I was born in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, and grew up in a natural environment near the sea. Looking back on my elementary school days, when I took up street dance, karate, piano, and many other lessons, I was a curious child who loved physical movement. During spring break in high school, I visited a sister school in the U.S. and experienced a homestay. For someone like me, who had lived in Japan until then, the sight of people from different cultural and racial backgrounds learning together was both refreshing and shocking. Spending time with the girl from my host family and experiencing life unique to America sparked a dream of working in such a diverse environment in the future.
I experienced a major setback when I was unable to enter my desired university. During that time of discouragement, a life-changing moment occurred at the Global Festa held annually in September at Yoyogi Park. When I stopped by the Cabinet Office’s booth and expressed my disappointment, I was encouraged, “You are only 18, right? It’s never too late to create any future you want!” Inspired by these words, I began to persevere and work diligently. I started to seriously contemplate the kind of future I wanted, and by the time I graduated from university, I had developed a strong desire to share Japanese technology with the world. This aspiration led me to join a Japanese electronics manufacturer. Then, at the overseas sales division I was assigned to, through my work and business trips to the African continent, my interest in international cooperation and development deepened. This motivated me to enter graduate school to re-study. After graduating from graduate school, I aspired to work for the United Nations, so I began an internship at UNICEF Headquarters in New York in the Humanitarian Assistance Division. I was attracted to the way people from diverse backgrounds came together to work toward a common goal.
Initially, my internship was a three-month contract, but my performance was recognized, and it was extended for another three months. During this time, I gained foundational experience in the field of emergency humanitarian assistance. However, as an intern, I faced the constant uncertainty of an unstable position, battling the anxiety of not knowing what the future held. Toward the end of the sixth month, the war in Ukraine broke out. The very next day, a new Ukraine Crisis Response Secretariat was established, requiring additional personnel to handle the sudden surge in workload caused by the war. Because of this, I was offered the opportunity to join the Ukraine Crisis Response Team, even though I was an intern. My supervisor appreciated my efforts at the time and approached senior management to get me an official position. This marked a significant step forward in my career as I formally took on responsibilities in emergency humanitarian assistance. It is by no means something to be proud of that my current career was built upon the tragedy of war. However, the work of the United Nations will continue to exist as long as war, poverty, and other such challenges persist. Accepting this reality, I intend to continue to fulfill my role, no matter the scale of the tasks, in the days ahead.
Currently, I work for International Organization for Migration (IOM) as a UN official in the areas of peacebuilding and climate change security. I am involved in the phase of establishing peace and security in areas where war has ended, seamlessly continuing the work from the emergency humanitarian assistance I undertook during my time at UNICEF. My goal is to stay informed about what is happening in the world and to work diligently to help those in need.
When people go through something difficult, they often feel distressed or overwhelmed. However, as I experienced, unexpected events such as the Ukraine conflict can be a turning point and lead to who you are afterward. In addition, when I first started living in New York, my life was financially challenging. However, thanks to that experience, I now have a deeper understanding of the feelings of those who are struggling, and I hope to support my juniors as well. In this way, I believe that even the most difficult experiences, if properly absorbed and processed, can be transformed into weapons that will make you stronger. Both good and bad experiences become nourishment for your life. Even when you are struggling, it is a sign that you are taking action and moving forward. In other words, everything that happens is for the best.