An interest in understanding his native Japanese language provided Yoshi with a solid platform for undertaking a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Māori at UC.

'There are a lot of similarities between Māori and Japanese cultures, languages and mythological histories. I greatly respect the Māori culture and am very interested in maintaining its language and performing arts.'

Undertaking his studies with Aotahi: School of Māori and Indigenous Studies, Yoshi found his time at UC to be a wonderful and inclusive experience.

'The BA in Te Reo Māori is not just for Māori people. The School is open for everyone, even those who have never studied Māori before.

'I spent a lot of time at the School, and the staff were very supportive and friendly, with a rich knowledge of Māori. I was never treated like just another student at UC. Being a part of Aotahi was one of the best parts of my university life.'

While completing his Honours degree at UC, Yoshi worked full-time as a tutor of Japanese at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology. 'It is hard work,' he says. 'You need to balance your life and have well-organised time management, plus support from colleagues. Luckily, studying Māori and Japanese mythology and the origin of the Japanese people meant that I could connect both subjects for my teaching and advising students – that was a great advantage for my work and study.'

Yoshi is now undertaking a master's degree in Japanese at Victoria University, with his thesis focusing on Japanese mythology and its interpretation. He continues to work as a tutor at CPIT so his experience of balancing work and study is more useful than ever.

Finding New Zealand's focus on language revitalisation refreshing, Yoshi hopes to utilise his experiences studying Māori at UC to enrich a future career as a professor of Japanese language.

Yoshi's fond memories of UC and Aotahi give him no hesitation in recommending this course of study to future students.

'What a precious and special language Māori is! Aotahi is full of talented and versatile scholars so if you want to study something truly special, Aotahi is the place for you.'