Cindy Liu

Cindy Liu participated in the 2024 CLS Japanese Program hosted by Okayama University in Okayama, Japan. Cindy is currently taking a gap year but will be returning to Yale University as a third-year art major in Fall 2025. Cindy's professional goal is to work as a pre-production artist in the entertainment and media industry, namely in animation and video games. Cindy also hopes to pursue a master's degree in animation at the Tokyo University of Art's Graduate School of Film and New Media.

Why Japanese?

I had a big interest in Japanese art and music, and over time, it developed into an interest in the phonetics of the language. The more media I began to consume in Japanese, the more I wished I could talk, listen, read, and write in the language as well. From recognizing kanjis on packaging to deciphering song lyrics to in J-Rock, I wanted to learn more about the nuances of the language and culture beyond what was available to me in English regarding Japan's pop culture.

A Favorite Idiom

While not my favorite, the most memorable Japanese phrase in my opinion is「少子高齢化」, or shoushikoureika, a phrase I learned at Okayama University. This phrase describes an ongoing current issue in the country and is used to refer to a decreasing birthrate and aging population. While not a popular phrase, it is one that is often used to describe population changes in Japan's countryside.

Career Goals

I hope to use my knowledge of Japanese to pursue concept design. Animation and video games are a big industry in Japan, and I would like to use my language skills to pursue a master's degree abroad. From there, I hope to work within the entertainment industry, at companies like SEGA, Toei Animation, etc. as an artist in the animation or video game pipeline. Without an outstanding portfolio and business level knowledge of Japanese, these goals are unlikely to be reached, as jobs within entertainment are highly specialized, localized, and competitive.

CLS’s Impact

I was able to experience Studio Ghibli and Hokusai exhibits at the local Okayama prefecture art museum while abroad. These opportunities allowed me to view how media inspires a large audience and creates immersive narratives and stories. As a consumer of that art, it inspired me to experience more Japanese culture and geography, which was later used as reference for personal creative projects. When I return to Yale in the fall, I hope to exhibit my work showcasing my inspirations from Okayama. CLS allowed me to gain an international perspective on my career goals as well as learn about the broader picture of international relations. We learned about community efforts, sustainability, and issues of loneliness in society through interviews and field trips in and around the prefecture. From those experiences, I was inspired to create positive change in my own community and contribute to a bigger cause upon my return to the U.S.