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Fischlowitz Fellowship Winner Chikako Inoue ’26 will travel this summer to visit the statues of peace honoring the so-called comfort women of World War II, and Asian-American cultural centers in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Michigan, and California.  

Through the fellowship, Inoue, a gender, women’s, and sexuality studies major from Saitama, Japan, hopes to remember the survivors and victims of the Japanese Army’s system of forced sexual labor during World War II, and to observe the complexity of the discourses around comfort women in Asian-American communities. They also hope to gain a clearer understanding of their role as an aspiring Japanese scholar in the United States who studies the history of comfort women and Japanese colonialism and imperialism.  

“Meeting others who also work on the comfort women issue continuously ignites my passion to expand the network with more of those people who explore the same issue from various approaches,” says Inoue. “Through visits to local Asian civil organizations, I would like to build connections with other activists, residents, and scholars who are interested in the commemoration of comfort women and decolonizing work. I am going to further explore how people build solidarity and a sense of community with memorials and acts of commemoration. By visiting the statues and getting in touch with local community members, I will nurture my insights into the formation of a community where we strive to free ourselves from colonial/imperial power and survive together.” 

The Fischlowitz Travel Fellowship provides an opportunity for ɬ�﷬’s international students to pursue casual yet purposeful independent travel in the United States, focused on deep exploration of a chosen theme. 

One award of $5,400 is available each year, made possible through the generous support of Teresa and Merle Fischlowitz ’53. Fischlowitz remembers his friendships with students from abroad as one of the most rewarding aspects of his time at ɬ�﷬. He believes traveling independently in the United States has the power to enrich an international student’s education beyond what can be accomplished by living for a few years in any single community. This award was established to provide opportunities for meaningful travel to students who might not otherwise be able to pursue it during their time at ɬ�﷬.