People from all over the world came to the university April 28 as the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center hosted the 41st annual Japanese Koto Ensemble recital.
The recital welcomed spring’s arrival by featuring different styles of traditional Japanese music. The Washington Toho Koto Society accompanied the Maryland Japanese Koto Ensemble for the performance.

Koto is one of the oldest instruments in Japan and marks a special place in Japanese culture, according to Nathanial Gailey-Schiltz, a graduate student part of the Maryland Ensemble.
The program first started with eight players on stage in …

To a roomful of students and faculty members on April 12, two Japanese Americans shared their experiences of living through World War II—a time when anyone of the heritage was feared and often discriminated against.
Executive director Terry Shima of the Japanese American Veterans Association discussed the war from a veteran’s standpoint. At the time, he was a public relations officer of the renowned 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was nicknamed the “Purple Heart Battalion” for its many awards. Accompanying him was Mary Murakami, who shared her experiences inside the internment …

Extreme viewpoints between two groups can emerge for a variety of reasons; partisan lines, age difference and societal tiers are just a few embodiments of dividing lines in opinion.
Thirty-eight years after the whirlwind of controversy that surrounded the Fall of Saigon, a recent Gallup poll showed a majority of young Americans – from ages 18 to 29 – do not believe the U.S. made a mistake by sending troops to Vietnam.

The older generations who were alive during that time project a markedly different opinion, with 70 percent of those ages …

Like many science majors, sophomore Varun Ram spends countless hours studying for his next exam. But unlike many of these students, Ram has to balance his schoolwork with playing basketball for the Terrapins men’s basketball team. Ram is also the only Asian Pacific American player on the team.
In high school, Ram, an Indian American, was all-county and All-Met for basketball.  He transferred to Maryland from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., a Division III school. At Trinity, he was named the MVP of the Trinity College Tournament and UMass Boston Tournament.
When …

I graduated with a major in communications, minor in Japanese, and an East Asian studies certificate. I lived in Burtonsville in the same house for 22 years and I knew I could not stay there or Maryland any longer.
With no commitments or strings attached, I decided to teach English in South Korea. One of my Sigma Psi Zeta sisters recommended me the Teach and Learn in Korea (TaLK) program. I did some research and applied to the program in October. The next month, I received my acceptance letter from the …