I had given a chance to participate in this Musha-shugyo Program in Taiwan. The truth is, my ability in English is poor, and the conversation in English was out of question for me. That is why I could not work myself up to participate in this program for I was worried that I would not be able to do anything during the stay. That is when Professor Irie, my boss and the organizer of this program suggested that I participate in this program which is how I made up my mind.
　　　In the first week, I participated in the lectures and experimental practices. The experimental practices had been easy to understand because of the thorough preparation by the NTU teachers, technical staffs and TAs and because there were many new things to learn, it had been a good experience. The lab rotation began from the second week and I was appointed to the laboratory of Dr. Hsinyu Lee the lab of Endothelial Cell Molecular Biology and conducted experiments on a theme, the Mechanism of FGFR Transactivation in SIP-induced Endothelial. SIP is a factor that activates angiogenesis in cancer cells and I analyzed when and where it takes action using RT-PCR and mRNA. These experiments were difficult for me because they were new to me but what was more difficult was that in the second week, I was the only Japanese student in the laboratory and the communication in English had become a higher wall to overcome. For this, I had felt miserable for not communicating well.
　　　Through the short-term visit to NTU, though I knew of my lack in English and the necessity of English, I felt the importance of communication in English by placing myself in an environment where the only way to communicate was in English. I think that one can only feel this way if one had experienced it by themselves and I am grateful to have been given such an opportunity. I do not think that the English had improved in just two weeks but by participating in this program, I was able to make many friends in Taiwan and because I am keeping in touch with them, I would like to think of this as a chance to improve my English. And I will also strive to become a researcher who could work abroad in the future.

　　　Lastly, I would like to show my deepest gratitude to the teachers of the National Taiwan University who had accepted us heartly, the staffs and the students who had guided us through lab rotation, and the teachers and staffs of the University of Tsukuba for giving us such a wonderful opportunity and the graduate students who had supported us during the stay. Thank you very much.

(From report)

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