U.S. Army Garrison Japan leadership honored 30 Japanese students during a graduation ceremony at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 23, 2024, for their commitment to several U.S. Army in Japan organizations as part of a three-week internship program. (Photo Credit: Kei Sasaki)
CAMP ZAMA, Japan – Thirty Japanese students were honored during a graduation ceremony here Friday for their commitment to several U.S. Army in Japan organizations as part of a three-week internship program.
Throughout the program, the interns, who represented 20 different Japanese colleges and universities, gained knowledge in various jobs with help from the American and Japanese workforce here.
Col. Marcus Hunter, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan, thanked the students for their efforts and presented each of them with a certificate as they walked across the stage inside Kizuna Hall.
“Over the past three weeks, you had the opportunity to integrate into all of our different organizations to see and learn a little bit about the U.S. Army and especially about our U.S.-Japan alliance, which is so very important,” he told the interns.
Hunter, who also spoke to the group at the start of the program, reminded the students about the importance of making the most of every opportunity.
The colonel mentioned the perseverance of Coco Yoshizawa, a Japanese Olympic skateboarder who he met earlier this month at an event in her hometown of Sagamihara City after she won the gold medal.
Despite the injuries and challenges she faced in her career, Hunter said Yoshizawa remained persistent and would often practice up to six hours a day, improving her skateboarding skills.
“Her secret strength was determination, even when she felt discouraged or didn’t really feel like [practicing],” he said, adding she also had a team to encourage her along the way.
Hunter told the interns that he hoped that they learned a similar lesson by witnessing the teams of American and Japanese personnel who work closely on tough missions to support the defense of Japan.
“It is an alliance with Japan, and through that, even when we have difficulties or hard times, we’re able to overcome great challenges,” he said.
Yuto Matsui, who attends Kitasato University in Tokyo, was one of more than 60 candidates who applied for the internship program.
The program, which was created in 2013 and organized by the garrison’s public affairs office, provides students the chance to experience an American work setting and hone their English skills with native speakers.
Matsui said he joined the program to understand more about American culture while working at Public Health Command-Pacific’s Environmental Molecular Biology Laboratory.
“It was definitely beneficial because I want to be a researcher in the future,” he said. “And my position in this internship provided research experience in an English environment in Japan.”
Since he hasn’t yet traveled to an English-speaking country, Matsui said he also enjoyed working alongside his coworkers in such a unique workplace.
“Our team was very kind and friendly,” Matsui said, “and I learned a lot of American culture in a cutting-edge research environment.”
Gary Crispell, chief of the lab, said Matsui and two other interns were excited to help conduct experiments, such as studying wastewater samples from Camp Zama for possible pathogen activity.
“Even though they had that task dealing with wastewater, they were happy to do the work and to find out [what kind of] pathogens we’re seeing in the community,” he said.
Crispell said the lab initially looked at having two interns, but since nearly 20 students applied for a position there, they decided to take three of them.
“If we could take every science student in the country, we would,” he said, adding that he believes the program may one day act as a pipeline to help his team fill future vacancies with talented applicants.
Yukiko Muroi, an intern at U.S. Army Japan’s G-6 office, said she plans to seek a job at Camp Zama after she completes her political science degree at the Temple University campus in Tokyo.
Muroi, who was also an intern at Army Community Service last year, wanted to return here and learn another aspect of the U.S. Army mission.
“They really had a different atmosphere in the workplace and also how they worked,” she said of both offices.
In the G-6 office, Muroi served in an administrative role, while duties at ACS mainly dealt with providing services to customers.
One of the highlights for her during her recent internship was when she had to be an interpreter to assist her coworkers.
“I was not expecting that I had to do interpretation, so I was really nervous,” she said. “But I did it somehow, and the staff members were really happy I was able to do it.”
At the end of his remarks, Hunter said he appreciated the Camp Zama personnel for making another iteration of the program successful.
“It took a lot of hard work, kind of behind the scenes, and an extra amount of investment from everyone in this room,” he told the audience.
Hunter then asked the interns to pass on to other students what they had absorbed during the program.
“In the same way that you have benefitted from mentors now,” he said, “I encourage you to leave here with these skills and the lessons you have learned from your mentors and share that with everyone else.”
