rebecca BROCK / University of Kentucky / Akita International University / Biology and German
Alexander CHEN / Rutgers University / Ritsumeikan University / East Asian Studies
Christina CHUN / University of Puget Sound (WA) / IES Tokyo (Kanda University of Foreign Studies)
   / International Business and Japanese
Lisa DU / University of California, Berkeley / Osaka University / Molecular and Cellular Biology
Jared EDMONDS / University of Idaho / Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies / Business Japanese
Alexander EVANS / Villanova University (PA) / Sophia University (CIEE) / International Business and Economics
Jia Min HUANG / Skidmore College (NY) / Sophia University (CIEE) / Asian Studies
Darryl HUTCHINSON / University of Arizona / Waseda University / East Asian Studies
Lindsay IREDALE / Maryland Institute College of Art / Osaka University of Arts / Printmaking
Kimberly JULIEN / Villanova University (PA) / Sophia University (CIEE) / Psychology, English and Japanese
John LUCKETT/ Oklahoma State University / Kansai Gaidai / English
Anna MARKOSYAN / University of North Carolina, Charlotte / Sophia University / Japanese and English
Chamarra McCROREY / Temple University / Temple University, Japan Campus / Secondary Education
   (Temple University – Japan Campus Bridging Scholar)
Lily OLIVER / University of Oklahoma / Yamaguchi University / Linguistics
Rosalio ROMAN / Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis / Hakuoh University / Spanish
Jill ROMERO / Macalester College (MN) / Waseda University / International Studies and Japanese
Yvonne ROSAS / Our Lady of the Lake University (TX) / Temple University, Japan Campus / New Media Art and English
   (Temple University – Japan Campus Bridging Scholar)
Carolyn WHITTINGHAM / Emory University (GA)/ Kansai Gaidai / Anthropology and Japanese
Mingjin ZHANG / George Mason University (VA) / Sophia University / Finance