Health Stretching Between Roles: Wellness for Women in Japan’s Pressure Cooker Culture
“When ‘Me Time’ Feels Like a Myth” There’s this moment I think every mom or working woman in Japan has had. You’re stand...
Life
Health Life Mental Health Behind the Sliding Door: What I Wish More Japanese Moms Talked About
When I first became a mom in Japan, I expected a lot of things — sleepless nights, laundry mountains, and endless diaper...
Life When Politics Hit the Dinner Table: A Tokyo Mom’s View of Japan’s Future
Setting the Scene We were halfway through dinner — grilled salmon, miso soup, the usual — when my 10-year-old son asked,...
Life Mom Life in Tokyo: Quiet Struggles & Small Victories
When Everything Looks Fine on the Outside If you were to pass me on the street in Tokyo—pushing a stroller with one hand...
Life Seasonal Motherhood: Why Japanese Parenting Feels Different Month to Month
“Time Moves in Seasons Here” Before I became a mom in Japan, I thought of time in the usual way—days, weeks, months. Dea...
Life What Romance Looks Like After 10,000 Bentos
The Bento Box Isn’t Just Lunch It started, like most things in life, without a grand declaration. No flowers. No firewo...
Life 🌸 Mom Guilt & Micro-Milestones
Why Traditional Productivity Doesn’t Work for Caregivers I used to love productivity books. You know the kind: color-cod...
Business “Emotional Labor Across Cultures: What Japan Taught Me About Invisible Care”
Why Emotional Labor Isn’t Universal — And Why That Matters When I first heard the term “emotional labor” in an English-l...
Life “The Invisible Career Pause: Re-entering the Workforce After Maternity Leave in Japan”
Why guilt, gaps, and glass ceilings don’t have to define your story. I didn’t plan to “pause” my career. It just sort of...
Family The Invisible Load Revisited: How We’re Rebalancing Household Mental Labor (Without the Resentment)
introduction "Just tell me what you want me to do!"My husband said that one night, clearly frustrated.And I snapped back...