早稲田大学　国際教養学部　AO入試　志望理由書　提出例 (間藤 茂子 教授参考)

早稲田大学　国際教養学部　AO入試　志望理由書　提出例 (間藤 茂子 教授参考)

Dear Admission Office, 

First of all I would like to thank for the opportunity, and in this letter please allow me to explain my interest in applying for School of International Liberal Studies at Waseda University, hoping to pursue a major in Comparative Cultural Studies and Latin Asian Literature later in my academic years. I would be more than grateful if you could kindly give it a read and grant me an admission. During the in-person interview, I would also be delighted to expand more on my area of studies and what I can achieve upon joining the school. 

Not made known enough, but Peru was assumingly the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic relations with Japan, starting in June 1873 Peru was also the first Latin American country to accept Japanese immigration. Due to the cultural and economic significance these descendants have given to the native societies, Asian Latin Literature was established as a field of study. And it’s very intriguing how these studies show that, despite the differences, the Chinese and Japanese experiences in Peru share several common denominators (both were exploited and conceived of as “yellow peril,” then eventually achieved socioeconomic success, remigrated and so on) as well as similarities with the experience of Asian immigrants in other Latin American and Caribbean countries. In addition, I feel that other than the struggle and poverty Japanese immigrants faced due poor fertile land, there are so many other factors that should be put to light for newer generations to come.

In the early 21st century most people of Asian descent in Peru are of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean origin. Chinese “coolies” arrived in Peru in 1849 and progressively replaced slave labor along with African workers in cotton and sugar plantations as well as in guano fields. By the time the Treaty of Tientsin in 1874 officially abolished the coolie trade, 100,000 contract laborers had arrived in Peru. A key episode in their history was the War of the Pacific, when Chile fought Bolivia and Peru over the nitrate-rich Atacama region and approximately fifteen hundred Chinese indentured workers sided with Chilean forces in the siege of Lima. Subsequently, many of them were massacred by Peruvians. As a replacement for Chinese coolies, who eventually moved to urban areas, the first Japanese farmers arrived in 1899. Unlike the desperate coolies, they enjoyed stronger protection from their government. With massive immigration waves ending in the early 1970s, Peru’s Nikkei population has been reduced to approximately fifty thousand persons due to dekasegi back to Japan after 1988. Nonetheless, they achieved great economic success thanks to their work ethic, business skills, and mutual aid strategies. Also seen as the “yellow peril,” 1,771 of them were deported to internment camps in the United States during World War II, and numerous Japanese-owned businesses and homes were sacked in May 1940. Another important moment in their history was Alberto Fujimori’s victory in the 1990 presidential elections. In the early 21st century Peru is the Hispanic country with the largest Asian population and boasts the largest Chinese and Japanese communities in Latin America after Brazil. The cultural heritages of Asian immigrants have undoubtedly enriched Peru’s cuisine, art, language, music, and literature. Although people of Asian descent only represent about 1 percent of the total population, their cultural production and their literary production in particular have been disproportionately influential. 

As the human capital exchange increases, the Japanese and Latin American governments’ attitudes and policies toward immigration, the oppression of Asian immigrants, key moments in immigrants’ history, and immigrant survival strategies, immigrant economic and political success, migrant networks, and cultural exchange could provide much insights into peaceful immigration resolutions we currently face across the world.

Therefore, I feel passionate about gaining broad knowledge in Comparative Cultural Studies and Latin Asian Literature from diverse perspectives. And in order for me to attain high-level education and equip myself with what is needed to survive the next decades of globalization and competition, and locate professional opportunity, it is extremely important for me to study various international studies among like-minded students at Waseda where liberal studies is offered. Thank you very much for reading and I am very much looking forward to hearing good news.