Since his first day on campus, Masaki Yamanashi has made it a point to make new friends. Daniel Lewis, Yamanashi’s roommate this semester, said, “The first day I met him, we went to get lunch and it seriously took us half an hour because he was always introducing himself to everybody. I just thought, ‘This is so cool!’ So I thought the normal thing that everybody did around here to just introduce themselves to everybody. I probably have the best roommate I’ll ever have.”
Yamanashi is a sophomore studying biology from Japan and is known for stories such as this one. He said his desire to be kind comes from early experiences in his life. Yamanashi said, “Many kids would form their own groups of friends, but I didn’t want to be a part of any one group because I wanted to meet new people. As we got older, some people didn’t like that I was always trying to meet new people so they would kind of make fun of me.”Yamanashi noted, “Sometimes I felt lonely. I decided that I didn’t want anybody to feel that way.”Yamanashi’s said his parents were his primary role models. Yamanashi said, “My mother was very outgoing and my father was very kind. They would always make sure that I would focus on the Savior and help me to understand why I’m having trials and how to overcome them.”Yamanashi’s efforts to do good have received attention among BYU-Hawaii students. Fellow BYUH student Rosalie Vaka wrote on Yamanashi’s facebook,
“I wish the world (or at least this campus) had more Masakis!” She wrote of a struggle she was having with carrying multiple items and her children when Yamanashi rushed to her aid. “For anyone that knows Masaki, helping others is embedded into who he is,” Vaka wrote. The post received 195 likes.One person posted anonymously to the BYUH Crushes Facebook page, “I absolutely adore Masaki! He is seriously the cutest, kindest and sweetest guy I know. I think all ladies will agree, Masaki is definitely husband material.
” Even with all the adoration, Yamanashi said he doesn’t want attention for what he does. “The whole main purpose is not to be famous here. I just love people here. There’s so many wonderful people that say good things about me, but I always make sure that I won’t be prideful and try to focus on the Savior and what He wants me to do,” Yamanashi said.
Tomonori Watanabe, a sophomore from Japan studying psychology, is an old friend of Yamanashi and said Yamanashi has always had a big heart. “He was just like he is right now when we were in Japan. He was always talking to everyone, saying hello to everyone, asking everyone’s names, forgetting their names and asking for their names again,” Watanabe said. Though he’s happy about the good he does, Yamanashi said he is struggling to find a balance between meeting new people and doing his homework. Yamanashi said,
“Right now I’m prioritizing things because sometimes I tend to do so many good things that I almost forget to do things that I’m supposed to do as a student.” Yamanashi said he hopes to one day own an agriculture business in Japan to grow cheap, organic foods.Yamanashi said he wants his example not to reflect his life, but the Savior’s life. “By hearing my story, I want people to think about Christ not me. I want them to realize that they can keep going and not because of me but because of Heavenly Father. I’m a normal person. I’m not special.
I’m just one person on campus. I want everyone to feel that they’re special,” said Yamanashi.