“When one of the biggest English conversational schools in Japan went bust in 2007, I suddenly found myself jobless. With no income, I would desperately find former students, go to their house, and do a group lesson for not even so much money. There was even a single mother who asked me to do lessonsContinue reading
“My daughter just turned two. She’s half Filipino. My wife teaches her Tagalog while I teach her English. If she goes to public school then she’ll learn Japanese very quickly so that would be great for her. She’ll be trilingual and a third culture kid. I thought Tokyo might not be a great place toContinue reading
“I wasted half my life trying to make other people happy. My family and relatives were totally against me moving to Japan. My stepdad is from the Caribbean and the traditional culture there is you’re not supposed to go against what your parents said. But I didn’t really want to study Spanish or something elseContinue reading
“I will always be a minority in every country I go to. I’m Punjabi but I was born and raised in Birmingham, England. My parents are both from East Africa, grandparents all from India. If I go to India, I’m a Brit. In the UK, I’m British Indian or British Asian. In Japan, I’m aContinue reading
“I was a single mother in California when my son told me he wanted to study Japanese. So I let him, and after he graduated from high school, we both came to Japan for two months using money I saved up. After that, my mother got sick and died, my son went to college, andContinue reading
“My family got a lot of media attention while me and my seven younger brothers were growing up in Hiroshima. Maybe it’s because our father is Australian, our mother is Japanese, and there weren’t many big multicultural families (if any at all) in that remote part of Japan. We were on a TV show thatContinue reading Global Talent
**日本語訳は下をご覧ください** “When my father died of lung cancer, I realized I needed to do something with my life. He dedicated his entire life to his family and left nothing for himself. My mom once told me he didn’t buy clothes for himself for years, so his kids could have a good education. Thanks to himContinue reading Live Life With No Regrets
**日本語訳は下にあります** “This is where my story starts. It’s Saigon 1975 and there were huge events happening. In America, there were many people protesting the war in Vietnam. For the Vietnamese like my mother and father, they were trying to find any way to find a better life. So my dad decided the only way toContinue reading Setting Sail From a Safe Harbor
“I grew up in a predominantly Mexican and Italian neighborhood with a lot of immigrant workers. I was one of the only Asians, so growing up everyone saw me as Japanese. To other people Japanese was my identity and I represented Japan. I was frustrated that despite being seen as Japanese I couldn’t speak theContinue reading Estranged Nikkei
“I was 27 when I started learning Japanese, I had no contact with the language until that time. I started studying in the U.S. and I came to Japan as an English teacher originally, but now I work as an assistant to an author and attend graduate school to study journalism. Even when I was studyingContinue reading Guyjin48
“There’s a voice inside of you telling you what you have to do with your life. A lot of people, when they’re young, they have something they like or some inclination to do something. Maybe it’s drawing or music. But as time goes on, their parents will be like, ‘Oh you can’t make a livingContinue reading Keep Trying
“I’ve been a carer pretty much my whole adult life. I practically raised my sister until she moved out last year. I also looked after my mother, who had mental health issues which eventually took her life. Dealing with that and bringing up a child in London, emotionally and financially, certainly made me into theContinue reading Will of Steel
