All Photos are courtesy of  Kevil Tran and Ani Grigoryan. Tokyo My Love!   Serene Karuizawa! what is your dream?….. Sports day(s), Barbercue, Cycling and Shopping in Karuizawa…. Hiroshima….never forget! Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum….A history lesson….   Let’s Talk!….Scholars reflecting on the visit to the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Museum   Sharing a meal with EVERYONE…one of the best parts of the day!   Miyajima Island…what a beauty! ….farewell Hiroshima! Last days, Last moments, and Lasting connections…. ….and that’s a wrap!!   *Photos taken by Kevil Tran and Ani Grigoryan. Continue reading From Africa to Japan (Part IV – Photos)

-Salman Mohammed* At first I could not decipher the deepness in the following words, “Unless you transform the lives of ordinary people, you cannot hope to transform Africa” H.E. John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of Ghana. However, my brief experience in Asia revealed to me that such opulent words must have come from a sage. The Bai Xian Asia Institute and the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation are path-breakers of the 21st century selling out the same idea of Leadership, Governance and Development. After a 19-hour flight to Japan, I could not but further affirm to the role leadership plays in … Continue reading From Ghana to Japan (Part III – Salman Mohammed)

– Jackson Tse* The mission of the Bai Xian Asian Institute (BXAI) is to “build bridges across cultures.” Towards this end, the Institute established the BXAI Summer Program, which provides selected future leaders from Greater China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Cambodia with a three-week intensive leadership program. As a Bai Xian scholar hailing from the Yenching Academy of Peking University, I had the unique opportunity to attend the BXAI Summer Program 2016. In the last three weeks, I interacted and debated with scholars from across Asia – sometimes in a classroom setting, but more often in a Takadanobaba abura soba or kaiten zushi restaurant, … Continue reading Bridges Built: Reflecting on the Bai Xian Summer Program 2016 (Part II)

– Nothando Khumalo I’m in love with Japan! I am cheating on China! But Africa is still my heart! – I utter this small declaration, before my African ancestors rise up from the grave and claim my head for treachery. Tokyo is a city after my heart – six storey shopping buildings, coffee shops in every corner, glamorous road intersections, well-stocked 7/11 convenient stores every 500m … you get my point yet? During the past month [August] I have spent an amazing 21 days in Japan, attending the Bai Xian Asia Institute (BXAI) Summer Program. BXAI is primarily focusing on an Asian … Continue reading From Africa to Japan (Part I)