(L-R) Hiroo Aridome, Rachel Sturman, Mitsuki Nishimoto, Jayanthi Selinger, Belinda Kong, Photo: Anna Aridome

Mitsuki Nishimoto ’17, Asian Studies major, was awarded the first Asian Studies Prize. She also received highest honors for her honors project titled “Meme Butterfly: Tracing Heterogeneity and Agency in Madame Butterfly and Her Diasporic Descendants.” In addition to her Asian studies academic achievements she also taught Japanese language as one of the main members of Oshietai (Japanese language team teaching) at a local elementary school, ran language and culture workshops as the Bath-Tsugaru Exchange Program intern, and was also one of the founding members of the Bowdoin Japanese Students Association.