Japanese Studies
“I came across Oxford Brookes which had an incredibly flexible system for studying computing. I was attracted by the freedom to tailor your degree as you liked”
I joined Brookes with the ambition of becoming a voice actor in Japanese as well as in my native English. I live in Tokyo and have fulfilled that ambition.
In March 2002, while researching universities, I came across Oxford Brookes which had an incredibly flexible system for studying computing. I was attracted by the freedom to tailor your degree as you liked. I saw that I could begin Japanese from absolute beginner’s level and a small voice popped into my head saying: “Wouldn’t it be cool to not only pursue voice acting in English, but to also study Japanese and to get into voice acting school and graduate!?” The rest is history!
Once I was here, I was impressed with the knowledgeable lecturers in their respective fields of computing and the 24-hour computer access we had really helped for meeting those deadlines and for the group projects that we had.
As for Japanese, I loved the gorgeous Japanese tea room, which we were able to use for activities, and the close knit community of the students, including Japanese exchange students. The amazing, kind and fun Japanese language teachers at the time made learning such an incredibly difficult language so much fun!
What I enjoyed most about being in Oxford was the students, the amazing Brookes Union, the facilities and the library. Rather than ‘Oxford’, it was the activities and people in it that I liked and enjoyed. For our graduation research projects, final year students could have special access to Oxford University’s Bodleian Library, which proved to be an invaluable resource for me. The cooperation between the two universities was nice.
All of my friends, both Japanese and British, were made from the Oxford Brookes Japanese Society, the majority (around 20) of whom I still keep in touch with today. I was also involved with the Brookes Union musical society called Fortune Players, performing in shows such as Cabaret and Little Shop of Horrors.
Japanese is a language that is rarely spoken by British people in the UK, so combined with my computer skills (joint degree) I was able to get an internship at Bloomberg in London for the PC Support team, to handle customers from the Asian/Japanese side. I also managed to work there again for internal IT support in the Tokyo branch, which was an amazing experience and allowed me to utilise all aspects of my degree for the internship there.
Upon achieving my lifelong dream in March 2013, things really came together and since then there has been a whirlwind of amazing events that I could have never imagined.
Since April 2013, I have been affiliated with a Japanese acting agency called TAB Productions, as a bilingual voice actor and actress. I also passed an audition for a bilingual adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet on stage, which we performed in Tokyo from 27 February to 2 March 2014. I played many roles, my main one being ‘chorus’ (narrator) in both English and Japanese.
I am also in a church choir as well as working as the Director of International Relations for a children’s charity between Japan and Indonesia called World Kids Museum that connects them through international art workshops in both countries. I translate, interpret, MC events and plan events internationally for the charity.
As for the future, I hope to get my ‘big break’ one day to make it as an actress and plan to continue studying Japanese. I don’t know where the wind will take me, but I’ll be in Japan for the next three to five years. Of course, if I achieve the next stage of my ambitions, I’ll be carrying the Brookes flag all the way with me, for helping me find my path in life.
Oxford Brookes University did what a good university is meant to do, which is offer a world of opportunities and support to aid you in your career choices post-graduation. Looking at the Brookes prospectus back in March 2002 gave birth to my crazy dream.