Yoshimi's page
Nau mai haere mai ki te Yoshimi ao

Thank you  for visiting my page.

My name is Yoshimi Fujikawa. I'm a postgraduate student of University of Canterbury, my field is Māori and Indigenous Studies.
My academic interests are centered around  the cultural and philosophical similarities between Māori and Japanese people through Metaphysics and intercultural interactions. I am not just focused on how similar Māori and Japanese  language seems, but the deeper reasons , structures and basic way of thinking that underpins the behaviour and worldview of the two cultures. I believe that by exploring the fundamental  basis for why what we see seems familiar, we can more accurately understand each other and find valuable commonalities.

I'm also motivated to get people to do cultural exchanges in a meaningful and natural way, and I have organised cultural exchange events between Aotearoa/New Zealand and Japan for over 10 years. The exchanges  I have organised or have had a major role in have helped  people to find many valuable similarities and interesting points  between the participants' cultures, activities or experiences.

Also in my everyday life, I learn budō. I do kendō, iaidō and jōdō.
The three budō all emphasise seishin shugyō with traditional Japanese thought.
So it's good for me to keep my natural Japanese kokoro in my life living in Aotearoa.

I'm pou rua in taiaha, a Māori budō (Te Whare Tū Taua o Waitaha).
I started to learn taiaha from my first kaiako Tāne Keepa in 2014, and I joined a taiaha wānanga in Taumutu.
I also took part in the kapa haka regionals in Waitaha in 2018 as a member of Ngā Toi o Te Rangi.
I learned a lot of tikanga Māori and worldview from my kaiako and all the whānau I have been honoured to train, practice and hang out with.