Anthony Griffin is a U.S. citizen who has been living in Japan since 2009. Passionate about Japanese culture since a young age, his visits to the country as an adult convinced him to try and live here. It was the beginning of an adventure during which Japan inspired him to test his own limits and…
Narrowing the Gap between Japan and the Rest of the World: An Interview with Rochelle Kopp
Anyone with even the slightest interest in cross-cultural communication in Japan has likely read an article, liked a tweet, or watched a video featuring Rochelle Kopp, founder and managing principal of Japan Intercultural Consulting. Before founding her company, Rochelle accumulated a wealth of experience by working for U.S.-based international consulting firms and the Tokyo headquarters…
Fumiya, the Japanese YouTuber Who Became a Hit in the Philippines
With more than 2 million subscribers on his YouTube channel and a total of 4 million followers on his various social media, Fumiya is living the dream of many young people these days. While he was studying in the Philippines, one of his videos suddenly became viral, and a few months later, he joined as…
mamoru, the New App That Supports a Sustainable Lifestyle in Japan
Philip Nguyen is an entrepreneur with an unusual profile. Originally from the U.S., he has been living in Japan for nine years. After studying environmental science and cultural studies in the U.S., and completing his PhD in Japan, Philip decided to launch his own business to contribute to solving social and environmental issues. This year,…
Expressing Love in Japanese Culture
When you are interested in a culture and start learning a new language, for some reason, the word “love” and the phrase “I love you” are some of the first people usually want to know and remember. Maybe this is why you are now reading the article. While love may be universal, the ways to…
Life Lessons from Living and Working in Japan: An Interview with Kokoro Media Editor-in-Chief Amélie Geeraert
I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with Amélie Geeraert, Kokoro Media editor-in-chief, ever since we started producing articles and building brands for combrains, the parent company of Kokoro Media, in 2018. Over the years, Amélie’s passion for Japan has inspired her to create some amazing articles including fascinating interviews with artists, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists from…
Cooking Japanese Food at Home is Easier than You Think
Aki Sugiyama and her business partner Lillian Rowlatt have founded Kokoro Care Packages, a unique subscription service that allows customers to be delivered different kinds of Japanese ingredients and food monthly or seasonally. When I first heard of this company, I was intrigued by our common choice for the word Kokoro in our respective brand…
Meiwaku: The Threat to Japanese Harmony
Last month, a Japanese website raised criticism: its principle was that users could submit meiwaku noise information of their neighborhood. Most of the time, users complained about the sounds of children playing, and the word “meiwaku” was heavily used in the comments. “Meiwaku” can be translated in several ways: trouble, annoyance, annoying. In Japanese, spam…
Together, These People Have Renovated an Entire Japanese Village
Akira Yamaguchi is one of the founding members of TEAM Clapton. This construction group does design, renovation, and builds event spaces. Their specialization: their construction sites are open to everybody who wants to help, beginners included. Last year, TEAM Clapton was involved in renovating a small traditional village, transforming it into a small lodging complex…
Teaching Japanese with Empathy and Precision: An Interview with Yuki Nivez
When it comes to learning Japanese, there are deceptively simple questions that most teachers struggle to answer. For example, “What is the difference between the particles wa and ga?” Or, ”Why is this word typed without kanji?” When I saw that Yuki Nivez, founder of Bow & Arrow Language, was succinctly answering some of these…