Leah Aki Wood OC ‘16

Leah Wood Headshot.JPG
 

J.F. Oberlin University, Japan (2018-20)

Leah Wood ’16, a Cinema Studies and East Asian Studies double major, is the 2018-2020 Fellow to J.F. Oberlin University in Machida, Japan. Leah has some experience in Japan. She occasionally visited relatives in Japan when she was young, and her eight-month experience after high school, traveling alone and participating in the Worldwide Organization of Organic Farmers program in Kyushu, allowed her to further appreciate her heritage. While at Oberlin, Leah pursued Japanese language study and spent four years as a member of OCTaiko as an organizer, fundraiser, drum-builder, performer, and teacher. She also has experience as a filmmaker and artist. Since graduation, aside from freelancing, she has worked for StoryLens Pictures, a non-profit that produces short documentaries on pressing issues in northeast Ohio. She also worked as an Apollo Outreach Initiative assistant, working with Oberlin College students to pursue media-based outreach in the local community. While in Machida, Leah aims to further explore her interests in Japanese art, food, film, and taiko while also developing her skills as a teacher.

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Comfort Food
Comfort Food

Leah Aki Wood ‘16, JFOU Fellow

My grandparents met on the train from Kyushu to Tokyo and started dating as they went to school here. I often go to a park called Inokashira Koen in Kichijoji, one of their date spots, and am thankful that there were no cellphones back in the day because if there had been, it’s likely neither of them would have looked up on the train, and therefore likely that my mother would never have been born.

1,029 Hours on Public Transportation
1,029 Hours on Public Transportation

Leah Aki Wood ‘16, JFOU Fellow

Another day I met a friend at Shibuya Station, another main station famous for its busy pedestrian crossing or “scramble” (it took about one hour and fifteen minutes, and this trip had a train transfer). I started taking koto lessons (a one hour trip, three transfers), taiko lessons (a two hour trip, three transfers), and seeing a therapist (a one and a half hour trip, three transfers). I felt like I was going crazy.