Contact
Mr. Kunal Kumar
- From
- Bihar
- Degree
- Undergraduate student, Department of Chemistry, the University of Tokyo
Message
Please give a short introduction of yourself.
Hello everyone! I am 3rd year undergraduate student in Department of Chemistry from Jehanabad, Bihar, India. I transferred my courses through GSC program from IIT Guwahati after completing two year of studies in india. Being a student of super 30, at first it was never easy for me to transfer my courses from IIT Guwahati to Utokyo, but GSC program provided us every kind of support and now I realize that I should have taken this decision without any first thought. I am a curious student who wants to discover something new and Utokyo has provided me best platform to do so. I started working on my topic of interest just after joining the university and got fruitful results.
What is your favorite thing about Tokyo?
Tokyo is a cosmopolitan city where you meet with people from every part of the world and it is very exciting for me to share each other’s language and culture. Here, in Tokyo I explored my food choices and now I usually eat Japanese and Italian food. It is very entertaining and surprising to see that how japan has blended new technology with ancient Japanese tradition, which can be seen as Sakura or Hanami festival and it is something which I want to implement back in my home country. As a beginner, I started playing baseball with my Japanese colleagues and also started to go out on trekking.
In what way has your impression of Tokyo or Japan changed since coming here?
My first impression about japan was that It is clean and people are very honest, supportive and diligent. After coming to japan, my perception remained same. Studying with Japanese students is very inspiring and enjoying for me, now I know how to manage my time efficiently. It is their dedication and work ethics which inspired me to do my work with great devotion and lot of effort.
What attracted you to choose the University of Tokyo as a place to study?
From my school days, I have always heard about japan from my teachers as a diligent country with technological advancement. When I heard about GSC program at UTokyo in department of chemistry, I could not able to stop myself to fill the application form as I knew that japan was good at chemistry and it has produced many noble laureates in chemistry and science. The University of Tokyo has been ranked high among the all kind of universities in the world, which also excited me as I was going to experience very new environment with lots of technological facility in a developed country. After coming here, when I visited every lab in the department of chemistry, I got surprised by the fact that every lab has been equipped by his own instruments and research facilities.
In what way did you adjust yourself to Japanese culture?
Traditional way of living in japan is very similar to the Indian way of living, therefore it was not very difficult for me to adjust in to the Japanese culture. In india, I usually went to temple, therefore after coming to japan I have visited lot of shrines and temples in Tokyo and outside Tokyo in Gotenba which gave me home feeling. For me food was never a problem, as I was very excited to explore new culture and tradition, due to this I had lot of different kind of Japanese food like Udon, Soba, sushi etc. Before coming to japan I thought language will be problem for me, but I realized that people in Tokyo understand English, whereas inside university language is not at all a problem as most of the people can understand and speak english. I also took Japanese language course to lead smoother life and to explore all parts of the japan. As a native Hindi speaker, learning Japanese was not very difficult for me because grammatically both language is similar.
Please give a message to students or researchers in your home country who may be thinking about studying in Japan?
I highly recommend japan as a place of study for the students and researchers from india. I think it will be great pleasure for the indian student to become the part of world community where you will not only experience the all sorts of modern facilities, but also rich Japanese culture and tradition. Researcher will find it very promising as the University of Tokyo has lot to offer apart from its rich history, every lab at Utokyo is well equipped with advance research facilities and instruments. As an undergraduate student, I experienced lot of things which I would have been never imagined. I made lot of Japanese friends, they are very supportive and interactive. I usually go out with them to play and to have food apart from study. Teacher at the University of Tokyo is very supportive and helping. Teachers not only care about our academic life but also they care about social life. In the end, here you will not feel loneness as your guide or teacher is always ready to support you in your academic and social life.