By Alex Billingsley ‘24, JFOU Fellow

Living – actually living – in a place is a funny thing. It shifts your perspective, bringing about personal changes that you could have never expected. Becoming a Shansi Fellow was, for me, motivated by a desire to learn as much as I could about Japan. From Japanese language, to Japanese art, media, history, architecture, and beyond, my curiosity to learn drove my decision to come to Tokyo and I assumed that my most treasured memories from this fellowship would all focus around those learning opportunities. I assumed that the new experiences I gained in new spaces – small temples and shrines, manga art exhibitions, and concerts in traditional performing arts – would be the highlight of my fellowship.

By Alex Billingsley ‘24, JFOU Fellow

Right now, I am sitting in a hospital room in midtown Tokyo, sunlight shining through the window from over the Tokyo Tower. Needless to say, my January has had some ups and downs, but this time of rest and recuperation is giving me plenty of space to reflect on these past six months since I landed at Haneda Airport. Every day has brought with it a new adventure, a new chance to carve out my life in Japan, and new opportunities that ride on the back of chances taken weeks and months before. I try to document these daily experiences every evening and – in what is sometimes a tiresome chore at 2 am before I crawl into bed – write a diary about my life.