Seiji Yamazaki
Seiji is an 11th-grade student at ASIJ who grew up in three different continents throughout his life. He has been passionate about urban planning and development which comes from his childhood interest in geography. He spends his free time playing Shamisen and running.
Seiji hopes to share about the impact of the cultural struggles he has faced at a local Japanese public school that he attended for two years. Growing up in various countries, Seiji was always proud to identify as “Japanese” until he returned to Tokyo in fifth grade. At school, he was criticized and teased by his peers for not being a stereotypical “Japanese”, completely changing his perspective on Japanese society. Moving to ASIJ in 7th grade, he decided to disassociate himself from Japanese society, but soon realized that fear has to be overcome. He believes that overcoming obstacles requires risk-taking and time, but is a process that is worth going through.