International Undergraduate Admissions
Speakers
DOGEN
Japan-based YouTube Comedian
DOGEN
Standing at the crossroads of comedy and Japanese phonetics, Dōgen is known for his humorous YouTube sketches tackling Japanese culture and life in Japan as well as for his proficiency with the Japanese language.
Originally from the United States, he graduated with a degree in Japanese linguistics after studying abroad for a year in Tokyo. Following graduation, he returned to Japan in 2009 as a JET Program participant, with a placement in Oita Prefecture that eventually led to a position working in the APU Admissions Office for a few years. He began to create content for YouTube in 2016 while at APU, starting what has become a channel with more than 58 million views and more than 500 thousand subscribers around the world.
Now based in Beppu, Oita, he also teaches Japanese phonetics and pitch accent online and has digitally published multiple anthologies and works of short fiction in Japanese.
Erin Huang
Cool Japan TV Taiwan General Manager
Erin Huang
Erin Huang is the general manager of Cool Japan TV Taiwan and the founder of Taiwan's No.1 social travel brand - 旅情途中 Meet You Travel. She also manages a YouTube channel "Erin's Diary", which has over 340,000 subscribers.
With over 500,000 followers on internet and over 100 million views generated, Erin is an influential internet celebrity in Taiwan. She has worked with major global brands including Dyson, ASUS, SOFINA, Energizer, Suzuki and many others.
In addition to running an online marketing business, Erin is also the co-founder of the Influencer Academy (自媒體大學). She is frequently invited to speak at universities and runs an influencer marketing entrepreneurship course at National Taiwan University, and has provided YouTube marketing training to dozens of companies in Taiwan.
In 2020, she won "The Best Tourism Ambassador Award" at Social Media Entrepreneur Award in Kuala Lumpur.
Akari Nakatani
Vietnam-based Popular YouTuber - aNcari Room Film "Em Va Trinh" Actress
Cool Japan TV Taiwan General Manager
Akari Nakatani
Akari Nakatani was born in Yao Prefecture Osaka City in 1993. She moved to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam immediately after graduating from APU in the spring of 2016. At the same time, she started making videos on a YouTube channel called “aNcari Room”.
In June 2022, the number of subscribers reached 170,000. She also played one of the main acting roles in the Vietnamese movie "Em Va Trinh" screened at theaters in June 2022.
Her career, which began on making videos on YouTube, has expanded to include acting, singing and emceeing, using her Vietnamese language skill and Japanese background. She is currently studying Vietnamese studies in the master's program in Vietnam.
Morse Caoagas Flores
Human Rights Officer at United Nations
Morse Caoagas Flores
Since his graduation from APU, Morse Caoagas Flores, from the Philippines (APS, 2002-2006) has been working for the UN system & other international organizations in Geneva for almost 18 years in the fields of human rights, international cooperation & development.
He currently works as a Human Rights Officer with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), coordinating both the Indigenous and Minorities Fellowship Programmes. Moreover, he is also currently serving as the Secretary of the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples.
Prior to his current position, Morse served as an Expert on Indigenous Peoples Rights and Local Economic Development with the International Labour Organization for 10 years, where he served for 3 years as the Coordinator of the Technical Secretariat of the UN Indigenous Peoples Partnership, the first global inter-agency initiative between the ILO, UNDP, OHCHR, UNICEF and UNFPA on indigenous issues.
Morse has a Masters in International Law & Human Rights from the UN mandated University for Peace (Costa Rica) & Masters in International Humanitarian Action (NOHA Programme), a joint Erasmus Mundus Masters Programme (University of Deusto, Spain; University of Ruth-Bochum, Germany & Uppsala University, Sweden).
Miki Horie
Principal of Ritsumeikan Primary School
Miki Horie
Miki Horie, Ph.D. is Professor of International Education at Ritsumeikan University and Principal of Ritsumeikan Primary School, Kyoto, Japan. She also served for Ritumeikan Junior and Senior High School as Principal until March 2021 for 4 years. Her research focuses on global education throughout primary, secondary and tertiary education.
Miki also heads the BRIDGE Institute, an independent organization of international education facilitators. She received BA and MA degrees in Education from Nagoya University, Japan, and Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Administration in 2003 and the Distinguished Leadership Award for Internationals in 2009 from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, USA.
Kanduboda Prabath Buddhika
Professor at Ritsumeikan University
Kanduboda Prabath Buddhika
Prabath Buddhika Kanduboda (Kanda) was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and received general education there from elementary to high school. He is a second-badge graduate from APU specialized in Social Sciences. Following, Kanda obtained a master's degree in applied linguistics and a Ph.D. in psycholinguistics at the Graduate school of Languages & Cultures, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan. He now works as an associate professor at Ritsumeikan University, Ritsumeikan International, Kyoto, Japan. His courses include Academic skills, intercultural communication, language studies, and social and cultural issues. His primary research is related to linguistics: language acquisition, and competence, from an applied & psycholinguistic perspective. However, he also extends his investigation into university students' intercultural communication, extracurricular activities, and study-abroad programs. In addition to teaching and research, Dr. Kanda takes part in university administrative duties by coordinating in-bound and out-bound study abroad programs, supporting the in-school student hub, the BBP (Beyond Borders Plaza) at three campuses, utilizing English, Japanese, and sometimes with little Sinhala.
Manabu Fujimoto
Managing Director at Inspire Corporation
Director at ASEAN Fundokin Corporation
Manabu Fujimoto
Fujimoto joined Inspire Corporation after graduating from ICU in 2009. After servicing for the venture capital fund management, he took charge of PIEF1 fund-raising which focuses on investing and supporting Japanese SME expansion to ASEAN/ Halal Market.
Through PIEF1 he engaged in management and overseas business development as an external board of director at multiple invested companies.
Today he serves as an external board of director of Fan Japan Inc, ASEAN Fundokin Corporation, MRA Bakery, and Mynews Ryoyupan.
Tatjana Syafira
APU Student
NGO 'Impactional' Founder
Tatjana Syafira
Tatjana Syafira is a college sophomore in Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University majoring in International Relations and peace studies.
During her exchange days in the USA, she was actively involved in leadership and volunteering activities, where she later initiated a fundraising to help cancer patients in Indonesia and received the presidential community service award from the US government.
After her acceptance to Ritsumeikan APU on a full scholarship, Tatjana deepened her understanding in international relations and foreign affairs through the courses that she took and founded her own NGO called “Impactional” where she impacted half a million youth from 50+ countries through leadership training and multicultural collaboration.
Tatjana’s work in Impactional has also been recognized by the Nippon Foundation, where she was Invited to attend the Asia Philanthropy Congress in Tokyo where she got the opportunity to get connected with business owners and philanthropist such as Unilever, Sasakwa Peace Foundation, and the United Nations Development Program.
Besides, her leadership records, Tatjana was also actively involved in debating. Tatjana has been doing debate since high school where she received the 2nd best speaker in the national school debating championship and received honor from Bard College, New York for her outstanding performance in debating extracurricular.
Romy Young
Global Learning in Japan 2022 Emcee
Charm & Confidence Specialist
