- Please tell us about your job and what you like about it.
The National Naka River Coastal Agricultural Water Conservancy is responsible for the construction and renovation of agricultural water use facilities such as dams, pumping stations and pipelines, with the aim of improving the food supply capacity of Mito City and eight other municipalities. I am currently working for the project.
I am currently in my second year at the office. In my first year, I worked in the construction section, where I supervised the construction of pumping stations, discharge tanks, and pipelines. In my second year, I am currently working in the research and design section, where I am responsible for the research and design required to carry out construction work, as well as managing the project budget. In my second year, I am now working in the survey and design section, where I am responsible for carrying out surveys, designs and managing the project budget. It is very rewarding to see the results of the design work become drawings and to be able to visualise the construction work.
National projects create the foundations that shape the agriculture of an entire watershed. The ability to work on such a large scale is one of the most attractive aspects of working for the government.
- What is one thing you wish you had done at university?
My graduation thesis. Each student has their own theme for their graduation thesis, and each student writes their own thesis. But in this department, where we do a lot of fieldwork, the whole lab works together.
We all sweated in the field, dreaded the weekly seminars, pointed out things to each other, encouraged each other, and sometimes struggled with each other while writing our graduation theses. I think there were a lot of hard times, but this experience is the most important asset of my school days. No job can be done alone.
It's the same with work - you have to help and be helped while working on your own. No job can be done alone.
Your graduation thesis is like a rehearsal before you go out into the world. The way you think and work on your graduation thesis will have a big impact on your future career. Now that I'm employed, I'm painfully aware of what my teachers pointed out to me at the time and the importance of my relationships with my lab mates.
It doesn't matter what your research topic is, you should be serious about your graduation thesis.
- What is one thing you wish you had done more of at university?
- Study. Every day in my job I wish I had done more. Hydraulics, soil engineering, surveying, mechanics of materials, and so on... I regret very much that I have studied so much on an ad hoc basis. It's important to study, of course. The more unenthusiastic you are about a subject, the more you will use it at work (depending on who you are). It is important to study. Make the most of your lessons and make them your own.
- What do you like about Kitasato University (or Towada)? (Or, tell us about something that particularly impressed you when you were a university student.)
Towada has good food and drink, and the sea and mountains are just great. You may feel worried that there is nothing to do, but once you go there, you will have a great time. There are plenty of club activities, so you can try anything you like. When I was a student myself, I went on spur-of-the-moment trips, I started student wrestling, which I had never done before, and I experienced a lot.
I think that the biggest weapons of a student are physical strength and time. Please make full use of this, try everything with failure, and have a fulfilling student life.
