Humans of Reno: A Japanese Exchange Student Decides to Go Home

Yuri Aoki reports on the difficult decision a fellow Japanese student made due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her new reality includes a 16-hour time zone difference for Zoom classes.

Reynolds Sandbox
The Reynolds Sandbox
4 min readApr 15, 2020

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Moe Kuwabara, an exchange student from Japan, visited Lake Tahoe one last time before choosing to leave Reno and go back to Japan due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Afraid of U.S. Medical Treatment

Being in a foreign country during the global pandemic is definitely scary for international students. Moe Kuwabara, who was an exchange student from Japan at the University of Nevada, Reno, chose to go back in March.

Kuwabara was planning to spend two semesters at the University of Nevada, Reno, but that was abruptly cut short this Spring. One of her biggest concerns was medical treatment.

“If I get infected by COVID-19 here in the states, I am scared that I might not get the right treatment or where people will put me in,” she said. “But, I know I will get decent treatment in Japan.”

Another concern was housing. She was living in the Wolf Pack Tower dormitories, and she was not sure if she would have a place to stay after Spring Break ended, when the gradual shutdown of the university began.

She was told she could continue as UNR student doing online classes. She also found out she would be able to continue other studies in Japan in April which is when the Japanese academic year begins, so all the pieces started falling into place for a return home.

“I got my ticket on March 19, and I left Reno on March 23,” said Kuwabara.

There were many flight tickets left when she was looking for the flight, and the price was about half the price than usual.

More social times in Reno, when she went on a hike overlooking the Reno university campus with friends.

Scary Trip Back to Japan

“There were not many people at the Reno airport, but there were many Asians who were trying to go back to their countries at the LAX [Los Angeles airport],” she remembers.

Everyone was wearing face masks. Some were wearing protective overalls and goggles. “If someone coughed, everyone looked at them,” Kuwabara said.

“When I arrived in Japan, I went through the infrared sensors, but that was the only thing they made me do.”

She says there was no official information asking returnees to self quarantine or wash their hand and other things. Many people rely on public transportation in Japan, and if people wanted to, they could take a train or bus to get to their home.

Kuwabara was surprised how many people were still going outside in Japan when she was back.

Her father picked her up at the airport and she decided on her own to self quarantine for two weeks after her arrival.

“I was surprised and at the same time mad. I just came back from the states where things were way serious,” she said of her return to Japan, where it seems there were fewer precautions initially.

What is Challenging for Her Now?

Many students are struggling to transition to online classes. Doing all the school work with a 16 hour time difference is a hard thing. She needs to be awake at 2:30 a.m. for some of her Zoom class meetings.

Kuwabara is taking a media production class, which requires taking photos, recording audio and shooting video, which is one of the hardest classes to work on remotely with limited equipment. It is also hard to create anything for this class because she needs to create everything in her house.

The benefit of studying abroad is immersing yourself into the environment and learning. Even though she still has online classes, it is different from physically being in the classroom which she misses.

Kuwabara says media production classes are very difficult online.

The delay of the Olympic Games in Tokyo (from this July to July 2021) and the death of of one of Japan’s most famous comedians Ken Shimura changed how Japanese people think about COVID-19. People are taking things more seriously now, but hair salons and bars are still open.

People see many celebrities telling people to stay at home and donating money to many organizations, but in Japan celebrities are talking much less about this pandemic. Only a couple of them made comments about how people need to stay home.

“I only saw two celebrities making comments on this,” Kuwabara said. “Others have not even said a word. I even went to their social media to check who made comments.”

She still thinks she made the right decision though. “Even though the situation in Tokyo is getting bad, I am glad that I am home with my family,” she said. “I don’t need to worry about food, housing and insurance as much as I did in Reno.”

What she regrest the most? She could not say goodbye to many people in person. “I also had a to do list before I came back to Japan, but I was not able to finish it.”

Reporting by Yuri Aoki for the Reynolds Sandbox

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Reynolds Sandbox
The Reynolds Sandbox

Showcasing innovative and engaging multimedia storytelling by students with the Reynolds Media Lab in Reno.