Dear all, We are very excited to announce the birth of a series of online events designed just for you! We invite you to join fellow Kokoro Media readers for “Kokoro Conversations”: open-hearted conversations about the joys and the challenges of life in Japan. Meet new people, exchange thoughts, compare your experiences, ask for advice,…
Turning a Japanese Abandoned School into a Sustainable Factory
In summer 2021, I interviewed Go Nakano, CEO and founder member of the peanut butter company Happy Nuts Day. During our talk, he explained why he left a big advertising company and went on to create Happy Nuts Day with his skateboarding friends. He was thriving, creating products that reflected his values, surrounded by people…
Get Free Books at Temple University Japan on May 7!
Temple University Japan Continuing Education will be holding a “book fair” on May 7, 2022. Come and get free Japanese language textbooks, as well as books on finance, management, marketing, design, and much more. It will also be an opportunity to donate (or trade) books you no longer use to the TUJ library. When you…
Your Opinion Matters!
Dear readers, We always want to improve your experience and would be very glad if you could help us. Please tell us what you think of Kokoro Media by answering this survey. It only takes 5 minutes! Loading…
Join Us Online for the First Edition of “Insights”!
We are thrilled to announce the first edition of a series of events organized by TUJ Continuing Education and Kokoro Media! “Insights: Learning from Some of Japan’s Most Inspirational People” will invite inspirational people of Japan to share their professional expertise and private experience on a broad range of topics. After sharing their insights with us,…
What Will Change in Japan in 2022
As the Japanese fiscal year comes to an end, now is a good time to review some changes that will affect Japanese society in 2022. ※This article was available as an early release in the Kokoro Media Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. The Change of the Age of the Majority in Japan The most important…
Is Willpower Now the Most Important Trait for Achieving Japanese Literacy?
When I moved to Tokyo in 2009, learning Japanese was an entirely different experience than what we know today. Electronic dictionaries were more common than smartphone apps. Digital flashcards had yet to go mainstream, so tangible ones, homemade or prepackaged, were the primary way to learn kanji characters. Before the prevalence of handwriting recognition and…
The Truth about Eshima Ohashi
You may have seen pictures of the Eshima Ohashi Grand Bridge online without knowing where it was, or if it was fake. Here is a short summary of facts and the truth about this mysterious-looking bridge. What is the Eshima Ohashi Grand Bridge? The Eshima Ohashi Grand Bridge is a bridge in Japan built over…
Looking Back on 2021 as a Foreign Resident in Japan
It’s February 2022 and Japan is in the midst of its sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with much of the country under a quasi-state of emergency. Foreign tourists and new long-term residents remain barred from entering the country. Initiatives that could have propelled the economy even after the pandemic, such as remote work, have…
Seeing Kanji as Color: Japanese in the Mind of a Synesthete
My mind is perhaps more colorful than yours–and I mean that in an objective sense. I have synesthesia, a condition in which one sense is stimulated automatically with another. These can come in all sorts of interesting jumbles: for me, I see color in the back of my mind with words and music, but I…