“Inside the World of JICA Students (Part 1)”

JICA Tokyo currently hosts 386 international students from 81 various countries and regions（as of November 2025）.
They are pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees at 34 graduate schools in six prefectures, acquiring advanced knowledge and skills.
At JICA Tokyo, we regularly introduce JICA participants.This time, a university student with a strong interest in international cooperation—who has attended several JICA events in Saitama—spoke with international students.

Interviewer: Hana Ito (Keio university)

Mr. Mustafa is originally from Indonesia and working as a technical policy analyst at the Labor Market Center, Ministry of Manpower of Republic of Indonesia. He is conducting research at the International University of Japan (IUJ) on the impact of Indonesia's gender digital divide on human development. Having loved Japanese culture since childhood, he is enjoying his first visit to Japan.

　Mr. Mustafa researches the gender gap in access to and usage of digital devices in Indonesia.

He particularly focuses on usage rates, not ownership rates. In Indonesian culture, men are often expected to take on the role of family breadwinners, so they tend to use smartphones typically for job hunting and finding job listings. On the other hand, women still face expectations to care for their family rather than work outside the home, resulting in relatively fewer opportunities to use smartphones for such economic activities.

The Human Development Index (HDI) encompasses not only income or happiness, but also health and education. This is why he hypothesizes that smartphone usage for education and income generation indicate HDI.

　Mr. Mustafa plans to visit “Hello Work (Information on Public Employment Security Offices)” to observe the actual practices of supporting job hunting, such as job seeker assistance, vocational training provision, service systems for persons with disabilities, support for women, and digital support, with the aim of utilizing this knowledge to build a better employment support system in his home country.
　
One of his goals in Japan is to observe Japan's employment support system; how Japanese staff provide job listings, and how the job placement process works. Furthermore, since Mr. Mustafa works for Indonesia's Ministry of Manpower, he wants to understand how Japanese civil servants obtain job listings and get their job.

　Mr. Mustafa regards that the gender gap in Indonesia and Japan is not that significantly different. While Japan has now appointed its first female prime minister, Indonesia also had a female president as its fifth head of state. He also thinks there is little difference in family culture.
　
On the other hand, he notes significant differences in acceptance of digital technology and ownership rates of digital devices. Indonesia still has regions where electricity supply and internet access are limited. Accessing information about work and education is difficult, making it hard to improve living standards. Thus, digital gender gap exists.

　Growing up watching Japanese Anime and Manga since childhood, he always harbored a longing for Japan. With a love for anime, J-pop and Japanese food, he began studying Japanese on his own during his university years.
　When asked what he is looking for in Japan, he mentioned experiencing the four distinct seasons. For Mr. Mustafa, who lives in Indonesia, a tropical country, this will be his first time experiencing winter. He is particularly excited to see snow in winter and cherry blossoms in spring.

He enjoyed the first snowfall in Niigata and visited a traditional Japanese house.

“Live life to the fullest. And when you have the time, please come visit Indonesia.” This is the message I received for us.

Through the interview, I was very happy to see how much Mr. Mustafa appreciates Japan. Hearing him talk about “Japan through international student’s perspective’ felt refreshing to me, and it became a valuable opportunity to learn about the cultural differences and values between our two countries.