From Watching a Japanese Medical Drama to Living My Dream in Japan

Back in high school, long before I became a doctor, I was very close to one of my computer teachers. Computer class was my favorite subject at the time, not only because I enjoyed technology, but also because of the teacher himself. He was kind, supportive, and shared many interesting things with me — including his collection of movies and TV series.

One day, he allowed me to copy several films from his collection. Among them was a Japanese medical drama called Team Medical Dragon.

The story was fictional, but deeply inspiring to me. It followed a highly skilled surgeon who had stopped practicing medicine for a long time, yet remained legendary for his extraordinary surgical techniques. A hospital later tried to recruit him back, hoping he would teach his surgical methods and help one of their doctors complete a dissertation to become a professor.

At that age, I never imagined how much that drama would influence my life.

After watching it, my motivation to become a doctor grew even stronger. At the same time, I also started dreaming about Japan — its culture, its discipline, and the world of medicine portrayed in that drama. It felt distant back then, almost impossible.

But life has a surprising way of moving dreams closer, little by little.

Years passed, and some of those dreams slowly became reality. I became a doctor. I had the opportunity to scrub in during surgeries, and eventually became the first operator in surgical procedures myself. And now, one of the dreams that once felt so far away has truly come true: I am living in Japan, conducting research for my Ph.D. program.

Sometimes I sit quietly and think about how strange and beautiful life can be. A teenager watching a Japanese medical drama after school could never fully imagine that one day he would actually stand inside hospitals, perform surgeries, and continue his academic journey in Japan itself.

Being here makes me feel incredibly grateful. I believe God is truly kind. One by one, many of the things I once wished for have come at the right time — not always according to my own schedule, but according to a timing much better than I could have planned myself.

So if there is one message I want to share, it is this:

Keep chasing what you truly want in life.

It is okay to fall sometimes. It is okay to feel tired, lost, or discouraged. But when that happens, stand up again. Learn from it. Continue walking forward. And keep pursuing your dreams, even when they still seem far away.

Because sometimes, the dreams that inspire us quietly in our youth become the very life we live years later.