Riku Kaizuka

High school student at Léman Manhattan Preparatory School in New York City, born and raised in Japan, interested in economics, business, and urban development

I am a current 10th grader at Leman Manhattan Preparatory School in New York City. Though I was born and raised in Fukuoka, Japan, I began my high school academic journey with a year in Switzerland for 9th grade, where I attended boarding school and experienced living abroad for the first time before coming to the United States.

My experience living abroad has really shaped the way I see the world. Living in different countries at a young age helped me develop a deeper appreciation for my home in Japan, and opened my eyes to global social and economic issues in a way that classroom learning alone couldn’t. I am inspired by the cities that are familiar to me– New York, Tokyo, Fukuoka– and I love to learn about how they work and how they came to be. Seeing these cities from above on long plane journeys over the years led me to develop an interest in urban planning and development, which I’m excited to keep exploring.