Kouichi Uruma is from Los Angeles, California. He came to Japan to study Japanese in the Bekka program in 2017. After graduating from the Bekka program, he officially entered Soka University Faculty of Education. 

I first started studying Japanese was in the first grade. I attended Japanese school, that was held every Saturday. It was natural for me because my parents spoke Japanese. I didn't like studying Japanese, to be honest. To me, it felt like I had extra homework from my friends. I’m more of Japanese-American, never thought myself as an American because I knew both cultures and it was easy to adapt to Japanese culture.

Quite frankly, I really didn't know what I wanted to do in the future. My Parents persuaded me to try the Bekka program at Soka University. The one-year program was more like a trial and see what it would do. If the one year was enough for me then I would’ve gone back to America. All in all, the motivation was more like finding what I wanted to do.

I think the biggest struggle is financial problems for transportation. In America, because it's a car society, at that moment you don't feel the need of having money on you. I am not saying you don't need money because eventually, you will need to put in gas. In Japan, you have to think about money to go places. For example, you need money to ride the bus to get to the station or riding the train to get to many places further from Hachioji. So, it is harder to go places and see Japan. 

I had many situations where I felt that my message was not conveyed. At that time, I felt I wasted my time, but I had to understand that my Japanese is not my first language and there will be times that my Japanese will not be conveyed. I just need to understand that and study Japanese even harder. Many regrets of not learning more Japanese. My path in Soka has really changed me. 

The senpai kouhai relationship. Not just Japan but also for the Koreans. There are many Koreans in Soka but learning there culture too was a definite culture shock. When the kouhai would go to their senpai or RA, they would talk to them politely. And because of age, you would have to act differently. I thought that was very interesting and it was hard to get used to it first but after it was their culture and fun to see other cultures.