Hikari Furukawa

A place where nothing is taken for granted
and you can learn from different perspectives

Hikari Furukawa

[Birthplace: Saga Prefecture]
College of Asia Pacific Studies, 4th year student

APU brings you closer to other countries. I enrolled here with the hope that studying at APU would broaden my perspective. I chose APU because it offers a wide range of areas of study that can teach you a different way of seeing things, something I felt would be useful in my future career as well. We have many discussions in the classes and can exchange opinions with students from all sorts of backgrounds. At APU, students respect each other’s values and opinions. Many of the professors will talk with you and help you find your own answers, and they give us advice on how to think for ourselves—a valuable tool outside of class as well.
I wish to help build a society where everyone can feel happiness. During my time at APU, I have met people in many different situations, like international students from areas of conflict, people who are struggling financially, and people who are supporting someone who is struggling financially. This has instilled the wish that fewer people were sad. I launched and now run an organization that aims to resolve the problems of food waste and food poverty. This activity came about as a result of thinking about what I could do to help solve these problems, and with the support of the local community, I feel that we are gradually making a difference in society.
I hope that you too will break out of your shell of taking things for granted and experience APU as a step toward understanding a world that is infinitely wider than the one you know.
（Interviewed in April 2020）