From left Mr Mochida President of Goldman Sachs Japan, TUJ students Shibato and Nishimura, Dean Emeritus Dr Stronach. Photography by Kerry Raftis
Two recipients of the Mochida-Stronach scholarship started their studies at the Japan campus of Temple University in May in the current summer semester. Both students are eager to take on new challenges, saying they are excited to experience their new college lives at TUJ in such a diverse and competitive environment.
Chisa Nishimura, a graduate of Saitama Prefectural Soka Minami High School, and Yukihiro Shibato, a graduate of Chiba Prefectural Nagareyama Kita High School, are the inaugural winners of the scholarship, which is exclusively offered to students from Japan’s public schools.
Shibato is majoring in economics and computer science. He is recognized by his high school teachers as a diligent hard worker. “I would like to thank Mr. (Masanori) Mochida for his generosity and his kindness,” Shibato said. “Without the scholarship, it would be impossible for me to be enrolled at a diverse and competitive university like TUJ. I want to be able to perform great academically so that I can prove to Mr. Mochida that I was the right choice for this scholarship.”
Nishimura says she wants to study international relations and political science. After graduating from TUJ she aspires to work in an institution related to resolving the problems of refugees. She has won numerous awards at local and high school English speech contests. When she was a junior high school student, she won the All-Japan ECC Junior English Recitation Contest and was invited to study abroad in New Zealand as a reward.
TUJ’s Admissions Counseling Office has started accepting applications for the scholarship for 2023. The scholarship was established last year from a $4.5 million donation from Masanori Mochida, President and Representative Director of Goldman Sachs Japan Co. Ltd. His donation created an endowed fund that supports scholarships offering access to study at TUJ for graduates of Japan’s public high schools. The registration for 2023 closes on October 15, 2022, at 17:00 JST.
Click the link below to apply (Japanese):
https://www.tuj.ac.jp/jp/ug/cost-financial-aid/mochida-stronach Japanese
The scholarship, formally called the Mochida-Stronach Public High School Promotion Program, was named in part to honor Mochida’s longtime friend and former TUJ Dean Bruce Stronach. The path of the scholarship program began 40 years ago when Mochida met Stronach, then a visiting lecturer at Keio University in Tokyo. Stronach helped teach the younger Mochida English and encouraged him to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania’s Warton School.
Stronach introduced Mochida as the guest of honor at the annual Diamond Dinner on June 24. “This man has my tremendous respect that he is a man who cares a great deal about Japan about welfare, and education, particularly for those in need. I want to thank him with all my heart,” Stronach said.
Mochida said in his speech: “Bruce is my ‘onjin’ (a benefactor in Japanese). Therefore, I really wanted to do something which will make Bruce happy. I have a serious emotional attachment with TUJ, so I did this for Bruce, and I hope Bruce is happy.”