"Is that you?" My eyes widened as Baba paused on a page in her photo album. "Yes, believe it or not," she said with a smile. My grandmother left the room, giving me more time with the photograph. She was dressed in a resplendent kimono embroidered with yellow chrysanthemums and cascading wisterias. Her face was delicately powdered like a winter’s first snow. A golden fan was nestled in her hand. My grandmother came back with the fan and kimono...

For the past two years, I served as a mediator for the KIZUNA Project, an initiative that invited young women from Israel and Palestine to Japan to foster dialogue that would disarm prejudice and stereotype. I remember the program being especially challenging. During our program, Israel had conducted a military operation in Gaza in response to the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas members. The conflict lasted for fifty days and resulted in the deaths of numerous Israelis and...

“Just imagine: you come home. A floral apron. A face like Rie Miyazawa’s. Dinner ready on the table. Now that’s what I call an ideal wife.” The male students in my history class cackled, high-fiving each other. The female students responded with silence. I looked to my teacher for some form of support, but he stood there with only a grin on his face. For young, ambitious Japanese women like myself, the gender inequality in society limits our...

For the past two years, I served as a mediator for the “KIZUNA Project,” a program that invited young women from Israel and Palestine to Japan to foster dialogue and collaboration that would disarm prejudice and stereotype. I feel proud to have played a role in softening hostility and nurturing cross-cultural relationships in the lives of these young women. To continue my passion for resolving international conflicts through common understanding and goal-setting, I seek to strengthen my analytical and interdisciplinary...