From Tokyo to Athens, former student revisits Bobcat past

Bunya and Hiroko Tsujita visited OHIO’s Athens Campus for the first time in 65 years last week.

Retracing an Ohio University connection that has spanned 65 years and more than 6,000 miles, Bunya Tsujita and his wife, Hiroko, visited the Athens Campus last week for the first time since the 1950s.

The Tsujitas, who live in Tokyo, Japan, spent a day in Athens during an extended trip to the United States so that Tsujita could visit his former OHIO home, where he studied business and marketing before transferring to the University of Michigan to complete his degree.

When he first came to OHIO, Bunya Tsujita traveled by ship from Japan to Seattle, and then took trains and buses across the Midwest to reach Athens. He recalled that he chose to study at OHIO after hearing nice things about the University from a friend in Japan.

Bunya Tsujita brought with him this Ohio University directory from his time as a student in the 1950s.

He said the students and faculty always made him feel welcome, and people often invited him to their homes on the weekends for home-cooked meals. During their campus visit, the Tsujitas met with Associate Director of the Office of Global Affairs and International Studies Ji-Yeung Jang, who works with partner institutions in Japan and around the world.

“It was a pleasure to meet with Bunya and Hiroko and to discuss his time at OHIO,” Jang said. “OHIO has active alumni chapters in Japan, and Bunya’s visit reminds us of their sincere and strong affinity to OHIO.”

Bunya Tsujita still has some of his documents from the University from the 1950s and brought with him a map of the campus from when he was a student. He remarked on how the campus is much larger today, but he said the stroll across the College Green hadn’t changed much over the years.

While in Athens, he and his wife visited Cutler Hall, toured campus guided by a student representative from the OHIO Alumni Association, and graciously made a gift to The Ohio University Foundation.

Tsujita said that Ohio University is a special place to him and he has wanted to return to the campus for many years. He was pleased to be back in Athens once again and added that he is now encouraging one of his grandchildren in Japan to also attend Ohio University in the future.