Nepia’s work with the NPO involved analysis, which suited her profession as a policy analyst at Te Puni Kōkiri the Ministry of Māori Development, as well as making visits to an orphanage in the city.
“That was sad, honestly, but it was really humbling - made me appreciate home a lot,” she said.
She also spent time at the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Education New Zealand among other entities, being mostly stationed in the busy ward of Shibuya.
“It was a beautiful space to work in; Shibuya Crossing was basically my backyard.”
At the embassy, she found a connection to her iwi, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, as inside the grounds was a stone taken from one of the creeks that are part of the Whanganui River system, as well as a carving from the iwi.
Nepia has a photo of the stone from before it was removed from the creek near Mount Tongariro, which the embassy was pleased to see.
“Their colleagues were really happy to see that photo and understand exactly where it came from.”
One of the main reasons she wanted to journey to Japan was to connect with the Ainu, the indigenous people of the northern regions of Japan.
Nepia is from Rātana, which has had a connection with the Ainu since 1924 when Rātana’s founder Thupotiki Wiremu Rātana visited the region, with Ainu bishop Juji Nakata opening the Rātana temple in 1927.
While she had wanted to meet with the Ainu, the opportunity to do so came around organically.
“There was a Japanese woman who was researching Rātana and she heard that I was in Japan, and so we met a lot of times.”
This led to her visiting some of the sites Rātana visited 99 years ago, with her even tracking down the hotel they stayed at, which is still in operation and will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2024, much like the relationship between Rātana and the Ainu.
She also spent time with a group of Ainu, including elder Akemi Shimada, sharing similar stories of loss of land, language and recognition as indigenous people.
“They knew about the story and the history of Rātana and Japan, and so they wanted to meet regularly as well.”
Nepia and her whānau will host a delegation of Ainu visiting Rātana in January 2024, ahead of another trip to Japan in October to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the two peoples’ relationship.
Overall, she said she came away from the trip with an appreciation of Japan and the Japanese people, who were very friendly and accommodating to her.
“I went in with an open mind, had no idea what might happen and knew what I wanted to do, and it exceeded all of my expectations.”
She hoped the trip would also serve as an example for young people in Whanganui, particularly young Māori, of what is possible for them and would inspire them to apply for scholarships like the Prime Minister’s.
Education New Zealand hoped to work with her to advocate the benefits of the scholarship to young people in the region, along with her continuing her work at Te Puni Kōkiri.
“That’s what I wanted to do, is demonstrate the possibility of this being able to happen, especially for Māori, because not many Māori take up these opportunities or even know about them.”
According to Education New Zealand, of the 111 recipients of the scholarship in 2022, 22 per cent were Māori, accounting to 24 people.
This was up from 5 per cent the year before, so Nepia said it was positive to see an increase year on year and she would be willing to work with any people in the region interested in applying for this year’s round of scholarships.
