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A Life Guided by Light: Welcoming Visiting Professor Hiromi Tobe

Dr. Hiromi Tobe is a joy to be around. She’s radiated the light of Christ since her youth in Japan, and she’s now bringing it to campus as BYU College of Nursing’s newest visiting professor.

Dr. Tobe grew up in Tokyo, Japan, but her experiences with the West came early on. She had a fascination with language learning as a teen and embarked on a foreign exchange trip to Canada to immerse herself in English. Alberta-bound, she had no idea that the trip would change her life forever.

Encounters with Christ

Dr. Tobe had never been very religious as a youth; Christianity is not common among the Japanese. Seemingly by coincidence, her Canadian host family was part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and they openly invited her to participate in prayer, scripture study, and church meetings.

Three well-dressed individuals pose for a photo

These seemed like alien traditions to her at first, but young Dr. Tobe began to feel something new, something that came from the Spirit! Through her efforts to read the Book of Mormon and pray, along with her exchange family’s support, she developed a firm testimony of Jesus Christ. “I’m very grateful that Heavenly Father gave me a chance to be immersed in the gospel and really feel what it’s like to [live it] in a family setting,” she later said reverently.

Returning from her life-changing trip, Dr. Tobe found that her parents weren’t keen on her new religious awakening. This didn’t faze her, however, and she made the hour-long bus ride to church each Sunday for years before being baptized as a young adult. When asked why she persisted in her faith despite difficult circumstances, she cited the numerous spiritual experiences she had in those early years, especially the comfort she felt after her father passed away.

Since receiving those glimpses of light in Canada, Dr. Tobe’s testimony has become a solid, vibrant, tapestry of faith. The doors that have opened for her since she began following Christ have been grand in both scale and number, and she attributes it to her desire to share what she knows.

I keep thinking ‘why is the Lord giving me so many great opportunities?’ I feel He knows that if He gives me something, I will share it with everyone. I can’t help it!”
- Dr. Hiromi Tobe

Representing Christ Through Nursing

Three women and two children dressed in vibrant colors stand together

Even before her baptism, Dr. Tobe was an avid missionary. She set a goal to “open her mouth” daily and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with her friends and neighbors in Japan. At one point, she hosted a booth with the missionaries at a university event where they gave out 600 copies of the Book of Mormon in four days! She later served a mission in Osaka, Japan, where her desire to serve grew even more.

Dr. Tobe didn’t actually become a nurse until her mid-forties. As a mother of four children, she balanced home responsibilities with tutoring and working as a translator. However, she was concerned about the widespread struggles with mental health and family issues among her students.

She didn’t just want to teach them; she wanted to care for them as the Savior would. “I wanted to learn how to support people in a more scientific way…spiritually, physically, mentally, and socially,” she stated matter-of-factly. She saw nursing as a great way to promote gospel principles such as family values and respect for the body and felt she should pursue it.

That proved to be a landmark decision only Heavenly Father could’ve inspired. Since becoming a nurse, she’s had myriad opportunities to be a beacon of Jesus Christ. For example, she worked to support families by researching parental anger management strategies at the University of Tokyo.

Dr. Tobe also shared the light of Christ by educating Japanese parents about her research in seminars and workshops, where she shares the gospel through word and deed. “I’ve had many spiritual experiences in these workshops,” she said. “I naturally talk about prayer and God’s plan.”

A Bridge to BYU

Dr. Tobe was later invited to transfer to Ishikawa Prefectural University. She was on the fence about leaving Tokyo, but a revelation came one day as she sat in sacrament meeting: she had to make the move. Bravely, she began a new chapter in Ishikawa Prefecture, and it proved to be the next part of Heavenly Father’s plan.

Three women sit on a bench next to a statue

In Ishikawa, Dr. Tobe was approached by the college president and tasked with finding an American university to partner with for a student exchange program. She’d previously met Dr. Jane Lassetter, Dean of BYU College of Nursing, and yearned to send her students there. Despite this, she thought it would be a difficult task and was extremely worried. She was “praying and crying and fasting” one night as she pondered the matter, and the very next day she got a call from Dr. Craig Nuttall of BYU College of Nursing.

Miraculously, he asked her if BYU could bring nursing students to Japan! Unfortunately, BYU students were unable to visit Japan at that time, but it was just the opportunity Dr. Tobe needed to find a host school for the Ishikawa students. Plans were made, and in September 2024, she led a large group of Japanese nursing students on a two-week visit to Utah, including several days at BYU!

To read more about the Japanese students’ visit to campus, click here.

The students were enchanted by the BYU nursing school, students, and faculty. They left Provo feeling the love of the Savior. Dr. Tobe has no doubt that introducing her students to Jesus Christ on BYU’s campus was a major part of the Lord’s work for her, and she sees it as a major reason why she was inspired to become a nurse in the first place. Radiating joy, she affirmed that “after many years, I finally realized that this was the purpose.”

A group of Japanese young adults poses for a picture in front of a large pipe organ

On a previous trip to BYU, Dr. Tobe was offered a year-long Visiting Professor position in the College of Nursing, which she began this winter. During this time, she hopes to further strengthen the bond between BYU and students in Japan and already has future exchange programs in the works.

She’s excited to share the light of Christ with students in her "Nursing Skills" class and in the Global and Population Health Practicum in Ecuador, which she’ll help lead. With Dr. Tobe around, this will be an extra special year for BYU College of Nursing students and faculty!