The Quill Times
About Us
Mission
An online student publication, The Quill Times aims to create a common platform for students from different academic institutions and countries to discuss issues of our time. While not all of us have the same resources or opportunities, we all have a voice. Conversations matter because they shape our generation, and ultimately, our collective legacy, which is why we need to speak up—not later, or never, but now. Students matter. Our thoughts matter. Our voices matter. Our actions matter.
Challenges
Some academic institutions have a number of student publications, while others have none. The quantity and quality of these publications play a significant role in how students engage in conversations, be it about elections, foreign affairs, or a communal issue. Although having discussions within our academic institutions can be vibrant (or boring) enough, they can make us complacent and oblivious to the thoughts outside our institutional bubbles.
Solutions
The idea to launch an online student publication began with sisters from Japan, Marina and Emu Yoshimura, who were concerned with the lack of student engagement in many Japanese universities. After meeting with Editors-in-Chief of The Yale Globalist— an undergraduate quarterly at Yale College— they decided to take the publication’s model to their Japanese university. But having attended international schools and embracing a global perspective, they decided to expand this project worldwide so students around the world can engage in the same conversations. In November 2018, they launched the publication. They recruited Koki Hori— a college student at the Akita International University (AIU) and a Japanese Delegate of the 70th Japan-America Student Conference (JASC), and publicly announced the publication’s launch.
Our name, the “Quill,” comes from the Pen & Quill Bar, the name of a restaurant at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ), a press club for foreign correspondents in Tokyo. War correspondents established the Club after the Occupation of Japan began under General Douglas MacArthur to foster democracy after Japan lost in World War II. While archaic, the quill remains an important symbol for literature and serves as a reminder of the genesis of writing amid technological advances.
By establishing a common online platform in addition to social media, The Quill Times provides an academic and structured avenue in which students can express their views about topics they care about. The publication encourages students to engage, take initiative, and speak up about issues that may be important but underreported in mainstream media. Although it mainly seeks articles relevant to politics, social issues, and foreign affairs, it also welcomes ideas that are unique and personal.
*This student publication differs from others in that it does not have an affiliation with or endorsement from any academic institution. It operates as a company; however, all staff are students.
**The publication will collaborate with publications from other universities, such as The Yale Globalist at Yale College.
Team
Marina Yoshimura
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Waseda University’20, 70th Japan-America Student Conference (JASC) Alumna, Yale-VISP 2017-18
Marina Yoshimura is a student at the School of International Liberal Studies (SILS) at Waseda University’20. She was a 2017-18 U.S.-Japan Council Toshizo Watanabe Scholar and Waseda University delegate for the Visiting International Student’s Program (Y-VISP) at Yale College. She joined the 70th Japan-America Student Conference (JASC) as a U.S. delegate. She loves politics, journalism, and water. Marina’s career in journalism began in her first year of college. She worked for foreign correspondents in Japan, translating for interviews with a North Korean defector; survivors of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami; a hostess at a cabaret club in Tokyo; and a thinktank at Mitsubishi Corporation— a major Japanese trading company. From 2016-2017, she wrote daily digests as a news assistant at the Asia Times. She is a student member at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ) and a recipient of the 2017 FCCJ Swadesh DeRoy Scholarship. At Yale College, she was a writer and the first Business Director for the Yale Globalist, an undergraduate quarterly for international affairs.
Koki Hori
Chief Operating Officer
Akita International University, 70th Japan-America Student Conference (JASC) Alumnus
Koki Hori is currently studying at Akita International University. He is currently majoring in international relations, and have a great interest in international organizations and its governance. He will be departing to the National University of Singapore for a year-long study abroad program from this summer to further study about international relations. Debating has been one of his passions during his years in university, and he has won multiple titles in national-level tournaments. Koki participated along with Marina in the 70th Japan-America Student Conference (JASC) as a member of the Japanese delegation. He will be participating in G7 Youth Summit 2019 in Paris, France this June as a Japanese delegate.
Emu Yoshimura
Chief Media Officer
Waseda University’22, Honorary Member of The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan
Emu Yoshimura graduated from the International School of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo and is currently a first-year at the School of International Liberal Studies (SILS), Waseda University. She is a recipient of the Ono Azusa Scholarship and has joined the Foreign Correspondents Club in Japan (FCCJ) as a student member. Along with her studies, she volunteers at Second Harvest Japan and also works as a designer.