Hiromi Taninokuchi

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Why did you decide to study in Japan?

The fact of studying in Japan, has always been my dream ever since I was a teenager. The reason is because I’ve always admired Japanese culture and its society, thanks to my Japanese father. Additionally, after I started my dental school back in Argentina , I’ve realized how advanced was Japan in many of the areas that I was the most interested in, such as gerontology (treatment of the third age patients), surgery, prosthodontics, dental adhesion and so on. All this motivated me even more to make this dream of studying abroad in Japan true, so I looked after scholarships programs existing that could help me to carry it out.

How is your life in Japan?

I first came to Japan thanks to a JICA scholarship at the University of Tokushima, during my stay I applied to a second scholarship which was offered my Nippon Foundation which allowed me to come to Tokyo, attend for one year a Japanese school and then being admitted to the Tokyo Medical and Dental University, where I am currently a student of second year in the department of Implantology and Regenerative Dental Medicine. My everyday life is just fantastic and thanks to the Nikkei Scholarship I had the opportunity to meet the NFSA members, who represent a family for me. Every year we gather between 4 to 5 times in events where we are able to exchange our latest news, thoughts and projects, as well as we have fun and learn about Japanese culture. Besides my studies in Japan, I also had the opportunity to visit other countries, such as Myanmar where I had the honor of participating as a dentist volunteer in the Nippon Zaidan and Japan’s Dental association project called “ Tooth fairy”. Additionally, I’ve been able to participate in several conferences inside Japan and even outside Japan in countries such as Unites States and Spain, all this thanks to my Nikkei scholarship.

Tell us about your present study or research.

My study mainly consists in oral implantology and Regenerative dental medicine. My days are divided by work at the clinic and research. Until now I had the opportunity to perform cell culture of bone stem cells, animal experiments and currently I’m working on my project which is related to clinical cases in implantology.

Did your consciousness as a Nikkei change in any way through studying in Japan?

After coming to Japan, I’ve had the opportunity of knowing many Nikkei from different parts of the world in events such as Kaigai Nikkeijin Taikai and gatherings with kids of Dekasegi living in Japan. All these experiences had helped me to realize some of the situations that other Nikkeis have to go through, specially I feel that my responsibility and identity as a young Nikkei has become stronger in the recent years.

What is your dream for the future?

My dream as a Young Nikkei mainly consists on being able to utilize everything I’ve been able to learn through my life towards the wellness of the society. My main objective can be defined as my will to foster patient’s quality of life by improving their oral health.

Please give a message to students who are considering studying in Japan.

Life is only one. No matter how big or far a dream might look like, the most important is to never stop dreaming and never surrender yourself. I had received the support and help of many persons through my life in order to achieve my goals. Still, there were as well persons that didn’t supported me and didn’t believed in my abilities, even myself I doubt and had some moments of lack of self-confidence but finally the fact of being able to overcome those obstacles made me able to carry out my dreams and goals. Japan is a wonderful country that makes me fall in love every day, words cannot be enough to express how grateful I am towards everybody that had always supported me such as Kaigai Nikkeijin Kyokai and Nippon Foundation. I hope that more Nikkeis can come to Japan and have this fantastic experience as well.

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