The Eighth TOMODACHI J&J Disaster Nursing Training Program Cohorts*Japanese alphabetical order【Students】
Name: Mao Ishizu
Affiliation: University of Kochi, Faculty of Nursing, Department of
Nursing
Hometown: Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture
I applied to this program because I wanted to acquire the ability toconsider disaster medicine in Japan from a broad perspective bylearning about disaster medicine in Japan, as well as overseas. As
I worked on various activities related to disaster medical care, I
realized the importance of not only local activities but also logistics
and headquarters activities, and became interested in the disastermedical system. In order to fully understand disaster medical caresystems, I deemed it necessary to think flexibly through learning about disaster medical care not
only in Japan but also overseas. In this program, I hope to think anew about Japan's disastermedicine system through learning about disaster medical care in Japan and overseas alike andexchanging opinions with people who are aiming for the same field.
I was very happy when I received the offer letter from this program. I immediately reported thegood news to my teachers, family and friends who had supported my participation. I havealways had a strong desire to study disaster medicine not only in Japan but also overseas,
however, learning about global disaster medicine seemed like a high hurdle because of thelanguage barrier and not being able to find the opportunity to study. Then, I encountered thisprogram and decided to apply. I am grateful for this precious opportunity and will do my best to
work hard.

Name: Yurika Imai
Affiliation: Tohoku University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of
Health Sciences, Nursing Major, Women’s Health Perinatal Nursing
Field
Hometown: Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture
Someone close to me gave birth in Miyagi in the chaotic situation
immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake, which sparked
my interest in disaster nursing. I applied to this program because I
was attracted to being able to broaden my horizons both
domestically and internationally with nursing students from all overthe country, acquire knowledge about cutting-edge disaster nursing, and enhance myleadership skills through many opportunities for group work and presentations. In the world of
medicine and nursing, discoveries and technological innovations are made at a rapid pace. I
want to learn the skills needed by nurses and midwives in times of disaster. I have not decided
how I will be involved in nursing in Japan in the future. One of my goals in this program is todeepen my thoughts on how to engage in disaster nursing by making the most of my strengths
and to decide on my path. In addition, I belong to the women's health perinatal nursing field atuniversity and conduct research activities on the health of women and pregnant women. I hope
to apply what I learn through the program to my research.
When I received the offer notice, I was surprised and thought, “Is it really for me?” However, atthe same time, I felt a great sense of joy and responsibility to be able to interact with nursing
students from all over the country, travel to other prefectures and even overseas, and learn
about disaster nursing through my own eyes and years. I hope to take full responsibility as aparticipant, learn as much as possible about how to be involved in disasters as a medical
worker in the program, and apply what I learned to my daily university life and research. I hope
to integrate the knowledge I have acquired through my courses, seminars, and practical training
at university and connect it to what I learn about disaster nursing in the program. During my
freshman and sophomore years at university, I experienced overseas training at the Universityof California, Riverside and the University of Malaysia. There, I learned about the importance of
proactive communication in fostering good relationships, as well as the fun in expressing my
opinions in English. Although I am still not fully comfortable having conversations in English, I
hope to make use of my experiences and aim to be proactive.

Name: Tsubasa Eshima
Affiliation: St. Luke’s International University
Hometown: Toyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture
After learning about the activities of Doctors Without Borders, I
became interested in disaster nursing. Upon learning about theexistence and role of nurses who are particularly needed in disasterstricken and conflict-affected areas, I began to wonder, “When adisaster strikes, how can I contribute?” if there is anything I could do
whe. Thus, I felt the importance of learning more about disasternursing in order to be able to deal with the various problems faced by
victims and medical staff during disasters, even when I am working as
a nurse. I have two goals for participating in the program. The first is "mental care in the event of
a disaster", and the second is "becoming someone who can demonstrate leadership in the
medical field". I am very happy to be able to participate in this program since I had wanted toparticipate ever since my friend did. I hope to learn together with peers during a limited time andgain a lot of experience!
I was very happy to receive this offer since at my university, I was unable to learn about disasternursing due to a lack of both basic education of disaster nursing and learning in the field. Assoon as I was selected as a participant, I thought about the meaning of being selected, and I
thought that I should appraise what I can do and my role in the group before the orientation.
Among the participants, I consider myself to have an interesting background, as I am in mysecond and final year of studying nursing, have working experience, and have already obtaineda degree outside of medicine. I hope to implement my experiences and gain a lot of knowledge,
thoughts, and passion from fellow participants. In addition, since I was selected, after
completing the program, I hope to acquire knowledge about nursing in times of disaster andplay an active role as a leader in the field of disaster nursing in Japan.

Name: Nao Kimura
Affiliation: Yokohama City University, Faculty of Medicine,
Department of Nursing
Hometown: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture
When I was a middle and high school student, I visited the areas
affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake twice, which made mevery interested in disasters. When I was in middle and high school, I
learned about the difficulty and necessity of understanding andsupporting the feelings of disaster victims by thinking about theirexperiences and the impact of disasters on communities from theresidents’ perspective. As I am learning about the basics of medicalcare and nursing as a junior in the Department of Nursing,I decided
to participate in this program because I wanted to learn about disasters from a nursing
perspective. In addition to academic knowledge of disaster nursing, this program is also very
attractive because it teaches me practical knowledge through a variety of experiential learning.
Through the program, I hope to learn about the role of nurses in emergency support
immediately after a disaster and continuous support during the recovery period. I hope toactively exchange opinions with peers who are also interested in disaster nursing and deepen
my learning.
I jumped for joy the moment I checked the email notifying me of the offer. It was a program that I
really wanted to participate in, so I checked my email many times, asking myself, "Am I really
accepted as a member of this program?" For the first two years of university, my life wasvirtually online, however, starting this year, this program will also include face-to-face training in
the United States. I am really looking forward to having the opportunity to interact with people inreal life. I am excited about what kind of friends I will meet and what kind of learning I will getfrom now on. Since I was selected as a participant, I would like to share what I have learned in
the program with as many people as possible, rather than keeping the knowledge and skills I
have learned about disaster nursing for myself. To that end, I hope to actively exchange
opinions with my peers and strive to gain deep knowledge.

Name: Mari Kumagai
Affiliation: Fukushima Medical University
Hometown: Chofu City, Tokyo Prefecture
Since I could not do anything when the Great East Japan
Earthquake occurred, I have been studying disaster nursing atuniversity and student organizations to help reduce the number ofdeaths in disasters. While listening to the stories of disaster victims
and medical workers, I learned that disaster nursing is not "special
nursing" and that it is necessary to respond flexibly according to the
local community. I applied to this program because I wanted to study
disaster nursing in various communities. Furthermore, I think that myperspective is narrow, so I found it very attractive to be able to think
about disaster nursing together with not only nursing students with diverse backgrounds andideas, but also medical professionals. In order to absorb as much as possible through thisprogram, I hope to actively ask questions and make remarks without leaving any doubts, andconvey my experiences to my university and activities so that I can contribute to thedevelopment of disaster nursing in the future.
I was not able to convey my thoughts well during the interview, therefore, when I received theoffer, an overwhelming feeling of joy transformed into a determination to fulfill my part as aselected participant. Since I grew up in Tokyo, I have not lost any family or friends to disasters.
However, precisely because I do not have this experience, I believe it is necessary for me toproactively learn about disasters; therefore, although I am grateful to be chosen as a participant
in this program, I aim to learn with responsibility. I hope to continue studying disaster nursing
during and even after the program so that when I become a healthcare worker in the future, I
can perform disaster nursing with confidence. Furthermore, I hope to be able to ponder on myown research topics to connect this program to the development of disaster nursing.

Name: Haruka Nawano
Affiliation: St. Luke’s International University
Hometown: Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture
From experiencing the Great East Japan Earthquake as anelementary student, and from attending high school in New Jersey
and hearing from my teacher that the smoke rising from buildings
when the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened could be seen fromschool, I learned that disasters remain deeply in people’s hearts
even after many years have passed. In this program, I was
intrigued by the opportunity to learn about not only disasters in
Miyagi and Hyogo prefectures in Japan, but also about disasters in the United States. Disasters
can be broadly categorized into natural disasters and man-made disasters, however, I was
attracted to the idea of learning about a variety of disasters through this program. By comparingand contrasting disasters and disaster prevention in Japan and the United States, I thought I
could learn more about how to make use of disaster prevention in the future. Furthermore, I feltthat the anger and sadness of victims of natural disasters and man-made disasters differ, so
visiting the affected areas would be a valuable opportunity to listen to the feelings of the victims.
Because I want to connect the sentiments of the survivors to future activities, I definitely want toparticipate in this program.
I have been interested in disaster nursing for a long time, and upon attending seminars on
disaster nursing and listening to the stories of people who were actually affected by disasters in
my university lectures, I wanted to learn more deeply. There, I received information about thisprogram from the university, and when I saw that it covered many things that I wanted to learn, I
decided that I would definitely want to participate in this program, so I applied. I was very happy
when I was actually selected as a participant, and I wanted to fulfill the six months of learning. I
am a little nervous that I will be busy not only with school life but also with pre-learning and fieldvisits, but it will be a valuable opportunity to interact with various people such as nursing
students selected from all over Japan and people I meet during visits to disaster areas.
Therefore, I would like to continue my activities while appreciating the encounters with each andevery one of them. In addition, I would like to learn about the differences in disastercountermeasures between Japan and the United States, which is my motivation for participatingin this program, and how the feelings of victims of natural and man-made disasters change overtime.

Name: Chinatsu Fujii
Affiliation: Iryo Sosei University, Faculty of Global Nursing,
Department of Nursing
Hometown: Wako City, Saitama Prefecture
I am studying nursing from an international perspective at theFaculty of Global Nursing at Iryo Sosei University. While learning
about nursing care for patients of different races, religions, cultures,and even languages, I realized the importance of understanding
cultural differences. I believe the same is true in the event of adisaster. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, I became
interested in disaster nursing through continuing volunteer activities. Disasters that can occur
anywhere in the world give people fear. Disasters are unpredictable. However, I strongly desire
to be a nurse, physically and mentally sound, who can save the lives of those that can be saved
at any time. For that reason, I want to broaden my global perspective by gaining specialized
knowledge and skills of disaster nursing, learning about mental health initiatives, and actuallyexperiencing overseas medical care and relief. Furthermore, by communicating and exchanging
opinions with members who have the same aspirations as me, I hope to learn about thedifferences in education at other universities.

I was overwhelmed with joy when I received an offer to participate in this program. I remember
immediately contacting my teachers, parents, and friends, wanting to inform the people aroundme as soon as possible. Being able to participate in this program is an honor and also a
responsibility for my own growth, therefore, I was both happy and anxious. During the training, I
will be grateful for the opportunity to learn about disaster nursing and do my best.
Furthermore, I hope to apply the knowledge and experiences I acquire in this program to myown growth. When I return to my university, I hope to share and give back what I learned during
the training not only with my students in my grade but also with students in other grades.

Name: Maho Furukawa
Affiliation: Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, Graduate
School of Health Sciences, Nursing Advanced Science Major,
Department of Disaster and Critical Care Nursing
Hometown: Inagi City, Tokyo Prefecture
My dream is to create a world where people who truly need medicalcare can receive the medical care they need. Through classes andpractical training, I learned about issues such as the rapid increase
in medical and nursing care needs associated with the aging
population and the difficulty of accepting ambulances due to thetightness of medical facilities. In order to resolve these issues andensure that all people in need of medical care receive it, I believethat the current Japanese medical system is not sufficient, and that new systems and structuresneed to be created. Therefore, I would like to participate in this program to learn about the US
medical system, which is at the forefront of telemedicine and home care, and the role of US
nurses, who have introduced nurse practitioners. Also, when I think of "people who are truly inneed of medical care," the first things that come to mind are disaster areas and emergency
centers. Through this training, I hope to learn about disaster nursing and critical care nursing,and acquire the knowledge and skills to help "people who truly need medical care" as a single
nurse.
When I received the offer notice, I was very happy that I was accepted to participate in thisamazing program that allowed me to actually go to the United States for training and
immediately reported the news to my classmates who had supported my participation. My
classmates told me, "As expected, I'm rooting for you!" and “I want to work hard too”. When I
was a high school student, I decided to apply for a university because I wanted to study abroad
and take advantage of my proactive nature to participate in various activities and lead a fulfilling
university life. However, due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, I was not able tolive the university life I had envisioned because I was only taking online classes instead ofstudying abroad. Now that I finally have the opportunity to go to the long-awaited overseas
training, I am full of motivation to work hard and learn more than anyone else.

Name: Daisuke Homon
Affiliation: Takarazuka University, Faculty of Nursing
Hometown: Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture
I attended a disaster nursing seminar at university this year andlearned about this training program there. I became interested indisaster nursing because in the future, when I am in a position to help
survivors as a nurse, I thought that learning about disaster care willlead to the rescue of as many victims as possible. We touched on
disaster nursing in my courses at university, however, I felt that theknowledge I gained at that time was not enough. Through this training,
I hope to learn more about disaster nursing and be able to takeinitiative when a disaster actually occurs, attending to not only victims,
but medical personnel as well.
While I am grateful to be able to gain valuable experience through this program, I am also
worried, considering that my knowledge about disaster nursing is shallower than that of others.
However, I will take advantage of this opportunity to keep up with other students and deepen myunderstanding.
When I received the news that the participants had been chosen, I was so surprised that I readit over and over again. Simultaneously, I was determined to try my best. To be honest, I was
surprised when I received the news that I had passed the screening. Since only 10 people fromall over the country can participate, I thought it would be difficult to get selected. Naturally, there
are many people who want to participate in this kind of training, and I assume that a
considerable number of people applied. Among them, there are many who are better than me,
such as those with superior academic backgrounds and those who know more about disasternursing than I do. However, as much as I was surprised that I passed the initial document
screening, took the interview test, and was accepted as a participant instead of those people, I
thought I should work hard not to fall behind them.

Name: Mayu Yoneyama
Affiliation: Tokyo Medical University, Faculty of Medicine,
Department of Health Sciences, Nursing Major
Hometown: Paris, France
First, I found it attractive that I could learn about disaster medicine
in the United States. I believe that there are many disasters in the
United States, including terrorism, that are unfamiliar to Japan, so I
hope to acquire flexible skills to respond to various disasters. In
addition, by learning about disaster medicine in the United States
and acquiring a wide range of knowledge and a multifaceted
perspective, I want to consider what Japan's issues in disastermedicine are, and what nurses can do to solve them and strengthen the foundations of disastermedicine.
Furthermore, in the future, I hope to travel to developing countries as a Japan Overseas
Cooperation Volunteer. Since the destination and work content would vary, I believe that it isimportant to accumulate copious experiences from now on so that I can respond to various
kinds of work. Thus, through this program, I hope to actively engage with local medical
professionals and learn how to collaborate across borders.
I was very happy to be selected because there were several people applying from the same
university and I was worried that I would be rejected. Also, I spent a lot of time writing the
documents with advice from my seniors, so I was relieved that my efforts paid off. I felt very
excited to go to Miyagi, Hyogo, and the United States to learn about disaster nursing whileinteracting with local people. Now, I am very much looking forward to building relationships withfellow peers who I will be studying with. Since I was selected as one of the 10 people, I hope totake initiative and accumulate a lot of experience, and while accumulating knowledge, I hope toabsorb more and more of what I thought was good around me. Thank you.

【Mentors】
Name: Megumu Iwamoto
Hometown: Yamaguchi City, Yamagata Prefecture
Due to my experience as a public health nurse in support after theGreat East Japan Earthquake, I strongly feel the importance oflearning disaster nursing. I was fascinated by the philosophy of the
TOMODACHI J&J Disaster Nursing Training Program, which aims
to “develop leaders who will lead the field of disaster nursing in the
future and strengthen the foundation of disaster nursing as a whole”
and decided to apply in hopes that there is something I could do to
help. Since I am still in the process of learning about disasternursing myself, there will be some things I lack, however, I hope to learn along with everyone
and ask for continued support. My wish is to be of help as much as possible so that by the endof this program, I can see everyone thrive as a result of their fulfilling experiences. Therefore,
please do not hesitate to talk to me and contact me.
When I received the offer to work as a mentor, the first that came to my mind was, to be honest,
not joy, but worry about whether I could adequately fulfill the role of a mentor and whether adifferent mentor would have been better suited to support the participants. Although thesesentiments still remain, now that I have taken the offer, my worries are transforming to positive
feelings of “I’ll do my best.” Since I am still in the process of learning about disaster nursing, I
hope to learn along with the participants, have fun and sometimes worry together throughout
this training program.

Name: Yuki Maenaka
Hometown: Takarazuka City, Hyogo PrefectureThis training is not a one-time training but consists of 3 parts overabout half a year, where you acquire the skills and knowledge
necessary to become a leader in the field of disaster nursing in the
future, such as expanding your learning in various places. I was
impressed with how wonderful the program was. Two years ago, I
applied for the TOMODACHI J&J Disaster Nursing Training Program
2021 and participated as a mentor. At that time, I remember being
very surprised to see the high aspirations of the students who
participated in this training for disaster nursing. However, in 2021, I
regret that since all the training was online, I was not able to meet such highly motivatedstudents in person. The training in the United States has resumed from this year, and I canmeet the students directly. I am very much looking forward to talking with everyone about
disasters, even though it is a limited period of time.
When I participated as a mentor two years ago, I had regrets as aforementioned. In addition,
there were various difficulties adapting to the online setting, as it differed from in-person training.
Nevertheless, as this training program, which was carefully planned out, progressed, I myself
became a fan of this training, as I was reminded of the depth and fun of disaster nursing. Since
last year, the restrictions on COVID-19 have gradually been eased, such as gradual face-toface training, and as a result, I became more interested in what would happen if the training washeld face-to-face and applied as a mentor last year. Unfortunately, I wasn't selected, however, I
didn't give up and applied again this year. Rather than just having fun, I would like to do my best
to support students so that they can learn what they need to learn and finish the training with asense of satisfaction.