**日本語訳は下にあります**“I’m a singer and songwriter, and my dream is to perform live at Kōhaku Uta Gassen (a popular annual New Year’s Eve television special in Japan). I write mostly love songs. I know, it’s such a cliché. I’m kinda embarrassed to say I’ve yet to experience grown up love. My longest relationship lasted only sixContinue reading Isshin Aoi
“I was very reclusive in my first year in Japan. I didn’t have many friends and didn’t go out much. I only focused on studying. I also kept coming up with reasons not to interact with people so I could stay in my personal space. I remember thinking it was OK because people have differentContinue reading Coming Out of My Shell
“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
“Being a Japanese-American woman in Japan, there are times when I feel like I’m constantly being underestimated, or my behavior is under a microscope. When I say or do things in a certain way, some people say, ‘That is so American’ or ‘You’re so gaijin’. But other times they say, ‘Oh so Japanese of you’.Continue reading Blanket Terms
“I was so burned out from work. The stress was too much to handle that my stomach would hurt and I wouldn’t be able to come to work. When I went to the hospital here in Japan and even in France, the results showed my body was fine. So it was just all in myContinue reading 80 Jours Japon
“It was my dream to visit Osaka. I first heard about the city of my dreams from Japanese volunteers, who showed me pictures and shared Japanese culture with me so I fell in love with it. I applied to study at a Japanese university (although in a different region) and started doing some research onContinue reading Forgotten Dreams
“I was born and raised in Belgium to a Japanese dad and a Belgian mom. My father, who was a karate teacher, passed away when I was 14. My first job was at a Japanese credit card company in Amsterdam, to prove to the world that I could work for a Japanese company. But becauseContinue reading Hāfu2Hāfu
“Every country has its flaws and Japan is no exception. But sometimes small things add up. I’m half Japanese, half American and I’ve lived in Japan since I was 6 years old. Some people tell me I’m not Japanese enough and it bothers me, although I’ve learned not to let it get the better ofContinue reading Learning to be More Accepting
“I grew up in Miyazaki. As a hafu (Half American, Half Japanese) growing up in rural Japan, I didn’t quite fit in. Despite having a strong economic base, people in Miyazaki tend to be more relaxed, and family bonds seem stronger than that in Tokyo; life is good! Though I liked it there, I knewContinue reading Finding My Place
“I identify myself as a global citizen. My identity is not bound by nationality just because my passport was issued in Indonesia and I’m a second-generation Chinese Indonesian. I have a friend with whom I share values with that go beyond perceived differences. She’s Russian-American. However, it’s hard to find people who are also cosmopolitan,Continue reading Global Citizen
I hated being mixed race until a couple years ago. It was the bane of my existence. I thought everything about myself was chutohanpa, which means ‘incomplete’ in English. Based on experience, in the U.S., maybe 9 out of 10 people see me as full Asian and usually aren’t able to tell that I haveContinue reading Accepting My Incompleteness
“The job-hunting process in Japan is so outdated. It’s especially hard for foreigners. There’s only a small window of time to do it, which usually starts in the second semester of your junior year. You have to follow a schedule, otherwise you fall off the radar of prospective employers. In my case, I was inContinue reading Sclerotic and Antiquated
