The walk, which took five days to complete, started on the Appalachian Trail from Rutland, Vt., and ended at the Massachusetts-Vermont border. From the border, the students arrived via charter bus to a welcome ceremony held in Johnson Chapel, where a portrait of Doshisha's founder, Joseph Neesima, hangs.
The purpose of the students' journey was to commemorate the selfless donation of one nameless farmer who gave up all he had in order to contribute to Neesima's raising of $5,000 in Rutland, Vermont 130 years ago.
By giving Neesima his only $2, the farmer relinquished his money for his bus trip home and walked the 130 kilometers back home.
The money raised by Neesima was used to fund the founding of Doshisha University, the second Western-style institution founded in all of Japan. The parishioners of Rutland's Grace Episcopal Church donated most of the $5,000 raised by Neesima.
The 130th anniversary was thus seen as a special time to commemorate all those, such as the nameless farmer, who helped to propel Neesima's mission of establishing a Christian university in Japan.
In the 1860s, Joseph Neesima broke the law by leaving Japan to enter Shanghai, China. From there, Neesima traveled to Boston on a boat owned by an Amherst alumnus named Hardy. Hardy used his connections to send Neesima to study at Phillips Andover Academy.
Following Andover, Neesima attended the College and in 1870, he became the first student from Japan to graduate from any Western college. The ideals that were manifest at the College at the time made an impression on Neesima and influenced his decision both to become ordained as a missionary and to found a similar institution in Japan.
At the ceremony in Johnson Chapel, Yukuji Okita, dean of international affairs at Doshisha, explained the three objectives for the Doshisha students' trip to the College. "First, to commemorate the distance the farmer has walked; two, to reinforce the bond between Doshisha and Amherst; three, to give students the chance to gain something beneficial to their lives by reliving the valuable experience of Neesima," he said.
President Eiji Hatta of Doshisha thanked Amherst for all of its support and cooperation in Doshisha's effort to train "persons with professional expertise as well as moral responsibility."
Even during World War II, the portrait of Neesima was never taken down from the walls of Johnson Chapel. "This signifies how strong the relationship between Amherst and Doshisha has been and still is," Hatta said.
President Anthony Marx commented on how important it is for the College to recognize and celebrate the connection with Doshisha. "Neesima's efforts were very much in keeping with the motto of Amherst College," he said. "Amherst does and should take great pride in the fact that we have the first Japanese student to earn a bachelor's degree. Neesima was so inspired by [his] experience at Amherst College that he returned to Japan and created an institution of higher learning is remarkable."
Doshisha student representative Ryota Matsumoto said the memorial walk was a wonderful learning experience for him. "[The hike] was a great opportunity for interacting with each other," he said. Matsumoto exemplifies the positive attitude shown by the Doshisha students throughout the journey, though two of the hikers were stung by bees en route and had to be rushed to the hospital.
Amherst and Doshisha also participate in an exchange program. Amherst sends one student to the University each year to assist in the teaching of English. This year's student is Hannah Grobel '05. In return, Neesima Fellows come from Doshisha to get their second B.A. Currently, the fellows are Reiko Sono '07 and Hirotaka Sugioka '06.
This exchange is vital to the College's ongoing close relationship with Doshisha. "[The] founding has created a partnership of affection as well as exchange between these two institutions," said Marx. "We share a commitment to the importance of higher education."
Sono, who arrived this fall as a sophomore, said she applied for the exchange program after a professor told her about the opportunity. "As I learned about Amherst, I was really attracted to Amherst College. I really agreed with the idea of liberal arts and I thought this college is the ideal place for me to study," she said.
Sugioka graduated from Doshisha University and came to the College as a junior transfer. He will receive his second Bachelor's degree when he graduates in the spring. "I came here because this was one of the best opportunities for my career," he said.
Sono is enjoying her experience at the College through the support of students and faculty. "Every day I am realizing how happy I am since I came here," she said. "Since I am living in America for the first time, I still have some problems with English, but I have friends and professors who support me very kindly."
Sono said that she feels more students should know about the relationship between Doshisha and Amherst. "I really appreciate that there is such a wonderful connection between these two colleges," she said. "But I am really sorry that a lot of students of Doshisha don't have enough knowledge about the relationship between these colleges."
Adding that the 130th anniversary was a good starting point for building a stronger relationship between Amherst and Doshisha, Sono said many Doshisha students didn't know about the College until they participated in this project "But after completing this [walk], they said that they really liked this college," she said.
"I think this project made them have wishes to study abroad or induced them to tell more people in Japan about this experience," she continued. "I am really happy and excited to have this wonderful opportunity with both of my two colleges."
Sugioka plans to continue studying in the United States and eventually receive his Ph.D. "For Doshisha, Amherst is a special place because our founder Neesima studied here," he said. "As a Doshisha alumnus, I am happy for Doshisha's 130th anniversary and hope that the good relationship between Doshisha and Amherst lasts forever."