Coming from Hunan Province in the south-central part of China, Yu Li was introduced to the Japanese culture through Japanese animation, just like many other kids of his generation in China. From then on, he never stopped discovering Japan. Photographers Nobuyoshi Araki and Shinoyama Kishin became his favorites. Thanks to the Internet, in high school he had the chance to watch many famous animes, such as Naruto, One Piece, and Studio Ghibli’s productions. Soon afterwards, he also discovered Japanese movies through the outstanding films of Hirokazu Koreeda and Satoshi Kon.

Being attracted to Japanese culture and advanced technology, Yu Li made up his mind to study Japan. After graduating from Huaqiao University of China, he chose to take a gap year first, during which he tried many part-time jobs, such as modeling, event-planning, managing an inn and so on, to save money for studying abroad. As an adventurous person, he also traveled around China and abroad, saying “hello” to strangers, meeting interesting people and making friends with them. This experience helped him become more social, more adept and more flexible, and, most importantly, to understand non-verbal communication a lot better.

He came to Sendai in 2014, starting his graduate program at Tohoku University in the Ogawa Laboratory. At the laboratory, he began to work on the safety and reliability of aircraft turbine engine materials that are durable at ultra-high temperatures over long periods of time. He also studied Fracture physics and chemistry by elucidating degradation, damage mechanisms, thermal barrier coatings and so on.

During his spare time, he devoted himself to international cultural communication. In a school visit program of Miyagi International Association (MIA), he visited primary school and junior high schools in Miyagi Prefecture as a foreign teacher. By introducing Chinese culture to Japanese students, he wished to promote the friendship between the two countries. He was also served as the Miyagi Tourism Ambassador (Sendai Broadcasting), which gave him the chance to visit many places around the prefecture. Since then, he has frequently expressed his opinions on the attractiveness as well as the need for improvements of scenic spots in the Tohoku area, and has been promoting Miyagi Prefecture to the public of China through social network services (SNS). Thanks to these activities, he has visited numerous beautiful places, learned about different cultures and met many interesting people.

Like many Chinese students here, Yu Li is always proud of being a Tohoku University student, not only because it’s one of the top universities in Japan, but also because a well-known Chinese writer, Lu Xun, graduated from Tohoku University. He even took part in a modern play based on Lu Xun’s story of studying in Sendai. Invited by local governments, the cast of the play went on a performing tour of Beijing, Shaoxin (hometown of Luxun) and Sendai. He never thought that he could be a theater actor and could have a such magical connection with this outstanding alumnus.

In his master’s research, he evaluates the damage to TiAl alloys by fine particle impact. With the increase of fuel prices, combined with the growth of political and environmental concerns, it is imperative to develop clean and energy-efficient technologies for producing sustainable fuels. More attention has been paid to γ-TiAl alloy because of its low density, excellent mechanical properties at elevated temperature, and its durability under extremely demanding conditions in new automotive and aircraft engines. When small particles (volcanic ash etc.) impact the turbine blades during engine operation, it may cause a serious accident. By using the Single Particle Impact Testing System, crack behavior evaluation, morphology after impact, and microstructure evaluation are examined.