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Exactly a hundred years prior to 2023, a devastating earthquake which we now
refer to as the Great Kantō earthquake (関東大地震, Kantō dai-jishin) shook
the main landmass of Japan. As cities were swept up in flames and millions
were rendered homeless, martial law was declared by the Home Ministry (内務省, Naimu-shō). Perhaps, however, there was more tragedy to be found in themurderous human tendencies that ensued quickly after the 1st of September
1923 when the earthquake hit: ethnically minoritized workers were blamed for
causing fires and executed alongside other suspected dissidents. The magnitudeof the earthquake was a shattering 7.9 Mw and was caused by the plates of theearth colliding deep in the sea—one plate emerging above another that slid
calamitously below.
Thinking of “emergence” evokes our human-centered thinking. How
could the shifting of plates beneath planetary waters be about people? Of manylife-shattering changes we experienced or heard about in the past year, “emergence” is especially reminiscent of our anthropocentric gravitation towards
reflecting on life through the chasms within and among us in society. We are notexactly like Itō Noe at the time of the earthquake 100 years ago; she was an activist, writer, and translator born in 1895 who fought for women’s liberation, love,
and anarchy and one of those murdered by the secret military police for allegedly inciting disorder not just during a time of disaster, but against imperial rule.1
As students in 2023, how do we express our emergence from what people before
us have experienced?
The French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard once said in an essay that“the spirit of the times is surely not that of the merely pleasant: its mission remains that of the immanent sublime, that of alluding to the non-demonstrable.”2
You will find that the writers, illustrators, photographers, artists and editors ofKomaba Times’ Issue 12 “EMERGENCE” echo the deep-seated grumblings ofthe Earth in our own uniquely stimulating demonstrations. We are University ofTokyo students who have hailed from around the world and have excitedly spent
opportune months to compile this magazine. After collective years of introspection under COVID-19-induced quarantine and beyond, we hope that you enjoy
the exploration of our shared desires for positive change, as well as the unraveling of each of our own intertwined networks built with others, the city, ourmemories, and with the wider world at large.
No cheer can be loud enough to represent the seismic gratitude, love, andacknowledgement owed to the work by the contributors, the student team, andour faculty advisor, for the ever-evolving, student-oriented, cross-campus, andinterdisciplinary collaboration underway for Komaba Times. May our readers
find something they resonate with in this issue.
1 Hiratsuka, Raichō. In the beginning, Woman was the sun: The autobiography of a Japa-

Cover Design by Priya Mu & Alyssa Castillo Yap

nese feminist. Columbia University Press, 2010.
2 Jean-Francois Lyotard, “Presenting the Unpresentable: The Sublime.” Artforum, 1982.

EDITOR’S NOTEKOMABA TIMES ISSUE 12: “EMERGENCE”

CONTENTS

422
Bye For Now
Hiroka Sakurai

24

Be like Alice; come out of the campus sanctuary!
Alyssa Castillo Yap

Tumultuous Tumbles and a Renewed Respect
William Patrick Guzman

626

Anti-Emergence:
The Forgotten History of Student Autonomy in Komaba-Ryō
Chiu Chien-Cheng (James)

9
Quenching our thirst for change:
Transforming Komaba Campus into an oasis
Mahi Patki

12
Cruising the Carnivorous Waters:
Chronicles from a Plant-Based Voyager in the Land of the Rising Sun
Vedant Agrawal

14
Something Old, But Something New
MAX

16God’s In The Details
Priya Mu

28

集カフェ (Shuu Cafe)

Alyssa Castillo Yap

30
I Cut My Nails at Night: The Burden We Bear as Daughters
Misha Cade32
Where Do We Go When We Fall Asleep?
William Patrick Guzman

34
The Spring, here
Suyog Garg

36

Packed like Sardines—the whole city on one train line
Noah Brelage

Reflection
Kouka

20

38

make a pot
Yasha Lai

What does “Emergence” mean to you?
Komaba Times Issue 12 Team

From a four-year Komaba I Campus student
who graduated in the summer of 2022
Alyssa Castillo Yap

The Year of the Rabbit has begun. You’resitting on the green chairs of Building 1 at the
Komaba I Campus next to your best friend
quietly dozing off. The sky starts to turn apinkish hue and your professor simply will not
let you go until they read you the lengthy scroll of final instructions for your Period 5 class.
You heave a deep and wary sigh. Every Todai student who has spent even one day on campus
must have felt this urge to hop away from along day of classes and fall into their very own
rabbit hole of wonderment and discovery.
What nearby wonderland can a Komaba
student explore like Alice?

1

Visit the cozy stores, cafes
and bakeries close to campus!
Photo by Alyssa

Don’t tell on me, but I have always
thought of my senpai as my personal HookahSmoking Caterpillars. Each of my seniors has
a personal space they have claimed as theirfavorite place to study or to escape reality afterclasses. Competing for my love of books and ourinstitution’s library, I think a common PEAK
favorite must be the Kono Bookstore which isright next to the Komaba-Todaimae konbini.
Also, being so close to the Chiyoda line stationsof Yoyogi-Koen and Yoyogi-Uehara, one should
absolutely take the opportunity to try out new
local shops scattered along the big streets on
sunny days! In honor of the Red Queen, I
always visited the bakery that now sits rightnext to Sakashita Gate of Komaba I Campus for
my royal earl gray-flavored bread. (Practicing
Japanese while interviewing bakers is also a fun
pastime.)4

2

Try not to use the online maps and wander the parks
near campus! Photo by Alyssa

The Disney version of Alice in Wonderland
starts off with a cozy reading session between
sisters. If you’re not really the type to spendmoney after a long week of studies and you justwant to enjoy a quiet day with nature, head to
Yoyogi Park which is only a 15-minute walkfrom the Komaba I Campus through the backgates. Alternatively, you can enjoy the breeze
while reading a book or having a picnic withfriends at Komaba-koen between Komaba I andII campuses. Here you can also take a peek into
the 1929 Western-style mansion of the familyof Marquis Maeda. Of course, Komabano Parkby the International Lodge (which looks best in
autumn) is always open too!

It goes without saying that Komaba I and
II Campuses are blessed with the proximity
to Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest andmost photographed Tokyo attractions. If you’relooking for constant stimulation (and do notmind being shoved a few times like Alice
down the dining table at the Hatter’s mad tea
party), the 5-minute train ride or 25-minute
walk to Shibuya from Komaba I Campus isalways worth it. Even after years of living near
Shibuya, you’ll never run out of museums,
Scour thestreets of Shibuya! theaters, clothes and novelty shops, Michelin
star restaurants, or old kissaten to discover.
Photo by Pedro

3
4

Indulge in themusic scene
and the fading
homeliness of
Shimokitazawa
while you can!
Photo by Alyssa

What other way could one shake off theunfortunate creepiness of Alice’s authorship
than to scavenge for quirky secondhand
items likely carrying the darkest secrets of
their previous owners? It is especially well
suited for music-lovers as live music resounds
everywhere from the Odakyu line buskers
to basement concerts. Shimokita reeks of
nostalgia for me; I used to hang out with myfriends here the most, and now I mostly talkto owners of shops I frequented as they share
their lamentations about new machi-zukuri
developments. While I find it unfortunate thatthe town is undergoing extreme gentrification,
Shimokita is still home to some of my favorite
secondhand clothing shops, vinyl stores,
restaurant-cum-bars, and antique finds.

When I graduated from Komaba I Campus in the summer of 2022, I was left withhaunting
thoughts of “spaces” and “orientations.” As I was writing my final thesis about
Shinjuku Nichome, famously known as the queer district of Tokyo, I found myself peeking into the dynamismof Tokyo’s diverse spaces and interviewing the varied array of people who occupied these vibrantareas. The juxtaposition between my academic inquiry, Ni-chome, with my campus at Komaba
undoubtedly swept me off my feet at break-neck speed. In the summer, I did not
yet know if I
was going to continue my studies in Japan, so I had to believe that my dream
project of “queering”
spaces could happen anywhere. Somewhat inwardly looking into my status
as a Komaba student,
I noticed that our school’s campuses, Komaba itself, and its neighboring
spaces, needed much
more work to become inclusive.
There is no way for me toindividually get to know each reader who picks up this magazine, but
I hope this article has
given you a taste of Komaba and its vicinity’s familiar aura. It is a place
where one can experiencea global city’s abrupt change of pace within a condensed 4-kilometerradius. With or without themagic of size-altering biscuits reminiscent of Alice’s first crisis in
Wonderland, I hope that we
can go beyond the bounds of arbitrary and institutionalized walls!
Edited by Zihan | Layout by Pedro
5

Anti-Emergence:
The Forgotten History of Student
Autonomy in Komaba-Ryō
Chiu Chien-Cheng (James)

Back when I lived in the Komaba International
Lodge and the rent was still a benevolent 42,200
yen, I always referred to the dormitory as komaba-no-ryō or komaba-rojji rather than the morenatural-sounding komaba-ryō. Komaba-ryō
translates to “Komaba dorm” in English. Komaba-no-ryō, on the other hand, translates to therather convoluted expression “the dorm in Komaba,” and komaba-rojji to the somewhat eccentric
official name “Komaba Lodge.” I avoid referringto the Komaba International Lodge as komaba-ryō because komaba-ryō was a dorm nestledwithin the Komaba Campus until the 2000s.
The splendid and profound history of komaba-ryō
remains unknown to many, buried deep under theskeletons of futile resistance.

lege of Arts and Sciences. If you are courageousenough to step into the tall grasses and read theintroduction written on the monument, you will
notice that the komaba-ryō does not quite fit intomodern expectations of a “dorm.” The introduction tells you that back in the years of the FirstHigh School, the komaba-ryō was an autonomous dorm governed by students with independent executive and legislative systems. Indeed,
the political system of komaba-ryō paralleled thepolitical system of Japan, and the debates thattook place during its meetings were said to be as
intellectual as those that took place in the Diet.
However, the text on the monument ends abruptly, explaining that after the First High School was

abolished in 1949, the Komaba Campus became
the University of Tokyo’s College of Arts andSciences, and “the autonomous governing by thestudents persists in the komaba-ryō as part of
the University of Tokyo.” You do not have to bea professional historian to sense the oddness inthis abrupt conclusion. The written story ends in
1949, but the history of komaba-ryō obviously
does not end there.
What happened aer 1949? Why was the komaba-ryō D E M O L I S H E D , and by whom?
Most importantly, what happened to the “student
autonomy” (gakusei jichi) when its inevitable death
was decided?
Put simply, the komaba-ryō was full of vitality
and charged with intellectualism even after 1949.1
The stories of komaba-ryō demonstrate to me
a group of college students who did not treat
studying as simply a task to fulfill, nor were they
single-minded in the pursuit of internships orjobs. They possessed a sincere curiosity to learn,an energetic mind to critique, and a persistentconcern for values rather than wealth or social
status. They served as an antithesis – for me, anideal one – to the university students today. In
the 1990s, however, the university decided todemolish the komaba-ryō, a decision which thestudents heavily resisted.

Unfortunately, the university was determined inits decision. In 1996, the university cut off thepower and water, hired security guards to shatterthe windows, and destroyed the furniture of theremaining students. Eventually, the university
sent in excavators to tear down the buildings
altogether. The Gothic architecture, built two
years after the construction of Building 1 (which
is now designated as a cultural heritage site), vanished from the Komaba Campus along with thedormitory’s culture of student autonomy.

In the Komaba Campus, the area consisting of
the cafeteria, co-op shop, and library appears
much newer and more modern. Its facilities areadvanced and its designs are simplistic especiallycompared to the rather shabby (“historic,” somemight argue) Building 1. If you observe carefully though, you will notice a relic of an archstanding alone in the shadows of the trees. This
Gothic-style arch, surrounded by the modern
minimalist buildings, looks rather uncanny, as if
trying to assert its own existence amid the hectic,
whimsical stories of a long-forgotten past.
This arch-like ruin was part of the komaba-ryō,
built in 1935. At that time, the Komaba Campus
was still the First High School (daiichi-kōtō-gakkō), but komaba-ryō was demolished in 2001
after the Komaba Campus had become the Col6

Modern building after the demolition of the komaba-ryō.
Photo by Ohyun

A lone arch stands in the middle of the library-cafeteria area,
one of the last remnants of komaba-ryō. Photo by JamesI cannot help but feel a sense of insincerity inthe introduction written by the university. The
text affirms the student autonomy represented by
the pre-1949 komaba-ryō while simultaneously
evading the university’s own violence against the
post-1949 komaba-ryō. In doing so, the university confines the notion of student autonomy to a
distant past that we can only treat as a spectacle.
7Quenching our thirstfor change: Transforming
Komaba Campus into an oasis
Mahi Patki

A written plaque introducing the history of the komaba-ryō
komaba-ryō..
Photo by JamesThe underlying message is this: “student autonomy is good, but it belongs to a past that is nolonger relevant, so don’t try to imitate it!” Whenthe text on the monument avoids mentioning theviolence conducted by the university, the connection between the past and the present is lost. We
are encouraged to treat the history of komaba-ryō
as an artifact of the past rather than a useful tool
to critique the university’s violence and power
which persists today. What I intend to propose
here is, therefore, the notion of “anti-emergence.”Its rationale is simple: one thing is new because
something else has disappeared, been replaced, or
been demolished. The modern-looking buildingsin the cafeteria-library area do not only stand forthe new or the modern; they also hint at a pastthat is buried underneath them. With emergencecomes disappearance. With construction comesdemolition. With the new comes mirages of theold. With a memorial of something comes a lossof the memory of other things. “Anti-emergence”
thus asserts the need to be careful of the new andcognisant of the disappeared.

This notion is not limited to the case of thekomaba-ryō. The demolition of buildings and thetransformation of space are often intertwinedwith our memories and evaluations of the past.
The renewed, stylish Miyashita Park in Shibuya
puts a veil on the relocation of homeless people
who had lived in its previous form. The construction of the large road, Subsidiary Route 54 (hojyo-gojyūyon-gō-sen) in Shimokitazawa is likely
to one day conceal the memories of the protest
movements against its realization.
As Milan Kundera puts it, “The struggle of man
against power is the struggle of memory against
forgetting.” Remembering is not easy. Memory is, itself, a form of resistance and can entail
rediscovery of the past. To remind myself of this,I will continue to refer to where I had lived as
the convoluted komaba-no-ryō or the eccentrickomaba-rojji.

One thing is new because something else hasdisappeared, been replaced, or been demolished.

1For those who are interested in more history about the komaba-ryō, refer to the 2015 book Tōdai Komaba-ryō Monogatari(The Stories of the Komaba-ryō in the University of Tokyo) by Hirofumi Matsumoto, or the 2016 article “Memories of Komaba Dormitory” written by Naoki Mizutani on the Komaba Times blog.

Edited by Sherrene | Layout by Ohyun
8

Have you ever wondered where to refill yourwater bottle on campus? In Issue 10 of Komaba
Times, I painted a pretty dismal picture of thestate of water servers on Komaba I Campus,
which stood firm with over 64 buildings but
only 10 drinking water fountains1 for over 9
thousand students and staff members. Today,
persistent student-led activism is changing
this reality. Like a couple of recent triumphantcampaigns such as the trimming of lesson times
from 105 to 90 minutes and the provision offree period products in some washrooms on
campus, a small group of students has managed
to achieve what seemed impossible just a few
years ago: 12 new water servers have been approved and installed on Komaba I Campus!
So, how did we get here? We must go back to
2021, when my team in “Phase I” of the university-wide Global Education for Innovation andLeadership (GEfIL) program began looking into
the issue of plastic waste on University of Tokyo
campuses. What we found with our primaryresearch in Komaba was not surprising: student
usage of water bottles was low, and awarenessof refill locations was nearly non-existent.
Our surveys revealed that many students were
unsure about whether water from these refill
locations was safe to consume. Respondents
were also unsatisfied with the water’s taste,
and the unhygienic appearance of the servers
themselves. Coupled with a pandemic that only
amplified hygiene-related concerns, which led
to shiyoukinshi (“Use Prohibited”) signs being
plastered on the few servers that did exist, what
you’ve got is a perfect recipe for an exacerbatedsingle-use culture on campus.
Targeting this issue, my GEfIL team proposed
the idea of installing bottle-refill-type waterservers on campus to reduce plastic waste. Our
hypothesis was simple: encouraging students

to use their own bottles through these servers
could reduce plastic waste, and may be a gateway into the wider adoption of a more environmentally conscious lifestyle.
Incidentally, Akari Nomura from the Todai Sustainable Campus Project (TSCP) student committee also proposed the same idea, and LeahHan, part of the TSCP student committee and ateaching assistant in GEfIL, connected Daiki Yamaguchi from my GEfIL team and I with Akari.
Members of the two environmental circles at
the University of Tokyo, namely ECHO and
Kankyo Sanshiro, also joined our small but burgeoning initiative, thus leading to the launch of“P0001 Water Server” as the pioneer project for
the UTokyo Sustainable Network (UTSN).
To begin implementation, however, our newly
formed team of students needed to gather more
information. Who was or would be responsiblefor installing and maintaining the existing andnew water servers on campus? We emailed
anybody and everybody who seemed mildly
related, yet to no avail — as it turns out, management of the servers did not quite fit into
anyone’s job description. How do we obtain thestatistics to make our proposal convincing? The
Co-op store provided us with data on the salesof bottled beverages in 2019, and we continued
by gathering student opinions and preferenceson the project. We scavenged every floor of
every building on campus to identify potentialrefill locations, and wrote a research-based
45-page proposal in Japanese. Unfortunately,
the TSCP team, with its focus on greenhousegas emissions reduction, decided not to fund us
because the emission reduction impact of the
project was not significant enough.
We then presented at student dialogues heldby the various interrelated UTokyo initiatives,
9such as the Center for Global Commons andRace to Zero in 2021. An opportunity eventually arose to deliver a 4-minute pre-recorded
presentation at the Future Society Initiative(FSI) Advisory Board meeting in November,where the President of UTokyo himself praised
our project. Our spirits were at an all-time highafter this meeting, yet no action followed fromthe university’s side. So, we decided to change
strategies and approached the Komaba Jichikai(Student Union) to request funds for a trial installation. However, the proposed trial exceeded the Jichikai’s budget, and so they were only
able to appeal for it in the student negotiations
agenda.
Almost a year later in October 2022, UTSN
(somewhat miraculously) received an email
from Professor Masahiro Sugiyama, who wasan active member of Kankyo Sanshiro in his
student days and has continued his related
advocacies with the university ever since. He
notified us that the university was moving forward with the project and the newly launched
Green Transformations (GX) Student Initiative
team would like to have an informal meetingwith the UTSN water server team. Apparently,
UTokyo Executive Vice President Tatsuya Okubo really pushed to realize this project. In thismeeting with GX and administrative staff, held
in November 2022, we discussed the list of
potential water server installation locations. In
January 2023, we met with Mr. Kazuyuki Akita
from GX and a representative from a company
called “Water Stand” to discuss the makeup andthe UTSN-led design of the cabinet in which
the new water servers would be placed. After
what seemed to be glacial progress, finally, adozen water servers were installed at locations
1 to 12 (see map) by mid-February 2023!
P0001 lent insight into the challenges ofmaking concrete change within such a big
institution. For one, it is still a mystery what
happened behind closed doors in the decision to fund the project. This reflects broader
issues like the lack of transparency and student
inclusion in UTokyo’s decision-making processes – issues that UTSN has been highlighting
since its establishment. Further, some things
are simply out of our capacity to negotiate as
students – we never advocated for the previous
10

servers to be replaced, only for new bottle-refill
spots to be installed in additional locations.
Yet, the university was adamant about prohibiting the indoor drinking-type servers due tohygiene concerns and replaced all of them. So,
if students find themselves thirsty and without
a bottle, they now have to buy a beverage or go
to the shokudo (cafeteria) or use outdoor waterservers at locations 13 and 14 (see map).
I still ask myself: is this initiative the most sustainable solution? Water servers, after all, havetheir own carbon footprint. However, to compete with vending machines and konbinis (convenience stores), we need water servers thatprovide cold filtered water. Also, when it comesto technological fixes like this, it is easy for us
to fall into the trap of assuming that complex
problems can be solved by techno-scientific interventions alone.

With this project, we are really trying to change
the culture of superfluously buying sugary
and caffeinated beverages in single-use plastics, which is detrimental to both human andenvironmental health. Some critical next steps
include raising awareness about the locationsof water servers, promoting the use of waterbottles, and educating about plastic pollution. I
look forward to finding out what methods will
be most effective and discovering what it takes
to spark behavioral change.
To ensure that the university will continue tofund the project and expand it to other UTokyo campuses, the impact of the servers must
be monitored. This includes quantifying water consumption through the attached water
meters, analyzing the change in beverage sales
at the Co-op store and vending machines, andgathering student feedback. In my(somewhat controversial) opinion, once there are sufficientwater servers across all
campuses we could
even nudge theuniversity to
reduce thenumberofbeverage vending machines. Maybe then,everyone will be less tempted to buy into thelure created by the most polluting, unethical,
and profitable corporations in the world such as
Coca-Cola et al.
Today I urge you to join the reusable revolution(if you haven’t already). Sip delicious waterfrom your reusable bottle to reduce waste, savemoney, and improve your health! You probably
already have water bottles neglected at homethat you could befriend. Of course, if you don’t
have one, please invest in a good quality bottle
that suits your preferences for color, size, andmaterial, and use it for as long as possible. A
hot tip to make water taste even better is toclean your bottle regularly!
The time is ripe at UTokyo for change. Hope for
campus sustainability is rising with the emergence of UTSN and the GX student initiative.
But, there still is a lot to do, and we need a student team with the same recognition as Jichikaithat is entirely dedicated to sustainability-related projects for the university to streamline theimplementation of such initiatives.
I invite you to be a catalyst and take action foranything that you feel passionate about!
¹ While writing the article for Komaba Times
Issue 10, I had initially only found 9 servers. It
turns out there was actually one more—a discovery that affirmed just how tricky they are to findeven for a water server enthusiast like myself.
Acknowledgments:
Words cannot express my gratitude to
UTSN members, especially, Leah Han, Akari
Nomura, and Daiki Yamaguchi; and theprofessors and admin staff that contributed
to the realization of this project. I am also
grateful to Eriko Yamada for designing thefabulous water server map. Special thanks
to Chris Clayton and the editors and designers of Komaba Times for bolstering thequality of this article.

Edited by Alyssa, Will & Zihan
Layout by Ohyun
11

I have always been a vegetarian andtherefore conscious of my food choices.
However, I decided to become even moreof a conscious consumer after coming toJapan, a haven for fish and meat enthusiasts. I was well aware that a new lifestyle ofveganism was going to be put to the test,
but I was eager to embark on this adventure awaiting unexpected experiences,challenges, and triumphs.

Cruising theCarnivorous
Waters:Chronicles froma Plant-Based
Voyager in the Landof the Rising Sun
Vedant Agrawal

Edited by Zihan | Illustrations & Layout by Alyssa
12

One of the first experiences that surprised
me was the prevalence of non-vegan ingredients in even the most common dishes. I
learnt that many restaurants in Japan add
chicken bouillon to dishes like pasta arrabiata, which I had never encountered inany other part of the world. This was justthe beginning of my journey to discovering the difficulties of being vegan in Japan.
Navigating social situations when deciding
on a restaurant with non-vegan friends if
we were eating out was another challenge.
Most restaurants in Japan do not offer
vegan options, and even when they do,they are generally more expensive. Moreover, vegan restaurants are not somethingthat non-vegans are excited about due tostereotypes. This made it difficult for me tojoin friends for dinner and created awkward moments when I had nothing to eat
at restaurants.

In weathering through these challenges,
I found myself becoming more versatileand flexible in my eating habits. I learned
to be content with whatever vegan options
were available, and stopped complaining
about the lack of options. Becoming vegan
was a choice I made, and one that only asmall percentage of the population makes.
This choice meant that in many situations
and events, there may be no food to eat forme unless I brought it myself. As a result,
I now always come prepared, either bybringing my own food or eating before I
go out.
On a visit to a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, I
had an unexpected discovery. I learnt thatin ancient Japan a vegan diet was practised
by Buddhist monks as a form of asceticism. This culture of a plant-based diet is
known as “shojin ryori,” which translates to“devotion cuisine,” and was passed down
through generations. This traditionalvegan cuisine is centred around seasonal
ingredients and is considered a form of
spiritual nourishment. However, with themodernization of Japan, the focus shifted
towards meat and seafood-based diets.
While some traditional vegan restaurants
still serve shojin ryori, veganism is not as
widely understood or practised in modern
Japanese culture.

bring depth and richness to food. Similarly, veganism celebrates the idea of using
whole foods that are grown and produced
without harming animals or the environment. Japan taught me to reject the preference for perfect, polished food over nourishing, honest meals that are in harmony
with nature.
As I continue to deepen my understandingof food, I have come to re-conceptualiseveganism to be a celebration of the cyclical, changing, and impermanent aspects oflife, rather than a strict set of dietary rules.
Until now, being vegan in a non-veganworld has taught me to be more adaptable,
patient, and appreciative of the simple
things in life. I am still on this learningjourney in Japan, where I am discovering
new things about myself, life, and the culture and people around me.

Veganism in Japan connected me to thephilosophy of “wabi-sabi,” which embraces
the beauty of imperfection, impermanence, and the passing of time. In a world
where fast food and heavily processed
ingredients are readily available, the appreciation of the simplicity and naturalnessof foods devoid of animal products is myrebellion against perfectionism in food. I
started to recognize that imperfections inlocally sourced and seasonal ingredients13

Something Old,
But
Something New
MAX
When you hear the word “Cyber”, what doyou imagine? A community space like Twitter, or Facebook? Something related to security or war? Or an “upgraded” space alien
from the planet Mondas? Nowadays, we hearthings with “Cyber” all the time, along withother high-tech terminology.
For someone who is currently in their earlytwenties, Cyberspace is something you grewup with, and based on my (limited) experience, I’d like to share what Cyberspace means
to me and how it became part of my life.
When I was a little kid living in Japan, I recall
watching my father use the computer as a toolfor his work. Although he sometimes let meplay with it, he only allowed me to do so on alimited basis. So, when he was away, I’d often
jump onto his computer to make up for his“stinginess”.
At that time, I didn’t understand the concepts
of Internet or Cyberspace, but thanks to thephone and annoying email notifications announcing, “You’ve got mail”, I probably recognized it as a “mysterious machine” which
could send and receive information.
About 5 to 10 years later, people started toactively use apps like Skype and YouTube,
with only YouTube remaining popular until
this day. There was a famous video streamer
on YouTube (now referred to as YouTubers):
Chinese Backstreet Boys (aka The Back Dorm
Boys). The YouTube videos that launchedtheir fame were performance videos withthem lip-synching to the Backstreet Boys’ “I

Want It That Way” as well as the cover version
of “Da Da Da”, which was later used as promotion for Pepsi during the 2006 World Cup.
Their videos went viral around the world,and Japan was no exception. One famous
Japanese TV show, featuring well-known
Japanese idol “V6”, invented a new term forlip-syncing, “Air-Vo (エアボ)” , short for “Air
Vocal (エアーボーカル)”, and solicited lip-syncing
videos from their television audience andfanbase. Although I never sent videos to theshow, I was one of many Japanese influenced
by them, and ended up making a few “Air-Vo”
performances of my own at the time. I should
also note that this was all before the debut of
the iPhone, and people were still using flip
phones.
In the early 2010s, my friends at school started to use smartphones and Social Network
Services (SNS) such as Twitter and LINE.
Back then, you could even access the Internet
from game consoles such as Sony’s PlayStation Vita, Nintendo’s 3DS, and Wii. Some kids
used it to tweet, to play online games, or towatch some “artistic” images. By that time, I
had come to more fully understand the concepts of Cyberspace and Internet... with how
we used the Internet virtually the same as
how we use it today.
These days, we see some digital content on Instagram and TikTok featuring beautiful scenic views as well as music performances. Theinteresting fact is that the fundamental content itself has never really changed, basicallyrepeating the same things that people did in
the early 2000s. But we are not just rehashing
the past, we are improving on it by changing
the platform or sometimes the user interface.
In other words, from my point of view, cyberspace or the Internet is something old, butsomething new.
Illustrations by MAX
Edited by Vedant | Layout by Priya
15

S
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Edited by Zihan | Layout by Alyssa
16

17

me
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It was like a cross-section of Tokyo was presenti
ng itself every time thetrains opened before me
doors of the. I saw people from allwalks of life, sharing moslightly uncomfortable toments ofextremely cramped social interactions. Everyone
accommodate each other—trying to
everyone just wanting alittle bit of space for themselves.

for being densely
The train lines of Tokyo are infamous
lly during rushpacked and often overcrowded, especia
with everytacthour. Yet despite the close physical con
all trying to keep
one else, the people in the trains arewrapped in theirto themselves, with most passengers
their phone, starown protective bubbles, checking
simply being fasting vacantly out of the windows, orof the moments.
asleep. Nobody notices the miracle

What I saw
when

18

I took photos there was the life of thecity emergingfrom the subway

After photog
raphing thesepeople in thelike sardines
metro cars, p
in cans, I h
ackedea
ded home. S
train boundtepping into
for my local
thestation, I bec
ame one of
them.
cars.

19

a.

b.

(suggested) answers

Yasha Lai

make a pot
a. connect the steps with a line
b. ﬁnd the pot and circle it20

21

Bye For Now
I drew this illustration to represent my brain when I feel like I
have been separated by two or more personalities. I became awareof this feeling after entering university, and wondered whether
other students in Komaba felt the same way. To me, this piece portrays “emergence” from oneself, which in turn is formed by otherelements. This emergence can be from the stereotypes that people
attach to you – for example, being a smart straight-A student, and soon. However, being conscious of your inner self is not always easyand safe, and you might suffer from an identity crisis. You may evenlose something that you always had in mind. Through this piece,
I wish to show others the importance of breaking self-imposed
limitations and how it is vital to use your time as a student to be abetter version of yourself.
Hiroka Sakurai

Edited by Aditya | Layout by Joanna
22

23

T

umultuous
umblesand aenewedespectR

William Patrick Guzmanof ascending the waterfall. Seeing the falls
up close, however, I realized that I may
have already bitten off more than I could
chew. Emerald Falls was, in fact, not a seriesof cascades as the blog indicated. It was acliff. I knew that neither Moe nor I could
ascend safely, so we begrudgingly exitedthe creek and managed to find a steep yet
hike-able alternative path to the top of thewaterfall. In retrospect, Emerald Falls wasa clear sign that this hike was not going to
be as straightforward as we had anticipated. Emerald falls called for an all-out expedition for which we were clearly not prepared, as we had little morethan a backpack, swimsuits,
and water shoes. Nevertheless, we continued hiking up
the creek.
The following 2-kilometer hike was beautiful.
The water maintained a brisk
pace but was relatively low,
allowing us to easily hike upstream. The heat of the summer morning balanced withthe cool water, and insects
hummed all around us. Moe
and I kept high spirits with jovial conversation throughout
the hike. These conversations,

I woke up on June 16th with one goal: climb
Excelsior Falls. Long story short, I failed. I fell
5 meters down a waterfall, tore a 20 centimeter
gash in my butt, and caused a small landslide.
It had started out as a normal Tuesday: a
weekday off that I typically used for hiking waterfalls with friends. I had selected June 16th toconquer a particularly adventurous waterfall,
Excelsior Falls. I woke up, packed my backpack,picked up my girlfriend, Moe, and started the
45-minute trek to Excelsior Glen near Watkins
Glen, NY where the waterfalls were.
It was my second summer hiking waterfalls
in the Finger Lakes, and I was confident enoughto consider myself an advanced hiker. My presumed skill level in mind, I was unfazed when
my waterfall guide, NYfalls.org, listed Excelsior
Glen as “Very Difficult.” The drive there was serene, and after 45 minutes, we spotted the trail Watkins Glen, NY. Me enjoying Hector Falls – a waterfall on
entrance just off NY Route 414
the same stream as Excelsior Falls. Photo by Moe Wakai
and parked down the road.
The walk to the trail was
straightforward, and after
whacking through some tall
grass, we found ourselves on acreek, where we heard the firstwaterfall in the glen, Emerald
Falls. Emerald Falls is a 10-meter waterfall with a weak flow
and shallow basin. According
to NYfalls.org, experienced
hikers have a reasonable chance
24

Lansing, NY. A few friends hanging out in front of themagnificent Ludlowville Falls. Photo by Moe Wakai.
Watkins Glen, NY. Moe standing in front of
Excelsior Falls six months after my fall.
Photo by Will Guzman

however, came to an abrupt end
when we reached the base of ourday’s goal, Excelsior Falls. As itturns out, it was not one, but three
separate waterfalls stacked on topof each other: Excelsior Falls, High
Falls, and Sullivan Falls. Each was
10 to 15 meters high, and the entire rock formation was roughly
37 meters tall. We knew that thesefalls were not going to be small,but we were admittedly surprisedby the steep, slimy cascades thatlay before us.
We pushed forward in spiteof our hesitation and made it up the first tier ofapproximately 13 meters with relative ease. The
second tier was about 17 meters, very steep, andfar less inviting. There were two possible ways
to get up: one, climb straight up the mossy, slippery waterfall, or two, go around the left side of
the falls and scramble up a dry, crumbly incline.
Neither option seemed ideal, but we decided
to explore the first option: the waterfall. I took
the lead in aiming for a small ledge 3 meters up,
which would serve as a good stepping stone.
I made it up alright but was unsure of how toapproach the remaining 14 meters ahead. I de-

cided to press on from the ledge,
finding small foot holds where
possible. After only a few metersof progress, one of my feet gaveout. I slid 5 meters back down
to the top of the first tier where
Moe was fortunately able to help
me stop before I unwillingly
went cliff jumping.
The slide had left my butt
seriously bruised, but I was determined to conquer this waterfall, so I decided to try the dirt
hill to the left of the falls. Unsurprisingly, I
fell again, this time carrying a couple fallen trees with me. It was at this point with asore butt and a terrified Moe that I decided
it was time to turn back.
After negotiating our way down thefirst 14 meters of the falls (first tier), I asked
Moe to take a look at my “bruise” only tofind a bloody, dirt-filled, 20-centimeter
open gash. We used most of our clean water to debride my mangled butt cheek, andI used my shirt as an impromptu bandage.
Over the 2-kilometer hike back to mycar, the 45-minute drive home, and the following weeks (during which I could neither
stand up nor sit down without wincing inpain), I wondered where I had gone wrong.
Maybe I hadn’t done my research, or maybe
I didn’t have good enough gear. I realized,
however, that I had spent so much time
hiking waterfalls that I had forgotten how
much respect they deserve. Waterfalls are
not goals over which a person can triumph.
They are moving, breathing, and living. I
approached Excelsior Falls with arrogance,
and it showed me that it was a creature worthy of admiration and observation. I bear
the scar from that June morning, carrying
with it a newfound appreciation for the natural world and renewed intent to explore
nature thoughtfully and respectfully.
Edited by Sunwoo | Layout by Priya25

GOD’SIN
THE DETAILSPriya Mu

Quite a while back I went to a second-hand furniture shopin Hongo to get a chair for my study desk. I came across anantique wooden cabinet with a lot of drawers and text on eachcompartment written using outdated kanji characters. I got
curious and asked the shopkeeper what this cabinet was.
“People used this to store herbs and medicines in old times,”
he said.
“Ooooh... Like in Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited
Away)?” I asked him.
“Ah! sou sou sou,” he agreed with a nodding smile.
As I stood there taking a closer look at the cabinet, I
forgot about the chair and momentarily teleported to Kamaji’s
boiler room. The excitement that I felt exploring the cabinet
lingered for a long time even after I left the place.

The phrase “God’s in the details,” is often
attributed to the German Architect Mies van derRohe, but the origin of the phrase is still debated.
I’m more concerned about what it means than theorigin here. The phrase manifests the idea thatwhatever one does should be done thoroughly
and that the details are of paramount importance.
While this applies to anything and everything,an average human being comes across only a
few things in life that can have the level of detailintensive enough to invoke something within
oneself. Some might find this in the writings ofCharles Dickens, and some might find it in the26

cogs and gears of a vintage Swiss watch. For me, I
find it in the strokes and hues of Japanese anime
drawings, particularly the backgrounds.
When it comes to imbuing life in anime,
there are so many crucial elements such as thecharacter design, voice acting, screenplay, etc.,
but I believe the pièce de résistance lies in the details of the drawings. Anime series with abstract
backgrounds can also make me feel like I am partof those fictional worlds, possibly because of theirlong duration, but I don’t think they have thattranscending effect where random everyday moments can feel almost magical, like my experienceat the second-hand furniture shop.
Realistic backgrounds are a trademark ofJapanese animation and can be found in almost
all anime, but I am particularly drawn to the realism portrayed in the ethereal drawings of Kazuo
Oga (Studio Ghibli), Mamoru Hosoda (Wolf Children), Satoshi Kon (Tokyo Godfathers), Hiroyuki
Okiura (A Letter to Momo) and sometimes Makoto Shinkai (Your Name.), Shinkai uses a little toomuch light flare for my taste. All these movies aremasterpieces in their own way, but the movie thathas a special place in my heart is Okiura’s A Letterto Momo (Momo e no Tegami). It is a simple storyof a young girl (Momo) and her recently widowed mother (Ikuko) moving from Tokyo to Ikuko’s hometown, an island Southeast of Hiroshima.
Every single frame, including the animation, wascompletely hand-drawn taking the movie sevenyears to complete. The details, such as the wall
clock that stopped working and how Ikuko looks
at it, the shrine in the mountains where Momo
always goes to hide from the rest of the world, thestreets, the shops, what the shops sell, the clouds,
the rain, and just everything, everything is part ofthe story portraying the grief, regrets, love, andhope the characters experience. The subdued watercolor backgrounds, so detailed and so delicate,manage to effortlessly teleport me to the islandsof the Seto-inland Sea every single time I watch
the movie. I haven’t yet traveled to these islands,
but when I do, I bet it won’t feel like it’s the firsttime.
One common aspect about the animatorsand their works mentioned here (except for Tokyo
Godfathers) is that they bridge the real world to aworld of fantasy. The interweaving of fantasticalelements with everyday life makes these earthly objects and places transcend into a magicalworld, and whenever I come across these places
or objects in real life, the magic spills out into thereal world, making me want to believe in Yōkai,forest spirits, and Suzuwatari (aka Makkuro
Kurosuke - Miyazaki’s dust bunnies). While thepossibility of an alternative universe filled withthese mystical elements gets me thrilled every
time, the drawings that make my heart clench are
the ones that portray the mundane and quotidian
aspects of Life in the city or the countryside. Tokyo-Sunsets from the windows of Yamanote Line,empty trains on Sunday afternoons, the bridge toEnoshima, futons hanging on the balcony, hidden
shrine in the middle of the city, the long stairs
that lead to the shrine, the flickering lights ofvending machines, old Japanese houses, particularly in the countryside, and more. When I comeacross them, I often experience a momentary
glitch. A glitch that seems to have in it a placebo
for the illnesses that come as the side effects ofcontemplating Life. Though life in Japan is notjust endless anime backgrounds or magical encounters, and there are countless moments where
I feel insecure or plainly empty, these glitches,
woven into the fabric of reality, often help me
take a deep breath and remember how to talkabout my dreams without adding sentences thatstart with a “but.”
Edited by Vedant | Photos & Layout by Priya
27

集カフェ
Shuu Cafe

Alyssa Castillo Yap―もうちょっと。今から、もうちょっと動きたい。

“A little more. Just a little more. I want to move.”―なんで今になって言うの、 ばあちゃん？

“Why do you only tell me this now?”―私が乗りたかった車はね、じいちゃんが好きそうなものではなかったんだよ。

“You know, the car that I wanted to ride is not something your grandfather would like.”―どうしてダメだったの？

“Why not?”―寒くなるし、雨の日は実用的じゃないだろうし。それに、とにかく自分のことは話さなかったの。だから寂しかったんだ。
今になってわかったのは、こういう風に男の人と話をしないといけないこと。若いうちはそうやって心のバランスをとっていくものなんだよ。でもね、これからは自分の好きなようにして生きようと思う。

“It would have gotten cold and it would actually be impractical in the rain. Plus, I never talked
about myself anyway. That’s why I was lonely. You have to talk to men like this. This is how one
finds their heart’s balance when young. At last, I want to break away and do what I want.”―なにがあった？

“So, what happened?”―ある日、じいちゃんは羽田の近くで道に迷ったんだ。あのバス停を覚えているかい？二度と見つからなかったんだよ。
だって、もう死んじゃったんだもん。でも、ばあちゃんから去ったときは迷子じゃなかったんだよ。みんなが言うけれど、 記憶を失ってはないと思うよ。 そんなことはない。

“Just one day he got lost near Haneda. Don’t you remember the bus stop? Then, we never found
him again. He’s dead now, but when he left he wasn’t lost per se. I don’t think he lost any memories like people say he did. Nothing like that.”―なるほど。

“I see.”―今、働きたいんだよ。この話を口に出すのは初めてだよ。最近はね、マッチングアプリを使ってるんだよ。知ってる？でもね、マスクを取ったら、じいちゃんにそっくりだった！

“I want to work now. I never said that out loud. I use a matching application now. Do you know
about them? He took his mask off and looked just like your grandpa!”

28

Listening to conversations that you are nota part of feels more intimate than speaking
with someone directly. Japanese may not be alanguage I know by heart, yet it fueled thousands of explosions that reverberated clearly
into me one-by-one; it seemed to amplify theweary sighs of a good listener, the dry gulps ofa fast-talker, and all the inflections of a shaken woman’s voice telling her thirty-something
granddaughter how to love and live. I have never tried harder to fill in blanks. Are we always
listening to each other?

reflecting on age-inappropriate books (i.e., mybootlegged Bible): it is like talking about yourchildhood memories to someone who has neverfelt the grains of playground sand you oncescreamed in. Surely grandma knows better now
than to believe in perfect exchanges.

ばあちゃん² I’ll be that modern girl too! New

friends communicate with me simply by looking like a film I have seen many times before,
speechlessly setting my path into orgastic novelty ablaze. No boats against the current, borne
back ceaselessly into the past in Kabukicho.
This might be that Beat-inspired lust for life Iggy Walk one street and find tens of mysterious
Pop sang about long before I was born. This
Ferraris, hundreds of green lights, thousands ofgrandma who had never spoken about herself
parties, and the buzzing whisper of grandma’s
was finally rising from her personal flood. As
million-yen handheld matching game. In Tokyo,
she did, I heard imaginary waters fill my lungs. one can forget the dangers of recklessly satisfyI felt an apocalyptic and revelatory urge to
ing desires. Would T.J. Eckleberg ever stand aabandon my pile of library books, storm out
chance against Godzilla’s cinematic anti-nuclearof the overpriced coffee shop, and maniacallybust?
wander Shinjuku and all its chomes to splurge
on my underdeveloped emotions. I thought I
It was only January, just before the official start
had transcended many forms of violence andof the Year of the Rabbit. I had my palms readindulged in the most luxurious freedom I may
once when I first came here four years ago. The
ever know, but these streets never stop nipping predictions ended in 2022, and I am now ayou in the bud and shooting you as if you were Master’s student facing an unknowable abyss. I
a kid¹. I fell for the promise of a city
blissfully dream of hopping
beaming with infinite space andaway, forgetting estrangedorientations.
friends, and ridding
myself of unread texts. It
Who’s afraid of wallowing in
is a youthful privilege,commodified gloom! Why,
the desire to experiencemisplaced affections are afamiliar corners, signs,
shame, grandma. I know
and words completelythat those gifts that crawled
anew, but it is expiring.
back to me, minty, unused,
Unlike grandma however,and forgotten, had disfigI cannot stay silent about
ured me into a materialistic
all the things I want to fightcontradiction. Grandma’s confor besides myself. Evenfessions about grandpa’s neglect renameless and without value,minded me of the oxymoronic and swelI hope I will always know ways totering months of the 2000s, when my
emerge full of love.
Catholic skirt and girlish benediction encouraged only a¹ Like Kenzaburo Oe’s first novel 芽むしり仔撃ち
slow, grumbling descent into
Memushiri Kouchi, which he wrote at 23.
godlessness. Her confessions² “Grandma” in Japanese.
reeked of the rusty, poorly
maintained swings I once
Edited by Zihan | Layout by Pedro
joblessly swayed away on while
Illustrations by Sherrene
29

I Cut My Nails
at Night: The
Burden We Bearas Daughters
Misha CadeI cut my nails at night. To do so is largely considered bad luck, a harbinger ofdeath perhaps, in East Asian culture. Our superstitious mother is always quick towarn us against it: “Be mindful of when you cut your nails,” she would exclaim,“or you won’t live long enough to visit me at my deathbed.”
But as daughters, we are not as naive as she would like to believe. What she
does not realize is that we have already attended her wake, twice: once in thedelivery room where we let out our first cry to mourn the potential of whom she
could have been; and once as grieving, parentified teenagers, laying the mother
we thought we had to rest. As daughters across the world, we all have different
backgrounds but come from the same mother.
When she held me tight in her arms to look down at me for the first time,
I wonder if she loathed the fact I inherited my father’s eyes. It was our motherwho made room, leaving her career and shifting her organs, for a child. It was
she who split into two to deliver us safely, usually without the luxury of an epidural. And yet it is his name that we are ascribed: we become his legacy and his
property. Who was she before “daughter” and “wife”?… was calling her “mother” the final nail in the coffin? I don’t doubt that she loves us, but our shoulders
carried the weight of her resentment before our fragile bodies could even holdup its own neck.
30

We entered this world through a veilof her screams and I sometimes wonder ifthat is also how some of us may have been
conceived. If her walls could talk, what would
they say? Would they testify against the countless
acts of trespassing and forcible entry? The reality isthat it only takes one push: one push from a man with abroken ego for her to be bound eternally to domesticity, to ahousehold she may not have necessarily prayed for. It is difficult
to celebrate the miracle of birth when it is all too easy to weaponize
her reproductive capacity against her. What if I was the life she had to beconvinced to want?
She bears a child, but we bear her burdens. As children, we bear the burden of never being good enough because she wasn’t. We are raised in a purgatory where we are somehow too little and too much, invisible yet conspicuous.
She looks the other way but notices the weight we gain; we speak in whispers
and she complains about the noise. Our mistakes are tallied on the wall where
our certificates should have been hanged. My mother loves me but I’m not sure
she likes me very much. Everyday I promise to be better and yet all I see when
I look in the mirror are remnants of her. I am her and she is me –– we cannot
escape the destiny that the patriarchy has written for us.
And that is why I cut my nails at night, in fear they willgrow so long that I will finally reach you, only to grasp an echoof you. So I will store the burden of being your daughter next
to the place where you put your resentment in me. I will cut
my nails at night in hopes of cutting myself off from you, fromthe longing that leaves such a bitter aftertaste. All we everwanted was to be your concern. But until then, we will cut
our nails at night, finding ways to emerge as a woman
who can forgive you for the burden yourmother made you carry, too.

Edited by Jihyun | Illustrations & Layout by Joanna
31

Nitrogeneruptsaround dead leaves.

Where Do We Go When We Fall Asleep?
William Patrick Guzman

Dirt
exhumedbuzzes louder than the freeway.
Roots, rocks, leaves, and acorns –woven tighter
than capillary beds.
The swing hangs
on green limbs
over a child’s grave.
The graveyard
is assaulted
by trees, grass, and squirrels.
“Formaldehyde is aubiquitous, naturally occurring substance produced by every living organism.”- The American Chemistry Council
Leaking fuelfrom my car poisonssacred soil.
Leavesfallin the cemetery
Let’s take a picnic! :D

Photo by Moe Wakai | Layout by Priya
33

The Spring, here
Suyog Garg
The traveller sits there
Admiring the view vast
Stretches before him
The special spring cast
Imminent like a daydream is
The novel view of the seasons’ kingAs if seated on sakura stems
Are colourful mirrors of celestial origin
There at horizon near the sea
The water kisses the heaven's gate
Yonder in pond’s shallow waters
The fish is also eager to mate
Greenish are the yellow autumnal leaves
Spread now are the dwarfed lotus leaves
Clambering, come clouds combined
Dip dip drip the raindrops blind
Whoosh pass gushes of willowy wind
Hither-thither fly passengers primed
Slowly creeps the twilight's hue
Closely fly birds homeward due
Stranger stands startled suddenly
A wish has popped inside presently
Must be a reason that nature adores
All this won't it else abhor
Perhaps, points the sky's blueYour name would be written someday anew
Thus walks disguised in Earth's patience
The triumphant traveller who admired the view

Photos by Suyog | Edited by Sherrene | Layout by Joanna
34

35

REFLECTIONS
2023

Kouka
2019

???

Ambition

What awaits us now?

Dreams big, expectations highThe excitement of new beginnings
What will next year bring?
2020
Despair
Ambition gone
People, businesses, dreams killed
The survivors bound by restrictions and fear

A light at the end of the tunnel?
Are we there yet?
Oh well!
After this long journey
At least, now I know
Where there is a will
There is a way

2021
FatigueAlas, will it ever end?
Keep your guard up but remember to be kindAnd stay inside
I took these two photos at Enoshima during
sunset.
2022
Hope
New conflicts yet new opportunities
Movement, activity slowly resuming
Cautious but optimistic

Both were snapped seconds within eachother, but the focus of the camera changed
the look of the lighting, thus making thebrighter version look like sunrise (the“emergence” of day) and the darker one
sunset (the “emergence” of night).

Photos by Kouka | Edited by Suyog | Layout by Pedro
36

37

What does
“EMERGENCE”
mean to you?

< N ot es fr om th e te am >38

acted with pieces straightfrom some of the university’s brightest and mostunique minds, withvisions that I couldn’t
ever have imaginedon my own.”—Sunwoo“For me ‘emergence’contains multiple meanings. First the word signifies our emerging outof the COVID-19 pandemic chaos. Second, it
refers to the coming of
Spring when the whole surroundings take on a new colour. And third, it points tothe emergence of Japan as a
global contender in the field ofGravitational-Wave Astronomy,
with the first KAGRA observations and a possible detectioncommencing this year. My best
take away from working on thisKomaba Times issue has been
the interactions with the amazing team, with whom I would
love to work with again.”—Suyog“If ‘emergence’ could be physiologically felt, it would be similar to the cold I once felt fromone hemolytic facial flush whena conversational sparring partner confessed: ‘I could get used
to this.’ Whatever ‘this’ was had
the stench of romanticised perfection, as if I myself were an
unmoving chamber to be haunted. While working as EIC, I
challenged my tendency to love
anything to a static and imaginary brim. I enjoyed working
with ideas and people burstingout of their bubbles with thepromise of renewed meaning
upon each encounter.”—Alyssa“Emergence is like a flower thatblooms in snow, blue sky thatpeeks between rain clouds or a
stream of water that flows along

myself emerging from it.”—Will“‘Emergence,’ to me, signifies the discovery of oneself inthe face of trials and tribulations.
In the midst of hardship, it is easy
to lose your sense of self and direction — your very essence
reduced to ashes. But, it
is from those ashes thata newer being is born.
Emergence is coming alive as a stronger,
more resilient person.
Working on this issue
has allowed me to get a glimpseof the world from the viewpointof others, in turn providing mewith the opportunity to enrich
my own perspective. For that,“As the world comes out of its I am forever grateful.”—Joanna
enforced hibernation, I feel theemergence of a renewed de- “For me, emergence implies atermination to seek tangible sudden change or appearance
happiness. To make our ex- that has a great impact on theperiences count. To make our whole. Though it includes the adtime count.”—Professor Itatsu aptation efforts and processes tobetter blend into the new change.
“Emergence to me means The last year was thus a year of
growth. To emerge is to develop emergence as I started living in
into something new or previous- Tokyo as a university student. It
ly unseen. I have never viewed completely changed my lifestyle,emergence as positive or nega- habits, and surroundings but
tive, but simply a necessity of life. I still am well after the changWe will always emerge whether es. Being a member of Komaba
we like it or not, but hopeful- Times Issue 12 was one of thely for the best. ‘Emergence’ re- best decisions I ever made; it wasminds Me of a flowerbed: flowers amazingly motivating to interact
always bloom from their roots with others with creative ideas
covEred beneath the soil. Rather and to read and visualize theirthan moving away from the past, values to be published.”—Ohyun
it is the past—or the roots—that
allows for our new selves to "To me, 'emergence' is about
emerge and Grow. Even when facing challenges head-on, perplanted in a New flowerbed, the severing through them, andflowers will Continue to bloom emerging strong at the end
from
thEir
roots.”—Jihyun of the long and dark tunnel.
Working on this edition of the“Being a part of the Komaba Komaba Times gave me an opTimes team has been a delightful portunity to express theseexperience of planting my pas- ideas and meet new peosion for writing in a new envi- p l e — s o m e t h i n gronment with amazing people to I am very grateultimately discover more about ful for!"—Aditya
the desert. It means the negative
doesn’t need to go away for the
positive to appear. This is why I
feel emergence is such a strong
word now: when ‘after’ Covid
still becomes ‘during’ Covidand ‘new’ normal still
becomes‘ab’normal in the blinkof an eye. Working on this year’s
Komaba Times has
been an opportunity to reflect on all
the emerging and submerging we have been doing together, and how everyone feels
it in a different way.”—Pedro

Layout by Alyssa“I think ‘emergence’ to me mutual respect between every- students moving between
is what this experience one on the team.”—Sherrene classrooms and the train toschool packed to the brim.
working on the KomaAlongside the emergenceba Times team has been.
of campus life, it has been
Getting to be involved ina pleasure to be a part of
the team has been a series ofthe emergence of this isexperiences and opportunities
sue, and support the prounlike any I’ve experienced so
cess of allowing the crefar which have allowed me to
ative pieces to be readgrow in new ways. And forby many.”—Hannah
that, I am grateful to havebeen given the chance“Emergence is the unfolding
to be here!”—Samantha“My first significant encounter of diverse thoughts and ideas“I arrived in Tokyo in Septem- with the word ‘Emergence’ was in coming to life while influencing
ber and went on a month-long, a systems theory class. To partly each other, but still remaining
life-ruining, reputation-destroy- quote Brian Goodwin, eminent independent and unique in theiring, Harry DuBois (from the mathematician and biologist, own way. Emergence occurs at
hit video game Disco Elysium ‘Each tree has several leaves that the metamorphosis of a new
by ZA/UM) style adventure. I look similar but on looking deep- paradigm, with evolving societal
hit the ground not running but ly each leaf is unique and has it’s systems. I’ve learnt to be patientcompletely collapsing on the own freedom of expression. What while collaborating.”—Vedant
floor and breaking my legs. That’s we see here is a phenomenon thatwhat emerging means for me - I is an expression of maximum free- “I tend to interpret ‘emergence’was expelled at supersonic speed dom to the parts and maximum positively. For me, it often imfrom the womb of high school, coherence to the whole. We have a plies a rise to a higher or imspat out unceremoniously, and kind of paradox that each part is proved level of being or conit came upon me (finally) to free to do as it pleases but it keeps sciousness. Working with the KT
grow up, and that’s how I came up its relationship with the whole Team on Issue 12 has provided
across Komaba Times. This is- (...) And that’s emergence.’ Read- me with valuable experiencesue was the first time I had ever ing this affected my world views while prompting me to conworked on something like this in quite a lot, particularly how I saw sider ways to further improve
such a capacity, and I was defi- myself in this world. Everything my leadership and teamwork
nitely not ready. I made many, I think, feel, and do, I do it with skills for the future.”—Maddy
many mistakes and I’m not sure the maximum degree of freedom
which ones to apologize for, I could afford while trying to “Emergence can mean the apbut I clawed my way through it. stay in coherence with the world pearance of something from
Isn’t that what matters?”—Zihan around me, oftentimes struggling nothing, but to me it also meansat the thresholds. To me, Emer- the re-appearance of something“‘Emergence’ for me evokes the gence becomes an emotional new from something existing.
concept of growth, overcoming phenomenon, a feeling that en- For me, this was the first UTokyo
extracurricular I particiall kinds of trials and challeng- compasses these threshold mopated in as aes. I think this concept is espe- ments where I contemplate mystudent,
cially relevant now as we emerge role in this universe.”—Priya
andfrom the challenges of thepandemic to lead our lives. “For me, ‘emergence’ signifies a it repAs a team member for time of coming into life and be- resents a
this issue of the Komaba ing. This year my life as a univer- sort of ‘breakTimes, I experienced first sity student has taken shape, now ing out of myhand the hard work that that lessons and university activ- shell’—emergenceis put into such a project: ities are conducted in person. in its best sense. WorkA steady workflow enabled Almost overnight, the roads of ing on this issue was incredibly
by communication and Komaba campus were filled with stimulating as I inter-

39

Komaba Times Issue 12 “Emergence” Team
Alyssa Castillo Yap, ITASIA M1, Hongo, Editor-in-Chief
William Patrick Guzman, ITASIA M1, Hongo, Head of Editing
Priya Mu, ITASIA M2, Hongo, Head of Design
Madeleine Kouka Newman, ITASIA M1, Hongo, Head of Marketing & PR
Suyog Garg, Physics M2, Kashiwa, Editing, Website, Marketing & PR
Vedant Agrawal, PEAK ES Y3, Komaba, Editing
Sunwoo Kim, PEAK ES Y3, Komaba, Editing
Sherrene Chua, PEAK ES Y2, Komaba, Editing, Illustrations
Jihyun Lee, PEAK JEA Y2, Komaba, Editing
Aditya Mathur, PEAK ES Y2, Komaba, Editing
Zihan (Martin) Huang, PEAK JEA Y1, Komaba, Editing
Pedro Marinho, Chinese Literature Y2, Komaba, Design, Marketing & PR
Ohyun Kwon, PEAK ES Y2, Komaba, Design
Joanna Marie Dodson Ang, PEAK JEA Y2, Komaba, Design
Samantha Chow, PEAK ES Y3, Komaba, Marketing & PR
Hannah Payne, PEAK JEA Y2, Komaba, Marketing & PR

Contributors
Chiu Chien-Cheng (James), PEAK JEA Y3, Komaba
Mahi Patki, PEAK ES Y4, Komaba
Vedant Agrawal, PEAK ES Y3, Komaba
MAX, Cultural and Human Information Studies M1, Hongo
Noah Brelage, Exchange Student at Komaba
Yasha Lai, ITASIA M2, Hongo
Hiroka Sakurai, PEAK ES Y1, Komaba
William Patrick Guzman, ITASIA M1, Hongo
Priya Mu, ITASIA M2, Hongo
Alyssa Castillo Yap, ITASIA M1, Hongo
Misha Cade, Global Society Program PhD Candidate, Komaba
Suyog Garg, Physics M2, Kashiwa
Madeleine Kouka Newman, ITASIA M1, Hongo

Faculty Advisor
Professor Yuko Itatsu,
Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, Hongo

Thank you to everyone who worked on Emergence!
40

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