KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Nanami was scared to stay in America because of what Trump is doing to the USA

• Japan is a safe country with less hate because of what Trump is doing in his second term

• Nanami was in America on a study abroad program TRUMP ended her plans

Nanami Returns Home from U.S. - “I No Longer Felt Safe”

Daniel TJ International Correspondent Tokyo, Japan

KYOTO, JAPAN — What was meant to be a life-changing study abroad experience in America ended with fear, stress, and a one-way ticket back to Japan for 22-year-old Nanami, a university student who had spent the last few years studying in the United States.

“I came to learn,” she said, standing in the warm Kyoto sun, “but I ended up learning something I never expected—how fast a country can change.”

Wrapped in a vibrant red kimono with soft cherry blossom patterns, her long black hair flowing gently down her back, Nanami held her Japanese passport close. She had just landed at Kansai Airport after cutting her time in America short. Though her academic program had officially ended, Nanami said she didn’t wait a day longer than necessary.

“America feels different now,” she said. “More hateful. More dangerous. I used to walk home at night. Then I stopped. I stopped speaking Japanese in public. I stopped trusting people.”

Her fears began to build after former President Donald Trump returned to power. Nanami says everything changed—classmates got colder, strangers bolder. She witnessed rising public hostility, especially toward Asians. Hate crimes were climbing. Her friends were getting followed, harassed, even shoved.

“It’s not the same country I arrived in,” she said. “People feel more free to hate now. It’s in the air. It’s in their eyes.”

After her Japanese friend was verbally attacked near campus, Nanami said her decision became crystal clear. She packed up, canceled all plans to stay longer, and bought a direct flight back to Japan.

Now home in Kyoto, she and her childhood friend Yui walked through the old district near the city’s historical gate, the same spot where they’d laughed and dreamed as teenagers. Nanami asked Yui to snap a photo—wearing her kimono, passport in hand, standing in the sun. Not to celebrate, but to remember.

“I want this picture to remind me that I survived,” she said. “That I had the strength to come home.”

What started as a dream of studying abroad turned into a stark wake-up call. Nanami had gone to America with hopes of blending Japanese tradition with modern fashion in her future career. But now, her plans are shifting.

“I still want to create. I still want to share my culture,” she said, “but not at the cost of my safety.”

Her story is now part of a growing pattern. Japanese students and travelers are quietly rethinking their time in the U.S. as political tension, hate speech, and targeted violence rise again under Trump’s leadership.

Experts say her experience is not isolated.

“Foreign students—especially Asian women—are feeling the pressure more than ever,” said one professor who asked not to be named. “They’re afraid, and they have every reason to be.”

For Nanami, the choice to come home wasn’t giving up—it was waking up.

“I’m not running. I’m standing tall where I feel safe,” she said. “America used to feel wide open. Now it feels like a warning.”

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