Campus Beauty(2)

03/12/2012

Makiko Mihashi, smiling at camera. (Photo by Ayako Shimatani)
Makiko Mihashi, smiling at camera. (Photo by Ayako Shimatani)

   Makiko Mihashi, a faculty of commerce sophomore from Fukuoka, is this month’s campus beauty. She is registered with the journalism course of Chuo University’s unique interdisciplinary program called the Faculty Linkage Program (FLP) and attends the seminar organized by Dr. Ryoichi Matsuno. During the period of the school’s autumn campus festival, she visited Okinawa to gather information for a report she is working on at the seminar. She says she is kept very busy at the seminar but enjoys it because she is doing what she loves to do. This interview focused on what she does in her seminar.

 

Hakumon Herald: Why did you choose the journalism course in FLP?

Mihashi: I’ve always wanted to be a journalist since my high school days. So I had no hesitation to apply for the course. Actually, the existence of FLP was one of the reasons I chose Chuo University.

 

HH: What exactly do you do in your seminar?

Mihashi: We do both writing and filming. We help primary and secondary school children who make community TV programs for their “Kodomo Hosokyoku” (Children’s Broadcasting Station). We also make “Tama Tankentai” (Tama Expedition) programs which are aired via local cable TV networks. Currently I’m mainly working on my article for a book which I am going to publish with other members of the seminar.

 

HH: Tell us more about the book.

Mihashi: The book is mainly about some of the existing problems in Okinawa. I am particularly focusing on the shipwreck incident that occurred off the Senkaku Islands during World War II. I learn a lot from the publication of this book as we have to make all necessary arrangements by ourselves.

 

HH: Isn’t it difficult for you to keep up with both the seminar and other classes in school?

Mihashi: Yes, it is. Sometimes I have to skip my classes when they overlap with my irregular filming work. But I find my seminar activity quite enjoyable and challenging. I can get many connections and meet many different people outside school. That gives me a lot of incentives.

 

HH: Lastly, tell us what writing means to you.

Mihashi: Writings can tell what images cannot at full length. Depending on how you write about a thing, you can tell about many aspects of it. For example, just imagine a chrysanthemum planted in a garden. If you see it in a picture, you’ll only know there is a chrysanthemum. But sentences can tell you who planted it on what occasion and for what purposes. This is why I find writings so valuable.

 

HH: Thank you!

 

 

Interview by: Ayako Shimatani