I was originally born and raised in Japan about an hour away from Tokyo until I was about twelve years old. In 2018, my family moved to the States where I have lived in Peachtree Corners, Georgia ever since. My mother is American while my father is Japanese, and I am the youngest of four. I have a sister and two brothers, one of which has autism; he is such a gift to our family. Our mom homeschooled us as kids, and that provided some fun times!

I can play piano and some guitar, and I really enjoy singing. One of the activities I enjoy the most is simply spending time with friends, whether that is in conversation, going out to eat, playing a game with them, or another activity. I love to play a good game of ultimate frisbee, too!

John chapters 13 through 17 is one of my favorite parts of the entire Bible. It is an intimate and personal passage with His disciples at the Last Supper, culminating in his priestly prayer of unity to the Father.

One of my favorite verses from that section in the Gospel of John is chapter 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

St. Therese of Lisieux. I love her complete trust and childlike confidence in the Lord. St. Therese shows us the confidence sinful and little souls can and should have in the merciful love of Jesus! Her spirituality has been so personally important in my life.

In the Summer of 2024, I started thinking and praying about seminary more because a friend of mine was joining; he had just graduated high school, while I was a rising senior. Eventually, in December, I decided to go to one of the Borromeo House of Priestly Formation discernment Masses. Meeting other discerning men, hearing the voices of all the men chant the responses in Mass, and the discussions we had afterwards attracted me, and I decided that I would set up a meeting with our vocation director. After meeting with our vocation director, Fr. Rey, I started the application process, but I was still hesitant; I wasn’t one hundred percent eager about going. While on a weekend pilgrimage with some of my youth group, the Lord moved my heart in prayer at the place we were staying, and I gave the Lord my “yes” to go to seminary. I still didn’t feel fully ready to go, but working through the application process slowly started to make the reality of going to seminary more real, and I noticed that I had a growing desire to be a priest–to die to myself in the service of God’s people. It might have been a slower burn than other people, but now that I have been accepted and am at seminary, I am excited and looking forward to the years of formation ahead of me as a seminarian for the Archdiocese!

God has been faithful every step of the way, and I trust that He is leading me more and more to the vocation He has planned for me.

I haven’t been at the seminary very long, but so far it has been a great experience. It is special to live with many young men who have the same goal in mind, and to be under the care of people who want to help us to become better men. I look forward to the years to come of living here.

I look forward to being a father to the people of God; The world needs good fathers, and truly merciful fathers at that. So, if the Lord is willing that I should be ordained one day, I hope to show the goodness and mercy of our Heavenly Father to those who do not know it.

My advice for those thinking about priesthood is to give it a shot. Ask the Lord in prayer if this is the path for you to go down, but don’t discount the interest you are taking in the priesthood. If it turns out the Lord reveals to you that you are called to be a priest, then praise God. If it turns out that you are not called, then you will not have wasted the years you have taken to be formed into a virtuous man. God would not call you to a vocation in which you would not be fulfilled, so be not afraid.

“Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure.” -St. John Paul II