If you want to find the deep south of Japan, go to Okinawa, an island home to a U.S. air base that sits closer to Taiwan than Tokyo.
That’s where Japanese hip-hop artist Awich first encountered American culture, which exposed her to hip-hop as a teenager.
By the time she moved to Atlanta at 19, the culture felt natural, “but on a bigger scale,” she said in a 2022 interview.
Now, the accomplished international rapper is helping both Japanese and American students gain similar cross-cultural exposure through educational exchanges, perhaps imparting some of her hard-won wisdom along the way.
Now 38, the “Queen of Japanese hip-hop” experienced love and loss in Atlanta, giving birth to a daughter and then losing her husband in a shootout soon after he was released from prison. Afterward, she moved home to Okinawa and launched a career that has now seen her become an international sensation.
After sending three Okinawa students to Atlanta last year, the “Awich — Know the World” program is now seeking three Atlanta college students at least 20 years old to reciprocate by spending three weeks in the island’s capital, Naha, also known for its Japanese brand of Southern hospitality.
All expenses are to be paid, and there is no Japanese language requirement. Lacking a passport should not be a hurdle; the organizers will pay for selected students to acquire a passport.
To qualify, the student must be an Atlanta resident experiencing “financial barriers” to accessing global opportunities — for the purposes of the application, translates to an income between 50 and 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
The application, due July 25, should include an essay, a video and a letter or recommendation from a supervising professor — learn more about the requirements here and apply here.
The program is undertaken in partnership with HelloWorld Inc., an Okinawa-based company that specializes in English-language exchanges. One of the organization’s staple programs is connecting Japanese students for weekend homestays with foreigners living in Japan.
(Video in Japanese) See how Okinawa students experienced Atlanta during last year’s Awich: Know the World program.
From the archive:
AloJapan.com