Yutaro Ito ’25 takes great pride in being able to share traditions and food from his Japanese upbringing with his fellow students at Marietta.
As a member of the student group, Global Connections, and one of several international students from Japan, Ito spent some time with Parkhurst Dining Manager Adria Handley during various cultural events, and the duo shared an idea to highlight and serve more international food during special dinners in Gilman Dining Hall.
“As I am Japanese and Japanese students are the majority group among international students here at Marietta College, I decided to do a Japanese food takeover with Parkhurst,” Ito says. “I am so grateful to all the Parkhurst staff, cooks, and chefs for working with us and making this happen. From the beginning of the process, they were welcoming and put a lot of effort into it. We communicated with each closely, and that allowed us to prepare details. On the day we did this takeover, all the Parkhurst workers contributed to forming the atmosphere that made everyone feel a special night.”
Handley says one of Parkhurst’s goals is to provide authentic culinary experiences, so collaborating with students from different cultures is valuable and valued. Handley and Ito worked with Tony Mayle, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Diversity and Inclusion, to explore ways to add those experiences to the College’s main dining hall.
“Yutaro and the other members of Global Connections identified Japanese food as the first cuisine to feature and then put together some suggestions of favorite foods that would be great representations of their culture,” Handley says. “They provided us with recipes and ingredient lists for the dishes so that we could source authentic ingredients. The students even prepared samples of many of the items for a tasting with our chef and managers.”
Ito — along with fellow Japanese students Kanae Yoshida ’25, Nagisa Harada ’25, Norihiro Matsuyama ’23, Kazuho Kashima ’25, and Haruka Kimura ’26 — also helped create and serve dishes such as Sanshoku don, edamame, Salad Maki, Udon Bar, and miso soup, to their peers. The members are grateful to the Parkhurst staff for welcoming the project and helping to create a special atmosphere for students during the dinner.
“It was such an amazing and exciting experience to make dishes and serve my peers and faculty at the station we set up,” Ito says. “Making rolls in front of others strengthened my pride in Japanese food. I was so proud to see people enjoying the dishes we made and coming back to the station over and over again because they liked it. This event also brought us an opportunity to tell my peers about Japanese food culture as well.”
Global Connections has experienced a revitalization since waning due to the pandemic. During this year’s Day of Giving, the student organization was one of the 11 projects highlighted, and donors generously gave nearly $600 to support events such as the Japanese Takeover dinner.
“The purpose of this organization is to introduce different cultures in the world to the campus community and bring awareness of multicultural coexistence,” Ito says. “I believe it is crucial for our campus community in terms of providing international students like me opportunities to represent their cultures and creating environments where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and experience different cultures here in the Mid-Ohio Valley.”