Dr. Satoshi Ishii
Chair of Dept. of Architecture
Faculty of Engineering

Tohoku Institute of Technology will commemorate the sixth anniversary of our short-term studying abroad program with Chung Yuan Christian University (Taiwan), which started in 2009. As in previous year, this year, two fourth-year students from the Department of Architecture will be sent to Taiwan for two months from 2nd of October to 30th of November. Coincidently, these two students have exactly the same family name and given name as Manami Sasaki (from laboratory of Kenji Yatsu and laboratory of Satoshi Ishii). Both students will receive a guidance for their graduation designs from Associate Professor Tseng,Kuang-Tsung　 (Department head of Architecture) from the Department of Architecture, College of Design, Chung Yuan Christian University. I hope that they will make a lot of friends as well as learh before coming back to Japan.

■Impressions after 1 month:
http://arch-tohtech.net/news/taiwan_sasaki.html

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【New challenges? Bring them on!】

Manami Sasaki
4th Year Student
Laboratory of Kenji Yatsu
Dept. of Architecture
Faculty of Engineering

I am interested in the class contents provided at Chung Yuan Christian University because it has many departments relating to architecture (such as interior and commercial facility design). I am also interested in Taiwanese students’ study methods as well as their attitudes towards study. There have been two senior students from the same laboratory as mine, who went aboard to study at this University. I heard that their experiences were reflected in their designs. As I need to prepare for my graduation design project, I would like to grow, like my seniors, before coming back to Japan. I hear that Taiwan is a friendly nation to Japan. There may be similarities in the cultures or in the appearances of some cities to those of Japan, but I would like to learn the things that make it different from Japan. I will spend two months there as a fourth-year student, which is my last year at the university. I am looking forward to taking on any challenges that lie before me.

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【Studying in Taiwan will broaden my world view.】

Manami Sasaki
4th Year Student
Laboratory of Satoshi Ishii
Dept. of Architecture
Faculty of Engineering

At the age of 17, I visited South Korea. And at the age of 20, I visited three European countries. I had never seen such scenes in Japan, so I became conscious of my narrow-minded view but felt grateful, at the same time, for the happiness of living an ordinary life. I believe that studying in Taiwan will broaden my world view and provide me key experience for the future. Simply because it is an unfamiliar place, I think I can look objectively at things more than usual, and can also look objectively at Japan. As for my graduation design, the acquired experience from studying abroad will allow me to increase my field of vision, which I hope will allow me to make plan to make exceptional use of open space for those who live in my hometown, where I was born and raised.