KOCHI -- A 23-year-old man who was born in Japan and raised in the Gaza Strip recently enrolled in a vocational school here to study the language and become a "bridge between Japan and the Middle East."

Aldahoodi Mohammad Ziyad was born in the western Japan city of Nankoku, Kochi Prefecture, in 2002 while his father studied at Kochi Medical School (now part of Kochi University), and obtained Japanese citizenship. The family later returned to live in the Palestinian territories.

In October 2023, while Mohammad was studying at a university in the United Arab Emirates, Israel invaded the Gaza Strip. His family was forced to live in a shelter, and they began seeking ways to evacuate to Japan. After graduating from the university in UAE in January 2025, Mohammad returned to Japan and began preparing to live in the city of Kochi.

He is now enrolled in the Japanese language course of the Ryoma Design & Beauty College. Attending school operator Ryoma Gakuen's joint entrance ceremony in Kochi on April 7, Mohammad expressed his hopes, saying that he wants to become able to speak Japanese and work in an international role connecting Japan and the Middle East in the future.

Regarding the renewed intensification of Israeli attacks on Gaza after a temporary ceasefire, he commented that he is worried about his family living in a refugee camp, and he wants to bring them to the safety of Japan as soon as possible.

(Japanese original by Satoshi Kobayashi, Kochi Bureau)