Japan-Palau Alumni Series: Vol.19 Mr. Masao Udui

Mr. Masao Ikeda Udui is the first Palauan alumni of the Japanese Government Scholarship offered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) to bring Palauan students to further their education in Japan since 1982.
 
After graduating from Palau High School in 1982, Mr. Udui departed to Japan in October. His reason for choosing Japan to study was greatly due to his family, especially his grandmother who was fluent in Japanese. Japan was the first time he ever traveled to another country by himself. He said that it was a bit difficult getting adjusted to the new surroundings and on top of that he had never learned the Japanese language before coming to Japan. He said “I wrote kanji characters and taped them all over my room to help me memorize the characters”. He had to learn how to write and speak the language so that he could understand his studies and communicate with his classmates and teachers.
 
In Japan, he first attended Bunka Institute of Language to study Japanese for six months before he began his studies on Electronics at under the Specialized Training College (Semmon Gakko), Tokyo Kogakuin.
 
Mr. Udui graduated in 1985 and returned back to Palau at a time when tourism was booming in the country. He first started to work at Palau Pacific Resort tour desk before he became a tour guide and a dive guide. He then went to work at the Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) utilizing his knowledge about mangroves and reefs for about 10 years. After he left PICRC, Mr. Udui went to work at Cruise Control as a boat operator until 2014 when he started working at Palau Coral Reefs Ltd. Co. as a tour guide, boat operator, and manager of the four vessels that are docked in Palau for the company.
 
Mr. Udui expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to study in Japan and shared about how his experience in Japan shaped his character. He said “I learned how Japanese people like to keep a clean work space, the importance of showing respect, responsible use of time, resources and budget”.
 
Accompanied by his Japanese friends, he enjoyed going to festivals, concerts and visited many places such as Okinawa, Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya and many other places. One of his favorite places in Tokyo is Meiji Jingu (shrine). He attended concerts of American singers such as, Billy Joel and Bruce Springstein and Japanese singer’s Matsuda Seiko and Sen Masao. His favorite Japanese foods are ramen and sushi. Mr. Udui has visited Japan several times since he completed his studies in Japan.
 
Mr. Udui is blessed with a wife and two children. He hopes that the Japan Government scholarship will continue to bring Palauan students to study in Japan.