Denying student visas based on nationality undermines the international understanding that comes from face-to-face cross-cultural dialogue, says Maho Rokuta.
Japan Forward's "Ignite" column is a series where students in Japan share their voices in English. Maho Rokuta's experience as an exchange student in the United States taught her the value of broad and varied dialogue. But it also showed her the gaps that prevent students of some nationalities from participating. The Seikei Senior High School student uses her voice to encourage "borderless" dialogue for global peace, saying, "I want to break the barrier of passport inequality."
Rokuta's presentation is the 53rd in the Ignite series and the fifth from the 2026 leadership training program, GEM Talks, for high school students founded by Kanako Date. She focuses on equitable access to student visas to promote understanding among diverse nationalities and backgrounds.
Individually and collectively, high school students like Maho Rokuta are tackling the challenges of diverse cultures and values to shape our global future. Ms Rokuta is the co-winner of the Ruby Award and the Corporate Award at the 5th National High School English Presentation Camp final on the stage of the International Forum in Tokyo. Let's listen to her call for "more opportunities to meet across borders, engage in dialogue, and truly understand one another."
53rd in the Series, 'Ignite'
Maho Rokuta
Co-Winner of the Gem Talks 2026
Ruby Award and Corporate Award
Watch Maho Rokuta deliver her presentation in English:
Building Borderless Dialogue, a Path to Peace
By Maho Rokuta
[Unofficial Transcript]
We are often told that if we work hard, we can achieve our goals and dreams. However, even if we put in effort, there are some barriers that we cannot overcome.
Imagine there are two students. One can travel abroad freely while the other has to spend months applying for a visa and may still be rejected. The difference between them is not their ability or effort, but the passport they hold.
I want to break the barrier of passport inequality.
Studying Abroad
Last year, I studied abroad in the United States. In one of my classes, we discussed global challenges.
However, there were no international students from Africa or the Middle East in that class. The same was true at my school.
When I researched this issue, I learned that in 2025, the US student visa refusal rate was 9% for European countries compared to 64% for African countries.
Young people who want to study in the United States are evaluated not by their ability or effort but by the strength of their passport, which is determined by their birthplace and nationality.
Many people cannot even enter the place they hope to study.
This is not simply a problem of travel. Future leaders are losing the opportunity to meet, exchange, and dialogue, and truly understand one another.
Can we really build a better future like this?
Understanding Across Borders
Today, our world faces many global challenges such as climate change and poverty. However, these challenges cannot be solved by one country alone.
To solve them and to build a better future, I strongly believe we need borderless dialogue where people with different perspectives can come together and talk.
I believe what is important for a dialogue is the desire to understand the other person.
Learning to understand one another across borders is something that young people can begin doing today.
When those young people become future leaders, they will be able to choose cooperation over conflict with other countries.
Today, we can communicate online more easily than ever.
However, I still believe that meeting face to face is very important.
During my exchange year, I realized that sharing meals and spending time with my classmates helped me understand them more deeply.
According to research featured in the Harvard Business Review, people who shared a meal while negotiating achieved about 12% better outcomes than those who negotiated without eating together.
My experience and this research show that face-to-face interaction builds the trust and understanding needed for a meaningful dialogue.
Of course, natural borders are important for political and security reasons.
However, young people should have greater freedom to cross borders when it comes to opportunities to develop the next generation of global leaders.
That is why I want to break the barrier of passport inequality and build borderless dialogue.
An Online Community
As my first step toward achieving this, I would create an online community where students from around the world can share their experiences with passport inequality.
This community will not be built by me alone. It will be built together with people around the world who also want to break this barrier by sharing students' voices and making this problem visible. I hope to create a platform where young people can raise their voices together.
Then I want to gather supporters through online petitions and crowdfunding so that we can create more opportunities for young people to connect across borders.
I believe this first small step can grow into a movement that brings people together across the world.
In the future, I want to propose simplifying student visa procedures in each country.
Eventually, I want to help establish a common international student visa system so that students from any country can go through the same process, the same examination, no matter where they come from.
Building a Borderless Dialogue
When young people experience understanding others across borders and work together to solve global challenges, we move our world closer to peace.
Each person has their own vision of peace. What global challenges do you want to solve to make our world more peaceful?
Whatever your answer may be, no path to peace can be achieved by one country alone.
Peace can be realized when nations cooperate and continue engaging in dialogue. When the young people who built those relationships become leaders, together they will shape our world's future.
That is why young people need more opportunities to meet across borders, engage in dialogue, and truly understand one another.
That is why I want to break the barrier of passport inequality so that every young person can engage in dialogue freely.
Building borderless dialogue. That is the path to peace that I believe in.
Thank you.
About the Author:
Maho Rokuta was a second-year high school student at Seikei Junior & Senior High School in Tokyo when she took part in the GEM Talks 5th National High School English Presentation Camp. "Young people can change the future by discussing and building relationships with the people in [other] countries," she explained after her presentation. In the future, she hopes to help establish a "common international student visa system so that students from any country can go through the same process."
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Presentation by: Maho Rokuta
Third-year high school student, Seikei Junior & Senior High School