"I got to see something that I couldn't see before"
Yuto is a student from Japan. He has come in contact with an international environment during his Bachelor's studies, and that made him even more interested in all aspects of cultural exchange. Watch the film and read the text below to get to know his story.
"When I was studying for my bachelor's degree, I had a lot of opportunities to interact with international students, and that exposed me to many different cultures, perspectives and worldviews. When I learned something new from a new culture, I felt like my horizon expanded and that I got to see something that I couldn’t see before.
Some of my good friends are from Southeast Asia, and I see many cultural differences. For instance, in Japan we really respect personal spaces, so we kind of keep distant from each other to some extent, but people from Southeast Asia usually value horizontal bonds more. So, for instance in Japan we don’t invite a friend to another friend’s party, but this is something they do a lot, they like to connect their friends so they can have a bigger friends circle.
When I applied to the master’s programme in international and comparative education at Stockholm University, to be honest I had mixed feelings because of course I was excited, but at the same time I was feeling a bit worried. At first, I felt Swedish culture was really like Japanese culture, but as I lived here a bit longer, I realized more differences, and that is really making me change my lifestyle and my life philosophy. Coming to Sweden I felt at home actually. I felt welcomed and I felt at ease.
I also noticed a lot of differences in the learning environment in the classrooms, between Japan and Sweden, because in Sweden teachers are more supportive and the hierarchy in classrooms is very flat, so I didn’t have to be afraid to ask questions. Because I know teachers would answer any questions to help me learn more.
In the future I want to be someone who can connect people who have different cultural backgrounds, different perspectives, different world-views to make a genuinely multicultural society where everyone can be proud of their culture, ethnicity, perspctive and world views. That’s my dream. I know is a big dream, but that’s my dream."
Yuto Sunakawa
To learn more about the master's programme, see Master's Programme in Education with International and Comparative Specialisation.
Visit su.se/study for more information about studying at Stockholm University.
Last updated: November 17, 2022
Source: Communications Office