2012 hashi.org American Scholarships are Here!

07/01/12- Each year, hashi.org awards three $1000 scholarships - one to a Japanese, one to a Korean, and one to an American. The application period for Americans starts today - 07/01/12! The schedule is as follows:
July 1st - August 15th - Application period for American scholarship.
September 1st - American scholarship winner announced.

Travel scholarships are offered on a competitive basis. They are awarded on the basis of need and overall intent for usage as expressed in the application essay. The scholarships could be used for a variety of overseas programs, including but not limited to: home stays, student exchange, volunteering, work, etc. This year, in addition to the above criteria, special consideration will be given to applicants with an interest in helping with the tsunami/earthquake relief efforts.

To be eligible to apply, applicants must:

*Be 16 years of age or older.

*Be interested in participating in the type of international programs that hashi.org promotes between South Korea, Japan, and America.

*Be able to cope with the challenges of adjusting to different cultures.

*Be able to fund the remainder of travel costs not covered by thescholarship.

*Complete the application form.

*Be able to use the scholarship within one year of receiving it.

*Agree to allow hashi.org to use your photograph and selected portions of your bio to encourage others to participate in our scholarship program.

For information and application: http://www.hashi.org/scholarshiphp.html

hashi.orgの旅行奨学金実施のお知らせ!

Hashi.orgは、第6回奨学金、日本人市民の部の受賞者を、厳正な審査の結果決定いたしました。今回も多くの方から応募をいただき、様々な方から素晴らしい小論文を受けとりました。

今年、Hashi.orgの奨学金の受取人はPolitical Scienceの大学生ですーKeita Omiさん.

非常に多くの素晴らしい候補者から、類まれな実績と抱負が言及された小論文が寄せられました。その中からお一人の方を選考することは非常に困難な作業でしたが、選考された方の小論文は、hashi.orgの趣旨と目標に沿っていることが顕著でした。Keita Omiさん1000ドルのHashi.奨学金受賞、おめでとうございます。我々はあなたにこの奨学金を御贈りすることを光栄に思います。

Hashi.org is proud to announce the winner of the 6th annual Travel Scholarship to a Japanese citizen! We received many, fine applications, with essays describing a variety of backgrounds. Semi-finalists included a political science major, et al.

But our winner is coming to research as a PhD grad student at the University of Utah – studying Political Science, with the aspiration to “become a person who has a role like a bridge between the U.S. and Japan, and help people in both countries to understand each other more deeply through political science.”
With so many worthy applicants, with admirable accomplishments and aspirations, it was extremely difficult to choose just one. But the winner’s application proved to be the finest example of the ideals and goals of hashi.org. While there were many worthy submissions, Hashi.org is proud to award a $1,000 travel scholarship to Keita Omi! Congratulations!

Hashi.org（カリフォルニア州のNPO）奨学金のお知らせ

カリフォルニアＮＰＯ　Hashi.org　旅行奨学金、応募受付始まる

Hashi.org （http://hashi.org/ ）は、カリフォルニア州のNPOです。アメリカと東南アジア間の 文 化 交流の 促進を目的として設立されました。その一環として、毎年、旅行奨学金（1,000ドル）を実施しています。
日本国籍を所有し、韓国またはアメリカ合衆国との文化交流に興味を持つ方が対象です。奨学金受給者は1名で、厳選な選考によって決められます。奨学金は、ホームステイや留学、ボランティアなどの様々な目的に支給されます。
応募期間は2012年5月1日から2012年6月15日まで、受給者の発表は2012年7月1日です。申し込みに関する詳細は、http://www.hashi.org/scholarshipjp.html  をご覧ください。

この件に関するお問い合わせ(日本語、英語)

Hashi.org
info@hashi.org
223 River street, Suite B
Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA

Hashi.org in 2011

Hello, and a Happy New Year, friends!

Most of you know about the non-profit organization I started back in 2006 – hashi.org – which is a California Non-Profit organization dedicated to promoting cultural exchange opportunities between East Asia and America. “Hashi” means “bridge” in Japanese. This year, in particular, has been an inspiring yet tragic time, with the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March, and the sudden changes brought about in North Korea by the death of Kim Jong Il.

And as you know, we’ve been having a tough time right here in America. At times, it seems all we can do to take care of ourselves and our families in this down economy.  And with so much unrest and division in the world right now, it’s hard to know how to help. I consider the $1000 scholarships that hashi.org gives out each year to be a small way of helping to ease that unrest and division, and instead,  building  a bridge by investing in the education, travel, and experience of those most worthy scholarship applicants. Here’s a sample of recent recipients.

	Trevor is our American winner this year, and is majoring in advertising with a minor in Japanese and Business, who is now studying at Toyo University through the ISEP exchange. He is a musician as well, and writes his own music and is deeply interested in Japanese music, and looks forward to sharing and performing while in Japan. And while there, he'll be joining up with a group to help with the tsunami and earthquake relief effort in the Sendai region.
	Our Japanese winner has come to research as a Fellow at the NASA Ames Research Center in California. Although he is a PhD student of Yokohama National University in Japan, his study is a joint research project between NASA and Japan.  He's volunteering a few times a week to teach Japanese. That Volunteer Club is working with people from many countries, such as South Korea, Taiwan, India, USA, and Israel. He’s teaching about Japanese culture and customs in addition to language studies.
	Our recent Korean scholarship winner, Kim Eun Young, is in her senior year at University majoring in political science and diplomacy. She has taught children, participated in cultural exchange programs between Korea, China, and Russia, and wants to intern in America and write her thesis on applying ‘American Federal Government’ to international politics.

As we ease into the New Year, if you feel  drawn to help with our efforts, your donation would be so appreciated! Because I volunteer my time and office, we have almost no overhead, and your donation will go directly to help fund these scholarships.  And as a 501c3 non-profit organization, it will be fully tax-deductible, too!   http://www.hashi.org/donation.html

Thank you for taking the time to learn about hashi.org!

Here’s to a peaceful and prosperous new year in 2012,

Michael

http://www.hashi.org

Christmas Educational Tour of Disaster Hit Areas in Japan

Christmas Educational Tour of Disaster Hit Areas in Japan
The Japan America Society of Southern California has announced an educational tour in December of disaster-hit areas of Japan, as well as Tokyo and Kyoto.


Saturday, December 17,2011 to Saturday, December 31, 2011

Tohoku region, Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima, Japan

Terasaki Family Foundation in Los Angeles sponsors the educational tour for youths (over 18 years old) to understand Tohoku disaster, Japanese culture and history in December 2011.

The tour will leave Los Angeles on Dec 17 to visit tsunami torn towns of Minami-Sanriku and Ishinomaki, and Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima.

Participant's tuition $2,000 per person

Tuition includes airfare, 10 lectures, hotels, and some meals. The total cost is partially subsidized by Terasaki Family Foundation. The participants must be over 18 years old.

For application form and further information, email

info@terasakilab.org

Itinerary

Dec 17 (Sat) Departing at Los Angeles International airport

Dec 18 (Sun) Arriving at Tokyo and traveling to Sendai

Dec 19 (Mon) Traveling to Minami-Sanriku

Dec 20 (Tues) Tour of Minami-Sanriku

Dec 21 (Wed) Traveling to Ishinomaki and having lectures at Ishinomaki Senshu University. Traveling to Sendai.

Dec 22 (Thur) Lectures at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai

Dec 23 (Fri) Lectures at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai

Dec 24 (Sat) Traveling to Tokyo

Dec 25 (Sun) Free time in Tokyo

Dec 26 (Mon) Lectures at The University of Tokyo

Dec 27 (Tues) Traveling to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Memorial Museum

Dec 28 (Wed) Traveling to Kyoto

Dec 29 (Thurs) Kyoto lectures

Dec 30 (Fri) Free time in Kyoto

Dec 31 (Sat) Leaving Kyoto for Osaka airport, flying to Narita and changing airplane to Los Angeles.

Dec 31 (Sat) Returning Los Angeles

Hashi.org 장학금

hashi.org에서는 올해 세 명의 장학생을 선발합니다. 이미 미국인 1명, 일본인 1명이 장학생으로 선발되었으며, 마지막으로 미국이나 일본과의 국제문화교류에 관심있는 한국시민권자에게 주어집니다. 이번 여행장학금은 에세이 심사를 통해 선발되어지고. 신청서에도 언급되었듯이, 특히 장학금 사용목적에 대한 전체적인 설명과 필요성에 기준하여 시상하게 됩니다. 이 장학금은 http://www.hashi.org/indexko.html 에서 제공되는 해외프로그램, 즉 홈스테이, 교환학생, 자원봉사, 취업 등에도 사용되어 질 수 있습니다.신청자격요건은:

16세 이상의 한국거주 시민권자로서,

미국이나 일본여행을 통해 hashi.org에서 추진하는 국제문화프로그램참여에 관심있고,

각기 다른 문화체험에 도전/협력할 수 있으며,

여행경비는 포함되어 있지 않습니다.

아래 링크를 클릭하여 신청서를 작성하여 제출하시기 바랍니다.

신청서 접수기간: 2011년 9월 1일 부터 2011년 10월 15일까지

장학금 수여자 발표: 2011년 11월 1일

신청서 양식: http://www.hashi.org/scholarshipko.html

Hashi.org Announces American Scholarship Winner!

Hashi.org is proud to announce the winner of the 5th annual Travel Scholarship to an American citizen! This year, choosing one winner amongst the many oustanding applicants was far more difficult than in any previous year. And, the number of applications received exceeded previous application periods. We received many outstanding applications, with essays describing a variety of backgrounds. Semi-finalists included International Studies students with aspirations of working in an embassy, a medical student learning to combine Western and Eastern medical practices, and double-major students (International Relations/Asian Studies, International Studies/The Arts, et al).

But our winner is majoring in advertising with a minor in Japanese and Business, who will be studying at Toyo University through the ISEP exchange. He is a musician as well, and writes his own music and is deeply interested in Japanese music, and looks forward to sharing and performing while in Japan. And while there, he'll be joining up with a group to help with the tsunami and earthquake relief effort in the Sendai region.

Again, our judges of the applications found this scholarship decision the hardest one yet. With so many worthy applicants, with admirable accomplishments and aspirations, it was extremely difficult to choose just one. But the winner’s application proved to be the finest example of the ideals and goals of hashi.org. While there were many worthy submissions, Hashi.org is proud to award a $1,000 travel scholarship to Trevor Gradin! Congratulations!